☑️ The Ultimate End-of-the-Year Speaker's Checklist
The Ultimate End-of-the-Year Speaker's Checklist
First , I hope all of you had an incredible holiday season!
I am devoting this entire newsletter to a checklist that will boost your business.
Let’s get straight to it.
☑️ Update Your Speaker Reel
For those of you who have an existing speaker reel, then now is the time to review it.
Does it showcase your best moments and newest topics?
If not, visit Fiverr.com and hire a video editor on the cheap, and get that rich content added into your reel.
I can hear some of you saying, Coach, I don't have a speaker reel. 🤷♀️
Don't worry.
In full transparency, I have not updated my speaker reel in two years. You can take a look at it below and see some shots of my with short hair. 😂👇🏾 (Check it out here).
Do I think a speaker reel is important?
Hell yeah. Have I spent a lot of time refining it? Hell no.
So, just start where you are. If you have some videos lingering in Dropbox limbo, start organizing them, and hire someone to put together a short reel.
And if you don't have any video? Don't worry.
The points below will help you land on more stages in 2025.
☑️ Polish Your Website
Again, if you don't have it, don't worry.
Go to Fiverr.com to get one done on the cheap. We're not recreating Amazon.com.
All we need is: a page with a short bio, your speaking topics, the best pic of you on stage, and a way to get in contact with you.
That's it.
If you do have a site, now is the time to take a look at it and refresh your bio, testimonials, and event photos. Also, if you have any new speaking titles, now is the time to add them.
☑️ Revisit Your Speaking Topics
You should have a max of five speaking titles (Example: Leadership is a Contact Sport).
Anything over five makes you look like a generalist.
Three is a great number to eliminate decision fatigue for event planners.
Also, make sure that your topics are relevant to upcoming trends. With a lot of employees returning back to the office, I predict that 2025 is going to be a big year for topics that speak to culture.
☑️ Follow Up with Past Clients
It's the most wonderful time of the year so now is the time to get those gifts ready sent to people who hired you this past year.
Also, if you're working with a limited budget, nothing beats a handwritten note. It doesn't have to sound like Shakespeare.
Thank them. Cite a moment from the engagement. Wish them well in the new year and thank them again. That's it.
This pointer alone will get you rehired.
☑️ Macrowins!
What are three big goals you have for your business in 2025?
Land five talks?
Increase your speaking investment level to $1,000 per talk?
Get a speaker reel created?
Before we get into the craziness of late December and early January, memorialize those macrowins.
Write them down.
Tell your significant other about them.
Write each one on a sticky and slap them on your bathroom mirror.
Then...and most importantly, craft the microwins that feed into the macrowins.
☑️ Go to the Tape
I love December.
Not for the eggnog (unfollow me if you drink that stuff🤮).
I love it because I get to put my coaching cap on and watch hours of video. I watch every talk that I gave the previous year and critique everything from pacing to transitions.
I also watch videos of speakers I respect and identify techniques I will mimic the following year.
Sound like a lot of work? It is.
Stop cringing and get it done.
This is how we get better. 👊🏾
☑️ Audit Your Social Media
Speakers get hired on three platforms: Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
On each of those profiles, Keynote Speaker must be in your bio.
Period.
Also, scroll through your pics and tag the ones of you at events, on a stage, or traveling.
This content is evergreen and you should be posting at least one of them a day Optimize your profiles and schedule content that positions you as the go-to expert.
☑️ Commit to Invest in You
Listen, whether you like it or not, there are people with subpar speaking skills getting paid every damn day. That's the truth.
This business is compounding.
You can go from speaking at your church to a school to a nonprofit luncheon to a business retreat if you just stay the course.
Will and I have coached nearly a hundred people over the past three years and the most important predictor of someone's likelihood of building this business is consistency.
And what better way to build consistency than by joining a family of dedicated speakers?
That’s why you should already be planning to join us in September of 2025 for PLATFORM.
Ready to invest in your speaking business? Here are ways we can help:
Coaching: Over the past 18 months, we’ve coached 19 speakers who ranged from I’m just getting started to I want to charge more. If you want a guided gameplan get you to the next level, then shedule a discovery call with our co-founder, Will Baggett today.
Courses: Our “Get Paid to Speak” course shows you, step-by-step, how to build a speaking business. These seven modules will put you in position to monetize your message.
Community: Why stay on the Internets when you can come outside? Join a community of speakers at every stage of their business for an exclusive in-person mastermind. Check out PLATFORM and plan to be in Austin in October of 2025!
If you liked today’s newsletter, be sure to like, share, and comment below.👇
Take the Stage.
Get Paid.
Buy Your Freedom.
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