If you hire a speaker for your next event or training, doesn't that cost money? Shouldn't you just do it in-house?
So the argument goes, but consider this fact. Six days after training, people forget 75% of the information they learned unless something remarkable keeps the training top-of-mind. You’ve probably seen this yourself.
You’ve put months of hard work into a weekend event only to end up nervously tapping your foot at the back of room while your staff’s eyes glaze over. By the next week, no one remembers a thing. Or maybe you’ve spent a bucketload of cash on video training programs, all rendered useless because people check email while the videos play.
So, how do you make training more memorable? Hire an outside keynote speaker!
We all know the power of a good speaker. Almost everyone remembers Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech or the “They’ll Never Take Our Freedom” speech from “Braveheart.”
An outside speaker may not deliver an “I Have a Dream,” but they’ll energize your organization with speeches that simultaneously educate, engage and entertain.
An Outside Speaker Educates Your Staff
A keynote speaker teaches your staff actionable takeaways about credit unions or community banks. This might be as small as teaching your website staff to cut the copy or as big as your brand vision inspiring every employee. Most importantly, this is stuff your staff will use every day.
And unlike training videos, an outside speaker has your staff’s full attention. There’s nothing else to do but listen to the speaker or take notes, so your employees actually learn.
You can look at highlights from one of our speakers, Taylor Wells, to see how speeches grab your staff’s attention and provide actionable takeaways.
Hire a Speaker to Engage Your Staff
An outside speaker engages staff with stories, vivid imagery or by asking challenging questions.
Mark Arnold, another one of our speakers, rhetorically asks audiences: “What makes your credit union different without saying people, service, members or community?” Our speakers also poll the audience, which means your employees answer questions during the speech.
If your staff thinks critically during a speech, you’ll see a lot less “lost in space” looks and a lot more application after training.
An Outside Speaker Entertains Your Staff
Lastly, a keynote speaker makes the speech fun for everyone. And this part is absolutely necessary to increase information retention.
Think about your best memories - are they boring or are they fun? They’re most certainly fun! You probably don’t even remember the boring stuff. If you went to a theme park, for instance, your memory of the roller coaster will be more vivid than your memory of waiting in line.
A good speaker gives your staff the roller coaster experience. They’ll surround facts with fun, which means your employees will remember more actionable takeaways.
P.S. Our core values are to educate, engage and entertain. On The Mark Strategies keynote speakers already know how to put these values into practice, so hire one of our speakers today to energize your credit union or community bank.
