Has COVID Changed the Speaking Industry Forever?
A Huge shift is taking place. This isn’t news to any of us. How it is affecting the speaking industry might be news to you. My thoughts on this, after working with planners and speakers for almost two decades, is that this major shift we have seen over the past 10 months to virtual events and conferences is going to become permanent.
I feel the majority of conferences will be shifting to virtual and they will get better and more interactive over time as event organizers, speakers and companies become more tech-savvy in hosting them.
More companies are experimenting with taking everything from their general member meetings to their fundraising events online.
Will there still be live conferences? Yes, there will be and there still are as I write this, but the event/speaking industry is not going to be the same because of this shift.
If you want to continue speaking, my recommendation is to get on board with this new direction, stay current and embrace virtual because it’s not going anywhere. This is going to be key to keeping and gaining a fully booked speaking schedule.
You can go speak to audiences in other countries in the comfort of your own home. This helps your audience and you, too, as you shed a huge amount of expense. You’ll have more time with your family and get to avoid all the travel hassles. One of our Charli Jane Speaker members has been speaking, literally within just a few days, to audiences in many countries all from his home base.
I don’t feel virtual can ever replace the live experience altogether. For those of you who want to share your message, I would start putting yourself out there at virtual events and not continue waiting for the live ones to come back full swing.
This is the buzz and my gut feeling: All of you who want to continue speaking, step out and get educated on how to crush it while doing virtual events. There are a lot of them right now.
If you need help, reach out and ask questions in our Grow Your Speaking Biz FB group there are a lot of speakers in this group who are very successful in doing virtual events and making good money doing it.
89% of businesses using event technology save approximately 200 hours per year.
What do you think that means to companies today? That’s huge.
84% of organizations who had already run a virtual event in 2020, reported that they spent less money on virtual events than in-person events. Again huge.
For a full spectrum of stats on virtual events, you can read those here (https://blog.bizzabo.com/event-marketing-statistics)
I recently posted an article on my blog about how to make sure you get a good setup at home or office for your virtual speaking appearances.
Technology is essential for virtual events, and the software you choose can make a big difference. Educate yourselves and ask for help.
Charli Jane Speaker Member Alfred Poor states this:
“I would add that we’re in that Opportunity Zone for speakers who can demonstrate that they have the equipment, skills, and experience to deliver an excellent presentation for online audiences. Nothing can entirely replace the live onsite experience (at least not yet!). But most speakers have not yet mastered the skills that can help increase audience engagement for online events. If you can do that, you will have a competitive advantage even after the pandemic lockdown ends.”
Again, educate and pivot. Don’t get stuck in the “what if” or “let’s see what happens”. You will get left behind. Keep moving forward and do what you need to get your message out there.
Do you need help understanding the virtual speaking world? Join our free Facebook group Grow Your Speaking Biz. It’s an amazing group of talented and compassionate speakers all willing to help each other out. www.SpeakingBizCommunity.com – See you over there!