Tools and Resources for Your Speakers

Abstract

Your speakers are your most valuable assets in delivering this kind of educational service. As the coordinator you have the responsibility to equip your speakers with the information and tools that are going to satisfy your audiences. Providing educational tools and resources for your speakers may seem self-evident. However, we have observed and learned that most organizations do little in this area. Most organizations think that a public speaker bureau is a good idea for their organization. Once committed to the idea, they simply put out a call for speakers; speakers invariably step forward and off they go to speaking engagements. As one physician speaker from a community hospital’s speakers bureau often exclaimed to us: “I’m off to stamp out disease and push back the frontiers of ignorance.” Certainly this is an admirable effort. However, there is much work to be done to ensure quality in What your speakers are saying, How they are saying it, and How it is perceived by your audiences. Even those expert speakers on esoteric subject matters need resources from you—if only to support the organizational and mission related messages. This assurance continues, after a quality recruitment and training process, with providing your speakers with appropriate educational tools and information resources.