On November 15, 2024, a bad-boy YouTube-influencer-turned-boxer went up against the undisputed world heavyweight champion of the late ‘80s.
The eight-round fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson was, well, a dud. So disappointing, in fact, that fans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, started booing during the final rounds.
What was impressive, though, was the promotion leading up to the sporting event. It was perhaps the most impressive marketing campaign for any sporting event ever held in the history of the world.
At least that’s what Jake Paul will tell you. And that’s the point—it worked. The fight was “the most-streamed global sporting event in history,” and both fighters made tens of millions just for fighting—Jake Paul made an estimated $40 million, and Mike Tyson an estimated $20 million. Not to mention the tens of millions more Jake Paul's promotion company likely made off the event.
All for a slightly uncomfortable but easily forgettable event.
Speaking frankly, that’s what it was destined to be. I’m no boxing expert, but it’s hard to argue that Jake Paul is a world-class boxer. His opponent, Mike Tyson, is a 58-year-old retired, almost senior citizen—who, in his own words, “almost died” months earlier after a stomach ulcer flare-up during training that required eight blood transfusions.
Yet this brilliantly promoted circus serves as a cautionary tale for speakers… and anyone else who promotes a product or a service in a market that demands quality.
You see, when promotion is what matters most, capturing attention isn’t just the end goal, it’s the only goal. The result? Quality gets put on the backburner and delivery suffers.
Are the fireworks in your promotion or your product?
In the speaking world, it’s easy to fall into the trap of relying on fireworks to book gigs. You might create a jaw-dropping sizzle reel of happy, laughing audience members, emotional onstage moments, and standing ovations. Your social media feeds could be filled with selfie videos at airports awaiting first-class flights, in limos en route to five-star hotels, or hyping yourself up those last moments before stepping on stage.
But when the most important moment arrives—when you step on stage to deliver your speech—what happens if it falls flat?
If your message is packed with commodity advice rather than visionary thinking, the kind of information your audience has likely heard before, your delivery might come across as amateurish. The audience quickly becomes disengaged. Sure, you may hear a few polite compliments afterward and receive decent session ratings, but you probably won’t generate stageside leads from a performance that feels mediocre.
The fireworks you use to promote yourself may be enough to capture the attention of an event planner and secure the gig, but if you can’t deliver on your promise as a speaker—to provide a transformational experience for the audience—you risk being left without referrals, without stageside leads, and without a chance to work with that meeting planner again.
And when you focus more on promotion and marketing than on the quality of your speech, consistently filling your speaking calendar becomes a grind. With no stageside leads or referrals to help you out, you’re left on your own to promote your way to each new gig you book. It’s exhausting.
But it doesn’t have to be—not if you focus on crafting a high-quality speech. Instead of hustling to book 50 first gigs every year, with a referable speech, you can turn one gig into 100. You’ll spend less time marketing, promoting, and advertising, and more time iterating and rehearsing the kind of transformational speech that makes you truly referable.
Here’s the bottom line: if you prefer spending your time promoting yourself rather than perfecting and delivering your speech, perhaps you’re more like Jake Paul, suited to being a professional promoter rather than a speaker—and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But if your passion is speaking, then focus your energy where it matters: on mastering your craft and creating the kind of speeches that audiences and event planners can’t stop talking about.
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