I’m in the process of designing a speaker ONE SHEET for a client. This is typically a printed document (or PDF) that provides an overview of a speaker and their current speaking topics. It’s a useful tool for meeting planners who have to sift through many potential speakers. During the selection process they will lay out all the speaker One Sheets and use them as a reference tool to talk about and compare each speaker. The One Sheet is often evaluated before looking at a speaker’s DVD or books.
Here’s the kind of information that a One Sheet typically includes:
- Speaking topics
- Bio information and books
- Rave reviews/previous gigs
- The speaker’s photograph
- Contact information
Many speakers now have a dedicated page on their web site where they provide this content. Some speakers include a PDF version of their One Sheet, but they are getting harder to find. Personally, I still find them useful. I like the ‘at a glance’ summary and the fact that I have a document to send a meeting planner, rather than just a link to a web site.
What’s your thoughts? If you are a speaker, do you have a One Sheet or Marketing Kit. If you are a meeting planner, do you still use the One Sheet as an evaluation tool?
Here’s a few examples I’ve found on speaker web sites. (Click on the name for a link back to the speaker’s web site to see how the one sheet complements their overall brand design. Most one sheets are double-sided but some are multi-page.)
I do still recommend speakers create a One Sheet. Here’s three I’ve worked on:
As an event planner I like having a one sheeter for my physical files and to disburse amongst the necessary event staff. I see the website as the initial information for the event planners and the one sheeter as the “At-A-Glance” for the event executioners.
Hi Steven, thanks for your comment. It’s very helpful to get an event planner’s perspective.
I connected with two great event planners I know. They said that a one-sheeter is still a great route – and like any self-promotion, one-sheeter or website, providing references and/or videos is essential. You do that quite well in your work. Depending on your goal, your one sheeter could be built as a dynamic pdf that incorporates multi-media (like videos) so when the one sheeter is distributed, it can be printed as such, but could also be used electronically.
Thanks Monica. I haven’t seen video included in one-sheets – but it’s a brilliant idea. For anyone who wants to try it, it looks quite straight forward to do – here’s how from Adobe http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Acrobat/9.0/Professional/WS65B80E79-F165-44f0-BBCA-0F142A758696.html
While I may seem biased toward keeping one sheets for speakers (since part of my company builds them for speakers), I like that you bring up the question of their value in our ever-changing business environment.
I’ve found that a speaker one sheets have been evolving into something very different from what the were back in the time of hard-copy printouts and snail mail. Nowadays, a speaker one sheet is first an exercise in strategic thinking (so you get the right things in it) and then creative distribution so the right people see it. The distribution comes in many forms including hardcopy, PDF or even as an image with a link back to a webpage.
Thank you for an outstanding article and some good examples. I hope to see more about speaker one sheets on your site in the future.
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