But most speakers spend way too much time waiting. Waiting to be invited to speak, waiting to be discovered by someone famous who can get them work, and waiting for a bureau to call. But the really difficult truth is, speaking doesn't work that way. But if you want speaking gigs, you have to take responsibility for booking yourself first. You have to create rooms, step into rooms that you don't really want to go into because maybe they're too small or they're too big, and talk to real people. Momentum comes from action, not just from sitting back and hoping someone notices you and how good you are. Over time, yes, people may find you, organizers may reach out, opportunities may land in your inbox, but that only happens after you've already been out there speaking, networking, and making it obvious that this is what you do. In this episode, I'm going to be talking about what actually leads to speaking opportunities. So if you want to speak more, this episode is about taking control instead of waiting for permission. The first thing I'd like to look at is that running your own events is a great way to start without waiting for permission from someone else. You can have your own event tomorrow if you've got a big enough audience to fill the room or the virtual room. Most speakers choose stages they don't control, and that actually puts you in a position where literally you're not in control. You're at the control of the person booking you. And that might be great, and it's really nice to speak in those rooms, but you can't wait for those rooms. If you're really keen to speak, if you're really keen to make an impact, why not start with some small workshops, some small engagements that you run yourself? You might do them and have a networking event attached to it. So people come along, they hear you speak for 20 minutes and then they do some networking. It's good for them in two ways. One, they can make connections, and two, they get to learn something from you and it sets you up as the expert. And that's what you want. You want people to see you speak because when they go to their next conference, they might put you forward to the conference organizers, especially if they're involved in the organization of the association or the event itself. And you never know who's in the room. And that's a key thing that I've always found is that when I get in a room, I sometimes think, oh, there's no one here that can help me. There's nothing I can do. I go there with the angle of helping others. So by turning it around a little bit and going, look, I'm here to actually help others. And if it leads to opportunities, that's fantastic. You actually have a much bigger impact on the room, and you never know what opportunities will come from that because people remember when you're helpful. I believe in giving good value. So my whole goal this year for 2026 is to focus on the word value, the value I bring to others. And I know from my past experience that when I bring value to other people, they give back to me because that's the way the humans work. And it's not on the angle of if I give something, people will give me something. It's I'm giving this and maybe one day it'll come back to me. I'm pretty casual about that sort of thing, but I think it's really important. So it's important to start thinking about running your own events. So virtual or in-person, small or large rooms, what it does is it actually gives you footage as well for a more polished speaker reel. So you can get someone in to film it. Now, if there's not many people in the room, it's even better. You just set the room up a certain way to get the angles. If it's a big room and you actually get lots of people turn up, that's even better because you can get some before and after photos, some interviews with people saying what you did, and all that can be. So remember, look for the value for yourself in these events as well when you set them up. Don't just fly by the seat of your pants. Be deliberate in how you approach the room. You will make more money when you start running your own events because you have control over that. Now, the first events might be free. That's fine. But eventually you could grow that into a bigger event. And it doesn't have to be an event every month. It could be a once-a-year one-day conference or something. And the rest of the time you're doing other things. It's completely up to you. What you're trying to do is number one, grow your list because the more people you get in the room, the better. The second thing I think that's really important is you get the people in the room to invite a friend the next time they come back. So do a good job because they will invite their friends. So you can double the size of your rooms. And you're going to have a bit of fun because you're up in front of the classroom, I suppose. You're in front of the group, you can do it workshoppy, you can do it any way you like. It's completely your idea, completely under your power. So if you can't kill a room yourself, why would an organization actually hire you to stand in front of theirs? So think about that for a moment. You need to demonstrate your ability. We all need to demonstrate our ability on a regular basis to make it worthwhile for people to actually book us. Second thing I like to talk about is the speaker bureaus are not an entry point that people think they are. Here's the uncomfortable reality, and you'll hear me say it again and again because I hear it regularly from other speakers. Most speaker bureaus only take speakers who are already booked and recognized. In other words, famous. Now it's not always the case, I will agree with that, but they're generally recognized people. They're books, they're recognized for being on TV, they're a sports person. They've got some sort of fan base, is probably the best way to put it. And that means for most speakers, bureaus deliver little to zero