I chided my wife last week.  She had done some of her postgraduate work at Rutgers University so I had to give her a hard time about the speaker they had on hand the other day...

Snooki spoke at Rutgers and was paid $32,000 to do so.  In fairness it wasn't the university administration that hired her; it was a student-run entertainment organization. 

How a reality "star" entertains I don't know.  I mean she doesn't sing or dance.  She doesn't tell jokes.  She makes her living by simply putting a fake life on TV with her co-"stars" on "Jersey Shore."

But there she was blathering on and banking some really nice coin to do it.  Her advice to college students?  "Study hard, and party harder."  It worked for her I guess.

Ironically, Rutgers has hired Nobel Prize winning novelist Tim Morrison to deliver their commencement address next month.  They're paying him $30,000.

Snooki, $32,000.  A Nobel Prize winner, $30,000.  Hmmm...

Show always costs more than substance.  And it reveals what meeting planners and most people who hire speakers want most-to fill seats.  It seems not to matter as much what people walk away with, as long as they walk in to begin with.

Years ago, I attended a presentation by a famous football player.  This was before I became a professional speaker myself.  He was quite engaging.  Funny too.  But when he was finished, I looked around the table and asked, "But what did he say?"  I was perplexed as to what the purpose of his speech was.  Eight puzzled faces looked back at me without an answer.  Then they all ran up for autographs. 

What he provided was a nice time.  I guess there is some value in that.  Of course, he promised much more.  He promised take-a-ways that would revolutionize how we approached life.  No...not so much.

If I walk away from a presentation with stones in my bag, the stones will still be in the bag many years later.  That's substance.  If I walk out with air in my bag, the air will be gone with the dawn of the next morning. That's show. 

When you hire a speaker for your company, you have to ask yourself what your goal is.  If it's to entertain your people, give them some fun, then by all means pay for the show!  And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. 

But if you want substance...

I was asked a couple of weeks ago what I thought of those "Get Motivated Business Seminars" that travel from city to city and stage big name celebrities one after another for thirty to sixty minutes each to motivate us.

I shrugged.  I've checked them out a couple of times.  I told my inquirer that it depends on the speaker.  Just because someone is a celebrity doesn't necessarily mean they have anything to say.  (Colin Powell is one exception.  He is really good.  Interestingly, he is typically the least showy.)  When you distill it all down to the practical advice that will change how you will do things the next day...often there's not much there. 

On their website they have a few testimonials from different periodicals and papers.  The Wall Street Journal said the seminars are, "A barn storming feel-good tour de force!"  And if that's what you're looking for then go.  But that quote doesn't fill me with great optimism about any lasting affect.

If you want a speaker with substance-someone who leaves your people with something to take away and apply practically, then realize you're not paying for the presentation per se. That's really just a small part of it.  What you're paying for is what comes after. 

When the speaker is gone...when the lights are dimmed...when the emotion has ebbed...when the feeling of the moment has vapored away...when you wake up the next morning...when you sit at your desk the next day...what remains? 

That, Sir or Madam, is what you're paying for.  And though we pay more for show, substance has more lasting value.