For event planners
5 Essential Questions to Ask Before Booking a Leadership or Motivational Keynote Speaker
Choosing the right speaker for your conference, leadership event or sales kickoff is a big decision. These five questions will help you find someone who not only inspires your audience but makes a lasting difference.
Below, Amanda Gore, a CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame leadership and motivational keynote speaker, answers each question the way she would answer it if you were sitting across the table from her. Use the same questions with any speaker you are considering.
And the answers you want to hear.
The right keynote speaker doesn’t just fill a slot in your program. They help make the whole event a success.
Choosing a keynote speaker is a big decision. You’re trusting someone with your audience, your event’s reputation, your organization’s investment, and your own credibility.
You want someone who will connect with your people, understand your objectives, deliver something memorable and meaningful, and be an absolute pleasure to work with.
A standing ovation is wonderful. But the real measure of a great keynote is what happens after the applause.
Here are five questions worth asking before you book.
1. How will you make sure your presentation is exactly right for our audience?
What you really want to know: Will this speaker understand our people, our culture and our challenges, or simply deliver the same presentation they give everyone else?
Amanda's answer, in her own words:
“I start with a detailed briefing and by really listening. I want to know who will be in the room, what they’re dealing with, what you want them to feel and do differently, and what success looks like for you.
I’ll learn your language, your culture and your challenges. Then I’ll create a bespoke keynote and experience so your people feel I understand their situation and I’m speaking directly to them, because I am!”
Why it matters: A keynote should feel like it was created for your audience, not simply delivered to them.
2. What’s it going to be like working with you, from the moment I book you until you leave the event?
What you really want to know: Will this speaker make my job easier or create more work and stress?
Amanda's answer, in her own words:
“My job is to make your job easier. You’ll know exactly what I need well in advance, what happens next and when. You will have all the documents you need on time. I’ll be prepared, responsive and flexible.
I’ll work with your production team, respect your schedule and handle unexpected changes professionally. I know how many things you juggle at these events and I do as much as I can to assist you in any way I can.
And I’ll do everything I can to make you look like a genius for booking me!”
Why I’d book them: They understand the psychology of an audience. They can read a room, adapt in the moment and create an experience people share, not just watch.
Why it matters: A brilliant keynote is only part of a successful event. A brilliant speaker who’s also wonderful to work with? That’s gold.
3. Can you engage everyone in the room, even the skeptics, the introverts and the people who don’t want to be there?
What you really want to know: Will this work for my entire audience, not just the enthusiastic people in the front row?
Amanda's answer, in her own words:
“Absolutely! Engagement isn’t about forcing people to participate or putting anyone on the spot. It’s about creating an atmosphere where people feel safe, included and genuinely want to take part.
I use humor, stories, interaction and experiences that bring people together. Even the skeptics usually find themselves joining in!”
Why it matters: When people laugh together, participate together and connect with each other, something wonderful happens. They stop being a room full of individuals and start feeling like a community.
In fact, meeting planners often tell us that Amanda’s keynote changes the whole atmosphere and culture of their event because people have laughed together, connected in ways they didn’t expect and developed a whole new language of shared stories, ideas and experiences. They refer back to those moments in conversations, meetings and throughout the rest of the conference.
It doesn’t just change how people feel during the keynote. It changes how they interact with each other afterwards.
And that ripple effect can transform the entire event.
4. What will my audience actually take away, and what will they still remember six months later?
What you really want to know: Am I investing in an hour of entertainment or an experience that will make a lasting difference?
Amanda's answer, in her own words:
“I want people to leave feeling differently, thinking differently and knowing exactly what they can do differently. I use symbols and acronyms to ’hook’ the content onto because a picture, or a symbol, paints 1000 words and is more memorable.
They’ll have stories that stick, simple tools they can use immediately and experiences that make those lessons permanent. My goal isn’t just for them to remember me. It’s for them to remember what they discovered about themselves, what skills they learned, and to use them.”
Why it matters: Inspiration without application fades.
A great keynote gives people something they can take home, take back to work and put into practice straight away.
And the very best keynotes create a shared language that helps people reconnect with the message long after the event is over.
5. How do I know you can deliver what you’re promising?
What you really want to know: Your promotional video looks fantastic, and you sound impressive. But can you consistently deliver that experience in front of a real audience?
Amanda's answer, in her own words:
“I spent 30+ years studying with Michael Grinder (michaelgrinder.com), the world’s leading authority on nonverbal communication. He taught me that it’s not enough for the content to be great. The process by which the content is delivered is what makes people change, makes the message stick for years and is the main way to engage everyone in the room.
I am in a nonverbal conversation with the audience! Literally. And I can change and adapt based on how they are responding. Watch a full keynote, not just my highlight reel, and watch how I use process. Read what other meeting planners and clients have said. Speak to someone who’s booked me. Look at my track record and professional credentials. I want you to feel completely confident about your decision.”
Why it matters: Anyone can create an impressive three-minute highlights video. What really matters is what happens during the other 57 minutes!
Look for proven experience, genuine client testimonials, professional recognition and evidence that the speaker delivers consistently.
And pay particular attention to what meeting planners say. An enthusiastic audience is wonderful, but knowing the speaker was reliable, prepared, flexible and fabulous to work with is just as important.
We’ve used every type of speaker in the past, from star athletes to big-name motivational speakers. Inch for inch, pound for pound and dollar for dollar, Amanda Gore was the best speaking investment we ever made!
Your Audience Deserves Something Extraordinary
A great keynote does more than entertain, inform or inspire.
It can change the energy of an entire event.
When people laugh together, connect heart to heart and share experiences that shift their perspective, they begin to see themselves, and each other, differently.
They leave with practical tools, a common language and a renewed sense of connection that continues long after the conference.
And when that happens, the impact goes far beyond the keynote itself. It influences the conversations people have, the relationships they build and the way they work together.
Your audience deserves more than a great speech, and you deserve more than a great speaker.
You deserve someone who understands your goals, genuinely connects with your people, delivers something that lasts and makes the entire experience easier for you.
That’s what Amanda Gore believes a keynote should do. And that’s what she works to deliver every time.
For more on her leadership keynotes, see the leadership keynote speaker page, or all the keynotes and workshops. The planner resources page has the questionnaire, audio visual needs and the process from first email to event day.
Planning a 2027 conference? Send your date and what you want people doing differently afterwards to amanda@amandagore.com.