150: How to Select The Right Speaking Topics for Your Business
What would happen right now if you were to get the call that a company or conference needed a speaker and they were making the decisions today? Would you have signature topics prepared to share with them? Would you have a plan for how you’d deliver your talk? What about having a defined goal for how speaking will serve your business?
In today’s episode, I’m sharing the importance of signature speaking topics, defining what type of speaker you are, and how to select the right speaking topics for your business.
If you loved this episode and it motivated you to work on more polished presentations, I’d love for you to leave a review on iTunes and tell me about your biggest takeaway. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @jessicarasdall.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
The Value of Signature Speaking Topics
In becoming an educational or motivational speaker, your topic will define where you’re booked, who you impact, and how you perform. Having a couple to choose from will also help you get booked for more speaking opportunities. Signature speaking topics will also help you move the needle forward in your business, no matter what your goals are for your business or what your plans are for using speaking as a marketing machine in your business.
Three Tiers of Speaking in Business
There are typically three tiers when it comes to speaking as a profession or in your business. None of these is more important that the other—it’s solely based on what your business needs and how you want speaking to serve your business. The tiers are as follows:
Tier 1 - Increasing Your Influence
Tier 2 - Increasing Conversions & Sales
Tier 3 - Cashflow for Speaking
Which tier do you fall under? If you’re not sure, make sure you take my short & simple Speaking Strategy Quiz to find out! Once you’ve figured out which type of speaker you want to be, then you’ll be able to select your speaking topics based on those.
Get Clear on your Goal
Why is it important to define what type of speaker you’ll be before you determine your topics? This will guide the direction you want to take your talk and target your audience—education from an expert or conversion for the sale. So here are a few questions based on each of those tiers.
If you’re wanting to increase your influence, what do you want to be seen as the go to expert on?
If you’re looking to increase conversions and sales, what offer do you want to scale from the stage over the next 12 months?
If you’re focused on speaking for cashflow, what kind of impact do you want to make and for whom?
Find Your Sweet Spot
When you determine the goal that you’re trying to achieve from speaking, the next step is to find your sweet spot. This sweet spot can be found at the intersection of your expertise, your impact, and your passion. Typically, speakers will have a few to choose from, but what would your audience be most excited to hear about?
Matching it up
Take a look at the speaking topic you’re offering—does it align with or point back to a revenue generating offer? Even if influence is your focus right now, you’ll eventually move on to tier 2 or 3, where revenue is the goal.
Join me in completing this exercise:
Grab a piece of paper & draw a line down the middle.
Write down all speaking topics on one side.
Write down all of the revenue sources in your business on the other side.
Draw a line between the speaking topics and the revenue source they tie to.
If the topics don’t tie to any revenue sources, remove it from your list right now.
If you’re ready to dive deeper and hone in on your speaking topics based on the tier you’re on now, you can grab my workbook for each of these tiers inside the Speak to Scale Vault.
If you're not already a member of the academy, we'd love to invite you to apply to join The Speaking Strategy Academy. You'll get instant access to our A-Z speaking training system with video lessons, transcripts, scripts, templates, and more.... access to our live group coaching calls, personalized 1:1 feedback on your work from me, and an opportunity to present your work live in front of our community for hot seat coaching and feedback. What are you waiting for, friend? Apply today!
Thanks so much for joining us for toady's episode, if you enjoyed it - please take a moment to share about it on social or leave us a review in your favorite podcast app. It means the world to me and helps us keep this show going for you!
Loved this episode? follow us on Pinterest and pin it for later!
Other related episodes you’ll love
Read the Transcript from This episode
Transcript for Episode 150: How to Select the Right Speaking Topics for Your Business
If a speaking opportunity came into your inbox today, and they said, We'd love to have you speak at our event, can you please send us over your speaking topics or making decisions this afternoon? How would you feel? Would you have those speaking topics ready to go that you could just copy, paste and email off? Would you be confident knowing these are topics that are going to leave my audience better than I found them and helped me grow my business? If not, today's episode is for you. I'm going to show you why signature speaking topics are so essential to scaling your business from the stage, and how to select the right ones that are going to impact your audience and your business.
