Think Before You Engage: 100 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Social Media Marketing Campaign

78. How Do I Find (and Get) Speaking Engagements?

The key to speaking in front of people and being successful is to position yourself as the person in the room whom everyone wants to listen to. Even if you are a PR person speaking to a room of PR people, you need a quality that makes you stick out from everyone else. When you're at an event, always strive to put yourself in the position where even if you're not in the front of the room, other attendees should think that you belong there. Not being at the center of the room shouldn't stop you from talking to the other attendees (particularly during breaks or lunches), networking, and getting to know other people while letting them get to know you. Take advantage of the time that you have with other people and make sure that your elevator pitch is fine-tuned to the point where you can let people know more about your skill sets in an effective and efficient manner.

An “elevator pitch” is a short (typically about 20–30 second) brief about you for you to tell others more about you and your business in the time that it would take for you to ride in an elevator. After your brand has developed into a thought leader, invitations to speak at events can come in droves. Unfortunately, those speaking engagement invitations are not going to happen ...