Securing very relevant, credible speaking opportunities throughout the year should be a significant piece of your PR game plan if you want to gain more eyes on your brand, align your firm with a particularly meaty trend, or position yourself (or your CEO) as a thought leader in your industry.
However, it’s safe to assume that you already know this part.
What you might not realize, especially if you’re new to the field, is where you’re expected to go for all of these relevant, credible speaking opportunities.
Short answer: You’ll have to do some Googling. But, to help you make the most of your Google fest, here are seven (7) different ways to get the finest speaking opportunities for your company.
You’ll learn seven different actionable techniques to discover speaking opportunities by the end of this post, so you can identify the best speaking opportunities for your career.
What Are Speaking Opportunities?
Speaking opportunities can help you grow in your career since they show originality, critical thinking skills, leadership abilities, poise, and professionalism, all of which are highly desirable traits in the job market.
Speaking at events, conferences, networking events, and webinars are all important parts of continuing education.
They can inspire us, spark new ideas, and provide a variety of opportunities for personal and professional development. They are also a fantastic method to establish credibility.
Why You Do Speaking Opportunities
You do speaking opportunities or public speaking for a variety of reasons. Your presenting skills will improve as you speak on more occasions.
You can raise your profile by speaking at a variety of events, which may lead to more speaking opportunities in the future.
1. Inspire Others
Speaking Opportunities, often known as public speaking, can assist you in motivating your audience to make a change.
Speaking chances also allow you to inspire others to follow in your footsteps, and the speaker can inspire others to be their best selves.
2. Inform the public
When you have important information to convey, you don’t want it to be presented in a dull manner. You want people to pay attention! This is done through public speaking abilities.
By employing excellent public speaking skills to teach others about something important, they will be more likely to listen and comprehend the material.
3. Persuade Your Audience
Being able to talk in front of a crowd, whether it’s at a social gathering, a business meeting, or a large audience at a conference, is a valuable talent.
Speakers with public speaking skills and experience can pique the interest of their audience and keep it piqued long enough to deliver the message.
Read this: 5 Ways to Become your own PR Person and Earn More Respect
What Will Speaking Opportunities Do For Your Career
Speaking opportunities can benefit you and your career in a variety of ways. The following are some of the benefits of speaking opportunities.
Career Benefits
1. Sales:
If you work in sales, there are numerous advantages to having speaking opportunities. With public speaking skills, you may achieve greater sales targets, gain more customers, and close more transactions.
2. Advancement in your career:
You will feel more at ease in interviews, be able to persuade others to your side, and persuade your boss to give you a promotion if you are an excellent public speaker.
3. Make an impression in the workplace:
Most people are afraid of speaking up and placing themselves in the spotlight at work, but with speaking opportunities skills, you can do just that!
4. Bringing people together
Speaking opportunities within your company or on your team are a great way to bring people together. When a large number of people are comfortable speaking in public, they will speak up and collaborate more effectively.
5. Establish yourself as a thinking leader:
A thought leader is someone who people turn for advice, ideas, and more. Being an excellent public speaker will help you become that person, and it will help you advance in your career when others know they can turn to you for help.
Make New Social Connections
1. Find supporters:
You are campaigning for others or a cause when you have speaking opportunities skills, and you will find a community of fans to surround yourself with. These will be people who share your values or are like-minded.
2. Become at ease in social situations:
Being able to relax in a group scenario or when the spotlight is on you is a benefit of having speaking opportunity skills. This will help you feel more at ease among others and make it easier for you to form connections.
3. Expand your professional contacts:
You will probably encounter other speakers in your industry, as well as audience members who are interested in what you have to say, as you speak in more public settings, such as work events and conferences.
Developing Leadership Skills
Leadership is an important factor to consider whether you want to succeed in school or in your career. As a leader, you will have many opportunities to speak in front of groups.
1. A good speaker = a good leader:
The majority of human history’s great leaders were also superb public speakers.
2. A good leader = opportunities:
You will be offered more opportunities in social settings, your work, and other parts of life if you are an outstanding leader.
Personal Benefits of speaking opportunities/Public Speaking
1. Boost Your Confidence
Having speaking opportunities on a regular basis boosts self-confidence significantly. Every time you talk, you gain a little more confidence as you realize how well your ideas and yourself were received.
2. Personal Satisfaction
It’s a great accomplishment to be able to talk in front of a crowd. The first time can be nerve-wracking, but completing the speech is a great accomplishment!
After the first time, you’ll continue to improve your public speaking skills and gain a lot of personal joy from it.
3. Critical Thinking
By working through difficulties, imagining positive and negative repercussions, and finding solutions while preparing and giving a speech, you improve your critical thinking skills.
