What I Look For In My Summit Speakers
I can't believe that somehow, after 287 episodes of the Summit Host Hangout podcast, that I've never shared what I look for in my summit speakers... but today we're fixing that! I've talked a lot about speakers on the podcast over the years, and even shared the 7-stage process I used for brainstorming speakers, but I've never gotten into the details of the criteria I look at when choosing my speakers.
My goal with this episode is to help those of you who are planning summits know what to look for before you start pitching speakers, but I hope it's helpful for people who want to do more speaking so you know how to set yourself up to get more speaking opportunities, too!
Choosing the right speakers for your summit is SUCH an important topic, so if you're looking for more, be sure to check out my Find Your Dream Speakers mini-course that covers this even deeper. Now let's get into it!
Listen to the episode
What I Look for in Summit Speakers
The things I usually look for when I'm selecting speakers for my virtual summits fall into three categories. First, I look at several results-focused criteria that will have an impact on the success of the event. Then, I look at criteria that impacts the summit experience overall, and finally I have my own personal criteria. Let's look at these three categories more closely:
Results-Focused Summit Speaker Selection Criteria
First and foremost, I'm not going to invite a speaker who doesn't have some kind of audience, and their audience matches my virtual summit audience. They also need to engage with their audience in some way and cultivate an active community. After all, if they're not having conversations with their own people, will they engage with the summit attendees? Probably not.
I also don't want the speaker to be "too big" to share the summit. That may sound counter to what others teach, but I've found that if a speaker is considered a "big name," they may feel like they're doing their part just by submitting a presentation and lending their name to the speaker lineup, so they don't care about sharing the summit with their own audience.
Do They Have Summit Experience?
To be clear, not all of my summit speakers have spoken on virtual summits before! That said, there are some things I look for to make sure they're ready, even if this would be their first summit speaking experience. I want to make sure they talk about a topic that I want in the summit schedule, first off. They should also have an engaging video presence (whether that's on YouTube, social media, or elsewhere... and, again, they need to have an active community. (Notice a trend?)
My Personal Summit Speaker Selection Criteria
The last category I look at are my own personal things I prioritize in my summit speakers. You can use them too, but I encourage you to figure out your own personal criteria for yourself. I'm personally looking for a professional-looking website, though I don't always focus on that. And also, much more importantly, I want to make sure the speakers I invite to my summits are aligned with my values.
What I Don't Care About in My Summit Speakers
Now that you know what I'm looking for when I select speakers to invite to my virtual summits, let's take a look at what I'm not worried about!
The Speaker's List Size
Some people teach that you should target people with big email lists or huge social media followings. I don't care about the speaker's list or following size. In all the years I've been hosting summits, I've found that list size and social media followers doesn't actually matter all that much.
In fact, I already said I often steer clear of people who are perceived as being "big names"! That's not only because of the summit promotion aspect, but also because speakers with smaller audiences are often far more excited about the opportunity to speak, and if they have an active community, they're much more likely to engage with and hype up my summit attendees too.
Whether the Speaker is Speaking at All the Other Events
It doesn't really matter if someone's been speaking at other summits or events. Actually, similarly to how speakers with smaller audiences compare to "big name" speakers when it comes to engagement, people who aren't getting invited to speak every other day are often more excited to be invited, and therefore more engaged with the attendees.
What Really Matters When Choosing Your Summit Speakers
In the end, these are just my own criteria for what matters to me and what doesn't! When you're selecting your own summit speakers, use these as guidelines, but decide what matters to you .
Resources
- Episode 137: Can I Require a Certain Email List Size from Virtual Summit Speakers?
- Episode 164: Behind the Summit #2: My Speaker Brainstorming Process
- Find Your Dream Speaker mini-course
- Summit Host Hangout Custom Playlists
- Summit Host Hangout Facebook group
- Launch with a Summit Accelerator
- 6-Figure Summits Workshop Bundle
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