By Mark Lamendola

Let me share from my rather lengthy experience in lining up speakers.

What I do is I contact Speaker A and say we have an open slot. I ask for a commitment within 10 days.

Without a deadline, you aren't going to get an answer. If they can't commit, I ask them to start looking at the next event and then I make a note to get back to them. As I get "non commits," I just add them to my speaker pool. I then move on to Speaker B. It doesn't take me long before I have a firm commitment. The time it takes to do this is a lot less than going back and forth with one speaker--a person who is basically unprepared to speak and is simply stalling for time.

See, the trick is to think of this as an ongoing process--not a one-shot deal for each event. If you do that, you will be able to have speakers lined up at least a year in advance, with others waiting in the wings. You simply keep asking folks and take "no" to mean "perhaps later."

You just keep building a pool of speakers. Also, when a speaker tells you no, ask for a reference. When you get it, ask for another. Then, you have turned one possible speaker into three possible speakers.