know your audience

March 9, 2022 by Lauren Pibworth Leave a Comment

Event planners and meeting professionals are busy people and if you are fortunate enough to have attracted them to your website, you have a matter of seconds to command their attention. When you are presenting, you know you have to immediately get your audience on your side, but you usually have a ‘captive’ audience, and even if your first point falls flat, you can win them over in time.

When it comes to your website, you have a matter of seconds to make that great first impression and often there is not another opportunity to win them over. If you don’t get to the point and answer the question on their mind right away, they have moved on to the next speaker website on their list.

So, what do meeting professionals look for when hiring a speaker? And what should you include on your website to have that initial conversation with them? Here’s the little secret I’ve unveiled over my years in this business: you have to remember who you are talking to.

It is great to please the audience, but it is better to please the one who hired you. THAT is the key to a speaker website that gets repeat bookings and an increase in your bottom line!

Sometimes we get so caught up in audience feedback that we forget that, unless you are putting on your own event, the audience did not hire us. It was that meeting planner, that decision-maker who decided if we would be a good fit for their meeting or conference. Those meeting professionals hiring speakers are the ones we need our speaker websites to talk to!

When I am strategizing with clients on websites and marketing planss, we sit down and decide, among other things, exactly who is likely to be hiring them, and why. Before you write a single page of content for your site think about who pays you and the questions they might have.

So, what are the 5 main questions your speaker website needs to answer to get hired more often?

1) What do you talk about – will you fit with the theme for my conference?

Showcase your expertise and include your speaking topics within the first pages of your website. Event planners looking to hire new speakers need to know right away what you do.

2) Do you have credibility on the subject matter?

You can easily show them this by adding your bio or relevant credentials and awards to your website. This is crucial, with the number of competitions there’s online. And it’s the second thing event professionals hiring speakers will look for on your website.

3) Are you any good?

Well, of course, you are! But event planners will need more than your word in this case. It is helpful here to add a couple of videos or short clips of your conferences. And don’t forget your sizzle reel!

4) Who have you spoken to before – and did they like you?

Audience testimonials! Your meeting professionals want to know how good you are. It is always better when the one saying this is someone who has attended your conferences and can recommend you to others.

5) Are you likely easy to work with?

This question can be tricky, but it all comes down to this: Will you show up on time and stay within your time limit? Will you go the extra mile for my attendees?

This is something only other event professionals can vouch for, so don’t underestimate their reviews!

To be perfectly honest, there are a lot more questions after these to answer. But you only have 15 seconds, if that, to get an event planner’s attention to make them stay long enough on your site to entice them to book their call. Make sure you answer these main questions before anything else. When dealing with event professionals hiring speakers, it’s always better to be remembered as someone who was considerate of their time from the first conversation — the one they have with you from your website!

January 19, 2022 by Lauren Pibworth Leave a Comment

Today, more than ever, your website is one of the most important tools you have as a speaker to get known and allow people to find you online.

Maybe you already have a good website, with all your basic information, but technology changes and so do you and your business. Knowing when and how to update your speaker website can make a huge difference in your online marketing strategy. So don’t leave it at the bottom of your list this year!

All websites have a shelf life. But the fact that a website is close to expiring does not mean it’s a bad thing. It just means it is time to update your speaker website.

However, it’s not cost-effective or realistic to change your website too often. So, when you start thinking about updating, plan your website to last as long as possible.

One key element in planning your speaker website is to think about the future of your business. When you look at your website plans, also look at your business plan. Try to answer some of these questions:

What are your goals for 4-5 years ahead?
What do you see yourself doing?
Are there any long-term projects cooking on the backburner that you’ll like to include in due time to the website?

Having clarity in this matter will allow you to strategically plan and it makes it easier to change or add items when you need to update your speaker website.

How long does a website last on average?

With a proper build-up, your website should last you about 3-5 years, without major renovations, depending of course, on the growth of your business.

That, of course, depend also on your own business plans for the future! Well, and on the future of the speaking business in general. Hybrid is going to be ‘a thing’. Online presentations are not going away.

When would your website require major changes then?

You should update your speaker website whenever you face any of these situations:

You have a new product or project coming up.

