Planner Exit Interview
Exit Interview With Maja E.
Event Organizer Shares Feedback On Receiving Speaker Proposals Through The SpeakerMatch Job Board
About This Interview Series
Many of the speakers in our community
have expressed interest in learning more about the speaker selection process. These
exit interviews will share feedback and insights from meeting planners
utilizing The SpeakerMatch Job Board. Enjoy!
Q1: Overall, how was your experience utilizing the SpeakerMatch Job Board to find a speaker?
A: It was easy to post the job, and easy to review the applications. I thought it worked well.
Q2: How was the quality of the applicants who applied to your listing? Overall, did you feel the applicants met the criteria you outlined in your listing?
A: It was all over the place, actually. That is my major negative feedback – most of the applicants had obviously no experience in my focus areas but nevertheless assumed that they would be up for consideration. It was very time consuming to try to sort through all that and find the few gold nuggets.
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Q3: Of the applications you received, what kinds of things in the teaser/headline of the application drove you to want to open the full letter of application? What kinds of things in the teaser/headline of the application made you skip over reading a full letter of application?
A: Many of the applicants didn’t seem to bother to even personalize their headlines, to make it seem as they would be a good match for what I needed. When stating that I wanted the speaker to talk about demographics and workforce trends, why on earth would I consider someone who’s opening statement is "I was 38 when my husband died suddenly; leaving me with four minor children to raise….", or "Making YOU look good is the most important thing?" It is just a waste of my time.
Q4: Of the applications you received, what kinds of things in the letter of application stood out in a positive way? In a negative way?
A: See the above. I am not interested in people that speak about things bearing no relation to my subject, nor in people that are “expert speakers†with no professional background in these areas but confident that they can do it anyway. Credibility, hello?
Q5: Would you use SpeakerMatch again to help you find a speaker?
A: Sure, but I would make sure to state my expectations in a better way, to avoid all the bad applications. I got somewhere between 40-50 applications. To expect that I should reach out to all of them individually, to explain why they were not chosen is just not feasible. I am very happy to find the right speaker from this service and think that it was the right decision.