While staying in Tucson, the housekeeper wrote messages to me on the notepad that was beside the bed. She thanked me for being an awesome guest (click on the image above to read the notes in closer detail).

Her name was Angela and I never met her face-to-face, but she left an impression on me. And it looks like I left an impression on her.

When I travel, I keep the hotel room as I would my own home. The only thing I don’t do is make up my bed, but I don’t do that at home either. Other than that, I put my clothes away, I wipe down the counter in the bathroom and I wash down any hair left behind by me in the shower.

I know that the women (and sometimes men) who work in hotels are hard-working, law abiding and sometimes God-fearing individuals. They are someone’s sister, mother, aunt, daughter or cousin and I treat them as I’d want others to treat people in my own family.

This is the same attitude I bring to my virtual events…

Whether I organize them or speak at them, I treat everyone who works with me on both virtual and non-virtual events with the utmost respect. If I’m working with a client’s support staff, I honour them by giving them deadlines with ample lead times and ensuring that I’m clear about what I need.

If I’m working with speakers, I tend to remember those who responded to my requests in a timely and genial manner. On the flipside, I’ve worked with speakers who blamed my virtual event team for something they neglected to do.

Certainly, if I or my team dropped the ball, I’ll own up to that, but if an email clearly shows that the speaker promised something and didn’t deliver, I’ll never work with that person again (nor will I refer them to others).

If I speak at events – whether virtual or not – I make it super easy for organizers to work with me. I leave the diva at home and instead, humbly submit what the organizer needs by their deadline.

If speaking is part of your marketing and sale funnel, I suggest that you put together a Speaker Abstract for every presentation that you have. This Speaker Abstract would contain EVERYTHING an organizer needs to promote you and your presentation.

In a blog post called How to Be the Best Guest Expert Around, Nancy Marmolejo provides her tips. Along with the obvious, such as photo, bio, mailing address and description of your topic, Nancy also suggests that you include:

• Articles, tips, blog posts, or other pieces of info for promoting your topic to their list. I include sample tweets and suggested Facebook/LinkedIn status updates as well.
• Suggested questions and suggested time for each question. This helps the organizer keep the session on track.

After receiving Nancy’s Speaker Abstract for a teleseminar she was organizing, Donna Gunter provided additional tips in her blog post called Teleseminar Marketing: 10 Secrets to Being the Guest Expert EVERYONE Wants to Interview:

• Audience handout. Rather than simply providing a handout, offer the handout via a squeeze page so that you can capture the participant’s name and email address.
• Invitation to sign up for affiliate program. No one speaks to hear themselves talk — there’s always a call to action to buy a product or service. Inviting the host to sign up for your affiliate program makes the host much more eager to promote your special offer, as the host will earn a commission on any sales made of your product or service.

Both Nancy and Donna provide compelling reasons why you should create a Speaker Abstract page that organizers can go to and grab what they need. Because at the end of the day, if you’re not getting “love notes” from support staff who work with you, it’s time to leave the demanding, pushy and diva-esque attitude at home.

What other tips would you give to speakers so they are a dream to work with? What do you do as a speaker that makes it easier for organizers to promote you to their audience? Do share your thoughts below.