Public Speaking Articles

7 steps for Social Media Marketing of your Speaking Event

Your perfect 7 step social media marketing event strategy

Posted On November 22, 2019 By Mackenzie Edwards In Articles /  

Your budget is set, the venue booked, speakers secured – now it’s time to promote your next event with social media marketing.

Of course, social media has to be a big part of that, but…

where to start?

The trick with all social media marketing is to be strategic and leverage your assets. The good news is that your event naturally will have a lot of assets, like speakers, sponsors, testimonials, attendees – even your event team.

Here is a 7-step social media marketing event strategy you can use to roll out social media promotion for all your events.

1. Less is best

Your first decision for social media marketing is to choose which social channels to focus on. Rather than trying to be everywhere, choose 2-3 channels you can easily manage. To get started, here are 3 questions to ask:

  • Where do you already have a following? There’s no point spending time promoting your event on Pinterest or Instagram if you have 100 followers – you’re efforts will get lost in the noise.
  • What channels are your audience using? If you are attracting a business audience, LinkedIn is great for B2B communication.
  • Where can you get noticed? Facebook may have the largest users, but to get your updates noticed you have to post into a group, create a Facebook event or use paid advertising.

For most B2B events, Twitter and LinkedIn will get you the most exposure, Facebook is more likely to get you the most engagement.

2. Build your strategy

“Video is an extremely effective medium to showcase the passion and enthusiasm your event inspires.” Social Media Examiner

Now that you have your social channels, it’s time to build a simple social media marketing strategy for your team. The goal should be to get maximum engagement and conversion with the smallest time commitment.

Start with these steps:

  • Upgrade your social profiles. Now is a great time to update the banners and company description on your social channels.
  • Delegate community management. Choose someone on your team to oversee the daily updates and replying to engagement.  
  • Create your event hashtag. Choose a hashtag that is easy to remember and use it everywhere, including the new banners for your channels.
  • Use video to get noticed. In our busy, digital-distraction world, video stands out in newsfeeds. Create a short highlight reel from last year’s event, encourage team members to capture clips at your venue – even working in your office. Also, ask for 30-second welcome videos from your main stage speakers (they should also post these on their channels.)
  • Add your event to your email signature.

3. Start early

“Many organizers forget to place enough time on event promotion using social media.” Canva

The earlier you start getting the word out on social, the sooner you will start to get traction. Of course, not everyone will get on board, but all you need is a small percentage to get the promotions started to start making noise. 

A good place to start is with the people you have the most influence over your team, main stage, and breakout speakers, sponsors, your venue event team, caterers, entertainers, and hotels. You might be surprised at the number of influencers on your list!

4. Get creative

“…make sure your hashtag is visible at your event so your guests know to use it. Include it in handouts and display it on screens throughout your venue.” Eventbrite

Look for opportunities to share the excitement of your event with creative posts. 

  • If you have a repeat event, use pictures from last year’s event to build excitement. 
  • As you secure your entertainers and speakers share the good news on social. Ask them to share as well.
  • Run fun contests to get more engagement, like asking followers to select their favorite thing to do in the host city.

5. Reward people

The more you reward people for using your event hashtag, the more you’ll see it being used. Have someone on your team check daily for mentions and then reward people with likes and shares.

At your event, have your host encourage attendees to Tweet using your event hashtag. At some events, organizers will install a flat-screen TV displaying a rolling Twitter feed so attendees can see their tweets going live!

6. Measure results

Planning a successful event is all about getting the biggest, best bang for your budget, right? Social media is no different. A part of your social media marketing planning strategy should be to monitor weekly some basic numbers:

  • Number of followers on each channel
  • Views and shares on your event updates
  • Number of times your hashtag gets used

7. Follow up after your event

“Social media messages should never be limited to text-only posts.” Dan McCarthy, Event Manager

After your event is a great time to keep the buzz going. Use social to get your event survey out, get attendees to share pictures, or promote your next event. People will be talking about your event and with a little encouragement the buzz will keep going (and promoting next year’s event.)

