Get More Bookings Through Referrals – Part 1

Your speaking business is not sustainable of it is based on one-time presentations. If you are always seeking bookings with new organizations, it’s time to formulate a strategy to boost your repeat business.

Here are some tips from Cathleen Fillmore, President of Speaker Gold:
1) Be very easy to work with. There is no place for Prima Donnas (or Dons). That means arriving well before the time you are expected. It means not asking for last minute changes in the program or agenda. It also means being willing to pare down your speech, if the speaker before you runs long. (P.S. Don’t be the speaker who goes long and throws off the agenda.)

2) Be cooperative and helpful – Ask the meeting planner what you can do to help make the event a huge success. Get to know the attendees before the program starts and between sessions to get to know them and their concerns. Listen more. Talk less. Promote the event, if it is a public one.

3) Be professional and very organized – Have a back up plan for everything from AV glitches, agenda changes to power outages. Be calm & adaptable.
4) Be a team player – If you are presenting at Google, while you are there, act as though you are a member of their team.

5) Customize your speech for the organization and their current situation – Do your best to include some info, possibly something historical, about the organization that the attendees may not know (be sure to fact-check) or may have forgotten. Remind them that they are part of a great organization.

6) After you have gotten rave reviews from senior executives and meeting planner, consider circling back to invite them to lunch (or bring it in to the company) to discuss future possibilities or simply to say thank you.

In Part 2, we’ll explore more tips to get invited back to an organization to speak again. If finding speaking opportunities has been a struggle, join the Engaging Speakers family, where you’ll find resources, mentors and a safe, supportive community, who are ready to support you in any way they can. Learn more about Engaging Speakers at https://engagingspeakers.com/

Gail Brown, Founder of Engaging Speakers, gail@engagingspeakers.com