Marketers love conferences.

And almost every marketer I know wishes they could improve their public speaking skills. But the system behind breaking into "speaking" feels like a secret.

So let's pull back the curtain & talk about making your way to the main stage[THREAD]

There's always one elephant in the room for speaking.

Compensation

It's one of the messiest parts of the speaking game.

Some events will pay:

> You a fee + travel cost (flight/room/etc)
> For your travel costs only
> A small token of appreciation
> Nothing at all

Here's another kicker for speaker comp:

The spectrum is wild.

I've seen well funded companies put on events and offer speakers a $75 honorarium and I've seen small grassroots event organizers offer $5k + travel.

It's the wild, wild, west.

I know some speakers who charge $500 for a talk.

I know some speakers who charge $30k for a talk.

Some things that matter:

> Brand Association
> Sponsorships
> Reputation
> Experience
> Following
> Expertise
> Author

And of course:

Can you sell tickets?

Why would you speak for free?

In the earlier days Experience.

It's kinda like a stand up comedian. They might get free drinks to speak at the local comedy club but they're not getting paid big bucks.

That said.

You can make money other ways from speaking...

How To Monetize Your Talk 101:

> Have a service or product that you can offer people in the audience that they would find valuable
> Give away something free that acts as the early stages of a sales funnel for your business

That said:

Try to avoid being salesy on the stage.

If you work for a big company that will cover your costs and benefits from having you on the road:

The compensation doesn't matter much.

BUT...

If you're an entrepreneur just getting started or someone working at a company with little budget.

This can be make or break.

When I got started; I was living that "let's put $5 in the gas tank" kinda life so paying to fly & speak at an event was completely out of the cards.

So...

I prioritized speaking at local events.

Today, I'd prioritize:

webinars & podcasts instead (more on that later).

Local speaking provides benefits:

(1) You can become better at the craft
(2) It's more cost efficient
(3) You get to know your neighbors
(4) Some folks/orgs will pay you
(5) You get *footage* you can share to bigger events*

That's the key.

Speaking is a *leveling up* game.

The Levels:

You start at a local "meet up"

You use that as experience to land speaking at a "startup incubator".

You use that to speak at the local 'media conference'.

And you use that to start pitching bigger industry events.

Document it all.

When you speak at these local events:

Don't just show up and speak.

RECORD the talk so you can use it as a sample of how well you do on stage. That recording is what you're going to use to get more speaking engagements.

Promote it. Upload to YouTube. Create a speaking page.

Webinars & podcasts also work as a first level for getting to the main stage.

Deliver a great webinar and use that as your experience.

Tell the organizers you've delivered 10 webinars in the last six months and include a link to them.

Embrace podcasts too.

Another way to get on the radar for events:

Build relationships with existing speakers.

Every good speaker is always asked "Do you know any other potential speakers?" And if you're someone that they think can deliver a good presentation.

They'll throw your name around.

You can build these relationships right here on Twitter.

Comment on their work. Retweet their posts. Reply to their questions. Promote their work. All of these little moments of engagement can help get you on their radar.

Relationships are the backbone of business.

You also have to be okay with rejection.

> Let it act as a motivator to get better.
> Let it inspire you to level up.

Here's one of the many rejection letters that I got from event organizers in 2017-2018.

This one from the folks at Hubspot

I replied to that rejection that I'd apply again in 2019 and be the top speaker.

But 2019 had other plans.

I kept working on my craft & leveling up.

As a result my speaking calendar reached a point where squeezing them would've been impossible. https://twitter.com/TheCoolestCool/status/1084089819070898179

While speaking has been put on the backburner; I think it will make a resurgence in 2022-2023 as the vaccine rolls out and the world starts to open up.

My advice:

> Start planting seeds now
> Build relationships now
> Host that webinar
> Get on Clubhouse
> Set a 2 year goal

If you enjoyed this; scroll over my face, double click, find that follow button and hit it.

I tweet about SaaS, content, growth & entrepreneurship.

And I'm always looking to connect with new people.

So let's do it.