How To Use LinkedIn to Land Speaking Gigs (+Get Invited Back!)

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If you're someone that dreams about becoming a speaker and wants to learn

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how to leverage LinkedIn to do that in today's episode, I'm going to

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share with you exactly how I did.

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G'Day everyone, it is coach Michelle J Raymond, or should I say International

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speaker, Michelle J Raymond this week, because I am still listeners

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on my World Page Advocacy Tour.

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As this goes live, I'll be in the UK, just about to head off to Social

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Media Marketing World in San Diego.

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And it's still a pinch me moment, absolutely mind blowing for me that this

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is all happening and it is just the best.

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For some of you that are listening to the podcast, you might be thinking,

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there is no way on earth that I am ever going to become a speaker and I say

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don't switch off just yet, because if I rewind the clock, just a couple of years,

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I was sitting down having lunch with my business mentor and she said to me,

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Michelle, why don't you become a speaker.

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Have you ever considered that?

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And I just laughed at her.

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I nearly spat my sushi out at the time and she said, no, you'd be really good at it.

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You do your LinkedIn Lives, you do your podcast.

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Why not on a stage?

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And I was like looking at her like, is this woman nuts?

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So shout out to her for encouraging me and planting that seed back that long ago.

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But it really wasn't something that I ever imagined for myself.

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So even if you're not there right now.

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Listen into this because I think there's lots that people can learn anyway,

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whether you want to become a speaker.

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Maybe you just want to appear as a guest on other people's podcasts, or

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maybe you're just curious, like why the heck do I do this kind of thing?

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No matter what, there's going to be something in this episode for everybody.

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So before I go into how I got here, let's hear a quick word from

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our podcast sponsors, Metricool.

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Let's talk about how LinkedIn opened up the world of international speaking for

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me, and it is something that started long before I ever got the first invite.

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It is something that I didn't realise it at the time, but every comment, every

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post, every update to my Company Page or my LinkedIn profile was all doing the work

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bit by bit, building my personal brand.

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And that is where I started building the credibility, you know, that

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was almost five years ago now.

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And it's crazy to think that all those little posts one by one, which at the

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time, some days they perform well, some days they performed rubbish.

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If I go back and have a look at how I ended up here, the number one thing,

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which I think everybody needs regardless, whether you're a speaker or just creating

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content and trying to grow a business on LinkedIn is you have to have a niche or an

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area of expertise that you own that space.

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Like you're the go to, no questions asked.

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Whenever that topic comes up, people in their brains just

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go Company Pages, Michelle.

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For you, what do they go to in their mind?

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Now, if you have lots and lots of different things that you're

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good at, I see you, I hear you, I feel you, I was exactly the same.

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And so in the beginning, I used to think Company Pages being my niche was something

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that boxed me in and how would I ever share all of my amazing other knowledge

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that I brought to the table with people.

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And there were times when I gave up on Company Pages.

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I was like, this is crazy.

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There's so many other things that I can help people with.

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And so I spat my dummy, not going to lie because let's be clear at the time Company

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Pages or maybe even still now, are never the cool topic at a dinner party, but

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ultimately what happened was I realised that was the thing that I was known for.

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That was the thing that made me stand out amongst all the other fabulous

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LinkedIn trainers around the world.

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That was my thing.

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That was the immediate, obvious thing that if someone posted about Company Pages,

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they said, go and speak to Michelle.

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And so that was something that I didn't realise how powerful

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that was at the beginning.

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So if this message resonates with you, if you think, yeah, people know me

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for this one thing, but I'm so good at all of these other things, or right

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now you're trying to figure out what your thing is, it is worth the effort.

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Finding your thing.

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Whatever it is, and however you come across in your own way is

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so critical because it's going to come out in your content.

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It's going to come out in the conversations you have.

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It's going to come out in the community that you build.

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And all of these things are going to highlight you as the

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obvious choice for event planners.

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Cause if you think about it from the perspective of an event planner, they

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have a billion LinkedIn members, people that aren't on LinkedIn, they listen to

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podcasts, they might be over on YouTube.

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They are on the hunt to try and find the right person.

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And normally they've got a list of topics and they're looking

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for people to fill those spots.

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So you have to pick your spot, own it, and just be the best of the best at it.

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Let's say you've nailed down your niche.

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What else are event organisers looking for?

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And the thing is, it's more than just being a subject matter expert.

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And I think the thing that has been hardest for me to, reframe how I

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think about things is to become a speaker, it is more than just

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a how to or a training session.

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You have to come up with ways that you can share valuable insights and

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whether that's frameworks or have insights into industry challenges.

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Maybe you've done your own research.

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Having something unique and interesting as a way of speaking

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about that topic is equally important.

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And I find coming up with frameworks and playbooks and

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things like that extremely hard.

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My brain just says, why can't I just say this, that, or the other?

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And the reason I can't is because I need to make sure it's memorable for other

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people so that after they leave the event that they still can think in their minds.

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What did Michelle talk about?

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What could I take away and what can I implement?

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That's really where I'm coming from when I'm planning out these talks.

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So having these insights is really good.

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I think also being able to speak from real life experiences.

