Audience engagement is the clearest sign your attendees are enjoying your event. The interest they show before, during and after the event is critical in declaring your event a success. It is also integral to getting audiences to come to your future conferences, exhibitions or large or small gatherings.
But how do you keep your audience entertained? This article will examine the top five ways to increase audience engagement at your event through leveraging the power of high-quality speakers.
1. Work With Motivational Speaker Agents
Whoever talks at your event is directly responsible for your audience engagement. Speakers should draw in an audience, speak clearly, and inspire a room. Finding reputable booking websites for speakers can help outsource the stress of finding good speakers to an established global speakers bureau. Speaker agents can provide you with professional and inspirational speakers from around the world.
The benefit of working with a global speakers bureau is that it saves you hours in finding motivational speakers that are relevant to your event. After a call or message with a professional speakers bureau, you will have access to inspirational speakers that can significantly boost your audience engagement.
2. Find A Keynote Speaker For Hire
A keynote speaker is the headline of any large-scale event. They are the ones the conference is based around, the individual who set both the tone and the theme. A quality keynote speaker can provide new insight into an existing topic; a poor one can tank your audience engagement.
Research supports that for 75% of event planners, keynote speakers are the cornerstone of their audience engagement plan. They are the draw behind the event that gets audiences curious about the event, the person that influences whether they attend, and the memory that lasts long after the event.
Reviewing an established speakers list from a dedicated, inspirational speaker agency can help you narrow down the appropriate keynote speaker for your event.
3. Have A Round Table Discussion At A Virtual Event
It can be challenging to monitor audience engagement and draw them in if you have a virtual event. Yet over half of marketers state that attendee engagement is the most integral part of virtual event success. Tools like panels or round table discussions are a great way to leverage audience participation and get them involved in your gathering.
A round table is a great way to engage a virtual audience during your event. Working with a virtual speakers bureau helps to gather relevant participants in a round table discussion. Participants in a round table are a minimum of two speakers and a moderator who helps guide the conversation. Round tables make a virtual event seem more interactive and natural, boosting audience enjoyment and participation.
4. Leverage The Power Of Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing can help you get your event out to a broader target audience. Famous motivational speakers linked to the topic of your event could share your event campaigns on social media. This would generate greater than usual interest in your event and result in a higher number of attendees. Nearly half of consumers rely on influencers for purchasing advice, and using a relevant influencer could increase audience engagement before your event has started.
An excellent way to connect your influencer to your event would be to hire them as keynote speaker. That way, the influencer who intrigued your audience in the pre-event campaign will draw them into the main event. An example would be hiring Jamil Qureshi[1] to talk at a business and leadership conference.
If you already have a keynote or guest speaker, you could still invite influencers directly to the event. You’ll generate free publicity when they share your event on social media channels.
5. Make Sure You Have The Right Speakers
As much as we’ve highlighted how speakers can increase audience engagement at your event, you need to be confident that you’ve got the right people there. It comes down to how well you know your audience and what they want to get out of your event. Some tips to make sure you have the right speakers at your event include:
- Talking to an inspirational speakers bureau – working with an agent specialised in putting the right people together with the right events is only an asset in this situation. They should be able to sit down with you and provide a realistic suggestion of which speakers will increase audience engagement.
- Conducting live polls – conduct live polls when planning your event and share them on your social media channels. Ask your audience who they want to see, and what they want out of the event.
- Leverage social media insights – leverage analytics and insight from across your social media platforms. What age and background are your audience from? Are there any speakers you think can reach that demographic?
- Use event management software – event management software can spot trends and attendance at events, giving you an overview of which speakers have gone down well in similar situations.
- Research your competitors – research which speakers competitors have had at their past events to get a feeling for what has gone well, and more importantly, what hasn’t.
- Listen to speakers – listen to speakers on YouTube to see which ones have a flair for inspiration and would best reach your target audience.
Final Thoughts
The above points have focused on understanding your audience and how picking the right speakers is the key to a successful event. You can leverage the power of a good speaker in several ways, whether it’s by inviting multiple people for a round table or panel discussion, picking a good keynote speaker, or inviting influencers to your events.
Listen to your audience and ensure you invite relevant, inspirational people to your in-person or virtual event. When in doubt, work with a speaker agency in London to save time in trying to find the right person to boost your audience engagement.