How to become a conference circuit superstar

transcript

BECOMING A

CIRCUIT SUPERSTARCONFERENCE7 STEPS FOR SUCCESS

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Thanks for your interest!

However, there is a newer version of this deck

Please click here

http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/you-can-be-a-conference-circuit-

superstar

this is me.

i’m giving a talk on technology strategy at The Asian Banker 2014

<whisper> i’m not actually a superstar

https://www.flickr.com/photos/conveniencestoregourmet/

but i have been on the circuit for about 20 years, and have probably done 150

engagements

so if you are interested in

speaking at an industry conference

https://www.flickr.com/photos/schani/

This is not me!!!

i can share my industry speaking

journey

This is definitely not me!!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelstrum/

I’m gonna cover these things:• Why you should speak• How to get gigs• How to develop a topic• How to prepare• How to present• How to handle Q&A• How to follow-up

0 0QUICK SCOPE CHECK

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By the way, I’ve been working in technology in the Asian Financial Services Industry for some time

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So when I say Industry Conference, for me that means conferences specific to:

TechnologyBanking

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However, this deck is not meant to be specific to any industry

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You might very well be in the Pharmaceuticals Industry, High-Tech

Industry, Start-up Industry, Healthcare, Law, FMCG, Electronics.….

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That’s just fine. Keep reading! It all applies

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Also, this deck is meant to be read.

This is NOT an example of a presentation deck. In fact, this would be a terrible format for presenting

You’ll see example of good stuff later.

WHY SPEAK AT AN INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

Getting yourself a speaking gig, preparing to speak, and actually

speaking means a bit of personal/career risk, quite a bit of grunt

work, and some gumption

So the first question you need to answer is…

“Why should I do this!?! Is it really worth it? ”

Well, for me it is worth it.

And here are some reasons why…

1. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTWhether with fellow speakers, audience

members, exhibition vendors, colleagues or industry press, speaking is a great way to

build your professional network & CV

Your first impression will be as a charismatic, confident, industry expert. Not too shabby!

As a measure, though I haven’t taken them all, I’ve easily received a dozen job offers

as a direct result of contacts I made speaking

2. SPECIFIC BUSINESS OBJECTIVESSpeaking is also a great way to deliver

specific business results, like sales, branding and PR, or business development.

When I calculated backwards for this deck, I could identify at least USD 2.5 million in sales generated directly from speaking

engagements.

3. BENEFIT FROM PREPARATIONAlthough a truism, it is still true. You only

really know something once you’ve taught it.

By preparing to speak, you will gain an incredibly clear understanding of whatever

subject you’re speaking on. You’d never get that without the discipline of prep.

4. STRETCH YOURSELFA bit of stage fright? No time in your schedule? Is this out of your comfort

GOOD! EAT IT! Stop whining. Get all Nike on it and Just Do It!

One final note

Although there are lots of reasons to speak, there are some important

considerations

Most importantly, make sure to clear your speaking engagement and

materials with:

• Your Line Manager• Corporate Communications• Marketing• Legal

That’s true whether or not you are formally billed as representing your firm

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Once you’ve decided that you want to do an industry conference, how do you

actually get a speaking slot?

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

I’d start with a SWOT – TOWS for yourself so that you can define a

personal Strategy

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Start with a SWOT INTERNAL

EXTERNAL

STRENGTH• TOGAF certified expert in

Enterprise Architecture• 15 years of industry experience• etc, you fill it in…

WEAKNESS• I’ve no experience speaking in public• Nerves!!!!• etc, you fill it in…

OPPORTUNITIES• There are loads of conferences

this year• I could be up for a promotion

by year end• etc, you fill it in…

THREATS• My boss may not allow me to do it• I’m very busy with project work and

deadlines• etc, you fill it in…

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Then do a TOWS to turn SWOT observations into actionable tasks

STRENGTH• TOGAF certified expert in Enterprise

Architecture• 15 years of industry experience• etc, you fill it in…

WEAKNESS• I’ve no experience speaking in public• Nerves!!!!• etc, you fill it in…

OPPORTUNITIES• There are loads of conferences this

year• I could be up for a promotion by

year end• etc, you fill it in…

THREATS• My boss may not allow me to do it• I’m very busy with project work

and deadlines• etc, you fill it in…

SMART GAOLS TO USE STRENGTHS TO DELIVER OPPORTUNITY

• By next Friday, Go online and make a list of all the Enterprise Architecture related conferences in Q3 and Q4

• Contact some EA speakers in Q1 and talk to them about their experiences speaking

SMART GAOLS TO ENSURE WEAKNESS DOES NOT UNDERMINE OPPORTUNITY

• Get the idea? You fill this out for yourself. But define SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely)

SMART GAOLS TO USE STRENGTHS TO COUNTER THREATS

SMART GAOLS TO ENSURE WEAKNESS DOES NOT HELP MANIFEST THREAT

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

After you’ve done a SWOT-TOWS, it is time to get out there and start

marketing yourself.

