Me with the President of Chaminade University and the Director of Career Development. My husband came too!
I have a secret to tell you! I recently had my FIRST paid speaking engagement! I’m still on Cloud Nine from it all. I never thought that a university in my own backyard would ask me to speak at one of their functions. It started when I first arrived! They had “Reserved Parking” for me. I know, not really a big deal-right? But it made me feel really special. I was even recognized as a VIP at the reception afterwards and got my picture with the President!
How did this come about? Well, a client and colleague introduced me to someone and they referred me to the department putting on the event. To be truthful, the real magic came from LinkedIn. The person planning the event was impressed by my LinkedIn recommendations and the endorsements I had for Social Media, Facebook, and other social media related topics.
This isn’t my first speaking engagement that I’ve gotten using LinkedIn. Believe it or not, LinkedIn can be used for more than just looking for a job or new career. LinkedIn is a social media platform used by business owners and professionals. This does include company departments looking for consultants or in my case, companies looking for speakers. Do you want more speaking engagements? Here are 7 ways to use LinkedIn to get more speaking engagements…
1. Fill out your profile completely
No one likes a blank profile. It’s also is hard to believe that someone is an expert in a certain industry or topic if their profile is blank. Think about it from the person looking through LinkedIn profiles: “Would you trust someone to do a good job at your event if they can’t fill out their LinkedIn profile?”
2. Your Summary & Headline
Do people know that you’re a speaker? How can they tell on your LinkedIn profile? Adding that you are a speaker in your headline and/or Summary is a big step in letting others know you’re a speaker. Otherwise, how do they know?
3. Connecting With Others
How often do you spend time connecting with others on LinkedIn? If you don’t increase your network, how will you get referred to be a speaker? Start putting in the time to connect with at least 2-3 people per day and really focus on growing your network.
4. Are Your Descriptions Accurate?
Check your descriptions for your current and past positions. Are they accurate? Worse than that, are there any words there? Make sure your descriptions are filled out correctly and accurately, so people have what topics you can speak about and if you’re a good fit for their event.
5. Stand Out
I’m sure many of your competitors are on LinkedIn and there is a lot of competition for speaking engagements. What are you doing to stand out from anyone else? Do you have a video introducing yourself? Do you have photos of other speaking engagements you’ve done? These simple items can make you stand out from the crowd and provide more information for the event planner or person coordinating the event.
6. Recommendations
One of the biggest reasons why I get speaking engagements is my recommendations. I always connect with attendees and the event host after my speaking engagement and ask them for LinkedIn recommendations. This shows others that I’m a good speaker by someone else endorsing me. I’m not bragging about how great of a speaker I am. The best part for me is when the event planner or person coordinating the event sees a recommendation from someone they know and trust. Instant credibility!
7. Endorsements
How many endorsements do you have from others on your LinkedIn profile? This is really important as well when trying to provide credibility and trust as a speaker. Do you need more endorsements? To get more endorsements, you have to give more endorsements. Start endorsing connections that you know, like, and trust and they will endorse you back!
I can’t wait for you to see more success with speaking engagements using LinkedIn! Let us know in the comments below on which tip really hit home for you!