How to Get Booked for Speaking Engagements

The answer to ‘How to Get Booked for Speaking Engagements’ is multilayered. There are a number of things which contribute to how many speaking engagements you are able to book.

Below, we have outlined a few helpful steps to on how to get booked for speaking engagements. (You can also join our sister company Innovation Women and get invitations from event managers PLUS access to our lists of opportunities.)

1. Maximize your Online Profile

It is probably safe to say that you have some sort of online presence. Whether it is on Innovation Women, social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or your own website, you should maximize these and use them to your advantage. If you are trying to target a specific topic or industry, tailor your online profiles to demonstrate that: what you do, what can you talk about, and details of your story. Make sure all your online channels are consistent.

• Follow industry or topic specific organizations and associations. These are often the people organizing big conferences and looking for speakers.
• Research popular speakers in the chosen industry – which speaking engagements are they targeting? What are they doing that you can also be doing?

Event organizers looking for speakers sometimes have to go through an exhaustive (and exhausting) list of potential candidates. If you give them all the information they need in one place, you’re making their job easier, and increasing your chances of getting booked. (In other words, make sure they can find your biography, your topics, your speaker video and other relevant information in one place.)

2. Settle on your topic(s), and write abstracts

This comes even before you apply for any speaker opportunities. (The more you think about it, the more ideas you will have.) Stick to what you know, like, and feel comfortable speaking about. Don’t assume anyone else already knows it, and even if they know some of it you bring your own twist or experience.

Every sector has at least one expert with a book, or a Ted talk, or that one person that the networks always bring in to talk about that subject. Don’t try to be them — be yourself. The experience you bring to the subject is yours alone, and if you believe in what you’re speaking about and are passionate about it, all the better. Enthusiasm is contagious.

Want to read five more tips for how to get booked for speaking engagements? Read the full article at our sister company Innovation Women.

Or, learn more about how to get leads for speaking opportunities with My Speaker Leads.