5 COMMON MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE WHEN HIRING A 'KEYNOTE' SPEAKER AND HOW Volume 1 | Page 5

M IS TA KE # 3
SPEAKER OVER RUNS
OR ISN'T PROFESSIONAL
OV
This is one of my biggest gripes of our industry, the
amount of motivational speakers who unashamedly
overrun. To me overrunning is hugely disrespectful as
we all know these events have a limited timeframe and
by overrunning you are cutting into someone else’s
allocated slot. Doing this is hugely egotistical as it
suggests you believe your message is more important
that the messages of those you are squeezing out.
Sadly due to the nature of what we do, egos are not
uncommon in our industry and neither is overrunning.
E
IM
RT
E
Next, once you have chosen your speaker, impress upon
them the importance of sticking to script and keeping
within the time constraints.
SCRIPT
How do you ensure this does not happen?
Firstly, by doing your research beforehand. Again, go
back to the YouTube videos and see how lengthy their
talks are, whether they are able to convey clear concise
messages and how engaged the audience looks.
Finally, on the day make sure there is a clock all speakers
can clearly see so they know where they are and can keep
track of themselves. Never be worried about giving them
a signal or sign that they have 5 minutes left. We all get
carried away sometimes so this is always really helpful.