Four questions to ask before hiring any speaker

1. What are your qualifications? What knowledge and expertise do you have to speak on this topic?

Unfortunately some speakers profess to be “experts” in an area but in reality their expertise comes from only their own personal experience. While experience is a great teacher, it can also be limited and misleading.

Ideally, you want a speaker who speaks from their own personal experience but also from research, training and dealing with many people and experiences in the field you are interested in.

At Innovate Psychology and Education we speak from all of the above. With a combination of postgraduate and masters level training in psychology as well as wide personal experience, we believe we offer you the best of both worlds.


2. What previous experience do you have as a speaker?

On the other side of the coin, you need a speaker who is practiced in educating, inspiring and entertaining audiences, rather than someone with just “head knowledge”. Ask the speaker to tell you the how many presentations they do each year and how long they have been conducting presentations, seminars and workshops.

At Innovate Psychology and Education, we present to over 3000 people each year and have been conducting presentations for over 10 years.


3. What previous experience do you have in speaking to your particular audience group?

You want a speaker who is experienced in talking to the kind of audience you have, and also who is experienced in presenting on the topic you are looking for. Many speakers will tell you they speak to “everybody” on “everything”. This is a warning sign that the speaker is not experienced and qualified to speak to the exact people you want on the exact topics you want.

Incidentally this is particularly true if you are looking for a speaker to talk with young people. Young people are an especially complex audience with specific needs. If you need a speaker to present to young people don’t hire anyone not experienced in working with youth.

At Innovate Psychology and Education our speciality is working with teenagers in schools, and young adults (aged 18-30) in the workforce. We also specialise in talking about youth issues to older adults. We have conducted hundreds of such workshops.


4. What post-presentation support do you offer?

You need a speaker who will not just speak to your audience and leave, but one who offers ongoing support or consultation.

At Innovate Psychology and Education, we are available via email to every member of your audience for unlimited consultation and advice for 12 months after the presentation.  Every audience member (whether students or adults) is given Kirrilie's personal email address and she undertakes to assist and support all audience members as far as possible (and ethical) during the following 12 months.