News Room

• Free Speakers Bureau Comes to Indy

  October 12, 2016

  A new pro bono speaker’s bureau in Indianapolis, FreeSpeakers.org, proves that some things in life are indeed free.

  This pro bono speaker’s bureau is a new resource in Indianapolis and its suburbs for groups and organizations that need speakers. The new bureau has more 30 local speakers with more than 65 different topics available. (more…)

• Site Offers Speakers on Variety of Topics Free to Clubs, Groups

  July 18, 2016

  One site offers speakers on a variety of topics to groups and clubs for free. FreeSpeakers.org in Indy offers more than 28 speakers on nearly 50 different topics. Andy Richardson, the director of FreeSpeakers.org, stopped by Daybreak to talk about how the site works. Richardson also discusses how many speakers are available in Indianapolis, some of the topics the speakers will talk on and how to become a speaker yourself. (more…)

• Find a Speaker for Your Group

  June 20, 2016

  A new speakers bureau in Indianapolis is ready to offer a free speaker for your next group meeting. FreeSpeakers.org connects local experts with organizations such as libraries, Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, church groups and women’s clubs.

  “This is a community service project that is 100 percent free to groups that have limited (or no) budgets,” said Andy Richardson, director of FreeSpeakers.org. More than 20 local speakers have signed up so far to talk about a range of topics. (more…)

• WISH-TV’s Indy Style Features Free Speakers

  June 14, 2016

  Having to speak in front of a large crowd can sometimes be a daunting, often overwhelming thought for many people. But with just a few helpful tips, success is closer than you think. Andy Richardson, Director of FreeSpeakers.org, shares a few go-to practices on WISH-TV’s live, local, lifestyle program – Indy Style.

  A new pro bono speakers service has launched in Indianapolis. Anyone can sign up to be a speaker and any organization, club, etc. can request a speaker free of charge. This originally launched in Chicago and was highly successful. In Indy, there are more than 25 speakers that cover topics ranging from Health & Wellness to Educational to Business to Financial and Self Improvement. (more…)

• Free Speakers Bureau Matches Speakers to Groups

  April 15, 2016

  What started with a single telephone call 15 years ago has grown into something that Free Speech Speakers Bureau founder Ginny Richardson of Burr Ridge could never have imagined.

  Richardson, founder and president of Ginny Richardson Public Relations in Hinsdale, received a phone call one day from a local Rotary Club. The club wanted a speaker for an upcoming meeting, and turned to Richardson and her connections in the community for help.

  “I made a few phone calls,” she said, and found a local banker willing to take on the job, free of charge. (more…)

• Ginny Richardson a matchmaker of speech, need

  April 15, 2016

  As Ginny Richardson puts it, her entire world is matchmaking.

  “It’s blank newspaper pages and client news and stories,” said Richardson, president of Hinsdale-based Ginny Richardson Public Relations.

  And with her side project based on community service, Free Speech Speakers Bureau, it’s the same concept.

  “I just feel it is an extension of that matchmaking  – a speaker and empty podium,” Richardson explained.

  Free Speech, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, helps community organizations acquire speakers to free. More than 500 Chicagoland groups have participated thus far, with more than 150 speakers on the bureau.

  Although both the service and speakers are free – Richardson charges a minimal lifetime joining fee for speakers – the incentives for both are endless, she said. Many of the speakers are entrepreneurs and business owners who can then market themselves or the business in a different way.

  (more…)

• Bureau celebrates 10 years of matching groups with speakers

  April 15, 2016

  For 10 years. Burr Ridge resident  Ginny Richardson had been dispelling the myth that nothing in life comes for free.

  The president of GR-PR public relations firm in Hinsdale founded the Free Speech speakers bureau after a colleague asked if she had any contacts who would speak for free at a club meeting.

  Enjoying this new role as  a matchmaker between organizations looking for an interesting speaker and people who love to talk, Richardson decided to take the next step. In summer 1996, she formalized Free Speech after typing up a list of names – come clients, some friends – and a short description of each person’s topic. she mailed out this listing, at her own expense, to various clubs and organizations in the suburbs – mainly DuPage County. (more…)