PLACES
TO GET SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT
After learning and practicing to
overcome your fear of public speaking, you have to search for speaking
opportunities to help you reach out to more audience in order for you to be
able to market yourself and progress as a professional speaker. In this chapter,
we will take you through some of the possible places that you can search for
speaking engagements in order to market yourself and ideas.
Conferences,
Trade Shows, and Expos
You can
get speaking engagements at conferences, trade shows and business expos. You
have to constantly check newspapers, signposts and conference websites in the
industries you want to operate in, to see if they are looking for speakers’ or
organizing conference events. e.g. Eventbrite.com. You can also subscribe to
newsletters that have different speaking opportunity lists. You can find
different trade shows and conferences with a little detective work and your
favorite search engine. First, check to see if there are any trade associations
or groups for your chosen industry or profession. Many trade associations will
have a national conference, and you can usually find that information on their
website. Some will even have regional conferences or local chapters, and you
might find some opportunities there too.
Your own creative events
You can organize conferences, seminars, workshops, birthday
parties or sporting activities for youth groups, friends and religious bodies
where you can get the opportunity to speak as a main speaker or be the Master
of Ceremony for the program. I use this technique to organize career
development training for schools and religious institutions.
Colleges and Universities – if you need to get some
speaking experience, volunteer your time to speak at a local college or
university. Most schools encourage professionals from the community to give
guest lectures. You can team up with student representative councils or
administrations to organize seminars on campus where staff and students will
get the opportunity to attend and listen to you. This is also a great way to
accumulate speaking experience you can put in your biography.
Groups and Associations – what groups and associations
do you currently belong to? There are usually regional and national events for
these groups, and often instructions for submitting speaker proposals. Examples
of groups and associations that you can reach out to are the Rotary Club, Lions
Club, Catholic Youth, pensioners etc. these are groups that have weekly or
annual meetings and can give you the opportunity to speak to their members.
Business
networking groups - these lead exchange or facilitated networking
groups are designed to be a tightly knit group of individuals from diverse
businesses who meet regularly for the purpose of bringing business
opportunities to the other members. Popular groups are Le Tip, Business
Networking International (BNI), and Local Business Network (LBN). Join your
preferred group and let the members know that you’re interested in speaking
opportunities.
Toastmasters
International- A non-profit club, devoted to helping
its members improve their public speaking skills in a supportive
environment, Toastmasters also has its own speaking bureau.
Social Media – use social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Google Hangout, Skype or Whatsapp groups to find events in
your area that focus on the topics you want to speak about. Once you find a
group you’d like to speak at, reach out to the officers to see how you can get
involved.
Google -You can search for the types of
events you want to speak at by using Google. With Google search, you can get a
lot of speaking opportunities but you just have to know how to search and also
you need to develop an online presence so that conference organizers can also
search for you.
Radio and Television Programs -You can market yourself by
networking and persuading media men to invite you to speak on their media
platforms or you can watch or listen to their platforms to get speaking
opportunities that they advertise.
Companies or
Organizations- You
can get an opportunity to speak to staff or sales representatives of companies
or organizations in your local community on any topic that will interest them.
Ask for referrals-You can ask family and friends to refer you to their networks,
organizations, religious bodies etc. who will need your service.
Local or national venues - Search for popular venues that host
events and conferences and get their upcoming schedule of events so that you
can network your way to speak.
Coaching and Mentoring - You can coach and mentor young people to give you an
opportunity to reach out and use them as Audience
Your Own website
A website is your business card. If you’re
serious about speaking, you must have a website. If someone is considering
hiring you to speak, they will want to do their homework on you and your
website is where they will do it.
