You and I both know that a speaker needs great marketing materials if they want to get paid gigs.
But what exactly do you need (and don’t need) when it comes to creating all your speaker marketing materials?
These are the marketing materials you need:
- Speaker Website
- Stage video clips
- Video testimonials
- Publicity footage
- Pictures
- Client names
- Bio
- Demo reel
- Business cards
- Chutzpah
These are the marketing materials you DON’T need:
- Speaker one-sheet
- Promo packet
- Brochure
You probably read the ‘things you don’t need’ and thought… “He’s crazy. Of course I need a one-sheet, etc.” But in this post…I’m going to open your eyes from ‘theory’ …to what is actually required for getting paid speaking gigs.
First, lets talk about the things you don’t need.
I want you to think from the standpoint of someone who’s hiring a speaker.
Imagine you have $10,000 to pay for a motivational speaker. How do you find someone who’s good? Not someone who says they’re good…but someone who will just own the stage.
Lets say that you’re looking at 5 speakers and they all give you their ‘speaker one-sheets.’ And lets say that all of the one-sheets look great. They all say that they’re the greatest motivational speaker in the world, their presentation is engaging, they have cool-soudning names for their speeches, etc.
How do you decide which one to hire?
Well…you can’t. Why? Because you know that deep down, no matter how good someone writes, that doesn’t reflect how great they are from the stage. There are plenty of great writers who are boring speakers.
But you need to find a speaker to give your $10,000 to. How do you really choose between these 5 speakers?
What if you saw video footage of each of these speakers?
Hmm…well now it’s much easier to decide. You see that the first speaker is kinda boring. The second speaker is cheesy. The third speaker is boring too. Oh…here we go…this fourth speaker is hilarious. You love his message, he’s engaging, audiences are really responding to him. So, you hire this speaker (because you’ve seen what he can do).
What I’m getting at is this…
No meeting planner will ever pay top dollar for a speaker they haven’t seen. That’s a fact.
They need to see this speaker on video or in person. And they will never….let me say that again…they will never hire a speaker based off a ‘speaker one-sheet’ a ‘brochure’ or a nice ‘promo packet.’
That’s old-school stuff…before there were websites & videos. You either keep up with the times or you get left behind.
When most speakers say they need a one-sheet, I tell them to think about the source of their information. Where did you hear that you should create a one-sheet & brochures? Let me guess…another speaker told you?
(People who hire speakers will never tell you to create a one-sheet…they will tell you to show them video footage)
I want to emphasize this because it’s crucial for getting speaking gigs in the real world…
Only listen to people who hire you to speak…not other speakers.
Knowing this…you shouldn’t spend time creating the wrong marketing materials.
So lets get on to the speaker marketing materials you need if you want to get paid gigs.
Speaker Website:
First, you need a great website.
This is the hub of all your marketing materials and your website has one purpose…
….To make you look like a celebrity.
Celebrities have an in-demand status which is what allows them to charge so much. Do they know more than everyone else? Not at all. But they’re more in-demand so their pricing reflects it. (Are there ‘experts’ who know more about neuroscience [the mind] than Tony Robbins? Of course there is. But do they charge what he charges? Not even close.)
When someone visits your website, they should immediately see that you’re a top-notch speaker…not someone who just decided to be a speaker yesterday.
Of course it’s going to take awhile to build a great speaker website, but your end goal is to have that ‘wow’ effect on people when they see your website. They should instantly know that they’re dealing with a pro.
(The details of how to build out all of your speaker marketing materials are in Brand Builder. So if you want the in-depth information and you know you need to improve your marketing materials then click here to take a look at Brand Builder)
Your website should do all the selling for you. So by the time someone contacts you, they’re just ready to hire you.
And the way you do that is to have massive social proof on your website. Videos, pictures, client names…all of this creates the feeling that you are the speaker they need for their event.
Stage Video Clips:
Meeting planners are terrified of hiring the wrong speaker because if they do, the damage has already been done.
