Turning Events into Investments: A Speaker's Perspective

Serving as a speaker at an event requires a considerable investment of time and effort. How can this investment deliver a return to your own bottom line?

First, invest the time to make a great impression. Unfortunately, many speakers "wing" their live presentations and forgo the opportunity to showcase themselves in the best possible light. Below are recommendations to consider when preparing for a speaking engagement and working with an event host.

Putting your best face forward

1. Furnish a quality, professional photo and/or firm logo that fulfill the required size and resolution specifications.
2. Furnish a biography that is relevant to the audience and fulfills the required length.
3. Provide support materials such as PowerPoint presentations, articles and white papers.
4. Prepare a presentation that meets the audience's needs, addresses the topic promoted by the event host and fits within the time limitations.
5. Bring a copy of your live presentation with you on a flash drive as a backup.

Speakers often arrive a few minutes prior to their presentations and then leave immediately afterward. In some cases, this is unavoidable. In others, it is simply a missed opportunity. As a speaker, you are the one everyone wants to meet. Why not take advantage of it? Below are suggestions to maximize your time at an event when you are not onstage. (You can see additional ideas in my previous article An Attendee's Perspective).

Maximize your networking at the event

1. Do due diligence on individuals who you expect to attend and would like to meet.
2. Attend the entire event. Opportunities may present themselves when you least expect it.
3. Prepare and offer event attendees a special takeaway as a way to meet your audience and exchange business cards.
4. Have additional, non-event-related reasons for you to keep in contact with your audience.
5. If you promise to do something for someone you meet at an event, be sure to follow up. This gives you the opportunity to stay in contact and to establish a reputation of dependability.

An event delivers value over a continuum, not just on "game day." With this in mind, below are several suggestions to harness the value of your speaking engagement well beyond the event.

Leverage the exposure beyond the event

1. Leverage all speaker benefits you are entitled to receive from the event host.
2. Issue a press release highlighting your role as a speaker at the event, post it on your website, and e-mail it to your network.
3. Link your professional biography on your website to the event website.
4. Forward the promotional e-mails you receive from the event host to your network with a personalized cover note highlighting your role as a speaker.
5. Highlight your speaking engagement in your own e-mail publications.
6. Request copies of the printed event marketing collateral, tag the pages on which you are featured and distribute them to your network with a personalized cover note.
7. Post news of your role as a speaker on blogs, Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn.
8. Provide any complimentary registrations you receive to colleagues, current clients and/or prospective clients.
9. Encourage your colleagues to attend the event to enhance your visibility.
10. Audio or video record your session and post it on your website and other relevant Internet mediums.
11. Convert your presentation and/or support materials into published articles.

When you serve as a speaker, you provide significant value to your fellow attendees. By following the simple strategies outlined above, you can also transform your speaking engagement into a valuable investment for yourself.

Tracy Kwiker is president of Pivotal Events, based in California. Contact her at: tracy@pivotalevents.com.

The information and views of this contributing columnist are not necessarily the views or opinion of Meetings + Events or its parent company, Tiger Oak Publications.