Educational keynote speakers are a vital element of our educational process. Teachers go into the profession with high ideals. Within 5 years, many have left. They site low pay as a reason for the departure, but I think it is because the reality of teaching is so much different than the idea of teaching. Starry-eyed students know that teacher pay lags behind many other fields that they could chose, yet they choose education anyway. So what changes in five years? Could it be that the daily grind of actually having to put up with students who don’t always want to learn and parents who are either not involved or too involved becomes frustrating? Does the environment and bureaucracy take an eventual toll? Could it be that once that happens, teachers start to think “I’m not getting paid enough for all these headaches?” The answer in my opinion is a resounding yes. Once educators feel used or unappreciated or ineffective, the money starts to matter more.
Right now, states are facing budget crunches of significant proportions. Even educators with the best attitudes and the most success need some reassurance, motivation and direction to weather this storm.
In the midst of the financial crisis, will the educational keynote speaker budget fall victim to the red-ink ax? It will be a very big temptation to make the short-term cut when dollars are tight. As a speakers bureau, FIVE STAR is certainly not an unbiased party, but I do believe that if at all possible, the speaker should be brought in for the sake of the teachers and education leaders. Maybe some creative financing is in order — can educators partner with sponsors from the local community, for example?
The bottom line is that educators are being asked to give up a lot when they become teachers. Give them the motivation they need to tap into some of those ideals they had in the beginning. Give them the content they need to reach students and produce more with less. Give them the opportunity to meet with their colleagues and professionally grow.
Can the right conference keynote speakers still help draw better attendance at events? Associations are facing tough days. Membership levels are down and the prospect of raising dues is not popular. At the same time, meeting attendance numbers declined sharply in 2009. The revenues need to be replaced, but how to do it?
Challenge: The economic downturn of the past 18 months has had a significantly negative impact on conference in-person attendance. Declines have been reported of 30 percent or more for 2009, so many association executives are justifiably nervous about 2010 events. They know that the right keynote speaker can prove to be a significant draw, but how are they going to pay for it? Sponsorship dollars have declined at the time they are needed most.
Solution: One option to consider is hybrid conferencing technology. Organizations can now simultaneously stream educational sessions, keynote addresses, product demonstrations, meetings, and any other form of an event live over the internet to an interactive virtual audience. Online attendees see the entire event along with the live audience and have the ability to raise their hands, participate in discussions, chat with the moderator, ask questions, respond to polls and surveys, and partake in classroom interaction.
With increased “virtual” attendance offsetting some of the losses, dollars can be used to secure talent that is a draw.
Extending live content over the Internet with hybrid conferencing has proven to boost overall attendance by 20 to 25 percent on average, increasing revenue, extending reach of message, adding value, and providing more convenient access for participants who cannot attend in person.
The cost for hybrid events depends on location and requirements.
Woman make up more than half of the US population. So why is it so difficult to find a woman motivational speaker? Even when you do find a good female speaker, what is her topic likely to be about? Life Balance? Effective Communication? Time Management? If it is business related, how likely will the topic be related to Human Resources?
These topics are certainly important and can measurably increase productivity and boost morale. However, these topics are also usually delivered at a lower price point than keynotes in a more ‘male” domain such as strategic business development.
Studies now show that woman are highly effective managers, often scoring higher than male counterparts. Woman are routinely top sales producers. Currently more woman graduate from college than males and more woman are business owners than ever before.
So woman have made progress in almost every professional area except that the fact remains … it is still hard to find a a good woman motivational speaker who has the background and gravitas to handle senior-level work.
Happily, FIVE STAR Speakers sees this trend beginning to quickly change. Female leaders with significant backgrounds in corporations, politics, creative fields, and entrepreneurs are sharing their stories — and they are being heard by both male and female audiences.
Perhaps in a short time, we’ll be less concerned about the gender of the keynote speaker because the number of female leadership speakers will more closely match the general population of female professionals. When that happens, I think we’ll all benefit by being able to choose the very best match based on the content of the message.
