The Barefoot Event Professor

Category: Uncategorized

  • Great Speakers Aren’t Born, They’re Prepared

    Great Speakers Aren’t Born, They’re Prepared

    Speakers are our best friends and our worst nightmares. They are a crucial part of events, but there is very little guidance for best practices.

    They can make or break an event. Sometimes a speaker that comes highly recommended ends up being a disaster, and we’re stuck trying to salvage the experience in real-time. My personal pet peeves? Speakers who read their slides, cram them with text, go over time, and ramble without a clear point.

    For years, I approached speakers all wrong—and I didn’t even know it.

    In my first year as Director of Education for ILEA, I was handed a speaker name for an upcoming meeting. When I asked about her background and topic, I learned she’d been chosen because “she was well-liked” and given a topic. During my pre-event call, I discovered she was didn’t feel comfortable with that topic.  We worked out a topic that she felt passionate and confident about and went with that.

    That’s when it hit me: I’d been doing this backwards my entire career. I was selecting speakers based on personality, then letting them pick topics—instead of identifying what my audience needed to learn and finding the best fit. Being outgoing and pleasant doesn’t guarantee presentation skills, and it certainly doesn’t guarantee expertise.

    Of course, I put on my “geek” hat and started to research how to work with speakers; I love the chance to research.  Not only was this information valuable for my volunteer responsibilities, it was also valuable on a personal level.  My job requires me to talk for 15-20 hours per week, and I was starting to do speaking engagements for industry.  The information I found, combined with my experiences, taught me what speakers need from organizers, and what organizers should be asking.

    Choosing Speakers: The Questions That Matter

    Vet their experience, not their charm. How many presentations have they given? What topics? What size audiences? Ask about the types of events (corporate conferences versus association meetings feel very different) and formats they’ve handled—keynotes, breakouts, panels, workshops.

    Understand their style before they take the stage. Do they lecture or facilitate discussion? Are they interactive, and get examples of this? Do they prefer questions throughout or hold them until the end? Do they sit, stand behind a podium, or roam the room? These aren’t trivial details—they determine whether your speaker matches your event’s energy and your audience’s expectations.

    Get specific about technical needs early. Can they use a handheld or lavalier mic? What presentation platform do they use—PowerPoint, Canva? Do they have embedded video or audio? Are they bringing their own laptop? Do they need a clicker? What’s their preferred room setup? I learned this the hard way (more on that later).

    Preparing Speakers: Setting Them Up for Success

    The best speakers in the world will underperform if you don’t give them context. Here’s what they need to know:

    Your audience. Share demographics, experience levels, and expectations. A room full of seasoned pros needs different content than emerging professionals.

    Your event. How many times has this event happened? What’s worked before? What bombed? Where does this session fit in the program, and what’s the exact timing?

    Your expectations. Be explicit. When you say “interactive”, do you mean two quick poll questions or full table discussions? Define the key takeaways you need them to cover. Explain if they need to be flexible—can they cut content if the schedule runs long?

    The environment. Available technology, room size and setup, whether there’s food and beverage service during their session, parking logistics, room location. These practical details prevent day-of disasters.

    My Personal War Stories

    I speak primarily about risk management—it’s my jam. So, it’s ironic that I have presentation mishaps. These aren’t just funny stories; they’re examples of what happens when organizers don’t communicate with their speakers.

    The Lunch Presentation Disaster

    I was invited to give a 90-minute presentation and arrived to find my preferred setup: rounds. Perfect. Except the tables were fully set for lunch—salad course already plated. That’s when I learned lunch would be served during my presentation.  This was a problem. My presentation is interactive from the start, with people talking to each other and me.  This is very difficult when they have food in their mouths.  This is material that I am very familiar with, so I quickly switched to the lecture portion, adding the interactive when the meal was almost over.

    Then there was the collision course. I walk when I present—I’m more comfortable moving, it helps me think, gives me a better read of the energy and allows more interaction. This is normally not a problem; however, this was a plated meal, with servers circulating.  There were several times we nearly crashed into each.

    Organizer Prep – Telling me the session was during a plated lunch service.  Ask specifics about the type of interaction.  Expressing whether they want me on a stage, or if it’s okay to move around the room.

    The Triple Tech Meltdown

    Technology hates me. If something can go wrong, it will, and it’ll be something the tech team has never seen before, I like to be unique.

    At one event, the venue computer wouldn’t turn on. We got it working before start time. This is why I arrive 30 minutes early: to troubleshoot, test tech, and meet attendees.

    Then my presentation file went missing. I’d sent it three days prior, but organizers couldn’t locate it on their drive. I offered my USB backup, but they insisted on finding the original. As my start time hit, I began presenting from my printed slides; remember, technology hates me.

    Ten minutes in, they gave up and asked for the USB. So, while presenting to the audience, I was walking the tech team through accessing my files.

    The final glitch? The ultra-efficient venue staff started clearing the interactive props I’d placed around the room. I noticed before the session and explained the items were part of the presentation.

    Organizer Prep – Ask what my interactive entails and do I need anything.  Ask if I can present without technology.  Tell me what time to arrive.  Tell me to bring a backup.

    The Bottom Line

    These are the essentials for in-person events. Virtual and hybrid meetings bring their own complications—I’ll tackle those in future posts.

    The principle remains the same: Great speakers aren’t born, they’re prepared. The clarity you provide upfront—about your audience, your expectations, and your environment—directly determines the quality of your session.

    So, before your next event, ask yourself: Am I choosing this speaker because they’re an expert in what my audience needs, or because they’re charming? Have I told them everything they need to know to succeed?

    Your speakers want to deliver. Give them the information to make it happen.

