Taking the Guess Work Out of Finding the Right Speaker (For Meeting Professionals)

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By EDGE Woman Speaker, Funny Motivational Keynote Speaker & Entertainer, Leadership, High Performance Expert, Live & Virtual Edu-tainment, Lynn O’Dowd

Finding the right speaker for your audience is one of the most critical pieces to the success of your event. It can mean the difference between people leaving your event smarter, inspired and more focused, or wondering why they came. EDGE Women Speakers understands the importance of finding just the right speaker to motivate your audience AND how hard it is to choose among a sea of options. This is why EDGE was launched in 2016: to break the status quo of “same old speaker” offerings with a curated group of expert female speakers who speak on a variety of topics. 

Here are just a few examples of event and meeting professionals who received phenomenal feedback from their audiences experiencing virtual and in-person presentations by EDGE Women Speakers.

My fellow EDGE colleague Nancy Depcik, who speaks on Change, Resiliency and Work/Life balance, recently presented a virtual program on Communication to a major insurance company of 50 people. 

The feedback: 

“I was so pleasantly surprised by the engagement of our team! I feel like this went super well for our group and received texts during the presentation from colleagues saying how much they were enjoying it! That tells me it really resonated with them! Our group tends to be on the reserved end of the spectrum, so the degree of participation was well above average and quite encouraging.”

EDGE Speaker Jennifer J Fondrevay who speaks on Corporate Change, Business Transitions and the Employee Experience recently conducted a virtual presentation for 200+ employees of Livongo, a leading telehealth technology company that was acquired for $18 billion. 

Her client feedback: 

“Jennifer took an emotional topic that can cause much anxiety for folks in an organization experiencing a Merger or Acquisition and treated it with grace and humor…without diminishing her deep insights into applicable strategies and perspectives. Because of her presentation, the teams are able to engage in learning opportunities and build strong networks across the newly combined organization. I’m truly grateful for her expertise and passion for helping others.” – Brent Hildebrandt-Malleske, Learning & Development Director, Livongo (now Teladoc)

Then there is my own recent experience which underlines how important it is right now to find speakers who deliver some fun.  I received a call from a client whose management team was feeling the effects of COVID. They wanted to get the team back together and excited again. In the client’s words “Our office had become stagnant… (Thank you Covid!)”. They wanted to jumpstart their organization’s success, and shake things up with something completely different. 

The client recognized that these unusual times required unusual solutions and engaged me Lynn O’Dowd and my keynote, “Unleash Your Inner Superstar”, which includes an appearance by Lady Gaga ;-)! The client wanted to reintroduce FUN back into the workplace and the results that come from it. 

Not only do fun experiences promote learning, but fun, laughter and humor in the workplace is critically important in uniting everyone and moving a team forward. Research shows that happiness leads to success and not the other way around. As Inc. states “A boatload of science shows that teams that laugh more, perform better.”

In my keynote, we focused on the need for fun in business in big ways: we set outrageous goals to step out of our comfort zones for better leadership and increased sales. And we did it in an outrageously fun way by clapping, singing, and dancing together on stage. The music and entertainment factor I offer speaks directly to the heart and soul of attendees, without filtering through mental chatter. It was just what the audience needed.

See for yourself: 

“Thanks so much for being the Keynote Speaker at our Team Day event. You were a breath of fresh air in a stale climate! (Thank you Covid!) We needed your enthusiasm, words of wisdom, advice, and passion. Our office had become stagnant, and you helped to “supercharge” us!!! As you know the audience was 50/50 – males to females. It was interesting to get their reactions – 100% had positive feedback! Everyone took away something good to use in their arsenal. Our office now seems more normal, energized, and eager to step out of their comfort zone and move forward. This is a win-win situation for all of us! Again, thank you for being the catalyst to bringing out the “Inner Superstars” of our company!!!” – Rob Copenharve, Vice President, Lankford Construction Company

EDGE Women Speakers can bring you a variety and diversity of speakers to fit your meeting needs. If you’re ready to jumpstart your organization’s success and make this the best year EVER for you and your team, it may be time to shake things up … with something completely different.

EDGE Women Speakers are dynamic, expert speakers who partner with event planners to provide exceptional service online as well as offline. From keynote sessions to intimate workshops, EDGE speaks on topics that range from mastering the complexity of change, resiliency and creativity to parliamentary procedure and board development. Entertaining and educating audiences worldwide, EDGE speakers convert interested listeners into enthusiastic participants – whether in-person or virtually.