Speaking engagements are a way to reach your audience and build your expertise, but you need to approach these opportunities strategically, as part of a comprehensive outreach plan.
Photo by Howard Lake
Speaking engagements relevant to your industry can be a great platform to make your voice heard and build your business’ profile and credibility. It’s important to be selective, however. Better to focus your efforts on a few high-impact events than drive your team to exhaustion preparing for sparsely-attended or irrelevant gatherings.
Here are some of the considerations that go into the process of identifying worthwhile speaking engagements:
Audience and Reach
As with media outreach, you must make sure that your intended audience aligns with that of events you seek to speak at. This requires some real research. You’ll want to learn the number of people who are expected to attend an event, and their positions. Better yet to find out if they have purchasing power in their organizations, if this applies to your business, and whether you would be speaking against other seminars or programs likely to pull your audience away.
Reputation
Is this a recurring or well-known event?
You can benefit from various events, depending on the stage of your business. If you run a young startup, consider small, new events, because you’ll need to build your resume as a public speaker in the field before you can chase after coveted opportunities.
When your company is an established leader in your field, don’t accept every speaking engagement that comes along. Consider which opportunities will gain you the most, whether in terms of in-person connections, direct sales leads or online buzz. You may choose to participate in a lesser-known event now and then, perhaps in a mentorship role, but let some go by. You want to conserve your own resources, and avoid over-exposure. Become someone who everyone wants to hear, not someone everyone has already heard.
Whatever stage your company is at, do some legwork to make sure that events you apply to and accept are reputable and respected in your field.
How does this position your business?
Speaking engagements aren’t (and shouldn’t be) sales pitches. You need to address an issue in your field. You can do this in many ways, depending on the event — discussing new research that pertains to your industry or offering advice to young people in your field are two options among many. Never apply to an opportunity without first considering what you will talk about, and how it will reflect on your business. If you plan a thoughtful and interesting speech, you stand to gain respect and public awareness for your brand.
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Speaking engagements aren’t the only way to showcase your expertise in your field. Learn more about how to use a company blog to develop your expertise.
