Ask these six questions that separate a keynote speaker people remember from one they forget before they return home.

Last year, an executive at a tech company asked me whether I could keynote their employee resource group event. I knew there were speakers out there who were better aligned with their women’s program, so I kindly passed on the opportunity and sent several other names instead. I’m an ally, but I was also the wrong person for that stage. Their audience deserved someone who could speak from lived experience.

I’ve delivered hundreds of keynotes, workshops and retreats on workplace mental health, burnout and boundaries, communication and conflict for organizations like Amazon, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, LinkedIn and WebMD, but I still keep a running list of speakers I refer organizers to, because the right speaker serves everyone better. Disappointing sessions usually trace back to a good speaker standing in front of the wrong room.

The following six questions will help you decide what you want to actually receive for your investment in a speaker, and how to make sure you get the right one.

Organizers usually start their event planning process by focusing on a topic. I’d rather you start with the question of what needs to be different when people walk out of the room.

The speaker who raises the professional caliber of your conference isn’t necessarily the one who re-energizes a room after lunch. If you just want to attract registrations with a marquee name like Michelle Obama, that’s one thing, but if you want to run a workshop that gives managers practical tools for navigating employee mental health, that’s another.

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