Paula Edgar: Welcome to Branding Room Only, the podcast where your personal brand gets a front row seat. I'm Paula Edgar and if you're here, it's because you know your brand isn't just about what you do, it's about how people experience you. In each episode, you'll hear stories, strategies and lessons from leaders and influencers who built their brands and made their mark. And I'll share the tools you need to do the same.
Let's go. Hi everybody, it's Paula Edgar. Welcome back to Branding Room Only. This is episode two of “So You Want to Be a Speaker”. In episode one, we talked about the foundation. We talked about what speaking really is, the difference between speaking for visibility and speaking as a business and why you need a clear message before you chase the stage. And today we're getting into the brand, not the pretty version of brand, the practical version, the version that helps people understand who you are, what you speak about, why you are credible and why they should trust you with their audiences. And obviously, as somebody who loves branding, this might be my favorite one. So let me paint a picture for you. Someone sees you speak at an event, you were clear, memorable, and engaging, they liked your energy, they loved your message and they're thinking about booking you for their conference, retreat, leadership program, or client event. So they do what everyone does, they Google you. And what comes up? A LinkedIn profile that has not been updated in years? A website that does not mention you're speaking at all? A bio that says you are a passionate professional? Maybe a headshot from a different era of your life? No video, maybe no clear topics.
Y'all, that is not a brand doing the work. That is opportunity leaking out of your digital presence. Because here's the truth, in the speaking business, your brand is offering your first audition. You may think the audition starts when you get on a call with the event organizer. It does not. It starts before that. It starts when someone hears your name and looks you up. And it starts when a colleague forwards your LinkedIn profile. It starts when the conference committee is comparing potential speakers and someone says, what do we know about this person? That's the invisible audition. You're not there to explain yourself or give additional context. You're not there to say, I know my website needs work, but trust me, trust me, right? You're not there to tell them that the bio is outdated. Your assets are speaking for you and the question is whether they are making a case for your value, or creating doubt.
Before we talk about the assets, we will have to talk about positioning. Positioning answers three questions. What do you want to be known for? Who needs to know you for that? And why should they care? So many people skip this step and jump straight into updating their website and making a speaker one sheet. And that is backwards, because if your positioning is unclear, then every asset you create will be unclear too. When I work with professionals in personal branding, my personal branding strategy sessions, one of the things that I often remind them of is that confusion is expensive. If someone cannot quickly understand what you do and who you do it for, they are less likely to refer you, to book you, or to remember you. And so your job is to make the path obvious. You want people to be able to say, Paula speaks on personal branding for legal and corporate audiences. She helps professionals build visibility, credibility and influence. See what I did there? That kind of clarity travels.
Your positioning needs three things. First, your expertise area has to be specific enough to own. Second, your target audience has to be clear enough to aim your message. And then third, your differentiation has to explain why your perspective is not interchangeable with everyone else speaking on the same broad topic. You are not just one more leadership speaker, or one more branding speaker. What is your lens? What have you lived, led, studied, practiced, or solved that shapes how you teach it? Now let's talk about the assets that should support that positioning. I want you to think about these as your speaker infrastructure. They're not going to replace the relationships, or the delivery, but they support them.
The first and my most favorite asset is LinkedIn. For many of us who are in professional services, legal, corporate, nonprofit and association spaces, LinkedIn is the front door. Like you Google yourself, most of the time folks are going to find your LinkedIn first, because of the algorithm. So I've talked about LinkedIn many times and done courses on LinkedIn as well. Let's start here. Your headline should not simply just state your current job title. It should communicate your value. And if you want to speak, your profile needs to make that visible. Your about section should tell a coherent story. It should establish your credibility, your point of view and the audiences that you serve. Your featured section, if you have one and you should, should include your website, your podcast appearances, any articles, speaker clips, media mentions, or anything that reinforces that area of your expertise. Please hear me when I say this, your LinkedIn is not just a storage unit for your resume. It is a living brand platform. So if you want to be booked as a speaker, your content should show people how you think. So you should be sharing insights from your work, thinking about commenting on trends in your field, reflecting on questions that your audiences are asking, or questions that you think they should be asking and then turn those frameworks into your post, right? Let people experience the substance behind your speaking topics, before they even hear you speak.
The second asset that you need to develop is your website. And you don't need the fanciest website in the world, but you do need a clear one. At a minimum, you need a speaker page that identifies your topic areas, your audiences and the kinds of engagements that you offer. And you need an about page with a strong bio. You need, if you have them yet, testimonials or representative clients, if you have them. And you need a contact or booking form that does not make people work too hard. If someone has to hunt around to figure out how to bring you in, you are then putting friction between their interest and their inquiry.
