Is Virtual Speaking Here to Stay? The “New Inevitable” of Public Speaking Realities for Actuaries Who Love to Speak
By Ken Lizotte
Innovators & Entrepreneurs, August 2022
Now that Covid and other viruses seem to be leaving us (hopefully!), what is left of the aftermath? For two locked-down years, we no longer could network face-to-face, meet with colleagues at work, do lunch or breakfast, enjoy meeting for coffee, nor attend conferences or other events to experience great speakers up close. Nor could we show up as one of those great speakers ourselves!
Instead, we Zoomed, Zoomed, Zoomed, and made the best of it. Forget the fact that before Covid hit, most of us had never even heard of Zoom! Now we’re all experts.
And also, now we’re back where we started, right? Rushing to crowded venues, squeezing into tight booths at restaurants with a half dozen others, mingling elbow to elbow at cocktail hours. Back to normal!
Ah, nope, not exactly. With echoes of Covid and the Delta Variant and Omicron and now BA.2 hanging vaguely in the air and various matters in flux, some of us are still holding back. For many, just attending such traditional formats are still a ways away, let alone actually speaking at some of them.
Given that times have so dramatically changed, actuaries who love to speak to an attentive audience have to face a “new inevitable” of public speaking realities in regard to delivering and experiencing presentations. Here are three in particular that look as though they are here to stay:
New Speaking Reality #1: Virtual Speaking’s not Going Anywhere
Whether via Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft TEAMS or some other platform, virtual speaking is not going away. The often-exorbitant costs of travel, hotel, AV, lunch and dinner, gigantic chocolate chip cookies at a 3 p.m. break, etc., versus the simplicity and cost-free virtual format make this “new inevitable” approach a fact of life. If a conference or other team retreat or other gathering can be offered online and still produce roughly the same results, why entertain instead all the many costly logistical headaches that we used to take for granted? Why not coordinate your program and attendees from the comfort of everyone’s individual living room or home office?
Steve Markman, founder/president, Markman Speaker Management LLC, explains it this way: “First, many companies are only now allowing non-essential business travel to resume which means the opportunity to attend in-person events will be slow to come back. Second, many people are still reluctant to travel even if they have the means due to what they perceive to be a risk of attending in person. And for corporate meetings, many companies are now holding these as virtual meetings which has actually increased the need for an outside keynote speaker to address employees in these new virtual settings.”
Jay W Vogt, founder of Peoplesworth, a firm specializing in facilitating organizational retreats and strategic planning processes, adds that others “may insist that nothing can ever replace the intangible benefits of face-to-face work so they take no action at all. But don’t compare a virtual event with a face-to-face retreat; compare it with no retreat or planning at all! So, if you’re thinking of doing without your traditional face-to-face retreat, take a second look and schedule a virtual event instead.”
In addition, the virtual option appeals to many speakers now despite an initial reluctance or skepticism about how it would work (or notwork!). Poet, Author, Speaker, and Business Consultant Libby Wager explains that although the physical connection and energy with an audience had her reacting at first with a hearty “No way!” the pandemic/lockdown forced her to “look at what I could do, and create some new, innovative ideas.” Also, the expansion of the attendee “pool” via a virtual format is something she now embraces. “People from all over the world can come and see and hear me virtually, which of course creates a potential wider audience.”
New Speaking Reality #2: Hybrids are Here to Stay as Well … for Now
Whether due to an emerging new virus or the current bad behavior of many crazed passengers on air flights, a great hesitancy still exists for many of us to travel to an event at all. The risks just seem to outweigh the returns.
Yet others really, really want to do just that, travel to a populated event, having sorely missed the interactive camaraderie of get-togethers with real people. So, they will brave (and potentially suffer) the risks.
As a result, the “hybrid” format has emerged to accommodate both groups at once. While some attendees show up in person just as they used to, a second group remains in their home base and clicks in online. Note, however, that this reality includes a postscript: “for now.” That’s because many veteran speakers who have given presentations via this format find it lacking, despite accepting its current necessity.
Veteran speaker Suzanne Bates, CSP, author of All the Leader You Can Be and three other books (all from McGraw-Hill) says: “The truth is no one knows how to do hybrid! The technology needs to evolve, our investment in making it a great experience must improve, and as speakers and experts we need to get better at engaging the audience.”
