Want to gain added exposure at a trade show? Consider sponsoring a professional speaker at the attendees meeting. But don't just settle for a banner on the stage with your company name. There's much more leverage you can get from a top flight professional speaker.

Having been the sponsored keynoter at major conferences, I am amazed how many sponsors respond with astonishment when I suggest ways they can use me. Consider these additions:

(1) Make sure the speaker is versed in your product or service. If possible and appropriate, the speaker might be able to use your company as an example during the presentation. For example, in addressing the administrators of law firms, I spoke about the importance of strategic alliances so the right work is done by the right people. The sponsor, Pitney Bowes, handled printing, mail room services, etc. in a manner that was be both efficient and cost-effective for the firm. Pitney Bowes served as a great example of a strategic alliance!

(2) Use the speaker for both a keynote and a break-out. Many speakers offer a daily fee which means you can use them for more then one session in a day. This strategy ensures that every attendee, no matter what their schedule, will have the opportunity to see the speaker in action.

(3) Ask the speaker to write an article that can be reprinted with your company logo and given away free at the booth. The speaker can be in the booth, autographing the article. Print the article in your company newsletter or magazine for those who could not attend.

(4) Ask the speaker to sign books in your booth and greet people. Give away the speaker's book at your booth for the first 100 people. You'll be amazed at how much traffic will instantly show up. A variation on this theme is to split the give-away into morning and afternoon, thus generating traffic at different times of the day

(5) If possible, work with the speaker to use either her core message or the speech title as part of the background in the booth. This not only reinforces a learning point, but identified your company to all attendees and not just the ones who attended a session.

(6) Print up a postcard with your company information AND the speakers key learning points. Mail it after the trade show to everyone who attended the conference. In fact, a really classy gesture is to write a cover letter about your company and WHY you sponsored the speaker. Mail it in a hand-addressed envelope and enclose a wallet-size card with the speaker's main points.

(7) Consider hiring the speaker to follow-up with attendees by sending out a regular article or newsletter by e-mail sponsored by your organization. This reinforces the speaker's message for long term results and provides additional exposure for your organization.

(8) If the fit is a good one, consider sponsoring the same speaker within your organization. So often, rank-and-file employees do not get to attend conferences. The prevailing view that "sales and marketing have all the fun" can be countered if you bring what your learned back to the corporation. And continuing education is one of the top three retention factors.

To sponsor a speaker for a one-hour session leaves value and opportunity on the table. When you match the association's needs with your business objectives and strategically avail yourself of whatever services a professional speaker can offer, everyone becomes a winner!

(c) 2004, McDargh Communications. All rights reserved. Reprint rights granted so long as the article and by-line are kept intact.