Chances are that as a female entrepreneur you’ve recognized the power of sharing yourself, your message, and your company in front of a captive audience. You might even dream of yourself as a public speaker.
Maybe you want to start speaking to drive sales or get new clients. Or perhaps you want to add speaking as a revenue stream. Or maybe you just have something really important that you’re desperate to share with the world.
No matter your reason, the first stop on the road to public speaking is to create yourself a speaker one-sheet. This is your resume for public speaking and is THE FIRST step on the path to getting speaking opportunities. How can anyone find you or book you if you don’t even have the requisite marketing material for public speakers?!
Sign up below to get our FREE speaker one-sheet template that you can rework and use for yourself, but first check out these amazing tips from my expert friends in the public speaking world.
Wait, why do I need a speaker one-sheet?
Well, for a few reasons:
- It will make you look like a professional. You wouldn’t try t apply for a job without a resume, so why would you try to book a speaking gig without a one-sheet? Like profesh from the get-go by using your one sheet right off the bat.
- You can show your character and style. Speaker one-sheets are often visual and creative – so have fun and include elements that represent you. One sheets are versatile: you can creatively distribute them online or offline; make it a page on your website, or make a pdf that gets distributed or linked to from a page on your site. I actually have a media page where people can find my one sheet, bio, current headshots, etc.
- You can customize it to help sell yo’self. Just like resumes, speaker one-sheets can (and should) be tailored based on the opportunity you’re pursuing. The more you can tweak it to satisfy the ideals of the opportunity, the higher your chances of success.
So what IS a speaker one-sheet?
It’s a crucial marketing tool that tells people:
- how and why your services are valuable
- how you can help them or their audience
- what you can speak on, and what types of speeches you give
Creating your speaker one sheet will help you boil down the most relevant details about your brand – it should highlight your uniqueness.
What do I put on my one-sheet?
Olivia Schofield
World-renowned speaker and co-founder of Vocal Women, a platform that supports and facilitates the growth of women speakers, Olivia Schofield says that your one sheet should include, like any great speech, elements of Ethos, Pathos and Logos:
Most likely, you make it using Canva or even Microsoft Word. (Be sure to keep reading because I’m giving you a FREE TEMPLATE you can steal and tweak for yourself!)
Your sheet should also ideally include your latest headshot, some photos of you speaking, and the address for your website.
How do people use speaker one sheets?
Event organizers use speaker one-sheets to book speaking gigs similarly to the way human resources teams us resumes for hiring. Just like a resume, the person organizing or planning an event may review many one-sheets at one time in search for the perfect speaker, or they may keep it on file and call you a few months down the road. Either way, it’s always good when you can get your one-sheet into a shot-caller’s hands.
What does the person receiving the one sheet look for?
Professionalism. Does your one-sheet have typos? Is it laid out in a visually appealing way? Are you able to clearly and concisely articulate what you want to communicate? Do your values match theirs?
Chelsea Avery
Chelsea Avery is another world-renowned Toastmaster and the other co-founder of Vocal Women. She’s also rumored to have coached her husband Ryan to be the 2012 World Champion of public speaking.
Chelsea adds that another important aspect of a one-sheet is to talk more about specifics that your audience will walk away with as opposed to a ton of details about content.
Companies and organizations want to see what exact value their employees and attendees will walk away with if they are going to spend time and money on you.
How do I book speaking gigs?
Marin Toyama
Marin Toyama, who made it all the way to the World Finals in the Toastmasters International speech contest in 2013, says that one of the best ways to book speaking gigs is to check out local meetup groups and professional organizations within your field to see if they bring in speakers.
Then get on the phone and start talking to event organizers for conferences, meetings, and events that you want to target. Get a sense of what they are looking for and then use that information to improve your speaker one sheet.
Many times they’ll express interest in having you speak during the conversation.
Olivia also gave us some great tips:
- Use your network. 25% of her work comes from other speakers being too busy to do all their gigs, so get up close and friendly with some top speakers, showcase your work by offering to do workshops and speeches at events where they will be. Start showing up at Women’s Groups, Networking Events, Business Conferences, and even your local chapters of speaking-dedicated organizations like Toastmasters or the National Speakers Association.
- Do free stuff. Another 25% of her work comes from doing free events in companies at events like women’s lunch and learn or Toastmasters Corporate Clubs. Often, afterwards people approach her to coach their teams or speak at their away-day. Chelsea adds that, “we don’t like to call them free because you need to always request something else if they can’t pay you – like a testimonial, a referral, or the ability to sell products afterwards.”
- Hold open events. 25% of her work comes from people who have attended an open course of hers, referring her to someone else, or bringing her in to do the same workshop in-house.
How do I create a bangin’ speaker one-sheet?
Why, I’m glad you asked – because we’ve created a FREE, customizable template just for you. Feel free to download, change the photos, colors, branding, and content to make it yours. Just enter your email in the box below.
Just like with any other marketing materials, you want your speaker one sheet to be clean, clear, and professional – but you also want it to stand out from the crowd and express YOU.
So, you wanna see more examples, huh?
Okay, but only if you promise not to get overwhelmed and go into productivity paralysis. The goal here is to FINISH YOUR ONE SHEET, people!
Deri Latimer http://www.derilatimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2013-Deri-Latimer-One-Sheet.jpg
And don’t forget to update your speaker sheet every year as you gain more experience and have more to brag about!