Maybe you are starting a podcast, or you are releasing a book. All major projects should be showcased on your website as part of your launch plan.

You changed your brand.

“New year, new me!” is quite a popular saying in the first months of the year, and some brands take it literally. If you are going for a rebranding strategy, update your speaker website to support your new topics or your new photography.

You are creating more passive income opportunities.

Online courses, membership sites, academies. All of these kinds of products require you to promote and sell on your site. If this is part of your plan, then think of how would you update your speaker website to achieve these objectives.

What should you focus on when you update your speaker website?

Functionality

We often get captivated by beautiful designs — and yes, I too love those Pinterest-perfect websites! But you can’t overlook functionality and user experience.

Before design, think about what features would your users appreciate having and how can you show them your products in a way that is comfortable, convenient, and easy to reach out to. At this point in the planning process, it’s useful to think about your customer’s journey and how you can improve on it from a user experience standpoint.

Target audience

Just like any other strategy in your business, thinking about your target audience and what they would like to see on your website will help you improve it.

What would speaking decision-makers like to know and see from you in order to hire you?

The answer to that questions can save you a lot of time and money when updating your speaking website.

Branding and messaging

If you’ve recently done a brand refreshment, make sure the content on your website stays consistent with your current brand. And I’m not talking just in terms of colors and images. The overall feeling and your copy must be spot on to convey the meaning of your brand.

Content Optimization

Finally, don’t forget to optimize your old content. Especially if you have a blog, take some time to improve your SEO and landing pages. You’d be surprised how much of your content can be useful to others and making it more visible will help you get more visits.

Updating your speaking website shouldn’t be a nerve-wracking situation. Focus on the features your users would need and use the most when going into your website and make it easier for them to understand three basic things:

Who are you?
What do you offer?
Who is your target audience?

If your future speaking business is not “Crystal Clear” to you now, jot down some goals and make a plan. And as always, if you need help – click on the red box on the right-hand side of your screen and book a consult. I am right here to help you update your speaker website.

November 30, 2021 by Lauren Pibworth Leave a Comment

Even when you have the desire, expertise, and talents to share your message to the masses, becoming a speaker can be challenging at first. This is why I started this series of blogs exclusively dedicated to helping emerging speakers succeed in their journey to become expert speakers.

This time, I wanted to address a topic that might sound simple: are you really ready to start your journey as a speaker? People often underestimate the importance of this question because they think you only need to have something to say, and that will immediately turn you into a successful speaker. Well, sorry to break it out to you, but that is not true.

Having worked with multiple speakers, I’ve noticed that, even emerging speakers who have all of their business foundations in place, can also fail if the time isn’t right for them. And no, this does not have anything to do with moon cycles and destiny! But rather it is about your mindset and the stage you’re in professionally.

How to know if you are ready to become a successful speaker?

I want to start by saying that success is a result of your effort and your talent. Anyone can be a successful speaker if they set their minds to it, there’s no doubt of that. This checklist would only help you clear out the way, whether you decide to pursue this career path now or maybe wait a bit to make sure you are in the best place to start.

With that being said, let’s get into it! Here’s what you need to become a successful speaker:

Time

Believe it or not, the first thing you need to become a successful speaker is time. Just like any other business, it takes a lot of time and thought to build up and grow a speaking business, and many entrepreneurs forget that because they are too caught up in investing in their other businesses.

If you don’t want it to be just a gig, then make sure you have enough time to dedicate to developing a solid structure and growing your speaking business.

A clear budget

Budgeting is one of the most difficult parts of starting a business. And it can make it difficult for you to become a successful speaker if you don’t have a clear vision of how much you need to invest.

You don’t need to spend a ton of money to cover the essentials of an emerging speaker starting kit, but you do not want to fall short either. My best recommendation here is to compare prices in the market and set a budget that works for you right now.

Realistic expectations

Mindset plays a huge role in the beginnings of every new business. For emerging speakers, it becomes even more important, because you’ll be the face of everything.

Many people feel disappointed when they see only 10 followers on social media or book only one speaking gig in the first month, and that is normal. It doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. In fact, you might be doing everything right.

