Stop Speaker Hijacking by Pegine Echevarria - Speaker

   This week I saw an audience being held hostage by a speaker who 1- Tortured the meeting planner as they went over their time 2- was merciless with their monotone presentations 3- was vicious with over 100 power point slides for a one hour speech --- and was PAID!!!

   I saw the committee and the planners in the hall.  They knew that they had a BIG problem. They also felt that they were playing political Russian roulette. The situation:
1- The speaker was a highly regarded senior researcher who HAD BEEN a part of a very major organization.
2- They paid the speaker.
3- They weren't sure what the senior officers in the audience were thinking and how they wanted to handle the situation.
4- They felt that their jobs were at stake (even the volunteers felt this way).

   I wish I could say this was a unique experience - however it's not. Over the course of the last few months I've experienced this at least twice if not more. Conference organizers are bringing in 'celebrity' status senior officials from government/corporate/and not for profit world (because they are respected and economical). Often they are paid a low 5-figure or high 4-figure honorarium.  They don't work the 'circuit' so they really don't understand the business of professional speaking and often hold the audience hostage. These speakers come in believing that they are brought in because of all they know and the power they weld. They have no idea that they are brought in because they are a 'celebrity' bargain.

   Buyer beware.  Have a plan in place so that you can educate your speakers AND be prepared for action in case your audience is held hostage. Here are some of my suggestions:

Before:
1- Tell all the speakers 1 month before, 1 hour before and just before they speak how much time they have. Let them know that they will receive a sign (timer) to know when their time is up.

2- Great leaders always share the rewards and the consequences with their team before they start their mission. Make sure that ALL speakers know that if they go over their time they will have consequences. Share those consequences - audio cut/music starts up/powerpoint closed down - If the Oscars can do it so can you. It is your stage. The audience by the way is relieved when there is structure - The audience IS THE VALUED GUEST after all - a point that is sometimes forgotten when dealing with individual,
powerful egos.

3- At minimum have a RED sheet of paper, YELLOW Sheet of Paper and GREEN sheet of paper and someone sitting in the front holding the papers.

4- Be confident in your leadership. You are in charge - you are the head honcho - the leader - the Queen bee - the King of the land. You are the one responsible for this meeting - the good, the bad and the ugly and the phenomenal.  You are in charge of making sure that I know what you want, your priorities and your timing. I am in charge of asking the questions (if your speakers aren't asking questions - provide the answers to the questions you wish they asked)

5- You know the outcomes that you want to have, you know the timing, and you know how to read your audience. Have a plan of action for how to deal with speaker hijacking. Talk about it with your team. PRACTICE.  Just like a fire drill. Everyone needs to know their role.

6- If the speaker has an entourage don't assume that their handler will tell the speaker your wishes.  You must talk to the speaker and confirm acknowledgement. They are people - just like you and me.

During:
1- If you see a hijacking occur - implement the plan.

2-  Make sure that your AV team is on notice. Have your team ready. One creative way that worked at an event was a procedure developed by the meeting planner. She had her assistants stand in strategic places
every one minute that the speaker went over. One stood stage right, the other stage left and each took a step towards the center, on cue. The speaker noticed and finally exited (this after a few minutes of
flashing lights from the AV notification system). The speaker noticed the people moving in.

3 - Internally remind yourself - this is for the audience, my boss, and to save the convention.

After:
1- Be frank with the speaker - PLEASE. Sugar coating that they were 'terrific" "thanks for being here" does not stop the behavior. Sometime these hijackers are so into their 'stuff' that they really
don't know that they hijacked the meeting.  Be frank, be clear and be a warrior.

2- Make sure your bureaus also know how you feel. Most bureaus I know work really, really hard to ensure that you are happy. Please help them be effective.

3- Finally applaud yourself. You took charge.

   The people in the audience (and their organizations) are extremely valuable. They paid to be there (one way or another) it is costing their organizations to support them (wages, benefits and travel costs) and your sponsors are basing their dollars on outcomes.  You can't afford not to be a warrior and courageously take on the Speaker Hijacker - if you don't who will?

Contributed by Pegine Echevarria. Pegine (www.Pegine.com) is one of eight women among 58 elite speakers inducted into the Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame. SHRM named her one of the top 100 Global Thought Leaders on Diversity and Inclusion. She is quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post among others. She goes by her first name, pronounced Peg-een, if it is good enough for Oprah, Madonna and Shakira it is good enough for her.

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