How to Choose the Right Speaker for Your Event: Six Essential Questions
Choosing the right speaker for your event is a critical factor in ensuring its success. With countless options available, it can be challenging to identify who will truly resonate with your audience and deliver value. Approaching this decision like a hiring process can make all the difference—engaging with multiple prospects, checking references, and reviewing previous event results are key steps to making an informed choice.
Last year, an executive from a tech company invited me to keynote their employee resource group event. While I appreciated the request, I recognized that there were speakers better suited for their women’s program—those with lived experience who could deeply connect with the audience. Although I’m an ally, I was not the right person for that stage, and I gladly referred several other speakers. This experience highlights a vital point: the right speaker matters not only for content but for authentic connection.
Over my career, I have delivered hundreds of keynotes, workshops, and retreats addressing workplace mental health, burnout, boundaries, communication, and conflict resolution for leading organizations such as Amazon, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, LinkedIn, and WebMD. Despite this, I maintain a curated list of speakers I recommend to event organizers because even the most gifted speaker can fall flat if placed before the wrong audience. Disappointing sessions often stem from a mismatch between speaker and room.
To navigate this landscape, ask yourself the following six questions before signing any contract. They will help clarify your goals and ensure you select a speaker who meets your event’s unique needs.
1. What Needs to Be Different When People Leave?
Many organizers initially focus on the topic they want covered. However, a more effective starting point is to consider what you want attendees to take away from the session. What should be different in their knowledge, mindset, or behavior after the event?
For instance, a speaker who elevates the professional stature of your conference may not be the one who re-energizes participants after lunch. If your goal is to boost registrations using a marquee name like Michelle Obama, that’s one approach. But if you want to equip managers with practical tools to navigate employee mental health, you need a speaker who can deliver actionable insights.
Consider these guiding questions:
- What do you want attendees to do differently after they leave your session?
- Are you aiming to inspire, educate, or change workplace behaviors?
- Is the session designed to attract new attendees or serve existing ones?
When organizers struggle to articulate what success looks like, it’s often a sign they are not ready to book a speaker.
2. What Kind of Speaker Does This Audience Need?
Speakers come from diverse backgrounds—some offer lived experience, others academic expertise, and some are practitioners actively engaged in the field. These types of speakers serve different audience needs but are often mistakenly treated as interchangeable.
For example, when I spoke at a university event expecting a practitioner-friendly audience, I quickly realized they had come for academic theory and peer-reviewed research. My practical tools and exercises did not meet their expectations. This mismatch diminished the session’s impact.
Diversity considerations are equally important. I always ask organizers who else is speaking and have declined invitations to all-white, all-male panels. A speaker roster should reflect the audience’s demographics and lived realities to foster inclusivity and authenticity.
3. What Does Your Speaking Fee Cover?
Speaking fees vary widely—from modest honoraria to six-figure sums. What the fee covers is not always transparent but typically includes pre-event consultations, content design, the presentation day, and post-event debriefs. Travel days, especially for multi-day events or leadership retreats, should be considered working days.
A speaker’s reputation can also be a marketing asset. Attendees often decide to register based on who is on the agenda. According to a 2023 survey by EventMB, 62% of conference-goers cited keynote speakers as a primary reason for attendance. However, public visibility alone is not sufficient. A large social media following indicates marketing savvy, which is different from the ability to engage and hold an audience’s attention for 90 minutes. Similarly, a bestselling author may excel at writing but might not handle unexpected questions or adapt in real time.
4. How Much of This Session Gets Built for Us?
Customization matters. I once attended a conference where the keynote speaker delivered the exact same speech they had given at a previous event, prompting a colleague to whisper about the repetition. Simply adding your logo to a generic deck is not enough.
Ask about the speaker’s customization process. Do they tailor content based on your goals, audience, and organizational culture? For example, I designed a conflict inventory workshop for an enterprise software company, only to discover during prep calls that they wanted me to train their team to deliver conflict training themselves. This insight led me to redesign the entire session, including exercises and facilitator notes, ensuring it met their specific needs.
5. How Do You Adapt When a Session Isn’t Landing?
Live sessions rarely go exactly as planned. During a workshop on boundaries and self-care, I noticed the audience was struggling with prioritization before we moved to a delegation activity. Recognizing this, I paused the planned agenda, used a flip chart to create a prioritization exercise on the spot, and then returned to delegation once the group was ready.
Many speakers continue through their slides regardless of audience feedback. While scripted speeches might suffice for large keynotes, interactive workshops require facilitators who can read the room and pivot accordingly. To evaluate adaptability, review full-length videos of their presentations and contact references who can speak to the speaker’s responsiveness during sessions.
6. How Far Out Is Your Calendar Booked?
Top-tier speakers often book events a year or more in advance, so last-minute requests limit your options to whoever is available. Early planning not only broadens your choices but also allows for better travel arrangements and collaborative content tailoring.
When time is tight, consider virtual sessions, which offer more flexibility. However, verify that the speaker has proven remote engagement skills; otherwise, your event risks becoming just another uninspiring meeting on attendees’ calendars.
Final Thoughts on Hiring a Professional Speaker
The most respected organizers treat the speaker selection process as a hiring decision. They engage multiple candidates, conduct reference checks, and review post-event survey data rather than relying solely on testimonials. Sometimes, this process leads to the conclusion that an external speaker isn’t needed, which can be the wisest choice.
By addressing these six questions before finalizing your booking, you ensure clarity about who you’re hiring and what your audience will experience. This proactive approach maximizes your event’s impact and creates a memorable, productive experience for everyone involved. Remember, you’ve got this!
