Have you ever brought in a speaker who gave an entertaining presentation only to find that nothing really changed as a result (behaviors, skills sets)?

What kind of a hero would you be for your meeting attendees if they walked into their offices the day after the meeting and everything that was taught could be implemented?  You CAN be that hero!  It's easy.  Here's how:

There is a new breed of speaker on the horizon which exhibit characteristics such as Passion, Knowledge, Connection, and Interaction. Interaction is key to information retention.

Adults can listen with attention for 90 minutes but only listen with retention for 20 minutes.  Every 8 - 10 minutes, they need to see, hear or do something to shift and recapture their attention and involve them in some way to facilitate retention. (Bob Pike; Tony Buzan, Use Both Sides of Your Brain) In The Lioness Principle, we call it the 90-20-8 Rule.

You can hire a linear mouthpiece for the material.  Or...  someone who utilizes 'fun' in the presentation, but it is not strategically linked to providing retention of the material.  However, the highest level of speaker will bring interaction, fun, entertainment AND they will utilize interaction to provide touchstones (key phrases or easily repeatable words, memorable moments of self-discovery) to solidify the learning.

When looking for a Return on Investment (ROI) for your honorarium dollars, look to the speaker who is both entertaining AND can facilitate a transfer of knowledge. Both you and your meeting attendees will be glad you did.