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As seen in Forbes

It’s hard to imagine that during the pandemic, keynote speakers are getting overbooked and sold out, right? What’s the key to booking the perfect keynote speaker? Book early. All your preparation and research to find the best keynote speaker for your event all comes down to one thing in the end: booking the speaker before they are booked for another event.

If you have ever waited too long to buy tickets for your favorite band or Broadway event and ended up bored on a Saturday night or if you have ever waited to purchase your Peloton bike, PS5 game station, or new Apple iPhone, then you know what it’s like to order after everyone else. What you want is sold out, and there’s no way to get it at any price.

Keynote speakers can be sold out too. Speakers bureaus see it all the time. A client reaches out too late in the process to book their perfect keynote speaker, and the speaker’s schedule is full. Too late could be six months or six weeks before the event, depending on the demand for the keynote speaker. However, when it comes to booking your perfect keynote speaker, you can never be too early to confirm the date.

During the pandemic, it is surprising how busy keynote speakers still are. As we near the end of the pandemic (or at least the worst parts), we’re seeing signals that there is a lot of pent-up demand for speakers, and most likely, they will be booked even faster.

Why You Should Book Early

Popular keynote speakers, especially celebrities, are in high demand. Their schedules can be fixed months or even years in advance. The more popular your keynote speaker is, the more time you will need before the event date to book them.

How Early Should You Book?

The difference in how much time you need to book ahead depends on the popularity of the speaker. Is your keynote speaker a celebrity, brand-name speaker, professional keynote speaker, or quality keynote speaker?

Celebrities: Famous people are in demand. Try planning between six months to a year ahead of the event date to make sure your favorite celebrity is free. The earlier you reach out in your planning stages, the better.

Brand-Name Speakers: Brand name keynote speakers have made a name for themselves in their field and have a best-selling book or an in-demand topic. Contact brand name speakers at least six months in advance.

Professional Keynote Speaker: Professional keynote speakers are the experts who speak regularly (booked about 20-30 times a year), but they don’t have brand-name recognition. Typically you could book professional keynote speakers about three to six months in advance to ensure they are free.

Quality Keynote Speaker: Quality keynote speakers have good reputations and are in the process of making a name for themselves. They tend to be more available for speaking dates. Typically you could book a quality keynote speaker one to three months in advance.

What If You Can’t Book Early?

While it’s true some top keynote speakers can be booked late in the process, this is an exceptional experience. It only happens because of a cancellation or change in schedule for the speaker. You wouldn’t want to base your whole strategy on hoping your perfect keynote speaker has a cancellation at that time, would you?

In the end, the best strategy is to reach out early to avoid a sold-out situation. So, start planning today.