6 Pro Tips to Better Utilize Your Event Speakers

Be familiar with your speaker’s work and let them know how much you’d be honored to have them at your event. Do your research, know their niche platform, and make sure you have a solid grasp of their presenting style. When you're first reaching out, it's always good to mention specific things about their past engagements or accomplishments. But above all, keep things honest, authentic and to-the-point.

 Here's a great example of a cold email pitch I received from a meet-up organizer. Personal, to the point, and all the details right up front.

Before you pop a confirmed speaker's name into your marketing materials, make sure to nail down the specifics of the event, set expectations, and begin an open dialogue with your speaker.

Sometimes this is via a professional contract, and other times it’s via simply via email. Either way, both parties should be clear on how and when they will be involved in the planning and promotion process of the event. Besides sharing the date, time, and duration of the gig, this is where you can ask the speaker for their help with event promotion, ensure you’re allowed to use their name in your Tweets, and offer audience demographics to help them better tailor their presentation.

Also share a detailed description of how you will include them in the event and what they’ll need to produce, whether that’s a presentation with slides, an outline, or simply a discussion topic.

One of the most useful things you can do before building your Splash page is to send out a short questionnaire to your speakers.
 

This is an easy way to find out all the information you need to effectively promote them. Not sure what to ask? Use this sample questionnaire as a starting point and make sure to ask for approved images of the speaker to use in your promotion materials:

• Full name as you would like to appear in materials:

• Name you would like to be referred to during the event:

• Company:

• Job title: 

• Alternate companies/organizations you are associated with:

• Speaking topic or title of presentation (if applicable):

• Description of talk:

• Products/platforms you are currently promoting:

• Other pertinent information about who you are and what you do:

 I also recommend asking a personality-related question that's relevant to the event. Here are some ideas:

• If you're throwing a women-in-tech conference: "What startup to you wish you would have launched?"

• If you're hosting a literary discussion: "What's the last book you've read and loved?"

• If you’re organizing a social media panel: "What's your favorite Instagram handle to stalk?"

• If you're organizing a music event: "What album do you currently have on repeat?"

These types of questions give you extra context for the speaker bios section of your Splash, and can be a great conversation tool on social media.

One of my favorite things about Splash are our easy-to-use event themes. They make it super easy to showcase the content you've collected from your speaker surveys in a variety of creative ways. And with six different kinds of speaker blocks, there are no special skills required.

Remember, don’t over do it. Shorter is better. The goal is to get people aspirationally interested in attending your event – not detailing the life and times of your speaker.

Speakers are what sell your event. Make sure they look as interesting on the page as they are in person.

Your event page is your own piece of art. Our speaker blocks are just the starting point. Here are some suggestions to help you rethink how to display your speakers:

1. Break up your list of presenters into several sections, showcasing a featured speaker on their own, with subsidiary speakers below.

2. Showcase the speakers in a scheduled list so your guests can visualize how the event will unfold.

3. List your speakers in alphabetical order. It's a great way to solve the problem of not knowing who to put first.

4. Format the headshots. This is one of our favorite Splash hacks. In order to make your collection of speaker images look custom-made for your event, simply change them all to black and white or add a color overlay to them so they look uniform. (You can easily add a color mask in our Speaker #5 block!)

Once you’ve nailed down the specifics, created an open dialogue about the expectations, and incorporated the speaker information onto your event page, it’s time to promote.
 

Make sure you include details about your speakers several times on each platform over the course of the event promotion period. And of course, make sure to strategically reveal new things or insights each time if possible. (The reminder email is a great place to do that.)

Urge your speakers to tout the event as well. The easiest way to ensure a Tweet? Send a gift. We like to deliver a bottle of wine (or a similar vice), with a suggested Tweet tied around neck. We customize it to the speaker’s specific role, include the event hashtag and the Splash page URL. If a speaker feels valued, they'll reciprocate the good vibes.

Looking for good speakers for your next event? Seasoned speakers typically have a “booking” tab on their website. Or, you can try to enlist leaders from your favorite companies, reach out to some of our favorite booking agencies like GLG and SpeakerMatch, or search for past event agendas for ideas on who might be a good fit for your event. Another great way to find influencers in your space is to search on platforms like Klout and Bluenod.
 

Good luck!