Focus Magazine - Spring 2013 - 13

FRONT OF THE ROOM
Brian Lange

Mastering the Guest
Speaker Experience
Trainers can be
more proactive
in managing
the guest
experience and
strengthening the
continuity of their
inclusion in training.

Guest speakers are often a welcome addition
to a training environment. They provide special
knowledge and content; offer a change-of-pace
for the audience from the main facilitators; and
even provide a little break of the full burden of
delivery for facilitators. However, there are typical challenges that accompany guest speakers,
and I’d like to explore some food-for-thought on
how trainers can be more proactive in managing
the guest experience and strengthening the continuity of their inclusion in training.

Pre-Delivery Communication
Many guest speakers are recurring speakers—
ones who speak at every new hire class, or often
at national meetings. For these folks,
communication is usually centered around
simple logistics: When I need you (date/time),
and how much time I can give you. There is an
opportunity here, though, to help further evolve
each delivery for greater impact.
Pre-delivery communication is an
opportunity to tighten up deliverables (what you
hope the audience walks away with in terms of
knowledge and needed actions after the speaker
presents), as well as to offer to review their
intended slide deck to “ensure continuity and
flow” with existing content (this is a great way to
suggest reductions in quantity of slides!). And,
finally, to avoid the very common problem of
speakers running long, strong reminders of time
allotments can be helpful: “As you know, we have
you on the schedule from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. If
we’re still running at 10:45 a.m., are you
comfortable with me offering your e-mail
address as a means of follow-up for participants
with additional questions?” (This signals you are
serious about managing time!). And, the always

popular, “How can I help you manage time?”

Recurring Speakers
If a trainer has conducted any sort of evaluation from participants of previous deliveries by
the guest speaker, ideally it should be shared.
My empirical evidence when inquiring how
many trainers actually share results with speakers is only around 20 percent. Granted, it can
feel uncomfortable to offer a speaker (particularly a more experienced one) feedback that may
be less than stellar (as is often the case), but if we
truly aspire to be learner advocates, perhaps we
need to step-up and be more proactive about
feedback. Afterward, we can even offer some of
our expertise to them: “I’ve participated in a lot
of developmental activities around my own presentation skills…would it be helpful if I shared a
couple of tips?”

Post-Delivery
When guest speakers leave the classroom, the
“event” is not over. Trainers should think about
how they “brand” the experience for their
speakers: all communications and interactions
shape guests’ perceptions about the trainer.
Trainers would be wise to debrief each guest
speaker’s presentation with the class. Solicit
input about key points they perceived, and use
the opportunity to highlight items you want to
be sure they retain. It’s also helpful—and
provides greater continuity—to be sure to repeat
brief summaries of the talk: “Recall when Scott
spoke to us on Tuesday, when he mentioned the
importance of…”
Happy facilitating! I

Brian Lange, blange@perim.com, is with Perim Consulting and serves as lead facilitator for SPBT’s PrimeTime! For Trainers Core and Masters workshops. He blogs at www.WorkplaceInfluence.blogspot.com.

FOCUS | SPRING 2013 | www.spbt.org

http://www.WorkplaceInfluence.blogspot.com http://www.spbt.org

Focus Magazine - Spring 2013

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