Lessons one and two were about understanding the world into which you want to speak, using text written by Randi Oster. We’ll continue with her tips #3-5 tomorrow but today I’ll step off that theme to answer some questions posed in a comment on Lesson 1 by Trevor Torres, a 17 year old hotshot “Diabetes Evangelist” who’s just started doing speeches. (See his first speech video* on his site.)
Here’s Trevor’s comment, with my answers embedded:
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The main thing I’m interested in right now is getting more speaking gigs! To that end, some questions:
1) What types of organizations hire patient speakers most often? Schools? Hospitals? Medical associations? Pharmaceutical companies? All of the above?
See yesterday’s post – you’re basically asking “What do creatures in the Pacific like to eat?” :-)
All I know is who’s hired me, which is all over the map – the list is in the Past Events section of this site’s Schedule page.
In truth it will depend on whether people in any segment see value in your message. Farther down the road we’ll discuss how to achieve that.
2) What percentage of gigs come from referrals vs calling/emailing companies out of the blue? Which should a speaker focus on?
I can’t say what your future holds, but I hate “cold calling.” Every single Virtually every** gig I’ve gotten has been what marketers call “inbound” – they called me.
Your best sales channel will probably be word of mouth from satisfied customers telling other conferences to book you.
That’s one reason your reputation is essential – a reputation as someone who leaves clients satisfied. And that’s why it’s essential that you do the work (per yesterday’s post) to understand their concerns. That’s a much more fun path to sales than cold-calling!
3) Are there any best practices when contacting an organization about speaking opportunities?
I don’t do it, so I don’t know. Others may. (Anyone?)
But here’s one method for spreading your reputation, when you’re starting out:
a) Create a thrilled client. (You’re a natural, but for most people that will take time; no problem, just keep at it.)
b) Ask them “Who else do you know that should hear me talk?”
4) From first contact to standing on stage, what does the process of finding a gig generally look like?
We’ll get into the “post-Yes” event preparation process much later.
Next in the series: #4: Cognitive dissonance
Footnotes below:
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* Do you have speech videos on your site? It’s one of the first things I told Trevor to do. (If you don’t, how can a prospective “buyer” know what they’re getting??) See my Videos page on my site – it’s become too cluttered, but when I was starting out it was an essential sales tool.
When you’re starting out you surely won’t be paid for your first speeches, but perhaps you can negotiate that they’ll videotape you. Today, my standard “terms of sale” say that if any recordings are made, I get a copy for my website.
** There’s one exception to this – it’s rare, by definition, so it’s not something you should count on. We’ll cover it much later.
Thanks for answering my questions! It’s really interesting (and encouraging) that you don’t cold call, because that does sound very frustrating. Your method also has the added benefit that it forces you to deliver a killer presentation, or you won’t get referrals. Good advice, looking foreward to the rest of the series!
Just thought of another question to add to the list! What are your thoughts on writing a book? Where and when does it fit into this process? I know you’ve written a couple… My copy of Let Patients Help is in the mail :)
Thanks Dave for this very informative help for those of us trying to get our names out there. Nothing beats those speaking from the heart and truthfully about the experiences they have gone through.
If I can give one extra word of advice to Trevor is to try blogging. It is a great way to get your thoughts out and be seen by others. I know I blog about my experiences on a Health Quality Council website. They were more than happy to help me get my thoughts out.
Take care and thanks again Dave. So helpful!!!
Heather
I do blog… Just not about my experience as a patient! I have a personal development / productivity blog on my website. I’ve been thinking about shifting the focus though. Have you had any success that you can attribute to your blog? If so, that might make a good post in this series: “How a blog can help a patient speaker”
I blog for a health quality council called Q Review. It is my perspective and what I have gone through as a patient. So many patients are so afraid to speak up. So I speak up on my blog. So thankful l have this opportunity. :)
A few questions from this post.
1. How long of a speech should I have on my website? I’ve given speeches from 3 minutes to 25 minutes so far.
2. Can I stage a speech specifically to post on my website or should it be a real speech that I gave? I do have access to a small film crew. (And I would be honest in saying this was put together specifically to give and example of my talks.)
3. Right now some audio of me is being edited into 4 minutes photo-doc snippets for the Canadian Renal Rehabilitation Networks website. Is photo-doc audio strong enough until I can have a speech filmed or no?
Again . . . thanks for this amazing resource. I am learning so much.
First, welcome (again) to the series. Good to have you participating in the discussion!
I’ll combine your first two questions:
> 1. How long of a speech should I have on my website?
> I’ve given speeches from 3 minutes to 25 minutes so far.
> 2. Can I stage a speech specifically to post on my website
> or should it be a real speech that I gave?
Let’s think this out. (Participation from anyone is welcome of course.)
What do you think about the question?
Why are you posting the content in the first place?
How will you know if the “why” is fulfilled?
> 3. …Is photo-doc audio strong enough until I can have a speech filmed or no?
Depends how well it conveys what your buyers need to know about you. I started with no budget and necessarily had to make do with what I had, which is why I did a lot of asking for copies of things.
In many ways that was good because it forced me to only do things that were worth my own effort. And if you (any would-be speaker) feels the calling, the commitment, you’ll move forward whether or not you have what you think you “should” need.
Above all, this is YOUR enterprise, and you have to make your own decisions. As I said in another post, “my way’s not the only way.” So I suggest learning from others’ examples and others’ path, but don’t expect to duplicate it step by step.
When I get to where I have a reliable repeatable process, I’ll probably start SELLING it, not giving away free advice.:)
Thanks, e-Patient Dave. I was thinking about length because when I vlog I don’t do anything over 6 minutes and I was wondering if there is the same type of time constraints here too. I guess it depends. I will listen to a two hour talk on a topic that really interests me. I can’t always anticipate what people will or will not do. Hopefully soon I will have a range of lengths and topics to share.
Thank you, again. You should be selling this as a seminar for people interested in pursuing this goal. Your example brings out a lot of great ideas. People around the world would learn a lot from you.