What Conference Organisers
Really Want

Transcript from the episode recording, with speaker names added and paragraphs formatted for readability. Automated transcription may contain errors; the audio is the original record.

Brad Hauck 00:14

Having a published book may build your authority, but it won't automatically get your book to speak. Conference organizers aren't looking for someone to promote a book. They're looking for speakers who can attract attention, solve a relevant problem, and deliver real value in their audience. In this episode of The Experts Journey, we explore what organizers really consider when choosing speakers, why your talk needs to go beyond your book, and how to position yourself as the experts their audience needs right now. Good morning, Dixie.

Dixie Carlton 00:40

Good morning, Brad. How are you today? Good thanks. Excellent. What a great topic we're going to be talking about today. Because one of the biggest frustrations I know most authors have is not getting enough speaking opportunities. And the biggest frustration that most speakers have is not getting enough speaking opportunities. So let's talk about to resolve that for some of the people that are listening today.

Brad Hauck 01:02

I suppose the first one would be what problem does your book solve that would also matter to a conference audience?

Dixie Carlton 01:08

Well, I think that's actually the big sticky point is actually understanding you need to be there ready to resolve something, to offer something that gives people an opportunity to say, I had that problem. Now I think I have a better way going forward to fix that problem. And what many of us fail to recognize is that even when we're writing really good content, we're forgetting to think about what it means to the end receiver of that content, about how it impacts on them positively. What is the biggest problem? What is the biggest fear, frustration, desire, and needs that your readers have?

Same thing that your audience has. How do you resolve that?

Brad Hauck 01:46

Yeah, exactly. It's all about solving people's problems. And certainly when it comes to hiring speakers for an event, yeah, it's great that you've got a book, but how does that book help solve the problem? And how does what you know that may not come directly through that book help the audience solve the problem? Because in the end, people are there for a reason, and that is to get better. So we've always got to keep that in mind. That's the approach that you're going to be hired under. We've got this problem or people are facing these problems at the moment.

Who can we bring in who can help solve these problems for the people in the room?

Dixie Carlton 02:20

And that's basically what it comes down to. And I know I sound like a stuck requiring when I say this, but when you start the book, start with the end in mind. What is it that you need to be resolving and addressing? And then lead with that when you pitch yourself for any conference event. Now, you may be someone who is fantastic at leadership or dealing with middle management or helping teams to be more adhesive. But you've got to find an angle that's a little bit out there or more controversial or interesting or different than what every other leadership or management or team speaker is speaking about.

And that's the first thing to get right. And you need to be thinking really in terms of niching it down quite tight. So if your specialist area is leadership and actually helping people as you do to deal with people in leadership who are right at the front of a crisis, then how do you articulate that? Finding the best way to say, I'm not your average leadership expert. I'm the leadership expert that your people need when the stuff all hits the fan. And this is how I deal with that. So finding those ways of saying, and this is how I deal with that.

These are the takeaways that people will get when they come to hear me speak. And your speaker sheet should clearly articulate what those takeaways are. The person who's doing the briefing session with you when you are booked to speak should clearly understand exactly what is going to make the audience thizzle when they are sending to you.

Brad Hauck 03:54

Yeah, absolutely. It's really important what makes you different, of course. But there's only so much content to ever be covered about any topic unless it's a brand new thing that's being developed right now, such as say molecular biology or something. But what makes it different is that someone can hear the same content told by another person and it doesn't cut through. But then you tell it in your way from your perspective and it does cut through. So that's really important to understand, of course, is that your uniqueness is what makes you different within that topic area.

And then, of course, niching down and being specific to target specific problems, like I talk about crisis leadership. I'm not interested in leadership on a day-to-day basis necessarily, although I do talk about that. I'm talking about when the thing hits the fan, how do you lead in those situations? Because I'm a firefighter. So, you know, you as a speaker have to look at that in your own perspective through your own lens.

Dixie Carlton 04:51

And the the easiest way to stand out from the rest of the crowd of leadership speakers or whatever your topic is to tell great stories, give great examples of how you have addressed these issues in the past for people. What have people come to you with the problem of and how have you resolved that? What are some extraordinary examples of, oh my goodness, this happened and then I did that? Wow. Great learning curve, great story, and it tells from the stage brilliantly so that I'm known as the guy who speaks about how this happened. Like, for example, we both know Tim Gard.

