If you have been assigned the task of making your company’s next event a success, hiring a good training room rental is half the job done. The other half is about choosing the right speaker. Understanding your audience’s demographic is as important as hiring someone with enough experience behind them.

Depending on the topic and your target audience, you may want to choose a speaker from within or from outside of the industry. Here are some ways to choose the right speaker for your event.

Determine the purpose of the event

Establish the goal of the conference/meeting right at the outset, so that you can be clear on where you should look for speakers. This will also depend on whether the objective of the event is to increase brand awareness, to educate the audience on a specific issue, or lead generation. The right candidate will let you in on how they plan to deliver the course or a keynote in order to drive home the agenda of your event.

Choose a speaker from the right field

The next step is to narrow down to speakers from the right industry and field. This is because no matter how effective a certain speaker is, if they’re not from the right industry, they’ll be ineffectual. If you want to train your employees on leadership, choose a motivational speaker.

Industry professionals must be chosen if the message to be delivered is industry-specific and need better elucidation. If you need to generate sales or have a wow-factor, it is a good idea to rope in a celebrity.

Your speaker should be tech-savvy

This goes without saying, as no event is complete without the intervention of technology. Speakers these days deliver presentations on projector screens, and have begun to increasingly utilize videos, infographics, and images. Ask your chosen speaker to come down to the training room rental venue once and make themselves at home with the setup. Do not forget to ask your classroom rental provider for facilities like electrical outlets, 24X7 internet, and audio-visual compatibility.

Research your speaker enough

Your speaker needs to linger in the minds of the attendees long after the event is over. Utilize the internet to conduct proper research on the best you can get. Use the right keywords and never flinch from looking for the best of the lot, even if it means stretching your budget a little.

Another thing to remember is to choose speakers that are active on social media. Use resources like PeerIndex and LinkedIn to find trending speakers, since this will also help attract their niche audience to the event. Read reviews and watch videos of their earlier public speeches before moving on to the next step.

Screening your shortlisted speakers

Insist that the speakers do their homework on the company and the objective of the event. You need to gauge their ease with the job and the effort they have invested in researching about your business. Ask them if they would be co-promoting the event. Speakers that ask challenging questions are better than those that don’t, since it is an indication of their engagement in a discussion. Finally, don’t be afraid to discuss their pricing upfront.