How Do You Get Your Executives Onto the Speaking Circuit?

Having executives, partners or other affiliated people with your organization giving keynote addresses or participating in panels at important events is an obvious boost for your brand. But how do you get your bench to the point where they’re in demand? Before thinking about speaking engagements, first think about how you can boost your experts’ brands and platforms.  

Select – and prepare – your spokespeople 

Your brand may help establish credibility in a given area of expertise, but it can also work against you. Conference organizers want your insights but don’t want any talk that can be construed as an advertisement or sales pitch, which if why it’s better to prioritize your people as experts rather than your organization’s brand.  

Furthermore, you need a bench of experts who are not only at the top of their fields but are good at delivering their insights in a powerful and inspiring way. Perhaps you already have some star speakers; perhaps you don’t and need to invest in training them. But you need to start somewhere, and crucial at this point is to obtain the video of your people speaking well that event organizers are going to want to see.  

Recognize that executive visibility is as important as brand visibility 

When it comes to speaking engagements, the important thing to remember is that conference and event organizers are looking not just at your brand credibility but the credibility, insights and talents of  your people. The goal is to impress a crowd, and that’s an individual, not an organizational, accomplishment. So, building up executive visibility through owned platforms like social media accounts, blogs, newsletters and podcasts is essential. If you have the resources a dedicated media campaign positioning your executives for interviews and contributed articles will also play a key role. You need to get your people out there to succeed on the speaking front.  

Start with “low-hanging fruit” 

Once you’re finally able to position your people for speaking engagements, you will likely want to start with industry-related conferences as a way to get out on the circuit while accumulating the experience (and video!) you need to eventually pitch the high-profile and events. Starting small is typically essential in the conference and speaking game.  

The outcome of a successful executive speaking program can yield untold benefits for your brand image, often without any cost to your organization. But it takes investment of time and resources – and patience – to build the brand and platform of your people to that point.