Enjoyed this article? Here are three more to help you create a great event:

How to Hire a Speaker Without Losing Your Sanity: 5 Tips For Hiring a Speaker

Connect Today’s Top Entertainment with the Events Industry through the Largest Directory of Talent.

“Teamwork: The Best Team Always Wins…The 6 Traits of High Performing Teams”

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Four Amazing Tips To Turn You Into A Powerful Public Speaker

Posted On November 5, 2019 By Joe Heaps In Articles, Speakers /  

Although it may be one of your biggest fears – it’s up there with death on peoples’ top five list of fears – public speaking is most likely going to be a part of your life at some point, so trying to avoid it and wheedle your way out of every opportunity to speak in front of more than two people just isn’t an option, or not a good one in any case. Instead, wouldn’t you rather be able to make public speaking into one of your skills – something to proudly show off on a CV, and wow your co-workers with during presentations? Spreading your ideas is easiest when you’re talking to people in person so that they can see your passion and interest firsthand, so making every single speech impactful with these four tips can help to shape your image and spread whatever message you need to get across.

1. Be Unselfish

“While one way of psyching yourself up before the ‘big speech’ might be to convince yourself that you’re an expert and everyone listening to you is just an idiot in their underwear (a commonly suggested thought process), this is terrible in practice.” Joe Worrell, a speaker at Writemyx.com and Nextcoursework.com, advises. “Your audience will feel alienated and be able to instantly notice your high and mighty status, whether that be through your body language or any complex terms which you use but don’t explain. To be as down-to-earth and accessible as possible, make sure that you speak in layman’s terms or explain complex concepts and terminology, and match your attitude and tone to the audience and situation.” A speech that works wonders for high school students, for example, won’t be accepted that easily by your co-workers and could be seen as condescending, while the vice versa situation may leave the students bored and confused. Don’t just think about yourself – consider your audience while planning any speech.

2. Use Powerpoint Properly

Media can be a brilliant asset to any speech or presentation – when used correctly. If it’s overused or relied on, your audience will become disinterested, and often assume that you have no actual passion for your topic. Someone reading off a computer screen in a monotone isn’t usually that convincing, but if you stand out in front of the media and only use it as a prompt, you’ll look a lot more passionate and knowledgeable. Also, your audience members won’t know every single line of your script if it isn’t on your powerpoint, so you’ll be able to keep the element of surprise and ‘planned spontaneity’ which make speeches so humanizing and relatable.

3. Mix Stories & Stats

Anecdotes can make an audience sympathize or empathize with you and understand your viewpoint. Statistics convince an audience and make them believe what you’re saying. “Both accurate stats and personal stories need to be used in equal measures to keep an audience engaged and convinced,” Natasha Hyde, a writer at Britstudent.com and Australia2write.com, says, “so don’t flood your speeches with stats and make them sound like one long financial report, but also don’t make them sound too much like old wives’ tales that you’d share with the family. Finding that balance, along with original content to keep the speech moving and flowing well, is the secret to crafting amazing speeches that will win over your audiences.”

4. Passion

There’s a simple rule you should always keep in mind while speaking publicly: if you’re bored, then so is the audience. You shouldn’t be making a speech about something that you’re not passionate about, and, if you are, you can expect it to be boring and lackluster – for certain business aspects of work, like presentations and meetings, this may be the norm. Still, if you’re speaking to an audience that you care about, with a message that you care about, then you’ll need to do more than read out notes and flick through a powerpoint. Throw yourself into your content and perform. Hand gestures and proper inflections in speech are useful markers for passionate speaking, but the best way to tell is to ask yourself if you want to be up in front of your audience, speaking to them. The answer might be a very, very quiet ‘yes,’ squashed by all your fears and doubts, but if it’s a definite ‘no,’ then passion might not be possible for you to grasp, and your speeches will suffer as a result.

eSpeakers guest blogger, Katrina Hatchett blogs about lifestyle at Academic Brits, and also enjoys working for Origin Writings as a valued member of the writing team. She is also involved in numerous business projects since one of her passions in life is identifying project problems and their solutions, which aren’t always that simple. Still, they do give her the satisfaction of problem-solving time and time again. Her main goal is to improve the effectiveness of everyone’s communication around the world, and one of the small ways by which she contributes to this goal is by writing for the Ph.D. Kingdom blog.

