You're hosting an event with multiple speakers. How do you ensure a seamless transition for maximum impact?

One of the things I love to do is to insist that a speaker connect with a speaker before and after them in order to better understand the transition and who they follow and who goes after them. It also allows the speaker to become cognizant of their own timing and content to help others rather than treat their own speech as a standalone.

When we produce live speaker events we require that our speakers to be present during the talks of other speakers. I've been to many events where a speaker will outright negate a perspective or principle that a previous speaker stated. We often will have pre-event zoom meetings for our speakers and sponsors to build a sense of community and collaboration between all the speakers. While each speaker has their own individual topic it works well when there is a synergy between the speakers. This often happens without the speakers sharing their topics with each other.

One of my favorite things to advise speakers to do is to first connect with the event planner and get a map of the room. I also encourage speakers to figure out what type of seating arrangement and distance between the audience members. Very often then planners try to spread the audience out to make them feel more comfortable. This is a terrible idea for a speaker because laughter and impacts spreads when people are sitting close together. Therefore, I ask event planners to put the tables closer to the stage if possible and bring chairs closer together if possible. I also strongly suggest that speakers find out what type of microphone they will be using and whether or not the speaker system actually works.

One of the speaking tips I often give is for speakers to bring their own power point clicker, specifically one that has a timer inside of it. The Logitech has a really good model. This allows speakers to enter in the time they need to speak and have the clicker buzz when the time to finish is coming up.

Audience engagement is crucial in so many ways for a successful event. When there are multiple speakers- having the mc or host ask audience members for takeaways immediately after a speaker reinforces what was just shared and connects the audience to that speaker. Breaking the audience into groups to discuss what was just shared is another way to keep the interest level high and to shift the energy in the room. Having Aha or Memorable Moment cards for people to fill out during breaks is a great way to foster participation. Then picking a couple of them to read or to have the audience member read in front of the room (for not super large events) can be very effective.

Speakers learn and grow through proper honest feedback. Speakers want to feel that they are supported by the event organizer. Considering the topic and style of each speaker when putting together the speaker lineup can be a great way to set up your speakers for success. Showing appreciation directly to the speaker and in front of the audience is a great demonstration of support as well. Speakers should feel that they are valued-not just hired to do a job. The organizations that get this right will have long, strong, lasting relationships and a reputation for producing positively impactful events.