In recent years, research has shown that the speaking industry has a lot of work to do when it comes to gender balance onstage. A new report from event software company, Bizzabo, reveals that between 2013 and 2019, two-thirds of all speakers were men. Over the last year, gender diversity within the speaking industry has only improved by 3%. In the United States, business speakers are 64% male vs. 36% female. Technology speakers are a shocking 76% male vs. 24% female. The only industry where we saw an equal 50/50 was education.
It is extremely important to keep this industry diverse because it helps to bring in unique backgrounds and perspectives. A lack of diversity makes panels boring and not very credible. If you are holding a panel of speakers for your event, the speakers should be just as diverse as the audience. Northstarmeetingsgroup.com suggests that before booking a speaker or a panel of speakers, you must first conduct an inventory of your target audience. Use the percentages found as a guideline for what your speaker demographic should look like.
While it is important that we develop more diversity within the speaking industry, you shouldn’t choose a speaker based solely on their gender. Naturally, you want to make sure that you choose someone who is credible and knowledgeable on the topic. Northstarmeetingsgroup.com states that any diversity and inclusion effort should be logically motivated and business driven. If you are not logically motivated and business driven when choosing a speaker and choose them solely on their gender, it can result in tokenism and choosing someone who is not as credible just to reach a demographic goal. This usually results in a poor experience for the audience.
Looking to book a speaker for your event? Keep it diverse! Browse Eagles Talent to see the plethora of credible, smart, awesome women we have to speak at your next event!
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