Promenade's Speaker Aficionado ENewsletter - January 2012

   I don't know what 2012 will bring for the economy, healthcare, insurance, financial services, science, innovation, retail, legislation and other vital areas. That's despite reading a mountain of magazine articles on what to expect. Luckily, Promenade accesses an array of thought leaders, authors and futurists to help you figure out the impact of possible outcomes on your organization.

   We appreciate your reading this newsletter and the record-setting bookings you helped us enjoy last year. In some cases, we didn't win the business, yet clients took time to let us know who they picked and why, which helps us in many ways. Thanks for that courtesy too!

   We're in the midst of adding 100s of one-click speaker videos to our site. This will make it easier to sample video. The upgrade is about 25% complete and should be finished by the end of February.

   The 2012 summer Olympics offers obvious tie-ins to leadership, sales, team-building and motivational programs. Talk to us about the many former Olympians with timely presentations worth a look.

 Entrepreneur Magazine Online recently quoted us in an article about sales: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222432

   Our offer continues for a free online class from Event Leadership Institute (value: $50). Just book one of speakers at $7,000 or more between now and the end of February 2012 (appearance can be anytime in 2012).   

In This Issue:

1) Brainstorming Panel Themes

2) When Alcohol is Served During Your Speaker's Presentation 

In Recent Issues:

1) Presentation Tip: Double Saving Your Speech

2) Do You Have a Speaker Plan B?

3) Social Networks Can't Replace Socializing by Jonah Lehrer

4) Promotion Apps Mean Longer Lead Times for Speaker Booking

To read past articles:  Promenade articles and newsletters

Brainstorming Panel Themes

Here are 9 themes you can use to develop engaging panels:

1) Real World vs Literature vs Theory

2) For vs Against

3) New/Cutting Edge vs Established

4) US vs Overseas

5) Region vs Region 

6) Secular vs Religious

7) Small vs Big 

8) Academic vs Business

9) Government vs Private Sector

When Alcohol is Served During a Speech

   If you are serving alcohol sometime near the time a speaker is presenting, you probably can guess attention spans may be shorter and lower audience engagement is a possibility. This may impact your choice of speaker, as well as their willingness to present in that circumstance. Consider a shorter presentation, a more interactive speaker, a lighter topic, use of visuals, speed of delivery, how you might moderate Q&A, mingling and other factors.