Karen Friedman, business communications expert and author of Shut Up and Say Something (Praeger Press) explains, “Although I see it as a big plus, like any model, there are pros and cons. When training and coaching, for example, the virtual environment has been very effective but as a speaker, being in person allows you to really interact, look in people’s eyes and walk around the room, which is limited in a virtual environment.”
Dave Coffaro, principal of Strategic Advisory Consulting Group and author of Leading from Zero (SACG Publishing) adds, “Hybrid will be more of a step sideways as a temporary solution for as long as travel remains restrictive. But I don't think hybrids will last forever, in part because the economics aren’t necessarily favorable for the program sponsors. Baseline fixed costs of a large virtual event raise the overall event expense ratio, so event organizers will likely choose one path or another in the long run.”
So, the jury seems to be out on how long the hybrid will survive. It may however survive, like virtual speaking, forever. We just don’t know yet.
New Speaking Reality #3: Speaker Fees are Back … With an Asterisk!
When Covid first arrived, traditional speaking gigs got cancelled left and right. The expectation of course was that this interruption of normality would go away after only a few weeks or months. Once it did, gigs could be rescheduled including their agreed-upon speaker fees and budgets. Yet things didn’t quite happen work out that way.
Instead, the cancellations took root as Covid dragged on, with speaker fees the victim. It was initially presumed that this or that speaker fee would not be worth its value at the same level if attendees couldn’t see, hear, and meet a professional speaker in person. As we all became accustomed to virtual presentations however, professional speakers did display the same high value as before which allowed them to resume requesting their previous fee levels, or close to them.
Suzanne Bates recalls that “Generally, we had decided early on that our virtual programs were as valuable as our live programs, so we ended up not reducing our fees.” Karen Friedman’s experience was much the same. “Our fees have not changed,” because, she reports, other than travel, “it takes the same amount of time to prepare and deliver as it did before.” Since she has not experienced complaints from clients with regard to her programs’ value, her fees are staying in place.
Steve Markman recalls that he also encountered in the early days of the pandemic event organizers who expected speakers to reduce their fees. Although many speakers did reduce their fees when all engagements became virtual, many function with a “two-tier pricing model: one fee for virtual presentations only and a higher amount for in-person talks.”
So, What’s Different?
Do the traditional techniques of locating and landing speaking gigs still work as before? The answer, basically, is yes.
Consider the widespread process of submitting a speaker proposal online for an upcoming conference. No change there, same procedure as it always was, right?
What about posting your speaker videos? No change there either. In fact, by regularly taking clips from your Zoomcast appearances, you’ll likely have more and better clips to display. Plus, a Zoomcast and even an audio-only podcast will “audition” you to someone in your audience who may be looking for a speaker … that is, a speaker … just … like … YOU!
How about informal connections for getting yourself invited to speak at an event? Networking is still happening, whether in person, by phone, by Zoom or via use of an e-list and LinkedIn connections. All are traditional methods for promoting actuaries and other professionals as a speaker.
As speaking superstar Larry Winget has said: “The very best way to get more paid speaking gigs is simply by getting out here and speaking!” Though Larry was referring to pro bono talks when he gave this advice, his point was that the worst thing a would-be speaker can do is to stay home and do nothing! Speaking begets more speaking whether the pro bono or the paying variety.
Grab these new inevitable speaking realities by the horns and wrestle them to submission. The old ways still work even as we apply innovative adjustments and find out what works for each of us within these new conditions. Speaking to groups is not going to disappear anytime soon, despite Covid, so display your expertise and value, deliver results, get paid for them if you can, pick up a new client or two from your audiences, then push yourself out there again and again!
The rewards are waiting so go after them. Then enjoy what you reap.
Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual author and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries, the newsletter editors, or the respective author’s employer.
Ken Lizotte, CMC, is author of eight books including The Speaker’s Edge (Maven House Press) and The Expert’s Edge (McGraw-Hill). Chief imaginative officer (CIO) of emerson consulting group inc. and a popular keynoter, his firm transforms business experts and professional services firms into published thoughtleaders. Learn more at www.thoughtleading.com where you can sign up for his popular e-blog “thoughtnotes.”