How do you collaborate with motivational speakers?

To truly maximize the impact of your collaborations, it is essential that you pay authentic attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Fostering a diverse speaker lineup and attracting a diverse audience ensures that multiple perspectives are represented, enriching the conversation and promoting a more inclusive environment. Embracing DEI also demonstrates your commitment to social responsibility, setting you apart as a thought leader who genuinely cares about making a difference.

When reaching out to a potential speaker partner, it's crucial to define your collaboration goals. Determine if you aim to co-create a presentation, workshop, podcast, or book. Clarify if you seek feedback, referrals, or testimonials. Consider cross-promoting services, products, or events. A specific and realistic goal will help you craft a compelling proposal aligned with your partner's interests and needs.

From lemonade stands to the fortune 500 the ability to convey the need for a product or service has for decades been based on "pain point" solutions. This ideology while productive is largely one way in delivery, there is no formative growth from the provider and the customer only gets what solves one problem. To motivate employees as well as your customer base, a collaborative sense of ownership has always been more effective than one way transactions. Allowing your employees to invest in your ideas and your customers to invest in your products development promotes a sense of personal ownership and emotional support behind your brand. This develops a sense of conditional synergy that a company is invested in the investors life as well.

When considering a speaker collaboration, thorough research on your potential partner is essential. Understand their niche, style, audience, and message. Learn about their values, vision, and mission. Identify their strengths, challenges, and opportunities. Explore their communication, marketing, and service delivery approaches. This research helps you gain a deeper understanding of your partner, identify areas of synergy, and avoid conflicts or misunderstandings. It sets the foundation for a fruitful and harmonious partnership.

Watching their previous keynotes provides insights into their on stage presence, methods of communicating a message and resonating with the audience. Think about how your message adds value and becomes an integral part of the conversation. The people watching frequently talk about what they learnt team in meetings or conversations with others. Good research is key to both of you delivering value.

When reaching out to your potential partner, approach them with professionalism and respect. Introduce yourself briefly and express your interest in collaborating. Clearly outline the benefits and expectations of your proposal. Be concise, and honest, and avoid spammy or pushy language. Whether through email, social media, or phone, choose a medium that suits both parties. Maintain a courteous and friendly tone throughout your communication to foster a positive impression. Remember, clarity, sincerity, and professionalism are key to making a compelling pitch.

Sometimes collaborations are birthed more organically. I have had several speaking and writing collaborations come about with professionals who attended the same event; through listening to the other person's presentation or their becoming aware of synergies within my niche, one of us initiated the concept of a collaboration opportunity and the other person agreed. No matter how congenial the partnership begins, however, it is critical to delve deeper to confirm alignment in vision and to identify conflicts in core values that could derail the collaboration later on.

Once your partner agrees to collaborate, it's crucial to negotiate the terms and conditions of your partnership. Discuss and align on the project's scope, format, duration, and budget. Establish the roles, responsibilities, and contributions of each party. Set clear deadlines, milestones, and deliverables. Define the communication channels, feedback mechanisms, and evaluation methods to be used. Effective negotiation ensures a shared understanding of expectations, prevents misunderstandings, and fosters a successful collaboration. It lays the foundation for a productive and harmonious working relationship.

It is important not to assume that speakers will speak for free. In healthcare professions, speakers of non-clinical topics are typically offered less compensation. Non-clinical speakers should learn how to negotiate fair compensation by opening up conversations. Organizations should be cognizant of the speaker's time and availability. A reasonable preparation time should be given to speaker ahead of schedule depending on the length of the speech. Specific terms such as whether travelling expenses would be covered and how expenses are reimbursed should be clarified ahead of time. Typically a contract would be drawn to specify the terms of compensation in order to avoid confusion.

After negotiating the terms, it's time to execute the plan and deliver the project. Adhere to the agreed-upon schedule, guidelines, and quality standards. Maintain regular communication, updating each other on progress and addressing challenges. Offer constructive feedback, support, and encouragement to your partner. Respect their opinions, preferences, and boundaries throughout the process. By executing the plan effectively, you foster trust, rapport, and credibility with your partner, resulting in a valuable and impactful outcome for your audience. Stay committed, adaptable, and collaborative to ensure a successful collaboration.

Once you have successfully executed the plan and delivered the project, it's important to celebrate and appreciate your collaboration with your partner. Express gratitude for their time, effort, and expertise. Share the positive results, feedback, and testimonials that have been received from the project. Promote and endorse your partner's services, products, or events to showcase the value they bring. Maintain and nurture the relationship by staying in touch and exploring future opportunities for collaboration. By celebrating and appreciating the collaboration, you demonstrate your gratitude, acknowledge their contributions, and enhance your speaker brand and reputation.

When the collaboration is successful, it is good practice to reciprocate invites for future collaboration opportunities, especially if the person who initiates the invite is also a speaker. Speakers circulate in the space via mutual referrals can be a win-win situation for all. Be sure to maintain the connections professionally. It can go a long way.

Collaboration is about sharing. 3 things you can share with other motivational speakers: 1. Share your victories. When you come off the stage after a big "win", text or call one of your associates and let them know: "I killed it!" 2. Share your struggles! Do you need more bookings? Are you stuck looking for a perfect illustration or call-to-action? Are you feeling alone on the road? 3. Share your systems. Remember that you are in the motivational speaking BUSINESS. Collaborate with your colleagues about how you get booked, negotiate your fees, how you gift your clients, and how you cultivate repeat business. As motivational speakers, we thrive on the response we get from audiences. But the support we give each other is also invaluable.

Your audience will broaden around the presentation. It is not uncommon for your audience to start following you on social media prior to presentation and initiates contact right after. Your antenna should be open to organic connections with your audience. Their feedback will help you to mold and shape your talk next time.