By EDGE Women Speaker, Expert on Corporate Change, Transition, and The Employee Experience, Jennifer Fondrevay.
We’ve been hearing the expression, "Behind every great man is a great woman", since at least the mid-1940s. The woman in question considered a wife or a mother; the observation being that no man achieves "greatness" in a vacuum, and some woman, somewhere, had a hand in the man’s success.
After the year we’ve had across the speaking industry, I think it’s time for a new expression: “Behind every great speech, is a great meeting planner”. What some event planners have been able to pull off and continue to do in preparation for 2021, is the equivalent of a pilot landing a plane while the runway keeps moving.
As strange as this might sound, it was after a trip to Gettysburg, PA this summer that I was struck by how crucial the insights and planning of an event planner can be to the impact of a speech.
Let me explain.
In July, after so many months in quarantine and lockdown, my husband and I decided to go on a road trip. To get out, ideally in nature. We wanted to make it educational, so we drove to Williamsburg, VA and visited Jamestown and Yorktown. Those days visiting the very first settlements in America was a powerful reminder of why we each are so deeply
invested in this country. On our way back from Williamsburg, we drove to Gettysburg, PA.
As a professional speaker, I've long been inspired by Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. Only 271 words. Yet, so powerful and on the mark with what American’s needed to hear at the time. We took the driving tour of the battles that occurred from July 1-3, in 1863 and ended at the cemetery where Lincoln gave his famous address.
You can find Lincoln’s address captured on a bronze plaque not far from where he spoke. Next to it, also inscribed in bronze, is the invitation sent to Lincoln from David Wills. Wills, a respected judge in Gettysburg, had suggested the idea of a Soldier’s National Cemetery to the Pennsylvania Governor immediately after the battle. He was essentially the Memorial event planner. He invited Lincoln to come to Gettysburg where they were honoring the fallen soldiers who had fought so bravely from both the North and South.
Photo of Lincoln’s address on the bronze plaque on the right, Wills invitation on the left.
I had assumed Lincoln, as president, would automatically be present. That was not the case. He was invited by Wills to come and share a few remarks. Lincoln wasn’t even the main speaker.
What struck me most about Wills's invitation was how thoughtfully he considered who the audience would be and what they needed to hear. In his invitation, he underlined the significance of Lincoln being present, and more importantly, he highlighted to whom the president would be speaking: widows, orphans, and soldiers everywhere, who feared the same fate with the possibility of being forgotten. What were they fighting for?
Excerpt from Wills’ invitation to Lincoln.
David Wills's invitation to Lincoln deserves to be prominently on display alongside the Gettysburg address. Much has been noted about the influence Lincoln’s secretaries, Hay and Nicolay, had on his address. It is worth noting what significant influence Wills’ had as the event planner. After reading his invitation, I was reminded of the enormous value and benefit a speaker can enjoy by partnering with an insightful and dedicated planner. One who knows and understands what his or her audience needs to hear. Most notably, it was in Wills' house on November 18 that President Lincoln wrote the final draft of the Gettysburg Address. Talk about a dedicated planner.
Despite the dire circumstances of 2020, I have seen a level of partnership between speakers and planners that I have never seen or experienced before. These collaborations have created new possibilities for both sides and this has breathed life into events at a time when the industry was imploding.
I experienced the benefits of this deepening partnership first-hand when I presented at Paylocity’s ELEVATE conference this September. The event, originally planned as an in-person, quickly pivoted to online. Making that shift alone had to be a herculean task. The meeting planners, Megan Gates and Michelle McCarthy, bent over backwards to find the optimal online platform to best support the speakers.
Knowing that virtual presentations would be new for many of the speakers, Megan and Michelle put in extra hours, providing multiple training videos and Q&A sessions. They solicited the speakers for input on how to amplify audience engagement. I remain in awe, knowing that Megan was 9 months pregnant and Michelle had recently lost her father and yet these two ladies ran an event where over 3,000 people tuned in. What they pulled off simply boggles the mind. They made look easy what we know required hours of overtime. Not unlike every event planner who managed an event in 2020.
#EDGEwomenspeakers wish to thank, (virtually) hug and salute the meeting professionals, event planners and executive administrative assistants whose keen knowledge of their audience and desire to deliver the best experience has enabled great speeches. We have been privileged to partner with you and look forward to creating even more memorable events in 2021.
#corporateevents, #eventmanagement, #eventplanning, #eventplanner, #meetingplanners
