Event planners – If you have any other questions that aren’t answered here, please feel free to ask as we’re working together to plan the event. The topics below are alphabetized for your convenience.
Bios and Headshots
If you need speaker bios and/or headshots of Amy and Michelle for your programs and promotional materials, please email us at awfspodcast@gmail.com.
Books and Merch
- We’d like to offer some of Michelle’s and Amy’s books and merchandise for sale at the conference. What is available?
Neither of us has books or merchandise available for sale at this time. All of our Bible studies and other materials are available for free at MichelleLesley.com, BereanResearch.org, and NaomisTable.com. If you’d still like to offer books and merch at the conference, we would be happy to make some recommendations of doctrinally sound authors and vendors.
Children
- Is it OK for the women attendees to bring their children or teens into the conference sessions with them?
Teenage girls are welcome and encouraged to attend our events. Teenage boys are considered to be men for the purposes of our events and are not invited to attend (also see “Men” below).
Younger children may attend only if accompanied by their mothers or another responsible adult woman attendee, however, we encourage “Dad care” or other childcare arrangements during the event if at all possible. Our purpose is twofold- a) that Mom might get a brief, uninterrupted time of spiritual renewal, and b) we remember what it was like when we were children – having to sit still and be quiet for hours on end at a boring adult event is difficult and unpleasant when you’re little.
Please note that all of our teaching sessions are geared toward adults, and we occasionally mention adult topics (e.g. homosexuality, abuse, lust, transgenderism, etc.). We deal with these topics in a reverent and adult-appropriate way, but moms should be aware that if they bring their children, they might get some interesting questions in the car on the way home!🙂
Contact/Communication
- Can I get Amy and Michelle’s phone numbers so we can discuss the details of the conference by phone or text? Can we FaceTime or Zoom about the conference?
We will be glad to chat on a phone, FaceTime, or Zoom call that includes all three parties (Amy, Michelle, and the conference organizer) just to say hello and “meet” one another, or to pray together for the conference. However, we prefer to track our event planning conversations via email, to capture all of the details and any changes in writing.
This keeps us organized and gives both you and us a written record of what was and was not agreed to. Additionally, if any of us forget a particular detail, we can go back to our email thread and look it up without having to call and ask the other party to jog our memory about things that were discussed on the phone or elsewhere.
We will provide our personal phone numbers within a few days of the event in order to stay in touch with the people picking us up from the airport (to report delays, etc.).
We would also ask that you please not share our personal phone numbers with anyone other than those who need them for coordinating travel/accommodations details for your own event. If you know someone who is interested in booking us for an event, please direct her to this link https://awordfitlyspoken.life/event-speaking/ (rather than sharing either of our phone numbers) so we can provide her with the information she needs.
- What about discussing conference details via social media private messages or the comment form at the AWFS website?
At any given time, we could be dealing with multiple event planners. Our email program allows us to set up separate folders for each conference so we can keep them all straight, keep everything in one place, and make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Random texts, social media private messages, and website comment form messages can often slip through the cracks. We need you to email us instead. (Additionally, the website comment form does not allow us to respond to you and we will have to email you anyway.)
Food
- Are we responsible for providing Amy and Michelle’s meals during their stay?
Yes. Meals during travel are covered by our speaking or mileage fees, but you will be responsible for providing our meals from the time of our arrival to the time of our departure. A meal at the church, in someone’s home, fast food, anything like that is fine. We are not expecting to be wined and dined, just not to starve.🙂
- Do Amy or Michelle have any food allergies or dietary restrictions?
No, neither of us do.
Gifts and Hostess Baskets
- We would like to put together hostess baskets for Michelle and Amy, or give them books or gifts to take home with them. Any suggestions or input?
It’s incredibly kind and touching that so many of our hosts want to prepare hostess baskets (snacks, travel items, etc.) and give us gifts.
Please don’t feel obligated to provide snacks or a hostess bag/basket. We deeply appreciate and enjoy them but we don’t want to add snack shopping to your conference to-do list. We are there to serve you, not for you to serve us.
But if gifting is your giftedness, small items are best. We do ask that you please avoid anything glass and anything that might leak or explode if squished into a suitcase. (Bear in mind the FAA’s size restrictions on containers of liquids, creams/lotions, etc., in carry-on suitcases, and other TSA restrictions. We do not want to have to forfeit your lovely gifts at airport security screening.)
Handouts and Discussion Questions
- Do Michelle and Amy have outlines for their teaching sessions that we can provide our ladies with?
