BOOKING
WHAT TO INCLUDE
IN AN ENQUIRY.
This page is logistics. It exists so that a first message contains what is needed and the conversation can be about the room rather than about scheduling another call to find out what the room is.
What to include in a first message
Six things. Most enquiries contain two of them, which is why the first reply is usually a list of questions.
- Date and time. Including whether it is fixed or still moving, and whether there are alternatives.
- City and venue. Travel is a real constraint and it shapes what is possible around the date.
- Who is in the room. Men's group, congregation, business owners, staff team, program participants. Ages and context if they matter.
- Room size. Roughly. Twenty and two hundred call for different formats, not different volumes of the same one.
- Format and length. What slot you have and what you imagine filling it with.
- What you are hoping happens. The honest version. This is the most useful sentence in the message and the one most often left out.
If any of it is undecided, say that. Undecided is useful information and vague is not.
Formats
Keynote
One argument, delivered to a room. Suits conferences and larger gatherings. Works best with a next step attendees can take alone rather than a sign-up at the back.
Workshop
Working session for a leadership team or a small group of owners. The output is usually one process mapped end to end with handoffs and definitions of done.
Panel
One voice among several. Useful where the subject benefits from disagreement. Worth telling him who else is on it and what position he is expected to hold.
Fireside
Moderated conversation, usually stronger than a keynote in a room under a hundred. A moderator who knows the group matters more than the seating.
Small group
Twenty or fewer, no stage, prepared questions, enough time for the silence to get past the polite stage. The most useful format and the least requested.
Sunday or midweek
For churches: a service slot, a men's breakfast, or a midweek group. Scope agreed with the leadership beforehand.
For the full context behind this, see Ben's published resources.
Travel from Lexington, South Carolina
Ben is based in Lexington, near Columbia. That has practical consequences worth knowing before you ask.
The Midlands and most of South Carolina is a drive. Columbia, Lexington, Irmo, West Columbia, Camden, Newberry, Orangeburg and similar are straightforward, and same-day return is normal.
The wider Southeast — Charleston, Greenville, Charlotte, Augusta, Savannah and comparable — is a longer drive or a short flight, usually needing most of a day either side.
Further afield works, and it needs more lead time and more flexibility around the date. Columbia has an airport and most itineraries connect, which is a scheduling reality rather than a complaint.
He also runs an operating business, which is the real constraint. Weekday commitments compete with a business that still has a calendar, and that is worth knowing rather than discovering late.
Lead time
There is no rule, and here is the honest shape of it.
Several months is comfortable and allows the format and scope conversation to happen properly. A few weeks is often workable, particularly for something local. Short notice is worth asking about rather than assuming — dates occasionally open up, and a Saturday morning in the Midlands is a different request from a Tuesday keynote three states away.
Recurring or annual events are easier to plan around than one-off dates, so if your gathering happens every year, say so.
About fees
No figures are published here, for any kind of room, and that is deliberate rather than evasive.
What an engagement involves varies enormously — a local Saturday morning and a two-day trip with a workshop attached are not the same commitment — and a published number would be wrong for most of them. Reentry, recovery and community work is not handled the same way as corporate and conference work, and programs in that category should ask regardless of budget.
Raise it in the first message if it helps you, and it gets answered directly.
What happens after you reach out
- A reply with questions if anything from the list above is missing.
- A short conversation about the room. Who is in it, what they are dealing with, what has already been said to this group, and what you are actually hoping happens.
- Scope agreed in writing. Subject, format, length, how much faith content, how much of the history, and anything off limits for this audience.
- Logistics. Travel, timing, technical needs, whether recording is permitted, and who the contact is on the day.
- An honest no if it is a poor fit. Better found in an email than discovered live.
If you want to know what is actually in the talks before you write, speaking topics describes each one and the message covers the argument underneath them.
Frequently asked
Questions people actually ask
How do I get in touch?
Use the contact link on this site and include the six things listed above. A complete first message saves a round of scheduling and gets you a real answer faster.
What does it cost?
No figures are published, because a local morning and a multi-day trip with a workshop are not the same commitment. Raise it in the first message and it gets discussed directly.
Will he travel outside South Carolina?
Yes, with more lead time and flexibility around the date. He is based in Lexington near Columbia and runs an operating business, which is the real scheduling constraint.
Can he do more than one session while he is there?
Often, and it is worth asking early because it changes the travel arithmetic. Multiple services, a session plus a small group, or a talk plus a leadership workshop all work.
Do you need audio-visual support?
Minimal. A working microphone matters. Slides are optional and usually not used, so a projector is rarely the deciding factor.
What if we are not sure which topic we want?
Say that. The conversation about who is in the room usually settles it faster than picking from a list, and it is a normal way to start.
Make your next move
A year from now, what will you be glad you started today?
You don't need another promise that everything will be easy. You need something useful to learn — and a next step you're willing to take.