I’m excited as I’m off on my travels today to deliver some more corporate training on influencing skills to some leaders in High Wycombe!
I absolutely love the corporate work I do, which ranges from delivering talks to workshops, webinars and training programmes.
My career was built on this type of work but it’s only been in the past year that i have ramped it up to provide a consistent income stream to my business.
My amazing coach Jessica Lorimer has a big focus on helping people win corporate business in 2020 (go check her out she is awesome and knows her stuff!) But I’ve been asked quite a bit by the members of my Facebook community, so I thought I would give some insight from my perspective on what you need in place in order to grab those paid corporate speaking gigs.
- Know your subject
If you want to become a credible paid speaker in the corporate market then you have to be the expert on your subject. This may sound obvious but I see a lot of entrepreneurs adapting their talks and workshops to what they THINK the corporate market needs. If you are struggling to see how your expertise can fit, then try to chunk up the messages within your talks to motivational/inspirational level. This will help you to become more accessible as there is always a need to disrupt thinking, motivate and help create shifts of change within corporate cultures.
- Understand the culture, ‘temperature’ and need
Before pitching, get to know what is currently going on in the organisation and what the needs are. I was pitched so many times in my corporate days from speakers who were just pushing their agenda. Don’t know what’s going on internally? It’s easy enough to find out on a companies website (they usually include their strategy) also check out their social media. Bonus – if you know someone who works in the organisation this is handy on many levels and gives you direct access to the current temperature and need so you can angle your pitch accordingly.
- Get clear on the outcome and transformation
If you want to go in and deliver a talk on leading the emotional side of change (for example) what will the outcome/transformation be? What will the attendees walk away knowing, doing differently? What action will they be able to take? Being clear on the outcome will help you shape your pitch so you have the best interests of the organisation in mind.
- Be confident in the type of talk you want to deliver
In other words, own your shizzle! Being confident about your subject matter and how you want to deliver it is crucial. Storytelling is a huge confidence boosting tool as you and your audience get so immersed in it that you and them forget about everything else! It is also a very effective way of delivering a talk for maximum impact. Believe you have what it takes baby!
- Push on open doors
It will always be easier to push on open doors when becoming a paid corporate speaker. This means working on existing relationships! If you know someone that works for a company that you’d like to approach then talk to them to find out what the current needs are and ask for a referral. Speakers get booked on recommendation first and foremost, so if you know people that work in corporates, approach them!
- Know your rates
Before you get in touch with anyone get clear on your rates! Corporates have budgets and so it is important to be clear from the outset what your fees are. Usually it is best to work out best on a day rate, and then cut down accordingly including prep time, travel and delivery. No budget for speaking? See how you can make it work for you (can it be filmed, will travel be covered, can you offer something etc)
These are just a few things to keep in mind when adding corporate speaking to your income streams. Confused or have more questions? Book in a call to see how I can help you. I cover these topics in my 1 day speaker intensive. I currently have 1 slot left in December and 2 in January.
Much love
Helen x
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