Rat Race Armaggeddon: A Guide to Building a Sustainable Speaking Career

Friday, September 17, 2021

A Guide to Building a Sustainable Speaking Career

A Guide to Building a Sustainable Speaking Career written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with Michael Port and Andrew Davis

andrew-davis-michael-port In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Michael Port and Andrew Davis. Andrew Davis is a best-selling author keynote speaker. He’s also worked with the Muppets. I’m also joined by Michael Port his co-author of a book called Referable Speaker: Your Guide to Building a Sustainable Speaking Career—No Fame Required.

Key Takeaway:

What’s the formula for building a sustainable career as a speaker? That’s the question Michael Port and Andrew Davis set out to answer in their book, The Referable Speaker. Most advice out there tells you to spend a ton of time building your personal brand to generate more speaking opportunities. Write a blog, record podcasts, post on Instagram, and upload to YouTube. You share your expertise and insight freely. All of that hard work might get you one gig. But if you’ve been in the industry long enough, you know that you don’t actually get speaking gigs, you earn them. And you earn them by being referable.

In this episode, Michael Port and Andrew Davis show you why you need to stop investing in marketing yourself as a great speaker and start investing in your speech. Because, unless you’re famous, event organizers won’t buy you (or your personal brand). They’ll buy your speech, then your idea, then you―in that order.

Questions I ask Michael Port and Andrew Davis:

[2:15] Would you say the book is really about being a better speaker, having a better speech, and being more referable?
[3:07] Can you explain the first idea in the book – the speech is the cake?
[4:59] Why do you only need one killer speech?
[6:37] Would you say that a hard part for a lot of speakers is that some hired gigs want them to customize their speeches?
[7:56] Would you say the measure of success of your speech is whether or not you’re getting referred for new speaking opportunities?
[10:47] Are you making the case that this book is for somebody that is a keynote speaker wanting to go to the next level or is this for somebody that’s just starting out?
[11:23] How do you find your first speaking gigs?
[14:13] How do you get to make that transition to speaking gigs where people are there to be entertained or inspired not learn a specific skill?
[19:37] Does there need to be theater or entertainment in your performance?
[24:26] How can people learn more about your work together, individually, your book, etc.?