The State of the Speaking Industry in 2024 with Erick Rheam
Jul 9, 2024
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Erick Rheam discusses the importance of expertise alignment in the speaking industry, focusing on relationships for client ROI, offering virtual services, and message tweaking for longevity. Emphasizes value creation, industry expertise leveraging, and income stream balancing.
Focus on aligning expertise with industry for clear ROI to succeed.
Build strong relationships with event planners for long-term value and growth.
Diversify revenue streams by offering virtual services and unique solutions.
Deep dives
The Speaking Industry Trends - High Demand for Keynotes and Workshops
One of the main trends in the speaking industry highlighted in the podcast is the high demand for various types of events such as keynotes, workshops, and breakouts. Legacy events, seasonal conferences, and niche events are growing stronger with record attendance, indicating a healthy speaking industry. Event planners are interested in deeper engagements like workshops, providing opportunities for relationship-driven speakers to thrive and offer long-term value. Industry-specific topics with clear ROI continue to be in demand.
Virtual Speaking Evolution - From Main Player to Supplement
The podcast delves into the evolving landscape of virtual speaking, emphasizing that while virtual components are here to stay, they now complement rather than replace physical speaking engagements. Virtual events offer opportunities for diverse industries like continuing education credits, streamlined communication for professionals, and backup plans for event planners. The adaptability and scalability of virtual speaking have become essential skills for speakers aiming to broaden their impact and revenue streams.
Strategic Speaker Diversification - Scaling Beyond Traditional Speaking Gigs
The importance of scaling beyond traditional speaking gigs is underscored, encouraging speakers to diversify their revenue sources by incorporating coaching, consulting, courses, and other ventures. The narrative highlights the significance of proactively providing solutions and adapting to client needs as a core strategy for expanding speaker offerings. Demonstrated through case studies, the evolution from solving specific client issues to scaling unique solutions underscores the necessity of being flexible and open to new opportunities.
Relationship Speaker Approach - Leveraging Personal Connections for Growth
Emphasizing the critical role of personal relationships in a speaker's success, the podcast advocates for cultivating strong connections with event planners and clients. The concept of being a 'relationship speaker' over an 'event speaker' involves leveraging close relationships to secure speaking opportunities and expand revenue streams. By focusing on the closest and most impactful relationships, speakers can navigate various career stages from initial bookings to scaling innovative solutions effectively.
Actionable Steps for Aspiring Speakers - Leveraging Relationships and Industry Insight
The podcast concludes with actionable steps for aspiring speakers, advising them to focus on building relationships and leveraging industry connections to secure speaking opportunities. By prioritizing connections with event planners and clients, speakers can navigate the dynamic speaking industry successfully. Encouragement is given to proactively reach out to key contacts, investing in personal connections to advance in the speaking business and capitalize on emerging trends.
"If you can align your expertise with a specific industry and then really bring tremendous value with a clear ROI, you're always going to win the game."
This week, Grant’s on the show with TSL legend Erick Rheam. We’re a little late to this year’s state of the speaking industry, but better late than never, right?
"It's not necessarily that budgets are cut, but what I would tell you is that event planners, they tend to be intentional with the money that they're spending. Instead of saying "I've got a $100,000 budget for this event," it's "Yeah, I've got $100,000, but I need to see a return on that $100,000."
In this episode, Grant and Erick get into:
00:00 Current trends in the speaking industry
06:06 Why do relationships matter more now than ever before?
07:32 How do you focus on building relationships?
11:20 The importance of offering a virtual service as part of your speaking business
15:51 The key to growth right now, even in a tough economy
19:44 Why you should focus on relationships and providing long-term solutions for your clients
21:50 How to leverage industry expertise to prove ROI
26:35 What it looks like to tweak your message to withstand the test of time.
28:00 The importance of iterating and meeting your client’s needs.
31:11 How to balance other streams of income + being on stage
35:28 How to get comfortable creating value for clients
36:44 Reflections and wrap up
"Something that is not attractive is desperation. And you could tell it, you could smell it from speakers — when they're just trying to get the gig, they're trying to get the money, as opposed to speakers who are like "Hey, I want to add value and I'm willing to go on a long term type of commitment with you."
