This week, I did my signature workshop The Powerful Pitch at DX3, “Canada’s largest retail, DTC, and e-commerce conference.”

It was a bit of a shit-show:

• the “stage” was in the middle of the conference floor

• the audio was really low

• there was no clicker or movable mic

• and the speakers had to stand behind a lectern to change their slides and lean forward into the mic, or YELL to be heard

BUT, it went great! Here’s the feedback I got from Talkadot, my favourite tech tool for collecting feedback and leads*:

Later on, I’ll share the “business results”, but for now, I can say it was definitely worth it for me.

But how do I find these B2B conference speaking gigs?

There are 2 ways I do it:

1. Cold email

2. Submit for “Call For Speakers” online

Today, we’re looking at finding conference gigs through cold email

(We can do Call For Speakers next week, reply YES if you’d like me to cover this!)

Here’s the exact method I used to get this gig at DX3.

To do it:

1. Go to 10times.com/conferences

2. In the top left corner, find and click on the Calendar drop-down arrow, and at the bottom of the list, click “View More”:

3. Then, select a month AT LEAST 3-6 months away, and click on the button:

   

4. Once you find a conference you like, in your industry, and ideally near you geographically, click on it, and then find the Website button:

   

5. From the website, scroll down or look around until you find an EMAIL ADDRESS. This is often at the bottom of the page:

   

6. Copy and paste the address into Gmail or whatever, and use the FOLLOWING EMAIL TEMPLATE, that you’ve customized, to that address:

Hi {name}!

My name's {your first name}, I'm a {main job} and public speaker at events like {previous event #1} and {event #2}.

Wondering if you're accepting Speaker Submissions for your upcoming {conference name} in {city} in {month / year}.

My proposal would be a {keynote/workshop/breakout session} called {your talk title}, which helps {audience type/ICP} do {common activity} to {achieve outcome}, through {your unique way of doing it}.

I’ve {relevant accomplishment #1}, {relevant accomplishment #2}, and {relevant accomplishment #3}.

Let me know, and I’ll send you more info!

AND THAT’S IT!

This method is working for me to find B2B conferences pretty consistently,

Now, the question:

Is it worth it?

Here are my “business” results after getting offstage:

• 4 stage-side leads for 1:1 clients (worth $14K in potential business)

• Connections with leaders at MEC, T&T, and Zoho who saw me speak

• Warm lead for a conference in November

• 1 red-hot lead for Speaking Heroes 

• 1 sale of my book Transform Your Speaking Skills

• 4 new Greenblasters (hey guys!!)

• and a bunch of new LinkedIn followers

SO, even though it was unpaid, for me it was worth it.

I would say:

If you are a newer speaker, and the event is close to you, and they’re not asking YOU to pay, and the industry / audience is right for your business:

Do it.

If you need help, I’m here for ya.

That’s it for this week, you beautiful bastards!!

Greenblast… out 🚀

P.S. When you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Get unstuck & get onstage with a Speaking Strategy call

2. Join my community Speaking Heroes to for 2 hrs/week of group coaching

3. Or book an availability call for me to speak at your company