Being a featured speaker at events that reach your ideal target audience can be one of the most effective ways to grow your platform and sell more books. When you engage attendees with compelling content, they will be inspired to bring a copy of your book home with them. They may even want to buy copies as gifts for friends, family or clients. (Be sure to suggest your book makes a great gift!)
Based on my own experiences as a speaker, along with the many speakers I know, you can expect to sell books to around 25% to 35% of attendees, or even more, provided you’re speaking to the right audience. This means when you speak to a group of 100 people, you can sell around 35 copies of your book. Do this once a week and you can increase your book sales by over 140 copies each month!
In addition, each audience member is a potential new fan of your work. A book sale today can lead to word of mouth tomorrow when those readers recommend your book to others. The attendees can also become new social media followers and subscribers to your email list, adding even more value and creating long term relationships.
Compare being a speaker with conducting a book signing event at a bookstore. For most authors, a bookstore signing event involves sitting alone at a table hoping shoppers will take interest in your book. Meanwhile, you can end up spending the bulk of your time directing customers to the restroom! Unfortunately, this is a common reality with these passive bookstore events, which rarely lead to substantial book sales. (As a former bookstore owner and fellow author, I speak from experience here.)
How to Identify Speaking Topics that Resonate with Audiences
When authors speak at events, it’s rarely about the book itself. You will be more likely to land speaking engagements based on the value you deliver to the audience, which is usually based on topics related to your book. The following are some examples.
=> Author of a memoir about overcoming childhood trauma could give talks about how to recognize trauma in children or how the audience can overcome their own trauma.
=> Author of a book on how to land a job can talk about job search or interview strategies.
=> Author of a book on WWII history could share compelling stories uncovered during your research or teach the audience how to do their own genealogical research.
=> Author of a book about business leadership could offer tips for students entering the job market or strategies for leaders to improve their own job performance.
The point here is that you offer topics that meet the interests, needs and challenges of the target audience—and that you speak to the right audience in the first place. If your subject matter expertise is parenting, speaking at a business event won’t likely be the best alignment unless your topic is tailored to parenting for professionals or creating work-life balance.
How to Locate Local Speaking Engagement Opportunities
There are countless places to find professional speaking opportunities within a 90-mile radius of where you live. Consider the following suggestions.
=> Service organizations like Rotary Club and Kiwanis often meet weekly and welcome local speakers to share a wide variety of interesting topics from personal growth to business and everything in between.
=> Chambers of commerce often host monthly meetings with featured speakers covering business-related content.
=> Trade associations exist for nearly every topic you can think of and many of them host chapter meetings and larger conferences in cities across the US and beyond. For example, you might speak to the local Retired Teachers Association, Genealogy Association or Parents Helping Parents.
To locate associations near you, start with simple Google searches for terms like: “trade association San Francisco” or “association meeting San Francisco.” You can also search a directory such as this one: directoryofassociations.com/.
If you’re using an AI tool such as ChatGPT, you could ask it to generate a list of trade associations near you or be more specific and ask it to generate a list of business associations or pet-related associations.
Once you locate an association of interest, look at their current lineup of speakers to see if you have a topic that aligns with their content. If so, look for a “call for speakers” link or visit their contact page and reach out to an event coordinator or someone from the local board of directors.
=> Churches and other religious organizations often welcome speakers who deliver workshops on topics related to personal growth, parenting, grief, relationships, and more. Look at these organizations near you to see if they host special events and then reach out to offer your services.
=> Many schools welcome speakers to address students, parents or staff. This can include elementary, middle, high schools, and home school organizations, plus parent-teacher associations. Colleges also host speakers.
=> Senior living communities and senior centers provide another fantastic opportunity for speakers. Some large senior living communities host events daily and are always in need of speakers and workshop topics.
=> Meetup Groups are social clubs organized in cities around the world covering nearly every topic you can imagine. Many of these meetings welcome speakers. Visit Meetup.com to locate opportunities near you and reach out to the event hosts.
=> Libraries especially favor authors who can speak on topics related to their books. Visit libraries near you and speak with the staff to inquire about opportunities.
=> Adult education programs, such as those held by local parks and recreation departments, are often in search of instructors to deliver short workshops to the local community. One big benefit of teaching for these organizations is that the instructors are featured in the catalog which is often mailed to tens of thousands of residents, which can get you visibility for your book.
=> Event directories such as the events tab on Facebook, Eventbrite.com, and local events calendars hosted by newspapers and other media outlets can also put new speaking opportunities on your radar so be sure to check these periodically.
How to Send Your Speaker Pitch to Local Organizations
Once you identify organizations where you would like to speak, look at their upcoming events and make sure your content aligns with the types of events they host. Next, look for a “call for speakers” on their website. If that doesn’t exist, find a contact page and seek out someone who coordinates events or reach out to a board member and ask if they can direct you to the person who selects event speakers.
When sending a cold pitch, keep it short and friendly. Here is an example:
Hello Betty Board Member,
I’m reaching out to inquire about speaking at an upcoming meeting for <organization name>. I’m an author and specialize in <subject matter>. Would your organization be interested in an event featuring any of the following topics?
<Topic 1 with one paragraph description tailored to the audience>
<Topic 1 with one paragraph description tailored to the audience >
<Topic 1 with one paragraph description tailored to the audience >
I’m located in <city> and have additional topic details available on my speaker page here: <your website link to speaker page>.
If you’re not the right person to send this to, would you kindly connect me with the person who organizes event speakers?
Thank you for your consideration.
Warmly,
Adam Author
Suggested Action Steps for Becoming a Professional Speaker Locally
- Visit the sites of several professional speakers to see how they describe their speaking topics and position themselves as subject matter experts. Here is a great example for Brené Brown. You can view additional examples of speaking topics through SpeakersOffice.com, a professional speaker’s bureau, or by looking up some of your favorite author-speakers.
- Identify two or three speaking topics you want to cover and write a brief description for each. A description should be 250 words or less and describe the benefits for attendees, typically formatted in a bulleted list. It will likely be copied and pasted into the event program, so keep this in mind.
- Create a speaker page on your website and list your speaking topics. If you have testimonials from previous speaking engagements, video or photos of you speaking, include these on your speaker page as well.
- Begin research to identify organizations where you would like to be a speaker and start sending out your pitches. Soon your calendar can be full of opportunities to grow you audience and sell more books!
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