Yes. We have 1-2 page handouts for each of our teaching sessions, which we will email you in reasonable advance of the event so you can print them out and make as many copies as you need. You’re welcome to print them out as is, on whatever color paper you like, reduce them to fit into your program booklet, etc.
- We are going to have round table discussion groups following Amy and Michelle’s teaching session(s). Can you provide us with discussion questions based on their teaching session(s)?
Yes. We would be delighted to provide you with several discussion questions that relate to our teaching session(s). No charge- this is included in our speaking fees. (If you need these, please request them ASAP after booking.)
Lodging
- Do Amy and Michelle prefer to stay in a hotel or a host home(s)?
If logistics and cost aren’t an issue, we have found that it’s easiest on everyone if we stay in a hotel (or Vrbo, Airbnb, etc.). However, if that would be too expensive or inconvenient in some way, we are happy to stay in a host home(s). Separate rooms are preferable, but we would be glad to share a room (two beds – doubles, queens, or kings) if that would help cut down on your expenses.
If the event is a retreat or is being held at a retreat center, we are fine with staying on site as long as we’re able to have a private room(s). (We have found that, when bunking with the other ladies, it’s too tempting to stay up late chatting, which is detrimental to our voices for teaching the next day.)
Wherever we stay, we will need access to reliable WiFi.
Men
- Is it OK for a man to run the sound board, be in the room for security, work in the kitchen or adjacent space where he might happen to overhear Michelle or Amy, etc., while Michelle and Amy are teaching?
Yes. We are totally fine with that. Those men are there to do a job, not to be taught, and we are not teaching them, but the women present. The Bible doesn’t prohibit men from inadvertently overhearing a woman teach other women, it prohibits women from intentionally teaching men. (See #2 here for more info.)
- Is it OK for a pastor/elder to sit in on Amy and Michelle’s teaching to make sure they’re teaching sound doctrine to the women of his church? Is it OK for a husband/father to do likewise for his wife/daughters?
It’s more than OK, it’s encouraged. It would be helpful for someone to give us a heads up that that’s why he’s there before we start teaching, because if either of us thinks he’s an attendee seeking to be taught, we will ask him – kindly, of course, but from the stage in front of everybody – to leave. (See here, and #2 & 7 here for more info.)
Music
- We are going to have a few worship songs before each teaching session. Do Michelle and Amy have some favorite hymns/worship songs we could include, or any other input on the music?
We have lots of favorite hymns and worship songs, so feel free to ask us as you’re planning so we can try to pick songs that go with your theme, if possible. Naturally, it is absolutely fine to choose whichever doctrinally sound hymns/worship songs you like!
Respectfully, we would request that no music from doctrinally unsound or sin affirming sources (such as Bethel, Hillsong, Elevation, Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake, Kari Jobe, Maverick City, etc.) be used during the conference. We have spoken out zealously against churches using music from these sources, and in addition to the reasons we have cited for this, we believe it would be confusing to our followers to find out we were featured speakers at an event with this type of music. If you’re not sure about a particular song or group, please feel free to ask us.
We would encourage you to allot ample time in your program for music, announcements, door prizes, etc. Michelle or Amy will speak for approximately 45-60 minutes during each session.
Payment
- When and how should I pay Amy and Michelle’s speaking and/or mileage fee?
Most conference coordinators simply hand our checks to us at the event, which is totally fine. If you will be paying by check, we ask that you please make sure the person writing the checks spells our names correctly: Michelle Lesley and Amy Spreeman.
Checks must be made out to each of us individually since we do not have a joint bank account. If possible, we would request that you please fill out the amount of the checks between the final love offering and the end of the conference to include our base speaking fee and a 50-50 split of the total love offering(s). (Attendees who wish to give a check in the love offering should make it payable to the church.)
Payment via PayPal is also acceptable (preferable, if we are appearing virtually at your event). Please ask about this option.
We do ask that you not pay our fees and expenses until the day of the event instead of paying us in advance. If you, or either of us, have to cancel for some dire reason, it is much easier on us if you have not yet paid us than for either or both of us to reimburse a payment that has already been made.
Q & A Questions
- How do Amy and Michelle like to receive questions during the Q&A session?
We are completely flexible on this and will defer to your preferences since this is your event. If you’d like to have a mic for people to ask questions from the floor, that’s fine. If you’d like to have people write their questions down and drop them into a basket that’s fine too. There’s also an app you can use that allows participants to submit questions electronically. If you’d like to use some combination of these, that’s also fine.
