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When Jon Giganti decided to leave his corporate position at a leading software company he had worked at for 25 years to go out on his own, people told him he was crazy. After all, he was doing well—he had stock options, an executive role, and was leading sales teams and speaking on behalf of the company.
But as Jon developed, refined, and constantly evolved his message—a message about mental health and living with intention in a fast-paced, results-focused world—he saw the impact it was having on audience members.
Jon says: “Every time I would get offstage, I would have someone come up to me—usually a male, usually around my age—he’d come up to me, hug me, thank me, and then tell me his story. I realized how important the message was. I knew I was onto something.”
After seeing how deeply his message resonated with everyone from salespeople to CEOs and company leaders, Jon wanted to do more. He felt the call to do more speaking, writing, and coaching.
So, after a 25-year corporate career, Jon went out on his own.
The decision to leave the corporate world and branch out on your own as a speaker is a scary one, to say the least. It’s a big decision, and requires some serious preparation. But it’s possible. For speakers who put in the work, making the transition can lead to more freedom and fulfillment in this lucrative and satisfying next chapter of their lives.
How to Make the Transition
The key to increasing your demand and successfully creating your own speaking business after leaving your corporate position is becoming a referable speaker.
Now, that doesn’t mean you should immediately forget about the previous chapter of your life. Quite the contrary—take advantage of your previous title and ride your own coattails for as long as you can.
Instead of filling your LinkedIn profile with only information about your new endeavor, add “former” in front of your old title, followed by “Keynote Speaker.” For example: Jaime Mendez, Former Director of Sales for Hilton Hotels, Keynote Speaker.
This can help you build credibility, catch the attention of event organizers, and kick-start the next chapter of your speaking career.
Why Some Ex-Corporate Speakers Struggle to Get Booked
However, even speakers who were well received and got rave reviews at their previous corporate events often experience a drop in demand after leaving their corporate position.
There are three main reasons why demand often plummets when corporate speakers go out on their own. First, event organizers LOVE big brands and speakers with name recognition because it fills the seats. When you no longer have that, they often choose someone who does over you.
Second, when speakers go out on their own, they lose their huge corporate network of events directors and connectors that work to arrange their gigs. Now it’s up to you to create new connections and protect and nourish relationships that lead to speaking opportunities.
Third, there is a drop in perceived expertise and value. Independent speakers have to work harder to establish their credibility and worth with event organizers. Since corporate speakers are often booked as part of a corporate sponsorship program, often they’re hired for their title—rather than their own individual merit or expertise.
So how do you reposition yourself and rapidly build credibility, while still leveraging your former corporate-speaker benefits for as long as possible? Try putting these five important steps into practice:
#1 Start to really understand event organizers
Now that you’re going out on your own, it’s essential to understand this truth: you’re not in the speaking business, you’re in the event-organizer relationship business.
Understanding the needs, wants, and expectations of event planners is paramount to your speaking success. If you can become the easiest speaker they’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, you’ll be able to build a reputation of excellence that will lead to more referrals, more gigs, and more opportunities.
To do this, you first need to understand the four types of speakers event organizers want—and their respective ranking order.
- Actors, Athletes, and Astronauts
These famous speakers bring instant name recognition—and are guaranteed to fill the venue.
- The A-List Alternatives
While these speakers’ names aren’t immediately recognizable, their connections to famous companies, brands, or organizations make them valuable (most corporate speakers fall into this category).
- Industry Icons
Well known in their field, these speakers are the people the audience loves to meet and learn from.
- Surprise & Delight Speakers
These speakers deliver transformational experiences—with a perfect balance of energy, entertainment, and insight that no one expected.
Michael Port and I go into how event organizers choose speakers in much more detail in our book, The Referable Speaker. For now, just remember, most corporate speakers are hired as A-List Alternatives. In this case, what’s most important to event organizers is first, their title or brand name, then the speakers themselves, and lastly, their ideas.
However, when you leave the safety and support of your corporate umbrella, that order gets flipped on its head. You’re no longer an A-List Alternative, but you can become a Surprise & Delight speaker. Now, event organizers are most interested in your ideas, then you as a speaker, and finally—as a distant third—your brand or title.
You’ll no longer get booked just because you work for a brand that garners awe and respect. Now it’s up to you to deliver a transformational experience that increases your demand and your value in the marketplace.
#2 Find a new fractal
Would you rather be a small fish in a big pond, or a big fish in a small pond? Well, if you’re branching out on your own, it might be a good idea to find some small ponds where you can shine.
Identify similar industries and sectors where your message could effectively solve an important problem people face. We refer to these niches and related areas as “fractals.” Now, this doesn’t mean you have to glue yourself to a specific fractal and stay there your entire career. It’s simply a strong starting point; you can always branch out into new fractals as your demand increases.
You see, the more fractals you branch into over the course of your speaking career, the more speaking opportunities you earn—and the more your fame will grow.
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