If you have the goal of becoming a successful guest speaker in the business world, I have some tips to share about getting started. These are based on my experiences working with some very talented people who are currently on-the-rise as star presenters, including Sarofsky Corporation’s Erin Sarofsky – and Chad Hutson and Jason White, the principals of Leviathan. Here are the preliminary tips (two more follow below):
. Start early
. Focus on these efforts as a key business activity
. Set your sights strategically to target the right opportunities
. Have a very specific vision for your proposed presentation and communicate it with the correct person before the deadline while also providing a well-organized summary of your speaking history
Back in 2011, when I first started working with Leviathan, both gentlemen expressed a lot of interest in pursuing speaking engagements. Thanks to George Hedon, the founder of Melbourne, Australia-based Pause Fest, Jason had the opportunity to do his first big public presentation at Pause Fest in 2012. Since then, Jason has spoken at conferences all around the world, including FITC, HPX Digital, Collider, SEGD xLab and North by Northeast. Chad was part of a panel at SXSW in Austin this year and he also spoke at InfoComm in Orlando in June… while Erin presented at F5 in New York this March, and is also on the official agendas for OFFF Mexico in August, the AIGA Design Conference in October and FORM Fest in November, among other major events.
On this subject, here is more news you can use: Submissions are currently open for SXSW 2016, and for Pause Fest 2016. But not for long!
. Deadline is Friday, 24 July (11:59AM Central time) to submit your speaking proposal for SXSW, set to run 11-20 March, 2016. More info: http://sxswedu.com/news/2015/welcome-panelpicker
. Deadline is Thursday, 30 July to submit your speaking proposal for the 2016 Pause Festival happening 8-14 February, 2016. More info: http://www.pausefest.com.au
Ready, aim…
