These Times They Are A-Changin'

By Stella Johnson - Corporate & Incentive Travel Magazine, October 2010

It seems that anyone connected with the professional speakers industry has an interesting story to tell, and Kristin J. Arnold, CMC, CPF, CSP, the newly inducted president of the National Speakers Association (NSA), is no different.

Arnold was one of the first women to graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy and, after putting in a 15-year stint with the Coast Guard, she packed up her acquired teambuilding skills and founded her own company Quality Process Consultants Inc. (QPC). Currently based in Scottsdale, AZ, the nearly 20-year-old company has helped corporations, nonprofit groups and governmental agencies achieve prescribed objectives through teambuilding activities and facilitation experiences. QPC lists Marathon Oil, Caterpillar Inc., Honeywell International and Hershey Foods among her long list of corporate clients.

Along the way, Arnold earned an M.B.A. in marketing strategy and professional certifications: the CMC (Certified Management Consultant), the CPF (Certified Professional Facilitator) and the CSP (Certified Professional Speaker). Her specialty is coaching executives in leadership, management and employee teamwork. Thus, she offers diversified programs around the team concept to meet the needs of C-suite officials, plus corporate managers and their sales teams.

“I also speak before all kinds of groups and offer customized speeches to meet the needs of my clients,” said Arnold, author of Boring to Bravo: Proven Presentation Techniques to Engage, Involve, and Inspire Your Audience to Action (Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2010), among other books. Obviously, Arnold knows how to navigate the waters of professional speaking at meetings and is an excellent source of insider’s information as well. In fact, she recently commissioned a professional white paper for the association, one meant to serve as “a useful tool that includes all stakeholders in the meetings industry to gain a greater appreciation of the field of professional speaking and to suggest how the industry might evolve to remain relevant in these changing times.”

Technology Reigns

The paper reports that modern-day speakers communicate to a myriad of audiences, not only face-to-face but also electronically and virtually (an area that is growing exponentially as planners become more comfortable with the technology). Speakers also present their advice and share their expertise via an ever-increasing array of delivery systems that convey information, train attendees, motivate employees and entertain geographically dispersed audiences.

Furthermore, the paper notes the changes in today’s audiences: While yesterday’s audience consisted of a gathering of like-minded people at a general session, today’s audiences have been exposed to a variety of multimedia including the Internet, cable TV, webinars and distance learning. As a result, meeting audiences are typically more tech savvy, more sophisticated, more skeptical, more bombarded by hype and not easily wowed. Speakers are catching on quickly: “They are becoming rapidly committed to lifelong learning and not just telling a summary of good ideas with a couple of good stories thrown in for good measure,” said Arnold.

When the economy nearly tanked two years ago, the number of corporate meetings decreased considerably, as did the size of meeting audiences and the number of booked engagements for professional speakers, said Arnold. As such, the situation created a buyer’s market for planners as speakers’ careers became very limited. But the speakers, rather than reducing their rates, sweetened the deal. “As my husband likes to say, it was ‘time to pull the sleeves from the vest.’ That is, speakers stepped up to the podium and offered prospective clients added value services, which could be any one of a number of things from making special guest appearances at an invitation-only VIP event at the meeting, or contribute editorially to the corporate newsletter,” noted Arnold.

The New Normal

While it is Arnold’s opinion that corporate meetings and the professional speaking business is reviving, she doesn’t believe things will ever return to the way it was before the financial crisis. “The industry will bounce back, eventually, but it will be to a new normal,” she claimed.

The new normal, according to Arnold, will consist of several components, including these three:

Choose Bureaus Wisely

Dahlton Bennington, CMP, CMM, is director of business meeting services for Fort Lauderdale, FL-based SFN Group (formerly Spherion Corporation), a staffing and recruiting company. “We utilize professional speakers for our annual incentive program and several business meetings each year for motivation, education and teambuilding purposes, and we ensure that we have quality speakers by partnering with reputable bureaus who understand our business and the goals we are setting for each meeting,” said Bennington.

