7 Essential Tips To Motivate Your Teambuilding Speaker Event

When it's time to motivate your team there are a few very important things you need to know.

The first is that you shouldn't do it personally. Trust me. You are too close to your staff and business to speak objectively and have enough impact for the results you need.

The second is that neither should your HR or training department. that's not what they do and they should not be asked to fill a gap that isn't naturally within their skill set.

The third is you should invest in a motivational speaker period. They do team building for a living - that's why you hire them.

Wondering where to start?

Here are the 7 essential steps to getting a motivational speaker.

1) Reputation
Word of mouth tells you everything, but you will also need to research their satisfied clients and what they actually did for them. When you find a match to your own expectations, pick up the phone or contact a speaker bureau.

2) Use Social Media
You Tube, LinkedIn and Facebook provide a very easy way to get a 3D idea of them in action and find out what others are saying about them. Whilst it isn't a complete guarantee of getting the right person, it works much better than selecting from a cute photo and a printed CV.
3) Check Their Background
What did they do before turning professional speaker. What kind of clients have they worked with? Have they dealt with the more quirky elements of your industry before? They are brought in with your seal of management approval, so make sure that you know where their head is at before they start to speak.

4) Book Them Early
Take the time to research the market and select exactly who you'd like to work with. Make sure that the date is booked and the contract is signed (in writing) to avoid any disappointment from both sides.

5) Brief Them Properly
Speakers can work with everybody and whilst their core message is universal, it can always use a few tweaks. tell them about latest news, internal pressures and key changes and personnel so they can sound like an expert rather than a visitor.

6) Give Them What They Need
A speaker is an entertainer. They need a good stage, good sound and good lighting. Pay the money to let them perform in the best possible circumstances. This isn't about having a great staff party. It is about your staff, customers and management seeing that you care about them enough to invest in them. That's the back story before the speaker opens his mouth. Invest wisely.

7) Have A Follow Up Plan
A speaker is like a meal or a shower. One session may be filling and serve a purpose but you have to keep it topped up to be effective 3 weeks later. Make sure that the speaker has a system for staying in contact with your team with email coaching or regularly updated blogs that they can see.

Speakers are strange creatures they are effective because they are so different. Embrace the differences and strap yourself in a brand new turbo charged company one speech later...