To become a successful speaker you need to have realistic expectations about the job. Because, yes, it is a job, and luckily, one you’ll enjoy!

The best way to know what to expect when you are starting is to ask other successful speakers about their experiences. There are a few ways to gain access to fellow speakers. You can start to attend meetings (virtual or in-person) of a speaking association. I belong to the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) and I have been a member for almost 9 years. This organization is full of people who ‘get’ what it is that you want to do and are willing to come alongside you and help.

And if you are not ready to join an association, or attend any meetings, then just “Google” the speakers you admire and read their stories. A few of my personal favorites are Shelle Rose Charvet, Stuart Knight, and Scott McKain. They all have very different and unique speaking styles, but each style has really resonated with me over time. Remember though, these speakers have been in the game for YEARS and it took a lot of work and training to get that good.

Tangible and achievable goals

If we don’t have enough motivation to continue doing something, we are more likely to bail on it. It’s natural. We’ve seen it a million times. So, to become a successful speaker, you need to stay focused and motivated even after the momentum has passed.

Along with having realistic expectations, setting up tangible and achievable goals can help you keep yourself motivated and excited to become a successful speaker. And it also allows you to plan ahead on the possibilities of your new speaking business.

Maybe your first goal is to book one paid gig each month, and the next would be putting a live event in a year, and so on.

Confidence in your message

While I was drafting the ideas for this post, I came across a wonderful article by Lisa Evans, which she titles “Take the leap… or small steps”. And I loved it because it is the perfect example of what it is to become a successful speaker.

Of course, I’m not saying you should just take a leap of faith and hope for the best. But you do have to trust that this is the way you want to follow and have confidence that your message will resonate with others.

When people come to me and tell me “Lauren, I want to be a professional speaker”, I can’t tell if they are going to succeed or not, but what I do notice is how passionate they are about sharing this message. This passion is what makes the difference when it comes to becoming successful speakers because it’s what keeps you moving forward no matter what.

So, let me summarize everything for you. To become a successful speaker, you should at least have:

Having clarity in terms of what you want to achieve with your speaking is the first part to become a successful speaker, and it is something I want all emerging speakers to understand. However, if you still have some doubts you can purchase my Clarity Masterclass. There you’ll find useful guides and resources to help you in your journey to become a successful emerging speaker.

October 18, 2021 by Lauren Pibworth Leave a Comment

Hello, there!

In my many years of experience helping speakers and coaches grow and build their businesses, I’ve gathered a lot of resources to help emerging speakers ease their way to the spotlight, literally and figuratively, of course. And there’s a lot of this content on the internet already. But something I don’t see many people talk about enough is the one big issue that stops emerging speakers from becoming successful, so I decided to write a series in my blog to tackle the basics.

I want you to understand and get practical tips, taken directly from my Clarity Masterclass and my resources for emerging speakers, so you can prepare yourself and turn those one-time speaking gigs, and ‘speak for free opportunities’ into an actual business that pays the bills.

Conference room full of people, the gaol of every emerging speaker

Let’s get right into the first one: the #1 roadblock that stops emerging speakers from becoming successful

Most emerging speakers start their journey full of ideas. They have a message they just need to get out there for the world to hear, and more times than not, they are right. But, when we go and ask them why would someone hire them to speak? What problem are they solving for the audience? That’s when most beginner speakers freeze.

The reality is that we all have some good stories to tell, and many of us could be great speakers, but we simply can’t get the right people to listen. If we don’t have a clear understanding of what it is we are going to say and who are we going to say it to, and why they need to hear it then achieving our goal of creating a sustainable speaking business is going to be very challenging.

To make the road a little less difficult for you, let me give you a few of the most practical tips I could gather from my experience and masterclasses.

Tips to become a successful emerging speaker

1. Get your message straight

To become a successful speaker you need to have a message that goes beyond personal stories. People love to hear other people’s experiences, but that will only get you so far when it comes to making a business of speaking and it might not be enough if your stories don’t convey a deeper meaning or relate to a broader topic you can explore in different ways.

Find whatever it is you are an expert on and break down that topic into smaller pieces for starters. If you can talk about this topic for more than ten minutes and hold someone’s attention without going over the same arguments, you’ll know you have something to say.