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So not just something you read in a book, but how does it play out in everyday life?

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So for Social Media Marketing World, I know that that audience

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is predominantly marketers.

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It's roughly split 50 50 between B2B and B2C marketers.

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I know the age group, I know the seniority levels, like I've got all the insights

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in who attends and I need to be able to relate to them and tell them why what

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I'm talking about makes a difference and helps them achieve their goals.

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So when I'm coming up with my frameworks for what I'm talking about, you

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really have to plan for that audience.

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So when you understand your audience and you understand the type of

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event that the planners are putting on, then you can put forward a

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proposal to say, I talk about this.

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This is how it helps your particular audience be better at what they do.

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When you help these event organisers tick both boxes, yes, you know your

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stuff and yes, it's going to make a difference to their audience.

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You become the no brainer choice.

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Let's talk about the actual things that you can do on LinkedIn to

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really highlight your experience and expertise to these event planners

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so that they know you're a speaker.

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They know what topic you're talking on.

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They can get a sense of your energy, your presentation styles.

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And this is really where the power of video comes into LinkedIn,

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whether it's short form, whether it's long form, whether it's

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LinkedIn lives, it doesn't matter.

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But you can't just be words on a page.

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People want to see you in action.

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They want to see the energy that you bring.

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Do you have big hands?

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Are you big energy?

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You know, It can be all kinds of different things that they're looking for.

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But at the end of the day, if you don't put some kind of video content out

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there so that they can see you, then you have really diminished your chances

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of ever getting that speaking gig.

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I think the only other chance you may have is maybe if you're a really well

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published author, you might get a look in, but still you have to give them

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confidence that you're the right choice.

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So for me, video content is a must have.

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The other thing that's a must have is an updated LinkedIn profile.

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Do you make it clear to the people that visit your profile what you do?

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Are they clear who you do it for?

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Are they clear that you are a speaker?

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So if you go to my LinkedIn profile right now and look at my banner, for instance,

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you're going to notice that there's lots of pictures of me on stages because I

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want people to know that's something that I'm interested in, that I love talking,

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I love presenting, and that's something that I want them to associate with me.

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So from that perspective, make sure that your LinkedIn profile

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also makes it super obvious.

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What else have I been doing to make sure that not only do I

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land these speaking gigs, but I get invited back a second time.

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And I think the thing that I do probably more than most speakers, actually, I

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reckon I'm one of the best that does it.

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I'm going to throw it out there.

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I'm just going to back myself.

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One of the things that I do is I help them promote before, during,

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and after the event to my community.

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And I've got a significant community around the world and I do my

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part to help them promote it.

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I'm doing my part to make sure that they are getting tickets sold up front.

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That there is a sense of FOMO created while we're there.

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I do lots of networking while I'm at the events.

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I'm not aloof and unapproachable.

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So if you are at one of these events and you see me, please come and

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say hi, I promise I won't bite.

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That makes me laugh because it makes me think the first time I went

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to Social Media Marketing World.

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And as I was walking down the aisles of the conference centre

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and they're huge and I'm by myself and I'm like a deer in headlights.

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And people would walk past and give me a side glance up and

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down and then keep walking.

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And then I'd turn and look over my shoulder and they

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were doing the same thing.

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And I was like, what is wrong with me?

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Have I got like something on my shirt?

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Have I stood in something?

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Have I got toilet paper somewhere?

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And what it turns out is a lot of people recognise me.

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I didn't recognise them because I hadn't seen them before.

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Maybe they're podcast listeners, and I don't know what you look like.

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And so they knew who I was and I didn't know who they were.

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And it was such an uncomfortable feeling.

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So my request is if you see me, please say hello.

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I won't bite.

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But anyway, I digress listeners, but I hope you know, you can understand that

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when you're at these events as a speaker, the thing that you can really do to

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help those event organisers is Make sure that the people that are attending, the

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ones that make it possible for you to be there, you make yourself available

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to have conversations with them and it just makes the world of difference.

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The other thing that I think they can do is afterwards, like just because

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the event's finished doesn't mean you need to stop talking about it.

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It's not just the photos on the stage.

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What was it like for the people that missed out?

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Because a lot of these event organisers have tickets for sale for

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the next year's event immediately.

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So encourage people to purchase them, create more photos, create more content

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that you can share that encourages other people who may not have been able to

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attend that event come to the next one.

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And, hopefully you get invited back.

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I am so excited and grateful that I am coming back to

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Social Media Marketing World.

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And I'm also going back to Denmark for the Linked Summit, which I can't wait

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to do both of these events as well.

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So it won't be long now for Social Media Marketing World.

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I'm almost there as this goes to air, but I hope this has

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helped people like ultimately choose your topic, stay on topic.

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Be unique and have your own way about talking about it.

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And then ultimately create insights and frameworks or playbooks around that, that

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then can translate well to an audience and practice, practice, practice.

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This is the thing that I'm going to be doing more and more of is learning how

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can I perfect what I do on a stage?

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No different to what I do for this podcast.

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So listeners, as we wrap this one up today, I hope that I do get to

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bump into some of you in the aisles around some of these events, because

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absolutely, it just makes my day.

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So until next week, cheers.