What Speaker Bureaus Actually Do (And Why Joining One Won't Get You Booked) | Dominic Eldred-Earl from London Speaker Bureau

John: 00:00:00

Every speaker gets told the same advice: join the bureaus, get

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on the database, wait for the phone

to ring, and then it doesn't ring.

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Most speakers assume that

means the bureau failed them.

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today's guest books speakers for a living,

and he's going to explain exactly why

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that assumption is wrong, how a bureau's

internal database actually ranks you,

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and the one unglamorous shortcut that

gets you seen before you've built a name.

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Dominic Eldredell works with London

Speaker Bureau and is also a speaker

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himself, so he sits on both sides of this.

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If you've ever wondered why joining

a bureau didn't change anything,

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this episode is the answer.

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Welcome to Professional Speaking.

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This is the show for people who

are serious about speaking and

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becoming known, booked, and paid.

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My name's John Ball, professional

speaking coach, keynote speaker, and

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stand-up comedian, and sci-fi nerd.

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I'm here as your guide on the journey

to a successful speaking career

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Welcome to the show and, well,

big welcome into the virtual

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studio for Dominic Eldred Earl.

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Dominic Eldred-Earl:

Thank you very much, John.

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Looking forward to it

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John: It's great to have you on the show,

and I, I think this is a first for this

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show, Professional Speaking, because I

don't think I've had anyone from a speaker

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bureau or who's involved with speaker

bureaus before on the show as well.

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Now, I know that you are involved

with the London Speaker Bureau, but

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you're also a, a speaker as well.

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And, I really wanted to start off with,

getting us a better, clearer understanding

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of what speaker bureaus are and what they

aren't, because I think a lot of speakers

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are a little uncertain or confused about

what speaker bureaus do or don't do

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: Oh, absolutely.

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Yes, it is, it is a mystical

world, shall we say.

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yeah, I mean, for speakers, I,

I guess you could say there's

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essentially three routes to market.

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So there is directly doing all the

legwork yourself, finding your own

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gigs, getting out there, getting your

referrals and everything, that sort

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of thing, which is one way to do it,

and is the way that the majority of

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speakers start off with, to be fair.

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After that, you then have the world

of speaker agents and speaker bureaus.

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Now, there is, there is a distinction

between those two, or at least there

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is in my world and my perception of

them, in that agents will take on a

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smaller portfolio of speakers who they

then will go out and sell, and they'll

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either sell them directly to end clients,

or they will sell them to bureaus.

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And here's where the bureau comes

in and is distinct from the agent,

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because the bureau is client-focused.

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They are booker-focused.

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They are not speaker-focused,

to some degree.

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There is a bit of overlap between the two.

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So a bureau will essentially get in briefs

from clients, and they will then go to

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their large, big, black book, which has

a whole plethora of speakers in it, to

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find which are the best for that client.

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Now, whereas agencies may well look

to specialize in certain types of

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speakers, the chances are that a bureau

will, will deal with a much wider

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variety of speakers, all the way from

politicians and economists through to

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wellbeing and after-dinner talent and,

and all sorts of things like that.

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So hopefully that gives an

idea of the, the sort of spaces

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John: No, it really does, and that,

that's a very helpful answer as well.

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let, let me ask you this 'cause I, I come

across a number of people who when I ask

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them things like, "Well, what are you

doing to get speaking gigs at the moment?"

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Often one of the answers I'll get

is, "Well, I've joined loads of

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speaking bureaus," and they're

not really getting gigs from that.

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let me ask you, why might it be that

they've joined speaker bureaus and they're

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not getting a lot of work from that?

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: Ah, yes.

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The, the myth that if you join a

bureau you're gonna-- suddenly your

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speaking diary's going to be full.

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I don't know, am I allowed

to plug a book here?

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Not

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John: course.

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Please do.

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: for anyone

listening who hasn't already seen

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it, I can highly recommend Maria

Franzoni's The Bookability Formula book.

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I mean, that, that will take you through

a lot of this and a lot of the business

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side of speaking, which to be fair,

a, a lot of speakers potentially do

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not understand and that, and, and you

demonstrate with that question, you know.

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Why, why when I've got myself on

all these bureaus am I not getting

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called in to speak everywhere?

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As I said, you know, a bureau is, is

more booker focused than speaker focused.

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So it's probably easiest if I

explain the process that happens

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when a, a brief comes from a client.

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So brief comes in from the client,

the first place a consultant

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will go to will be their head.

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Who do they already know

who can fill this brief?

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And as that's the first place

they go, they're going to hit on

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to people that they already know,

like, and trust to do the job.

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And if they don't know about you,

then you're not in that first

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sort of filtering of people.

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then they'll go to the database, and

they'll run a whole set of filters on,

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you know, fees, location, topics, all

those sorts of things on the database.

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And the database that I use typically

comes up with whoever has been

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booked most recently at the top.

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So if you're new to a speaker

bureau, and you've not been booked

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by that speaker bureau yet, you

are not gonna be in that list.

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You're gonna be way off at

the bottom of it 'cause you

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have not yet got any bookings.

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So I'm not gonna find you there either.

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The most likely way I'm gonna get to

find you is if I haven't been successful

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with the client with the ones I've

suggested so far, and I then post on

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the internal sort of blog thing and

say, "Hey, I've got this brief, my

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client's looking for this sort of thing.

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Who, who can you think of?"

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And somebody else mentions you.

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And will only happen if they

happen to have read the blog

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and all that sort of thing.

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So just by getting the, the marketing

department or someone at a bureau

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to add you to their database does

not mean that everybody in the

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organization then knows about you

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John: Of

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: It's that next

stage of getting to be known by the

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other consultants in the bureau that is

one of the most difficult things to do.

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But there are some shortcuts

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John: Oh, good.

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Let's l- I definitely

wanna hear what they are

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: The shortcut.

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Well, you remember that second stage

that I mentioned to you is we go to the

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database, and we search the database

based on keyword and, and other filters,

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and who comes up at the top is those

who've been booked most recently.

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You might be seeing where I'm going here.

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John: Mm-hmm.

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: So if you're a

speaker, if you've got an incoming

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inquiry, and if you're willing to pass it

over to the bureau to deal with to secure

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that booking, you then suddenly appear

in that list of most recently booked

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speakers for that sort of search criteria.

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So you will be up top of the list.

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You will be essentially on that first

page of Google as it, as it used to be.

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I don't, I don't know what it is

nowadays with all the, the AI searching

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John: I have no idea either.

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: I know, you

know, the, the first page of Google

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used to be the target, but, so yeah.

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So that's essentially the

way to, to shortcut that

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getting up the, the listings.

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Now, of course, there is a cost to that

because bureaus don't work for free.

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John: Of

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: We do have to

make a minimum sort of margin on the

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jobs that we do in order to make it

worthwhile, A, for our time, and B,

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for the admin staff who deal with

it and all of that sort of stuff.

