So you want to expand the speaking area of your business eh? Besides doing a simple Google search for organizations, have you looked at these potential opportunities?
- College Enrichment Programs. Many colleges offer enrichment programs in several different areas or niches. Have you checked out your local university to find out the ones they offer? Don’t get discouraged if the colleges in your area do not currently offer them. This is your chance to pitch a well thought out 1 pager on an enrichment program that you’d love to co-create with them.
- Hiring a speaker’s agent. Offering to pay someone a percentage of your speaker’s fee is a GREAT option and offers you the space to leverage yourself. You are running a business and may not have the time to sit at the computer to search and submit, search and submit. Last year, my goal was 50 speaking engagements and I booked 41. During a good portion of the year, I paid a speaking agent ( who was formally a PR professional) to search and submit my package for a few hours a day. I got my fee’s, she got her commission. We were both happy and I could be working on other things.
- Local and National Associations. Whatever the interest is, there is an association for it AND if you speak on the local level, this greatly increases your chances to be hired to speak on the national and possibly international level. I recently picked up an engagement like this, where the local association is not paying me ( but the audience is perfect for me) AND they submitted me to speak for the national association’s conference, which has hired AND is paying me! This is where a good Google search will come in. If you type in ” Houston Associations” tons and tons of organizations pop up and usually there is an email address or an event chair listed. Start there, be persistent and follow through.
- I have found speaking engagements by looking at speakers on Youtube, then checking out the organization that they spoke for. Kind of like backwards research. Why the heck not? These are organizations who obviously work with speakers. By searching on Youtube, I can get a few details about the audience, then I simply look up the organization and send them my pitch.
- Local Meetup groups. As organizer dues for meetup.com rises, many meetups now charge their member’s fees to attend events AND they are paying the speaker who comes in to teach. As the creator of 3 different meetup groups, I was always looking for speakers to fill all of our events. This is your opportunity to speak in an intimate setting and meet your audience. Reach out to the organizers with your speaker’s kit.
- Meeting Planners International . You should be on the same website, reading the same info and finding out about events with other meeting planners. Many entrepreneurs don’t think about this resource but it’s a great place to find out what conferences are happening early on and who the top meeting planners are. We give you an entire strategy for building your relationships with meeting planners in the ReThink Strategy Course, but for now, know what they’re doing and the conferences that are coming up on the calendar.
I know that these tools will help many of you. Speaking is a strategy that just shouldn’t be ignored. Be persistent, start your search on Google and keep an open mind.
I’m sure you have some unique techniques you are using to gain speaking engagements or maybe you’re just starting out. But to help everyone who’s reading this today, drop your tip, tool or resource in the comments below CEOs!
I love, love, love these tips Kristi. I will start to leverage these ideas ASAP. Thank you for your brilliance!
This is excellent information! Thanks for sharing.