Whether traveling to a destination conference, presenting at a local professional or trade association event, or preparing for a firm-hosted webinar or in-person client event, the real value of speaking engagements is in the business development opportunities that they afford. We’ve developed a Business Development-Focused Speaking Engagement Checklist to help you squeeze greater value out of the time and resources you spend on these speaking activities.
Before Your Speaking Engagement
If you have a marketing department, give them early notice of your upcoming event (that means as soon as you know about it, not two days before the presentation), so they can help you prepare materials and make the most of the time leading up to the event. If you are a solo practitioner or don’t have formal marketing resources, most of the suggestions in the checklist can still easily be completed yourself. Use the time leading up to the event to:
- Plan your calendar for rolling out the activities before, during and after the event.
- Deepen relationships with co-panelists and conference hosts
- Encourage your network to attend
- Promote the event on your website, blogs and social media
- Think about how you will engage with attendees
During Your Speaking Engagement
There are several ways to make your time on stage work for your business development goals:
- Take advantage of all conference or event opportunities to connect with attendees
- Build an engaging presentation that keeps people entertained while they learn
- Incorporate into your presentation easy ways for people to connect with you
- Suggest helpful resources that you will share with people who connect with you
After Your Speaking Engagement
- Thank co-panelists, event hosts and attendees for the opportunity to present
- Put into action your coordinated event follow-up strategy to keep the conversation going
- Be sure to showcase your expertise on your website and social media profiles
- Track successful business development connections in your contact management system
- Assess the value of the activity for future participation
A Business Development-Focused Approach to Speaking Yields Better Results
Remember, the more touchpoints with your network and prospects that you can create through the event, the better the event will support your overarching business development goals.
Download the Blattel Business Development-Focused Speaking Engagement Checklist and challenge yourself to check off as many of these strategies as possible. It will help make sure the significant investment in both time and resources that you expend by agreeing to speak will be worth your while.