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So there, there, there is a

margin that we need to make on

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it, so it needs to be viable.

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And you know, I've worked in all sorts of

situations, so I have had speakers who've

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come to me, they've passed me a brief, and

it's been a decent budget that they've had

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from the client, so you know, everybody's

been able to take something from it.

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I have also had speakers who've come

to me, and their client only has a

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really low budget, but they were happy

to not take a fee in order to do the

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job through the bureau so that they

would appear on the, on the list.

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So there's, there's a, there's

a number of ways to sort of,

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shall we say, game the system

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John: Right.

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but I'm cur- I, I'm definitely curious

about this, and I wanna dig a little

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deeper into it, because I'm also kind of

thinking, well, I have, I've also come

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across some speakers who said, well,

they've, they've, sometimes been offered

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gigs from the speaker bureaus that maybe

not high-paid gigs, but, just something

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that's got them booked somewhere.

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But oft- sometimes they've had to create,

create a talk for it to fit the brief

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'cause it doesn't really fit with the,

the stuff that they've already got.

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Seems like a lot of work for not

a lot of money, but it gets you

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onto that being perhaps being

more noticed sort of aspect of it.

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So I can see, I can see benefit from that.

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But what about speakers who, I guess

there must be speakers who come to you

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whose brand, whose maybe lane isn't

quite always so clear to be able to

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really fit them into, "All right.

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Oh, right, this is really

what they're about."

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what happens with, with people

whose maybe haven't quite

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figured out their positioning?

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: I would

say in that case, they are

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not ready to talk to a bureau.

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To be honest, time is precious.

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So those in the bureau, the people

they're gonna remember for the

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jobs they're gonna put forward are

the ones who have clear messaging.

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It is, it is worth doing that little

bit of niche, niching down to know

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exactly what your target market is.

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You know, what, what sort of people

you wanna get in front of, what

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it is that you're passionate about

that you're gonna be speaking

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about, and, and to make it clear.

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Because if you can't make it what

you're talking about clear to a, to

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a booker, to a consultant in the, in

the bureau, they're not gonna know

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how to talk to you, talk to clients

about you in an effective way.

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if, if we don't fully understand what

the message is, there, there's no way we

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can actually start putting them forward.

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get clear.

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Don't be fuzzy

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John: So that, so that makes it,

the bureau is probably not the

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first step you take when you're

breaking into the speaking world.

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There's a few things to figure out first.

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I think that's really important

to, to recognize that there are-

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there's a time that it's gonna

be right to join the bureau.

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Now is…

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I can't remember if this is when I

chatted with her on the show or, or

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another chat with, with Maria, but, she

had indicated somewhere that probably

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the speaker fees that make things

worthwhile for speaker bureaus to really

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look at would be, like, somewhere in

the range of 8,000 plus per- for a gig.

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Is that somewhere in the right ballpark

for what you're seeing as well?

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: Not necessarily.

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I mean, certainly that sort of

fee, yeah, very much like to

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work within that sort of area.

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The market at the moment is a

little bit more contracted, and it's

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certainly very turbulent at the moment.

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It, you know, we…

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I've had several, and I know some of

my colleagues have had several things

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where it's literally been all good,

all 100% going ahead until we've sent

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them the form to sign, and then it's

like, "Oh no, sorry, we've canceled it,

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we've postponed it, we've done this."

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it's rough out there at the moment.

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In terms of fees though, I mean, I

suppose a client fee anywhere from

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2,000 pounds upwards can be worked with.

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Obviously, at the 2,000 pound from

the client level, then the percentage

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that the bureau will want of that is

gonna be higher than an 8,000 level.

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Because, as I say, you know,

there is a minimum level that we

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need to achieve in order to, to

cover costs to make it worthwhile.

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So I, I would say if it, if the fees

are 2,000 plus, it's probably workable

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depending on how much of that the, the

speaker actually wants to walk away with

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John: Yeah.

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Now, that, that's really helpful, and I

think that will give p- a lot of people

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a much clearer understanding of, of where

speaker bureaus fit into the, into the

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booking process for people, and where it

would be useful to work with you as well.

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I do remember, back in my Speaker Lab

days when, being introduced to a US

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bureau and, they did a presentation for

the whole team there and, and one of

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the things they said with their bureau

was really they weren't so interested

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in, in having people come to them

unless you already had a bit of a name.

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Like you were already kind of…

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There was some buzz around you.

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There was, people act- actively

searching for you and wanting you.

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Like if they'd had a, if they'd had

people calling them up and saying,

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"Can you get us this speaker?"

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That would be someone that they

would look to, to get on the books.

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Now, I can see that, that, that's probably

a huge advantage, for getting into it,

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but a lot of people would have to do a

fair bit of work to get to that point.

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But d- do you see that still happening

in a lot, a lot in the bureau that

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p- there's buzz around certain people

or topics, and when they come in

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it, it makes it much, much easier to

get people, out there into the gigs?

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: Absolutely.

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Absolutely.

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I mean, if you've ever watched Dragon's

Den or Shark Tank or anything like

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that, the people who get investment

are those who already have proven that

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they can do what they're talking about.

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And it's, it's exactly the same thing

in the, in the speaker world, in the

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speaker bureau world especially, is

that if you are in demand, then you

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are more of a marketable commodity.

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So I, I, I would say, you know, it's,

it's that kind of, Mary Poppins or if

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you're more modern, Nanny McPhee kind

of situation whereby, you know, when,

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when you want-- when speakers want a

bureau because they want to get more

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speaker bookings, chances are the bureau

potentially doesn't want them so much

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because they're not that well-known.

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But then when you're a well-known

speaker and you no longer really need the

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speaker bureaus, you know, that's when

the speaker bureaus are more interested

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because, because you are more in demand.

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there are very good reasons to

use a bureau, we can, we can

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look at some of those if you like

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John: Yeah, I would, I

would appreciate that.

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Like, is it, you, you, you kind of

said, like, some of the sort of more

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well-known people perhaps don't really

need a speaker bureau, but might they

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still benefit from, from working with you?

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Dominic Eldred-Earl: Totally.

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Totally, totally.

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And there's, there's, there are

a number of reasons for that.

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One is the, especially in the larger

corporates, the, the buying and the

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onboarding process for accounting can

be an absolute pain in the backside.

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Chances are the speaker bureau may

already be an onboarded supplier

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with the larger corporates, so it

just makes things so much easier.

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The other thing is with speaker bureaus,

I think pretty much the majority of them

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insist that they have the speaker fee from

the client before the event takes place.

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Now, being a third party essentially

to the negotiations, the speaker

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bureau actually has more leverage to

do that than the speaker, 'cause it's

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very easy for, for the end client

to say to the speaker, "Oh, you

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know, can-- we're tight on finances.

