A million years ago (just kidding/no offence, it surely still exists) Toastmasters was a household name for anyone trying to master public speaking. Public speaking is essential, no matter how large or public the group you're staring out at is, no matter your role or industry, comfortably, confidently and succinctly telling your story, pitch, idea, is crucial in an increasingly noisy world. Let's say you've already mastered public speaking, or at least are comfortable talking to a crowd. Then what?
I first got exposed to the art of the pitch by doing PR for a highly innovative, female-led tech summit called the GROW Conference. It started in Vancouver, then moved to Whistler and was extremely eye opening to me in too many ways to state without losing you. It exposed me to world-class speakers like Slack's Stewart Butterfield, who comfortably commanded a packed room, already filled because of the name he'd build for himself, first with Flickr, then with Slack. Speaking engagements undoubtedly clutter his EA's inboxes.
For other founders, it can be harder to get accepted to speak at profile building conferences, especially if you haven't got your own sizzle reel or links at the ready showing your prowess and poignancy on stage. It takes time, persistence, and for most founders, they don't have time to eat, let alone politely harass conference organizers.
That's where someone like me can be really helpful and I can say with certainty, it's a slog at first, developing bios of different lengths (down to 50 characters, sometimes), tones, key messages and targets. This package of info is essential to develop and maintain. Every link you get (and be sure to get those links) matters, every possible picture with you on stage speaking at anything relevant matters, and be sure to have landscape and vertical shots of decent resolution. There are countless conferences, some matter more than others depending on your or your company's vision, but they all require assets, persistence, time and someone willing to push, push, push on your behalf. Those "apply to speak" links won't usually get you anywhere, but it can be good practice for tightening up your pitch. Or, set up a chat with me and let me share some of my successful strategies and how I can help you get on stage, get funded - get to wherever the next level is as defined by you. Be forewarned: many of these require a long lead time so let's start talking ASAP.
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