Which Public Speaker Is Right For You?
Conference season is in full swing, and many companies both large and small are either hosting one or sending their employees out to learn, mingle, and gain perspective heading into next year. It’s also a great time for public speakers to fill up their calendars and provide insight, entertainment, and key takeaways for conference attendees.
If you’re an event planner, you’ve probably spent countless hours scouring the Internet, researching public speakers to book for a conference, workshop, or other gathering. But if you’re new to booking public speakers, you might be a little overwhelmed by all the options available — especially considering the different categories of speakers that exist. But fret not; below is a quick guide to understanding the various speaker types out there and how they can impact your event.
The Motivational Speaker
It’s safe to say that the motivational speaker is the public speaker type that started it all. We all know the jokes about Matt Foley (the late Chris Farley’s hilarious character from Saturday Night Live) and living in “a van down by the river”, but motivational speakers have risen to massive popularity over the years. The best known and most successful motivational speakers, like the late Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins all share one thing in common: a goal to influence change. This could be done through narratives about overcoming a seemingly impossible situation, through research they have accumulated, or by communicating their overall perspective on life.
For example, adventurer and public speaker Matt McFadyen is a record breaking explorer with successful expeditions to the North Pole and Antarctica. He also had a near-fatal capsize off the coast of Antarctica that inspired drastic change in the course of his life. Now, he takes these lessons he has learned and sews them into speeches to help inspire teamwork and leadership. His experiences may be specific to him, but the lessons he has learned are motivational and inspiring to both individuals and businesses alike.
Another example is former Air Force Fighter Pilot Jim Murphy, who went from “farm boy to fighter pilot” in 16 months. Jim was able to set a seemingly impossible goal for himself, achieve it, and now has motivational perspective and lessons that he passes down to his audiences in hopes of showing them that if he can do it, so can they.
If you’re looking for a speaker that can inspire change, think big picture, and inspire an audience to act, the motivational speaker is the right choice for you and your company.
The Corporate Speaker
While the motivational speaker might be the most well-known and sought after, a corporate speaker might be the right selection if you’re looking to have a message that is customized to your audience. Many motivational speakers do a great job of telling inspiring stories to the audience that contain general, evergreen takeaways. Corporate speakers, however, use their experiences and cater their speaking topics towards specific pain points that corporations may have. Presentation-wise, corporate speakers are typically going to be more content-driven than story-driven. For example, a corporation may be stuck in a rut and need help with innovation. Booking a corporate speaker, like our very own John Rossman for example, allows that company to bring in somebody who has experience in that very topic. As a former executive for Amazon, Rossman draws on his experience as an engineer and builder to provide a strong value proposition on how he views certain topics, like innovation and creativity.
That said, corporate speakers do not necessarily have to be former operators, and can instead come from a place of research and data collection to provide great insight on business-critical topics. Speakers like Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna, both represented by us at the Kirkpatrick Agency, are great examples of sales and customer service focused researchers who can provide actionable insights and takeaways about their niche topics.
Another example of a corporate speaker (who could also fit in the motivational category as well) is author, podcaster, and master of shenanigans Paul Long. Paul mixes humor and great storytelling to deliver a philosophical approach to corporate speaking, focusing on a concept he developed called “Fundamism”. Paul helps corporations understand the importance of not taking themselves too seriously, discussing the FUNdamentals of meaningful leadership, awe-inspiring service, and connected selling.
One thing is for certain: if you’re looking for a public speaker that has experience and can cater their message to address real business needs, then the corporate speaker is the one for you.
The Transformational Speaker
If you’re looking for a public speaker with a little more of a “hands on” approach, a transformational speaker might be a good fit for you and your company. Oftentimes, transformational speakers present to a larger audience and then continue the relationship on a smaller scale, hosting interactive workshops and immersive experiences to get to the heart of the issue.
A great example of a transformational speaker is Sara Frasca, one of the speakers on our roster. Sara spent 13 years at General Mills in multiple leadership roles. She then spent additional time at several startups, before listening to her entrepreneurial spirit, opening the Italian restaurant Trasca & Co. Eatery. Since then, she’s started a consulting business (Point NorthEast) and was named the 2017 Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Jacksonville, FL. All of this experience has given Sara the type of know-how required to provide a transformational point of view to her clients. She not only offers general speaking opportunities, but provides consulting and workshop options to her clients to continue to help businesses improve their culture and operations.
Another example of a transformational speaker is Executive Coach, Marine Corps veteran, and author of New York Times best-seller “Spark”, Angie Witkowski. Angie not only speaks to companies about topics like taking meaningful risks and leadership, but she also provides training and coaching opportunities to clients who want to dig deeper into her knowledge and experience.
If you’re working at a company that not only needs a speaker to come in and help motivate change, but want to continue the relationship to provide coaching and insight into specific business opportunities, a transformational speaker is the right choice for you.
The Cause-Based Speaker
If your company is looking to dig into topics like environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), or even something more philosophical like mindfulness or work-life balance, then a cause-based speaker could be perfect for your next event. Cause-based speakers do a great job of coming into a corporation to educate people on these and other topics that require a blanketed understanding amongst a group. Bringing a cause-based speaker in can be the first step in motivating and transforming the group’s collective thinking on the topic, and can help to usher in long-standing change over time.
The Celebrity Speaker
If you’ve been granted a hefty budget to book a speaker for your event, and want to provide some entertainment and big-name cache along with some motivation, look no further than the celebrity speaker. Celebrity speakers tend to be a little light on content, and do not typically customize their message, so if you’re looking for something more specific, the categories above should fit the bill. But if you’re looking to provide that “WOW!” factor, while helping to increase attendance, than everybody from former presidents to entertainers and sports stars can be yours. It’s important to note that some celebrity public speakers do not tend to “present” and instead prefer to do a moderated Q&A, so in addition to the main attraction, you will need to find somebody to sling some questions their way. Either way, celebrity speakers help create buzz and excitement around your event, and that can make all the difference in the world.
Are you looking to book a speaker for your next event, but not sure where to start? Here at the Kirkpatrick Agency, our goal is to listen to your needs and connect you with a speaker that will no doubt be perfect for you and your business. To learn more about the speakers on our roster, contact us and we’ll follow up with you right away.