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In particular, building a side hustle as a speaker is a practical and productive way for women to grow confidence in their careers.
By Bernadette Joy
Match A Valuable Problem With A Trending Topic
The most pertinent difference between a casual speaker and a paid speaker is the latter’s mastery of a particular topic that can be turned into a repeatable process. Many amateur speakers will look for events or organizations and ask them what they should talk about, versus solving that problem for the decision maker.
While many topics such as leadership, economics and technology are evergreen, typically there are trends to follow in a given year that will catch people’s attention more, and make it more likely for you to get selected as a speaker.
For example, looking at the expected topics of South By Southwest, one of the largest events with multiple tracks, artificial intelligence now has more than a dozen talks after it wasn’t a major draw only a few years ago. So, if you have an area of expertise in a more evergreen area such as personal finance, instead of sharing ways to pay down debt, you might want to add a component of how AI can help your audience pay down debt faster.
Distill Your Takeaways Down To 4 Tangible Ones (Or Fewer)
Have you been to a talk where you felt like the person was talking too much? It’s likely because they tried to cram in more information than you had the ability to retain. New research on the human brain published in Nature Human Behaviour suggests there’s something about the number four that resonates with people in their memory.
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And a more important factor in getting paid as a speaker is to have a memorable talk, not just an informative one. When you structure your talk, stick to no more than four key points that the audience should take away and remember after they leave. Ideally you open and close with your two most memorable takeaways to hook them at the beginning and leave a lasting impression at the end.
A great way to test this in real time is to ask your attendees to share their most valuable takeaways with you on social media and tag you. I did this at a recent speaking engagement and was surprised to find that the most reactions I received was to a line I said — “Stop giving out discounts nobody asked for.” It soon became my opening takeaway at my next talk, rather than one buried in the middle.
If they’re clear and valuable, each of these points can be distilled down into a tweet.
Charge With Confidence After You Pilot
Speaker fees vary by wide amounts and many new speakers struggle with deciding how much to charge. If you’re still feeling anxious about asking for money, it likely means you need a little more practice to iron out your talking points.
Getting at least five rounds in of your new talk in front of live audiences before you charge money can help you not only boost your confidence, but also improve the overall quality so it’s worth charging more.
After your pilot, I recommend $500 as a starting point to charge. It’s enough for you to have skin in the game to perform well, but not so high that it makes you nervous to ask. I’ve also found that with smaller events such as retreats or team meetings with groups of 50 people or fewer, it’s easier to convince the organizer that the cost is reasonable per person in the audience.
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Make It A No-Brainer To Hire You With Simple Social Proof
Piloting For Low Or No Fee To Start Is Better Than Not Starting At All, And You Can Still Get a Ton Of Value From Doing Speaking Engagements In Exchange For:
- A testimonial from the event organizer
- Photos of you to post on social media
- The opportunity to record the engagement to include in your video highlight reel
In order to get paid at the rate of $500 per gig, you need social proof that you are worth more than someone who is willing to speak for free. But as a side hustle, you don’t necessarily need a full website and a professional speaking reel. A solid LinkedIn page can be good enough to get you an engagement once a month with a clear tagline identifying you as a speaker, and your headshot and banner photo showing you as a speaker.
LinkedIn is also a great place to ask your pilot organizers and first audience members for a testimonial that you can show paying clients in the future.
Whether you’re a corporate professional looking for a side hustle to pay down your student loans, or an entrepreneur looking for new customers for your business, booking speaking engagements is a great way to increase your cash flow and grow your professional brand.
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