1:00
Welcome back to another episode of The speak to scale Podcast, where we're helping small business owners just like you grow and scale their companies by speaking on stages, podcasts, webinars, and more. I'm your host, Jessica rahzel. And after spending the last 15 years speaking on stages all across the country, I'm obsessed with helping you speak in a way that is increasing your impact, making a difference in the world, and scaling that business that you have worked so hard to build. Because as an entrepreneur myself, I know that running a business is no joke. And I want to be sure that speaking is not just another thing on your plate, but that it is a strong lever in your business that you can pull on to increase your influence and conversions and really impact in the world. Now, when it comes to selecting speaking topics, this is an area that I can get some pushback from our clients. And maybe you're feeling that way right now. Where you're saying, Jess,
2:12
there's so much that I could speak on. There are so many different topics that I am well versed in, that I have experience in. Here's the one that I love. There are so many topics that people ask me to speak on in selecting signature topics, isn't that going to limit me? Isn't that going to hold me back from opportunities, and really limit my impact? Or Listen up friend, friend to friend, tough chat here. narrowing your focus allows you to serve your audience and your business better. With a little strategy, and signature speaking topics in your back pocket. Speaking can scale your impact and income. But if we just keep flying by the seat of our pants, and speaking on whatever topic comes across our desk, we're moving further and further away from that impact in that balance. And we start treading into that burnout zone. Trust me, I've been there. And I don't want that for you. So if you're asking do I really need signature speaking topics? Here's what I need you to know. If you don't select your speaking topics, somebody else will. Okay. And if you're like me, you don't like other people determining the outcome that you're going to make. You don't like other people telling you what to do. I think that's the big one. For me. I don't like other people telling me what to do. And while Yes, I'm telling you what to do on this episode, I'm telling you that with your best interests in mind, because when somebody else selects your speaking topic, the topic they select may not be in your area of expertise. So it's getting you further away from being seen as the go to expert. The topic they select may not help you scale your desired offer. So that's getting you further away from your revenue goals. When we allow organizers and event planners to pick our topics for us, we end up continually reinventing the wheel and having to spend all this time developing new presentations, every time we speak. That's not the goal.
4:32
We want speaking to work as this marketing machine for our business. And that means we need systems and processes and signature talks in our back pocket. But before we can select your speaking topic, we've got to get crystal clear on what type of speaking your business is focused on right now. And not just right now, but over the next year. And the reason When I say that is because there's a long game with speaking. And maybe you're listening to today's episode, and you're going to go write your topics, and I'm so excited and proud of you. But maybe you don't start pitching opportunities and for a few weeks, and then you don't hear back from those opportunities for a few more weeks, and then you're not speaking at that event for a few more weeks. That's putting you months out from today. So I want you to put that visionary hat on right now and really think about the next 12 months in your business, what is going to be most important to focus on. Now, if you're a longtime listener, you know that I talk about this a little bit every time we're doing a teaching episode. And that's because getting clear on your speaking tear is the first step to building a profitable speaking strategy because it impacts every action you take throughout that strategy. So if you've already figured out your speaking tear, you know where we're going. And if you're new to the show, well get ready because I'm about to blow your mind. So speaking, as a business owner falls into one of three categories, to your one, two, and three, one is not better than the other, I'm just not really good at naming things. So one, two, and three was all I had. If you fall into tier one, what your business is most focused on for the next 12 months is increasing your influence being seen as the go to person in your industry. If you are in tier two, your business is most focused on increasing conversions, getting more people into your program, selling more of your products, increasing sales. And if you are in tier three, your business is most focused on cash flow for speaking, that traditional motivational speaker getting paid up front deliver your presentation. Now, before we go any further, I need you to know which one of these you are, which one is most important. And when I say most important, that's because you might do a little bit of both, you might you might do a little bit of influence speaking and a little conversion speaking, I do a little bit of these, I do a little bit of conversion speaking, and a little bit of cash flow speaking, it's okay to dabble between them. But I want you to know which is most important, which one is going to drive the ship. As far as your speaking strategy goes, if you're not sure we have a really short quiz that you can take, and it's going to help you figure this out. It's linked in the show notes or you can just head on over to the public speaking strategists calm, it's right there on the homepage. So once you know which one of these you fall into, now we can figure out your signature speaking topic based on which one you are. See, when you go through these exercise to get clear on your topic, it's going to be a little bit different depending if you're trying to really corner your market and be the go to expert. Or if you're trying to get really targeted topics in front of the right audience. Or if you're trying to be that in demand booked and paid speaker. So knowing that it's important first, once we know your topic, first step is going to be to clarify your impact. Okay, we've really got to set the intention, we've got to get clear on who it is you want to impact and or how you want speaking to impact your business. We don't want your impact to be an afterthought. This needs to be first. So here are the questions I want you to think about to help you get clear on this. If you are in that tier one influence category. My question to you is, what do you want to be seen as the go to expert on? What is that subject matter that you're really focused on? If you're looking for tier two over the next 12 months, and you're trying to increase conversions, what offer Do you want to scale from the stage of your products and services? What is the one that we are most focused on scaling over the next 12 months? If you are a tier three speaker and you are going to be more of the professional speaker, what type of impact do you want to make, and for
9:28
