In order to get booked as a speaker, an essential tool is a one-page description of your speaking topic, and a capsule bio describing your expertise. The example below will give you a model to follow.

To approach a group about being a speaker, you need to develop a specific topic you would like to present. Your topic should be interesting, distinctive, and showcase your specialized expertise without being excessively self-promotional. It should also allow you to tell stories about your work and include examples of what you have done for clients. In this way, you can deliver valuable content to your audience and promote yourself effectively at the same time.

You will want to give your presentation topic an enticing title that will attract plenty of prospects when printed in a group’s newsletter or program announcement. Your brief description of the topic should give group organizers enough information to decide if they like it, and also be used to promote your talk once it is scheduled.

Your speaker’s bio should accompany your topic description. This can be the same professional biography you might display on your website or include in a marketing kit, with one important addition: include any prior speaking experience you have.

If you have only given one or two presentations, you might just add a line to your bio like, “Carlos Maldonado’s presentations have been well received by organizations such as the Miami Independent Computer Consultant’s Association and the South Florida Technology Consortium.” If your speaking experience is more extensive, consider listing the places you have spoken at the bottom of your bio or on a separate page.

It’s a good idea to include your website address, if you have one, in the bio you provide. If the group decides to invite you to speak, they will typically print your bio exactly as you wrote it. Then when the group’s members see your program advertised, they will know how to find you, and may visit your site even before your talk.

If you have never spoken in public and have no credits to list on your bio, don’t let that stop you. If you believe you can do a good job, go for it. You have to give your first talk sometime.

Here’s a sample speaking topic and bio you can use as a model:

Speak Like a Pro: Tips and Techniques to Become a Polished Presenter

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to stand in front of an audience of hundreds of people and hold them in complete captivation? Would you like to go into a presentation confident that they’re going to love you, and overhear comments afterwards such as “He was excellent,” or “she made a real connection with her audience?” This program offers proven tips that will help you speak like a pro… in a short time!

You will learn how to:

• Develop comfort and confidence
• Write and deliver a winning presentation
• Connect with your audience
• Persuade people to act on what you say
• Enroll clients to purchase your services and products

Your Presenter:
Sandra Schrift has spent 20-plus years working with over 1,500 professional speakers. She founded the first national professional speakers bureau in San Diego in 1982. Today she is a speech coach to executives who want to improve their presentation skills, as well as a career coach to both the emerging and veteran professional speaker who wants to grow a profitable speaking business. Sandra is also the founder of the first virtual university for emerging public speakers, Speakers University, which conducts ongoing teleclasses for anyone, anywhere in the English-speaking world. Find out more about Sandra at www.schrift.com.