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Can we pay you post-event?"

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And that, that's always a, a little

bit sort of questionable, because

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obviously once once you've been there,

once you've delivered the value, I

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mean, obviously they'll appreciate the

value that you'll deliver 'cause you're

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always gonna be an excellent speaker.

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However, there, there is that potential

for them to either delay payment or

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be re- yeah, be really slow, or in

the worst cases, not actually pay.

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I can say in, in the 12 years that I have

been booking speakers, there has only

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been one case of us not getting in the

full fee for the speaker, and even in

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that case, we did get over half the fee.

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and it was because the company, it was an

events company, they'd put on a ticketed

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event, and essentially it had been a

last-minute rushed booking, so we'd kind

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of gone, "Yeah, okay, if we have to."

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And, yeah, they folded and

didn't pay all their bills.

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But, there were, there were speakers who

were left with a, a lot more out of pocket

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than the one that I was working for.

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John: Oh, right.

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Well, yeah, I, I guess those things

are gonna happen in business,

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but, I mean, good that it's…

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it seems that it's been very contained.

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Like, you haven't had a lot of that, but

it's probably really stood out for you

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where, on the time when it has happened.

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hope not, not such a common thing, though.

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I mean, I, I think it's one of the bits

of common advice that is nearly always

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given to speakers of get paid upfront,

but like you said, there's maybe always

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: 00:16:55

gonna be those exceptional or last-minute

situations where you make some, make some

289

: 00:16:59

exceptions and say, "All right, well, this

one time," and that could go either way.

290

: 00:17:04

So you never really want to be in

the position of chasing payments,

291

: 00:17:08

but, yeah, some- sometimes you…

292

: 00:17:10

it's unavoidable.

293

: 00:17:12

So, so is there a, is there perhaps

a sense of the speaker bureaus

294

: 00:17:18

are perhaps best suited for?

295

: 00:17:20

If you're not, like, big-name speaker,

is, like, what would still be, uh,

296

: 00:17:25

like, the value of that or what would

still be a good fit for a bureau?

297

: 00:17:31

Dominic Eldred-Earl:

In, in terms of, I think

298

: 00:17:38

who has a clear message which

is marketable and can show that

299

: 00:17:42

they have a clear market has

potential to work with a bureau.

300

: 00:17:47

I guess where working with somebody

like London Speaker Bureau especially

301

: 00:17:52

is useful is because we do have a very

global network of speaker consultants.

302

: 00:17:59

So if you're, if you're interested in

sort of branching out into more global

303

: 00:18:04

speaking, then a bureau can certainly

help to do that because obviously they

304

: 00:18:09

will have more knowledge about local

marketplaces than, than you might be

305

: 00:18:14

able to achieve yourself depending

on your sort of background and, and

306

: 00:18:17

knowledge of that sort of thing.

307

: 00:18:19

So I would say that was, that was another

reason to potentially look at a bureau.

308

: 00:18:25

John: Mm-hmm.

309

: 00:18:29

No, I th- I th- I think kind of.

310

: 00:18:30

It's, it's sort of like, well, what

perhaps sits as the best sort of type

311

: 00:18:33

of client for you other than the,

the, the big names, and I think that

312

: 00:18:37

pretty much gives an idea of that.

313

: 00:18:39

let me ask you this.

314

: 00:18:40

I'm, I'm, I'm curious just 'cause,

you know, back in, pandemic times

315

: 00:18:44

and all that when lockdowns and

things, we're doing lots of virtual.

316

: 00:18:47

Are you still seeing much demand

for virtual through the bureaus or,

317

: 00:18:51

or is it pretty much all in person?

318

: 00:18:56

Dominic Eldred-Earl: 95%

is in person again now.

319

: 00:18:59

However, what we are seeing a lot more

is that events are running hybrid.

320

: 00:19:04

So they will get the speaker in the

room, and you will address the audience

321

: 00:19:10

in the room, but at the same time, they

will be either recording it for people

322

: 00:19:15

to watch later, or they will be live

streaming it to people in other offices

323

: 00:19:19

or other locations around the world.

324

: 00:19:21

And that, you know, that's also a, a

cost saving for them in terms of not

325

: 00:19:26

having to get everybody into a location

and, and move people around the world

326

: 00:19:30

and all that sort of downtime for them.

327

: 00:19:32

So in some respects, it is, it is

important that speakers work not only

328

: 00:19:39

on their stage presence and their

ability to present and captivate people

329

: 00:19:43

within a room, but also to be aware

of the fact that if there is a camera,

330

: 00:19:49

if there is a remote audience, you do

need to give them some attention too.

331

: 00:19:53

So make sure that if you're in a room

where they're doing either filming

332

: 00:19:58

or hybrid, that you treat the camera

as another person, and that you do

333

: 00:20:05

take the effort to make eye contact

with the camera so that the people

334

: 00:20:10

who are there don't feel left out

335

: 00:20:12

John: Yeah.

336

: 00:20:13

Okay, good, good to know.

337

: 00:20:15

And, now he- here's a maybe a, an

interesting question 'cause I do sometimes

338

: 00:20:19

come across people who sort of think, they

can speak on anything and then they come

339

: 00:20:23

to want to work with someone like me and

say, "Oh, point me to where the money is.

340

: 00:20:27

Where should I go and speak?"

341

: 00:20:28

Which is like, oh no, I

don't like the sound of…

342

: 00:20:31

I don't like react very well

to that question in general.

343

: 00:20:33

But I think we probably all know

that there are hotter areas than

344

: 00:20:37

others and, and some areas that

maybe are or have gone a bit cold.

345

: 00:20:41

But what, what are you seeing as

perhaps the, the trends and the hot

346

: 00:20:45

areas and perhaps stuff that has cooled

off or maybe gone completely cold

347

: 00:20:49

in the speaking world at the moment?

348

: 00:20:55

Dominic Eldred-Earl: That

is another good question.

349

: 00:20:57

And the thing is, at the end of the

day, there is demand out there for all

350

: 00:21:01

topics, as you say, some more than others.

351

: 00:21:05

Certainly politics, geopolitics,

economics, and the state of the

352

: 00:21:10

world is something that people are

very interested in at the moment.

353

: 00:21:13

But at the other end of the scale,

there is a lot of interest in

354

: 00:21:17

wellbeing and mental health and, and

all those sorts of things as well.

355

: 00:21:21

I suppose sustainability and the

sort of more, shall we say, people

356

: 00:21:30

and planet-friendly ways of doing

things potentially has taken a bit

357

: 00:21:32

of a back seat with the, the current

governments that are out there.

358

: 00:21:37

However, it's, it is still a place

where people want to know more about

359

: 00:21:43

because it will come back around, and

the organizations who are in a position

360

: 00:21:50

to take advantage of it will do better.

