How to Know Exactly What Event Organizers Want
Description: Unlock the secrets to success in the speaking industry with key insights from the AAE Speaking Industry Benchmark Report 2023. Discover the most sought-after topics, optimal pricing strategies, and the importance of keynotes in our comprehensive guide. Enhance audience engagement and secure your spot as a top speaker by understanding event organizers' needs and mastering audience connection.
Ever wish you could read the minds of event organizers? If only you knew what they wanted, you could deliver on all expectations!
Well, now you can, because the AAE Speakers bureau recently released their 2023 Speaking Industry Benchmark Report.
(Clarity Up LLC is not affiliated with AAE Speakers in any way. We have nothing to do with whatever happens after you download the report.)
It's absolutely packed and beautifully laid out in a white paper format. For your convenience, here are six insights I believe are particularly worth noting.
Critical insights from the AAE Speaking Industry Benchmark Report 2023
The most booked topics
Inclusion (DEI): 56%
Leadership: 56%
Mental health: 44%
The future of work: 30%
Corporate culture: 28%
And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the least booked are:
Climate sustainability 14%
LGBTQ+ pride: 12%
Global/US economics: 9%
I didn't make the list, just reporting the news! What does that mean? Whatever your topic, see if you can position it as falling into one of those topic, most booked buckets. That's where the interest and budgets are right now.
If your topic is LGBTQ+ pride, can you position it as an inclusion, mental health, or corporate culture presentation? This is about marketing, not the content of your presentation.
For example, my topic human connection. That's a soft skill that doesn't even appear on the list. But the way it's positioned on my marketing is under inclusion, leadership, and culture.
You're losing gigs by charging too little
This will shock a lot of folks, but 27% of events have a $5000-10,000 budget for speakers, and 20% have $10,000-20,000.
In fact, only 17% of events have less than $5000. Which means that 83% of the time if you quote less than $5000, you have either priced yourself out of the conversation or left a huge amount of money on the table by undercharging.
Last year I took a discovery call with a speaker who couldn't figure out how to make more than $500 per gig.
I asked, "What are you charging?"
He said, "$500."
"Here's a thought," I said. "Try charging $5000 next time."
A couple weeks later he DMed me that he quoted $2500 and they said yes instantly. I told him great, next time say $5000. From then he continued increasing his rates, finding that he booked more gigs as his prices went up, until he calendar was so busy his business had become unsustainable.
In less than 12 months since that initial conversation he's now charging $7500-10,000 per gig and consistently booked. All he did was raise his price and stop taking himself out of the conversations by charging too little.
Keynote is the reigning format
If you're a workshop presenter, consider how to deliver a interactive or hybrid presentation that is 70% keynote with 30% workshop elements mixed in. I do it all the time and it works a charm. Win-win!
6 times in 2023 I was asked to deliver a 90-min keynote. Now, you and I both know that that's not a real thing. Keynotes are a lecture-style format designed for 30-45 minutes, maybe an hour at most.
So I started mixing workshop elements into my keynotes in order to expand the time while keeping audience engagement and energy up. They are still positioned and booked as keynotes, but the way I deliver them has changed.
Sorry workshop presenters and team-building facilitators, the vast majority of speaking engagements are still keynotes. You'll want to master the keynote format for maximum book-ability.
Stick around after the presentation
67% of events are requesting that speakers do a meet-n-greet with attendees.
So instead of heading straight for the airport, stick around engage with everyone. If you don't charge extra for this you'll stand out and over-delight organizers.
Enough said on this one.
Help get butts in the seats
A whopping 87% of event planners judge the success of an event by attendance. So, the more you can help them get butts in seats, the more successful your presentations will be perceived, and the more likely event planners are to refer you.
How do you help with attendance? Create killer marketing collateral, film custom hype videos for each conference, offer social media support in advance of the event.
Even just creating titles and subtitles for your presentations that are intriguing and promise a return-on-investment for the audience's attention are so useful for driving attendance and engagement.
Recently I was working with a private consulting client on the marketing and positioning of her keynote. She was calling it, "The 5 Cs of Leadership." How many people are going to be excited about that?
We ideated on titles for an hour and eventually landed on: "Everyone is a Genius: How to Create Visionary Leaders at Every Level."
Now THAT'S a presentation I want to attend. The title stokes curiosity, while the subtitle clearly states the value proposition - what's in it for the audience?
Know thy audience
Speaking of the audience, of the problems event planners have with speakers, the biggest is "They don't understand the audience."
Are you really good at asking questions and making everyone feel heard on pre-event calls? What kind of research are you doing to personalize your presentation?
Remember, it doesn't have to be custom or built from the ground up. Often just a few sentences that indicate you understand the their specific problem, industry, or culture go a long way.
I'll never forget the keynote I gave when I simply hadn't had time to properly research the company due to scheduling, so the morning of the speech I went to the About Us page on the client's website and memorized the 3 company values. I mentioned those values during the first 5 minutes of my keynote and otherwise delivered a word-for-word memorized presentation.
Afterwards I was flooded by attendees and even the executives who commented, "We've never had a speaker understand our company like you." It's not as hard as you think to make your presentations personal for the audience.
Join our community of speakers
We recently started a new Facebook community called The SpeakerPath - Community Group. Request access and join the conversation.
It's FREE and a fantastic resource.
I post behind-the-scenes updates from my life on the road as a professional speaker, plus insights and recommended resources, and even occasionally impromptu livestreams, Q&As, and group Zoom calls.
