Top 100 Speakers at Speakers Excellence

What is Speakers Excellence?

With a lot of brains, time and capital, Jana and Gerd Kulhavy have succeeded in establishing the brand "Speakers Excellence" at the top of the European speaker market. In addition to wonderful catalogs and knowledge forums, Speakers Excellence operates the Expert Marketplace, the most comprehensive database of German-speaking speakers anywhere. Anyone who is not listed in the Expert Marketplace does not exist as a professional speaker.

Why I became a speaker

Throughout my professional career, I have been an enthusiastic speaker. After all, for me as an introvert, it was either go bankrupt as an entrepreneur or go on stage. Many orders from renowned clients such as Thyssen, Red Bull or Swarovski proved me right. Afterwards, however, I also had to fulfill them. That was already much less fun.

I didn't understand that being a speaker alone could be a profession until 2014, when I was in the US. Similar to hiring a comedian or a band for an event, professional speakers are also hired to add that special sparkle to an event. Already established in the USA for many decades, the market for speakers in Europe and especially the German-speaking countries is still relatively young.

As Hermann Scherer, Germany's most successful lecture speaker and trainer, says, the Nobel Prize winner gets 500€ for his lecture, while the keynote speaker gets 5,000€. The difference is the goosebumps, the emotions and the motivation with which a professional captivates his audience and turns the lecture into an experience.

When I once again gave a pro bono talk for an association, it was only after the event that a large number of sponsors were asked to attend who missed my talk. That was the final deciding factor to hand over my companies to a new managing director and leave my honorary positions to successors. After that, I was able to concentrate purely on speaking. You can imagine how pleased I was when Speakers Excellence accepted my application.

Top 100 Excellent Speakers Catalog

Of course, there are many other colleagues who would also deserve to be listed in the top 100. Some are also very successful without this mark. There are also other lists of speakers. I am perhaps one of the five hundred top 100 speakers in the DACH region.

Of course, listing in the catalog also involves expenses. After all, these are printed and sent out tens of thousands of times. The maintenance of the brand is also cost-intensive. I do not want to close myself to a manageable contribution.

The Speakers Excellence seal does not require a physical or a criminal record. It means something much more valuable: Speakers Excellence trusts me to add value to its brand. With its well-known brand, Speakers Excellence has more to lose than I do. And for that trust, I am grateful.

Speakers Excellence as a speaker agency

Speakers Excellence is much more than a speaker referral service, but just that. When it comes to the referral of speakers, its own economic imperatives apply. The task of Speakers Excellence's customer consultants is to suggest a handful of the most suitable speakers to bookers. So their goal is not to push a particular speaker, but first of all not to lose the job to another speaker agency. So the consultant will suggest those speakers who have the best chance of success with the particular client.

Although I am part of the prestigious Top 100 Speakers, I am not suggested to every client. After all, there are numerous other speakers who are still eligible. It took me a while to understand that this is not about fairness to the speakers, but about attracting a client to Speakers Excellence in the first place, who might then book me later on.

If I do make it among the proposals to a client, then Henry Maske always gets the job. His presentation has meditative qualities and costs twice as much as mine. But Henry Maske is more famous than I am. Celebrity is not a quality in itself, but it helps decision-makers in companies to reduce their own risk. So it's not enough to be a leading expert in your own field and put on an inspiring stage performance. No, fame is also a criterion for success. My riddle: How can I become as famous as Henry Maske without getting punched in the nose?

The solution is simple: Together with Henry Maske, I am in the same Speakers Excellence catalog. This is how I am perceived by many people. Celebrity is actually a thinking error: the more often you see someone, the more competent you think they are. For me, however, frequency is no substitute for competence, which is why I work on my knowledge and my appearance every day.

‍