  • Soapbox Alert: What Astroworld Should Teach Every Event Professional

    Soapbox Alert: What Astroworld Should Teach Every Event Professional

    Fair warning—I’m getting out my soapbox.

    Some of you may have already watched the Netflix documentary Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. If you haven’t, I highly recommend it—but be prepared to be angry. You should be angry, whether or not you work in events. There’s so much to unpack, I’m breaking this into two blog posts. This first one is focused on information you may not know—bear with me, it’s a lot, but it matters.

    The Start of the Spiral

    When the tragedy at Astroworld happened, I was interviewed by News Nation Prime. It was my first time being interviewed on national news and I was nervous. So I leaned into my superpower: research.

    It took less than a minute to find red flags.

    Let’s start at the beginning: there were no proper entrance procedures, and the entry points were far too narrow. In the documentary, you see people literally pushing down fences. Once that happened, any ability to control crowd numbers was gone. I was honestly shocked no one was seriously injured right then and there—although reports say a security guard and four attendees were treated for injuries.

    Want to know how they staffed security? At 6 a.m., someone posted on social media asking for more help; around 100 people volunteered. They were given a t-shirt, but no training. By 8 a.m., Houston PD had already requested riot gear.

    Meanwhile, the official Astroworld website promised COVID protocols, wristband checks, and full bag and body searches. None of that happened because of the surge through the gates. By 2 p.m., entrance protocols were completely abandoned. The headliner, Travis Scott, wasn’t even scheduled to go on until 8:45 p.m., but the problems had started 12 hours earlier.

    What You Didn’t See in the Documentary

    There’s confusion about the actual capacity of the venue. Some say 20,000; others say 200,000. Here’s what I found: the 20,000 is for the stadium (which wasn’t used for the festival). The outdoor venue was theoretically capable of holding 200,000 people—if there was nothing else in the space.

    But there was a lot else: food vendors, rides, medical tents, two stages. Each one takes up space—and not just their footprint. You also need safety clearance zones around them. For example, a ride’s footprint includes not just its base but the full area it occupies while operating. All of that eats into your usable capacity.

    At the time, Houston didn’t require an occupancy permit. Live Nation, the promoter, sold 50,000 tickets. But with so many people jumping fences, we honestly don’t know how many were actually there.

    Design Flaws and Dangerous Layouts

    Let’s talk layout. If you look at images of the festival, here’s what stands out:

    • Minimal signage
    • Poor lighting
    • Only two water stations
    • Limited exits
    • 100-foot-wide quadrants
    • Narrow access aisles

    And the main stage? Not used all day. So when it was time for Travis Scott’s performance, everyone moved toward one focal point, funneling into those 100-foot quadrants—with no crowd monitoring and no signage to direct people across the space. Security started pulling people over fencing into narrow aisles—essentially making things worse.

    By 4 p.m., 54 people had already been treated for injuries. Houston PD had flagged dangerous conditions. The Chief of Police met with Travis Scott to voice concerns. That’s four hours before the show even started.

    Security—In Name Only

    There are lots of conflicting reports about security numbers. Some say there were over 1,000 personnel, including Houston PD and two private firms. Technically, that aligns with the industry rule of thumb: one security staff member per 50–100 attendees.

    But numbers aren’t everything.

    You must match staff to your event. Peer security (a.k.a. untrained volunteers) requires more oversight. And guess what? Neither of the security companies hired were licensed in Texas. Some workers said they didn’t even know who to report to.

    Who Was in Charge?

    A lot of attention has been put on Travis Scott. And yes, his past behavior is a problem—he’s been charged twice with inciting crowds, and there was a crowd surge at his own Astroworld event in 2019.

    That said, he hired Live Nation—the “world’s leading live entertainment company”—to run the show. He states in the documentary that he wasn’t qualified to plan the festival, so he hired a company that did have the expertise.

    Let’s take a look at LiveNation:

    • 200 deaths and 750 injuries reported at their events since 2006
    • 10 OSHA violations between 2016–2019
    • No certification requirements for project managers—just 3 or more years of experience

    Yes, there was an emergency plan. It included scenarios like severe weather, active shooters, missing children, and unruly fans. But guess what it didn’t include? Crowd surges. One of the most common risks at concerts.

    Even worse: the only people authorized to stop the show were the “concert’s executive producer and festival director.” Their names were not listed in the plan. That’s a massive oversight.

    Back to the Layout

    The layout was approved by the City of Houston and the Fire Marshal. Permits were issued for tents, pyrotechnics, food vendors, and street closures. But again—no capacity permit was required, just a safety plan filed with property owners.

    So what happened during the show?

    It started around 9 p.m.—a little late, but not unusually so. Within 15 minutes, Travis Scott stopped the show briefly for a distressed fan (we see this in the documentary). Reports say he paused two more times. But by 9:40 p.m., a mass casualty event had been declared by the police. Still, they didn’t stop the show—for fear of triggering a riot.  My question is, aren’t they trained for that?

    The concert finally ended at 10:15 p.m.—more than 30 minutes after that declaration.

    Final Thoughts (for Now)

    There’s still so much we don’t know. And if you have insights—please share. If you spot something I missed or got wrong—tell me. I’m here to learn, too. Most of all, I want to hear what you think. The good, the bad, the ugly. Let’s talk.

    Your turn. GO.

  • Untitled post 3

    Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the events industry. Since the early 2000s, I’ve been talking about it, living it—as an international conference planner—and now teaching it as a professor.

    I’m excited to expand the conversation. I’ll be sharing insights, trends, and reflections on all things events—and I’d love to hear your thoughts along the way.

    Let’s keep the conversation going!