The 10 Questions That Separate Speaker Gold from Complete Duds (Most Event Planners Never Ask These)

You know that sinking feeling?

The one you get about 15 minutes into a speaker’s presentation when you realize… oh no. This is going to be bad. Your team’s checking their phones. Someone’s definitely online shopping. And that “game-changing session” you promised your boss?

Yeah, it’s dying a slow death up there on stage.

Here’s what nobody tells you when you’re booking speakers: most of them sound amazing in their pitch. Polished websites, slick promo videos, testimonials that could make you cry. But when it’s showtime? They’re recycling the same tired talk they gave last Tuesday. And the Tuesday before that. And you get it.

So let me save you from that disaster. These 10 questions? They’re your BS detector. The stuff that helps you spot who’s actually got the goods and who’s just really good at self-promotion.

1. How’d You Actually End Up Speaking About This Stuff?

What you’re really digging for here: Do they actually care about this topic, or did they just Google “trending keynote topics 2026” and pick one?

Look, anyone can jump on whatever’s hot right now and call themselves an expert. I’ve seen it a million times. Someone reads three articles about AI or mental health or leadership and suddenly they’re a “thought leader.”

But you want the real deal. Someone who’s been obsessed with this topic for years. Who’s got scars from actually doing the work, not just talking about it.

Push them on specifics. How many years have they really been at this? Did they get actual training, or did they just wake up one day and decide “I’m a speaker now”? What mistakes did they make along the way?

Red flag: Vague answers about “seeing market opportunities.” Green flag: They get genuinely fired up telling you their origin story and you can tell this topic means something to them.

2. What’s Your Actual Process for Understanding MY Audience Before You Build This Talk?

Translation: Are we getting your standard speech with our company name swapped in, or something actually made for us?

Because here’s the brutal truth—most speakers have one talk. Maybe two if you’re lucky. They tweak a slide or two, throw in your company values, and call it “customized.”

That’s not what you want.

The speakers worth hiring? They’ll ask you a bunch of questions that almost feel invasive. What keeps your team up at night? What’s the drama happening behind the scenes? What initiatives flopped last quarter? What’s your CEO obsessed with right now?

They want the messy details. The stuff that doesn’t make it into the company newsletter.

Ask them straight up: “Walk me through exactly how you’d make this specific to my team.” If they start talking in generalities or can’t give you a clear process… keep moving.

3. Where’s Your Proof? What Research Actually Backs This Up?

Real talk: Is this based on actual science and data, or did they just come up with it while watching Netflix?

If you’ve got a skeptical audience (and let’s be honest, most audiences are at least a little skeptical), you need more than motivational rah-rah energy. You need substance. Real studies. Actual research. Numbers that check out.

This is especially critical if you’re dealing with engineers, finance folks, executives—anyone who lives in the land of facts and evidence. Without solid research backing up the “transformational ideas,” people mentally check out faster than you can say “thought leadership.”

Try this: Ask them right there on the call to name 2 or 3 key studies or sources that inform their talk. Can they do it off the top of their head? Or do they stumble and say they’ll “send you stuff later”?

That tells you everything.

4. Can You Actually Help Us Build Buzz Before the Event? Or Do You Just Show Up?

Why this matters: Great speakers make your marketing team look like heroes. Bad speakers make extra work.

You want someone who’s going to help you fill those seats (virtual or real). Someone who provides more than just a headshot and a boring bio.

The good ones? They’ll give you custom blurbs for your event emails. Maybe a teaser video. Social media content your team can actually use. Some even send out pre-event surveys or quizzes that get people thinking about the topic beforehand.

And here’s the thing—when a speaker helps build anticipation, your audience shows up already engaged. They’re not walking in cold. They’re curious. Maybe even a little excited.

(I once had a speaker send out a quiz two weeks before the event. The engagement was insane. People were debating the questions in Slack before the guy even took the stage.)

If your speaker’s attitude is “just tell me when and where to show up,” you’re missing out on massive potential.

5. How Do You Handle Hybrid Events? Because That’s Not Going Away

Let’s be honest: Hybrid events are a pain in the neck.

You’ve got people in the room vibing off each other’s energy, and you’ve got people on Zoom trying not to check their email. Keeping both groups engaged at the same time? That’s a completely different skill.

Most speakers who absolutely crush it in person totally bomb when half the audience is on a screen somewhere. They forget about the remote folks. Or they awkwardly wave at a camera. Or worse—they just ignore the virtual audience completely.

Ask them specifically about their hybrid experience. How do they interact with the online people? What tech do they use? Do they have a moderator helping manage the chat? How do they keep remote attendees from turning into passive observers who wander off to make coffee?

If they act like it’s no big deal or haven’t really thought it through? That’s your sign to keep looking.

