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How to Connect to Your Community With a
Speakers Bureau
by Katherine Khalife
The best way to connect with your community is to get out into it. And one of the most effective, low-cost ways to begin doing that is by starting your own speakers bureau. Giving talks to local clubs, churches, service organizations and professional groups not only gives you the chance to take your museum's message directly to local audiences, it also provides the perfect opportunity to begin building relationships with those audiences.
Preferring to "do business" with people we know is part of human nature, and a speakers bureau is a great vehicle for getting people in your community to feel they know you. Meeting a goodwill ambassador from your museum and hearing him or her give a talk allows people to "put a face" and a personality with your institution. That alone can go a long way toward changing the perception some people have of museums as impersonal places that are above the community, not part of it.
Another benefit of a speakers bureau is its ability to quickly put you in face-to-face contact with hundreds or even thousands of folks who have an interest in supporting the community. They've demonstrated that by joining and attending the groups you're speaking to. That makes them exactly the kind of prospects you want to reach whether you're looking for new volunteers, new members or corporate sponsors.
And because these groups are community-oriented, they're usually quite in tune with the wants and needs of the community. If you structure your speakers bureau so it's also a "listening bureau," you'll come away from every presentation with valuable insights to help your museum better serve local audiences.To accomplish all these things, though, a speakers bureau must be well planned and marketed. And it must be audience-focused. The secret to an effective speakers bureau is speaking about what people want to hear, not just about what you want to say. That means putting your message into a context that your audience relates to and finds relevant to their own experience.
This is something many museums overlook when giving talks in their communities. Some take the one-size-fits-all approach, using the same presentation --word for word -- whether they're talking to the Daughters of the American Revolution or the Board of Realtors. Others speak in museum-speak on insider topics that may hold a group of curators spellbound but leave local Rotarians squirming in their chairs.
Your goal is to create a speakers bureau that's adaptable. If you're a museum director speaking at a breakfast meeting for business professionals, for example, choose a topic like "The Business of Museums." If you're an art museum speaking to a young mothers' group, maybe your topic is "How to Teach Your Child About Art." If you're talking to a group of seniors, concentrate on something nostalgic. Make audience focus your priority and you'll build strong community connections in no time.
Whether you're starting a speakers bureau for the first time or just want to improve the one you already have, here are 10 more tips that will help:
1. If building community relationships is the goal you choose for your speakers bureau, allow yourself to see it as having more of a public relations and marketing research base than a purely educational one. This doesn't mean I don't wholly support community outreach education programs -- or that I suggest you stop doing them! I'm simply suggesting that there's room for both types of initiatives, and both of them support mission.2. Give the same amount of attention to setting up and promoting your speakers bureau as you do to planning and publicizing a major special event. A good speakers bureau has the potential, over time, to bring significant and lasting rewards. One that's poorly planned and operated, however, is likely to be a public relations disaster.
3. Choose the right speakers. For most community speaking engagements, enthusiasm, personality and the ability to "read" and engage the audience are more important qualities than a deep and exhaustive knowledge of the subject matter. Studies have shown that 93 percent of a presentation's impact is due to the speaker's voice and body language. The seven percent that's content is important, of course, but it's that other 93 percent that's going to build the good community relationships you seek.
4. Consider using board members and volunteers as well as staff. Having a larger pool of speakers to draw from not only lets you reach more groups, but also makes it easier to create a speakers bureau that's adaptable. A volunteer who works in the high-tech sector, for example, might be just the right person to speak to local clubs comprised mostly of computer professionals.
5. If you don't have enough people in your organization who aren't terrified of public speaking or aren't well suited for it, consider asking for volunteers from your local Toastmasters club. Toastmasters, if you're not already familiar with it, is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches people how to become effective public speakers. There are 8,500 chapters worldwide, and you can find contact information for your local club at the Toastmasters International website.
6. To publicize your speakers bureau, send out press releases, add a promotional page to your website, and contact clubs and organizations directly -- preferably by phone. That allows you to make a personal connection, which is more effective and much less expensive than an impersonal direct-mail campaign. If you don't already have a list of groups in your community, ask your public library and United Way.
7. To get the "listening bureau" benefits I mentioned above, plan to have speakers arrive early and mingle with the groups they'll be speaking to. If the meeting includes a meal, for example, the speaker should eat with the group. Also have them distribute a short survey form to everyone in attendance. At the conclusion of their talk, they can explain that the museum would appreciate input into how it might better serve the community -- hence the forms, which ideally will be filled out on the spot and collected before the meeting is over.
8. After each speaking engagement, ask the host for a list of those who attended. Even if you don't have immediate plans to use these lists, they're good to have on hand for future membership drives or other projects.
9. Have a short "de-briefing" session with each speaker shortly after each talk. While the details are still fresh, get the speaker's insights and impressions about the audience and about ways the museum might forge an ongoing relationship with the group in the future.
10. Hold monthly or bimonthly speaker meetings. This will give people a chance to share their experiences, discuss ideas for future presentations, and keep the enthusiasm going.
Copyright © 2001 Katherine Khalife All rights reserved.
For reprint permission, please e-mail info@museummarketingtips.com
Katherine Khalife is a writer and consultant specializing in museum marketing, customer service and heritage cultural tourism. See the Services section for information about her workshops and other services.
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