Once you have your broad topics, think about your unique angle or perspective on that topic. This is your differentiator, and is what will sway organizers to choose you over another speaker.
Next, determine what you want to teach the audience. What lessons or insight do you want each person to walk away with? This piece is what will get your referrals or repeat bookings from the same organizations.
With this information, craft a story. People stay engaged and retain more information when presented in the form of a story - think about how much more you remember from movies than school lecturers. If you’ve done the first few things correctly, this will be a story that only you can tell.
Now that you have a story to tell, you need a video showcasing a short piece of it. Nobody wants to book a speaker blind, so give them a glimpse of what you bring to the table. Keep it short though, no more than 5 minutes.
Okay, you have a story to tell people and a video to provide a nice preview… Now you need to promote yourself. Of course, we recommend creating an Orate profile, but there are plenty of other things you can do as well. Such as start a blog and use social media to get the word out, list yourself on speaker databases, and actively apply to open calls for speakers. People need to know you want to and can get on stage.
In the beginning, it’s advisable to start speaking for free to get some experience. However, if you have a unique story and teach the audience in the process, that is valuable. So feel free to set a price, and you can always discount it or waive your fee for organizations who can’t afford it.
I’m sure you’re wondering now how to set your price, which is a subject that deserves more than just a few sentences, so more on that another time.
Now you know how to get started, so get to it!