361

: 00:21:53

Apart from anything else, it's

just the right thing to do,

362

: 00:21:56

especially if you've got children

or grandchildren, you know, we…

363

: 00:21:59

I, I think one of the biggest, potentially

one of the biggest mistakes that was,

364

: 00:22:04

has been made around climate change

is the labeling of save the planet.

365

: 00:22:07

It, it's got nothing to

do with saving the planet.

366

: 00:22:09

This, this ball of rock and gas that we

live on will continue on hurtling through

367

: 00:22:14

the universe, whether we're on it or not.

368

: 00:22:16

it has to do with, you know, saving

the, the people, saving humanity, which

369

: 00:22:21

is, something which needs a little

bit more focus, but that's, that's

370

: 00:22:25

an entirely different conversation.

371

: 00:22:26

But in…

372

: 00:22:27

I would say don't chase topics.

373

: 00:22:31

Absolutely don't chase topics.

374

: 00:22:32

Be aware of what is hot.

375

: 00:22:34

So yes, AI is a hot topic, and

it is gonna stay a hot topic.

376

: 00:22:38

However, what is more important is

to understand the implications of

377

: 00:22:43

AI on what is your core specialty.

378

: 00:22:48

So if you talk about leadership, if

you talk about wellbeing, if you talk

379

: 00:22:53

about communication, if you talk about

branding, those are your key topics.

380

: 00:22:58

Those are your focus areas.

381

: 00:22:59

That is where you are the expert.

382

: 00:23:01

Do not step out of your lane.

383

: 00:23:04

However, if you can say how AI is

having an influence on that sort of

384

: 00:23:10

thing, that is where the value lies.

385

: 00:23:12

So stay with your expert topic,

but understand how the outside

386

: 00:23:17

world sort of influences it

387

: 00:23:19

John: Yeah.

388

: 00:23:21

Just, I mean, th-this may be hopefully

is, is a quick sidebar, but in terms

389

: 00:23:24

of the, sort of expert positioning kind

of thing, what are some of the things

390

: 00:23:30

that make people an expert that other

than qualifications and degrees and

391

: 00:23:37

master's degrees and, that's b- being

known in certain, c- certain industries?

392

: 00:23:43

Are there other things that might

qualify people as experts as well?

393

: 00:23:51

Dominic Eldred-Earl: It really

has to do with how, how well

394

: 00:23:53

you're known for your topic

395

: 00:23:57

How, how visible you are

and how well you're known.

396

: 00:24:00

Because if you're not known for your

topic, then people aren't either gonna

397

: 00:24:05

request you or put you forward for it.

398

: 00:24:08

So it, it really is a matter of being

visible for what you want to talk about.

399

: 00:24:14

I think it's as simple as that really

400

: 00:24:16

John: Yeah.

401

: 00:24:16

So, so somebody who just regularly gets

up and speaks about a good topic and

402

: 00:24:21

starts to become known for that would

probably at some point start to be

403

: 00:24:26

considered an expert in that because

people have heard them speaking about it

404

: 00:24:31

Dominic Eldred-Earl: Absolutely.

405

: 00:24:32

And,

406

: 00:24:34

unfortunately, it, it is one of those

things, it's not necessarily the most

407

: 00:24:38

expert expert who gets booked the most

to talk about something because if

408

: 00:24:42

they're, as I say, if they're not visible,

then, you know, people don't know that

409

: 00:24:46

this is, is the person to put forward.

410

: 00:24:49

I, whenever I'm doing a proposal, I

always try and stick in a bit of a wild

411

: 00:24:54

card of somebody who I know will be able

to cover off on a topic that, that the

412

: 00:25:00

organization may well not have heard of.

413

: 00:25:02

John: Mm-hmm.

414

: 00:25:03

Dominic Eldred-Earl: So to…

415

: 00:25:04

I, I like to try and give sort

of new, new talent or different

416

: 00:25:08

talent, that step forward

417

: 00:25:12

John: W- what are, what are the visibility

signals that you're looking for?

418

: 00:25:15

Like what makes somebody visible, like

clearly visible in the marketplace?

419

: 00:25:22

Dominic Eldred-Earl: A lot of it

is LinkedIn presence at the moment,

420

: 00:25:26

and it's not just you post a lot.

421

: 00:25:31

You have to post with value, and there

has to be visible sort of interaction from

422

: 00:25:39

other people, not just other speakers.

423

: 00:25:42

Ideally, you know, you see…

424

: 00:25:45

What, what's great see is successful

posting of events that speakers have done,

425

: 00:25:50

and then especially if there are comments

below it from people who've been at the

426

: 00:25:54

event to say, "Oh yeah, this was great.

427

: 00:25:56

We really enjoyed it,"

and that sort of stuff.

428

: 00:25:57

That, that gives it a little bit of sort

of social proof around, you know, the

429

: 00:26:01

fact that they can actually do and deliver

430

: 00:26:05

John: Yeah.

431

: 00:26:06

So, so primarily LinkedIn is one of

the places that, that bureaus would

432

: 00:26:10

be looking, but they are looking for,

I guess, community and for people

433

: 00:26:15

beyond just your, your speaker network

to be interacting with your content

434

: 00:26:20

and, and seeing what you're doing

435

: 00:26:23

Dominic Eldred-Earl: Yes.

436

: 00:26:23

Yeah.

437

: 00:26:24

I mean, testimonials and, and

knowing from clients who we know

438

: 00:26:29

who they've had speak at events.

439

: 00:26:31

I mean, whenever I put forward a brief

for a, a speaker, I will always check with

440

: 00:26:35

the client as to what speakers they've

had previously, you know, who they had,

441

: 00:26:39

what they were like, what sort of things

they like and all that sort of stuff.

442

: 00:26:42

So it, it may well be that whilst

you might not be showing up on social

443

: 00:26:50

media or might not be on my particular

feed, that because I've spoken to

444

: 00:26:56

a client and they've, they've said,

"Oh yeah, we had this person last

445

: 00:26:59

year and they did a really good job.

446

: 00:27:00

You know, this is the type of thing

we like," that that will bring

447

: 00:27:04

someone to my attention as well.

448

: 00:27:05

So it's, it's always worth making sure you

leave with a, a very positive impression

449

: 00:27:11

and also going, going back to clients

and staying in touch with them as to…

450

: 00:27:17

A little, a little trick here is,

again, to build out your sort of

451

: 00:27:23

referral network in a way, I suppose.

452

: 00:27:25

So network with other speakers who speak

along a similar line to the way that

453

: 00:27:30

you speak, so that after an event or

when you're speaking to clients, you

454

: 00:27:36

can say, you know, "Here's suggestions

of other people who you might find

455

: 00:27:41

really, really good, really useful."

456

: 00:27:43

That's, that's handy to have in your back

pocket for either once you've done an

457

: 00:27:46

event with a client, you can refer them

someone for the next year, or if you're

458

: 00:27:51

not able to do a specific date, you

know, you have the option to refer them.

