Explain whom the session serves and what it should add
Start with the audience and the session's expected contribution. Describe their knowledge level, their reason for attending and the question you want to help answer. This guidance lets speakers choose examples and depth while leaving room for their own experience and communication style, rather than requiring them to guess what the organisers have in mind.
A generic title rarely provides enough direction. “Sales for businesses” could become an introduction for beginners, an analysis of processes or a session about negotiation. If the organisers have a specific need, they should make it visible before the guest invests time in a direction that will later require changing to fit the programme.
When preparing earlier editions of AdSummit, I combined two approaches to selecting contributions. Sometimes I started with a person I wanted to invite and found a suitable topic; at other times, I identified a necessary topic and looked for someone to develop it. In both cases, the connection with the programme needed to serve participants.
Expertise should appear in the contribution as well as in the biography. This resembles the reasoning behind differentiating services in a crowded market: identifying what that person helps others understand or do. A recognised name may attract attention, but the session still needs a concrete function within the event and a reason for occupying that slot.
To prepare your next step, explore Online events as part of a business.
Put timing and programme sequence in the same document
Speakers need to know the presentation length, the time reserved for questions and the session's place in the programme. Include the date, time and time zone, distinguishing backstage arrival from the public start. These details guide preparation and prevent people from relying on different interpretations of a single instruction when planning their contribution.
Imagine a hypothetical example: you reserve forty minutes for a presentation and ten for questions. If the guest understands that they have fifty minutes to present, interaction will lose its space or the programme will run late. Writing the two parts separately makes the agreement clearer and supports content that fits the available time.
The sequence also changes what a speaker should assume. It may help to know that the previous session introduces a concept or that the next one explores implementation. This does not require everyone to agree; it helps prevent unintended repetition and gaps that would otherwise only become visible when participants experience the programme as a whole.
When several guests are involved, I share the context each needs to prepare their contribution. The organisers remain responsible for overall coherence. Passing on a contact list and expecting speakers to resolve overlaps among themselves leaves part of the editorial work undone, even though it belongs to the people responsible for creating the event.
Define commercial rules before approving the content
Rules about products, contacts and commercial proposals need to be explicit in the brief. Guests should know what they can mention, which actions they can ask the audience to take and whether organisers plan an offer. Communicate these decisions before preparation begins to avoid difficult changes close to the date of the event.
In earlier editions of AdSummit, I allowed speakers to discuss their work but set boundaries on collecting contacts and selling directly. That was a choice connected to the experience and commercial model of that event. It is not a universal rule for every conference, professional gathering or other format involving contributions from invited speakers.
The point is to remove ambiguity. Saying only that a session should not be too commercial leaves room for different interpretations. If a link to a page, a QR code or a closing invitation has conditions, explain them with concrete examples. Guests can then prepare the ending within the agreement instead of having to guess.
Organisers should also be clear when asking for a connection to the event's own proposal. A speaker can explain an idea they understand and agree with without being required to invent a personal recommendation. The relationship between content and a commercial follow-on offer needs to respect what each contributor can actually support from their experience.
Bring together materials, usage conditions and support
A useful brief brings together what speakers need to deliver and what organisers will provide. Include promotional materials, presentation requirements, access instructions and a support contact. Recording and image usage conditions should be clear so that everyone understands how their participation will be presented, shared or made available after the live event has ended.
In organising my events, I began bringing information together in a document because I did not want important details left implicit. Photographs, biographies, topics, schedules and technical tests need to reach the right people. The more scattered those decisions are, the easier it becomes to use an old version or discover a request too late.
Specify what is mandatory and what is optional. A presentation template can make preparation easier without being compulsory, if that is the event's decision. A delivery date needed for broadcast preparation serves a different purpose and should carry the appropriate importance. The guest should be able to recognise that distinction without asking about every item.
Support also needs an identified owner. Explain who answers editorial questions, who helps with technical testing and how to report a difficulty on the day. The principle of defining who approves each part of a project helps prevent speakers from receiving incompatible instructions from different people and having to decide for themselves which instruction takes priority.
Confirm understanding before closing preparation
Sending the document is one step; confirming that its essentials were understood is another. I ask guests to validate the topic, format and main commitments, leaving room for questions and adjustments. That conversation helps identify incompatibilities while there is still time to resolve preparation without placing unnecessary pressure on the people taking part.
Confirmation may reveal that the topic is too broad for the time available or that a demonstration requires unplanned conditions. It is better to discover this through a proposed structure than to wait for the final file. The review should make the contribution feasible and coherent while preserving what the speaker uniquely brings to the programme.
Dividing preparation into stages helps, just as when organising a project's beginning without promising to solve everything. First settle the essentials, then collect materials and confirm execution. The number of reviews should reflect the session's complexity, without creating a sequence of approvals that consumes more time than it saves or provides in useful clarification.
Ultimately, a good brief lets guests concentrate on what they were invited to do. The organisers take responsibility for the framing decisions, communicate their needs and provide conditions for preparing a useful contribution. The audience receives a more coherent programme because the connections between sessions were worked through before the event began and participants arrived.