How To Choose After Dinner Speaker For Your Event

Planning an event is stressful ; finding the right venue, deciding on what to serve, setting a budget and then there is the entertainment part to be arranged. You want to have an after dinner speaker but you are unsure who you should get for the occasion. You look at the list of the top after dinner speakers in the UK and you are bewildered. You read names like David Gunson, Barrie McDermott, Terry O’ Connor, Steve Kindon , Robbie Glen and Steve Daley, and still cannot figure out if one of these great speakers would be right for your event. In the following lines, you will find information that will give you direction, a blueprint for hiring after dinner speakers that will get you on stable ground. This article will take you through the basics, giving you food for thought so that you know the right questions and therefore will get the correct answers to the question of what type of speaker will best serve your purpose. When choosing an after dinner speaker, the very first thing to consider is the style and scope of the event. It will not be appropriate to invite a speaker who knows nothing about business to a business event, or a comedian to a financial seminar. If you are holding a fundraiser for a charity, hire someone known to be involved with that charity, someone who has knowledge of them and their mission. Let the event determine the type of speaker. Steve Daley, though a professional footballer is ideal for After Dinner Speaker, Golf Events Motivational Speaking, Charity Events, Corporate Hospitality,Personal Appearances and Sportsman’s Dinners. If you already have a speaker, then you should plan the event around the speaker’s specialty. Price is one of the biggest deciding factors when hiring the after dinner speakers, the more popular the speaker the more costly the booking. After dinner speaking is big business and some speakers command thousands for a single evening. Fees can range from £500.00 for the lesser known speaker, up to £100,000.00 for some of the well known speakers. Some of these people have become millionaires from speaking engagements alone. If the speaker you are engaging has a book or some other wares to sell, this is another area of great consideration. Some will lower their rates in exchange for being able to use your event as a selling ground. When hiring this type of speaker, make sure what they are selling is in line with your organization's core philosophy. Also make sure that it is not in direct competition with what you are trying to achieve. Fund-raising events will generally take a percentage of the speaker’s sales as a donation to the charity in exchange for them speaking at the event. This could be advantageous to you both. Get referrals; word of mouth is still the best form of advertising. A person can have only good reports on their website or in their bio’s. Getting referrals and testimonies from actual clients are the best. If they are any good they will not balk at giving you access to their former clients. Always seek out more than one alternative, make a list of possible candidates and narrow it down based on your needs. Contracts are the most important aspect of hiring a speaker next to choosing the right person for the job. Get everything in writing. Document phone calls and conversation; try to include any stipulations up front. Detail the time, location, and any other particulars that you have in mind. Make sure that you are in complete agreement on these details in case a problem occurs later down the line. Finally never leave the speech writing to the speaker alone. This is your event and most after dinner speakers like to work closely with the organizer of the event to tailor the speech to their particular guests. Give them all the information they require about the organization or business so they can speak from a knowledge base. Give the information to them far enough in advance so that they become familiar with it before the night of the event. This is the way to hire after dinner speakers and also to safeguard yourself.