075: How to Get Booked and Paid to Speak: Interview with Grant Baldwin
Despite outranking death as a fear, public speaking is a popular life goal for many people. The next worse fear is explaining what they want to speak about. It seems strange to want to be a speaker and not know the why, what, or who behind the drive. Ther
Despite outranking death as a fear, public speaking is a popular life goal for many people. The next worse fear is explaining what they want to speak about.
It seems strange to want to be a speaker and not know the why, what, or who behind the drive. There’s an adrenaline rush when you get to connect with an audience, but you’ll fall flat without enough self-awareness.
As a full-time speaker, Grant Baldwin has presented at 400+ engagements to over 350,000 people. Grant knows his purpose, his message, and the best target market.
This week on The Portfolio Life, Grant and I talk about becoming a better speaker and a practical way to make a living with your message. Listen in as we discuss trial by fire and a specific audience that forces any speaker to improve.
Listen to the podcast
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The art of making a bold ask
A few months ago, we got the great idea to host the first ever Tribe Conference just outside of Nashville. Besides a venue and attendees, one of the essential elements of a conference is speakers.
For anyone who watched the closing keynote live or online via the stream, you know Grant killed it. He had the daunting task of being last in a lineup of great speakers and he brought us all home in style.
What you may not know is that I didn’t ask Grant to speak at Tribe Conference. In fact, before that afternoon at The Factory I’d never seen Grant speak live before.
So how did Grant land the closing keynote? He asked. There’s a little more to it than that, but making the ask played a major factor in Grant speaking at our event.
Grant has proven himself for years as a competent speaker with a portfolio of experience and skills. And perhaps even more valuable than that, we’re friends. Grant invested in relationship with no ulterior motives a year before Tribe Conference was even planned.
One of the things I find most interesting about successful speakers is their hustle for relationships. Even full-time speakers will give presentations for free knowing the return on that investment will pay strong dividends down the road.
I think Grant said it best during our interview:
Don’t go after gigs. Go after relationships. —Grant Baldwin
Show highlights
In this episode, Grant and I discuss:
The best thing about being a speaker
What practice does to prepare you for spontaneity
A trade secret to create a foolproof cue card
Practical ways to make a living with your message
Continuing the conversation around your content
Two essential marketing tools for every public speaker
How doing free gigs leads to large paid audiences
The art of hunting down leads
One type of speaker event planners want to book
Diversifying your portfolio of work
Quotes and Takeaways
”Nothing compares to getting in front of a live audience. It’s all theory until you get on stage.” —Grant Baldwin
The best speeches are practiced and rehearsed, but not scripted.
“People won’t know that you’re a speaker if you don’t tell them you’re a speaker.” —Grant Baldwin
You really don’t become something until you start doing it and acting like it.
“You want to be as good offstage as you’re onstage.” —Grant Baldwin
“Everybody starts at the same spot. Everybody starts at zero.” —Grant Baldwin
Resources
Booked and Paid to Speak webinar with Grant and Jeff
Get Started as a Speaker free course
How Did You Get Into That? podcast with Grant Baldwin
[specialbox]Bonus: Download the full transcript here.[/specialbox] Do you want to be a speaker? Who do you want to reach? What is holding you back? Share in the comments