5 COMMON MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE WHEN HIRING A 'KEYNOTE' SPEAKER AND HOW Volume 1 | Page 7

M IS TA KE # 5
NOT MANY
TESTIMONAILS
Nothing beats a testimonial! Yet so many people fail to
use them as a way of gauging the success of a speaker.
They enable new clients to gauge the success of the
speaker’s previous speaking engagements and they
provide feedback to help us, as motivational speakers,
develop (what works, what the highlights were, etc.).
Ultimately they really are a win-win, which makes you
question speakers who aren’t actively promoting them
on their website.
When it comes to picking speakers on the basis of
testimonials there are a few things you should look
out for:
1.
Who – although all clients should be equal,
endorsements from big brands that have whole
departments focusing on communicating messages
do have far more weight than those of “unknown”
individuals?
2. Relatedness – testimonials from companies that
are in a similar field or have a similar set up are probably
more relevant.
3.
What – always look at what’s being said, are they
judging the speaker on the same criteria you are?
4.
How many – there is no such thing as too many
testimonials. They really give clients insight into the breadth
of work you do and how well you do it, so as a motivational
speaker it is in your best interest to showcase the feedback
you have been given.
So when it comes to choosing your speaker, make sure
you check their website for testimonials. If you can’t find
any then alarm bells should be ringing. Always ask for
testimonials if you can’t find any online and where possible
a speaking reference is a great way to assess the impact
the speaker has had on past audiences.
“Very engaging!”
“Captivating,
would highly
recommend”
“Brought the
subject to life!”