I'll Take The Expert
How to Hire the Right Keynote Speaker or Trainer for Your Next Event
By Brian Norris, 414-899-1905

  Okay, so it’s time for your annual convention or training conference. Expectations are high. Last year, the opening keynote was delivered by General Colin Powell. Even the breakout sessions were stocked with best-selling authors and household names.

  This year, you have to bring in a keynote speaker who really sets the tone and addresses this year's theme from the get-go. You also need a speaker who can provide powerful training to your top performers. Do you hire Katie Couric, Dan Brown, Larry King, Pat Riley …. Or do you shock them all by hiring non-celebrities and opting for the experts?

Seriously.

   Instead of investing $40,000 in a best-selling author or internationally known television personality, have you considered the possibility of working with a topical or issue authority? An expert (or experts) who may not have the name recognition of an Oprah Winfrey, but rather, has the reputation of actually knowing a thing or two about trends and issues that are affecting your organization right now? Someone who can answer the tough questions and still delivers the power and pizzazz that make the opening session (and the breakouts that follow) memorable?

Value. Value. Value.

   Since 1990 I've been teaching audiences the secrets to effectively positioning themselves, and their products and services. Audiences quickly learn to focus on the value they're providing to their buyers. As a decision maker and event planner, your "buyers" are your attendees and executives. Consequently, every decision you make revolves around the value, perceived or otherwise, that your attendees are going to get from experiencing the presenter.

   Now, don't get me wrong. I admire the Colin Powells, Madonnas, Donald Trumps and George Foremans of the world. But their celebrity status doesn't necessarily mean that they can meet the needs of your audience. Quite often, a celebrity may not represent the solutions and interactivity demanded by sophisticated adult audiences. Colin might know politics and military strategy and Madonna might know music. But these individuals are only good choices if military or music are what you need someone to speak about.

   Generally, it's a wise bet to hire someone who is immersed in the topics or issues, can relate directly with my needs or has the experience or insight to help me solve my specific problems. Still, it always amazes to see a television star asked what we can do to turn the economy around.

   Being a celebrity doesn't mean having all the answers. It means you're good at writing, singing, acting or getting into trouble. It means you have a great publicist. Furthermore, celebrities are sometimes good for product and service endorsements, commercials and public relations events where you need the whole world to take notice. In an increasingly skeptical world, even this practice has become increasingly ineffective in increasing sales.

In contrast, being an expert means that you've done your homework, are immersed in your subject matter or craft at all times, and that you never stop learning. It means you can communicate your ideas and insights dynamically to an audience of any size. It means that instead of purporting to know alot about everything, you know a few topics so incredibly well that people can benefit from your insight immediately.

  The people who pay to attend a conference or have won the right to attend a sales and training event are professionals at what they do. As experienced professionals, their time is valuable. Plus, they have increasingly seen it all before. They want to hear information that not only makes them feel good, but actually helps them to improve some aspect of their lives.

• Some are looking for ways to improve their bottom lines.
• Some are looking for ways to communicate more powerfully with their buyers, employees and employers.
• Some are hoping to hear something that validates their purpose, position and profession.

   In each of these scenarios, the marketing experts, communications experts or motivation experts are the pool of speakers you should draw from.

This is an extremely important point: If the expert you're considering can't present, don't hire them!

   In addition to presenting and facilitating, I've often contracted to coach others to become better trainers and presenters. The biggest nightmare I've been hired to correct? Coaching educators to train or present to adult audiences! Educators, especially those stuck for years in the archaic, esoteric world of academia, are the last people you probably want presenting, speaking, training or anything else to your audience! It's a recipe for disaster.

   When considering a speaker for your next conference, seminar, workshop or on-site training event, I strongly recommend that you avoid people with lots of letters after (or before) their names.

Why?

   I'll give you 10 reasons that I consistently observe while these educators lecture (as opposed to train or facilitate) in workshop or keynote settings.

1. They're often too smart for their own good. They see themselves as the all-knowing"teacher" and often trivialize or ridicule their "students" with condescending humor, remarks and tone.

2. They know what they know, but don't know how to share that knowledge in a coherent way. They often recite from the dissertation imprinted in their mind, even if the information is outdated or inaccurate.

3.They often ramble and get stuck in deep pockets of irrelevant detail that put audiences to sleep. Often, they like to show off with really big words that fail to communicate or impart ideas to anyone without a dictionary or thesaurus.

4. They have a hard time thinking on their feet and answering questions succinctly.

5. They tend to be allergic to technology and require lots of hand holding. Many are stuck in the world of overhead transparencies and couldn't produce a relevant PowerPoint presentation if their life depended on it. They love talking to the screen instead of the audience.

6. They're disengaged and come across as boring. Minimal eye-contact. Minimal emotions. Minimal body language. Minimal vocal variety. It all adds up to minimal impact.

7. They get defensive when someone questions or challenges them.

8. They specialize in theory instead of reality.

9. They're generally lacking in creativity. The education system frowns on innovation, imagination and creative problem solving. As a result, many educators are way too left brain to elicit dialogue, discussion and practical application.

10. They'll end up costing you money and low event ratings. In each of the cases where I was brought in too late in the process to keep these professors/educators from completely destroying the client's reputation, the evaluations were littered with seas of contemptuous remarks and "I hated it" scores.

