Speaking at local events, such as book clubs, libraries, or literary festivals, is a great way to connect with readers and promote your work. Local event organisers often need speakers to fill out their programs. A volunteer speaker (you) might be exactly what they are looking for.

How to find speaking engagements

The first step to getting speaking engagements is to research local events and organizations in your area. Make a list of potential speaking opportunities.

Look for book clubs, writing groups, libraries, and literary festivals that might be interested in hosting you as a speaker. Reach out to event organisers both to enquire about speaking opportunities but also to start to build key relationships for future speaking engagements.

You might also consider reaching out to local schools and universities. You may be able to create or find speaking opportunities or at the very least, build up a network that might be willing to have you come and speak in the future.

Get yourself on the mailing lists for local events and clubs. This should help you maintain your awareness of local activities and will alert you early when an event is on so that you could offer yourself as a speaker earlier in the planning stages.

Create a speaker kit

Once you’ve identified potential speaking opportunities, create a speaker kit that includes information about yourself, your work, and your speaking topics. Your speaker kit should include a bio, a headshot, a list of your published works, and a description of your speaking topics and areas of expertise.

If you are unsure what sort of topics you can list, consider attending a few local events to listen to other writers speaking. Bring a notepad as this may inspire all sorts of ideas.

If you have been following these prompts and have created a blog or website, this is the perfect place to publish your speaker’s kit. If that is too public create a zip file of images and documents (I suggest text or RTF formats as these are pretty much universal). It may be worth creating a file-based kit too as you can attach that to an email.

Once you have spoken at a few events, add to your speaker kit (page or file) some testimonials from those previous speaking engagements or any workshops you might have run.

Reach out

You are now ready to reach out to event organizers and pitch your speaking topics.

Look for contact information on event websites or social media pages. Use this to send a personalized email introducing yourself and your work. Be sure to include your speaker kit and a few different topic options to choose from.

It may be wise to follow up with a phone call or in-person visit. This should increase your chances of securing a speaking engagement.

Being a public speaker

While there may be earning opportunities with speaking, the most important element is a chance to mention your books. Try to tie at least one book of yours into your talk or presentation.

Getting speaking engagements takes time and effort. Like submitting a manuscript, you may encounter a few no thank yous before you get a yes please. Try not to get discouraged if you don’t get an immediate acceptance. Instead, keep refining your speaker kit and your speaking topics. At the same time, continue to network and build relationships in your local writing community. With persistence and patience, you can augment your writing carrier with a sideline of a successful speaking career where you connect with new readers and fans.