No matter what industry your business serves, you’ll have to weather busy and slow seasons. But does that same principle apply to your speaker journey? Are there times you should be working on speaking for your biz?

The answer? Always.

Whether your calendar is packed with speaking opportunities, you’re focusing on pitching, or you’re connecting with your audience on social media, you have to plan for all the speaking seasons. That’s how you make it a consistent part of your business!

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Why you should always be working on speaking

Let’s talk about how you can make speaking a consistent part of your business and why it matters.

First, you gotta consistently show up as a thought leader in your space. Fail to show up consistently, and your audience may forget you. Or, show up only when you need something (like sales) from your audience, and they’ll see through you in a heartbeat. Continue offering valuable content to your audience via emails, blogs, social posts, and more. It’ll build up your reputation and your loyal following.

Next, consistently build relationships with the people doing the booking. You should have a system for pitching yourself so that you’re always working on adding new opportunities to your calendar. Don’t get caught in a place where you have nothing going on. Don’t forget, the timeline from pitch to stage is about 6 to 12 months long.

Finally, keep speaking so that you have a steady stream of leads. That’s probably one of the main reasons you got into speaking in the first place! Speaking can help you find and convert high-quality leads, but you can only convert them if you show up consistently.

All of this does not mean you can’t ever take a vacation or slow down on your speaking efforts. Far from it!

I want you to discover the busy seasons and slow seasons in your industry or on your speaking topic. That way, you can work on speaking efficiently without wasting your time or money.

Figure out your slow and busy speaker seasons

Consider how business shifts for you through the season. Is summer a slow or busy season for speaking? You may immediately think “slow” because school is out — and you’d be right. Speaking is typically slow in the summer because our kids are at home. Many businesses generally feel slower, too.

However, your business is unique. Only you know when you’re the busiest and when you’re the slowest. Make sure you look at your data to identify trends year over year. You may be surprised to find that summertime is not as slow as you think!

Try not to compare yourself with other speakers, either. It’s like gardening. You may follow this amazing YouTuber for their gardening videos, but you can’t create the exact same garden as her. She lives in an entirely different climate and zone. Your environment and factors are not the same. You have to get clear on what you can grow and when (in your biz and your garden).

Make the most of your busy speaker seasons

Once you have your slow and busy seasons mapped out, I want you to make the most of your busy season. In the speaker space, we’re typically busiest in Q4 and Q1, when people are planning for the year ahead.

If you’re speaking to grow your business, give yourself plenty of time to pitch, book, and prep for those big events and opportunities. Identify key conferences, summits, workshops, and events on your calendar. Then work backward, making space to apply or pitch yourself before that event. Remember: 6 to 12 months for the timeline!

On the other hand, if you’re speaking as its own source of revenue, you may not have a problem staying booked out during your busy season. (That’s the dream right?)

Always be aware of your busy times. For example, when I spoke at schools, I knew key dates like homecoming, prom, and freshmen orientation, and that those would be the busiest.

Then, look to fill the gaps with different audiences or complementary topics. If you book a lot of in-person events, maybe you have space for smaller virtual events or unconventional opportunities in between.

Prepare for your slow speaker seasons

One of the best things you can do during your slow speaker seasons is prepare for your busy seasons. Let’s use gardening as an example again. This would be like planting your seeds in time to harvest.

Wanna speak at an event in October? You wouldn’t pitch that same month. You’d want to build that relationship — or plant the seeds — months in advance by reaching out to the host or organizer, letting them warm up to you and your idea, and giving them time to reply.

Note: At the time of this recording my potatoes are almost ready for harvest and I’m so excited, y’all. I have no idea what’s been going on under the soil, but I’m ready to see what we get!

Always be consistent

So, what should you do this summer? If it’s a slow season for you, use this time to research events that you want to pitch or book. Craft those pitches. Reach out to podcast hosts and event organizers. Start planting those seeds.

If it’s a busy season for you, stick with it! Take advantage of any opportunities that come your way if your schedule allows, whether you’re being asked to speak to a related target audience or a complementary topic.

In short, optimize the highs and fill in the gaps on the lows. And regardless of your season or the date on the calendar, always be consistent. Always work on something, whether it’s networking, attracting leads, or showing up for your audience on social media and other platforms. That’s a key part of leveraging your content strategy for speaking.

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