10 tips on How to Treat a Guest Speaker you’ve Invited to your Event
This article is aimed at:
- event organizers who want to invite guest speakers
- for speakers who want to know what to expect when they’ve been invited to present at an event.
As a result of speaking at 150+ conferences and other event types for eight years (as keynote, regular speaker and workshop leader) I’ve ended up giving advice on public speaking and what to expect as an invited speaker.
But I’ve also picked up tips on what event organizers can do to make their invited speakers feel valued, and help them to be the best speaker possible. If you’re an event organizer, you’ll want to read this before you enagage with guest speakers.
Being invited to speak at a conference is an absolute honour, and at least for me, never gets old. What’s not to love? Someone who doesn’t even know you personally (in most cases) is asking that you impart your knowledge upon their audience because…
- they’ve heard good things about you
- heard you speak at another event and liked what you had to say
- read/seen your work and like it
Being invited to share your work and ideas is humbling, exciting and can mean exploring more of the world. I’ve visited 52 cities in 29 countries just through being asked to share my work professionally (excluding holidays!) so it can be incredibly rewarding if you want to be a globetrotter. Trust me when I say, all invited speakers know how lucky they are. However, all speakers that I know (and yes, speakers do talk to other speakers!) understand that it’s their hard work, intellect, ideas and professionalism that means people want to listen. In short, most guest speakers know their value. Some may have a bad case of imposter syndrome, (and you can read here on how to tackle that), but the more experienced the speaker, the more they’re assured of their value and will have certain expectations on how an event should engage them.
When you invite someone to speak at your event, rest assured that they are going to give the best presentation/workshop that they can, with the best slide deck/material they can produce. In short, your invited speaker will want to shine at your event and will put a lot of time, energy and passion into their presentation. This article highlights 10 areas that event organisers should consider to ensure that their invited speakers’ time, energy and passion is valued.
After all, the invited speaker is presumably one of the stars, if not the star of your show. So following the 10 guidelines will not just help to make your invited speaker feel valued, but also make their lives much easier in handling all that’s involved in getting to and speaking at your event. As a result, they’ll be more likely to come back and speak at your event in the future. Based on my experiences, there are many conferences that I’ve spoken at more than once and will be happy to speak at again, but there are a few I will never speak at for a second time, or recommend to other speakers. This list of tips has been compiled by observing what the good events did well (and contributed to wonderful, unforgettable experiences) and what to avoid by drawing upon the not-so-great experiences I’ve had from the events that didn’t do so well.
#1: Money matters to speakers
The person you’re inviting to speak at your event should never be out-of-pocket, especially if travelling from abroad. Whether you’re paying your speaker a fee or not, you as the conference organiser should cover any train, taxi and flight fees as well as accommodation. Remember, the speaker you’re inviting is already going take time away from their work, partners, wives, husbands, children, dogs etc. to speak at your event. They’ll be spending time in taxis and trains, at crazy hours of the day or night, to get to airports. Then, they’ll be waiting approx. 1–3 hours in airports for their flights when checking-in. Then they’ll be spending hours upon hours on a flight and then more time in a bus/train/taxi from the airport to your conference venue at the other side. They’ll be standing in endless queues. And of course they’ll be spending time ‘hanging around’ before and after their presentation. Then, your invited speaker will be doing this journey all over again on the way back to their homes or work. No matter how much people might love to travel, these journeys can be cumbersome. I’ve not met a person yet who is a fan of airport security. So you, as the event organizer, need to keep this in mind to understand how much your invited speaker truly wants to be at your event for him/her to give up work and personal time in this way. If they’re giving up their time to be part of your event, the least you can do is ensure they’re not financially out-of-pocket - this includes reimbursing things like VISA and ESTA fee’s. In many cases, international speakers may already have such items, but where they don’t, reimburse them. By covering the fee’s relating to their travel to your event, this leaves them to focus on what’s needed: wowing your audience and being the best speaker they can be.
#2 Avoid saying to speakers: “it’ll give you good exposure”
If the speaker didn’t have good exposure already, you woudn’t have heard of them. Saying this is a MASSIVE no-no and condescending to new and experienced speakers alike. It also de-values your speaker. You wouldn’t walk into a cafe and ask for a free coffee because drinking the coffee will give the store visibility. Same goes for your invited speaker. This is a business transaction; the speaker is going to draw and engage an audience for your commercial gain, and the guest speaker wants to be able to pay his/her bills and not lose out financially because they’ve paid for a flight to speak at your event. It’s also discourteous; would you invite someone to your home and expect them to make their own meal or would you cook for them? Your invited speaker will be savvy enough to know if the audience at your event are in his/her target market (they don’t need you to tell them who their target clients are), and will likely have all the visibility they need (after all, you heard of them, right?). Finally, guest speakers do not overtly look for sales when providing guest presentations. The point of you inviting them to speak at your event is because you want them to impart their knowledge, not for them to use your audience as a captive sales group. By saying ‘we won’t cover your costs because you might find clients/get exposure’ could shift the focus from ‘knowledge-sharing’ to ‘sales-gaining’, and could even encourage less experienced guest speakers to start making their presentation salesy, which you do not want. And one last thing; you’re likely to be one of many event organizers who are trying to get that speaker to a stage; why would they go for one that leaves them out-of-pocket?
#3 Be organised and punctual, no matter the culture on punctuality.
Luckily, 99% of conferences I’ve spoken at are organized and run their programs like clockwork. However, different cultures differ on punctuality; some have a more relaxed outlook while others find lateness offensive. Your invited speaker is likely to be happy to immerse themselves in the culture where the event takes place. However, as an event organiser you have a responsibility to respect the culture of your invited speaker. If your speaker is likely to find lateness offensive, but your event has got off to a late start, you need to handle the issue with sensitivity. But no matter which country your event is being hosted in, never delay your invited speakers presentation if you can help it. If you want your speaker to be organized, then respect their time and be organized yourself.
