How To Get Coveted Speaking Slots At Key Industry Events
The competition is fierce, but there are things you can do to increase your odds of landing coveted speaking slots.
A common goal for consultants is to speak at industry events.
The reason is obvious. Not only is it an ego boost, but if you give the right kind of talk it can generate interest in your services.
The competition for speaking slots is fierce. But, fortunately, there are some things you can do to significantly increase your odds of getting a slot.
How To Hustle
I’ve often noted the same folks unhappy about being overlooked for speaking slots. often haven’t created the most compelling offer for event organisers. For example, many seem to be missing things like:
A large audience they can bring to the event with them.
A speaker reel of previous talks they’ve given.
A set of case studies or published material proving the value of their work.
Strong, positive, relationships with event organisers in their industry.
A track record which makes them impossible to ignore.
My first major speaking event was in 2011. That was three years into my consultancy career. By that point, I had published over a thousand blog posts, hosted around 60 to 70 webinars, launched a training course, built a collection of case studies, had a mailing list of a few thousand people, completed my first public speaking course, and attended (or spoken at) more tiny meetup events than I recall.
Around that time, I also built a list of the 20 to 30 events I wanted to speak at (some in my industry, some not), and uncovered when they were accepting speaking applications, what a good application would look like, who they would be and not be likely to accept. I still have a similar list today.
Sometimes you simply need to hustle harder.
How To Get Speaking Invites
There are two ways to land speaking gigs.
You can be invited or you can apply (or you can host your own events, but let’s leave that aside for now). Let’s tackle each of these.
Being invited to speak is obviously better than applying. Not only do you not risk rejection, but it usually gives you a little more power to negotiate your terms. Having been on both sides of this (hosting events and being invited to speak), I’d note event organisers tend to invite three kinds of people to speak at events.
People with a big audience. The easiest way to be invited to speak is to have a big audience you can bring with you. For many events, the key focus is selling tickets. If they have speakers who will promote their event to a large audience, they can sell more tickets. Thus the bigger your reputation and the larger your mailing list, the more likely you will be invited to speak. If you don’t have, you haven’t found your way through the dip yet.
People who work at known brands. It always looks impressive to have speakers from known brands in the audience. This is why most events will feature speakers from some of the largest brands in the world. This puts most independent consultants at a disadvantage.
People who are known to the organiser. If the organisers know speakers who have a proven record or were popular in previous years, they are likely to be invited to speak.
It makes sense to make a list of events which are taking place in your industry.
Find out who the organisers are. Then follow the organisers on social media and other channels. Begin liking their content and engaging with them. Invite them to speak at a webinar or activity you host. Over time you can network with most of the top gatekeepers in your industry.
Generally speaking, the more you grow your audience, improve your brand reputation and connect with event organisers, the more likely you will be invited to speak.
The Secret To Speaking Applications
The far more common way to get speaking gigs is simply to apply. Many events have a period where they invite people to put forward applications to speak at their events. It’s a good idea to make a list of the events you want to speak at and find out when they will be accepting speaking applications (email them in advance).
Remember speaker decisions are often made up to 3 to 9 months before the event itself takes place. So make sure you apply far in advance of the event itself. Keep your list up to date so you can pitch each time around.
Be mindful that for larger events, there are often far more people willing to speak than there are speaking slots available. In my industry, I know there are often 200 to 300 people applying for 20 to 30 speaking slots. This can make it seem like the odds are against you. But keep in mind that a) many applications to speak aren’t great and b) the more you apply the greater your odds.
When you do apply to speak, make sure you follow and develop a unique and compelling talk title and structure for your talk.
If you have a big audience, mention the audience you can promote the talk to as well.
You need to create a compelling hook which will give the audience remarkable value.
It’s critically important your speaking application stands out. List very specific takeaways people will get from attending your talk.
Some Red Flags To Watch Out For
Before you agree (or apply) to speak at any event, be careful to check a couple of things.
How many people are attending the event? The number of attendees the previous year usually indicates how many people are likely to attend a subsequent event. If it’s a new event, check for signs of discussion on social media or ask about the number of people registered. If the organiser makes promises such as “most people sign up in the last week” or you can’t find a huge list of attendees be very cautious about attending.
I once violated this rule when I was invited to speak at a Blockchain event in Hong Kong. I was promised a keynote speaking slot to thousands of people. When I arrived at registration, no one was there. Even the organisers hadn’t turned up on time. It soon became clear there were only around a dozen of us in attendance and I gave my talk to a mostly empty room of perplexed fellow speakers (the organisers later vanished without paying my promised expenses).
Who is attending? This sounds obvious, but are you speaking to an audience which is remotely relevant to you? It’s perfectly ok to speak to an audience which isn’t the right fit if you just want to practice your craft and build your experience. But just be clear that’s the motivation before you go. I gave a talk to social travel influencers once. It was a good time, but the audience was entirely the wrong fit for me.
Single Or Multi-Track Event? There is a big difference between a single-track event where you’re on stage and everyone will watch you and a multi-track event where people can select from a multitude of talks taking place at the same time. I’ve seen events range from single track to a fifteen-way split. This means you could be competing against fifteen other speakers for a share of the audience. If you don’t know who else is speaking at the same time as you, you could be in for a shock.
I recently spoke at an event in Scotland which was relatively well attended but I had been scheduled to speak at the same time as one of the most popular people in the marketing industry. Almost nobody showed up to a talk I had invested hours in crafting. At another event in the USA, I was speaking at the same time as grumpy cat (don’t ask!). The room was empty.
Paying to speak. Some events have a model where they charge speakers a fee to speak at the event. This often happens at events with a big audience or the audience is allowed to attend for free. The model here is to treat the audience as the product rather than the event. The sponsors are often the speakers at this event. I would never pay to speak at an event, but some speakers said it worked for them.
None of these things is show-stopping, but they are certain things you should be mindful of before agreeing or applying to speak at any event.
Negotiating Your Terms
When you just start public speaking, your negotiating power is probably going to be limited. Even today, at events, when there are hundreds of people craving a speaking opportunity your flexibility to negotiate terms is often restrained.
However, there is always some wiggle room. The key is knowing what to ask for (and what not to speak for). In my experience (before hosting and speaking at events), people often negotiate for entirely the wrong things. For example, speakers might try to negotiate for a relatively small speaking fee ($1k to $3k) at the expense of things which would give them the visibility to land $35k to $50k speaking contracts.
Good luck!
Really helpful article Richard. Thank you.