When I first started my speaking career, I called dozens and dozens of groups that had regular meetings, used guest speakers, had no budget but would let me sell books and tapes. At first I would call to ask:

"Do you use speakers at your meetings?"
"Yes."
"Then I’m your guy."

But when I showed up to speak, there would only be 12 people there. Better qualifying was needed.

"Do you use speakers at your meetings?"
"Yes."
"How many members do you have?"
"Forty."
"Great, I’m your guy."

But when I arrived to speak, there were still only 12 people in the room. Better qualifying was needed.

"Do you use speakers at your meetings?"
"Yes."
"How many members do you have?"
"Forty."
"How many of those regularly come to your meetings?"
"Twenty-five to thirty."
"Great, I’m your guy."

But when I arrived to speak, there were still only 12 people in the room. Even better qualifying was needed.

"Do you use speakers at your meetings?"
"Yes."
"How many members do you have?"
"About one hundred"
"Good for you. How many of those regularly come to your meetings?"
"About half."
"That’s a good turn out. How many came to your last meeting?"
"I don’t know what happened, but there were only about 12 people in the room."
"Yeah, I think I’ve seen that happen before."

From the experience came lots of good qualifying questions:

• How many members do you have?

• How many of them regularly come to the meetings?

• How many of them came to the last meeting?

• What (if anything) was different about that meeting?

• What other speakers have you had at these meetings?

• Which of those were the best received? Why?

• How did those meetings turn out?

• What did they speak about?

• How did your members respond?

• What was the best attended meeting you had in the last 6-12 months?

• Why did so many people come to that one?

• What was special about it?

• How did you promote that meeting?

• How could I help you turn out a larger group?

• After I’m done, what would make you look back and say, "that was even more than I was hoping for?"

• Is there anything going on with the group or in the community that would impact people’s reaction to what we're doing?

• Will anyone else be speaking at the meeting the day I’m there?

• If anyone has a printed agenda for the meeting, where could I see a copy?

• While I’m there, is there anything I could do to help you promote something else that is important to the group?

• It sounds like we are on target for this one. Is there anyone else you would recommend I call to ask if they might need someone like me at a different meeting?