Tim Sanders gets it. He knows that today’s business leaders, meeting planners and audience members demand more value from meetings – and speakers – than ever before. So what’s he doing about it?

“As a professional speaker, I’m focusing my work on generating value for the meeting planners and their customers/clients/attendees — instead of just giving rousing talks and scoring high on event surveys. The best approach to create value is to look at myself as an expert who researches, writes, speaks and delivers after-event results.”

Tim outlined exactly how he’s doing that in a blog post today:

1. Interview the meeting planner and his/her stakeholders to determine the event’s business objective, audience profile, emotional needs and measurable metrics for success.
2. Do more interviews with extended stakeholders. Conduct research to connect my expertise with the business objectives of the meetings. Circle back with the meeting planner to compare notes.
3. Write a one-of-a-kind speech, based on the research. Choose a singular archetypal story to frame the talk, so it is easy for the audience to buy-in to its premise. MOST IMPORTANT: Include at least six action items for the audience that tie-in to the business objectives.
4. Show up at event early enough to conduct on-the-ground reconnaissance with meeting planners, execs, sponsors, attendees and vendors. Rehearse (conversationally) some bits and action items to gauge their ability to move people to action. Sleep on all of your findings.
5. Get up at least two hours prior to sound check time and tweak the speech. Rehearse the entire talk if possible, integrating the customized content. Remember: The attendees know their industry and jargon much better than you do!
6. Psyche yourself into a mental state backstage that “the only reason to give a speech is to change the world.” Right before you go on stage, review the key action items you MUST include for the talk to deliver measurable short-term business value. At a recent event, for example, I knew that reducing the load of cc’d and reply-to-all emails would save my client company money, and the IT director was a stakeholder for the event. I made sure to review my points regarding “less email is better”, and gave it some weight during the talk.
7. Offer your email address from the stage, so the audience can follow up or give your feedback. This is crucial, because much value is created away from the meeting planner’s purview (surveys, word of mouth).
8. Follow up with the meeting planner, if they desire, to share your insights, audience feedback and next steps. Offer up a podcast or PDF key takeaway points document as an after event deliverable.
9. Answer EVERY follow up email from audience members, stakeholders or meeting planners. Encourage action, document it whenever possible, and include all of your findings in a database to help at future events.

Sound like the kind of speaker you’re looking for? Contact us at The Speakers Group today to discuss how Tim Sanders can add value and ROI to your next meeting or event!