Jaimie Abbott: Welcome to this week's episode of Pitch Perfect. If you were tuning in on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, g'day. Feel free to say hi in the comments and let me know where you are tuning in from. But if you are listening to this podcast, this is where we turn speaking into a payin gig, not just a passion project. I'm Jaimie Abbott and today we're diving into a question that could be the very thing holding you back from booking more paid gigs. Why your speaking topic isn't selling and how to fix it. Now, if you've ever wondered why you are not getting booked as a paid speaker, or why your email to event organisers is met with crickets, this episode is for you. Because the truth is, it's not about you. It could be about your topic. So let me take you back to one of my first ever speaking pictures. I was so excited, I'put together what I thought was a killer topic called the power of Positivity in the workplace. I thought, who wouldn't want that, right? But here's the kicker. Event organisers were not biting. Why? Because my topic was too vague, it was too broad. It didn't solve a specific problem for their audience. Now, it wasn't until I reframed my topic at the time to how leaders can use positive communication to reduce staff turnover by 25%. Then the booking started to roll in. So, same idea, but suddenly it became a must have instead of a nice to have. That was the game changer. ladies and gentlemen. So let's break down why your speaking topic might not be landing. And there, in my experience, are, usually three big culprits. Number one, it's too broad. So titles such as and I see this a lot with leadership coaches. There are a lot of leadership coaches who go through my paid to speak course. Doors are opening in October, by the way, I will give you the details at the end on how you can join the waitlist. I have a lot of leadership coaches who go through and they might have a topic such as leadership in the modern world or how to find your purpose. It sounds inspiring, but they're also very forgettable topics. An event planners want clarity and they want you to be specific. Number two, it's not about, it's not solving a problem. So remember, organisers aren't, booking you because they like you, yet they're booking you because you can solve a problem for their audience. And number three, your topic sounds like everyone else's. If your topic sounds like it could be anyone's keynote, you'll just get lost in the shuffle. You need an edge, a hook, a result. So think of it this way. Topics that sell are like headlines in a newspaper or on the tv. If your title doesn't make someone lean in and think, oh, we need that at our event, well, it's back to the drawing board. Okay, so how do we fix this? How do we create a speaking topic that not only gets you booked for, gets you paid? Let's go step by step. Number one, find the pain point. So ask yourself, what's keeping this audience awake at night? So for corporates, that could be retention, productivity, stress. For entrepreneurs it could be visibility, sales, scaling. And for educators, it could be engagement, burnout, innovation. Quantify the outcome is number two. Instead of building confidence, say three confidence hacks that doubles your sales call success rate. I just made that up. so that gives you an example of how you can turn something vague into very specific and outcomes based. Number three, add a unique angle. So bring in your personal experience. Maybe you're a former journalist like myself. You might be a military officer, a CEO, a teacher. How does your story change the way people learn this? Number four, test your topic before pitching. Post it on LinkedIn, do a poll, run a workshop teaser. If you get crickets, you need to sharpen it. Number five, package it all up for decision makers. Create a speaker's menu. So maybe a one pager. And I do teach this in Paid to speak. A one pager with your top three topics. Many years ago I used to say have three to five. Now it's one to three. The more specific and less options you give the client, the more successful you are going to be. Each one of your topics you want to have a punchy title, a subtitle and three bullet point takeaways. Decision makers love clarity. So instead of say resilience in business, try bouncing back bigger. How small businesses can turn setbacks into revenue growth. Growth. Suddenly it's really sellable. So hopefully you're getting the picture now. And how you can change your topic to be sellable and to pitch it successfully. Let's share a few client transformations that I have seen. I've been doing this now, teaching paid speakers how to really charge 10k plus. For the last three and a half years I have seen one client, she had a topic called the future of work. After we tweaked it, it became the future of work five skills your team must master to stay employable by 2030. That landed three corporate gigs in one month. Another client and this is something I see a lot. Had a topic such as Women in leadership. We reframed that topic to the hidden mistakes stopping women from reaching the C suite and how to overcome them. That one had HR directors lining up. See the difference? It's about being specific, having urgency and outcomes. Here is your homework this week. Take your current speaking topic, whether you've already been pitching or if you've got it in your head something in mind. Ask yourself what problem does this solve? Add what result will the audience walk away with? And then make it really specific. Well, specific enough that an organiser can picture their audience'pain disappearing after hearing your keynote. Allrigh so that's it. A very short episode this week. Thank you for tuning in. How you are watching this on social media or listening to this through Spotify or Apple and we're talking today about why your speaking topic isn't selling and how to fix it. If you want to know more, my next Paid to Speak course is opening in October. You can go to jamieabt.com.au paidtoseak or paidtospeak.com.au should land you there as well and you can be the first to jump in 72 hours before doors close. And if you join the course from the waitlist, you'll also score a one on one session with me. That's the only way you can score that one on one session from the waitist when doors open to Paid to Speak. Remember, your job isn't to inspire people with pretty words. Your job is to solve problems and deliver transformation. Do that and the bookings and the paychecks will follow. If you found this helpful, I'd love for you to share this episode. Share it on socials, give it a five star review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Share it with a friend who's perhaps dreaming of becoming a paid speaker. And don't forget I also have tickets available for Paid to Speak Live. I'm presenting a full day in person live workshop in Newcastle on the 17th of October. You can go to jamieabbot.com.au paidt toeak live. Grab your ticket before they're gone. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Jaimie Abbott and I'll catch you next time on Pitch Perfect.
