Your speaker lineup and the success of your event go hand in hand. Speakers add a ton of value beyond their thought leadership and online presence.
When you combine just the right mixture of reach, relevance, and authenticity, your speakers can influence and persuade attendees to register for your event.
What’s more, speakers act as “brand ambassadors” for your event once they are in your lineup. Not only do they want to have a good turnout for their presentation, but they also benefit from your event being successful.
The relationship between your speaker lineup and your event is reciprocal.
This is why it’s so important to find the best speakers for your event.
And in this article, we’re going to share the four archetypes that most speakers fall into.
If you haven’t already, read The 15 Invaluable Traits of Top Keynote Speakers to make it even easier to find the perfect speaker for your event.
4 Speaker Archetypes
- The Outside of the Box Speaker — Keep in mind that not every speaker has to be a perfect match for your conference. Look at their story and see if it can be connected to the conference in some way. This type of speaker may shake up your audience a bit to think differently and approach their lives and businesses from a new perspective.
- The Industry Niche Exert Speaker — As on of the more difficult speakers to find, a niche expert knows her stuff about a specific industry. You may be hosting attendees looking for a very specific collection of information. You can deliver it to them, but be ready to spend the extra time to find this type of speaker.
- The Publicly Recognized Speaker — You’re looking for a keynote speaker that will draw a crowd. You need a keynote that can deliver. And you’re willing to do what it takes to get the, otherwise known, celebrity speaker. When you choose a publicly recognized speaker, you get more than a riveting presentation.
- The Influential Speaker — You will find that this type of speaker is has a sizeable following on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or otherwise. An influential speaker certainly draws a crowd, because she actively engages with her fans — and will probably find some fans in your audience, too.
Now that you know the four major speaker archetypes, it’s time to consider how you can balance your speaker lineup. While you may think scheduling your speakers a certain way throughout the day doesn’t matter, the attendees say otherwise — and so does human nature.
Balance Your Speaker Lineup Quickly and Easily
If you haven’t heard, humans are hardwired for story, and you want to use this hardwiring to balance your speaker lineup.
Your speakers should tell a greater story that presents a specific them or set of themes throughout your event.
For example, your event may be about resilience and persistence. You will want your speakers to share every-increasing dramatic stories of their own situations of required resilience and persistence that lead to the message of the event: “Keep Moving Forward.”
You see, balancing your speaker lineup is somewhat like balancing a four-course meal at a restaurant. You have your soup/salad, appetizer, entree, and dessert. Each course brings something different to you, the diner.
You want your attendees to feel like their getting an intellectual and emotional four-course meal when they experience your speaker lineup.
How you organize your speaker lineup is completely up to you, but it can have a huge impact on how these speakers are received during your event.
Takeaways
Now that you know the 4 speaker archetypes and grasp a basic understanding of how to balance your speaker lineup, it’s time to consider who you’re going to bring on to speak at your event. It’s never easy finding the best speakers, but Platinum is here to help! Review our roster of speakers and find one that fits your event.
Here are the takeaways from the article today:
- 4 Speaker Archetypes
- The Outside of the Box Speaker
- The Industry Niche Expert Speaker
- The Publicly Recognized (Celebrity) Speaker
- The Influential Speaker
Remember, balance your speaker lineup like a four-course meal. Tell a story from the first speaker to keynote speaker that delivers your message and them on a silver platter to your attendees.