459

: 00:27:55

And that's another good one is if

you have a date that you cannot do,

460

: 00:28:01

and you have a bureau that you want

to build a relationship with, that

461

: 00:28:04

you maybe started building one with,

is to introduce them to the client.

462

: 00:28:09

Say, "Look, I can't do this date,

but this person who, who I work

463

: 00:28:12

with, who, who books me for events,

they've got access to a whole bunch

464

: 00:28:16

of other speakers that can help you."

465

: 00:28:18

And a consultant will really like

you for that because you know, if you

466

: 00:28:23

introduce them to a new client and

they get a booking, they are going to

467

: 00:28:27

remember you as, as somebody that they

wanna stick forward to other events.

468

: 00:28:30

'Cause there, there is a bit

of, you know, I'll pat your back

469

: 00:28:34

if you pat mine sort of thing

470

: 00:28:36

John: It's, it's not, it, it's not all

about what can you do for me, it should be

471

: 00:28:39

like how can we all help each other here?

472

: 00:28:42

And speakers refer other speakers

and, but is like referring

473

: 00:28:45

stuff to the bureaus as well.

474

: 00:28:46

It makes you very helpful,

and s- I, I can't…

475

: 00:28:50

I've probably lost tr- lost count

of how many times I've heard it

476

: 00:28:52

mentioned in the show that speaking

is a relationship business.

477

: 00:28:55

I, it myself countless times.

478

: 00:28:57

But it, this is your relationship with

the bureau, this is your relationships

479

: 00:29:01

with the clients, your relationships

with your, your peers in the industry.

480

: 00:29:05

There's all stuff that helps you

get more booked because if the

481

: 00:29:09

bureau, if, if a bureau likes you

and you have, and, and you look after

482

: 00:29:12

them, they're gonna look after you.

483

: 00:29:13

If a client likes you and, and

you're referring stuff to them,

484

: 00:29:16

they're gonna look after you.

485

: 00:29:17

I mean, this absolutely makes sense.

486

: 00:29:19

It's like this is how

good relationships work.

487

: 00:29:23

Give and take, helping each other

out and, and being good in tho- know,

488

: 00:29:28

being somebody who's valuable to know.

489

: 00:29:30

And, and I always think of, Dr.

490

: 00:29:32

Richard Wiseman's book, The

Luck Factor, and he talked

491

: 00:29:34

about what makes people lucky.

492

: 00:29:36

And he said the, the people who are

generally luckiest are, are like

493

: 00:29:39

nodes in, in sort of social networks.

494

: 00:29:42

They, they know people and they make the

effort to connect and make the effort

495

: 00:29:46

to stay in contact with people as well.

496

: 00:29:48

And so you know that it's like if

you need to know somebody, you,

497

: 00:29:52

you like to go through that person,

say, "Hey, do you know this?"

498

: 00:29:54

Or, "Can you connect me with this person?"

499

: 00:29:56

that makes you, let's say lucky,

but I mean lucky that you, luck

500

: 00:30:01

that you've created for developing

your future relationships.

501

: 00:30:04

So, so I, I, absolutely

it makes sense to me.

502

: 00:30:07

David Newman was on the show recently.

503

: 00:30:09

In fact, the episode's ju- just

come out and, I don't know if you

504

: 00:30:11

know David, but, one of the things

that he was saying was that the,

505

: 00:30:15

the end, content speaking is over.

506

: 00:30:18

Like, information content

speaking is, is over.

507

: 00:30:22

The, the age of the information speaker

is done and we've mo- we've moved on.

508

: 00:30:26

But do, do you still see those information

sort of based speakers on, on the market?

509

: 00:30:31

are they still getting some bookings?

510

: 00:30:33

Is that…

511

: 00:30:34

Would you agree that that's,

that age of speaking is done?

512

: 00:30:39

Dominic Eldred-Earl: in that

respect, you're talking about

513

: 00:30:41

people who can sort of delivering on

statistics and, and things which are

514

: 00:30:45

John: Yeah, people who are more sort

of talking on, on informational topics.

515

: 00:30:48

Yeah

516

: 00:30:51

Dominic Eldred-Earl: I would say not.

517

: 00:30:54

I would say that that's still very

valuable, especially if you're

518

: 00:30:56

working around economics and

geopolitics and that sort of thing.

519

: 00:31:01

However, I would agree insofar as

the, the way of speaking is changing.

520

: 00:31:11

So things need to be much more human.

521

: 00:31:15

They need to be much

more storytelling based.

522

: 00:31:18

They need to be much more emotionally

based, and they need to be more engaging.

523

: 00:31:23

So yeah, I mean, speak- speakers who

have slides full of text and all that

524

: 00:31:32

sort of stuff, I am less likely to

put them forward personally myself

525

: 00:31:39

because yes, there are, there are

situations where a graph is required.

526

: 00:31:44

There are situations

where data is required.

527

: 00:31:48

However, I'm-- I actually think more

and more now that having a lot of

528

: 00:31:54

textual content on the slide actually,

it actually shows a little bit of

529

: 00:32:02

laziness on the part of the speaker.

530

: 00:32:05

So

531

: 00:32:08

You sh- you should know your

presentation, you should know your

532

: 00:32:10

materials well enough that you

don't need that text on the slide.

533

: 00:32:15

And in order to engage and connect

the best with the audience,

534

: 00:32:20

you don't want them distracted.

535

: 00:32:22

And if you've got a lot of text and

data on your slide, they're gonna be

536

: 00:32:25

reading that and trying to figure that

out, and not listening to you properly.

537

: 00:32:30

So the, the best thing to do is

large full screen graphics which,

538

: 00:32:35

you know, get attention and provide

backup to what you're talking about.

539

: 00:32:40

But yeah, keep, keep the data off the

slide unless it is absolutely necessary

540

: 00:32:47

John: Hmm.

541

: 00:32:48

Do-- is there still perhaps an

industry expectation of having like

542

: 00:32:52

multimedia s- like slides and et

cetera involved in presentations?

543

: 00:32:56

Or i- is, is there, a, a, an element

to which you could just get up

544

: 00:33:02

and speak, have your microphone,

and that's, all you need really?

545

: 00:33:06

Dominic Eldred-Earl: Totally.

546

: 00:33:07

Totally.

547

: 00:33:07

It's, it's-- Slides are

just a supporting medium.

548

: 00:33:11

You know, it's, it's like a prop.

549

: 00:33:13

So only use it if you really need to.

550

: 00:33:17

If you can, if you can get up on

the stage and literally just have

551

: 00:33:20

a, a holding slide that has your

name on it or a plain background or,

552

: 00:33:24

you know, a, you know, picture of

something uplifting, I don't know.

553

: 00:33:28

What-whatever it is that sort

of speaks to what you're talking

554

: 00:33:31

about, and that's all you need.

