Have you ever given a killer keynote… and then waited six months to hear what the organizer thought?
Yeah, same.
That’s why today we’re diving into a tool that lets you skip the waiting game and get audience feedback before you even step off stage.
Yup… we’re talking about Talkadot.
The tool that promises to make your audience love you, your organizer thank you, and your CRM… finally feel useful.
Let’s see if it is Worth It… Or If We Should Walk Away.
What is Talkadot—and Why Are 9,000 Speakers Using It?
In case you’re unfamiliar, Talkadot is a survey tool that lets you generate a QR code you can display on one of your presentation slides - usually towards the end of your speech.
When audience members scan the code, it takes them to a survey where they can answer questions about their experience with your presentation and share testimonials. There is also a place for them to indicate if they would like to speak with you about future gigs.
With both free and paid plans, collected testimonials can be featured on a public profile that event organizers can view when considering to hire you. Additional leads can be captured and sent directly to your CRM for easy follow-up.
It even lets you generate testimonial graphics for your social media, which I’ve seen posted on LinkedIn from time to time.
This thing has some seriously sexy functionality!
Talkadot Has Game (But Not Without Some Caveats)
Now, I’ve tried the free version of Talkadot, but I’ve not yet had the chance to test it with a live audience. That’s why we’re so thankful that two of our subscribers were happy to chime in with their experiences.
Vicki Landers told us that she got frustrated waiting for survey responses from her event organizers and decided to give the free version of Talkadot a try about nine months ago.
“Getting feedback from an event planner about your speech takes months if they even give it to you. [Talkadot] gives the opportunity for people to come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I’d really like to talk to you’".
Vicki’s favorite feature from Talkadot is the public speaker profile page that is automatically generated using the audience members’ responses. It’s feedback that can’t be manipulated by the speaker, so it serves as a valuable resource to show event planners who wonder if a speaker is worth hiring.
She also likes that it has integration with SpeakerFlow…
“I’ve had the free version of Talkadot for eight or nine months. I bought the paid version this past weekend so it has integration with SpeakerFlow that can integrate with your CRM. When you capture those leads, it populates into the CRM, and then you can set it up so that they get automatic emails.”
The paid version of Talkadot will cost you $49/month ($588 billed annually) for the Pro version or $99/month ($1,188 billed annually) for the Elite version.
“I will let you know at the end of the year [if it was worth the money.] I didn’t think it was a crazy price for what I’m going to get.”
Hold Up—There’s One Big Thing You’ll Need to Nail
Vicki’s one concern involves using a QR code during a keynote to ask audience members to fill out her evaluation survey...
She usually offers the attendees a bonus PDF handout in exchange for their time. Other times, she’ll enter names in a drawing for a free coaching session. Vicki works hard to make sure the QR code is integrated in a way that feels like it belongs there, so it’s not jarring to the presentation.
“That’s the one thing about it that I’m still working on.”
Other speakers we spoke with shared similar cautions when it came to actually getting the audience to fill out the surveys.
Neelu Kaur told me that one event planner was upset with the timing of her QR code and request. She said,
“This was the only event planner I have ever worked with that said he felt he was in grade school and was being asked to do something, then he would get rewarded with the ending [of the speech].”
She also mentioned that not all audiences include decision-makers with the authority to hire speakers. So, she is very careful now to ask the event planners if referrals would be possible from the audience. If they aren’t, she removes certain questions from her Talkadot survey.
“Learning lessons for me: 1- ask the event planner if I can use my own survey. 2- do more due diligence about asking if referrals would be possible with the audience.”
We should note that you don't have to necessarily have a big pause for the survey. There are multiple ways to tee up Talkadot for your audience. Some speakers just put a QR code on their final slide and leave it at that. Still, many speakers do choose to wait while their audiences fills out the survey.
Despite these challenges, both of our speakers said they would recommend using Talkadot. Vicki shared,
“Yeah, I think it’s worth it, but at the end of the year, ask me again if I got gigs from it.”
Then, Neelu wrote,
“I love Talkadot for a variety of reasons. I think the speaker needs to iron out some details with the event planner and then it’s all good!”
(Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Vicki and Neelu!!)
The Talkadot FOMO Is Real
Personally, I’ve played around with the free version of Talkadot and also spoken to a LOT of speaker colleagues to learn about their experiences. When we did our little tech stack survey last month, we found that 36% of our surveyed subscribers are using this program.
Honestly, Talkadot has a pretty great marketing strategy. They claim on their website that they’ve got 9,000+ speakers using it. This creates a bit of FOMO within us all. If you see someone with 200 glowing reviews, you’re going to want to jump on the bandwagon.
“Oh gosh… if all those other speakers are using it, I should too!”
The testimonial-gathering power is also pretty impressive…
Then, there’s the public profiles that come with all of the plans. They create a bit of a “credibility arms race” among speakers.
It’s the modern-day equivalent of gladiators battling for the attention of an event planner… except with Talkadot testimonials instead of swords.
How a Simple Ask Can Tank Your Finale
But, let’s not forget the one issue that both Vicki and Neelu mentioned could be a problem…
...that GREAT BIG pause when you ask for the audience to fill out the survey. (If that's what you choose to do.)
I just watched a speaker the other day who actually paused for a full 90 seconds at the peak of their speech, right before the close, to invite people to fill out the survey.
90 seconds is a HUGE amount of time!
You could toast a bagel in 90 seconds. Or lose half your audience to Instagram forever.
Other speakers aren’t pausing quite that long, but they're still setting aside 30-45 seconds for people to pull out their phones, scan the code, fill out the form… and then get distracted by texts, social posts, and emails.
It invites people to get distracted by other things when you want them to be fully focused on the final message you’re trying to drill into their brains with your presentation.
I get it… Often, there is a value exchange associated with the survey...
“Fill this out and I’ll give you XYZ.”
Still, there are some things we need to talk about when it comes to using Talkadot. Sure, there’s a high adoption rate… and FOMO is causing more and more to sign up every day…
Just remember that strategy drives success.
If you’re a Premium Member, check out the second part of this article, and we’ll talk about why Talkadot may not be as valuable as you hoped.
Part two of this article covers:
- Why one trusted speaker ditched Talkadot entirely—and built their own streamlined, branded version instead,
- The surprising reason so many Talkadot “leads” never convert (hint: they’re missing one key ingredient),
- How to tell the difference between a high-quality referral and a time-wasting rabbit hole,
- Why organizer testimonials are worth 25x more than anonymous attendee praise—and how Talkadot could be costing you both,
- And the critical misstep that could damage your relationship with event organizers if you're not crystal clear about how you're using the platform.
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Thanks for reading!
Andrew
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