Paid speaking gigs can be a lucrative source of income for professional speakers, but they often require a lot of preparation and effort to deliver a high-quality presentation. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

Are you aware that your public speaking engagements can generate income for you? You can channel your expertise into finding a successful speaking business. It’s truly a privilege to get your public speaking skills monetized. 

Professionals in a variety of fields frequently engage in paid speaking gigs. While it may be easy for you to land yourself a free speaking opportunity, getting a paid speaking gig is a whole different ballgame. Read, Unlocking the Secret to Securing Valuable Speaking Opportunities to Fuel Career Growth, to know more about how to find speaking opportunities.

Meanwhile, paid speaking gigs are a great way to earn a living by sharing one’s knowledge and expertise. A paid speaking gig is a professional engagement where one is hired to speak at an event or conference and is compensated financially for their time and expertise.

What is a Paid Speaking Gig?

Speakers who are in demand and have established themselves as experts in their field may command high fees for their speaking engagements. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

The speaking gig dynamics have changed drastically after the pandemic globally. Paid speaking gigs are emerging as full-time employment options for new speakers. The fee for a paid gig can vary widely. It depends on the speaker’s expertise, duration, and the event location. 

This article can assist you in comprehending how to find paid speaking gigs. 

13 Ways To Find Paid Speaking Gigs

Here are 13 different ways of getting paid speaking gigs.

1. Enhance Your Skills to Excel in Your Field

To differentiate yourself from others as a professional speaker. You need to improve your skills. Stay up-to-date with new developments in your industry to get hired for paid gigs. One method to do this is learning from others in the public speaking industry. You can also network with industry leaders/other successful speakers in your field to find speaking gigs. It’s also important to be comfortable using technology. 

Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced speaker, there are always ways to improve your skills and become a more effective communicator. Pic Courtesy: Freepik
  • Pursuit of knowledge: You should always continue learning, seek public speaking opportunities, and expand your knowledge and expertise. You can enroll in courses, attend workshops and conferences and read industry publications. Stay in touch with the current trends and developments.
  • Practice a lot: Test your limits of knowledge in practice. Take on new challenges and projects. It will allow you to apply what you have learned. It can help you gain practical experience and develop your skills further.
  • Ask for Feedback: Do not hesitate to ask for feedback. Start with your colleagues, supervisors, or mentors. It will help you identify areas for improvement and make the necessary adjustments to enhance your skills. 
  • Establish a nexus: Build relationships with others in your industry. Seek out mentors or peers who can offer advice and support. It can also help you to remain connected to new opportunities and trends in your field. 
  • Be tech-savvy: Keep pace with new technologies relevant to your field and learn how to use them effectively. It can help you work more effectively and efficiently and make you a valuable asset to your organization.
  • Marketing Conference: Use an inbound marketing strategy that draws in corporate groups to create valuable content.

Pro Tip: Skill-building is an ongoing process. You must continuously evaluate your work. Have a positive approach to succeed in landing a paid speaking gig.

2. Find Your Niche and Build a Network

Finding your niche audience is vital for building a successful paid speaking gig career. To find your niche audience, you must identify your skills, interests, and passions. Once you clearly understand what you’re good at and what you love doing. You can explore different public speaking events and industries that align with your audience.

In a crowded speaking industry, having a niche helps you stand out from the competition. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

Building a network is equally important to succeed in your chosen niche. Networking allows you to connect with other thought leaders in your field. You can learn from their experiences and create opportunities for collaboration and growth.

Pro Tip: Building a network takes effort and time, and focusing on quality over quantity is essential. Keep in touch with your network regularly and nurture relationships with a niche audience.

3. Create Fresh And Unique Content Regularly

Regularly creating fresh and unique content is crucial for maintaining a robust online presence. It engages with your audience. It would help you stay committed and focused on your audience’s needs and interests. You can create content that resonates and builds your online presence over time.