A friend of mine who owns a a financial services firm always wants to know what type of keynote speaker I’m booking. He claims I am a canary in the coal mine — a leading indicator of things to come. Right now, inspiring speakers are back in demand. So I’m thinking that if his logic is true, times ahead may be looking brighter.
My financial friend is absolutely right about my job reflecting the mood of the country. Two years ago I almost never received a request for an economic keynote speaker … but immediately following the economic meltdown of 2008, economists were all the rage. In the boom days of the housing bubble, requests poured in for celebrity speakers or someone to make the event “special.” Lately, I receive fewer requests from buyers needing a VIP and more who claim they need ROI. Read the rest of this entry »
“Send me a list of motivational sports speakers!” That is a common request we’ve heard for many years and it makes sense. Sports stars are a big draw — even in a down economy. However, as many meeting planners know first hand, being a star of the playing field does not automatically mean being a star on stage.
Ironically the same can be said of CEO speakers. Some are great at commanding respect at their companies but can’t hold the attention of an audience. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a fact: Social media and leadership keynote speakers are now linked. Every category from motivational speakers to business speakers use social media to promote themselves. There are blogs from leadership speakers, inspirational speakers, technology speakers, and more. Speakers have fan pages on Facebook and they Tweet, but what happens in the age of democratization when the audience can speak back to the speaker?
What is the expectation for how speakers respond when attendees can quickly disagree with their message? We’ve all been in a meeting when one attendee dominated the conversation with questions and comments that were not relevant to the group. How much leeway the meeting leader allows tells everyone else present to either expect a great experience or gives permission to tune out since it no longer matters to them. Read the rest of this entry »
In Collapse of Distinction, Scott McKain asserts that being “Good Enough” will not cut in today’s business climate. He believes it is imperative that every business engages their clients at a deeper level than ever before. Read the rest of this entry »
On November 19, 2009, Leadership Keynote SpeakerJoel Zeff was a featured keynote speaker at 2009 Fall Leadership Keynote Speaker Showcase presented live by FIVE STAR Speakers. He was one of 16 keynote speakers featured during the day presenting on topics that will grow your business, create inspirational leadership, and engaged employees and customers.
Joel is the author of Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative and Productive Work Life which helps the leaders to create an energetic, passionate, and productive work environment. Joel utilizes his improvisational training as a keynote speaker to communicate his ideas in a fun and humorous manner that helps organization create an productive work environment. Joel helps leaders and their teams to make the right choice by communicating more effective to deliver better results.
Joel’s keynotes are ideal for senior leaders and their teams.
On November 19, 2009, Motivational Business Speaker Frank Keck was a featured keynote speaker at 2009 Fall Leadership Keynote Speaker Showcase presented live by FIVE STAR Speakers. He was one of 16 keynote speakers featured during the day presenting on topics that will grow your business, create inspirational leadership, and engaged employees and customers.
Motivational Business Speaker Frank Keck spoke about embracing your freakness in your organization and creating significant growth and fantastic bottom-line results. Frank Keck is keynote speaker who focuses on improving your leadership, orgnizational effectivenes, and bottom-line results. Frank highlights the day he met Patch Adams and how it impacted him and how it can impact your ability to grow and develop your organization. Frank will provide techniques and strategies that will improve the morale of your teams and increase organizational effectiveness. His programs focus on three concepts: Positive Attitude & Self-Confidence, Vision & Leadership, and Relationships & Service.
Frank is ideal as a keynote speaker for senior leaders or their team.
To learn more about Frank Keck’s programs visit his web page.
for being recognized by Richard Pachter, syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald and the Sacramento Bee as one of the Top Business Books in 2009.
which helps the leaders to create an energetic, passionate, and productive work environment. Joel utilizes his improvisational training as a 
was featured keynote speaker at the Live