4. Enhance your communication abilities
You are training both verbal and nonverbal skills when you have speaking opportunities, and both will improve.
The more you speak up, the better your communication skills get. In many aspects of life, public speakers are superior communicators.
5: Acquire the Ability to Argue
Practicing presenting an argument in a formal context will help you in more informal situations. Speaking opportunities skills help you develop stronger arguments, and public speaking can help you improve your debating abilities even more by engaging in Q&A with your audience.
6. Improve Your Listening Skills
Attending conferences as a speaker entails listening to other speakers as well. As a speaker, you will gain a stronger appreciation and comprehension of other speakers’ subjects and craft as you listen to them.
Having a Speaking Opportunities Skill Helps You Drive Change
One of the most efficient ways to get your idea out is through public speaking. You can have an impact on the world around you if you have good speaking opportunities skills. Use public speaking to effect change if you notice something that needs to be changed.
1. Make a distinction
Every chance you get to speak in front of an audience is an opportunity to spread your influence for the greater good.
2. Get in touch with individuals quickly:
Instead of waiting for word of mouth, social media, or print media to promote your message, put it in front of a large audience and you’ll quickly inspire people.
3. Your statement takes on new meaning:
Written information can be helpful in some situations, but if you truly want to make a difference in the world, you must advocate for your cause, and the greatest method to do it is through public speaking.
7 Ways To Find Speaking Opportunities In Your Career Field
If you are finding all of these relevant, reputable speaking opportunities especially for your career field.
It’ll require a little Googling. But, to help you make the most of your Google fest, here are seven (7) different ways to get the finest speaking opportunities for your career.
1. Follow in the footsteps of the Big Kahunas
To begin, you’ll need to identify the key players in your field. What thought leaders, CEOs, and influencers are always mentioned by people in your field?
Who is it that usually appears as a commentator on your favorite industry blogs? Who are the CEOs of your favorite companies in the industry?
Once you’ve compiled a list of the top 5-10 industry influencers, use Google to check where they’re speaking. (Hint: At bad events, important individuals don’t talk.)
Check to discover whether they have their own social media sites as well. You can learn about the events they’re attending in real-time by following them on Facebook or Twitter.
You can also check this: How to Have an Executive Presence in a Meeting | Top Guide
2. Read the Newspapers and Magazines
Almost every business on the earth has trade periodicals dedicated to writing about the themes and communities relevant to their industry, as you’ve probably already noticed.
If you work in advertising, for example, you’re definitely devoted to magazines like AdAge and AdWeek.
You can also learn about industry events through trade journals. Almost all trade publications will cover the major ones, and some even feature a “events” section (though this is often only available on their websites—check both print and online editions).
3. Keep a close eye on your clients
What kinds of events do your clients go to? Remember that, especially in the beginning, you shouldn’t necessarily go for the biggest and flashiest events, but rather those that bring together the most appropriate audience for your company.
Keep your eyes peeled for interesting small- to medium-sized events that offer great opportunities for you to connect with your target audience.
You’ll probably get to know the bigger (more expensive) shindigs pretty quickly, but keep an eye out for interesting small- to medium-sized events that offer great opportunities for you to connect with your target audience.
4. Pay attention to the hashtags
Identifying the most often used hashtags by your community is one of the finest methods to learn about the people, trends, and events in your sector.
The education industry, for example, conducts an ongoing Twitter chat about education news using the hashtag #edchat.
I would follow the #edchat hashtag to see what events were discussed if I wanted to learn about the top events in the education industry.
I’d seek to see whether the events I was most interested in had a dedicated hashtag once I’d narrowed down my choices (these days, most do).
I’d then use the event hashtag to track what attendees were saying about the event, which speakers had been confirmed, and which industry subjects were generating the greatest interest.
5: Pose a Question
It’s easy to be scared by members of the community who appear to be doing figure eights around the speaking circuit if you’re new to an industry or just putting yourself out there for the first time.
Don’t be that way. Instead, use it as a springboard to introduce yourself to these prominent figures and inquire about their recent speaking experience.
It’ll help you swiftly pick out the bad ones while also giving you an excuse to expand your network.
6. Build it Yourself
Do you want to make sure you get a speaking engagement? Make the event happen on your own. Host a fireside chat, organize a conference, or start a Meetup that your community will enjoy.
Remember: If you’re introducing a new event to the industry, you need to 1. tell everyone, everywhere, all the time, and 2. create incredible content.
7. Coordinators of Contact
It’s time to call out now that you have your list of specific events and contact information.
“However, Grant, what should I say?” Easy. Let’s start with the basics.
If you know someone from their group or have previously attended one of their events, mention it. Tell them how their event or conference has influenced your life and how it has helped you.
Conclusion
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