How to get speaking engagements. I wonder: How do you get speaking engagements? All right, let’s break this down at the macro level. Macro level how to get speaking engagements. How do I get speaking gigs? The first thing that you have to work on is clarity. It’s clarity around a couple of questions. Number one, what people do I serve and number two what problems do I solve?

Let’s dig into that.

A lot of speakers make the mistake, if they’re a leadership speaker, sales speaker, communications skills speaker, career development speaker, everyone needs to be a better leader.

Everyone needs to be better at sales.

Everyone needs to upgrade their career.

Well the problem is, everyone doesn’t buy.

Everyone doesn’t have conferences, conventions, and meetings.

Everyone is very hard to sell to. Everyone doesn’t have a credit card. Usually everyone, whoever “everyone” is doesn’t even have pants or a wallet. You’re going to have a very hard time selling to everyone.

What you want to do is find a set of specific someones. Find a set of specific someones. Is it architects? Is it accountants? Is it engineers? Is it solopreneurs? Is it mid-level managers? Is it CEOs?

You want to find a specific tribe of people that have common traits, behaviors, interests, wants and needs. Once you’ve identified that target market, I also sometimes call this your buyer persona.

The second thing you have to think about, what are the problems that they’re looking to solvewhen it comes to your area of expertise?

In order to sell fire extinguishers, you first have to show the fire. Let’s talk about what are the pains, problems, headaches, heartaches, challenges, and gaps that your specific audience and clients are wrestling with that they need to solve via your speaking, seminars, workshops, coaches, consulting, et cetera.

Once you’ve gotten the answer to those two questions, now you’re ready for step three.

Step three is specific, targeted, prospecting. Go online. Spend some time researching the specific conferences, associations, and groups where these people are already gathering. Read their blogs. Go to those same portals and communities and online sites. Facebook groups. LinkedIn groups. Where your target market is already gathering and there’s probably significant conversation already happening around solving this problem.

It’s a listening campaign and you’re doing some basic investigative research about what are people wrestling with? What are some of the hot button phrases, concepts, topics, and problems that they’re already spending money on solving and they’re desperately seeking a solution? You “accidentally on purpose” show up. Send an email. Make a phone call. Get strategically introduced. Get a referral. Get in front of those people who you want to serve.

Now there’s a whole lot more to this, of course, I’m just scratching the surface because we only have three minutes together, but listen, there’s some web training waiting for you online. It’s right here.

The web training’s going to help you figure out exactly how to answer those two questions, what people do I serve? What problems do I solve? And you’re getting a whole bunch of speaker marketing strategies, tactics, templates, and tools to help you get more traction as a paid professional speaker. Hop on and get that web training now >>