Thank you for hosting a Speakers Bureau talk! What follows is a general guide to getting an audience for your talk. You may have hosted before and been highly successful at attracting an audience, in which case much of this may feel familiar to you. Or you may be hosting for the first time and feel unsure about how to get the word out about your event. This resource is a guide to get you started and give you important materials for your Speakers Bureau event, but feel free to experiment. Every community is different and you know your community best!

Because we are a limited staff and hold over 250 events annually, promotion is primarily the host organization’s responsibility. We provide lots of materials to support you in this endeavor — and we appreciate your partnership!

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Humanities Washington’s Program Manager & Communications Coordinator, Hannah Schwendeman, at hannah@humanities.org or 206-682-1770 ext. 101.

Materials 

• Suggested Promotional Timeline 
  • This guide gives you a week-by-week breakdown of how to successfully promote an event.
• Images for Promotion
  • Includes photos of all speakers, as well as photos for social media promotion.
• Press Release Template
  • Use this template to easily contact your local newspapers and media outlets.
  • Here is an example of a filled out press release for reference.
• Legislator Invite
  • Invite your representatives! Representatives want to know that these opportunities are occurring in their community. Even if the representative does not respond or attend, this is a great way to remind them you are utilizing a valuable, public resource.
• Humanities Washington Logo
  • We require that any promotional materials for a Speakers Bureau event include our logo.
• Audience Evaluation Form
  • Audience evaluations are required for each Speakers Bureau event. Please print audience evaluation forms prior to the event, then have all your audience members fill it out afterward. You can then mail or scan the evaluations and send them to Humanities Washington.
• Intro Script
  • Suggested script for introducing your Speakers Bureau event.
  • You can find the biography of your speaker here.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How does Humanities Washington promote Speakers Bureau events?
  • Because we have a limited staff and over 250 events annually, promotion primarily falls to the host organization. However, there are a few ways that Humanities Washington supports these events: all Speakers Bureau events are listed on our website calendar; we send out monthly emails that list upcoming events (if there are too many events to fit in an email, we may send out a selection of upcoming events); and we create or co-host a Facebook event for each Speakers Bureau event.
• When should I start promoting an event? 
  • Promotion typically begins about a month before an event. Please see our Suggested Promotional Timeline, which provides helpful guidelines for your publicity efforts.
• What’s the best way to use social media to increase attendance at my event?
  • We consistently receive feedback that more audience members are learning about events through social media platforms. We highly encourage creating a Facebook event and listing Humanities Washington as a co-host (the event will be included in both of our organization’s pages). The host of an event can add co-hosts by clicking “edit” in the top, right corner of the event page, then scrolling to the bottom to search for co-hosts.
• I’d like to change the poster I was given – can I do that?
  • As long as the poster includes the Humanities Washington logo, you can edit the poster to fit your needs.
  • If you need any quick changes done to the existing poster (adding a logo, editing the date/time, changing the document type, etc.) email Hannah and she will be happy to do that for you.
• I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by these promotional responsibilities. What should I do?
  • Call Hannah at Humanities Washington! We are here to support you and make these events a success. You can reach her at 206-682-1770 ext. 101 or hannah@humanities.org.