Sometimes, you just need a keynote speaker – someone who will “wow” your audience for an hour or so and leave them with some intriguing thoughts to ponder. Sometimes, you need something more.

If you want to go beyond the keynote and create a real, high-impact learning experience for your attendees, you want ROI Speakers. A completely consultative service from The Speakers Group, we will work with you to assess your unique needs and objectives and then implement a customized solution that provides much more than just an outstanding speaker for your program – all within your budget.

Watch this fun, five-minute video for a demonstration of the ROI Speakers difference:

For more information, visit http://ROIspeakers.com or call us at 615.526.6600.

Posted under Event Management, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence, Planner Tips

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 22, 2009 — Responding to the unique pressures facing its clients and others in the meetings industry as a result of sensational media coverage, government regulations, and reduced budgets, The Speakers Group has launched a new initiative, ROI Speakers (http://www.ROIspeakers.com), to help planners add value to their meetings and events — and increase ROI, or return on investment — by rethinking their use of professional speakers.

“Now more than ever, event planners can’t afford — literally or figuratively — to invest thousands of dollars in a speaker who shines for an hour, but whose impact is at risk of fading as soon as the session ends,” said Shawn Ellis, founder and president of The Speakers Group. “With ROI Speakers, we’re helping our clients engage speakers in ways that are aligned with legitimate business purposes, and that can be sustained well beyond the conclusion of the meeting.”

One of the keys to the ROI Speakers service is The Speakers Group’s requirement that all participating speakers meet three criteria:

1. Speakers must conduct significant pre-event research.
2. Speakers must deliver a customized presentation guided by findings of the pre-event research.
3. Speakers must offer one or more options for post-event content delivery to sustain the keynote message.

The result is an impressive roster of thought leaders and experts featuring names such as Marcus Buckingham, Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, and Patrick Lencioni, among others — including lesser-known authorities with fees as low as $10,000.

Further differentiating ROI Speakers is the completely consultative nature of the service. Every engagement begins with a needs assessment with the meeting organizer followed by a custom solution proposal. While the goal remains to secure a speaker who will receive high ratings on-site, the ultimate mission is to secure a speaker whose engagement will stimulate long-term, measurable results.

“Meeting planners should not be afraid of holding meetings, and they shouldn’t be afraid of investing money in speakers,” Ellis said. “They just need to define and defend the value of their programs, and ROI Speakers is one way we can help them in that endeavor.”

To learn more about ROI Speakers solutions, visit http://www.ROIspeakers.com and watch the five-minute video titled “The ROI Speakers Difference.” Also available on the site is a free special report: “How to Maximize the Value of Your Speaker Bookings.”

About The Speakers Group

Since 2003, The Speakers Group has been connecting meeting professionals and organizational leaders with high-content, relevant speakers who combine substance with style. Known for its friendly, knowledgeable service, the company is also considered to be one of the most innovative speakers bureaus in the country. To learn more about The Speakers Group, please visit us at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com, check out our blog at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/blog, and follow our founder on Twitter at http://twitter.com/shawntsg.

Posted under Event Management, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, Planner Tips

Sheila Murray Bethel’s latest release, A New Breed of Leader, offers valuable insights and teaches leaders how to take advantage of the immediately usable action steps to dramatically increase success and meet modern society’s issues head-on by cultivating new insights and perspectives. The 21st century leadership puzzle lets you see how all “eight leadership qualities that matter most” fit together to form the new breed leader. This indispensable volume is a road map for everyone who desires to become the best leader they can be for themselves and their organizations.

Sheila shared some insights from the book with Investors Business Daily columnist Morey Stettner for his recent “Managing for Succcess” article titled “Shows Of Humility Polish Your Management Image.”

Pick up your copy of A New Breed of Leader at 800-CEO-Read, and if you’re looking for a dynamic, high-impact leadership speaker for an upcoming event, consider Sheila:

“In my Leadership presentations I engage your audience with real life anecdotes and examples of what works, what doesn’t and why. I share insights and knowledge drawn from 20 years of research and experience that are the principals of my newest book, A New Breed Of Leader: 8 Leadership Qualities That Matter Most In the Real World … What Works, What Doesn’t and Why. We explore the eight critical leadership qualities that matter most in the real world; competence, accountability, openness, language, values, perspective, power and humility. We reinforce the best leadership qualities of the past and update them with new ways to create a sense of community built around a shared purpose. Each person leaves knowing that leadership is not the exclusive privilege of the well educated, the rich, or the powerful. Whether they lead at home, in the community, or at work, they can be a 21st Century leader who makes a difference.”

More than just a great keynote speaker, Sheila is a true leadership expert who can deliver sustainable solutions to bring about real change for your organization. Contact The Speakers Group’s ROI Speakers division for more information.

Posted under Book Review, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence

It seems that corporate and association meetings are being canceled right and left lately: the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority reported that 402 conventions and meetings scheduled to be held in the city were canceled from October to mid-March; Orlando has had 114 meetings canceled this year as of late March. That’s just two cities!

The ramifications of canceled meetings are far-reaching, so for our Spring issue of TSG Key Notes, we asked thought leader Keith Ferrazzi for some insights on how meeting organizers could make their programs cancel-proof. Keith’s expertise in the development of business relationships to drive sales, spark innovation, and create team cohesion makes him the perfect candidate to address this subject. Here are some highlights from our conversation:

• The key to cancel-proofing a meeting is to make it so valuable that the cost of canceling the meeting is greater than the cost of holding it.
• What is it that makes meetings so valuable? Face time. Face time is critical to building relationships, and relationships are critical to success.
• Why, then, are meetings being canceled? Event organizers don’t always maximize the total relationship potential of every aspect of their event.
• How can this be improved? Organizers must give event participants a safe structure to start making real connections that will benefit them during the event, and a structure that allows those connections to sustain throughout the year ahead.

You can read the full article in TSG Key Notes here. Not only will you learn more from Keith Ferrazzi about how to make your meeting cancel-proof, but you’ll also be given access to a special web page with helpful video messages from Keith and a free except of his soon-to-be released book, Who’s Got Your Back. The magazine also includes an article about how to maximize the ROI on your speaker bookings, and an excerpt from our most popular blog post about how meeting planners can utilize Twitter to enhance their meeting management efforts. Learn more here.

Posted under Event Management, Motivational Speakers, Planner Tips

Founder and president of The Speakers Group, Shawn Ellis, has written a new special report to help meeting and event planners maximize the value of their speaker bookings in pursuit of increased ROI for their meetings. To obtain a copy of the report (free), sign up on the web site of The Speakers Group’s new initiative: ROI Speakers.

Posted under Event Management, Organizational Excellence, Planner Tips