We are now in the golden area of speaking.
As media relations continues to shift toward pay-to-play, speaking is rising as a spectacular option to gain exposure and connect with your target audience. You can even get paid to speak!
In the crowded world of social media, speaking is a great way to be a singular voice in front of a captive audience. You are not fighting the social media scroll for your audience’s attention. You also have more than four seconds to engage with your audience.
Post-pandemic, people are also eager to get back to in-person events.
If your marketing and PR strategy does not include frequent speaking engagements, you are missing out!
Use speaking engagements to:
Get in front of your target audience.
Grow your email list.
Build your social media following.
Connect personally with people.
Make connections that lead to sales.
Increase your credibility.
Gain exposure before in-person and virtual audiences.
Gain after-event exposure with replays of your presentation and video clips.
Below is a checklist so you are prepared to land frequent speaking engagements.
Develop three topics in your areas of expertise.
Create the presentations / content.
Create a one-sheet speaker profile / bio / headshot.
Collect a list of all past speaking engagements.
Search for industry events, local business association meetings, conferences, etc. and create an ongoing list.
Submit speaker proposals.
Add a speaker request page on your website.
Network to obtain speaking engagements.
I am not saying that you should abandon media relations or social media, which are still powerful marketing channels. Just make sure to add frequent speaking engagements to your marketing strategy for maximum exposure.
Photo by Mikael Blomkvist: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-in-red-long-sleeve-shirt-6476783/