The SPEAKER SHIFT: Presenting During the Pandemic

Many businesses were hit hard over the past couple of years. The statistics surrounding entrepreneurs have been especially staggering. I will spare you the gory details, but a quick Google search will provide all of the numbers.

The speaking industry changed overnight in 2020 when the world shut down. Many speakers’ incomes were based on live events and those that weren’t able to pivot quickly during quarantine found their bank accounts diminishing rapidly. Some speaking businesses did not survive.

Others thrived!

The savior of the speaking world arrived in the form of Zoom. Thank you, Eric Yuan! Those that were able to create online communities, summits, and content found that they could reach even more people in less time and with less money spent on travel expenses. Their messages could reach the world from the comfort of their own home!

But, some got too comfortable. For a while, online events seemed like a trend that would last until the world began to wake up again. However, the reality is that humans crave personal interaction. After being isolated, many wanted to attend live events again and look into someone’s eyes without a screen in the way. So, live events started making a comeback.

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Enter Delta and another round of regulations about meeting in person. What the +*&%!

At this point, you may be thinking, “What’s the point of reviewing all this?”

The point is this – no one knows for sure what is going to happen, but there are certain constants that have allowed some speakers to create a powerful impact and income, even during a time of uncertainty. Here is what I recommend.

CREATE YOUR OWN PLATFORMS:

Things are crazy right now as an entrepreneur. There are many things that aren’t in your control. Relying on speaking on someone else’s platform or stage is one of them. Who knows if the event will get canceled or postponed.

So, what can you do? My suggestion is to create your own events and platforms. Even if you can’t control what is going on in the world, you can look at the trends and take control of what you think might work. You can decide if you want your event to be live or virtual and can choose whether it is a solo event or if you want to invite other presenters to contribute.

A trend I see that is really working right now is to create a free 1-2 hour virtual masterclass from which you can schedule one-on-one calls to fill your programs. Masterclasses are short so more people are likely to attend and they are focused solely on you and what you have to offer so there is no in-house competition. For a short discussion on how you can create a fill a masterclass, you can schedule a consultation with me at www.schedulewithallison.com.

Besides events and masterclasses, you can create a podcast, magazine, or even a series on YouTube. There are so many options that will allow you to be the master of your own destiny.

BE FLEXIBLE:

I know that it feels great to have a year’s worth of events planned out, but during the uncertainty of a pandemic, having a long-term plan that you are attached to is one of the worst business strategies as a speaker.

If you are banking on the income from a live event and the world gets shut down, what are you going to do? If you have virtual events planned out for the year and the world starts opening back up and people are experiencing Zoom fatigue, your attendance numbers and subsequent sales could be super low.

So, what should you do? The speakers and coaches I have seen be most successful during the past couple of years have reassessed every 2-3 months and planned their events according to the needs of the groups they are serving. If people are craving to gather in person, they put safety measures in place and make it happen. If their audience wants to stay home and avoid travel and crowds, they create a virtual space to gather.

GROW YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA:

More people than ever are online. Now is the time to polish your social media and use it as a platform to share your message. My advice would be to focus on the 2 or 3 social media platforms where you would find most of your ideal clients. Make sure that you have a good profile picture and an accurate description of who you are and what you do.

Now you can start to post all of your really good content. Don’t worry about giving too much information. The more you give, the better. Videos are trending right now, so you can even use your own social media as your stage to get your message out to the world.

There are some important things to take into consideration when growing your social media platforms, including algorithms, friend limits, and time restrictions in relation to the length of your live videos. The bottom line is to find what is already working for you and make it work even better.

Hopefully, you have gotten some great ideas here that will allow you to shift as a speaker during these times of uncertainty. Just remember that, although the world seems to be changing rapidly, change is not a bad thing. In fact, it can work in your favor if you are willing to create your own platforms, be flexible and grow your social media!.[/blur]

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Allison H Larsen

Founder of The Speakers Coalition

Allison is an international keynote speaker, mentor, TV host of the cable show Spotlight, Founder of The Speakers Coalition, and author. She is the host of Spotlight: The Allison Larsen Show, and she also does weekly soul activation calls with her clients. She is the #1 bestselling author of Soul Intuition: The Sacred Practice of Connecting to Your God-Given Spiritual Gifts.

Allison has shared the stage with Les Brown, Ryan Long, David T. Fagan, James Dentley, and Gerald Rogers. She has done everything from being a mother of 4 with a reach of 2,000 to speaking on stages and hosting retreats, gaining her over 2 million. When she isn’t hosting retreats in Utah, she can be seen traveling the world and spreading her message and light

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