The only thing we would add here is that some women aren’t comfortable speaking at a mic in front of people, and some have questions they prefer to ask anonymously, so giving them the option of writing questions down can be helpful. Additionally, writing questions down helps the questioner to be more concise and tends to help the Q&A session move along from question to question more quickly. We do not need to see the questions in advance.
Scheduling an Event Date
- We noticed on the Speaking Engagement Request form that all of your conference formats are Friday/Saturday or Saturday only. We’d like to schedule Amy and Michelle to speak at our weekend retreat which starts Friday evening and ends with a final session Sunday morning. Is that possible?
No. We strongly believe in the gathering of the entire Body on the Lord’s Day. Therefore, we do not teach retreat sessions or other women’s events that take place on Sunday morning outside the gathering of the local church. (If you can make other arrangements for your Sunday morning retreat session, we will leave that to you and will be glad to discuss speaking at your Friday and Saturday retreat sessions.)
Security
- Do Amy and Michelle have any security needs or requirements during the event?
Yes. We request that for our security and the security of the attendees, men (the appropriate number of men depends on the size of the venue and expected number of attendees) be present and vigilant at the conference venue at all times. Our concerns are twofold: physical safety (e.g. an armed attacker), and event disruption (e.g. a woman posing as an attendee in order to protest or disrupt the event). Minimally, we would suggest a man be stationed at the entrance to the venue as well as in or near the room in which the event is taking place.
Tech
- What will Amy and Michelle need while they are teaching?
For our individual teaching sessions, we will need a lectern sturdy enough to hold a laptop and a bottle of water. For joint teaching sessions (in which both of us are teaching at the same time in a “back and forth” style), we will discuss the stage setup with the event planner.
- Do Amy and Michelle use PowerPoint-type projected computer slides and graphics or videos?
Yes. We both use slides, and will need an HDMI cable to connect our laptops to the venue’s screen. No audio is necessary for the slides.
- We are a small church and the only place we can hold our conference is in our sanctuary. Are Amy and Michelle OK with using the pulpit to teach from?
Yes. A pulpit is a piece of furniture. It does not have any supernatural powers that imbue the person using it with any sort of spiritual authority. On the other hand, if, for any reason, you would prefer that Amy and Michelle not use the pulpit, we are totally fine with that, too. Our philosophy is that we will stand and teach wherever you tell us to stand and teach.🙂
- What kind of microphones do Amy and Michelle prefer?
Anything but a hand held, please, if possible. Lapel/Lavalier mics are fine. Stationary (mic stand, pulpit mic) mics are also fine since neither of us walk around while we teach.
- Is it OK to livestream, record, distribute recordings of, etc., Amy and Michelle’s teaching at our event?
Yes, absolutely! This is your event. Please do whatever you like regarding streaming, recording, and distribution.
Theme
- Can the titles of Amy and Michelle’s teaching sessions be modified slightly to fit better with our theme?
Absolutely, just please ask us to do the modifying so we can make sure the titles are true to what we’re teaching and fit with your theme. (You’re welcome to make suggestions, though.) For example, if the theme of your event is “Women of Faithfulness” and one of the teaching sessions you’ve selected is “Hospitality” we can alter that title to “Faithful Hospitality” or “Hospitality for Women of Faithfulness” or something like that for use in your program and other materials.
Travel and Transportation
- Do Amy and Michelle drive or fly to events?
Michelle: Usually, unless it’s a short car trip, Michelle flies. If flying, Michelle flies out of Baton Rouge (BTR), which currently offers only Delta, American, and United airlines. She is fine with flying into whichever airport is closest and most convenient to your event.
Amy: Amy can fly out of Green Bay’s Austin Straubel Airport (GRB), which uses Delta, United, American, and Frontier, or Appleton International Airport (ATW), which uses Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines.
We will discuss further travel arrangement details (including mileage, if driving) with event coordinators via email. Please do not purchase airline tickets without coordinating with us first.
- How do we handle ground transportation (to/from the airport, conference venue, etc.) during Amy and Michelle’s stay if one or both of them are flying in?
Typically, one or more of the event planners will pick each of us up from the airport, drive us to the hotel/host home, to and from the conference venue, and so on, during our stay. However, if this doesn’t work for you, you are welcome to lend or rent us a car, or make Uber, Lyft, or other ride-sharing, or taxi arrangements. (Ground transportation expenses are not included in our speaking fee or our love offering.)