Once you’ve decided on a budget for your corporate event and you begin searching for a keynote speaker, you may find the field of speakers is overwhelmingly diverse. There are a myriad of speakers under every category imaginable.

Need a motivational speaker? You’ll find a list that’s a mile long. Need an expert in a specific field? You’ll find an equally long list of speakers who all offer subtle differences in terms of style, expertise and pay rate.

That’s where a speakers bureau can help. These are professional consulting services that can help you organize your event and find the best possible speaker. This article will introduce you to the top five reasons a bureau can help make your corporate event interesting, memorable and effective.

Develop a Great Agenda

A bureau can help you craft an event that meets your expectations and goals. Larger speakers bureaus have experience working with all kinds of events, and they know the right questions to ask to help refine your objectives.

They can provide you with a fresh perspective on your event to help you generate the "wow" effect you’re after. If you don’t have much experience with event planning, a bureau will help you streamline the production, improve your content and engage your audience.

Select the Perfect Speaker

Business 2 Community notes that professional speakers often join a bureau to gain visibility. By consulting a bureau, you’ll be exposed to more options than you would find on your own. Why settle for a speaker who doesn’t meet all of your expectations?

A best speakers bureau can provide access to personalities from all over the world. If the thought of adding more speakers to the already overwhelming list of choices worries you, you’ll be happy to know bureaus provide program consultants that can help cull the options based on your events’ particulars.

Bureaus also help you eliminate some of the less professional speakers. Rachelle Gardner points out best speakers bureaus vet speakers before listing them, saving you from considering those that no longer are actively working or that have a poor track record.

Find Unique or In-Demand Speakers

If your event is targeting an audience in a small niche or if your audience comprises experts on the material, you may find your options for an adequate speaker are limited. A bureau will provide the best available options with expertise in your field, because these bureaus are not tethered to any one geographic location; they are connected with speakers from every corner of the globe.

Similarly, if you find you have the budget to book an in-demand personality or a celebrity speaker, you may find they’re difficult to contact. Bureaus often have connections that can facilitate that interaction and give you access to the high-profile speakeryou want.

Preview Speakers

Although basic information about speakers, including experience, pay rate and specialization, are important, watching speakers at work is one of the best ways to determine if they are a good fit. To help you make a decision, a good speakers bureau will send you video samples of past speeches.

Watching speakers’ past appearances will help you in a number of ways, such as:

  • Determine if they use fresh material for each event or if they rewrite the same speech over and over again.
  • Observe if their senses of humor, motivational tactics or grasps of the material will mesh well with your audience.

Advise on Entertainment Details

Beyond helping you select a speaker, a bureau can assist you with all of the event’s important technical details. It can provide unbiased recommendations for backstage services, such as audio equipment, video equipment and lighting. It also can help you coordinate photo ops, meet and greets, and other pre- and post-show details.
Depending on your event’s length and scope, you also may need to contract other vendors for catering, security, bartending and decorating. A good bureau will keep your event organized no matter how many vendors you require.

About the Author: Stan Griffin has been helping nonprofits organize speeches for more than six years.