worth. Yeah, some people do have really strong relationships with bureaus, and they do get regular work out of them. But in my experience, they are the minority out of the thousands and thousands of people who actually speak throughout a year. So the question needs to be asked: are you chasing a bureau to feel legitimate, or are you building demand first so a bureau actually wants you? And this raises all sorts of weird things in my mind. The first one being that if I've built up my own portfolio, I've got people booking me, do I need a bureau? Or am I better hiring a PA? Because if a bureau is going to take a percentage off the top, I would rather have someone who worked only for me. That's it. Bureaus reach large audiences sometimes, depending on who they are, and they can look at referring you. But I've had plenty of conversations over the years with Bureau people, and my experience from what they say is they tend to put the same people forward time and time again. Now, there's a couple of reasons for that. First one is they know they're going to deliver. Number two, they're normally asked for, or they're asked for someone who's like someone else, depending on their budget. And but there's other reasons. Even if you're on the books of a bureau, which many of us are, it does not mean you'll ever, ever see a phone call. So please don't sit around and wait for bureaus. Go out there and do your own thing, chase your own jobs, do all those things. And maybe you will get picked up. And if you do, good on you. And I'm proud of you. You know, you've done a good job to actually prove that you're worthwhile booking. And you should take advantage of that. But remember that if you rely on them for everything, they can drop you tomorrow if you become less popular. So never ever put your business in a place where you are completely reliant on them. I know it might seem like you don't have any opportunity, but in the background, you should be growing your mail list, growing your contacts lists of people who run conferences, making sure you connect with them regularly, doing all those sorts of things. So you've got something to fall back on if you do get dropped by the bureau or someone more popular comes along and they get the booking over you. I'll be up front about this. I'm happy to speak for free. So if someone covers my flights and accommodation, I'll come and speak at your conference about AI era business leadership and digital marketing strategy. Have no issue with that at all. What matters to me is the room and the audience, not so much whether I'm getting paid. Okay. I don't need to hard pitch people. I'd rather show people how I think, how I work, and what I can actually do through what I'm teaching them from stage. And when that happens, the right people usually reach out afterwards because they've already decided they need my help. That approach has worked for me for most of my career. Real conversations happen after the talk, not during the sales talk. Real conversations happen after the talk, not when I'm on stage. I will come and speak, and I'm not going to stand there and sell, well, unless you say I can make an offer, that's fine. But I really look for the opportunity to help people. Remember, I'm looking to deliver value to audiences. And the more people I can help, the better the world is. So if you're running an event and you want to speak who shows up and delivers something useful and lets my work speak for itself, please reach out. I'm always open to a conversation, whether it be virtual or in person. So number three, every room you speak in is a lead generation engine. If people are sitting in a room listening to you, some of them actually run events, run associations, or run conferences themselves. So the opportunities often come from the audience, not necessarily the organizer of the event. The mistake that most people make is that they think once the job's over, it's done. And that's it. You've done your talk, leave the stage, shoot off, go somewhere else. Need to take some time to talk to the people in the room after you've finished. Personally, for me, it's my favorite part. I'd like to spend at least one or two breaks there with them. So if I speak before morning tea, I'll go to morning tea, I'll sit in on the next speakers and watch them because that's always interesting. And then I'll go to lunch with the people and give people the time and opportunity to come up and speak to me. That's where I'm going to get more speaking opportunities and possibly some business as well. So don't forget that every person in that room here's a possible lead generation engine for you. What you do on that stage is what they will tell other people. And everybody's connected through multiple organizations. So you never know where it's going to go. And I can tell you from experience, and I'm sure all other experienced speakers know this already, that yeah, you never know who's in a room. So please remember that your room is full of leads, not just for business, but also for speaking engagements. One of my favorite things, number four, is to set up a Google search for calls for speaking. But the problem with the call for speakers is that they're generally filters. They're not finish lines. So they put out a call for speakers, you submit, and then half the time you don't hear anything back. And they can often be really weirdly specific. So where your topic might fit in with their conference, and the people at the conference probably need to hear it. They're after something from a scientist, for example. And I'm not a scientist, or they're after some specific angle. Now, the fact that that person might be very dry and a very bad speaker from the point of view of the audience doesn't matter to the conference organizers. They're after someone they can say, oh, look at this famous scientist, and they're going to talk about this. So they're actually using the name, the