Creating fresh and unique content as a speaker can develop a powerful and impactful message that will resonate with your audience and leave a lasting impression. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

These recommendations will help you create fresh and unique content regularly:

  • Share your unique perspective and voice in your content. Authenticity will help you stand out from the crowd.
  • Ensure your content is worthwhile to your audience, whether informative, entertaining, or inspiring.
  • Engage your audience by asking for their feedback and using their input to develop more content. 
  • Consistency is vital to keep your target audience engaged and wish to return for more the following year. For instance, publish your content regularly, weekly or fortnightly, etc. 
  • Pace up with your seeking industry’s latest news and trends to ensure your content remains relevant and timely.
  • Schedule time to brainstorm content ideas and keep a running list of ideas to draw from in the future.
  • Use various social media platforms to experiment with many types of content, like blog posts, videos, podcasts, stories, or posts.

Pro Tip: Creating fresh and unique content requires creativity, effort, and persistence. However, the correct understanding and approach can create fresh content. It will engage your ideal audience and help you achieve your goals.

4. Stick To Your Pricing Strategy

A proper pricing strategy is crucial if you’re looking to find paid speaking gigs. In the beginning, deciding how much to charge for your public speaking services may appear awkward. Yet, ensuring you’re getting paid what you’re worthy of is vital.

A proper pricing strategy is crucial if you want to find paid speaking gigs because it helps you establish your value, attract the right clients, build your reputation, and achieve your financial goals as a speaker. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

Let’s check out some tips for sticking to your pricing strategy:

  • Make your worth known: While pitching potential clients, communicate the value you’re offering. Display how your expertise and experience can benefit their audience and help them achieve their goals.
  • Give demo: To make your pricing more appealing to ideal clients, try customized presentations, engaging content, or additional services like workshops or coaching.
  • Please stick to your estimated pricing: Once you’ve set your prices, stick to them. Don’t negotiate or lower your costs to land a speaking gig. It will devalue your services and make it harder for you to earn a living as a speaker.
  • Extra Perks: Negotiate for other perks, such as travel expenses or accommodations, as part of your speaking fee.

Pro Tip: By sticking to your pricing strategy and offering value to your clients, you can find paid engagements that are both fulfilling and financially rewarding.

5. Find Gigs on Online Directories

There are many websites out there that use databases. They serve professional public speakers and link them with event planners who require their skills.

a screenshot of The Gazebo-speaker directory
The Gazebo Speaker Directory by Eventible is a valuable resource for event organizers seeking knowledgeable and enthusiastic individuals to speak at their upcoming events.

One such example is Eventible’s Gazebo Speaker Directory. You can fill out the Google form by visiting the link to register as an aspiring speaker. It is one of the best options to go with if you are searching for online directories. And it also provides an opportunity for event organizers looking for esteemed speakers from diverse fields and genres. This way, speakers can receive proposals for speaking at events. Eventible’s Gazebo Speaker Directory will help organizers find passionate and experienced speakers at their next event. 

Pro Tip: Referring to an online directory consumes time and effort. But if done right, it can be a valuable resource for getting paid speaking gigs.

6. Create Compelling Marketing Materials

Your speaking skills require strategy, creativity, and effective communication to create compelling marketing materials for how-to-find paid speaking gigs. 

Creating compelling marketing content is essential for establishing your brand as a successful speaker and attracting new business opportunities. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

You should always ask yourself what differentiates you from other great speakers. Determine and promote your unique market strategy in your marketing materials through social media platforms. For example, you might create a website, a social media campaign, a speaker reel video, or a one-sheet brochure. 

Here are some steps to follow for a compelling presence on social media platforms:

  • Create a compelling headline.
  • Highlight the benefits your audience can expect from your speaking gigs.
  • Use persuasive language.
  • It includes testimonials, endorsements, and case studies.
  • Engage viewers through images, graphics, statistics, pie diagrams, flowcharts, etc.

Pro Tip: Above mentioned simple steps can create compelling marketing materials on social media platforms that showcase your expertise as a speaker and motivate potential clients to book your services. 

7. Don’t Over Promote Yourself

While promoting yourself to potential clients, it’s equally important to refrain from aggressively selling yourself. 