Aside from working with speakers bureaus, planners who are not familiar with negotiating with professional speakers should remember that such transactions are the same as for any other vendor or supplier. Bennington advised that negotiations should focus on the value of the business each party represents and how, together, both parties can come to the best win-win scenario. “And, when booking speakers, there are often opportunities for cost savings by making valuable offers like multiple engagements for the desired person at a later conference or meeting,” she added. “Like everything else, my advice to other meeting planners is to choose your partners wisely, do your research and vet each speaker’s videos and references. And, always keep the lines of communication open. The more you share with each other, the more powerful the corporate message will be.”

Local Talent

Sports celebrities are not only popular candidates for endorsements but they also make excellent speakers at a corporate meeting, according to Adam Rauch, president of One Line Sports Agency, a New York City-based sports and entertainment marketing agency. Rauch asserted that sports-related stories about perseverance, teamwork and winning attitudes serve to inspire and motivate corporate audiences.

Because Rauch specializes in planning corporate events for a roster of Fortune 500 clients, he works directly with planners to develop upscale experiences at top sporting venues and entertainment events for business clients, executives, partners and employees. “It’s important to stress that we represent the end-client, not the talent,” he said.

Rauch strongly cautions planners to avoid booking speakers — celebrity or otherwise — who are affiliated or linked in any way to the competition. “A small detail like that, often overlooked by an inexperienced or novice planner, can spell disaster. It would be extremely embarrassing to hire a speaker only to find out he or she recently spoke at a competitor’s company within the past year.”

While some companies may not book a sports hero at an event due to budget constraints, Rauch claims that planners with compromised budgets would be wise to consider the local talent pool. He stressed that corporate groups can still maintain quality in their business program or outing by assessing the local talent in the area they are meeting in, talent that will resonate with the audience. “For instance, if we are coordinating an event in Minnesota, a popular player from the Twins or Vikings would be much more cost-efficient than getting a super-star athlete that is nationally recognized. Focusing on local appeal will also help keep costs down and maintain the quality of the speaker presentation, without losing any of the excitement.”

Furthermore, Rauch strongly recommends that planners never lose sight of the fact that it is part of the everyday, professional process for booking agents to ask for the moon when they would be happy with less.

Speaker Trends

Twenty-one years ago, Ruth Levine established Speak Inc., a San Diego, CA-based speakers bureau. A seasoned veteran, Levine is often called upon to report on trends within the professional speaker industry.

For instance, Levine noticed a marked increase in requests for economists, change experts, well-known business authors, “green” speakers and “speakers who talk about doing more with less.” She noted that in 2009 and early 2010, speakers were willing to negotiate their fees based on demand. “But, now that the good news is that meetings are bouncing back, and speakers are busier, the bad news is that the demand for speakers is higher now, and they are less apt to negotiate,” she said.

Also, said Levine, the bureau is receiving requests for speakers with a much shorter lead time, and the result is that planners may have to look at several speaker options at one time, as their main option may have already booked with another client. “But, once a speaker for an upcoming corporate meeting or event is selected, planners can expect them to be more interactive in the process than in former years,” she predicted. “Planners are now more focused on what they get for their money, and speakers are aware that the industry is requiring more flexibility and customization than in former years.”

A recent recipient of the San Diego Chapter of Meeting Professional Interna tional’s Member of the Year Award, Levine’s insider’s tips are taken seriously by planners. For example, Levin cautioned planners to be careful when considering high-profile speakers such as politicians or celebrities. She said that because they often travel with an entourage consisting chiefly of staff and security, the host company, almost without exception, is expected to cover their travel, lodging and meal costs as well. “For this reason, it is often more cost effective to book a well-known speaker who lives in close proximity to your meeting location. Some celebrities have riders that detail extensive requests for mode of travel, lavish suites and gourmet food they will require onsite,” she said. “Therefore, it is most prudent to request a copy of all speakers’ riders before you make a firm offer for them to speak.”