A Speaker One Sheet: the Key to Creating Inbound Thought Leadership

A speaker one sheet is in essence the sales sheet of a speaker. This is also a critical component of creating an inbound magnet for thought leadership. Several aspects need to be considered in order for a speaker one sheet to be in alignment with your brand, your lead generation strategy and also serve as an inbound magnet.

It might seem callous to think of your leadership team as a product, however utilizing this thought process will be easier to create an effective speaker one sheet (or rather their sales sheet or brochure) to create conversions and get that thought leader on stage. Just like a sales sheet, a speaker one sheet will need to be:

• engaging
• factual
• end-user-benefits oriented
• persuasive 

When our own CEO and Founder, Dustin Brackett, wanted to include speaking as a business lead generation tool he knew that his speaking assets all needed to live online.  

By having a speaker one sheet online, it aids in people finding and seeing you/your leadership as a viable speaker while allowing visitors and event planners to perform research, make a buying decision, and create a transaction by booking all online. Of course as an inbound marketing agency, we implore you to use SEO best practices and strategy on this page as well as create talks that are in alignment with your buyer personas and overall brand goals. By also completing your keyword research beforehand you can enlist search engine optimization (SEO) strategies on the page as well. It only makes sense to include this page as an asset in your overall inbound marketing and lead generation strategies. 

<<Have you added Public Speaking to Your Lead Generation Strategy?>>

Must have elements of a digital speaker one sheet

A traditional speaker one sheet (I am talking about prior to the use of websites) included many of the aspects that are listed below. However, the addition of digital, interactive pieces is what truly makes this an inbound magnet and also allows for a frictionless transaction (booking a speaker) that can work even when research is being done outside of your company's working hours. The below elements make an event planner's decision to book easier as all the deciding factors are in one location. But make sure you did the work ahead of time to include inbound aspects on this page.

1. Headshot

   • This is a standard headshot and should be one that you'll include for the promoter's use in event marketing materials such as social media posts, event schedules, and the event website. This headshot should be in line with the speaker's stage presence style. For example, if the headshot for this thought leader on your website includes a suit and tie, but their talks are casual the website headshot won't match the speaker sheet content.  

2. Speaking action images 

   • We've heard it a million times, "a picture is worth a thousand words." In order to ensure this page is quick and easy to take in, it can't be thousands of words (though we do recommend all website pages have more than 500 words for SEO aspects). One way to get your point across that this person has credibility and experience as a speaker is to show that in photos. Accumulate images of the speaker with a microphone or standing in front of a group of people. Any image that looks similar to a presentation will work in this instance. 
   • Keep in mind the speaker's facial and body communication in these images to ensure the style of speaking is properly conveyed. Not all captured images, especially when someone is moving or talking, will capture a person in the best way. If you aren't sure what I mean — head over to YouTube, begin playing a talking head video, and pause it abruptly. That act never seems to leave someone with a positive look on their face!   

3. Speaker bio

   • This IS NOT the same as a business bio. Copying and pasting the information from the thought leader's section on the company's about us page will not elicit your desired results. What should be included in a speaker's bio is the presentation style (energetic, relaxing, powerful, etc.) and audience takeaways. Remember this is a sales sheet about the speaker. This bio should elicit an emotional connection, encourage your visitor to read more, and get them to send a question or click the Book Now CTA. 

4. Booking link

   • We all know you need a CTA on this page. Whether this is an email to the person responsible for this thought leader's calendar or a direct speaking calendar link — it must be LINKED and interactive. Use it more than once as appropriate for the flow of the page. Typically I recommend using it near the top, after the speaker's bio and then at the bottom of the page like we did for this client. 

5. Talk topics, no less than three.

   • Your talk topics should consider both your keyword research and what your buyer personas will find interesting. I covered these in detail in my last blog post about thought leadership and speaking. 
   • I recommend 3-5 topics total.
   • Each talk topic/title should include a short one paragraph description that explains the talk and includes benefits or takeaways that attendees will get from participating. This is a key factor that is necessary for event planners to book. Their job is creating a top notch event for the attendees. Explain how this thought leader will add to the event experience.  

6. Video speaker reel

   • This asset seems to be the most difficult to come up with even for those who have already been speaking. Before booking, planners and coordinators need to see you in action, especially if they've arrived on your digital speaker one sheet organically versus through a referral of a colleague. If you do not currently have any video footage on hand I recommend two ideas:
     1. Look online or on YouTube for video coverage of past speaking events. You can also reach out to organizers to see if they have footage archived somewhere that you could get access too. 
     2. Create an event with video in mind. Whether this is a mock event or a real event depends on many factors. However, often times the best way to launch a speaker reel is to make it happen on your thought leader's terms. Speaker reels tend to be iterative the first year or so as you now know to request video footage or hire a videographer to record any speaking engagements moving forward. 

7. Testimonials

   • These are reviews of your previous talks. Just like reviews of your business, they lend themselves to social credibility. If testimonials do not currently exist, try asking your LinkedIn community to leave a recommendation specifically about speaking. You can also reach out to past event organizers and request any feedback info from a session/talk. 

8. Past speaking engagements

   • No one wants to be your first. This has long been the case in life and continues in this new thought leadership and speaking realm. Sharing past talks creates trust and credibility. 

As you may have noticed, Dustin does not have all of these assets on his digital speaker one sheet. As he had seen with other clients that were building thought leadership speaking campaigns for, he started with the assets he had. This is all that can be done until those other assets are built. Just like I mentioned about the speaker video reel, this one sheet will be iterative as well. 

As we build speaker one sheets for clients, we provide the above list of best case scenario items to include on their digital speaker one sheets. However, we realize, and share with them as well, that we have to start with their current reality of speaker assets and then build upon it as available. This is one benefit that a digital speaker one sheet have over the traditional printed versions. You can add assets as they are finalized.  The most important aspect to launch this page to begin are the headshot, speaker bio, at least two keyword focused talk topics with descriptions, and of course a CTA so they can reach out and book you. But none of it works unless you put in the persona and keyword research ahead of time. 

If you need help building a thought leadership campaign or would like our team of inbound experts to review your current assets, schedule some time with us!