One of my goals this year is to do more public speaking, and when a client asked if I could write a speaker one sheet for her, not only did I say yes, but I thought, “I should write a speaker one sheet for myself”. It took way too long for me to finally get around to creating my own speaker one sheet, but once I finally did, and I started actively looking for speaking gigs, people started asking to see my speaker one sheet before booking me.
A speaker one sheet is like any piece of marketing content you create for your business. First, it needs to be written for a specific audience with the goal of achieving a certain objective (landing you a speaking gig). Second, some people will encounter your speaker sheet before they meet you and then they’ll reach out for more information, while others will meet you in person or online and then ask to see your speaker one sheet before taking the next steps to book you for their event.
Either way, the speaker one sheet is integral to closing the deal. It needs to convince them you’re a professional with the knowledge and expertise they want to share with their audience. So, let’s talk about what your speaker one sheet needs in order to accomplish that goal.
Table of Contents
- Professional Headshot
- Bio
- Speaking Topics
- Contact Information
- Extras
- Designing Your Speaker One Sheet
- Need Some Help with Your Speaker One Sheet?
Professional Headshot
Emphasis on “professional”. No selfies here. Hire a photographer with a real camera (not their phone) to take high-quality photos of you, preferably someone who regularly does headshots. Outside in direct sunlight is always a great place to do headshots because the lighting is fantastic, but if you’re afraid that might appear too casual, you can always do indoor headshots with professional lighting equipment. You certainly don’t want a headshot that’s blurry or so dark it makes you look like you’re lurking in the shadows.
Bio
Keep in mind your speaker one sheet is exactly what it sounds like: one sheet. And you have a lot of information to cram onto that one sheet, so you need to make everything short and sweet, including your bio. This is not the place to tell your whole life story. Instead, all anyone needs to see here is your current position and any part of your educational and/or work history that qualifies you to talk on the subject you’ll be presenting, which leads nicely into the next section:
Speaking Topics
If you’ve been speaking for a while, you probably have a lot of different presentations you’ve given, but again, you need to keep your speaker one sheet to one sheet, so you’re better off keeping the list short. If you have some signature speeches you’ve given at various events, you might want to highlight those on your speaker sheet. If you like to talk on a variety of topics, you can choose one topic from each category to demonstrate your range.
Don’t be afraid of people seeing this list and thinking you only present on those topics. They know it’s just a sampling, so if they have something else in mind for your presentation, they’ll let you know. Likewise, if you realize in the course of the conversation that they might be looking for something specific that’s not listed on your speaker one sheet, but that you absolutely can do, you can always pitch it to them.
Also keep in mind that there’s no law that says you can only have one speaker one sheet. If you regularly present (or are trying to regularly present) in front of a variety of groups, you can create a speaker one sheet for each group that highlights your expertise and topics in those areas.
Contact Information
As I mentioned in the introduction, some people are going to encounter your speaker one sheet before they meet you, and if they like what they see, they’ll need a way to reach you. Not only should you provide your email address and phone number, but you should also provide a link to any social media profile where you want them to connect with you. If you have a website, you should be sure to include the link to your website in your contact section.
Extras
The sections described above are the ones you need to have on your speaker one sheet no matter what, but if you (or your graphic designer) manage to design it in such a way that gives you a little more room, here are some other sections you might want to include in your speaker one sheet:
Clients
Knowing the kinds of topics you can present is a great start, but people are also going to want to know where you’ve presented before, especially if they’re looking to pay you for your presentation. You can include your list of past clients alongside the topics by listing where and when you’ve previously given those presentations, or you can include your client list as a separate section. Again, if you’ve been doing this for a while and given a lot of presentations, you might want to keep the list short and highlight only the most impressive clients.
Testimonials
It’s one thing for you to say you can give an awesome presentation that will provide value to their audience, but a testimonial from a client saying the same thing is so much more powerful. Everyone knows you have skin in the game when you’re talking up your own abilities, but testimonials provide the social proof you need to close the deal. They also might highlight benefits you hadn’t even considered, which makes them that much more effective in converting new prospects into clients.
Branding
Every piece of content you create for your marketing strategy needs to reflect your brand. Not only does this mean including your face on your speaker one sheet, it means making sure the tone of voice is consistent with the tone of all the other content you create for your business. It means including your logo if you have space for it. At the very least, you should make sure the color scheme of your speaker one sheet matches the color scheme of your logo and your overall brand. You also need to make sure the font matches. This is all part of making sure your marketing efforts are consistent so everything you do matches everything else you do.
This remains true even if you don’t have your own company. If you’re getting into public speaking to position yourself as a thought leader and build your personal brand, you have to remember that your personal brand is still a brand.
Designing Your Speaker One Sheet
Unlike a blog post or website landing page, a speaker one sheet requires some design, and I highly recommend hiring a professional graphic designer if you can afford one. If your budget requires you to DIY, Canva has some great speaker one sheet templates and I have found Canva to be very intuitive and easy to use.
Need Some Help with Your Speaker One Sheet?
Words are our specialty, whether we’re writing entire books or just short bios. When you struggle to see the bigger picture, we can craft a story that both reflects your expertise and professionalism while focusing on the problems you can help solve for your prospects. You can learn more about our speaker one sheet writing services here.
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