A speaker who’s horrible on stage will ruin the experience of the event. So even if the speaker gave them their money back, they can’t account for the ruined experience because you can’t rewind time.
And because of this, meeting planners need to have a filter on how they pick one speaker over another. And the best filter is video footage.
Stage clips will show the meeting planner what you’re like on stage and if you’re a good fit for their event.
Your video footage is so crucial to getting hired that you can have great videos…and no website…and still get hired. But if you have a website…and no videos…then it will be extremely hard to get gigs.
The best kind of video footage are the clips that demonstrate why you’re different as a speaker.
Having footage of just your content is good…but having footage that shows a meeting planner why you’re different than all the other speakers is even better.
This is why I feature the mind reading demonstrations on my website…it’s shows meeting planners how I’m different.
Video Testimonials:
You should always get video testimonials from every speaking event you do.
The power of testimonials doesn’t come from just having two or three…it comes from having so many that they can’t watch them all.
You want your the league dating site to overwhelm a meeting planner to a point where they’re saying, “Dayum! This speaker must be good if this many people are talking about him.”
Meeting planners need to know how audiences respond to you and by having video testimonials, the audience members themselves tell the meeting planner.
Remember…meeting planners are terrified of hiring the wrong speaker. You don’t want to just throw away $10,000 (or whatever the budget is). So you have to make sure that the speaker you’re bringing in is going to be worth it.
The speaker has to make the meeting planner look good. And if the meeting planner knows that audiences love the presentation, then the meeting planners it’s worth paying for.
Video testimonials also have a huge benefit over written testimonials…video testimonials demonstrate emotion.
It’s one thing to read a testimonial that says, “His presentation was great.”
It’s another to see the expression on their face as they’re saying how great it was.
Video testimonials are extremely powerful so you have to become a testimonial fiend. Always seek them out like the paparazzi looking for a great photo.
Publicity Footage:
You don’t really need publicity footage…but it’s definitely good to have because it adds to your celebrity status as a speaker.
People associate TV with Celebrity.
The more someone’s on TV, the more likely they are to be a celebrity.
So when you get publicity, make sure you show it on your website.
When a meeting planner sees that you’ve been on TV, they know that you must be an expert in topic because they don’t just let anyone on TV. And the more footage you have, the more convinced they are.
Pictures:
Pictures can communicate a lot.
They can show the meeting planner that you know what you’re doing, audiences love you, and more.
Having pictures where it shows the crowd size tells the meeting planner that you’ve done this before…it’s not your first rodeo. It lets them know that you’re a professional speaker who gets in front of audiences similar to the one they want to hire you for…thus…making them feel more comfortable about bringing you in to speak.
Client Names:
Having client names on your website lets the meeting planner know that other people are hiring you and they’re not poppin your cherry.
Nobody wants to take a chance on the new guy when they can just go with the speaker who’s already proven himself. So you need to show meeting planners who else hired you.
Client names are similar to video testimonials…in the sense that…the more previous clients you have, the more powerful the effect is.
I remember a long time ago when I was looking at someone’s website and he had a tab that said, “Previous Clients.” I clicked on the tab and it was a HUGE list. I felt like I was scrolling down his website for a couple of hours before it came to a stop.
And I just thought… “Dayum! He’s been hired by everyone.”
I immediately realized that this was a pro and he probably charged a lot.
The more previous clients you have, the better.
And the more well-known they are, the better. Having Best Buy as a client is much more impressive than having JJ Enterprises…because nobody has heard of JJ Enterprises but everyone has heard of Best Buy.
Speaker Bio:
The only reason you need a speaker bio is because this is what meeting planners use to promote you…after they hire you.
A speaker bio won’t get you paid speaking gigs. But you will be asked for one once they hire you.
For that reason, don’t do what most speakers do.
Most speakers take weeks to create their speaker bio. They try to create a nice-looking pdf, make it perfect, etc etc…and after several weeks, they still haven’t gotten a paid gig (because they’ve been wasting their time creating a bio).
Instead, you want to create your bio only when someone asks you for one.
