Maximizing executive speaking engagements is becoming more of a proactive exercise in strategic planning than cherry-picking the plum invitations from organizations that have sought out your CEO or top executives. For targeted executive exposure, this prime "face-time" is not close to reaping its full PR potential. "Only 8% of American companies do a good job of planning and pursuing speaking engagements," says Edie Fraser, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Top Speaking Forums, a speakers service that recently published its 1998 Top Speaking Forum Directory.
But the tide is changing as more and more CEOs are speaking "outside the box" and taking their message beyond the (industry-specific) tried-and-true trade shows to conferences and forums that provide local and national access to a panorama of executives, social/political think tanks, community leaders and the media. As a barometer of this growing trend, the directory has grown considerably, profiling 1,100 forums (a 40% increase from last year). The hottest growth areas are in the finance, technology/telecommunications, healthcare and women's industries.
To get the biggest PR bang from speaking engagements (leadership positioning and high profile, issue-based visibility), TSF recommends putting as much financial and staffing muscle into planning as in writing and production of speeches. Fraser offers this comparative breakdown on strategic forum planning at right:
Opportunity vs. Obligation
A few years ago, PR wasn't a huge priority for United Parcel Service and executive speaking engagements were accepted on a cursory invitation-only basis. But in the last year, UPS's "quiet giant" stature has been overhauled to become more aggressive at seizing communications and positioning opportunities for leadership in areas like global growth, technology and human resources. As part of this executive communications push, UPS launched an executive "Speakers Bureau" program that takes a "matrix" approach to identifying and planning an "A" list of where its execs will speak, such as Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management and the "1997 Strategic Alliances Conference" in New York. The department's budget of $500,000 has at least doubled in the last year, according to Steve Soltis, UPS's manager of executive communications
The four-person bureau (a vital function of UPS's executive communications department) not only ranks forums (using target audience, marketing potential and geographic importance as indicators) but also repackages executive speeches for online access, Op-Ed/media opportunities and internal communications (newsletters). "Our department acts as a filter for determining what execs will be best for reaching out on a regional and national level," says Soltis, whose department dispatches top-level and regional execs to 25 to 30 key forums a year.
Balancing Act
Although AT&T [T] has taken a strategic approach to forum planning and placement for the last few years, striking the right balance of securing the best venues, finding the most effective executives for those messages and being reactive (to invitations) as well as proactive about forum opportunities is an ongoing challenge, according to Eileen Connolly, AT&T's director of financial information.
"Follow-up is crucial," stresses Connolly. That includes repackaging executive speeches for everything from online use to internal communications. And to gauge the meeting's value, executive speakers are polled for their opinions, attendees are asked about how well executive messages were delivered and conference sponsors are queried about whether their speaker needs were met.
In 1997, AT&T used a wide array of speaking forums like the "American Enterprise Institute" (Washington, D.C.), "Internet World" (New York), "The Chief Executives Club of Boston" and the "World Congress" (Hong Kong) to support its core business initiatives.
Going Beyond the Tried-and-True
For Unum Corp. [UNM] (Portland, Maine), a disability insurance company, "push the envelope" forum opportunities were pursued to advance the company's core five-year business goals for strengthened employee relations, customer satisfaction, operating effectiveness and shareholder value. Speaking engagements are typically pursued that allow its execs to make strong and sometimes controversial statements on high-profile issues. For instance, Unum's CEO tackled the diversity issue at Florida A & M University (Tallahassee, Fla.) whose student body is comprised primarily of African Americans. Gay rights and domestic partner benefits - hot-button issues that directly impact Unum's employees - were also addressed on the local community level (Northeast region) by top execs.
Bob Libbey, Unum's VP of strategic communications, says his department (four staffers) are more selective than a lot of companies that send their execs to hundreds of conferences. Unum's execs go to four or five major (national) meetings and about 12 regional meetings a year. (Edie Fraser, 202/466-8209; Steve Soltis, 404/828-4029; Eileen Connolly, 908/221-6731; Bob Libbey, 207/770-4346)
The Formula For Public Speaking
What All Companies Do (Budget/Timing) Vs. What Companies Should Do:
DO
Planning and Strategy - 5%
Writing - 70%
Media Opportunities - 10%
Speeches Online - 15%
SHOULD DO
Planning/Strategy/Pre-packaging - 30%
Writing - 30%
Media Opportunities - 20%
Speeches Online - 20%
Source: Top Speaking Forums
Top 10 Speaking Forums
Top Speaking Forums, a Washington, D.C.-based speakers service firm, names its best bets for speaking engagements based on five criteria: draw for CEOs and past speakers, audience size (executive attendance), media opportunity, overall prestige and what others say about the forum. We've included its top 10 picks in the areas of local forums and business schools:
Local Forums
Chief Executives Club of Boston (associated with Boston College), Peter Rollins, 617/552-0905
Commonwealth Club of California (San Francisco), Mary Wadsworth, 415/597-6700
Executive Club of Chicago, Kaarina Koskenalusta, 312/263-3500
Economic Club of New York, Raymond Price, 212/947-7738
Houston Forum, Marsha Tucker, 713/439-0466
*National Press Club (Washington, D.C.), David Martin, 202/662-7500
Business Schools
Cornell, Nick Komanecky, 607/254-7174
Harvard University, Eileen Twomey, 617/495-6767
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lucinda Hill, 617/253-3730
Vanderbilt College, Terri Hunt, 615/322-4065
Wake Forest, Patricia Devine, 910/758-5421
*Invitation-only;
Source: 1998 Top Speaking Forums Directory, 1-800-48SPKR