Do you want to become a professional speaker or explore the world of public speaking? More and more people have been turning to public speaking as a way to leverage visibility, grow authority and share their message. As an event host and public speaking coach, this is such an exciting time to witness people overcoming their fear of ‘the stage.’  People want to hear your story, and I know first-hand that public speaking can change lives and inspire people for positive change.  

Ever since I started hosting events for Women in Business back in 2017, I have been able to grow my own social media community to more than 500k amazing women from all around the world. Public speaking and event hosting has allowed me to build new connections, business partnerships, foster long term collaborations; in addition to helping me attract new speaking opportunities and increase my media profile. 

The more public speaking you do, the more visible and creditable you will become to your target audience. 

Here are the top ten things to consider when preparing for your next public speaking opportunity:  

  1. Creating your speaker profile.  As an event organizer, I often see many speaker applications as well as personally scouts for speakers. It is very rare to see a speaker profile that holds enough information about the speaker in order to make a decision. This isn’t good or bad, but I want you to consider the decision-maker and think about what do they need to know about you in order to book the first call with you to hire you as a speaker? What can you showcase in a one-page profile to impress an event organizer who is looking for a speaker in your specific niche or industry?
  2. Your Talk Titles - I find it helps tremendously when you have specific tasks you have already packaged into a talk that people can hire you for. This is powerful because you can give an event host a specific selection of talk titles and short descriptions of what you can deliver. Even better, if you have a few signature talks that you have perfected over time and have videos to show for it. 
  3. Speaker reel - speaker reel is your 1-3 min sales tool to capture your potential event host / your client - can you showcase your experience and speaker style and energy in a short snippet reel? What does it need to contain in order for you to create an impact and deliver the right message? If you do not have much speaking experience - that's also ok, you can make a showreel out of your previous lives, videos or a collection of pictures that represents you and your business with a voice-over or short snippets of you speaking. Speaker reels are definitely a great way to impress a client who is looking to hire a professional speaker. 
  4. Your Story - this is the most powerful sales tool you have. Your story is your sales tool as well as a product not only to attract paid speaking opportunities but also to elevate your authority and bring your audience along with you. This should be the tool that sells you on as a speaker because your story is so inspiring and powerful that every event host wants to have you on stage. When you are able to use your story across various mediums and platforms, you will start to attract an audience as well as paid clients and customers. 
  5. Social Media Presence - In today’s world social media presence is a big bonus when it comes to your personal brand and the perceived value in what you can offer as a speaker. Many events organisers would highly favour speakers who have a larger online audience over a small one, because it shows authority, influence and popularity. Many highly-paid speakers come with the ability to pull large crowds and their loyal following, making it a much more lucrative deal for an event organiser, therefore giving you the preferred option to speak and be rewarded for it. 
  6. Experience - it goes without saying that if you want to become a master at anything you have to spend many hours working on the craft. This also is true for speaking - if you wish to become a professional speaker and be paid for it, you must practice this skill daily, weekly or as often as you can. It doesn't have to be big conferences or events, it could be video, lives, Clubhouse or small local events and gatherings. Get used to telling your story in different settings and communicate it with clarity and interest. Remember you don’t need to tell your life story to inspire or motivate someone or to land a deal - be specific and selective in what and how you communicate to people, as that builds your brand and how people perceive you. 
  7. Media - Not all media is good media - many up and coming experts and coaches get caught up in getting media features. Whilst many of the popular media outlets like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post and many others carry a lot of weight in credibility, there are some that can also damage your reputation. In the PR industry, it is known to sell media features, the Top 10 Entrepreneurs lists and Yahoo features done via Press Wires that are not always genuine. This is quickly recognised by seasoned event hosts, therefore, could ruin your chances of landing a client with them. Be mindful about the type of Media Features you attract - Here is training you may enjoy on 'How to Position Yourself for Media'.  
  8. Video Content - If you are just starting out a speaker and perhaps a speaker reel is not something you can create now - why not use video content to attract your next speaking opportunity? Be creative here - can you record a short video pitching yourself as a speaker? Can you send event organisers a 1-minute personalised pitch video? The most successful speakers that have been featured in the Women Thrive Summit have been those that have been able to submit their short video along with a Speaker Application Form that showcased their personality and the reason for their interest in being our speaker. 
  9. Pitch for opportunities - the surest way to land more speaking opportunities is to seek for them putting yourself out as a speaker and identifying events and organisations who would find your voice, message or training valuable to them and make a well presented and considered pitch.  To learn more about landing more speaking opportunities - check out my latest masterclass here. 
  10. Get Paid for speaking - last but not least you want to be paid for your time, contribution and expertise. The more opportunities you secure the more possibilities you have to start monetizing your speaking experience and start charging for your time. When speaking to event hosts ask them if there is a remuneration or speaker budget allocated to reward the speakers. Event and organisation budgets can vary dramatically so you may want to consider different ways of monetising the opportunity.