Help your experts make a memorable impression at their next speaking event.
As we covered in this blog, industry events present an excellent opportunity to generate new business leads. This extends to event speaking slots and panel discussions – they provide a platform for your experts to showcase their experience, establish authority and encourage prospects to visit your stand or check out your business’ website.
But the value of industry events and speaking opportunities is no secret to marketing and communications teams, and many of your competitors are likely to be after the same opportunities too. This means it’s more important than ever that your experts stand out from the crowd and differentiate themselves from other speakers.
Here’s five ideas to help your thought leaders nail these coveted event speaking slots and ensure your investment is worthwhile.
I recently attended a cleantech industry event where many of the same messages, statements and recommendations were reiterated across multiple talks. Whilst continuity of theme was expected, the discussions where speakers simply agreed with one another and failed to add anything new to layer the conversation were disengaging.
The most memorable speaker and panel slots that I’m still thinking about weeks later are the ones that gave me a nugget of information that I hadn’t heard at any point that day. Those speakers raised points that not only weren’t being talked about on any other stage that day, but that also aren’t getting huge coverage in the mainstream media. These conversations are what get people thinking, and stick in your prospects’ minds when they hand in their event badge at the end of the day.
Your speakers may not have a singular angle to offer every time, especially if similar themes and topics are being discussed from stage to stage. Here’s where your speaker should tap into their own, unique experience – is there an insight to your specialism that’s unique to your business, such as via a case study or piece of research, that can shape their talk? Tease these ideas out in the planning sessions with your speakers.
When experts are given a platform like those granted at industry events, the brief is generally to present a question, topic or case study, rather than focus on your individual business. Whilst you want to promote your business, speaker slots are not the time to sell, sell, sell. People can visit your stand to explore the intricacies of your product/solution.
Instead, help your speakers show value. People invest in people, and prospects who come away thinking about an idea presented by a thought leader in their field are more likely to remember them than the product/solution that they’ve seen at several stands that day.
Talks focused around a customer story are particularly helpful for highlighting your company’s journey without shouting about the product/solution too explicitly. For example, you could use draw on the lessons you’ve learned from a specific project – the good and the bad.
The ‘why’ behind your offering is a big factor for drawing prospects in. After all, you need to convince them that your product/solution will make their life easier if you’re going to convince them their investment in you is worthwhile.
Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer when shaping a talk – what might they want to know about? Ideally, you want your audience to be thinking, ‘yes, that is a problem I’ve been facing,’ or ‘that resonates with what I’m hearing from my colleagues.’
Complement this by framing the narrative around the results your customers have seen since working with you to demonstrate how you’re helping solve the pain points you’ve identified.
It’s not only about the content of the talk, though. It’s how your speaker delivers the message.
Industry events attract experts, many of whom have been media trained and/or have been speaking about their specialism for many years. That’s not to deter those who have never spoken at an event before. It’s to illustrate that, when a speaker hasn’t sufficiently prepared or under practised, it’s painfully obvious. Expertise doesn’t always equal expert public speaker, and marketing teams have a role to play in ensuring their thought leaders are well-equipped for delivering confidently.
Audience members immediately switch off when faced with a slideshow dominated by text. Share some ideas with your speaker for ways in which they can keep their audience engaged, such as:
Speaking slots at industry events provide businesses with a unique chance to get in front of a tailor-made audience and start those essential conversations for new business opportunities. Looking for an event specific to your industry with speaking slots available? Resonates’ Cleantech Events Portal is a good place to start – we’ve listed 150+ global events across a huge variety of sectors, so you can find the one that puts you in front of the right audience.
