5 Tips to Stretch Your Speaker Budget

5 Tips to Stretch Your Speaker Budget

You’re stuck.

You want your event to be a HUGE SUCCESS, but the budget is tight and you’re not sure paying for a professional speaker is the way to go. Now what?

Here’s the deal . . . there are two major reasons people attend professional events: networking and new info provided by speakers. You need to find a professional speaker who clearly understands your audience and shares your dedication to creating a fun, engaging, and successful event; someone whose focus is not on selling books, products, or other services, but rather on delivering truly useful presentations to each and every audience. Their livelihood depends on it.

What about the budget?

Selecting a professional may impact the budget, but event planners know the rewards far outweigh the upfront cost. Here are some suggestions on saving $$$ in other ways:

1. Find a strong vendor/partner willing to be a speaker sponsor. They can do the speaker introduction and have their logo on the marketing materials. Many professional speakers will also thank sponsors on social media platforms to extend the marketing value of their sponsorship.

2. Invite sponsors and members to bring in the rest of their team, even if they are not all active in the organization. This provides additional value to their whole company!

3. Partner with other similar professional organizations to be co-event sponsors.

4. Coordinate schedules with other local professional organizations within the same time period. Most speakers will offer a reduced rate if they can present multiple times in one area. This also saves on travel expenses.

5. Open the event to the public and/or non-members to drive additional ticket sales. This supports the budget and may also attract new people to your organization.

How can you ensure the speaker will be effective for your group and make you look like an event planning ROCK STAR!?

You know you are working with a true professional when they provide:

• A customized presentation that meets the unique needs of your attendees (Everyone likes cookies, but no one enjoys a cookie cutter presentation!)
• Video examples of their work to make it easy for you to judge if they’re right for your group
• Credentials indicating their commitment to professional organizations
• Pre-event support material on presentation subjects and types of programs available
• Recommendations that give you peace of mind before the event and help support the search for sponsors

The right speaker is vital to your event’s success. By hiring the person who delivers what you’d hoped for – and more – your attendees will leave knowing they gained valuable information and immediately actionable strategies.

Want more info on this topic? Check out Hiring the Perfect Speaker.