173. Five ways to get more bookings from your speaking gig

Every time you speak is an opportunity to spread your message further and wider - including booking more work!

In this episode I take you through 5 ways to do just that.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Episode 173 of That Voice Podcast, Five Ways to Get More Bookings from Your Speaking Gig. Now, this doesn't need to be a massive speech at a big conference. This could be a guest masterclass in someone's membership. It could be speaking on a panel, speaking at any event, whether it's yours or someone else's, anywhere where you are out speaking, this is how you can get more bookings off the back of it. I know in the past when I haven't done any of these things, I've thought, Oh, ugh, should've done this, should've done that because there was this great opportunity that just passed!

Alternatively, when I have done these five things, a hundred percent of the time, I have booked work afterwards, either another speaking gig, a private client, or someone joining my programs. Now this episode came about because it was a question asked in my Soul Speakers community. So in my Soul Speakers community, apart from the monthly classes that you get, you also can ask for resources anytime. So there's a massive topic directory in there of all of my information that I've compiled over the years. And if it's not there, you can fill out a form and you can get information.

So this is an example of something that I created in response to an inquiry and the Soul Speakers framework, I call it the FIRE framework. F I R E works like this. The F is for Find your Voice, this is the inner work, the I is for Inspire Your Sound, that is the voice work. The R is for Relay Your Message, all of the content work. And the E is for enter the arena, the performance work. And this is where this topic fits into because it's not just about having the courage and the skills to get out there and share your message with the world, it's also about having the strategy to know how you can do it well and make the most of each opportunity you are given. And in soul speakers, there are a couple more than five ways. I'm just sharing five ways with you today.

So the first thing that you're going to do is make sure there is somebody there taking high quality photos. I'm not talking some random in the front row saying, oh, can you take some pictures on your iPhone and then airdrop them to me? No, no, no. Make sure somebody knows it is their job to get high quality photos. These are good for your website or brochures, social media. Now a proper camera is much better than a phone. So if you know somebody who's got a proper camera, it could even be somebody who's photographing the event, right? So if there's an event photographer, go up and have a word with them and say, Oh, it'd be amazing if you could get some photos of me on stage. The direction here is key. Patrick and I have had this conversation, I'll say, can you take photos? And then everything he gets, I can't use. I'm like, Oh my God, I cannot use every single pan that you've taken. It's too far away. It's not close up enough. Never use the Zoom function. Oh my gosh, never use the Zoom function on iPhone. It just distorts it.

Anyway, that's on me, not on him. To have that conversation to say, Look, this is what I need. It goes into my second point, right? So the first point is, is someone taking high quality photos? The second one is someone taking iPhone videos and photos. Why do you need both? Well, it depends what you're wanting to get out of it. So the high quality photos are really great for website brochures, stuff like that. And the direction you need to give are things like, I need to get a shot of me as the hero on the stage unobstructed by anything else I need me from the audience with shots of the heads in the background. Can you come up behind me and get me with the audience out the front? Like really give clear instructions. In Soul Speakers. I've got examples of all of these photos that are great for you to get.

So then the second point is someone taking the iPhone videos and photos because you might wanna make a TikTok or you might wanna do a reel, or you might wanna get something on your social media that day, that night or the next morning. You know, I've seen people say, oh yeah, there's a photographer there. Photographers, especially if you're not paying them or anything, they can potentially, possibly get the photos back to you several weeks later and the moment is passed. So you need to get both if possible. And on your iPhone or whoever's using the iPhone, have an idea. What are you wanting from it? What type of of Reel, what type of TikTok? And doing some research into different trends or the style you want is really helpful. So for example, the other day I had a video of me like opening up the doors at an event I hosted.

And I was like, Oh yeah, that's gonna work so well with a TikTok trend, which is like, I'm coming out with a bang! You can look on my Instagram if you wanna see it. I knew that shot would fit perfectly. So I asked Patrick, I'm like, this is the shot I need. Stand here. Don't move. No tilting, no panning, right? Tilt is up and down, pan is side to side. If all of these jargon is a little bit new to you, then all the more reason to join Soul Speakers and get skilled up. Because if you are out there amplifying your voice, you have a responsibility to learn your craft and understand it. And this is not even touching on voice or stagecraft or all the other things. This is just about how to get more bookings. There is so much here to learn and there is so much you can do with it.