#4 Your event needs to represent equality and treat every speaker equally
I was invited to speak at a conference in early 2017, and I was literally the only female speaking at the event the entire day. Coming from a culture where I am used to seeing both genders more or less equally represented on stage (there is more work to do in this area), this was a culture shock, and made me question the fairness of the whole event. I’ve also spoken at other events where there are all male panels, or I’ve been the only female on a panel. This is not right, and gender equality should be high on your priority list as the event organizer. You should also treat all your speakers equally no matter their gender, age or cultural background. It is not uncommon now to have speakers younger than 20 and older than 60 on a stage. Frequently (when I was in my early 20's) I was the youngest on the stage, so I know first hand how intimidating it can be. It is also, sadly, not uncommon to have one or two people from ethnic minorities as speakers in a largely white-speaker event programme. So if your speaker is unique in terms of their age or ethnicity in comparison to your other speakers, make sure you treat them with the same respect and courtesy as other speakers.
#5 Get the travel documents correct for your speaker
If the person you’ve invited to speak at your event accepts your invitation, congratulations! But before celebrating, you need to immediately inform them on whether they require an ESTA, VISA or some other official documentation to let them get into the country where your event is taking place. If there are airport taxes, let them know about those too. And give your speaker all the relevant website addresses to apply and find information on all these things. Again, these items when paid for upfront by the speaker, should be financially reimbursed. Give maps, give travel directions, and make sure you give options for travel via subways, taxi’s and walking.
#6 Consider if your speaker is self-employed or a company employee
A company employee will likely have a designated department to help with things like booking flights, applying for VISAs and so on. They may even have assistance creating presentation material, like slides. However, self-employed people or owners of start-ups are less likely to have this kind of support and will be organizing everything themselves. Again, this is more time that your invited speaker is spending to make sure they can get to your event and make it amazing. So where possible, offer your help to speakers — do they need help booking anything? Can you book things on their behalf, like taxi’s or flights? Does the speaker need help knowing the best taxi firms/subway routes etc. once they’ve arrived at the conference destination? Even if your speaker says that they don’t need any help, they’ll be grateful that you asked. As someone who is self-employed, I’ve had event organizers take care of the big things like flights, through to the smaller elements like booking a taxi, and I cannot express what time-savers these have been for me. It also makes me want to hug the organizers for being thoughtful and helpful. :)
#7 Manage changes for the speaker
Organising a conference can be crazy and it is impossible to always get things perfect. So when things don’t work (i.e the room has changed where your invited speaker was due to speak, or they will be speaking earlier/later than planned etc) LET THEM KNOW ASAP. Your invited speaker is likely to still be working while away from their work/home, especially if they’re self-employed as they’ll likely need to continue working to continue earning even while attending your event. But whether your speaker is a company employee or self-employed, they may have client calls scheduled, or may even have a time scheduled to speak to a loved one back home. Therefore, a change in the day/time/place of their presentation can impact other things they have planned and may even mean they need to re-assess their entire presentation. By letting them know upfront what the changes are, they can better manage other things they planned.
#8 Speakers are humans too
Sometimes, challenges might present themselves and your invited speaker can’t make the event, or there is some kind of delay. Note, that while an experienced and professional speaker is unlikely to be late/not show up, there are things that might happen outside of their control, and they’ll be just as frustrated as you with whatever has caused the issue (be it a delayed flight/delayed taxi or an unforeseen personal matter). A professional speaker is likely to do all they can to still make it. Therefore, be understanding and flexible if things like this occur. If a speaker can’t make it because they’re sick, or a loved one is sick, remember: they’re humans too. Don’t let your event get in the way of your humanity, no matter how inconvenienced you might feel. For these extremely rare occasions, professional speakers may even have Terms and Conditions in place to help elucidate the inconvenience of such matters if they arise. And on that note…
#9 Expect Terms and Conditions from your invited speaker
Remember that the person you’ve invited to speak at your event has likely done this before. They know their shit and will be super-organised. In some cases, because they are so experienced, they may even have Terms and Conditions in place for public speaking to ensure that everything is planned as best as possible and the expectations of both parties are clearly outlined.
As a conference organiser, you should make sure that any such Ts and Cs are signed well in advance of your speaker travelling to your conference. In some cases, speakers will not even look at your invitation, let alone travel to your event unless such agreements are signed, so move quickly!
#10 Give feedback and say thank you to your speakers
Your invited speaker will always be delighted to hear how much the audience enjoyed their presentation or workshop. You should also give feedback: what you think the speaker did really well and where relevant, perhaps what could have been better.
But if you can see that your guest speaker did the job of wowing your audience, and was even key to your conference getting such a good attendance rate, then say thank you and follow up with the speaker once they’re back at home. One of the most valuable things that event organizers have done for me is give me stat-based feedback; things like ‘this was our highest attendance rate, ever’ or ‘your talk scored the highest feedback’. This is information that I value and I know other guest speakers add this kind of info onto their websites and even their CVs. You can also say thank you in other ways; making sure that the guest speaker had a good time is always valued, and making sure that they have opportunities to meet other people at your event is also good. On my bookshelf I have several books given to me as gifts by event organizers, and lord knows I’ve piled the pounds eating gifts of boxes of chocolates (I have a sweet tooth)! But no matter the size or expense of the gift, it really is the thought that counts and makes a speaker feel special when you simply say ‘thank you’.
If you have your own tips, feel free to share!