Even worse, at least 30% of the audience (who paid $800 each to attend the two-day training program) demanded refunds from the training company who had hired the professor to lead the program. Not only did the training company lose close to $30,000 because of refunds, they also marred their otherwise excellent reputation and lost future repeat business.

   Don't mistakenly think that a person with lots of degrees or a person who teaches at a college or university is necessarily an expert. Anyone who rests on their academic laurels, is unable to treat the audience like adults, can't transfer what they know and is just boring should be eliminated from your trainer and speaker selection process.

   When searching for the right speaker to present, make a real effort to compare the value your audiences have gotten in the past (this is where those handy program evaluation sheets come in) to the value that you really want at the next meeting. Most of us, as somewhat intelligent customers, like to believe that we are getting the best bang for our buck with every investment we make.

   Just as your boss wants to see the ROI for every educational session, exhibit or marketing effort, your audience wants to what's in it for them. Is it worth their time? Is it worth their membership fees and registration fees?

   Value is rarely an issue of price. Rather, it's contingent on the total experience that your attendees and organization walk away with. Intangibles are difficult to measure. Nevertheless, unless your presenter can deliver the total package, you're going to let down your buyers.

The Norris Value Principle: The key to establishing long-term value is taking certain attributes and bundling them into a final outcome. These attributes include: Integrity, thoroughness, customization, quality, personalization, connection, relevant information and legitimate expertise.

   The NVP is applicable to any service or product. Notice that actual price has little to do with real value. In fact, cost is only a consideration when you fail to provide the buyer with the above ingredients , fail to position yourself as a resource or fail to win your buyers' trust.

   With the NVP in mind, who do you think is more likely to deliver that value; the superstar celebrity or the industry expert who does a great job of verbally sharing his or her message?

A few more suggestions to consider on working with the right expert:

Entertainment Value - I don't care what the format is, audiences want a certain level of entertainment. We want to smile, because humor encourages learning and higher retention. Choose an expert who takes the dullness out of your meetings and interjects fun and something different. I call it Casual Professionalism -- the art of entertaining and connecting with an audience on a personal level, without offending or losing credibility. Casual Professionalism is in. Stilted, monotone, over-rehearsed oratories are out.

Experience- Did your presenter wake up yesterday and decide to speak professionally? Or do they have a track record. Today's top experts generally leave a paper trail of articles for magazines, trade journals, newsletters and columns. Ask for samples. Many have books, tapes and other products that impart their knowledge and experience to their audiences. Also ask for testimonials. Arrange to talk to the presenter one-on-one and decide how expert the expert really is.

Teaching Style- Although learning preferences vary slightly from generation to generation, a safe bet is to work with an expert who is a master facilitator. Will the expert speaker be able to engage your audience and encourage feedback? Does the speaker have the insight to ask the questions that lead to newer understandings about the organization and about the individuals who form that organization?

Even the notions of keynotes are evolving into a more participatory exchange of ideas. I don't mean a simple "raise your hands if…" scenario. I mean soliciting the input of your audience and use it to predicate the outcome of the presentation. Will your attendees benefit more from a talking head or someone who acts as a conduit for exchange of ideas within the group?

Results- Does your presenter have a system? Do they have a set of governing principles, guidelines or strategies that are either industry specific or are directly applicable to your industry? Is there a way to measure the impact of those strategies?

Involvement Factor-. Involvement also has a lot to do with the emotional journey that the presenter takes your audience on. Inevitably, a good presenter is a tour guide leading his audience into joy, laughter, anger, fear and tears only to take them back to a place where they feel good about themselves and are ready to return to their jobs with some tools and a renewed sense of optimism.

Content and Technology Overload- A good chunk of the information being circulated in the speaking profession is outdated and some experts are just awful in their delivery. Some presenters also sound like an infomercial trying to sell additional services or products. Be sure to let your speaker know what you expect in a presentation. If his products are beneficial to your audience, discuss pre-selling the products by incorporating them into the meeting's educational budget or offer the speaker a copy of the mailing list to use after the presentation.

Also, I see an alarming trend which I call PowerPoint Syndrome, where presenters fall into the trap of overproducing and smothering the audience in technology so that eventually, the primary message gets swallowed. Technology is an asset -- a tool. It is not the message.

The key is balance. While we want to avoid the overhead transparency projector, we also want more than pretty pictures. While we want content, we also want stories that make that content applicable and memorable. We want (and deserve) an experience.

   You don’t have to spend a fortune to create a memorable event. You must, however, work with an expert who can verbally communicate your organization's theme and assist you in taking your audience to the next level. Celebrity superstars, internationally known talk-show hosts and authors have their place. Even educators can be useful. But neither of these professions probably belong in an adult training or keynote environment.

   So when it comes to providing real value and concrete benefits for my audience/buyers/organization, I'll take the experts.

Brian Norris is a leading expert specializing in helping companies to sell more, lead better and stay positive. He speaks nationally, coaching and consulting with organizations that want access to the best ideas on growing through smarter marketing, better leadership and stronger morale. He may be reached by calling 414-899-1905, emailing info@briannorris.com or visiting www.BrianNorris.com

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