He's a great comedian, comedic speaker. One of the things that he is most well known for is him talking about the sweaty fat guy on the plane. Now he tells lots of great stories, but everyone knows about his sweaty fat guy with the pond scum lolly or something on the plane. Everyone who's ever seen him speak, and people who have seen him speak several times, as both you and I have, can always remember that's the story that is his main point of difference. And so finding that something that people can say, ah, yeah, I know that guy from that.

Oh, I know that woman from that particular situation or that particular story. She or he is really good at telling that story. It grows every time you hear it. But everybody wants to hear that because it reminds people of what they need to learn about that situation.

Brad Hauck 06:18

Absolutely. The second thing we're looking at is also how are your talk titles written? Do you write them from your perspective? In other words, telling how great you are, or do you write them from the organizers' need perspective to attract them? So rather than saying, I do this topic, it's more like this is how this topic will help you. It makes a big difference.

Dixie Carlton 06:40

I am a big fan of Tiffany Markham, who is a brilliant copywriter and brilliant speaker from South Africa. And she talks about the need to go outside of what you might normally think about in terms of expanding your boundaries of creativity. So when it comes to a great topic title, how can you definitely go well outside of what might be obvious? So instead of talking about, for example, I'm a great leadership speaker in times of crisis, come back to something like the eggs on the floor, the whole carton, something that people can resonate with as a metaphor, as a series of metaphors, or things that relate to that that people can instantly get a picture in their head.

I'm a big fan, and by the way, definitely it's worth looking at what Tiffany Markin talks about and how to do that really well. But I'm a really big fan of things that grab your attention, make you think, what's that about? And that's where you know you've got someone. So putting some really good time and effort into finding a brilliant way of just arresting someone's eyes as they're going down the program, saying, Oh, what? The eggs on the floor? Hello, yoke, what? Just get creative.

Brad Hauck 07:59

Absolutely. One of the other things I like to do, and I've been doing it quite a bit lately, is to actually use AI to do deep research on current topics that are alternative points of view on a specific thing that's happening. So rather than looking at it straight on like we normally would, I will often do research into what are alternative ways of looking at this or what are other people saying about this that is not the normal way of looking at it. Because I'm looking for those different angles. I don't want to talk about the same boring leadership topics.

I want to come at it from a different perspective. And sometimes it's really good to dig around on the internet and find out what people are coming from different angles for. It really gives you an alternative way of approaching a topic.

Dixie Carlton 08:45

Markham, for example, she's just written something brilliant about dropping an earring in the toilet. And that is an amazing way of looking at something that's completely irrelevant on the surface, but makes you think, huh? And the thing is with AI, AI can do some of that thinking for you. But unless you start really expanding your brainwaves into that creative space and looking at all of the different ways that you can create a picture in someone's head, when they are looking at, well, how different is this going to be, or it's going to be just another boring speech, then the more power to you with being able to really get people's attention.

Brad Hauck 09:26

Yeah. Some people are really good storytellers. And I think it it's a key. And when you've got your angles, you can come up with your stories to go with those. And some people are really great at coming at it from an entirely unpredictable angle that no one else would do. I suppose that's their superpower. But on the other hand, everybody can tell a story. So once you've kind of got your bullet points and you've thought about what you're going to put there from your one sheet where you've got you know your different speech topics, then when you get on stage, you start to bring in those really unique elements that people remember you for.

Dixie Carlton 10:00

Exactly. And I think a lot more needs to be said about the power of a good one sheet where you are actually dealing with the fact that the person first looking at your one sheet might be the PA or the EA of the person who's actually going to be helping to make the final decisions. So you need to be putting yourself in their shoes and saying this person has had to maybe download a dozen or more one sheets to put in front of her boss or bosses or group or council to make a decision about who they're going to get speak.

So if you put yourself in that person's shoes, your one sheet needs to really stand out with great titles, with great promises of good stories, and being memorable and making that person look like they are the star of the show to the people that she's serving. And that's maybe the real power to it.

Brad Hauck 10:54

Yeah. And also moving on from our one sheets, you've also got to, when you get someone on the phone, you've got to talk to them. And this is where I find a lot of people get tongue-tied. It's that old thing, what do you do? Well, I can you explain why your message is going to be timely, relevant, and useful for that audience over the phone. Often people get lost in this.

