SL032: Going Deep Not Wide As A Speaker

In today’s episode of The Speakers Life we look at the value of going deep not wide as a speaker.

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Hi, there is James Taylor, keynote speaker and founder of SpeakersU. Today, I want to talk to you about the value of going deep, not wide in your speaking business, one of the challenges that we can sometimes find is even after you’ve identified that topic that you want to become known for as a speaker, is that it can sometimes feel so overwhelming or the opportunities out there, we can get hit with what we call a Paradox of Choice. So something I learned from speakers like Marilyn Sherman, and Bill Cate’s was not only did they choose their topic, but they chose an industry or few industries that they were really going to go deep on. So let me tell you how this can work for you. The first thing I would suggest is have a look at your topic and think about what is that first industry that you’re going to go to with it could be an industry, you know a lot about perhaps your work in this particular industry, you already know the associations, you know, the companies, you know what the challenges are going on in that industry, that’s an obvious first one to go for. So really stop pitching yourself to companies and associations in the industry around your top. But then I’d like to choose two other industries, one or the industry, have a look at your competitors. and see which industries they’re speaking to what you might find from that is this is this an industry that has a real need for your child, your your topic at this stage right now. But a third industry you might want to look at is an industry that you think is going to have a real need for your topic and your expertise in a period of one to three years. So it’s not like an immediate, it’s not the thing that they’re looking for right now. But you sense that it’s going to just the flow of things, you’re going to need your expertise speakers coming in on your topic to speak about. So once you identify those three industries, it’s about going deep, you’re going to research the associations, you’re going to research the companies, and you’re going to start pitching yourself to them. Now one of the benefits from doing this by going very deep in a small number of industries, is you become known as the go to Speaker not just on your topic, but on your topic and how it relates to that industry. This will put you in a class above many other speakers. So that’s my topic for today. Go deep, not wide, and you’re speaking. My name is James Taylor. Thanks for watching.