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eSpeakers.com Launches Blackwood Talent & Entertainment To Connect Today’s Top Entertainment with the Events Industry through the Largest Directory of Talent.

Posted On October 22, 2019 By Joe Heaps In Event Organizers, Events, Uncategorized /  

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 22, 2019 — Sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know. That saying proves true within the entertainment industry, as indicated by the glowing success of Blackwood Talent & Entertainment’s recent launch of an entertainment industry-specific talent directory. As a division of eSpeakers.com, which has over 20 years of experience in the meetings industry, eSpeakers launched Blackwood Talent & Entertainment to serve entertainers and event organizers around the world. The new online talent directory, which launched on Sept. 10, 2019, at IMEX America in Las Vegas, helps event organizers target top talent for their meetings and events, including entertainers, comedians, musicians, celebrities, athletes, and more. Many entertainers have exclusive representation, but through partnerships with these agencies, Blackwood has made it possible for everyone to hire top talent. 

“Finding, connecting with, and hiring top entertainment online is a challenge for most event organizers, and that’s where our directory technology comes in to save the day,” says Joseph Heaps, Blackwood’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Through our innovative platform, we’re providing verified reviews that are vetted by past clients, collaborative tools that allow multiple event stakeholders to share feedback on potential entertainers, and a no-risk booking as Blackwood Talent & Entertainment works with entertainers who guarantee their work, or they get their money back.” 

This innovative online talent directory will feature stars such as Chris Rock, The Passing Zone, Aparna Nancherla, Sam Smith, Shelita Burke, Katy Perry, and Ellen DeGeneres. “It’s exciting to see event organizers connect and hire potential entertainment in this way, especially considering how difficult it is to connect with or even find out who represents them,” Heaps says. “Event organizers are tasked with executing a successful event, and we know that having the right entertainment on stage can engage the attendees and create a fun and exciting atmosphere. Our goal is to make finding, hiring, and paying the talent easy so they can focus on all the other aspects of the event.”

As the momentum behind finding and hiring entertainment online continues to grow, so does the company behind it. Blackwood Talent & Entertainment is a division of eSpeakers.com. eSpeakers.com is the largest online directory of speakers, trainers, authors, and consultants available online today. Online bookings for entertainment through this technology have surged over the last two years, necessitating the need for growth of a stand-alone branded directory.

For more information, visit http://www.blackwoodtalent.com. 

Blackwood Talent & Entertainment is a division of eSpeakers.com. With over 20 years of experience in the meetings industry, eSpeakers launched Blackwood Talent & Entertainment to serve entertainers and event organizers around the world. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, Blackwood Talent & Entertainment also has offices in Nashville, TN, and Newport Beach, CA. 

Media contact: 
Joseph Heaps
Chief Marketing Officer
Blackwood Talent & Entertainment
888-377-3214
jheaps@blackwoodtalent.com
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eSpeakers is pleased to announce integration with the popular HubSpot customer relationship manager (CRM).

Posted On October 1, 2019 By Joe Heaps In Uncategorized /  

eSpeakers is pleased to announce integration with the popular HubSpot customer relationship manager (CRM) as a new member benefit.

eSpeakers’ EventCX app keeps your speaking business humming, and our goal is to make it easy for you to manage your events and speaking business for growth. To go along with it, we recommend a great contact manager to manage the people and relationships in your business world.

HubSpot joins a list of other popular CRMs that are integrated into EventCX, eliminating the need for duplicate entry when linking people (in the CRM) to events (in EventCX). Details about the HubSpot integration are here.

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ICCA and eSpeakers.com collaborate on sharing top-quality educational content

Posted On August 8, 2019 By Joe Heaps In Event Organizers, Events, Speakers /  1

7 August 2019

Amsterdam, Netherlands — ICCA is further strengthening its position as the global knowledge hub for international association meetings and attracting high-quality speakers to their events by partnering with eSpeakers, the leading online source of professional speakers for international meeting organizers.