555

: 00:33:34

You, you…

556

: 00:33:35

I mean, I know people who

use flip charts as a prop.

557

: 00:33:38

You know, people who, who

do use props as props.

558

: 00:33:41

So, you know, use tables, water

bottles, hat stands, whatever it is that

559

: 00:33:45

they need to get their point across.

560

: 00:33:47

So absolutely, you know, you don't

have to have a, a PowerPoint or

561

: 00:33:51

whatever other display medium you use.

562

: 00:33:54

It is, it is perfectly acceptable to

get up there and, and just be you.

563

: 00:34:00

The most important thing is can

you connect with the audience?

564

: 00:34:05

Can you deliver to the audience

value for them to be in the room?

565

: 00:34:10

Can you deliver to them a different

way of thinking, something that

566

: 00:34:16

they might want to get hold of,

something that might influence

567

: 00:34:20

their thoughts and their behaviors?

568

: 00:34:21

Because that's what, that's what

you're being paid for essentially,

569

: 00:34:24

is to take a room full of people,

to give them some ideas so that when

570

: 00:34:31

they leave that room, there will

be some sort of behavioral shift.

571

: 00:34:34

That's, that's usually the objective

of the person organizing the meeting

572

: 00:34:39

John: Yeah.

573

: 00:34:39

yeah, I think for the longest time

it was just like how much information

574

: 00:34:42

can we cram into people's heads?

575

: 00:34:45

And I think there are still people

who come into speaking thinking

576

: 00:34:47

that that's what it's all about.

577

: 00:34:48

It's like, "I'm just here to relay

information and give you as much

578

: 00:34:52

valuable information as I possibly can."

579

: 00:34:54

and that's not really what's

changing hearts, and minds,

580

: 00:34:57

and actions from, from those

581

: 00:35:00

Dominic Eldred-Earl: Sometime,

sometimes less is more.

582

: 00:35:02

You know, if you need to get across some

clear actionable messages and keep it, it

583

: 00:35:10

in a, in a way that people don't have so

much that they get overwhelmed with it.

584

: 00:35:16

You know, just keep it down to that two

or three key things, key changes, key

585

: 00:35:25

Yeah, key behavioral stuff that can

have an influence on people's lives.

586

: 00:35:30

Give them, give them, give them

just those one or two tips which

587

: 00:35:33

will make their lives better

588

: 00:35:34

John: Yeah.

589

: 00:35:35

H- here's something that our, our

listener might be curious about.

590

: 00:35:38

I- is there, is there opportunity

f- still for a speaking career

591

: 00:35:44

outside of the corporate sector or

in the terms of the UK and Europe?

592

: 00:35:48

Is it pretty much just like if you

want a career doing this, that's

593

: 00:35:51

where you need to be speaking?

594

: 00:35:55

Dominic Eldred-Earl: There, there is

certainly plenty of stuff outside of

595

: 00:35:57

the corporate environment to speak in.

596

: 00:36:01

It potentially does not pay as well.

597

: 00:36:07

I mean, certainly if you want the bigger

budgets, you are potentially looking

598

: 00:36:11

at the corporates, though having said

that, you know, some government advisors

599

: 00:36:15

and things also get very well paid.

600

: 00:36:19

So it, it depends.

601

: 00:36:20

I mean, schools is a, is a huge

marketplace, and yeah, they, they

602

: 00:36:25

might not have huge budgets to

pay for speakers, but they do have

603

: 00:36:28

some budgets to pay for speakers.

604

: 00:36:30

So it depends on your message and

how, how you want to get it out there

605

: 00:36:35

and who your audience is, you know.

606

: 00:36:37

Where do you want to have impact?

607

: 00:36:39

Where do you want to make a difference?

608

: 00:36:41

So yeah, I mean, you've

got schools, you've got…

609

: 00:36:43

You've even got festivals.

610

: 00:36:45

So it may…

611

: 00:36:47

There, there's so many wellbeing

and other types of festivals now

612

: 00:36:52

where they have speakers along to

talk about various different things.

613

: 00:36:56

You know, even Glastonbury has,

you know, talks and things.

614

: 00:36:59

So it m- it may be that if you want

to fill your summer with festivals

615

: 00:37:02

and, and doing all that sort of stuff,

that you could, you can get onto that

616

: 00:37:06

sort of circuit, and they'll usually

give you entry to the festival.

617

: 00:37:09

They might give you a, a small fee of

sort of £500 or something, I don't know.

618

: 00:37:13

But, yeah

619

: 00:37:14

John: paid to go to a festival, I think,

there's a lot of people who think,

620

: 00:37:17

"Oh, yeah, I like the sound of that."

621

: 00:37:19

yeah,

622

: 00:37:19

Dominic Eldred-Earl:

There's options out there.

623

: 00:37:21

John: great

624

: 00:37:21

Dominic Eldred-Earl: might, it may, it

may well be that, you know, you, you, you

625

: 00:37:24

want to travel to various places around

the globe, so you might be happy to do it

626

: 00:37:28

for expenses at various different things.

627

: 00:37:30

So

628

: 00:37:32

Make,

629

: 00:37:32

all comes down personal objectives, I

think, in that, in that sort of arena

630

: 00:37:37

John: Now y-you particularly have been

noted as being someone who's pretty good

631

: 00:37:42

at spotting upcoming talent and, the

speakers who are likely to do really well.

632

: 00:37:48

So I'm curious, what, what is it that

you either look for, or what are the

633

: 00:37:55

things that you, when you see them,

you're like, "Oh yeah, this, this

634

: 00:37:58

speaker's gonna do really well"?

635

: 00:38:05

Dominic Eldred-Earl: In some degrees

it comes down to gut instinct.

636

: 00:38:09

The…

637

: 00:38:11

I guess I go mostly off people who I just

seem to sort of connect with, because

638

: 00:38:19

as, you know, so much about

speaking is to do with connection.

639

: 00:38:23

It is to do with how well you can connect

to an audience, how well you can take

640

: 00:38:27

the audience on an emotional journey.

641

: 00:38:29

So if I come across people who I

understand what they're talking about,

642

: 00:38:34

they're clear on what they're talking

about, and I connect with them on

643

: 00:38:38

more than just a transactional level.

644

: 00:38:40

So I connect with them on a, you know,

a more sort of personal level and

645

: 00:38:44

understand more about them and their

life and how they deal with people.

646

: 00:38:52

Those are the people who I'm more

interested in because they are the

647

: 00:38:56

ones who I, I, I believe will be

able to connect to an audience better

648

: 00:39:02

John: Hmm.

649

: 00:39:04

That's good.

650

: 00:39:04

So there's a little bit of the maybe

you, you, you perhaps been around and

651

: 00:39:08

in the industry long enough to just

be able to sort of start instantly

652

: 00:39:11

sort of recognize the things that

stand out for people, but also you

653

: 00:39:14

definitely get that, that connection

thing and the personal connection

654

: 00:39:18

thing, is, is an important part too.

