Whats in a "Name" when booking a keynote speaker for an event

Sometimes it helps and sometimes it hurts, depending on the keynote speakers "name." I am not talking about the difference of easy to spell names, or hard to pronounce names. When it comes to a "name" I am not even talking about common names versus unique names being a difference maker. I am talking about famous & well known names versus unknown names. Sometimes being a "name" can make all the difference in the world for your event because you need the speaker to be able to help sell tickets and get more people in the seats for an event. It could also be a credibility issue for an event as a reason for the need for a "name." Having a famous or well known name will potentially do both of those things for you. The positives of booking a "name" are the obvious things mentioned above, but what are the potential risks or issues with booking a "name?" Here is a quick list of the some concerns to check out before booking a famous keynote speaker. 1. The most obvious drawback you will find in booking a "name" will be the premium in budget you will face. The pure fact that "YOU" have heard of them means everyone else has as well and they are in demand. A speakers fee can jump 5-10 times if lets say a major motion picture is made about their lives. Many of the people whose lives are captured in movies were speaking prior to their movie release, but saw a major jump in their fees with a major decrease in availability. 2. Along with the usual fees, you can also expect travel expenses covered to be much higher. Most famous people will not typically just fly coach unrestricted. You can plan on booking first class seats or even private jets. 3. Communication could also potentially be more of a challenge as celebrity speakers will not as readily be willing to do a conference call to go over material as others. You may have to be ready to book a celebrity speaker without talking with them prior. 4. Not all celebrity speakers are created equal. Some famous speakers are asked to speak based on their celebrity status or personal accomplishments. They may have a compelling story, but not all of them are trained public speakers. Some celebrity speakers will only be able to give you a 20 minute canned presentation and take Q&A. Some famous speakers, of course, are fabulous, and one of our jobs is to help you get what you are looking for in a keynote speaker.   These are just some of the issues to be aware of when you get into the planning process and want a "name." Famous celebrity speakers can absolutely do things that others without a "name" can not. If you must pre-sell tickets to an event and get registration up then sometimes a name is MANDATORY. People will not show up to see somebody they do not recognize unless they already were planning to attend the event. But on that same line of thought keep in mind that some speakers that do not have a "name" yet do provide some unique challenges and benefits which I will talk about in part two.