Pros and Cons of Hiring a Celebrity Motivational Speaker

  

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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 audiendce may feel unsettled.
• Every year it gets harder to raise the bar and continue to get celebrity motivational speakers especially on a budget.