655

: 00:39:20

'Cause certainly there are speakers out

there who aren't so good at the personal

656

: 00:39:23

connection bit, and are, and are maybe

a bit self-centered and egotistic.

657

: 00:39:30

I've come across it now and again

658

: 00:39:31

Dominic Eldred-Earl: Absolutely.

659

: 00:39:32

I mean, the thing to remember is you are

not on that stage to tell your story.

660

: 00:39:37

You are not on that

stage to serve your ego.

661

: 00:39:41

I mean, that, that's part of the

bookability formula, and the, the E

662

: 00:39:44

is very much, you know, that takes

away from the value that you deliver.

663

: 00:39:49

You are there to serve

the people in the room.

664

: 00:39:54

You are there to give to the people

in the room something that will

665

: 00:39:59

change their lives, essentially.

666

: 00:40:01

So yeah, whilst you might have an

amazing story, if it's not relevant

667

: 00:40:08

and the people in the room can't see

how it connects to their lives, then,

668

: 00:40:14

you know, you It's, it's not the sort

of pe- person, not the sort of speaker

669

: 00:40:20

that I'm gonna wanna put on a stage

670

: 00:40:22

John: Yeah.

671

: 00:40:23

A- and you're, you're a

speaker yourself, right?

672

: 00:40:25

I mean, you speak and, and you

write books I've seen as well.

673

: 00:40:28

so what, what i- what are your,

what are your sort of topics?

674

: 00:40:31

What are, what are you out in the

world speaking about for our listeners?

675

: 00:40:34

Dominic Eldred-Earl: Yeah, I, I'm dip-

dipping my toe into that a little bit.

676

: 00:40:37

I've-- it's, I suppose the last five

years, six years, s- coming up six

677

: 00:40:41

years now, I suppose, I've been on

a, a bit of a journey myself in terms

678

: 00:40:44

of self-development and learning

about myself and, and the world

679

: 00:40:49

around me and that sort of stuff.

680

: 00:40:50

So the…

681

: 00:40:51

In terms of speaking, I, I do speak

around wellbeing and mental health a bit.

682

: 00:40:57

I've done a number of panels on that

through my sort of lived experience side

683

: 00:41:03

of things, and unrecognized and undealt

with trauma and how that actually affects

684

: 00:41:08

our lives and all that sort of stuff.

685

: 00:41:10

And how we can think our lives

are actually perfectly normal

686

: 00:41:13

until we suddenly realize

that no, they, they weren't.

687

: 00:41:17

Depends on your definition

of normal, I guess.

688

: 00:41:20

So yeah, I s- I speak around

that wellbeing side of stuff.

689

: 00:41:22

I also-- I've been volunteering on, the

Rebel Finance School for the last five,

690

: 00:41:28

six years, which is a great, great free

course which is available online to

691

: 00:41:33

help people to deal with money, money

sort of matters around, you know, how to

692

: 00:41:39

create a gap, how to create savings, how

to invest, so you can create yourself

693

: 00:41:42

a more financially secure future.

694

: 00:41:43

And it's all free.

695

: 00:41:44

There's no upselling

or anything like that.

696

: 00:41:47

But again, it's tied into that sort

of wellbeing side of stuff because

697

: 00:41:54

believe it or not, people are more

open to talk about sex and mental

698

: 00:41:58

health than they are about finances.

699

: 00:42:01

John: Yes.

700

: 00:42:02

I would say that's pretty much true.

701

: 00:42:04

Dominic Eldred-Earl: And yet finances

are such a cause of mental stress.

702

: 00:42:09

that's an important topic.

703

: 00:42:11

And the books, the books are centered

around helping people to get better

704

: 00:42:15

quality sleep because we've had this

thing going on for years and years

705

: 00:42:21

that, you know, get eight to nine

hours sleep a night and you'll be fine.

706

: 00:42:24

Actually, no.

707

: 00:42:26

You, you can get eight, nine, 10, 11

hours of sleep and still feel really kind

708

: 00:42:32

of messed up, and the reason for that

is you've not had good quality sleep.

709

: 00:42:37

So you've had good quantity

sleep, but not good quality.

710

: 00:42:40

And in order to get good quality sleep,

we need to allow our brains to decompress

711

: 00:42:47

because during the day we've got pings and

notifications and emails and phone calls

712

: 00:42:52

and all of this stimulus going on around

us which gets our brains into overload.

713

: 00:42:58

We're not long out of caves.

714

: 00:43:01

In terms of development, you know,

the world has moved way faster

715

: 00:43:07

than our, our physical being.

716

: 00:43:11

and with everything that's going

on, our brains go into this fight

717

: 00:43:16

and flight mode most of the time.

718

: 00:43:18

They're really stressed out most of the

time because if you were a caveman, you

719

: 00:43:22

used to come out your cave in the morning,

or cavewoman, caveperson, you'd come out,

720

: 00:43:27

you'd look around, you'd see the sunshine,

you'd, you'd think, "My, what a wonderful

721

: 00:43:30

day," and you'd be pretty chilled.

722

: 00:43:31

You'd know you've got to do some

foraging, so you go off and you do your

723

: 00:43:34

foraging, and at some point during your

foraging, you know, a, a lion might jump

724

: 00:43:38

out of the bush and come to attack you.

725

: 00:43:40

Now, there'd be one of two outcomes there.

726

: 00:43:43

One, you'd be dead, or two,

you'd have made it out alive.

727

: 00:43:47

And if you've made it out alive, the

lion would've gone off somewhere else,

728

: 00:43:50

and you could get down and go back to

your foraging and have a happy day.

729

: 00:43:55

So your nervous system, yeah, it would've

gone high up, fight and flight stuff.

730

: 00:44:00

You'd have survived it,

then it would down-regulate.

731

: 00:44:03

Then you would get to

return to homeostasis.

732

: 00:44:07

We don't get that in the

world we live in nowadays.

733

: 00:44:09

Everything is that lion attacking.

734

: 00:44:11

Your ping, a car tooting, you know,

down the road, you know, all these

735

: 00:44:17

sorts of things can trigger exactly

the same neurological response

736

: 00:44:23

as, as that lion would've done.

737

: 00:44:25

So yeah, the books are all around…

738

: 00:44:27

The, the audiobook is designed so that

you start it playing when you go to bed.

739

: 00:44:32

It helps you down-regulate.

740

: 00:44:34

It allows your brain to grab onto

something which is enough information to

741

: 00:44:41

keep it, the brain engaged, but not enough

information to sort of stimulate it.

742

: 00:44:46

So it allows all of those busy

thoughts to sort of file away, and

743

: 00:44:51

then it gives your brain a chance to

sort of recover during the night, and

744

: 00:44:55

you get that better quality sleep.

