There’s no question that speaking engagements of any scale can be a boon for business. But where does a small-business owner begin if he has his eyes on the stage?
As a small-business owner who’s gone from nary a speaking engagement four years ago to delivering numerous paid keynotes—and even a life-changing TEDx talk—I’ll tell you what I know. The upshot? You'll learn from my mistakes and experience alike. The even bigger upshot? You’ll have the tools you need to launch a speaking career as a facet of your business.
Take a look at the five most important things you need to know:
Necessity #1: Set your “What’s in it for me?” attitude aside. Let’s call out the elephant in the room: You want to speak in order to earn more clients and customers, sell books, sell courses and make more money. I get it. Conference organizers get it.
The only problem is, no one cares about that goal but you. Unless conferences are getting a cut of your product sales, all they care about is a happy audience. So let’s focus on the skills and tools you need to create happy audiences that make conference and meeting organizers look like rock stars. Why? Because making them look good for hiring you makes you look better than if you'd sold 500 books or scored a new client. You have to be a speaker worth your salt, and that starts with getting comfortable in your own skin.
Necessity #2: Get comfortable in front of a crowd. Have you ever watched a standup comic and thought, “How do they think on their feet so fast?” Well, the good news is that you can too, and it’s one of the easiest skills to learn. My tool of choice? Improv classes.
Improv classes can be found around the country from coast to coast. My favorite destinations? I’m a student at the Second City Training Center in Chicago (they also have programs in Toronto and Los Angeles). They offer three-day intensives and five-day immersions for folks just like you who don't have a lot of time because they have a business to run. Fly in, have some fun and get comfortable in front of a crowd of strangers. Second City offers classes ranging from beginning improv techniques to more advanced classes like Solo Improvisation and Performance (which I just completed). No matter how long you have (or haven’t) been speaking, improv classes will send you home with new tools. You might also want to check out programs at Improv Olympics (Chicago and Los Angeles) and Improv Asylum (Boston).
And improv isn’t just for people looking to be funny. It teaches you the art of getting to the point.
Necessity #3: Hone your message. If you’re looking to build a speaking career to boost your business, you have to become “that guy.” And by that, I mean you need to learn how to focus. People aren’t going to bring you in to speak—paid or unpaid—if they don’t understand your message.
And sure—I know that you’d like to think that nobody puts Baby in a corner and you don’t want to be defined or confined. But if you’re going to speak, you have to let people know which specific topics you can speak about.
Some tips for honing your message:
- Work with a speaking coach. I’ve worked with my speaking coach since TEDxBoulder in 2012. She helps me refine my messages, structure my talks for maximum impact and create experiences that my audiences enjoy. There’s no better money I spend on building my speaking career than right here.
- Start with the ending. As I build every talk, I think about the one message I want the audience to leave with if they remember nothing else I’ve said. By starting with the end, I make sure that my talk’s overall message works toward that goal.
- Ditch the slides. While my speaking style incorporates visuals for humor or to reinforce certain points, I follow one single rule: If I can’t give the talk without the slides and have the audience understand it, I need to rework the talk. Add the slides back in when the talk is ready for seasoning. Slides should never be the whole meal.
When you own your message, you're ready to share it—which means you need something to share.
Necessity #4: Build your marketing kit. If there’s one piece of advice I wish I’d had earlier in my speaking career, it would be the importance of a marketing kit. It can be as simple as a single page on your website (some people use a downloadable PDF), but it has to tell a meeting planner or conference organizer what to expect when they hire you. Here’s a solid checklist of what that marketing page should include:
- A bit about you and your style
- Testimonials from events at which you've already spoken
- Topics you speak on
- Your upcoming (and previous) speaking engagements
- Your demo reel, often called a “sizzle reel”
If you’re just starting down the speaking path, you probably don’t have any video. Get video. Try to get high-definition video from every event you speak at. Meeting planners want to see the cow before they ask their client to buy the milk. It’s one of the most powerful tools you can have in your speaking toolbox.
If you’d like to see mine, you can review my speaking page here—it includes my sizzle reel (which just went live a few weeks ago), and it’s already netted me multiple inquiries from a wide range of events. Just a warning: My style has been referred to as “not suitable for work” on account of some blue language!
But a great speaking page and marketing kit aren’t the golden egg. When you’re in the early stages of building your speaking career, you have to ask people to notice you and give you a shot on their stage—and that, my friends, is an art.
Necessity #5: Learn how to pitch. The first thing you need to know about bigger events is that they book speakers anywhere from six to 12 months in advance. The second thing you need to know about larger events is that the number of pitches conference organizers receive is staggering. In order to stand out, you have to know how to pitch. Here are my tips on getting noticed among the fray and having a better-than-average chance of earning a bigger, and possibly paid, gig in front of a larger audience:
- Think like a conference organizer. As I stated at the beginning of this article, conference organizers want one thing: happy audiences. Think of what will make their job easier. The answer? Clear and concise pitches with relevant and occasionally catchy titles (depending on the event and its tone, of course). Give them what they ask for, submit it on time and be complete. Most important, make sure your pitch demonstrates that you understand the event and its audience.
- Know the event and its history. If you haven’t attended the event you’re pitching, you’d better get digging in the Web archives. Review the speaking slate and topics covered at past events. Don't submit a rehash; instead, offer a new take that will make the conference organizers raise an eyebrow.
- Have a personality. Given the digital avalanche of speaking applications most events receive, don’t be afraid to be you on your application. Catchy titles, vibrant session descriptions and a sense of what the audience can expect from your session (laughter, humor, great visuals, etc.) can set your submission apart, and fast. What can you bring that no one else possibly can?
- Pony-up with the takeaway. Be clear with your session takeaways. What will your audience learn and be able to do after attending your session? There should be nothing mysterious about your submission. Your description can be enticing, but when people are paying big bucks to attend some of these events, they deserve to know what they’ll get in exchange for their time and money.
Once you’re on your way with all the essentials above, you might be wondering how you go about getting paid to do the speaking thing. Well, I wrote a blog about that earlier this year. You can read "So You Want to Be a Paid Speaker? Six Unforgettable Tips" here.
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