Many companies will hire a keynote speaker perhaps once or twice a year to deliver a message to their employees or to inspire them in various ways. While planning a keynote speech can be time consuming, it is clear that hiring speakers is beneficial to a company’s success. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is the novelty of an outside speaker. This and other reasons for the success of outside speakers are listed and considered below.
- Novelty of a New Speaker: Employees often respond better to criticism and advice if it comes from someone they don’t work with every day. If that person has a proven track record of success in their field, employees are more likely to respond positively to the speaker and implement his or her advice. For example, a lecture on the importance of technology will be much more effective if given by Bill Gates instead of by the office IT manager.
- Keynote Speakers are Entertaining: Keynoters are paid to speak. If they couldn’t capture and hold an audience’s attention, they would be out of a job. A keynote speaker may not say anything that someone in your office wouldn’t think of themselves, but what they can do is deliver their information in a fun and entertaining way. Listeners are always more affected by a lecture when it was interesting and catches their imagination in some way.
- Individuality of Talks and Lectures: Each speaker has a specific way they prefer delivering their information, and the variety between speakers is part of what makes their talks effective. If you hire a keynote speaker, do not ask him or her to fit their talk into a specific format that you prefer. This will take away from the individuality and effectiveness of the speech.
- Motivate Your Employees: The point of a keynote or motivational speaker is to get your employees excited about new ideas and to fuel their imagination, helping them become more productive. The success of a speaker can be measured by how much it improves the success of your company and your workers.
- Get a Preview: In essence, a keynote speech is often a teaser for the speaker’s book. By hiring the speaker, a company can determine if buying their book for employees is worth the cost. If the speech goes well, for example, and employees are excited and invigorated by what they hear, then buying several copies of the book could further the productivity sparked by the keynoter’s speech.
Consider hiring a keynote or motivational speaker if your workers seem to be slowing down, or if your company appears to be losing some of its momentum.