I’ve found 5 things work effectively….

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

1. SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKINGAt the end of the day, marketing requires

market research and networking.

One convenient source of both are google and linked-in.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

I’d start by putting together a spreadsheet of all the major conferences that you

could speak at, by searching with relevant google keywords.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

From there, go to each conference website and check out the “about us”

section.

This section will likely provide the names of key organizers and admins.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Now head over to linked-in.

Search for these folks (or search by the names of the event organizer firms) on

linked-in, and when you find them, send a connect request

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Some may not reply to your “SPAM” request, but, from experience, 70% will accept (linked-in is far more of a slutty social media network than Facebook).

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Now, any good conference organizer worth their salt will be friended with other

conference organizers.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

So the next step is to go through the contact lists of the few who accepted your initial

request.

Then friend their conference organizing contacts.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

After you get 3 or 4 connections, it will get easier.

These are small communities and you’ll end up with a lot of 2nd degree connections

quickly. As a result, your friend-request-accept rate will go up and up.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Finally, make sure that your own linked-in profile has the right keywords. For example,

add, “Public Speaking” in Skills, and get buddies to endorse you. Or add, “Dynamic Industry Speaker and XYZ Domain expert”

to your Summary. You get the idea

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

All this is important because conference organizers use linked-in to source speakers.

The more 1st degree connections you have and the better your profile keywords are, the

more likely it is that your profile will bubble up in search results for, “speaker on XYZ

Topic”

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Last but not least, generate content.

For example, post the decks that you present on Slideshare.com and then link

them to your linked-in profile page.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Similarly, if you can get a copy of a video of you speaking, add it to youtube and link that

from your Linked-in profile too.

Finally, make sure your social media identity is all over your slide deck.

Be very findable.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

2. SPONSORED SLOTSOf course, many speakers get gigs

because they pay to speak. This is very common for vendors.

If you sponsor an event, you usually get X speaking slots and a trade show booth.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

This can get expensive quickly though, so I don’t suggest this as a long-term approach.

But it is a good way to get a few events under your belt so that you can start

leveraging the other guerrilla marketing methods suggested here.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

3. BEFRIEND SPEAKERSIMHO, the best way to get gigs is to

become friends with good speakers, and position yourself as a go-to speaker for

event overflow.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

I get about 2 requests per month to speak. In order to maintain a modicum of sanity, I speak at 1 event ever month and

a half or so. That means I have to turn down lots of events.

Hence, event overflow

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Of course, as you can imagine, I don’t exactly turn these things down. Instead, I try

to find good alternate speakers for the conference organizers.

This earns me reciprocity credit from both my pals and the event organizers.

Whoo hooo!

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

So, the more speakers you can understudy, build a mentoring relationship, or who are

just buddies, the more gigs you’ll get.

Of course, you’ll need to do a phenomenal job, or you’ll burn your rep fast! So I’d get

your chops down first and then develop this resource.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

4. WORK YOUR WAY UPFurther, start small and work your way up. There are many opportunities to speak in

front of crowds of 8!

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

While this may seem small, doing this builds your experience and reputation so that when

you get a chance to front a 400 person stage, you’ll be ready.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Also, scoring a small gig at a user group or meet-up is much easier as these groups are

often undersupplied

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

I’ve even heard of people volunteering for stage-crew one year and then coming back

to speak in the next in a slightly Machiavellian tit-for-tat play.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

5. BE PERSISTENTFinally, listen, you are going to get rejected.

No problem. Just keep trying.

Think Barney Stinson’s approach to the bar scene.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Oh. And one last thing.

Payment.

It will take some time before you can realistically demand payment for speaking.

However, you should never be out of pocket.

HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

Ensure that the conference organizer agrees to pay you for (and actually pays):

• Transport to & from the airport (I used to forget this, and it adds up)

• Plane tickets (usually economy / budget)• Travel insurance embedded in flights• Accommodation charges (including room-service meals

and wi-fi) – I recommend that you arrive the day before, so you have time to scope venue & get your groove on

0 3HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A TOPIC

Many conference organizers will give you a topic, or a set to choose from

Don’t feel restricted to those topics.

Though they may not say it, most organizers are happy for you to change topics or just create your own - so long as it blends with the overall conference

What is more important is that you choose a topic that makes you

passionate

Because, more than anything else, it is passion that creates memorable

conference audience experiences.

That said, I’d also recommend choosing a topic that has the potential

to make the audience passionate too.

With this in mind, when I speak, I try to choose something inspirational,

contrarian, or unexpected.