As a speaker, it is important to strike a balance between promoting yourself and providing valuable information to your audience. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

Here are some tips to assist you with striking the right balance:

  • Be genuine: Be honest with yourself and avoid trying to be someone you’re not. People often sense when someone is fake or insincere. It can turn them against doing business with you.
  • More listening, less talking: Listen to your potential customer’s needs and concerns. Ask them questions and show genuine interest in what they have to say.
  • Provide benefits to clients: Try to focus on being sincere with your work. Give valuable information, insights, or resources to your potential clients, who will appreciate what you have to offer them. It could help build your brand image and, eventually, your remuneration as a trustworthy and sincere worker/speaker in the industry.
  • Share accomplished stories: Do not brag about your achievements. Instead, share success stories of your public speaking experiences. It will showcase your expertise and build credibility with potential customers. 
  • Focus on building connections: Instead of hunting for the speaking opportunity immediately. Try to build relationships with potential customers. Connect with them and take the time to get to know them.

Pro Tip: Give potential customers a chance to decide from various options. It will make them feel empowered in decision-making. Such an approach can create a more positive experience for them. Try to make them more likely to collaborate with you.

8. Join a Speaking Gig Group

Finding encouraging, supportive, like-minded people with similar interests is like icing on the cake. You can search for similar kinds of people on the Internet. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. These social media platforms are buzzing with micro-communities. You never know when a casual encounter could become a lucrative business deal. 

You may share your ideas, expand your network, and improve your public speaking skills by joining interest/ networking/ service groups. Public speaking is often an essential skill in your field. Joining a professional group can help you speak in front of people who can give you constructive feedback. Sharing your thoughts with others provides you with future paid speaking gigs.

Joining a speaking gig group can help you grow your speaking career, build your network, and enhance your skills as a presenter. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

Pro Tip: Try to collaborate with other speakers. It can be a valuable resource for speakers looking to upgrade their skills. Build your network, and land more speaking opportunities.

9. Ask Existing Contacts for Recommendations

Establish connections with others in your field. Look for mentors or peers who can recommend speaking opportunities. Connecting with emerging prospects and industry trends can also benefit in the long run.

Asking your existing contacts for recommendations can save you time, provide valuable insights, and help you build relationships with people who can help you achieve your goals. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

The foremost task is to connect with known speakers for recommendations. And then create your portfolio to approach new ones.   

Pro Tip: Keep an eye on the upcoming online or in-person events. You should circulate speaking reels or demo videos of your speech among the meeting planners. 

10. Take up Unpaid Speaking Opportunities Strategically

Some people may think it doesn’t make sense to give free speeches in the hopes of getting paid later on. However, there are benefits to doing free talks that should be considered. These events could lead to missed opportunities if you only focus on paid speaking engagements. It would be risky to dismiss unpaid events entirely. We have multiple examples of renowned keynote speakers of current times who have begun their speaking careers for free. 

Some speaking opportunities may not pay, but they can provide unique opportunities to speak to a specific audience or address a particular topic. Pic Courtesy: Pexels

Suppose you are a seasoned speaker and geared up to charge for speaking. Then you must be picky and strategic in taking unpaid events wisely to avoid affecting paid possibilities.

Things to remember while delivering free speeches for unpaid events:

  • Record your performance: It could be precious collateral for your website or marketing materials. 
  • Collecting email addresses can help you grow your event coordinator and conference organizer database. 
  • Non-monetary Benefits: Strategically selecting unpaid events can help achieve the ultimate goal of maximizing fees for your upcoming events. 

Pro Tip: Unpaid speaking opportunities may not offer financial compensation. Still, they can be valuable in building your reputation, gaining exposure, and building your network. 

11. Observe Other Speakers Closely And Learn From Them

Observing and learning from other speakers can be a great way to improve your paid speaking skills. 

