One of the most portable pivots a speaker can make to book four to six-figure gigs is speaking at industry associations and corporations.
Many conferences pay the keynote speakers well; not much else goes to the session speakers. Unless you’re keynoting, it’s hard to book the higher-end speaking gigs consistently.
Industry associations have members that pay, thus creating a larger budget to pay speakers. Corporations allocate millions of dollars each year for employee training. These two avenues to book paid speaking are untapped and ones you should target right now.
A TON of corporations and industry associations are looking for speakers, coaches, and consultants to motivate, educate, and inspire. You’d get paid a generous fee; you can speak at multiple offices, and you can speak anytime throughout the year.
Here are some corporations and industry associations that want to book speakers. This is a small sampling of the MANY available opportunities.
If you’d like to book more paid speaking gigs or pitch some of these opportunities, we have paid speaking pitch templates and a database of over four million contacts you can pitch in PR Pitches.
Where to Pitch Yourself and Be Paid to Speak
1. Kroger based out of Cincinnati, Ohio
They are a nationwide grocery chain trying to book wellness speakers and coaches to train on “dealing with mental wellness, creating healthy habits, nutrition, and the basics of at-home workouts.”
Based on what they’ve paid speakers in the past, charge at least $20K per one-off speech (it can be done virtually).
I would also upsell any wellness books or courses you have. Charge a markup of 30% and offer bulk purchases.
The person to pitch is the HR director, Michael McAffee.
2. National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)
This association’s purpose is to help keep small businesses strong. It has offices in all 50 states and hundreds of thousands of members.
They’re looking for speakers in multiple cities and states to speak on the topics of leadership development, the entrepreneurial mindset, spirituality in business, the future of business, and adapting AI in business.
Based on what they’ve paid speakers in the past, charge at least $12K a month for multiple speeches.
The person to pitch to is in PR Pitches.
3. Citi Group based out of New York City
They are a financial services company trying to book speakers, trainers, and coaches on the topics of mastering energy, workplace culture, managing teams, DEI, creating systems, and the entrepreneurial mindset.
Based on what they’ve paid speakers in the past, charge at least $25K per one-off virtual speech.
I would also upsell setting up a monthly internal personal development newsletter or podcast. Each month, send out advice to their employees through written and audio. Charge $15K a month for either.
The person to pitch is the HR director, Sara Wechter
4. National Business Incubation Association
This association is a business incubator that develops and manages corporate joint venture partners, venture capital investors, and economic development professionals.
They’re looking for speakers in multiple cities and states to speak on the topics of AI, digital marketing, funnels, social media marketing, and personal finance.
Based on what they’ve paid speakers in the past, charge at least $10K a month for multiple speeches.
5. Coca-Cola out of Atlanta, Georgia
They are a beverage company trying to book speakers, coaches, and consultants on the topics of training on meditation, energy management, high performance, conflict resolution, diverse communication, and cultural diversity.
I would also upsell monthly employee support. You can charge per hour per X number of employees to have small group calls each month. Charge at least $25K a month for this.
Based on what they’ve paid for training in the past, charge at least $30K dollars per one-off session (it can be done virtually).
The person to pitch is the training director, Rashmi Sharma.
6. Business marketing association
This association is the leading source of information for all things marketing. They have association offices in many states.
They’re looking for speakers in multiple cities and states to speak on the topics of digital marketing, AI, content marketing, content creation, social media marketing, email marketing, and building communities online.
Based on what they’ve paid speakers in the past, charge at least $10K a month for multiple speeches.
7. Morgan Stanley out of New York City
They are a financial services company trying to book speakers, coaches, and consultants on the topics of team-building, DEI, inter-work relationships, personal development, human design, and spiritual topics.
Based on what they’ve paid for training in the past, charge at least $25K per one-off session.
The person to pitch to is the training director, Amy Haverty.
How To Book Paid Speaking Opportunities
Corporations and industry associations are not like online entrepreneurs. Using that approach to booking these gigs won’t work. If your pitch isn’t solid, they won’t bother to respond.
LinkedIn reach-outs will be ignored, and calls to companies and associations will go nowhere. The pitch would happen through email. Send a solid pitch.
Speakers, coaches, and consultants—this is a profitable pivot.
If you need templates to pitch, a database to find paid speaking gigs, and the ability to set up an automated system to book paid speaking gigs regularly, PR Pitches is the place for you.
