Need a Keynote Speaker? Why NOT to Use a Speakers Bureau

A good keynote speaker will energize an audience while informing it, often being the most memorable part of a conference, and even the main catalyst for positive change among attendees.  Beware: if the speaker is corny or rote, then a bad precedent might be set for the rest of the agenda, killing the message and the motivation you have invested tens of thousands to deliver.

So, where do you find a good speaker? One choice is to use one of the many speakers bureaus that have set up shop all over the Web. I don’t believe they are a particularly good choice, however, and here is why.

Too Many Speakers

Browsing some of these websites, it seems they function similar to Hollywood talent agencies, which play the numbers game by filling their rosters to the brim with people of all sorts of disciplines and experiences, hoping that one will match what a prospective customer is looking for. This might be a good option for companies that aren’t sure of what they are looking for in a speaker to begin with, as it allows them to browse through lots of different names from the menu.

For the more discriminating planner that already has in mind the type of speaker they need and cannot take risks with quality, then this is not so good, as they risk wasting time filtering through less-experienced or inappropriate choices.

Far better is to go through specialized outfits that honestly know the strengths of the people on their rosters, rather than function as mere databases of hundreds of names they do not have a real relationship with.

Extra Fees

Speakers bureaus are almost certainly more expensive then going direct. While no one should begrudge them for making a living, do you really want to be the one to pay extra for a speaker that you could easily book on your own for a lot less?

Expect a bureau to charge around a 20 percent commission on top of the speaker’s base fee, which is usually quite inflated to begin with when compared with what you could negotiate by dealing one-on-one.

Need a Sales and Marketing Keynote Speaker? Go Direct with Asher

Asher Strategies is not a speakers bureau, but instead hosts an elite, targeted group of speakers that specialize in one thing: helping businesses grow through improved sales and marketing processes.

Whether you book our Chairman and Founder Mr. John Asher, or one of our other experts, you will get an enlightening and dynamic keynote that might just transform the way your people do business completely.

Benefits of dealing directly with us:

• Best pricing available
• No overbooking. We focus on your event, not our next flight out of town
• Less paperwork and miscommunication
• World-renown experts on sales and marketing improvement
• Talk directly to your speaker, rather than a middleman

Planning something big in 2014? We’d love to be a part of it. Call Asher today!