By presenting an online event like a webcast or webinar, you can help to strengthen your reputation as an expert in your line of work. However, you don’t strictly have to do all of the talking at that event, as recruiting a few guest speakers for it could further reflect well on your credibility.
You don’t have to be shy, as many people are willing to speak at online events largely just for the exposure. However, you should still be careful how you approach people you are eager to bring on board.
Define what your event will be about
One LinkedIn article advises that you do this before you start considering speakers for your webinar, as “you can define the parameters of what the speaker should and shouldn’t talk about.”
Once you do have a good idea of your event’s focus, it will be easier for you to articulate this to proposed speakers so that they can assess whether the event would be right for them. It would be counterproductive for you to have a guest speaker whose goals don’t align with yours.
Ask your established base of followers for help
Those followers could be those who have “liked” your social media pages, regularly read your blog or subscribed to your newsletter.
In an article published by Business 2 Community, corporate expert Renee Shupe suggests that you ask your fans “who they would like to see as a guest speaker for your webinar, or if they would be interested in doing it themselves.”
Reach out to potential guests directly
You could do this just by emailing them, in the process introducing yourself – if, obviously, they aren’t already a contact – and explaining why you reckon they would be a great fit for a guest-speaker slot at your online event.
Always provide time limits for the RSPVs you send so that, if you don’t get a response in time, you can swiftly move onto approaching the next person on your list of preferred speakers.
Let potential speakers know what’s in it for them
While many speakers are willing to join an online event for added exposure alone, you could excel at attracting especially high-caliber speakers if you offer something in return for their attendance.
If you will charge for admission to a webinar, you could offer guest speakers a fixed fee or a share of the event’s profits. If the webinar will be free-admission instead, you could offer to write a guest post for the speaker’s blog.
Describe the type of audience that will attend
This is important because the people your event will attract could be exactly the kind of people to which the potential speaker wants to promote themselves. So, it would be useful for you to report things like the audience’s demographics and what this audience needs, wants and desires.
If you currently know little about your followers, you could implement a webcast platform that would make it easier for you to collect valuable data from attendees of your webcasts and webinars.