One can meet other speakers, learn from their experiences, and potentially collaborate on future projects or speaking engagements. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

Look at some tips on how to do this effortlessly:

  • Attend corporate events of renowned speakers. Pay attention to their speaking style, body language, tone, and how seamlessly they can find paid speaking gigs.
  • Learn while watching video testimonials of great talks. Note what makes the speaker effective, such as their use of storytelling, humor, or audience engagement.
  • Be a vigilant observer; take notes on what you like and what you would do differently. It will help you identify areas where you can improve your speaking skills.
  • Analyze a speaker’s techniques that other speakers use to engage their audience and keep them interested. Techniques such as hand gestures, facial expressions, or vocal variety?

Pro Tip: While learning from other speakers, remember to avoid imitating them. Instead, being true to yourself and developing your authentic style are equally important.

12. Keep in Touch With Event/ Conference Coordinators

After acquiring the knowledge of speaking gigs and establishing yourself in the speaker community, you must contact events/ conference coordinators. They might be interested in hosting you in the future. 

Keeping in touch with event coordinators can help one stay informed, build relationships, network, and show support for their work. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

Possible events or conferences could be:

  • Summits, 
  • Launching events, 
  • Rallies, 
  • Religious Gathering, 
  • Protests 
  • Symposiums
  • Breakout sessions
  • Campus activities
  • College events
  • Book Promotion

Make an effort to establish yourself as a credible source to discuss as a speaker on a subject or idea with the coordinators.

If you’ve tried to expand your network, you may already have connections with several people who can lead you to a job opportunity. Consider asking event coordinators who you know are passionate about your ideas. They may have direct connections or referrals that could land you a paid speaking role.

Pro Tip: You can come up with new opportunities. Achieve your professional goals by staying top-of-mind, maintaining relationships, and offering value.

13. Be Open to Different Types of Gigs

Being open to different speaking gigs can significantly expand your speaking horizons, grow your skills, help you become a more well-rounded speaker, and expand your expertise.

Accepting different types of speaking engagements can help one diversify their experience and build a well-rounded skillset. Pic Courtesy: Freepik

Have a glance at a few reasons why you should consider being open to different types of speaking gigs: 

  • You can diversify your experience and gain exposure to new audiences, topics, and formats.
  • Speaking at different events can also help you build your network and make new connections
  • Trying new speaking gigs can also be a great way to challenge yourself and push beyond your comfort zone. It can help you grow as a speaker and build confidence in your abilities.
  • Speaking at different events can also increase your exposure and help you build a stronger personal brand. 

Pro Tip: Being open to different types of speaking gigs is essential. It’s also important to be selective. Choose opportunities that align with your values, goals, and expertise.

How to Know What To Charge?

Determining what to charge for a speaking gig can be challenging, especially if you’re starting. Start by checking if and how much other speakers in your industry with similar experience and expertise charge for their services. Use your knowledge and expertise to determine your speaking fees.

Try to select a large corporate conference over a small community event. These types of events will influence your speaking fees. While negotiating fees, also consider travel and stay expenses. 

Pro Tip: 

  • If you’re starting, be open to negotiating and flexible with your pricing.
  • Consider offering discounts to non-profit organizations.
  • At the same time, remember it’s essential to be confident in your pricing structure and not undervalue your expertise and experience. So don’t compromise on your price worth and sell yourself short in order to get more speaking gigs. 

Key Takeaway

The critical takeaway is networking with event organizers. They can be available online or through speaker bureaus and speaker hubs. They can help you find relevant paid speaking engagements.

Finding paid speaking gigs requires effort and persistence. Keep building your expertise, network, and online presence, and seek new speaking opportunities.

Finally, the question arises of where to find the right paid speaking gigs. You can find paid speaking gigs at industry events and conferences. Joining a professional association or organization can help find speaking gigs. You can also find paid speaking opportunities at training programs for employees. They often look for outside speakers to add value to their programming. Other vital platforms are educational institutes, non-profit organizations, the National Speaker Association, and webinars. 

It takes work and perseverance to turn speaking engagements into rewards. Expand your knowledge, contacts, and internet presence while seeking more speaking engagements.

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