6 Great Ways to Get Speaking Opportunities

I remember a time, not so long ago, when I looked around and saw all these interviews and telesummits and scratched my head as to how I could get invited to speak at events like these.

Fast forward a year or two, and I’m constantly being invited to be a guest speaker on radio shows, telesummits, expert interviews, etc.

And guess what – it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be! And you can do it too!

If you haven’t yet considered adding speaking to your business, you will want to do so. Speaking is one of the fastest ways to grow your reach, your list, your credibility and your sales.

So let’s jump in with 6 ways you can be invited to speak.

1. Master your mindset

As with everything else you do in your business, having the right mindset will make or break your success. You have to embrace the fact that you have valuable insights and information to share. Unless you own your expertise and value yourself, you won’t have the confidence to pursue speaking opportunities.

2. Build your network 

You don’t have to build your business all alone on an island. Build  your network of friends, colleagues, and people you want to get to know such as leaders in your niche. Always come from a place of serving first. Ask them what they have planned and how you can support them.

Let them know about your goal to speak and you’ll be surprised at how willing many of them will be to help you. They might introduce you to some of their friends, recommend you as a speaker at events at which they are speaking, or just suggest some people you should get to know. I remember the very first speaking gig I got was based on an introduction from someone in my network.

3. Connect with the People Who Want You

You would be amazed at how many people host telesummits, expert interviews, radio shows, meetings, etc.. And all of these people need speakers! When you see events like these being promoted, take note of the people behind the events. Connect with them and get to know them. Let them know how you can support them and add value to the event.

Let’s take telesummits for example. When you see a telesummit in your niche, reach out to the organizer and let them know you would like to support their event. Let them know what value you can add as a speaker. If they’re all booked, they may have a cancellation and call you, or they may contact you for the next event. You can also offer to give them a bonus gift, even if you aren’t a speaker. Focus on adding value and building the relationship.

If you want a tip on how to find telesummits, go to google and type in telesummit and words related to your niche. If the telesummit has already taken place, take note of the organizer and make the connection. They may organize a future telesummit or know of other speaking opportunities.

4. Organize Your Own Events

One of the best ways I got to know leaders in my niche was to organize my own expert interview series. Each month I hosted a new expert on a topic relevant to my target market. Speakers are always looking to expand their reach, so even if your list is fairly small, you’ll be pleased at how willing other experts are to speak to your community. You’ll find that many of them are willing to return the favor and invite you to speak to their community!

You can also organize your own telesummit. Find a hot topic, and invite speakers to participate. There is a lot of organization involved so make sure you have your ducks in a row. You want to make things easy and streamlined for your guest speakers. And on the flip side, when you’re the speaker, you want to make things easy for your host. Which brings me to the next tip.

5. Get Your Act Together

If you want to get speaking opportunities, you need to have a few things in place. Have a speaker sheet that highlights your speaking topics with bullets outlining the key takeways from each topic. You can include testimonials, contact information, and other key information such as your bio, link to your headshot, etc.

You also want to have a speaker page on your website to let people know that you are a speaker. You can include the same items as on your speaker sheet.

6. Start Local

If you look around at your local community, there are speaking opportunities everywhere. You can look at Chambers of Commerce, Rotary, Meetup groups, and other business organizations that schedule regular speakers.  Be willing to start small for the experience, contacts and testimonials.

How did you land your speaking gigs? What questions do you have about getting speaking opportunities? Please leave your comments and questions below. Thanks!