whom? Who is the audience you are focused on serving? When we can figure out and define the impact that we're trying to make, whether it's for our business, or for our audience. That helps us narrow our focus for step two. Now for step two, we've got to find your speaker's sweet spot. I love this activity, because it gets us out of our own way. And it really helps us focus on our audience. The people we've been called To serve, because I say it all the time. But with speaking, there's a lot of ego, a lot of ego involved with speaking. And we've got to continually check it at the door. So even though we clarified our impact, and we said, this is what's most important to me, we've got our put our audience back at the forefront and figure out what's most important to them. So we really want to find the intersection of where your experience your expertise, your impact, the thing you said in step one, intersects with the things you're passionate about, the things that you're excited about, and the things your audience is genuinely interested in. So those three things are, whatever you said in step one, your impact, either your area of expertise, your offer, or the impact you want to make. And then the things you're passionate about, and the things your audience is passionate about. The intersection of these three things is going to be your speaker, sweet spot. This are where you have experience. These are topics that you're fired up about. And these are things your audience wants to learn more about. Those are the topics you want to be focused on. So after going through steps one and step two, you should have a few potential speaking topics to choose from, maybe you've got one, maybe you've got five, whatever. But there should be some things now that you're thinking over. Okay, I could definitely talk about these things. How do we narrow it down? Well, that brings us to step three, matching it up. And if you are a tier one, or tier two speaker, focused on either influence or conversions, we have to make sure that your topics point back to revenue generating offers in your business. Now, if you're a tier one speaker, and you're thinking, but Jess, I'm not focused on conversions, I'm focused on influence, why it is revenue generating activities matter? Well, I'm your friend in the corner who says, influence may be the focus right now. But eventually, you're going to move up to conversion. Because once you're seen as that go to expert, you are going to be the in demand person that people want to hire, or invest in your services or purchase your products. So I want to make sure we're setting you up for the long haul, and selecting topics that not only corner your market and allow you to be that go to person, but they set you up for future conversions. So whether you are tier one, or tier two, we want to make sure your speaking topics work for your business. So I want you to grab a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle, and on one side of the paper, write down all those speaking topics,
13:00
all the potential ones that you are thinking about right now, on the other side of the paper, I want you to write down all of the ways that money comes into your business. What are all of your revenue sources? Maybe you have services, maybe you have products, maybe you have digital offers, coaching programs, whatever, list them all. Now, I want you to take a hard honest look at these two columns. And really sit here look at each speaking topic. And ask, does this point back to one of these services or products on the other side of the paper, draw a line to it if it does, if it doesn't just cross it off. For now, we only want to focus on speaking topics that directly tie to a source of revenue. This is what helps you put on your blinders. And stay focused on the topics that make a difference for your audience, but also serve your business well.
14:02
Because speaking can burn you out quick when we start overextending ourselves and talking about things that don't impact our business, or talking to audiences that are not a good fit for us. And the more we can stay focused on that sweet spot, the people we've been called to serve, and the topics that move the needle in our business, the easier it is to scale from the stage. Now, this exercise is slightly different for tier three. And we actually have an entire workbook. Actually, we have three workbooks because we have one for each tier, and they're a little bit different inside of our speak to scale vault. Now, if you haven't heard of our vault, it's brand new. And I'm so excited about it. We took all of our favorite resources like selecting your speaking topics, the four phases of your presentation, your billboard statement, all of our favorite resource says and we put them together inside of a bingeable vault that you can just log in, access them all. But we put them in sequential order, matching up with our speak to scale framework, so that you know exactly what to do and when to do it to move the needle in your business. Now the vault is $49 instant access to everything. But because I love you so much in your podcast listener, if you use the code podcast, you get a special discount. Now inside the vault, our workbooks for selecting your speaking topic, there are three different ones. There's one for tier one, one fear tier two, and one for tier three. Inside of those workbooks, you'll have the activities that we just walked through on today's episode. So if you want to take it a step further, you want to physically write it out, you want to go through the Venn diagram and, and map it all out. We've also got some extra exercises. So if you are tier one or two speaker, you're gonna find an additional exercise that helps you determine if your audience already sees you as the go to speaker on this subject matter. Or if you need to put in some work to make it happen. If you're a tier three speaker, you're going to find an additional exercise to help you do real time research to ensure your signature speaking topics are going to meet your audience's needs and get booked and paid in your industry. So if you want to unlock that workbook for your tier, plus tons of other resources, checklists, and more, head on over to speak to skill vault calm, or just go to the link in our show notes. And remember, use the code podcast at checkout for an extra special discount. I hope this episode was super helpful for you. And you're going to take some time today to get clear on your signature speaking topics. Once you've got those hammered out, send me a DM over on Instagram. I'm @JessicaRasdall, and let me know what your topic is. I love seeing you guys put in the work and get clear on your strategy.
17:17
Because that lets me know that when you have those things in place, you are much more likely to submit for a speaking opportunity to fill out an application or to respond to an incoming request. And that's what I want for you. I want you to say yes to more opportunities that are a good fit for you and feel confident that you are ready to take the stage. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of The speak to scale podcast. If you chat a little bit about today's episode or connect with other business owners who are working to scale their business from the stage. I would love to invite you to join us inside of the speak-to-scale community. We're hanging out every week in addition to the podcast and giving you some behind-the-scenes tips. And I know we'd love to have you there. Just head on over to your show notes. Click the link to join the group and while you are there, would you mind leaving us a review in iTunes for the podcast. Your support allows us to continue creating content like this. And I appreciate it more than you know. Alright, friend, as always. I'll be over here cheering you on and I'll see you next week for another episode of The speak to scale podcast.
*Affiliate links may be included above. However, we only share resources with you that we personally use and love!