Then, you can add your personal and unique experiences to give your speech more meaning and also make it unique.

2. Marketing is one of the most important parts of your business

Know this, if you wish to become a paid professional speaker: marketing is your best friend to achieve success.

And why is that? Simple. To get you consistent, paid speaking opportunities, you have to build your brand and get known as an expert in your topic by those who hire speakers, and one of the best ways to do so is to have a good marketing strategy.

I’ve already covered a lot in the topic of marketing for speakers, so I encourage you to check my articles on content marketing for speakers and creating a social media marketing strategy to improve your presence in the digital world.

Empty conference room. Emerging speakers roadblocks.

3. Speak to one audience at a time

I’ve found that, when I ask emerging speakers about who they are going to talk to, they provide me with a short, almost single sentence, description of their ideal listener. Some say ‘Well, I talk to entrepreneurs like me’ or ‘women in their 40s’. Or even worse “everyone needs to hear my message”.

These descriptions are too broad and general that you might end up talking to a lot of ‘entrepreneurs’ or ‘women in their 40’s’ that don’t really connect with what you have to say.

When you market to everyone, you resonate with no one because the message you are sending ends up being way too generic.

Take your time to create a more detailed profile of your ideal listener, that person who needs to hear your message and will likely hire you multiple times.

4. Think of speaking as a business, not a gig

If you are an emerging speaker who wants to succeed in the industry, you have to start thinking about it as a business and not as a one-time gig.

In order to make a business of your speaking, you have to put a lot of effort into creating a solid vision of what you want to make of it. Why do you want to be a speaker? What do you want to contribute? How can you scale it?

A lack of clarity regarding your business is the #1 roadblock emerging speakers find when they are just starting their journey, and it can cause you to lose tons of money and time.

I have created the Clarity Masterclass specifically to help emerging speakers craft a clear message and align their strategies with their business goals to ensure success.

This is a comprehensive masterclass that consists of three modules where we’ll define ideal clients, pain points, and competitors to create a message that stands out and positions your name in the industry.

Find more about the Clarity Masterclass here and get started on your speaking business. I’m excited to see you become a successful speaker and, hopefully, count us in on your journey.

Don’t forget this series will be ongoing in my blog, and you can always comment or ask us what we should talk about next.

December 31, 2012 by Lauren Pibworth Leave a Comment

While basking in the sun this Christmas holiday, I read an amazing book by Bob Gilbreath, called “The Next Evolution of Marketing”. His main focus was how “Interruptive Marketing” was dead and was being replaced with “Marketing with Meaning”.

I define Interruptive Marketing as the kind of marketing that forces you to stop doing whatever you were doing, to listen to / read / see the marketing message they are sending (TV commercials, print advertising, direct mail, and telemarketing).

Marketing with meaning (in a small nutshell) occurs when people choose to engage with you in exchange for something they perceive as valuable. Meaningful marketing means the marketing itself adds value to people’s lives, whether or not they immediately buy what you are selling. I found the concept fascinating. I am tired of being sold to and I know my clients (and yours) are tired of it too. So, what do we do about it?

Marketing with meaning for speakers – selling through emotion

Now, this book was all about big brands, specifically brands that sell a physical products. Pibworth’s speaker clients usually don’t rely on selling products to drive their business, they sell services. In essence – they sell themselves. So I got to thinking, how could I take some of the ideas for selling products as presented in this book, and adapt them to my service selling solopreneurs? How could you benefit from my reading time on the beach?

I came up with the idea for a “Marketing with Meaning for Speakers” blog series. Subscribe to our RSS feed or pop back weekly to get your tips on how entrepreneurs like speakers and coaches can implement this principle.

Free Samples – What is YOUR ‘football phone’?
Loyalty Programs – Do your clients know you love them?
ESP – What do your clients really want?
Teach people how to make the right decision for them (and it might not be you – and that is ok)
Deliver on your promise
Create an Experience
Do it themselves advertising – Using testimonials as a marketing tool
Understanding your Customer
Emerging Trends

So, you are in for a rather intense few weeks, but I will do my best to keep it interesting, relevant as well as entertaining.