Speaking engagements are one of the best ways to accelerate your company or professional profile quickly while getting in front of an audience already pre-screened to engage. Conferences aren't cheap, so if someone is a guest, sponsor or speaker, it's reasonable to assume they tentatively care about what you have to say.
Depending on your strategic goals, your region, industry, desired audience, different conferences or speaking opportunities will appeal to you more than others. If you are a brand new founder with little budget or experience, you may want to try and pitch at local entrepreneur events. Universities often have entrepreneurship groups (UBC has eUBC) there are many industry-specific groups sponsored by different levels of the government as well as companies and organizations who use events as a business lead tool. InnovateBC is a good place to check out, as is TiE Vancouver. Vancouver Tech Journal is a great resource, too! Smaller speaking opportunities are generally lower hanging fruit and can help prepare your professional speaker portfolio while also giving you practice.
Video: not just a "nice to have"
One thing that frequently confounds aspiring speakers is a lack of video that shows off your ability to captivate an audience while also demonstrating your expertise. It is very hard to apply to speak at even a mid-level conference without having something akin to a "sizzle reel" of you on stage, showing you can talk the talk and that people want to listen.
Not all smaller speaking engagements are filmed, so if you do find yourself preparing to speak on stage, even if it's a small audience, I recommend finding someone to film you, even if it's on a smartphone - because without video, you probably won't get anywhere.
DIY media kit
High res ( min 1MB) headshot, ideally recent, i.e. what you look like now
2-3 landscape (horizontal) images that showcase you speaking/help visually demonstrate you as a speaker commanding attention
1-3 portrait (vertical) images of you, your company, product, professional lifestyle shots
3 bios of varying lengths (50 words, 100 words, 250 words) that you can tweak as needed and quickly supply to event organizers and/or copy and paste into online speaker applications
Updated doc with links to any coverage, articles you've penned, materials that demonstrate you know what you're talking about AND how to talk about it
Logos, if applicable in JPG, Vector formats
Video! Even better - VideoS! Varying lengths, available as raw files but also uploaded to sites like YouTube or Vimeo for easy sharing
Calendar of opportunities (keep this private if you decide to share a folder in its entirety, don't let organizers know who their competition is)
Grow and add to this as you go, it's easier to keep such a thing updated than digging through 7,500 emails/10,000 pictures of your dog...
I recommend having a folder that you update frequently and can share out.
You will need to tweak them for content but having readily available content blocks to work with and send out quickly will make your life easier and your success rate higher.
Who do you know?
This is a two pronged question.
who can you suggest to speak with you on a topic that you're an expert on? Many speaking opportunities are presented as panels, so having allies in your network who you have a good rapport with and can count on to make you look good is useful. Keep it updated!
Who do you know within the context of the specific speaking event you're looking at? Producers matter - as do coordinators, fellow speakers, event sponsors. But the most important relationship for you to foster from the get-go is with the producer or producers of the event. Make their lives easy, demonstrate your viability, appeal and ease to work with.
Timeline - it's a long lead until it isn't
Many events advertise their cutoff dates for applying well in advance of the event. This depends on the size of it; if it is Web Summit or Collision, they have a rolling acceptance of speakers but if you're looking at a specific track, spots may be more limited. Also, the earlier you package yourself and sell the idea of you, the better. You can then market yourself, tagging organizers and sponsors and showcasing that you're supportive, excited, grateful and invested.
I recommend making a calendar of events you'd like to speak at and putting in key dates, links and notes as you go. It's a terrible feeling when you get excited about a conference and realize submissions closed two days prior. If that does happen, it doesn't necessarily mean you have no chance, but it makes it harder.
Large conferences and even mid-sized ones are enterprises. They have staff, they have budgets, deadlines - jobs. Make it easy for them by planning ahead.
If you hire someone to help you with applications, make it easy on them by understanding that deadlines aren't "suggestions" and that charm and pleading don't go as far as planning ahead. Respecting deadlines demonstrates...well, respect. You don't have to be likeable but you can always be respectful.
I hope this helps! If you have questions, tips, would like to know what to do once you DO get chosen to speak, let me know.
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