A General Election Themed Event Checklist

It's official, the UK is set for another General Election to take place on 12th December 2019. And yes, that could mean you’re tasked with organising an event and sourcing a political speaker  at short notice!

With four main political parties in the fight to win hearts and minds, alongside a whole host of national and regional parties who could inadvertently determine who gets the keys to Number 10, this General Election is set to be like no other in modern times.

Brexit is going to be the central battleground but waiting in the wings is a whole host of contrasting policies and future decisions which will determine the direction of travel Britain is about to embark on over the next 5 years.

So, how to make sense of it all? What will happen if there’s another hung Parliament? How will the outcome affect your business and industry? Who has the skills to ensure a balanced debate takes place?

Let’s run through your essential General Election event themed checklist

Hosts and Facilitators

Politics is either simple or complicated, rational or emotional dependent upon who you speak to. Therefore, a strong event host or conference facilitator  who can manage the diverse speaker personalities on stage, ensuring everyone has their voice heard, while keeping the audience in tow is an invaluable asset to any event organiser.

Furthermore, your host will be supremely educated on the intricacies of British politics and the myriad of policies, not just Brexit, which will be debated this time around.

A good host will be able to press speakers and panellists on the detail, ensuring the audience have total clarity on their standpoint, and if needs be challenged on their point of view. Likewise, your host will facilitate questions from the audience, holding the speakers and panellists to account on their answers while ensuring the show runs to time

Keynote speaker

We know a good keynote speaker  is worth their weight in gold. They will set the theme, shine light on the key issues of the day, provide clarity on questions only a few can truly deliver, and share their story positioned according to the audience profile.

The question is of course which speaker to choose. It’s imperative, as with any event, to define your theme first. Are you looking for a current or former politician/cabinet minister for instance? Or perhaps an expert commentator? Would you prefer to stick to an industry specific speaker?

There are a myriad of options and our expert team are always on hand to help guide you through the selection process.

Panel debate

Finally, a good panel debate is an excellent way to ensure a cross-spectrum of views can be aired, discussed and left for the audience to debate afterwards.

Organisers can choose to invite the aforementioned host to chair the debate, and keynote speakers to participate once their session is finished.

Or you could choose to end the programme with a new panel to discuss the key debating points raised earlier in the day.

Either way, audience participation is key to making these debates a true success, and luckily there are a plethora of event technology applications which can be used by audience members to ask questions (even anonymously) which the panel moderator can select to be asked by one or more of the panellists.

We were used to having a General Election once every 4 or 5 years, so to have 3 since 2015 is somewhat remarkable, but then again these are history defining moments in British political history.

If you’re planning a political themed event then please get in touch so one of our team can provide some expert recommendations and help you make this event a roaring success!

For further information or to book a speaker, call us on +44 (0)20 7607 7070  or email  info@speakerscorner.co.uk .

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