I was recently an inspirational speaker at a healthcare conference. The other Canadian keynote speaker was funny man, Brent Butt - former star of Corner Gas.
Although I missed Brent's motivational talk, I heard he is a very funny (Canadian!) keynote speaker.
The meeting planner suggested they started hiring a celebrity inspirational speaker to boost attendance 10 years ago and have continued this tradition ever since.
We discussed the pro's and con's of hiring a Celebrity Motivational Speaker.
The Pro's
- Well known celebrity speakers can spark interest and boost attendance
- Celebrities can create a buzz before the event
- A prominent celebrity may be easier to get a corporate sponsor for
The Con's
- Celebrity speakers can be very expensive from $30,000 or more
- Celebrities may be famous but this doesn't translate into a high impact motivational talk. Audience Expectations are high and if the motivational speaker doesn't live up to this high standard- audiences will be disappointed.
- With Celebrity speakers, audiences will have questions ( what was it like to win a medal? was the competition tough? what kind of training) etc...). If these questions aren't answered, the audience may feel unsettled.
- Every year it gets harder to raise the bar and continue to get celebrity motivational speakers especially on a budget.
