Speaking · Conference Strategy · Executive Roundtables · Hosted Podcast · Close to Home Strategy
Large conference or annual event, 30–90 min. Maximum visibility and borrowed credibility from the host organization.
Smaller conference track. More intimate. Often higher conversion rate than the keynote because of audience self-selection.
Interactive, half-day or full-day. Participants experience your methodology firsthand.
60–90 min inside a company or association meeting. Low barrier to book, high relationship depth.
45–90 min early morning. Executives arrive focused and without distraction.
Featured expert in conversation. Broad exposure, less control over the narrative.
Lower barrier to fill, broader geographic reach.
Highest-trust format. Almost always leads directly to a deeper engagement.
The anatomy of a strong speaker pitch:
The best speaking slots fill 6–12 months in advance. Set alerts. Submit early.
Your credentials establish your right to be in the room. They do not sell the session. Lead with the audience's outcome — always.
The stakeholder interviews and the survey are where the best intelligence lives — and where the earliest discovery conversations begin.
Always have one capture mechanism active — and make sure it feels built for them, not for you.
The conversations that happen after your session are often more valuable than the session itself. Stay. Follow up within 24 hours.
The expansion conversation should start in your pitch — not after the event.
Submit your proposal for next year the week after this year's event ends. Speaking borrows the credibility of the host and positions you as the expert before a single individual conversation happens.
While your ideal buyers have already committed the time and travel to be in one city, create a reason for the best of them to spend time specifically with you. Your invitation list is not limited to conference attendees — your presence in the conference city is a compelling reason to reach out to ideal buyers in that area who are not attending.
Before the conference begins, use the attendee list, the conference app, and LinkedIn to identify your highest-priority targets and reach out to schedule specific meetings. Treat your conference calendar like a sales calendar and fill it before you board the plane.
Your ideal buyers are already in the building. Schedule recordings in advance. The episode becomes post-conference content, a follow-up touchpoint, and a distribution asset.
Before you leave, confirm follow-up conversations with every meaningful contact. Converting a conference connection into a scheduled follow-up call while still in the same room dramatically increases conversion rate.
Balance learning with connecting. Block time for your meetings, private event, booth, and hallway conversations.
Secure interest first. Send the RSVP link after. Always.
Every message must demonstrate that you specifically chose this person. Personalization is the strategy.
A room where a new buyer hears a current client describe their experience is more persuasive than any presentation you could deliver.
If three people show up instead of ten, play full out with those three. Intimacy builds deeper relationships than scale.
Without deliberate follow-up in the weeks after, you've left the majority of your return on the table.
A strong ERT topic must: (1) Be relevant to executives right now; (2) Be connected to your consulting offer without being so close it feels like a pitch setup; (3) Be specific enough to spark meaningful conversation; (4) Be broad enough to attract diverse perspectives.
The local chapter of SHRM, ATD, or AMA is often actively looking for quality speakers and significantly easier to access than the national organization.
Know your goal before you walk in the door. Be intentional about every event you attend.
Women's, Black, Hispanic, and industry-specific chambers often have highly concentrated buyer populations.
Every relationship should generate at least two introductions if you ask directly. Most people don't ask. Ask every time.
A $50,000 engagement from a regional mid-market company generates the same revenue as one from a Fortune 500.
Attend first. Pitch with intelligence. Generic pitches get generic results.