745

: 00:44:57

You down-regulate the nervous

system- also some more training

746

: 00:45:03

within the book 'cause you leave

it playing whilst you're sleeping.

747

: 00:45:06

So there, there's subliminal training

in there to help regulate the dopamine

748

: 00:45:10

system a bit better so that you maybe

move away from so much sort of social

749

: 00:45:15

media and pings and like hunting.

750

: 00:45:18

in theory, it also is designed to

help improve longer term focus.

751

: 00:45:23

So rather than looking for the quick

wins and all that sort of stuff,

752

: 00:45:26

the ability to do those repetitive

everyday tasks that we need to do in

753

: 00:45:30

order to achieve longer term goals

754

: 00:45:32

John: Yeah.

755

: 00:45:33

I like that.

756

: 00:45:34

I like that, like this can help ourselves

decompress with a bit of, audio to wind

757

: 00:45:39

down to and leave it playing to pro-

program our brains while we're sleeping.

758

: 00:45:43

It sounds good to me.

759

: 00:45:45

great.

760

: 00:45:45

I'm definitely glad we got onto that.

761

: 00:45:47

s- sleep is such an important

part of everything that often

762

: 00:45:50

gets overlooked as well.

763

: 00:45:51

Dominic, it's been an absolute

pleasure having you on the show today.

764

: 00:45:54

I, I learned stuff I didn't even expect

to learn, and, I think m- I have a

765

: 00:45:59

lot more insight into bureaus, and

I think our listener definitely does

766

: 00:46:02

as well, so I really appreciate that.

767

: 00:46:04

But for anyone who is perhaps wanting to

connect with you more, more personally,

768

: 00:46:09

or maybe wanting to think, I think

I'm ready for getting in touch with

769

: 00:46:13

bureau," what's the, what's the best

way for them to get in touch with

770

: 00:46:17

you and the London Speaker Bureau?

771

: 00:46:20

Dominic Eldred-Earl: Well, the best way

to get in touch with myself personally

772

: 00:46:23

would probably be through LinkedIn.

773

: 00:46:24

So if you just look, look me up on

LinkedIn as Dominic Eldred hyphen Earl,

774

: 00:46:28

that's E-L-D-R-E-D hyphen E-A-R-L.

775

: 00:46:32

There is only one of me.

776

: 00:46:33

I've managed to choose quite

a unique surname, so if you

777

: 00:46:36

John: yeah, it's definitely

more yin than mine is.

778

: 00:46:38

Dominic Eldred-Earl: it comes up

with me or my kids, so so yeah.

779

: 00:46:41

So yeah, find me on LinkedIn.

780

: 00:46:44

In terms of connecting with London Speaker

Bureau, if you've connected with me, then

781

: 00:46:50

potentially, you know, if I think it's

worth pursuing, we can take it from there.

782

: 00:46:56

Or if you go to the London Speaker

Bureau website, I believe somewhere

783

: 00:47:00

there is a, an apply to be a speaker.

784

: 00:47:03

But do be aware that we get thousands

of inquiries every single month, and

785

: 00:47:08

very, very few of them actually get

through to being listed on the database

786

: 00:47:14

Worth knowing, worth knowing.

787

: 00:47:15

Dawnette, thank you so much for your

time and everything you've shared today.

788

: 00:47:19

It's been really wonderful.

789

: 00:47:20

I, I wanted a, a thorough

episode on speaker bureaus, and

790

: 00:47:24

I got that and so much more.

791

: 00:47:25

I really appreciate it.

792

: 00:47:27

Thank you for coming on "The

Professional Speaking Show."

793

: 00:47:30

You're welcome.

794

: 00:47:30

It's been a pleasure

795

: 00:47:31

John: Well, I don't know about you,

but I'm certainly gonna be thinking

796

: 00:47:34

about how I approach bureaus very

differently in the future and

797

: 00:47:39

what they can and can't do for me.

798

: 00:47:41

I think that really does inform us

very well as to the right way to use

799

: 00:47:45

a speaker bureau and how you can,

even if you're fairly early on, still

800

: 00:47:50

leverage the bureaus and start working

on building those relationships.

801

: 00:47:54

But just understanding that it's not

gonna be the place to sort out all your

802

: 00:47:59

problems and get you all your bookings

if you're still early days or you

803

: 00:48:03

haven't got things figured out, or if

your positioning is not super clear.

804

: 00:48:08

So I have created a PDF document that

is, I should say AI has created it

805

: 00:48:14

really, but I've created a document for

you that has all the highlights, all

806

: 00:48:17

the key points of this episode because

I think it's well worth reviewing, and

807

: 00:48:21

you may not want to listen to the whole

50-minute episode every single time

808

: 00:48:24

you want to refresh yourself on this.

809

: 00:48:26

So do go and check that out.

810

: 00:48:28

It's free to download in the

show notes for this episode.

811

: 00:48:31

Now coming up very soon, I have my

interview with Owen Fitzpatrick.

812

: 00:48:34

If you don't know who Owen is,

he's definitely worth checking out.

813

: 00:48:37

He has a podcast called Inner Propaganda,

which is also the name of his new book.

814

: 00:48:42

if you're interested in psychology

and influence, areas that I'm very

815

: 00:48:47

fascinated with, which is why I've been

following him for such a long time,

816

: 00:48:50

that interview is coming up pretty soon.

817

: 00:48:52

I'm pretty sure I asked him questions

that he probably hasn't ever been asked

818

: 00:48:56

on a podcast interview before, but they're

gonna be very relevant answers to you.

819

: 00:49:00

That's coming up soon.

820

: 00:49:01

If you're not already subscribed

to the show, make sure you do.

821

: 00:49:04

Owen isn't the only amazing

guest that I've got coming up.

822

: 00:49:07

I'm lining up even more fantastic

guests for you as we go along.

823

: 00:49:11

Some of them you will have heard of,

some of them you might not have heard

824

: 00:49:13

of, but all of the information's gonna

be solid, as well as the opportunities

825

: 00:49:16

for me to get to share my insights and

expertise with you in alternate weeks.

826

: 00:49:22

if there is anyone you would

particularly like to see on the show,

827

: 00:49:25

or if you think you'd be a great

guest, do reach out and get in touch.

828

: 00:49:29

the best way to do that is to

connect with me on LinkedIn.

829

: 00:49:32

connect with me, send me a direct

message, and let me know you checked

830

: 00:49:35

out the show, and either who you'd

like to see on, or why you would

831

: 00:49:38

like to come on and be a guest, and

what you would like to talk about.

832

: 00:49:42

Do make sure you get that PDF of

highlights from this episode and

833

: 00:49:45

join us next time on Professional

Speaking But until then, go and

834

: 00:49:49

do something worth talking about.

835

: 00:49:50

See you next time