All right, so number one, high quality photos. Number two is someone taking iPhone photos and videos and have a clear idea of what you want beforehand. Otherwise you'll just have the blind leading the blind and someone randomly taking shots. Now a quick point of that as well. There are more and more companies popping up or people who will come to events and get TikTok and real content for you. So they're the pros. So you can always do that. However, they cost understandably and rightly. You can do it yourself if you've got a clear idea of what you want. So the third thing I would say is if there are other people at your event, which is highly likely, right? There's gonna be other speakers or a presenter or an MC or even the organization that's putting it on, make sure you get all the social media handles of everyone involved.

Do they have Instagram? Do they have TikTok? Do they have LinkedIn especially, right? Because then when you do your content afterwards, by tagging everyone else who is there, you are able to get much wider reach because on LinkedIn especially, that will go straight out to all their network. And it's a great way for you to keep that relationship going. You have a reason to reach out, you know, Oh, we spoke at this event together. You know, so it's a really good way to expand your network and grow those connections. Get the social media handles of everyone involved. Now, the fourth thing to do is do you have a clear way for the audience to work with you? So give the audience a clear, easy way to continue working with you. Do you have your social media handle somewhere clear and easy to read? If you have a slide deck, can you put a QR code on there that can lead them to a special link where they can join your list. You know, make it easy for them to make the next step.

I remember I was at a speaking gig early in the days of my business and somebody actually came up and was like, Oh, Sal, you know, like, I really love to work with you. What do you have? And at the time, I didn't have a great freebie. Like I didn't have a great option that wasn't one-on-one and not everybody's ready to dive straight into one-on-one, right? And I was like, Oh my gosh, it would be so good just to have that option there. Now, that's just somebody who came up and spoke to me. There are a lot of silent lurkers at events. You know, I've seen this firsthand. You might be able to relate. There are a lot of people who do not have the courage to come and speak to the speaker, or they've just got other things to do. They'd rather go and get the hor d'oeuvres and chat to somebody else, even though they love the speaker.

They're like, oh, well there's someone else talking to her. Or, people have to leave straightaway. So if during the presentation somewhere or during your, even if you're on a panel, mention that there is a way for people to work with you. Now, the fifth one is really important. Get a testimonial. Get a testimonial right from the organizers or whoever's got you involved in this event. And the way to do this is after the event, have a debrief call. You know, it's not always easy. I understand, there's still some that I'm chasing up because often when things are over, people move onto the next thing in their life and they don't think about you. But as you would know, especially if you run your own business, how valuable testimonials are. Testimonials are so valuable. And if you are listening to this, I would really encourage you today to take the time to do one testimonial for somebody in your life who has helped you like, Oh my gosh, I would love so much for you to take five minutes to do a quick review of the podcast.

I know hundreds of you are listening to the podcast because I get the data. However, gosh, I don't think I've had a review for months and months and months, you know? So if you want people to give you testimonials, then you give testimonials as well. And you can have the debrief call. And then you can also ask for a LinkedIn recommendation. Ask them to write a testimonial in an email. Or while you're chatting with them on the debrief call, you can ask if it's okay if you record, and then you can take some words down that they say and then send it back to them for approval. You know, because often it's not, people don't want to give a testimonial, it's just another thing on their list. So if you make it as easy as possible, then that's another way to get that happening.

And so then with those five things from this one event that you've gone to, you have got: high quality photos, you've got iPhone videos and photos to use on social media. You've got the social media handles of everyone else involved. So when you are posting about it, you're making new connections and getting further reach. Four, you've giving the audience a clear way to work with you. And then five, you've got a great testimonial which you can use for social proof to take you on to your next gig. And one little bonus tip that I just thought of as well is when you are speaking to the organizers, mention that you are available and if they know of anybody else who's looking to have a speaker at an event, the power of conversation.

So there you have it. As I mentioned, there are a few other ways they're in Soul Speakers. I'd encourage you to sign up. The link is in the show notes for Soul Speakers. I mentioned a freebie a couple of times this episode, the one that I have at the moment is the Pep Talks in your pocket. They are short audio tracks which help you get prepared for your speaking gig, right? So say, you're wanting to warm up your voice, calm your nerves, do a bit of breathing, then the pep talks in your pocket will help you do that. There you go. This really was a news. You can use episode of That Voice Podcast. I hope you've enjoyed it. Please reach out to me on Instagram at @sallyprosservoice or @thatvoicepodcast. I always love hearing your feedback and leave me a review as well. Hopefully this episode has encouraged you to do that as well. And I will be back on the airwaves next week.