So You Want a Paid Speaking Gig? What Bookers Check First

Every week someone tells me the same thing: I am ready to speak, and I want to get paid. Then I pull up their LinkedIn, and the LinkedIn is not linking. In this episode of PR for 50+, I break down what corporations, universities, nonprofits and foundations actually check before they pay a speaker: a crystal clear message, a reputation that reaches beyond your own industry, video of you on a stage, media coverage they can pull up, and peers recommending you by name. We also get into the difference between branding and personal branding (no, it is not your logo or your website colors), why you are being compared to the person who has spent years building an audience online, how I match speakers to the right rooms using Generational Intelligence, and the sponsorship route most aspiring speakers never consider. And I say the thing somebody has to say to my Baby Boomers and Gen Xers: do not open with a $20,000 fee when no one outside your industry knows who you are yet. Track record first. Fee second. CHAPTERS 0:00 Welcome back 0:30 Why "paid" is not step one (Raggedy Foundations, revisited) 2:32 The readiness checklist bookers use 3:45 Video, media and peer recommendations 5:11 The competition you are really up against 6:32 Personal brand is not your logo 8:36 The right speaker for the right room 10:27 Track record first, then the fee