(Bonus points if they can tell you about a hybrid event that went sideways and how they adapted on the fly.)

6. How Does This Actually Create Change After You Pack Up and Leave?

Cut to the chase: Will this inspire actual action, or just be another “nice talk” people forget by lunchtime?

Because if you want real results—behavior change, mindset shifts, new strategies getting implemented—your speaker needs to give people tools they can use immediately. Not vague concepts. Not just inspiration. Actual frameworks, specific strategies, things they can try tomorrow.

It’s the difference between people saying “Wow, that was really good!” and people saying “I’m going to try that thing she mentioned as soon as I get back to my desk.”

You need to specifically ask about this upfront. And make sure you also ask question #10 because these two work together.

(I’ve sat through so many talks where I felt pumped in the moment but couldn’t tell you a single actionable thing I learned. That’s not what you’re paying for.)

7. How Do You Deal with Resistance and Skeptics in the Room?

Here’s what nobody tells you when you’re booking speakers: Every audience has doubters. Every. Single. One.

The question isn’t whether there will be resistance. The question is whether your speaker knows how to win those people over.

Can they anticipate objections before they even come up? Do they know how to address doubts with actual substance instead of just more enthusiasm? Because if they can’t do this, you’ll watch people shut down. Arms crossed. Eyes glazed. Zero chance of change happening.

The best speakers already know where pushback will come from. They’ve given this talk enough times (or they’ve done enough research on your audience) to predict which ideas will land weird. And they’ve got a plan to address it head-on with real evidence and stories that feel relatable.

Ask them: “What objections do you typically encounter with this material, and how do you handle them?”

If they say they don’t really get objections… they’re either lying or they’ve never paid attention.

8. How Do You Decide What to Emphasize for Different Types of Audiences?

What you’re really testing: Do they have an actual strategy, or are they just making it up as they go?

This question separates people who’ve really thought about their craft from people who are winging it. You want someone who can explain their thinking process. Someone who can give you concrete examples of how they’ve adapted their content before.

Don’t accept buzzword soup. Push for specifics.

“Tell me about a time you gave this talk to [specific type of audience]. What did you emphasize? What did you leave out? Why?”

If they can’t give you real examples with details you can picture… that’s a problem.

(And honestly, the best speakers will start asking YOU questions here about your specific audience so they can start thinking through how they’d tailor it. That’s a green flag.)

9. How Do You Stay Current? Or Are You Still Dining Out on That Book You Wrote in 2019?

Because nobody wants yesterday’s news dressed up as cutting-edge insights.

Some speakers are still recycling material from when smartphones had physical keyboards. And hey, if it’s truly timeless wisdom, great! But if you’re in a field that’s evolving—leadership, technology, workplace culture, literally anything related to AI—you need someone who’s staying ahead of the curve.

What conferences are they attending? What books are they reading right now? (And I mean right now, not “I read that Brené Brown book back in 2015.”) Are they contributing new ideas to the conversation or just repackaging what other people said five years ago?

Ask them what’s changed in their thinking over the past year. What surprised them recently? What new research made them rethink something?

Ideally, you want someone who’s not just keeping up but actually pushing the conversation forward.

(I once had a speaker cite research from 2013 as if it was breaking news. My team noticed. It was awkward.)

10. What Happens After the Mic Drops and Everyone Goes Back to Their Desks?

The big one: Is there any follow-up, or is this a one-and-done situation where we all forget everything by Friday?

If you’re serious about creating lasting change (and not just checking a box that says “we had a speaker”), post-event support matters. A lot.

What does the speaker provide after the event? Follow-up resources? A copy of their book? Access to worksheets or templates? A Q&A session a few weeks later where people can ask questions after they’ve actually tried implementing stuff?

Some speakers provide online courses or app access to help people keep the momentum going. Some send weekly emails with tips for 30 days after the event.

Think about it: Without some kind of reinforcement, even the most brilliant talk gets buried under the avalanche of daily work. People get back to their desks, emails pile up, fires need putting out… and that “transformational insight” from Tuesday? Gone.

The speakers who really create change? They’ve thought about what happens on Day 8. And Day 30. And three months later.

Look, Here’s the Bottom Line

Hiring a speaker isn’t about finding someone with a slick website and a decent promo video. It’s about finding someone who’ll actually connect with your specific audience, deliver real value, and help create the change you’re trying to make happen.

These 10 questions? They’re how you cut through the marketing polish and figure out who’s got the real deal.

So next time you’re vetting speakers, pull up this list. Ask the tough questions. Push for specifics. Don’t let them off the hook with vague answers.

Your audience (and your reputation) will thank you for it.

Now go book a speaker who’ll actually knock it out of the park.

Call or text Neal at 720-498-3275 or email neal@infinitespeakers.com to get speaker ideas.