Made up of a number of initiatives, this new collaboration will allow the International Congress and Convention Association to diversify and expand the educational possibilities available to its members at annual ICCA events and online via the ICCA Knowledge Hub, through access to eSpeakers’ expansive and diverse community of thought leaders and subject matter experts. 

eSpeakers will use their community’s resources to sponsor speakers for ICCA’s annual Congress and Association Meetings Programme, and in addition create a branded directory of ICCA faculty members within their Marketplace, the largest directory of professional speakers available on the web. Designed to help meetings professionals to hire speakers directly through the eSpeakers platform, event planners can use the directory to find and filter appropriate speakers by subject, budget, language and other customizable criteria.

“This partnership has been born out of our desire to continue to provide top-quality, high-end educational content to our global membership, the leading suppliers to the international meetings industry. When our members attend ICCA events, they expect high-quality speakers and unique education sessions that keep them up-to-date with the latest developments in the constantly-evolving and expanding international association meetings industry – the kind of education they would not receive at any other industry meeting,” said Senthil Gopinath, Chief Executive Officer, ICCA. 

“Collaborating with eSpeakers allows us to rise to this challenge. By providing us with access to a broader range of subject matter experts and speakers, we will be able to persist with tailoring our educational offerings to our members’ expectations and address the meetings industry’s hardest-hitting topics.”

ICCA and eSpeakers collaboration on educational content at ICCA events will also enhance ICCA’s online channels as part of this new partnership, with speakers on various topics appearing alongside relevant expert content in ICCA’s Knowledge Hub.

Gopinath added: “As part of ICCA’s mission to be the global community and knowledge hub for the international association meetings industry, we are developing our online Knowledge Hub to unlock the expertise of our global community of meeting suppliers and association meeting planners. This online platform currently offers expert blog posts and white papers on specialized association meeting topics, and this new collaboration with eSpeakers allows us to expand the resources available by adding links to relevant ICCA verified expert-speakers while offering a new platform for ICCA members to share their expertise.”

In addition, this new partnership makes ICCA Members eligible to be listed in eSpeakers’ ICCA-branded directory on the eSpeakers Marketplace. This opportunity offers the global meetings industry trade association’s member-suppliers an official platform to be hired as professional speakers according to their topic of expertise and also allows eSpeakers access to the renowned expertise of ICCA’s global membership. ICCA will, therefore, provide eSpeakers with the world’s best range of subject matter experts in all fields related to international meetings, whose expertise is verified by ICCA’s stringent speaker guidelines.

“We’re excited to be partnering with ICCA by rolling out this new education platform and providing a worldwide directory of subject matter experts and speakers that will be perfect for their meetings. We know that hiring the right speaker for an audience can be an important key to the success of the meeting.” Joseph Heaps, Chief Marketing Officer for eSpeakers

Joanne Joham, Regional Director North America, ICCA said: “We are so proud to have eSpeakers join the North America Chapter of ICCA and are convinced that this relationship will benefit all ICCA Members and enhance the educational offerings of ICCA on a global basis.”

The first speaker to join an ICCA event through eSpeakers’ and ICCA’s new partnership will be Scott Parazynski, former NASA astronaut and the first man to have both flown in space and reached the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Parazynski will be speaking at the 58th ICCA Congress, which is taking place in Houston, U.S.A. from 27-30 October 2019.

To find out more about the 58th ICCA Congress, please visit www.congress2019.iccaworld.org. 

About ICCA

The global community and knowledge hub for the international association meetings industry

ICCA (The International Congress and Convention Association) represents the world’s leading suppliers in handling, transporting and accommodating international meetings and events, and now comprises over 1,100-member companies and organizations in almost 100 countries worldwide. ICCA has specialized in the international association meetings sector since its establishment 55 years ago, offering unrivaled data, communication channels, and business development opportunities.

