<aside> 📋 Frequency: Monthly | Time: 45 min | Trigger: Second week of each month

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Speaking engagements build credibility that content alone can't replicate — but they require a pipeline just like client work does. Most consultants submit a proposal when an opportunity surfaces by chance and then wonder why they're not on more stages. Without a monthly cadence, your speaking pipeline is empty except when you happen to find an open call. This SOP builds and maintains a pipeline of live targets so you're always in front of the right rooms.

Prerequisites

• Your speaking pipeline tracker (spreadsheet, CRM, or equivalent) with any active targets, submission deadlines, and pending responses
• A list of 3-5 new speaking targets for this month — conferences, association events, webinar series, or podcast interview programs that serve your target client
• Your current offer positioning and 1-2 signature topics that align with your practice focus and your target audience's documented constraints
• At least one tagged case study from your proof library (output from the Case Study Capture SOP) to anchor proposals

Procedure

1. Review your speaking pipeline tracker. Note any active proposals awaiting a response and any pending submissions with deadlines this month. Move any expired opportunities to an archive column.
2. Review the 3-5 new targets for this month. Confirm each is a genuine fit — the audience matches your target client, the format suits your topic, and the submission window is open or upcoming. Remove any that don't qualify.
3. For each qualified target, run the Speaking Proposal Writer skill with the event name, audience profile, your proposed topic, and a relevant case study as input. Review the output for a tailored submission draft.
4. Edit each proposal for the specific event — reference the audience explicitly, remove anything generic, and confirm the case study referenced matches the audience's vertical.
5. For any engagement already confirmed from a prior month, run the Speaking Talk Outline Builder skill with the accepted topic, audience profile, time slot, and format as input. Use the output as the foundation for talk development — do this at least four weeks before the event.
6. Submit all finalized proposals before end of week. Log each in your speaking pipeline tracker with submission date, expected response date, and topic proposed.

Expected Outcome

You'll have 3-5 speaking proposals submitted or in progress, each logged with submission date and follow-up date. Any confirmed engagement has a talk outline in progress. Your speaking pipeline is active with new entries this month.

<aside> ⚠️ Common mistakes:

— Pitching the same generic topic to every event. Event organizers read dozens of proposals. A topic pitched with no reference to the specific audience or format reads as a form letter. The proposal that references the audience's actual constraints gets picked.

— Treating one accepted engagement as a pipeline. Acceptance rates for speaking proposals are low even for established practitioners. A healthy speaking pipeline requires consistent monthly submissions — not a proposal here and there when an opportunity surfaces by chance.

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