“I was all about relationship versus just my presentation.”
Dr. India White is a National Education Consultant, TEDx speaker, and author who joined us on the podcast with Brittany Richmond to chat about her journey to professional speaking, practical advice for people who want to start speaking, negotiation tips for speakers and more.
If you’re interested in breaking into the space, this episode is for you and it’s FILLED with actionable advice to help you take your business seriously and get paid doing what you love.
Here are the top 3 takeaways from their conversation:
You can’t teach purpose.
Wanting to speak and having a message are two different things. When you want to speak but don’t have a message or a purpose that resonates deeply with the audience around you, it will be incredibly hard to get booked and paid to speak.
People want to see authenticity and intention from the stage. To develop a strong niche you need to find your common ground. This is where expertise and interest coincide. You’ll find a subject matter that you care a lot about and are an expert on.
Remember, people want to learn and they can sniff out an inauthentic speaker the second you get on stage. Show up, show out, and share a powerful message with your audience.
You have to develop relationships off stage.
If you want to turn 1 gig in to 2 or 3 or 4 or more, you have to develop great relationships with the event producers. Be easy to work with, take time to get to know them, treat the sound people like they are your best friends.
Invest in the relationships with the events team AND invest in the people attending.
Take time to hang out before and after. Get to know people. Build rapport. Connect on LinkedIn.
These people all have the ability to refer you or promote you in rooms you’ll never see at any given moment. But they only do that for people they like and know, so take time to connect with them.
The more you speak, the more you’re going to speak, IF you invest in the people!
Find Out Exactly How Much You Could Make As a Paid Speaker
Use The Official Speaker Fee Calculator to tell you what you should charge for your first (or next) speaking gig — virtual or in-person!
You can (and should) negotiate everything.
When you speak often, there will be plenty of people who can and will pay your fees no second thought. But, what happens if they can’t? Is it a lost cause?
Well, not exactly.
If you think about negotiations as a means to the end, you can get creative. What if, instead of a higher fee, they also give away a copy of your book to every member of the audience? Or what if they recommend you to 5 more events being hosted by their event planning friends? What if they sign a longer contract to host workshop style events after you keynote?
What are the compromises you can make to create a deep and intentional relationship with all the people in the room?
Ready to hear more? Check out Episode 475 of The Speaker Lab podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.
