Henry Stimpson’s PR and Marketing Tips
June 2004


How to Get Valuable Speaking Engagements

Decide which product or service area(s) your firm should be targeting for increased visibility. Then make sure the executives in those areas are committed to the idea of making public presentations.

Get the right speaker on board. Proposed speakers should be experienced executives and preferably experienced speakers.

Speak to the right audience. Thoroughly research the events for which representatives of your firm can be proposed as speakers, as solo presenters or as panelists. Choose diligently to find events that provide the best return.

Develop a proactive speaker placement program. Having a dedicated individual who will aggressively identify opportunities, develop relationships with event organizers and write and submit speaker proposals will get your company more speaking engagements.

Decide on the geographic area(s) to target for speaking engagements.

Create high-impact presentations. Audiences want to acquire actionable information they can use. They don’t want to hear that your firm is the leading firm in this or that subject area. A solid, informative presentation that is not product- or company-specific will create instant credibility and obviate the need for a "sales pitch."

Learn the process for submitting a speaker proposal to the event organizer — follow the format established by the organizer for writing a presentation abstract, submitting bios and speaker expertise, previous speaking experience information, and, of course, meeting the proposal deadline date. Make sure you tailor the abstract and the bio to each speaking opportunity.

Follow up continuously and persistently with the event organizer to help your company stay above the noise, since you will often be competing with several other companies.

A brief commercial…

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