Michael's Approach to Speaking

“Remember, there’s no ‘I’ in teamwork.
There is, however, in trite and cliché.”

                            — Michael Brandwein

This part of the web site is devoted to a continuing series of short answers to important questions for people who hire speakers.

Question One: I want a motivating and entertaining presentation, but that stuff can wear off in a few hours. If I want lasting value, how do I make sure I get it?

Answer: These are five great questions to ask a speaker before hiring her or him.

1. “I see that you have a presentation called “(      ).” I’d like to learn a little more about that one. A week after your presentation is over, what are some specific new things that we would overhear our people saying differently as a result of attending that particular session? What about new things that we would see them do?”

2. “We’ve got a wide variety of people with diverse experience. What parts of what you’d present in this session do you believe our attendees would not already know? Could you give me a few examples, please? What parts would take them by surprise, or be counter-intuitive—the opposite of what people usually think?”

3. “I’ve always believed there can be a big difference between hearing something and actually learning it so it can be used later. What kinds of things do you do in your presentation to help people learn?”

4. “Our people love laughing and enjoying a presentation. They don’t like ‘touch-feely’ stuff, but they do like being engaged and involved instead of being lectured. Could you give me a few examples of the kinds of things do you do in this presentation to involve people? How do you make that comfortable? How do you make that fun?”

5. “I’ve explained to you a little about what our group is like—their types of jobs, their background, the way they think, their personalities, the challenges we’re facing. Could you give me a couple of examples of how you would speak to them that would be different than if you were speaking to another group? How would you change what you do or how you do it to fit us?”

Please check back for more key Questions and Answers—coming soon.