Your third asset is your bio. You need more than one version. You definitely need a short version, a longer bio and a one-line introduction. All of them should lead with impact. Too many bios just sound like a list of job titles stitched all together. And again, while it may be accurate, it is definitely not always persuasive. A speaker bio should help the audience and the organizer understand why you are the person for this moment of opportunity. What do you help people do? What rooms have you served? What perspective do you bring? And what transformation or outcome is connected to your work that's at impact?
The fourth asset you need to think about is a speaker one sheet. It's like a one-page document. It can be front and back. It quickly communicates who you are, what you speak about, the audiences you serve and how to contact you. It should contain a photo, a short bio, your key topics, some testimonials, again, representative clients and a link to any video that you have. Think of it as an easy referral tool. When someone says, I know the perfect person, you want them to have something polished and easy to forward on to someone else.
The fifth asset you need to start to collect is a video. And I know this is where people get uncomfortable. You may not have a perfect keynote clip yet. You may not have a fancy reel. So start where you are. If you're speaking on a panel, ask whether it's going to be recorded. If you're leading a webinar, save the recording. If you're giving remarks at an association program, see if someone can capture a few minutes of you at the podium. Eventually, you want at least a two to three minute reel that shows your range, your presence, your pacing, the audience engagement, your humor, your substance and your ability to move people. The video matters, because decision makers want to see what they are buying, what are they engaging. They want to know whether you can actually hold the room. They want to know whether your energy matches their audience. And so a beautifully written bio cannot answer that on its own, but video definitely can.
So let's talk about now consistency, because this is one of the details that quietly builds trust. So your headshot, bio, topics, LinkedIn website, colors, tone and language should all feel connected. They don't have to be identical everywhere, but they should feel like they belong to the same person. If your website says one thing, your LinkedIn says another and your bio sounds like it was written for a different career chapter, then people will pause. And remember what I said, the pause can be expensive. I also want to say something about your personal style and your memorability. Your personal brand should not be generic. I, as you know, love an outfit, love fashion, love to wear bold colors. I wear custom pieces. I wear my sashes, my, you know, signature red, my signature purple. And I always have visual elements that connect to how I show up. And that is never, ever random. You know, I believe it is brand strategy. But the visual elements will only work, because they're connected to substance. Like, yes, I love to have a pretty package, but what people know is that I'm going to deliver value in a way that is memorable and engaging. So while the style can help people remember you, the substance is why they are going to refer you.
The next layer you want to think about is content, right? Because static assets are important, but the content is what keeps your brand alive. You don't have to be everywhere. You don't have to post every day, but you do need a consistent place, where people can experience your thinking, your thought leadership. For me, LinkedIn has been a major platform in my podcast. This one is a major one as well. First of all, let me pause here to say, if we're not connected on LinkedIn right now, what's going on? Connect with me right now and tell me you listened to this episode. Again, for you, that might be a newsletter, some short videos, maybe articles, webinars, or conference recaps that you've done. The format matters less than the consistency and the clarity of your message. So here's a practical way I recommend you start.
Take one speaking topic and create five or so pieces of content from it. One post about why the topic matters now, maybe a post about a mistake people make or a misconception, a post with three practical strategies or resources about this topic. And a story about how you learned a lesson or got interested in this topic also resonates. People like to hear personal connections to your reflection. And then whenever you can and you can do this often, is a question, or some content that invites your audience to reflect on where they are, regarding this topic. This is how you then begin building demand around your point of view. It's how you create followers and folks who are engaged with you and your content.
So as we close, I want you to audit yourself. What happens when you Google your name? Look at your LinkedIn profile as if you were a stranger. Visit your website on the computer and on your phone. Read your bio out loud. And then watch any video of yourself that is public. And then ask the hard question, does this make a clear case for why someone should book me? If the answer is no, don't panic. Now you know where you have to do the work.
Your takeaway from episode two of this series is this. Your brand has to create confidence before you enter into a conversation. Get your positioning clear, strengthen your LinkedIn, make your website easy to navigate, update your bio, build your one sheet, start collecting video and create content that proves that you have something valuable to say.
The next time, we're going to get into the pitch, the prep, and the process. We're going to talk about how speaking opportunities actually come about, how to pursue the right ones and what happens between the yes and you being on the stage. This is where a lot of speakers underestimate the work, and I don't want that for you. I want us all to thrive and be successful, if speaking is what we want.
As always, you all, this has been Branding Room Only. I am keynote speaker Paula, Paula Edgar and you can find me at paulaedgar.com and definitely on LinkedIn. So please share this with someone who you know is speaking and wants to build their speaking brand. And I will see you in the next episode. Stand by your brand. Bye.
That's it for this episode. I appreciate you hanging out with me on Branding Room Only. Now, please do me a quick favor. Head over to ratethispodcast.com/branding, so more people can join this conversation. And make sure to stop by paulaedger.com/events to see what's next. Whether I'm live, online, or in person, I'd love to see you there. See you next time in the branding room.
And until then, stand tall, shine bright, and always stand by your brand.
