Who would you like to see speak at a FIRST event?

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Jessica Boucher

But....does it matter? What is the metric that we decide the successfulness of a speaker? Do more well-known speakers score better, or does a lesser-known speaker perform just as well?

I'm going to respond by raising the spectre of the "What Kind of Engineer Are You?" thread. In there, I recall someone (I want to say phrontist) arguing that one isn't an engineer until they both have that oh-so-special piece of paper (some call them "diplomas") and have done something useful with it.

I kinda judge public speaking the same way. One's background (launching people into space, designing some freaking awesome device, etc) is their credentials that get them in the door, sort of like an engineering degree does in the world of work. What gets you truly recognized, however, is what exactly you do with it--in the case of speaking, how well you're able to convey your message to the group into something that they can use, whether for entertainment or inspiration or anything else. Both are required to really be a good speaker.

Take the example of Dean Kamen. His background (DEKA, Segway, and some other thing I forget) gets him in the door. Sometimes, his speeches are a little flat, especially if your mind is not on the right wavelength when listening to him. Thus, Dean tends to wind up about upper-mid-pack on the great ranking scale of speakers, getting edged out by the Dave Laverys (Laveries?) of the group, but still coming in ahead of others (see also: Will Smith).