What I never do, is set out to explain anything. Explanation is better done in

other mediums like books, videos, or workshops.

In a 30 minutes presentation, you simply don’t have time to explain anything.

Conference presentations should inspire, not explain!

They should leave the audience wanting to follow-up in greater detail,

not satiated (bored).

That doesn’t mean that your talk should be all fluff. You do need credibility and

to add value as an expert.

But it does mean that the focus should be on “why” questions, not “what”

answers.

Finally, scope down your messages.

As a rule of thumb, I try to hit no more than 3 major themes in 30 minutes and no more than 1 minor theme every 3-5

minutes of speaking time.

Oh wait, one more thing. Make sure your presentation is going to be sexy to

the conference attendees

Have a strong and relevant bio and a good, professional, hi-res photo

Have a sexy presentation title!

Approaches to dealing with software end-of-life issues

10 Ways to Kill Zombie Software!

BETTER!

Proper pre-event marketing can really make a difference.

You’ll help self-select the audience as they will attend the talks that pique their

curiosity,

HOW DO YOU PREPARE

I don’t want to repeat what is already well documented online.

So, what follows is a set of slideshare decks that together give you every trick

you need to produce awesome material.

CLICK THUMBNAIL TO VIEW THE DECK0 4

HOW DO YOU PREPARE

But, in case you’ve no time, here is my ‘best of’ notes:

1. One Message / slide (no bulleted lists like this one)2. Make your slides beautiful and engaging (font, color,

images, etc.)3. Present ideas, not data4. Have an awesome cover page (that is the slide that will be

shown longest) that looks beautiful and summarizes the important message

5. Know your audience and what’s in it for them6. Know the A/V setup and requirements

HOW DO YOU PRESENT

Once again, I don’t want to repeat what is already well documented online.

So, what follows is a set of slideshare decks that together give you every trick

you need to present awesomely.

HOW DO YOU PRESENT

But, to summarize, here is my ‘best of’ notes:1. Practice, practice, practice (be able to give the presentation

even if all A/V fails)2. Be rested & ready (No changes to your deck within 24 hours of

presenting)3. Arrive early & scope out the venue, the A/V, and the audience4. Watch your body language, volume, tone, and speed5. Ask conference admins to get you a speaker monitor so you

never have to turn around to see your slides6. Make sure you control the text of your introduction and talk

through it with whoever is introducing you

HOW DO YOU HANDLE Q&A

OK, Just one more slideshare reference, I promise!

HOW DO YOU HANDLE Q&A

And the ‘best of’ summary:1. Prepping for Q&A is just as important as prepping the deck2. Stay on Message during Q&A3. Predict the questions (and prepare answers) in advance4. Paraphrase before answering5. Engage everyone6. Be nice7. Don’t bullshit8. Don’t end on an answer. End on your messaging9. Be brief

HOW DO YOU FOLLOW-UP

If you are building a brand as a speaker, follow-up is perhaps just as

critical as the presentations themselves, because this is where you

generate marketing momentum.

I’ve got 4 pieces of advice…

1. Link-in to fellow speakersWe already mentioned how important it is to

build your network of speakers. Overflow work is a great way to pick up speaking gigs. In addition, if you are linked-in to speakers, you will be more credible to

conference organizers looking for talent as they will source first from who they know.

2. Link-in to conference organizersAnd, not to beat a dead horse, but get those organizers into your contact list

so that you always stay at the top of their mind as they plan for future

events.

3. Link-in to audience membersBeware of conference stalkers. You’ll see

what I mean.

However, do link-in whenever you can. These guys can even give you

recommendations on linked-in if you ask them.

4. Post• Post your deck, videos, and photos to

all your social media channels• Blog about the experience• Have a speaker’s page that lets folks

know when, where and what of upcoming engagements

That’s it! Good luck!

1. WHY SPEAK• Professional Dev• Business Dev• Benefit from prep• Stretch yourself

• Get approval

2. HOW TO GET GIGS• Social Media Networking• Sponsored slots• Befriend speakers• Work your way up• Be persistent

• Don’t go out of pocket

3. DEVELOP TOPICS• Have and inspire passion• Don’t explain, inspire• Limit your scope• Be sexy

4. HOW TO PREPARE• One Message/slide • Beautiful slides• Ideas, not data• Great Title page • Know what’s in it

for audience• Manage A/V

5. HOW TO PRESENT• Practice, • Be rested • Arrive early & scope• Watch body language,

volume, tone, & speed• Speaker monitor

6. HOW TO HANDLE Q&A• Stay on Message• Predict the questions• Paraphrase • Engage everyone• Be nice• Don’t bullshit• Be brief

7. FOLLOW-UP• Link to speakers,

organizers & audience

• Post like mad!

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How to become a conference circuit superstar

Presentations & Public Speaking