By doing this, you can focus on getting speaking gigs first, and then giving them a bio after you’ve been hired for a gig.
Think about it…what’s the point of having the perfect speaker-bio if you don’t have any speaking gigs to give your bio to?
Also, by creating your speaker bio AFTER you get hired (and only when they ask for one)…this forces you to get it done fast. Your bio shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to create…if it takes you longer then you’re just wasting time.
Demo Reel:
Your demo reel is a collection of all your social proof in one video. It has the testimonials, the footage, the clients, everything….in one video. And it’s sole purpose is to make you come across as a real pro that’s worth your speaking fee.
You definitely want to hire a videographer to create your demo…don’t do it yourself.
All of your marketing materials say something about you. It’s like the clothes you wear. You can wear a nice suit, but if they see you’re wearing tennis shoes then you’ve ruined everything.
Your demo video is like the shoes to your suit.
It just tops off everything else you’ve been building (your videos, testimonials, etc).
So if your demo video looks cheap then they’re not going to hire you…and that’s why you want to hire a professional to make your demo reel.
Think of your demo reel as the video you use to create massive social proof in just a couple of minutes. It should have great stage clips, great testimonials, great reactions, and when you do that, the meeting planner will know that they’re dealing with a great speaker.
Business Cards:
Your business cards are a miniature version of your website.
It should have the same look/feel as your website does and the second people touch your business card, they should know that you’re one of the top-dogs in the industry.
You can get really fancy by having metal business card made or just keep it simple. Either way, it has to look good.
One thing I want to point out with business cards is how you use them…
You will notice that if you hand out your card to people you meet somewhere (and they’ve never seen your great website or your presentation) then you will get low-ball offers. These are the people who will ask you to speak for free and speak for exposure.
Why?
Because you haven’t built enough value in their eyes.
Your business card is just a card to them. They don’t know what you can do on stage (because they haven’t seen you yet). So they just think that you’re a newbie speaker…and they might even ask you, “Oh, you get paid for that?”
On the other hand, when you give out your business card to someone who has seen you speak on stage…because the event is finished and they liked you…these people will be the clients who pay your full speaking fee.
Those are the people you want to give your business cards to…the people who have seen you speak.
They’re using your business card to contact you because they already see the value in you. But the people who you just hand your card to (because you met them at Starbucks, etc) they don’t know what value you truly offer…so you have no value in their eyes.
So be active in handing out your card to people who have seen you speak…and less active about people who don’t know anything about you.
Chutzpah:
What’s ‘Chutzpah?’
It’s a state of mind where you’re not afraid to shamelessly self-promote.
There isn’t a single successful speaker out there who doesn’t promote themselves like crazy. And the bigger they are, the more Chutzpah the have.
Lets take Tony Robbins for instance.
Tony made a ‘ballsy’ claim when he was starting…he told everyone that he can cure people in 15 minutes of their phobias, problems, etc. Not days, not months, not years, just a few minutes with him and you’re cured.
He was basically telling everyone that all the years of therapy, psychiatrists, and everyone in between, couldn’t compare to what he could do. And because of his shameless self-promotion mindset, he became kinda successful.
In reality, all of your marketing materials comes down to your ability to have a self-promotion mindset.
Technology can change everything…but if you have Chutzpah then you’re always going to know how to promote yourself.
Your speaker marketing materials need to be great if you want to make it in the speaking business.
I see a lot of speakers who want to get paid gigs but they don’t improve their marketing materials. So they think their problem is that they’re not contacting enough people, or they can’t find events…but in reality…the problem is their marketing materials.
A person wearing a suit can go up to a stranger and ask for a dollar….and get it within a couple of tries. But a person wearing raggedy clothing, that makes them look homeless, will get turned down by more people because of the way he looks.
Your marketing materials are your clothing.
If you know you need to improve your speaker marketing materials then you need to look at women over 60 looking for men There’s so much information in those audios that will improve your marketing materials it’s not even funny.
The speakers who improve their marketing materials will always get booked more than the speakers with bad materials.