How can event analytics help you select and improve speakers?

This is important for gathering insights which is a key aspect of design thinking. Getting these insights will give you a deeper understanding of what your audience would like to hear and engage in with regards to your topic which in turn will help you design a more fulfilling and memorable event experience which they will value as worth their time.

I wouldn't listen too much to statistics. Do you want your attendees to talk about what the guest speaker had to say when their eating lunch a half hour after the program ends? Go contrarian. IBM had Alvin Toffler speak about the future KNOWING he would question the value of corporations moving/promoting their executives every couple of years and what affect(s) that has on the relationships their families have built, only to be disrupted - again. This was over 40 years ago! Would they bring in someone this controversial today?

A great speaker is a strategic choice and a powerful gift to your audience. The best speakers I have contracted are not just filler or entertainment. They are a springboard to a profound theme or the exclamation point on a great experience that you want people to remember for the rest of their life. Understanding the needs of your audience is foundational, but so is understanding the needs of your organization who is sharing the speaker. When you balance, these, a great speaker will inform, inspire, motivate, encourage, entertain, engage, and hopefully activate your audience in a meaningful way.

Speaker Selection: Event analytics can provide insights into the preferences and interests of your target audience. By analyzing attendee data, such as registration patterns, session attendance, and feedback surveys, you can identify the topics, themes, and speaker styles that resonate most with your audience. This information can guide your speaker selection process, ensuring that you choose speakers who align with the interests and needs of your attendees.

Es parte de la voz en off, que recorre en tu cabeza, que te ayuda a realizar las mejoras en tu proyecto como un buen ponente.

Know which speakers provided wins for your attendees. Don't just ask for data about what happens on the stage. The biggest impact a great speaker will make won't be on the stage it will be off. Find out who didn't hide in the green room and actually served your audience.

Assess speaker performance by analyzing audience engagement, feedback, interaction levels, and content impact, using data to gauge effectiveness and improve future presentations.

You should use both qualitative and quantitative analysis to evaluate your speakers. Surveying your audience on retention of information, connectivity to the event and its theme, are all valuable. I prefer to stand in the back of the room for events to see whether you have people looking up and watching the speaker, or staring at their phone the whole time. I also think it's worthwhile to survey people after they return home from an event. Let them digest the speakers information, and when surveying them, make them rank the speakers, rather than simply grade them. When you put speakers in comparison to one another, you are more likely to get useful data, as opposed to simply asking for a score 1-5.

Offer constructive feedback by highlighting strengths, addressing areas for improvement, and providing actionable guidance to aid growth and enhance performance positively.

Sharing the information you receive with speakers is the most important way for speakers to improve. Providing information on both what went right and what needed improvement should help a speaker hone their message over time.

Getting feedback from your audience after any speaker will provide valuable insights. We have had some of the most highly regarded speakers offend because their message was not relatable. We’ve had other speakers miss the mark because they did not have an internationally connected message. In the best situations, a show producer will help navigate through some of the risks and even better, will be able to connect with the speakers that will absolutely be a perfect fit for an organization. These are the speakers that become the perfect messengers, with the perfect messages that touch the heart as well as the head. This is the beauty and power of a great speaker.

Analytics can be helpful, but often times the quantitative data about speakers should only be a part of your process. For instance, I know a lot of great speakers with poor social media numbers, and a tremendous amount of terrible speakers with great social media figures. Depending on the goals of your event, numbers don't mean everything!

I strongly suggest paying attention to the overall day and the literal feel of it. If there is a ton of expert, heavy learning sessions, people's brains literally need a brain break. It's often why I am hired and I do believe - that although I'm not a neuroscientist or a detailed expert in a particular subject, bringing in a speaker that is an expert at bringing an audience's energy up at the right time is crucial for an overall productive and positive feel for the day.