Dixie Carlton 11:14

They certainly do. I had a meeting with a couple of clients the other day, and the biggest thing that they struggle with is finding the means of answering a question about what's great about what they do. So one of the ways that I like to help people learn how to do that is to say, look, you've got maybe nine words in a sentence that you need to take that whole paragraph down into being, and you need to practice how that paragraph sounds. You need to practice rolling it off the tongue very quickly and then learning how to say, I'm not going to now stand on the power of what I've just said.

So learning to speak in whole sentences is a really good power, especially also with not only sales situations where you need to learn to say the piece and then stop and wait for the other person to respond. That's sales 101. But in media training, that's also really powerful. Now, if you are being spoken to about speaking for a major conference and there's a lot of money on the line, you learn to not say what you want to say and then ramble on to a whole lot of more explanation for six sentences or six paragraphs worth of content.

You need to say, this is my power piece. I have rehearsed this, I have the rehearsed extra couple of lines that follow from this. Now I have said it in such a way that I'm inviting you to ask me what that means. And I will tell you, the person who's interviewing me, exactly how this works for them. And this doesn't happen automatically, it doesn't roll off the tongue every time you do it. You have to write it, you have to learn it, and you have to practice it.

Brad Hauck 13:00

Absolutely. And it's an opportunity to sit down and actually write a list of questions that people are likely to ask you when you say certain things. You know, you can pre-prepare your answers and practice them at least to the point where you're comfortable replying to those questions. That's certainly part of sales. There's no doubt about that. We have that dealing with objections. And I learned very early in sales that you deal with objections up front. So you build them into your presentation or you build them into what you say so that you overcome those issues.

But there will always be other questions. So it's worth taking a bit of time and saying, okay, what have I been asked in the past? What are the questions might people ask? And maybe even talking to some other speakers and finding out what are some common questions you get asked. Because as you move from, say, speaking to small groups to conferences to major international events, you may be getting asked different levels of questions. So go and seek some advice from people. Most people are free to give that sort of advice.

Dixie Carlton 14:01

And another thing that you can add to your toolkit with this is learning to think in terms of what if. Now, what if relates to you being able to say to the person interviewing you or to the person who is downloading your one sheet? Inspire the question of what if you did this or this? What if you did this and this happened? Or what if you did that and nothing happened? Or what if you didn't hire me, nothing changes? And what if you hired me and this is what you can expect the next six months to look like?

How well can you articulate that picture in someone's mind very quickly and very easily? So they get excited.

Brad Hauck 14:45

Exactly. Number four question we've got is what would make an event organizer feel confident that you can deliver value beyond simply talking about your book? And I know for myself, one of the first things that come to mind is video of you on stage. It's all very well to have testimonials where people say you're great, but nothing beats actually being able to watch you do your thing. That's my personal opinion.

Dixie Carlton 15:08

I completely agree. And I think video has become so underrated over time because for so many people, it's still a hard thing to do. And I completely understand that. I have been video shy for a long time. I am finally getting over myself about that and getting better at it. And putting more effort into video and video testimonial, video making sure I think that you have some really good guidance about how to do the lighting, how to do short, sharp video work, and also how to then use that video so that everybody can see what it is that you're trying to explain in less than three minutes very quickly, very easily, and over again.

Brad Hauck 15:51

Yeah, I think it's really important. I had a conversation with a client the other day about the changing nature of how we use the internet. And we're talking about websites and social media and everything. And one of the comments I made was that I look around, I watch people around me, whether it's at lunchtime, in a business meeting, at the fire station. And what I do notice is that no one seems to be going to websites anymore, other than to use an app. They'll go to their phone and use an app to read the news.

For example, they might open ABC News or something like that. Or they'll be on reels and they'll be scrolling through short video form. They may scroll a feed occasionally, but it's amazing the number of people that now that have kind of changed over to short form video. And so videos become an even more powerful way of showing that you can do what you say you can do.

Dixie Carlton 16:43

Yes, very much so. And working with someone professionally who knows how to not only shoot video, but guide you in what you want to do if you're trying to do some of your own video. But when it comes to making sure that you stand out as a speaker, getting a professional real shot, getting someone to professionally edit that again with that end in mind, with those questions, that what if, making sure that people can see exactly how brilliant you are, that the audience is engaged with what you're doing. And to ensure that there's more excitement than apprehension when someone sees what you're capable of.