qualification, whatever it is. I know that calls for speakers eliminate people quickly from lists, but it doesn't make them useless. So it's a point of applying, but don't obsess over it. Make sure you put the application in, maybe follow it up with an email a week later, make sure they've found it and that it's got through, because let's face it, not all forms work well on the web, so things go missing. And the real value here is the chance to connect and ask questions and build relationships with the conference organizers or the speaker booker. If you can get a chance to talk to them about what they're really after, that's what you're after. But if you don't apply or you don't contact them, you're never going to get that. So calls for speakers are an opportunity, but beware too. There's a lot of calls for speakers that are pretty dodgy. So it's I'm in Australia, for example, and the job is in Dubai. But then when you look into it, there's this worldwide conference that's being held in July in Dubai, and it's going to have thousands of people there. So you go and you look at the history of the organization, you look at the numbers that were at previous events, and you find out there was less than 100 in the room, which is great. If they're paying you and they're flying you over and they're putting up an accommodation. But if you're paying to fly and you're paying for accommodation to get in front of 100 people, with the off chance that a third of them actually turn up because they've got to fly in from other countries, that's not really a chance I'd want to take. So make sure you do really filter the events so that if they do say yes and you do want to go, it's not going to break your bank if you have to pay your own way. Not every call for speaker is for paid gigs. Most are for free speakers. So think about that when you're looking at them. Set up an alert through Google Alerts, and why not apply for them? You never know where they're going to happen. Number five, and my last point for this podcast, is that invisibility beats ego every single time. Waiting to be discovered is the fastest way to stay invisible. You've got things like YouTube, podcasts, social media platforms, and yes, speaking for free when the flights and accommodation are covered, all create momentum for you. You don't have to be selling from stage, you're just showing what you can do. And people who need help will reach out. The real question is brutal but honest. Are you looking to look important or are you trying to get known? So getting visible is an absolute key to success. So sitting at your desk, not talking to people, not going out networking, not showing people what you do, never leads anywhere. Okay? It's all great to be an introvert. I like being at my desk. I'm a tech head. This is where I'm happy. This is my little world. But the point is that sitting here, I'm not talking to anyone. And look, watching videos and learning things and writing articles is fantastic. But it does not have the power of real-world connection. I can tell you that for a fact, it is not there. So please get out of your room and go out and be visible, whether it's visible on stage, visible in front of people, visible talking to people, or just putting your point of view out there. Making sure that you're in front of an audience is far more powerful than pushing social media stuff out. I've seen it time and time again. Thousands of views on reels, thousands of likes on videos, hundreds of comments on articles, and not a single person contacts you to book you to speak, which is what you're trying to get done. If you're doing all this and you're not getting any results, then please stop and think. The numbers don't lie. It's that simple. If you're pushing out information, if you're doing all your social media, you're doing all that stuff, and it looks pretty and it smells pretty, I prefer to think of that as background. So if someone goes to check you out, they background you. And when they background you, they see all this content and go, Oh, you do know what you're talking about. But the connection's going to be made face to face. Let's face facts. That's how people connect. So get out of your room, go out there, and find the opportunities the old-fashioned way, because you will grow much faster than if you hide behind a monitor and a camera. So that brings me to the end of this episode. If there's one thing you take away from it, it's this speaking opportunities do not come from waiting, they come from momentum, from movement. Running your own events puts you back in control, and that's a great place to start. But don't sit around waiting for people to find you. Get out there and make yourself visible to the world. So here's my call to action for this one, and it's a really simple one. In the next 30 days, book yourself into one speaking opportunity. It doesn't have to be the dreams days, not the perfect event, and it's fine to be a real or virtual room as long as it's with real people. Now it could be a small business group, an association meeting, a local event, a virtual workshop. You even run yourself. Even if you get two people there, please get out there and show people you speak, and then start telling people that you speak. Have conversations, follow up, keep the momentum going. What you do now will pay off in years to come. Many conferences, you see them advertised, and then, you know, it's too late to get on that one. But in a year's time, they're going to be looking for speakers. So you want to be putting yourself forward now. And if you found this episode useful, please share it with another speaker who is waiting instead of acting. And if you want more practical conversations about speaking businesses and building momentum, please make sure you subscribe to the Profitable Speaking podcast. Because nobody owes you a stage, but you can absolutely build your own. See you in the next episode.