Hi Kelli, A good speaker can inspire, motivate, and illuminate a subject, essentially capitavting the class. The opportunity to provide real world experience coupled with the (typically) informal opportunity to ask virtually any question is invaluable. The only "bad" guest speakers I've had, and they've been few, were a couple of egocentric do-do's who were more interested in their accomplishments than sharing information about the profession. So, some care in screening and defining what the expectations are can make for the best speaker activity. Barry Westling