Making sure that you've answered a lot of those questions, it's like overcoming those objections early, but ensuring as well that when someone sees you, they feel that connection with you. And I think working with a professional videographer is the best way to make sure that happens. And then you can go out and do a lot of your own work if you want to, but you have to have some good dollops of highly qual high-quality professional videography work within your toolkit.

Brad Hauck 17:47

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I go and check people out and I'll run a LinkedIn check, I'll run a Google check, and then I'll go looking for video either reviews or whatever about a piece of software or a person, whatever it happens to be. And one of the weirdest things is when I was looking, for example, this morning at a piece of video editing software, and I went to YouTube to see if there was any videos about it, and they didn't have any videos, and yet they're a video editing piece of software. And I was like, what piece of software is selling online?

There's no videos about themselves. And so it's really funny. People do all this research, and so they are looking at you. They are looking at those pro reels that you've got. They are looking at your live-to-camera stuff, and also they're looking at the other stuff that you do for podcasts, etc., etc. So they're going to graze the internet, as they say, for a lot of different content as part of the decision-making process. There is no doubt about that.

Dixie Carlton 18:41

I think you need to think very clearly about when someone's wanting to book you to speak, you are possibly going to be featured in a boardroom conversation where someone is going to table your one sheet, then they're going to click a video to show you an action for two minutes, no more than two minutes, and six people are going to sit around the table and take a vote on you versus somebody else. How do you make sure you look and sound and appear to be the most professional of all the choices in the room? That's what you've got to think about before you even start the pitch process.

Brad Hauck 19:15

Oh, absolutely. So last question was are you positioning yourself as an author who speaks or as an expert with a message the audience needs? And this is really important because there's a lot of authors out there who don't speak. And there's a lot of speakers who don't author. There's a lot of you know experts who speak. So as someone who has a book, are you positioning yourself as an author? Or are you saying, my book is part of who I am, part of my business? It provides other information, etc. How do you put all that together?

Because you've got to get the thinking right in your head because that changes how you approach things.

Dixie Carlton 19:55

And again, that comes back to starting with the end in mind and that whole ecosystem concept that we've talked about in the past. Your book needs to serve as part of your ecosystem. You need to have the book, the topic, the message, the speaking, the workshops. Everything needs to be aligned. If you are really going to stand out as the expert who also has a book, who also speaks, who also does podcasts, someone who is an expert with all of these boxes ticked is going to be the person who's booked far more often and far more consistently for good fees than someone who doesn't have all of those things ticked off and everything in alignment.

Because this basic tenet of branding is that if you confuse your market, you turn your market off. So don't confuse people. Keep everything well aligned and clear and crisp and clean and take out all the guesswork.

Brad Hauck 20:52

Absolutely. And look, if you're an author who speaks, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. I mean, there's plenty of fictional authors, for example, who go out and speak at little events and read a bit of their book. And it's a very good way to promote your book if that is your focus or authoring. But if you decide that you're an expert and you want to go out and speak, you need to make sure that your message is online, that it reaches your audiences and it fits those audience needs, that speaker bookers are definitely looking for.

Dixie Carlton 21:22

Well, there is so much alignment in nonfiction authoring and professional speaking. It just goes together in parallel. And if you are not willing to be a speaker, but you want to be an author, or if you want to be a speaker but not put content out in other forms and on other platforms, you are leaving so much money on the table.

Brad Hauck 21:43

Absolutely. So your book may open the door, but your message is what gets you onto the stage. Conference organizers need to see that you understand their audience, can solve a problem that matters, and will deliver value beyond simply talking about your book. So don't just ask whether your book makes you an expert. Ask whether your message makes you the right speaker for this audience at this event right now. This episode has you thinking about writing a book, but you're not sure how to shape your ideas, reach out to Dixie at indieexpertspublishing.com. She can help turn what's in your head into a clear, compelling book that builds real authority.

And if you want to become number one online, then contact me at bradhauk.com. I can help you with your website and lead generation.

Dixie Carlton 22:23

Wonderful. And of course, if you love what we've been talking about, share it, review it, promote it. We're always great, happy to have the feedback and greatly appreciate your being part of our journey as part of the experts' journey. So until next time, take care. Have a great week, Brett.

Brad Hauck 22:41

Bye.