Section 1 | Speakers

Overview: Types of Speakers

Professors: Take advantage of what you have! When you think of a topic that you might like to have discussed at a meeting, resources at your own university can cover anything from astronomy to zoology. The departments of philosophy, comparative religion, anthropology, psychology, and biology are also great places to start looking for someone to speak at your meeting. Many faculty members have websites that list their areas of interest / research or literature they have published. Also, think of professors that you've had, or ask friends if they've had any professors who would make excellent speakers for your group. Your advisor may be a great speaker, or have recommendations of other faculty members to ask. If you don't have at least two professors from your school speak per academic term, you're doing something wrong.

Big Name Speakers: The well-known names in the freethought movement. Whether partnering with your university's lecture series or bringing in speakers from the SSA Speakers Bureau these speakers are appropriate for big events that you may put on once or twice a year.

Local Chapter Members or Leaders: You can invite leaders from local chapters of freethought organizations such as the American Humanist Association or American Atheists, or from freethought-related groups, such as the Unitarian Universalist Church and the Society of humanistic Judaism to speak.

Special Interest Groups: You can invite special interest organizations to talk at your meetings, such as having an animal rights activist talk about the ethics of eating meat, or having a representative from a civil rights organization talk about affirmative action. There are student versions of many of these organizations right on your campus.

Students: Often student members themselves may want to do presentations. Be sure they're up to doing proper research and have adequate public speaking skills. If you are having a bigger speaker come in the next few weeks, one student who is well- informed on the person could present to the group about him or her to get everyone excited.

Sharon Moss; former President of Students for Freethought at The Ohio State University gives this advice on presenters:

Sharon Moss

"We have had presentations given on two different topics by members that went really poorly, but I don't think it was the topics. Rather, the presenters didn't prepare well, and were very nervous to be in front of the group... to the point where people walked out of the meeting. I think that if you let members present you have to be sure that they really can do it, and perhaps help them come up with ways to engage the group better, such as using Power Point, or having other multimedia available."

Approaching a Professor, Freethought or Special Interest Group Leader

People love to talk about their work. Most professors and activist group leaders are happy to come and speak for student groups, regardless of their religious affiliation. Contact the potential speaker by phone or in person if at all possible. E-mail may be a good way to make a first contact, but it should be followed up by a phone call to confirm if a reply is not received in twenty-four hours. Despite the fact that it's the 21st century, some people have still not made email a part of their daily lives. Ask speakers how they prefer to keep in touch.

Before contacting a potential speaker, keep the following in mind: several options for dates (remember Friday events are not usually well attended), and a general idea of a topic on which you would like him/her to speak. Be clear about your group and your group's purpose. Answer any questions the speaker may have honestly, and try to be flexible with his/her schedule. Explain the general flow of your meeting. For example, if your meeting begins at 7:30pm, but you have 15 minutes of announcements, let the speaker know that he/she will begin his/her talk at 7:45pm.

One week before the person is scheduled to speak, call or e-mail them making sure everything is still on track for the presentation. In the morning on the day before the presentation ask them again. Speakers sometimes forget or have things come up that overwhelm them and may forget to tell you they can't make it. You have a responsibility to come up with an alternative meeting if the speaker doesn't show.

Most importantly, after someone has come to speak to your group, send a follow up thank you email or card. The impression that your group makes on him/her may influence other people's decisions to come speak to your group, and your group's public image. The speaker may tell his/her colleagues what a wonderful bunch of heathens you all are.

What has been your most successful meeting?

Sharon Moss; former President of Students for Freethought at The Ohio State University:

"I think that the most successful meeting this year was having Dr. Bruno (Prof. Biopsychology, OSU) speak about stem cell research. It was truly amazing how much the media and the religious right have clouded what the public knows about stem cells. The presentation also touched on how scientists need to become more politically motivated to counter the misinformation out there on many topics. This was a meeting that was talked about long after it ended."

Using the SSA Speakers Bureau

The SSA has a Speakers Bureau of freethought personalities who have graciously offered to speak/present/debate on your campus. You can view the current list of speakers and their biographies here [www.secularstudents.org/speakers].

If you are interested in inviting a particular speaker to your campus, contact the SSA's Campus Organizer at [organizer@secularstudents.org]. Each speaking request is taken on a case by case basis and subject to the schedule/availability of the speaker.

The SSA may be able to provide a few hundred dollars directly to the speaker for travel and lodging. Remember, if this is going to be a public or school-wide event, it is possible that you may be able to get advertising money, flyers, and other funds through your university and / or student activities board. In most cases, your group won't need to pay a thing. If we're flying someone across the country to speak to your group, we might need your group to help cover expenses. As we have speakers spread all over the country, this shouldn't be a problem often. Alas, we're unlikely to be able to fund international travel with the possible exceptions of Canada or Mexico.

We ask that you do your very best to advertise the event and are eager to help you plan this. We also ask that you take pictures of the event and give us a short write-up that we can publish on our website.

If you would like to bring a "big name" speaker to your campus who is not on the Speakers Bureau, you can still contact the SSA's campus organizer for help. The SSA has connections to and/or contact information for many important speakers you might want to bring to your campus.

Getting Organized

One of the most popular events our groups put on is bringing a speaker to their campus. Whether the speaker the leader of a local freethought chapter or Richard Dawkins, these events always engage communities, spark discussion, educate the public and build momentum for our groups.

However, we understand that planning such an event - especially for the first time - can be daunting. That's why we've developed a new resource to help your group plan its event - the Speaker Event Planning Checklist! Designed for use by groups of all experience levels, the Checklist helps in every stage of planning from the first stages of brainstorming all the way through wrapping up loose ends after the event itself.

The Speaker Event Planning Checklist is a thorough, detailed list of the steps involved in bringing a speaker to your campus. New groups will appreciate the level of detail and instruction, while more experienced leaders might just use the condensed cover sheet to keep track of their planning progress.

We used input from student groups, current and past leaders, our own staff members, and

speakers from our Speakers Bureau to create this resource. Our writers and editors have had years of group-running and event-planning experience between them; they've made plenty of mistakes and learned lots of tricks. Now we're able to share that knowledge with you so that you can put on the best event possible!

No matter how many or what kind of speaker your group is inviting, our Speaker Event Planning Checklist addresses the planning process and necessary steps from start to finish. Another good resource for gauging when to start planning for and implementing events is the Sample Year.

Michael Shermer was kind enough to pose with Students For Freethought when he came to speak to them. Get a group photo with big speakers if you can.