In the Awesome Virtual Interactive Event™ model, the live portion of the event is 10 speakers, each speaking for 15 minutes, in a 6 hour event. Between each speaker is a 15 minute interactive block.
Our average event has 11-15 speakers. The additional 1-5 are pre-recorded speakers, with their talks going out by email to the entire list of people who registered for the event.
While both give great exposure, and pre-recorded speakers are welcome and encouraged to attend live, there is more prestige in being a live speaker.
Some people have asked me how I decide who is live and who is pre-recorded, so I’d like to share my thinking. This is not an exact process, and sometimes people will end up live or pre-recorded for various reasons beyond what is here, but this is the general concept.
First, of course, I look at how well the speaker is aligned to the event. If they are totally misaligned, they will be invited to apply to a better fit event. However, for some who seem like they’d bring value but aren’t perfectly aligned, I’ll invite them as pre-recorded speakers.
The next determinant is replying the acceptance email. People who reply and express interest in live are prioritized. If I’m giving someone a live spot, I want to make sure they are engaged in the event. The first way they show that is by engaging with my emails.
Then we look at past promotional track record. I keep track of how many opt-ins each speaker on all of my events brings in.
The expectation for most events is a minimum of 10 registrations, and if their average is over 10 for past events, there’s a decent chance depending on how competitive the event is. If they are over 40 or so, then there’s a very good chance they’ll get it.
If someone is new to the AVIE stage, I’ll treat them as if they have 10. Anyone with a proven track record would be ahead of them in line, but anyone who has historically underperformed would be behind them.
There is also, of course, the PITA factor. How much of a pain in the ass is this speaker?
Some people are enthusiastic, easy to work with, and a joy to have live on the event. Others are less so. There are a few speakers who don’t bring big numbers, but they bring big energy and big value, so they may get on the stage because I know they will make the event better for everyone.
How do I get on live?
Want to get on live AVIE stages? Do three things:
Be enthusiastic and awesome. Show me that you’ll bring value and the audience will love you.
Promote! Promote! Promote! Get people to register through your link. And this isn’t just about having a big email list. One of our top promoting speakers has an email list of 200 (that’s two hundred) but she gets registrations by personally inviting people.
Don’t be a pain in the ass. If I feel anxiety when I see an email from you, your chance of getting on stage live is lower. Be easy to work with.
If you are invited as a pre-recorded speaker, that is an opportunity to get in front of our audience and an opportunity to prove yourself as an adept speaker and promoter to get invited to the next live stage.
Looking for stages to apply to? All open applications are currently listed here.
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