Rotate speakers and let them do short talks

Be alert to the danger of using the same speakers too often. It’s easy to create the feeling that you have a couple of “fair haired boys.” Nobody wants the boss’s favorites “crammed down his throat.”
There’s another reason for rotating speaking assignments among several of your stronger men. It’s good for their development. A wise executive is continually developing his personnel, and this is an opportunity to do it.

At larger meetings you can’t afford to use mediocre speakers. There’s too much at stake.
Small meetings require less professionalism. An average salesman might do a creditable job at a small meeting. But look out! The fellow who merely talks a good game won’t be respected by the others. Too often he talks about what he wishes he had done, instead of what he’s actually doing. The other salesmen realize it, too.

“It hurts more than you think when you use a speaker who’s known to be a failure in the field,” a company official declared. “Knowing that the one speaker has never set any records, the audience starts wondering if certain other speakers might be poor producers. So you’d better have your best men do the speaking.”

Short talks are better than long ones

Few speakers can interest an audience for more than ten minutes. A talk may glitter at first. As it grows longer, though, it usually becomes dull. Keep talks short. Two brief talks are much better than a long one. To have short talks, divide a subject into two or three parts. Then assign a speaker for each part. For instance, customer service might be divided into two parts-follow-up calls and follow-up correspondence.

Make any logical division of a subject that helps avoid a long boring speech. Secondly, allot only so much time to each speaker.

Puce your strongest speakers at crucial spots

Aim for a good start and a strong close. This helps make any meeting successful.
The same is true of each session within the meeting. The first and last events are important. That being the case, place the best speakers in these crucial spots. “You’d better have a real stem winder in the final spot-someone who can rock ‘em and sock ‘em!” This advice came from a Texas insurance executive. It’s good advice, too.

Keep the subjects in logical sequence

When you spot speakers there’s something else to consider. You should arrange a logical sequence of subject matter to permit continuity of thought. It makes for a better meeting.

An example-a speaker on “How To Approach Prospective Customers” should speak before a demonstration of the product. Another example-a speech on getting new customers should precede a movie on how to keep customers.

In planning your agenda you should have considered the sequence of subject matter (Chapter 2). Stick to your plan. Don’t heed someone’s request to, “Let me talk first and get it over with.”

Produce a change of pace

Mix them up. Create variety. Sandwich women speakers between men. Place a speaker between a quiz game and a slide series. If at all possible, avoid having two speakers in a row.

How to get speakers to prepare

There’s only one way of making certain that a speaker will develop his material. Request an outline of his speech. This prompts him to do some thinking. The value is many-fold . . . The obvious reward is a better talk because of more thorough preparation. More important is the review it affords. You can tell in advance whether there’s a good chance of accomplishing the objective of the meeting. An omission of a vital subject can be noted in time to make the desired addition.

You also can detect any overlapping of material. For example, a speaker may consider objections to be nothing more than offered closes. Instead of sticking with objections, then, he would dwell on closing techniques. His material might cover the same ground as the event that follows his talk. Such duplication can be eliminated when outlines are submitted in advance.

Because of these advantages, request outlines of all speakers-even the boss. Specify the deadline well in advance of the meeting. If someone fails to meet the deadline, check with him immediately. This may prevent embarrassment.

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