Invited to be a speaker?
Public speaking. Just those two words can send shivers down the spine of even the most confident person. The image of a sea of faces staring back at you, the microphone feeling heavy in your clammy hands, your voice cracking on the first sentence – it's enough to make anyone want to crawl under the covers and stay there. But, now you have an opportunity to be a keynote speaker or guest lecturer and you can’t pass it up. How do you start to prepare?
Five years ago, the Peer Advisory Group hosted a live Q&A panel featuring Elizabeth Goede, Founder & Principle Consultant from Ratliff Consulting from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Evelyn Wolf the Chief of Staff for Phorest Salon Software in Dublin, Ireland, and Erin Covert who is the founder of Studio for Mindfulness and currently runs Training & Development for a firm in Detroit, Michigan. All of these accomplished women have a tremendous amount of public speaking under their belt and they shared some of their best tips with the Peer Advisory Group that still hold true today.
How do you land the speaking opportunity?
Do research and avoid ‘To Whom It May Concern’ emails. This will allow you be as targeted as possible to the recipient and highlight the specific value you bring.
Start with a guest speaking opportunity and take a land & expand approach.
Develop your personal brand within your network.
How do you prepare in advance of the speaking engagement?
Ask about the room layout (click below to access the video and find out the unique reason why)
Include a variety of examples that span across industries so you can better relate, especially if you don’t know exactly who will be in the audience
Distill complex information down to the simplest way to relate to more
If you want to learn even more about landing your first opportunity, pricing your speaking services, what to ask the event organizer in advance of the engagement, practical tips about keeping your audience engaged and focused while you’re there — and access to the very women who participated in the live Q&A should you have any follow up questions after watching the playback.
Click the button below to access the video. Not yet a member? Join us (it’s free!).
