My inner circle...
One of my inner circle, in conversation this morning, mentioned that he had attended a talk yesterday. He went on to tell me how, not long into the presentation, he started looking around the audience to see if he was missing something. Was he getting old or was there another obvious reason he was just feeling ‘not-connected-with?
Noticing some of the rolling eyes and other ‘this guy is not what we were expecting’ types of glances, my contact felt justified in his apprehension.
We have probably all been there – where the MC seems to have over indulged on the plane to the event, or hasn’t done his homework and can’t pronounce the awardees’ names; or when the band is so bad that nobody’s on the dance floor! And perhaps the worst - when the comedian has used THAT word again and you can feel the audience bristle.
The point I want to share here is that it doesn’t need to be like that. There is quite simply no excuse for booking an act that is not appropriate for any event. The rationalisation that ‘he sounded amazing on his website’ has to be questioned. After all, when did you last read a speaker describe themselves as ‘not too bad’ or ‘frankly pathetic’?
The solution I believe is to work with a reputable speakers’ agent or bureau and in South Africa, there are a handful of quality agencies whose success and longevity depends on their ability to make suitable recommendations to their clients.
Our policy is that we will NOT just take a booking for any artiste whom we believe will not be ‘right on the night’ – after all, what’s the point? What we will do is to establish our clients’ objectives and push for as much information as we can get. After all, the more the agent knows, the more he or she can pin-point suitable recommendations.
In today’s challenging times, it’s more critical than ever to maximise the impact of the input every presentation, launch or post-event dinner. Work with an established, proven agency and your decision will be rewarded many times over.
Other articles:
Master of ceremonies
Music Bands
Guest Speakers
Comedians
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