Speaking Opportunities are a unique way to boost your public profile and build personality and authority into your brand. At Springboard PR, we work regularly with clients to secure and manage speaking opportunities. We have compiled this short guide to get you started.

Connect

Get involved with local Chambers and business networks and regularly attend events relevant to your business sector. Once you are familiar with the events attracting your target audience, suggest to the organisers a topic of interest which you could speak on. We also recommend reaching out to university alumni and contacts who could point you towards upcoming university events or conferences. In addition, always keep informed as to what your competitors are doing; maybe there is an event they have a strong presence at which you should also be targeting.

Topics that Work

When selecting your topic, remember this is not a sales pitch and content must be relevant to the audience. We advise our clients to work on crafting key messages for your organisation or personal brand. They key messages can be used as a framework to build a speech that you can use at any speaking opportunity. You should tailor these messages to your audience by using appropriate examples and anecdotes to reinforce your message.

Maximise on Media

When you arrive at the event, make sure that you have somebody who can record your speech or presentation. This can be used as collateral on other media. Share highlights on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to ensure that you get the maximum publicity from the event. Make sure to tag relevant stakeholders and sponsors at the event to help your posts gain traction, and use any relevant event hashtags. We also advise our clients to create a follow-up blog with a summarized version of your speech for your website or LinkedIn page.

Speaking opportunities are a proven way of establishing thought-leadership in your industry. Ensure that your profile is updated on your website and LinkedIn with your previous guest speaking slots and any content you have written.

Post by Susie Horgan

Susie founded Springboard in 2011, and has developed the business into a leading, director-led communications agency. She has worked for over 20 years in senior marketing and public relations roles.