As a meeting and event professional, I’m often asked for tips on how to choose a good speaker. I’ve hired more than 2,500 speakers in the past 10 years from

• Marquee Names such as
  Geena Davis, Mick Fleetwood, Magic Johnson, Deborah Norville, Cal Ripkin Jr., Martin Sheen, Ben Stein and Lily Tomlin to name a few
• Well-Known Authors and Respected Experts including
  Erin Gruwell, Marsha Petrie Sue, Don Peppers and Tim Sanders
• Phenomenal Professional Speakers such as
  Amanda Gore, Susan Carnahan, Jeffrey Hansler, Scott Klososky, Alison Levine, Kelly McDonald and Jim Jacobus
• Up and Coming Professional and Various Industry Speakers.

I’ve seen thousands of speaker marketing videos, read even more speaker one-sheets and visited a lot of speaker websites, too many to count. I can watch two minutes of a speaker video and tell you if the speaker will fit for my audiences.

Top Two Criteria For Choosing A Good Speaker

During those 10 years, two criteria have risen to the top of my “must have” list for a good speaker: Delivery and Content.