Components of an integrated PR program: Speaking opportunities

• February 22, 2008

By Linda Forrest

This blog post is part of a series on integrated PR programs. Last week, I wrote about bylined articles. Today, I would like to address speaking opportunities.

Why should company representatives do speaking engagements? There are a number of good reasons for your company’s representatives to speak publicly – chief of which is to build the company’s reputation as a leader in its space and for the executive speaking to build their profile amongst stakeholders, peers, competitors, potential customers and the general public. Public speaking can support business objectives like recruitment, increasing market awareness and seeking potential partners. Like the other tactics this series addresses, speaking opportunities is but one of a number of public relations activities that make up a complete program that supports your business objectives as a whole.

In what venues can our company speak? Trade organizations, associations and special interest groups have regular meetings that may be suitable for your company to speak at. Speaking at community events, such as awards shows affiliated with your company’s corporate social responsibility program or personal charitable endeavours can be advantageous as it helps to build both personal and corporate goodwill. Conferences and trade shows that speak directly to your particular market are probably the events that have the highest value as the audience is made up of your peers and prospects.

What kinds of speaking opportunities exist? A distinction should be made between types of speaking engagements, those that the speaker pays for and those that are earned based on reputation, expertise and strength and appropriateness of the proposed speaking topic. In our opinion, the former, like their print “editorial” counterpart, can be devalued by the audience as not being worthy of their attention because it is implied that it will be little more than a commercial for the company. This sort of speaking engagement, in my opinion, would be more considered advertising than a true PR opportunity. That said, many reputable conferences and events only allow paying exhibitors the opportunity to present to their audiences. Other events have a broad spectrum of opportunities based on the subject matter, the technical detail of and the expected audience of the event. For example, a biotechnology-focused conference may offer scientific symposia as well as technology demonstrations and expert panels.

What formats are typically used? The format of a speaking opportunity varies widely from event to event. Sometimes, participation in a panel enables the speaker to take part in a conversation with multiple experts and acts as a dialog between leaders in a chosen field. Some speaking opportunities may be brief introductions about your company or technology while others present the chance to host a workshop that demonstrates your technology to potential partners and customers. Speeches can be an hour or more long, or last just 15 minutes or so; they can be interactive or a monologue only. Whatever the format, be sure that it enables you to get your key messages across and that it well positions the speaker and the company.