Today we’re going to talk about how to land speaking engagements and also how to get paid to speak. (This is our most requested topic!) My guest is Grant Baldwin. He is going to share with us 5 steps to landing speaking gigs and getting paid to speak. If you’ve been wanted to get into speaking, this episode is really going to help you!

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How to Land Speaking Engagements with Grant Baldwin


Grant Baldwin wrote a book called “The Successful Speaker” The book walks through the speaker success roadmap.

We use the acronym SPEAK:
S – Select a problem to solve.
P – Prepare your talk.
E – Establish yourself as the expert.
A – Acquire paid speaking gigs.
K – Know when to scale.

? We are going to focus on the first 4 letters in the SPEAK acronym in this episode.

1. Select a problem to solve.

This consists of the 3 I’s
Interest – You have to be clear on what you’re talking about that you are passionate about that there is a market for.
Industry – We talk about 7 primary industries that hire speakers. Be clear on which category that your audience and topic falls under.
Integrity – This is all about being an expert on your topic. If you know a little more about the topic than your audience, then they will view you as an expert. Expertise is oftentimes in the eye of the beholder much more so than how the speaker views or considers themselves.

2. Prepare your talk. ?

Know your market. Do you want to do a 1-hour talk to 1000 people or do a 3-day intensive for 20 people? What does the market want? This includes having slides, worksheets or a PowerPoint presentation. A keynote talk will be broader on your subject, but a workshop will be a much narrower focused.

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3. Establishing your expertise.

You need to have a website and a demo video. As a speaker, you are a brand. I recommend that you use your name as your domain. Your demo video is like having a movie trailer. You want to have a good idea of what the whole movie is going to be about. So that the event planner can watch it and it makes them want to see more.

4. Acquire paid speaking gigs. ?

Don’t skip the foundational pieces of knowing what you’re speaking about and who you are speaking to. You have to do something to get the ball rolling with your speaking. Make sure that anyone in your sphere of influence knows that you are a speaker and what you are speaking about. Some you know may know someone who hires speakers.


Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Check out the Website: The Speaker Lab
▶ Get a copy of Grant Baldwin’s Book: The Successful Speaker


Are you ready to get booked to speak? If YES, share a summary of your topic(s) and I’ll help you get booked!