ICCA members represent the top destinations worldwide and the most experienced specialist, suppliers. International meeting planners can rely on the ICCA network to find solutions for all their event objectives, such as venue selection; technical and strategic advice; assistance with delegate transportation; full convention planning or ad hoc services.

For more information, please contact:

Rebecca Hogg, Marketing & Content Executive,Rebecca.h@iccaworld.org+31 20 398 1912

About eSpeakers

Where The Speaking Industry Does Business On The Web.

eSpeakers.com is a 20-year-old technology and marketing company providing the speaking industry with the tools to do business online. eSpeakers has the largest directory of professional presenters available online and believes that the right speaker in front of the right audience can bring real change. eSpeakers Marketplace is the spot where people who hire speakers access a huge catalog of the best speakers in the world, find the perfect match for their event, connect with the speaker, and hire them — all in a safe environment that takes the risk out of such a significant investment.

Joseph Heaps, Chief Marketing Officer, jheaps@espeakers.com,+1 888-377-3214


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“Teamwork: The Best Team Always Wins…The 6 Traits of High Performing Teams”

Posted On May 24, 2019 By Joe Heaps In Event Organizers /  1

It’s National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, read what Walter Bond says about “Teamwork: The Best Team Always Wins…The 6 Traits of High Performing Teams” that you can be applied to your life. Teamwork: The Best Team Always Wins…The 6 Traits of High Performing Teams In sports and in business we all have to compete and work together as a team to win. There are bad teams, good teams, and championship teams…everyone wants to win but sometimes just don’t know-how. Winning teams are built one layer at a time. How do you take a group of individuals and make them work together for the greater good of the organization? Great teamwork is most about great team building. Trust, Communication, Chemistry, Commitment, Accountability, and Common Goals are just a few of the topics that Walter teaches in order to make your team stand tall and WIN.

Click here to understand the great messages Walter has to offer your organization.

https://www.espeakers.com/marketplace/speaker/profile/1979/walter-bond

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May is Physical Fitness & Sports Month!

Posted On May 8, 2019 By Joe Heaps In Event Organizers /  1

This month we join in celebrating and advocating for Physical Fitness & Sports Month, something we believe should be celebrated all year long. These experts share stories of how participating in sports helped them not only live healthier lives but also learn valuable life lessons. Hire one of these experts to speak at your next event.

  • Rudy: a football player who overcame the biggest struggles in his life to beat the odds and accomplish his dreams by making the Notre Dame football team
  • Mark: a 7′4″ auto mechanic who became an NBA All-Star playing for the Utah Jazz
  • Julia: a graduate of Stanford University who became a 2-time NASCAR champion

Whatever their message is, your audience is bound to love it! So get out there this month and set a new goal, invite a friend for a walk, take your furry friend out to the park, hit a new personal record, organize a work activity or practice a new sport with your child, and let’s get our bodies moving. The team here at eSpeakers is ready to help you find your next great speaker.

Hire one of these experts through eSpeakers Marketplace

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The Four Commitments of a Winning Team

Posted On May 8, 2019 By Joe Heaps In Event Organizers /  1

It’s National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, read what Mark Eaton can provide your audience with “The Four Commitments of a Winning Team” and create action for your team with his program you don’t need to wait until it’s over to get to work. Not only will you hear Mark’s astonishing story, learn about the Four Commitments that will transform your group into a high-performance team, but you’ll also be making action plans to implement the ideas you’re learning right on the spot! 
Click here to know why you can’t afford to miss this exciting interactive program.https://www.espeakers.com/marketp…/…/profile/8208/mark-eaton

#NBA #UTAHJAZZ

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Developing the Breakthrough Mindset and Succeeding

Posted On May 6, 2019 By Joe Heaps In Event Organizers /  1

It’s National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, here is what Deborah Gardner says about “Developing the Breakthrough Mindset and Succeeding”. Would you believe that 78% of employees say they are open to change, yet 90% of companies and organizations actually fail to acknowledge what worked in the past isn’t working sufficiently today? 
Click here to learn how Deborah can change your lifestyle https://www.espeakers.com/marketplace/profile/4316

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