I recently watched Seth Godin, best-selling author and entrepreneur, on his Freelancing Course on Udemy. Speaking in terms of marketing oneself, Godin commented, “Specialization is more important than ever before.” I stopped to think about how this might apply to speaking and how we might be able to take advantage of this concept.
I really had not considered the specialty areas of speaking before now, and it makes sense from a marketing perspective to look at and define the specialty areas of speaking by how the content is delivered:
Keynote – A keynote speaker headlines a conference or large meeting, sets the tone for the event, and is the star of the event. The role of a keynote speaker is to engage and motivate the audience.
Break Out Session Speaker – Speakers who lead break out sessions at large meetings or conferences are typically subject matter experts who offer depth on their particular topics. Often, break out speakers sell their books and products at meetings where they are speaking.
Trainer – Trainers offer workshops or seminars in which skill transfer takes place. Trainers can be a part of an organizational department in a large organization, work for companies who provide seminars, or they may be self-employed.
Facilitator – Facilitators are similar to trainers as they provide learning opportunities for their audiences. Facilitation differs with its emphasis on the debriefing of the learning. Facilitators are experts in provoking discussion among audience members.
Moderator – The role of a moderator is to manage a panel discussion. Moderators introduce panelists, handle questions from the audience, and manage the timing and flow of the topic discussion.
There may be other categories that define and profile the types of speaking opportunities that arise. Many speakers find they can fit into several categories. The point here is that when it comes to speaking and marketing your services, deciding where you fit best with regards to your strengths and expertise may offer opportunities that you previously had not thought about.
What other categories can you think of that might apply here? What are the categories where you best fit?
I love these distinctions and can use with my program planners who are often “thrown” into their role and not exactly sure of what they are doing! You do GREAT work!! Bravo! Chere!
Thanks, Chere! So glad to know this post and the speaker roles and profiles was helpful to you – and program planners! You are right – when we help program planners become better at what they do, we beome more valuable to them. And they are the ones who hire us!