Universities have diverse ideas, in-depth exploration, and celebrations of intellectual progress. Guest speakers offer university event planners a way to showcase these values for the student body and the community at large. Planning a memorable and successful event featuring a guest lecture requires careful planning and preparation. This post will explain the steps that go into a successful guest speaker event planning process and the university guest lecture event considerations around it.
1. Identifying the Target Audience
For any event on campus, you should have a target audience. Of all the university guest lecture event considerations, this must come first. Your student body is made up of diverse ages, interests, and backgrounds. It’s important to consider your university community when choosing the types of events you will hold.
There are guest speakers for a wide range of topics and goals. Celebrity comedians aim to leave the crowd laughing. Motivational speakers spark creativity in new students. Advocacy speakers promote student action. Award-winning researchers share their latest research with an attentive crowd of future colleagues. The possibilities are endless.
While there may be a guest speaker that can interest any group, that doesn’t mean any guest speaker will interest every group. Be sure that you have a specific goal and target audience in mind when working through university guest lecture event considerations.
2. Choosing the Right Speaker
When choosing a university guest speaker, you’ll want to factor in multiple university guest lecture event considerations to select the right person.
- Content: Choose a speaker with expertise and experience that matters to your community members. What topic can they cover that will resonate with students, faculty members, or even the broader community?
- Presentation Style: Good speakers need more than a strong understanding of their own material. They also need charisma and an engaging presentation style that will capture the audience’s attention. Even the most academic subjects benefit from moments of humor and elements of entertainment. Your speaker needs prior speaking experience and a history of engaging in-person events—especially for a large event.
- Reputation and Popularity: Depending on the size and scope of the event, make sure you choose someone with name recognition and popularity within the target audience. The athletics department and the chemistry department might have different ideas of who counts as a major draw, and each target audience has its own definition of a popular speaker. Make sure you choose one that fits the goal!
3. Planning the Event Logistics
Once you’ve chosen your speaker and decided on the target audience, it’s time to consider the event logistics.
Venue Selection and Setup
You likely have access to many attractive venue options on your university campus. Choosing which one is appropriate for your guest speaker depends on multiple university guest lecture event considerations.
Be sure to think about size. You don’t want a huge auditorium for a small guest list—it will make the event seem like a failure even if the speaker is phenomenal. Choose a venue that can comfortably seat your expected target audience.
Also, consider audiovisual equipment needs. Large events with an expansive crowd will benefit from screens projecting the speaker live, but it will require more coordination and event staff.
If the event will include food, beverages, and mingling, make sure that the venue can easily accommodate catering services and that there is adequate seating and space for flexible interactions.
Date and Time Selection
Any decisions about a guest speaker event date need to begin with the academic calendar. Scheduling an event speaker during an especially busy time for students (like the middle of Finals Week or during a major sporting event) will likely result in poor attendance.
Speak with the faculty members and student groups well in advance to help ensure their availability for special events targeted at their specific audiences.
If you have a campus with a high population of commuters or with students who tend to go to their hometowns on the weekend, choosing a business day event will improve attendance.
If you want participation from the community as a whole, an evening event time is likely a better choice. Smaller events aimed at specific student groups may be best attended during a time when department faculty members can bring their classes.
Budget Planning
Planning a guest lecture—like any successful event planning—requires a budget.
The budget for a guest lecture can range from the minimal cost of printing some fliers for event promotion to major costs, including furniture rentals, media promotions, and high-tech audiovisual equipment.
Be sure to consider the following university guest lecture event considerations in your budget:
- Speaker Fee: Many speakers will charge a fee for their time. While members of the local community with expertise may speak for no or low cost, famous speakers can have substantial fees. Make sure your event plan matches the investment!
- Travel Costs: If your speaker needs to travel for the event, you will likely need to cover their travel costs, including transportation, lodging, and meals.
- Venue: Most universities use venues on their own campus to avoid rental fees from external locations. Still, even internal venues can come with costs, including laundering linens, signage for the event, and hiring staff for setup and clean up.
- Food and Beverage: Not every guest lecture event requires refreshments. But if you plan to have beverages or food, be sure your budget accounts for the items themselves. Also, account for the catering services staff.
- Marketing: Whether it’s as simple as printing fliers to hang around campus or as showy as renting a billboard to promote a famous guest speaker to the entire community, marketing should be included in your expenses.
Accessibility and Inclusivity
Be sure to plan an event that can be accessed and enjoyed by all members of the target audience and campus community.
Ensure that the venue is accessible to those with physical disabilities. Specifically, ensure you have adaptive technology or interpreters for those with hearing or language needs and that there is adequate seating reserved for those using assistive devices.
4. Promoting the Lecture
A successful event depends on marketing. No matter how amazing the guest speaker is or how engaging the topic is, students won’t attend if they don’t know it’s happening!
To get the attention of students, faculty members, and the community at large, you’ll need a strong promotion strategy.
Social Media, Email, and Newsletters
Social media and other online locations are excellent places for marketing because they are low- or no-cost. They also meet students where they are already spending time and allow for variable messages to attract different target audiences.
Use the university’s existing social media channels and website to send information about the event to the target audience.
As University Business explains, students really see email about campus events as their primary channel of communication.
Collaborating With Influential Student Groups
Student groups are an excellent way to get attendance and excitement about your event. Partner with student organizations to host the event or simply collaborate to help spread the word.
Leveraging University Resources
A university is an excellent environment for in-person promotion. From bulletin boards in high-traffic areas (like cafeterias and courtyards) to having faculty members announce the event in the classroom, there are many opportunities to promote the guest speaker event.
5. Engaging the Audience During the Event
Once you’ve thought through the logistics of the event and how to get attendees, it’s time to turn to the event itself. How will you engage the audience and make sure it’s a memorable and meaningful experience?
Interactive Q&A Sessions
Creating opportunities through participation will help students engage directly with the speaker and provide opportunities for discussions relevant to the specific target audience.
Set up an interactive Q&A session during the event to facilitate this exchange.
Live Polls or Feedback Tools
In large events, a Q&A session might be impractical. But live polls or interactive feedback tools can provide opportunities for audience engagement in a more streamlined way.
Moderation and Facilitation
Ensure that you have a skilled and experienced moderator to:
- Help facilitate the transitions in the event
- Announce the speaker
- Handle questions from the audience
- Keep track of time
6. Post-Event Follow-Up
Even once the event is over, the list of university guest lecture event considerations continues! Follow-up is crucial to ensuring the university gathers the info it needs to make sure future events are also a success.
Sharing Key Takeaways and Recordings
Be sure to send out summaries of the event with key takeaways and recordings. Those who could not attend an in-person event will appreciate the inclusion. Also, those who did attend will be more likely to remember and reflect on the content if they can review it.
Gathering Feedback
Ask your audience for feedback on the speaker, the venue, and any other components of the event to help fine-tune your plans for the future.
Maintaining Speaker Connections
Don’t forget to follow up directly with the speaker. Thank them for their time and work on building an ongoing relationship so they can be included in future events and help provide access to a network of related speakers and experts.
Plan and Host a Successful Guest Lecture Event With Concept3D
Ready to kick off amazing guest lecture events at your university? Learn more about the value of incorporating Concept3D’s engaging event calendar software and interactive maps.
These tools will help ensure that you have everything you need to successfully promote your event to the campus community, take RSVPs, communicate with event planners and attendees, and follow up with intention. The right tools will help support these and multiple other university guest lecture event considerations.
Learn more about how Concept3D can support your next guest lecture event, and request a demo today!