Credibility Counts – Interview on Georgia Business Directory Network

A few months ago, speaker and consultant Diane Bogino asked me to appear on her video magazine, Business Notes, on Georgia Business Directory Network TV. That interview appears at the end of this article.

Diane’s company, Performance Strategies, helps other companies align job descriptions so that they really are achieving their strategic objectives. She also helps consultants as they work with their own clients, providing them with a range of diagnostic assessments and expertise in analyzing an interpreting the results. Her business experiences both in corporate human resources and in small business give her a rich spectrum of real-world experiences to call upon when providing her services.

One of the things we talked about was the importance of credibility in speakers and yes, even in entertainers. Whether proposing a keynote address, an after-dinner show, or any other kind of appearance, I’m only too well aware of one unmistakable fact: Anyone can claim anything.

I regularly get calls from clients who either minimized potential concerns about credibility or ignored them altogether when selecting an entertainer for their organization. Basing their decision solely on a web site, a studio photograph, or worst of all, a low price, they engaged a speaker or performer who promised an experience that they simply weren’t prepared to deliver.

• Success speakers whose only notable success is to book themselves as a “success speaker.”
• Team-building leaders or experts who have never built a real business team.
• Small-business coaches who have never built a real operating business.
• “Life coaches” whose own lives are in questionable shape.
• Entertainers who misrepresent their credits, awards, or endorsements.

I’ve written before about the high price of cheap entertainment. There is also a high price to be paid for ignoring the need for involving a credible entertainment professional.

I was recently made aware of a business event that featured a show by another performer. Promotion was hot and heavy and set exceptionally high expectations for the event. These were claims that simply couldn’t be backed up by a performer of such limited experience. When the reviews came in the attendees took both the performer and the organizer to the proverbial woodshed. That organizer’s credibility has suffered a major blow in public perception because he let his event hinge on the skill of a performer who wasn’t really equipped to deliver.

Incredible performers create incredible experiences – and that is true in both the good and bad senses of the word!