8 Ways to Sabotage Your Speaker One Sheet

A speaker one sheet is the single most important showcase you as a speaker can have when trying to get booked for speaking engagements. 

This is a two-page flyer that encapsulates why you are the right speaker for a booker’s audience. When you create the email proposal letter, there is not enough space (nor attention span) to give the booker all of your credentials and a complete description of the subjects you intend to present. Attaching a speaker one sheet will accomplish that.

It helps you attract client prospects. It also boosts your desirability, perceived credibility, and professionalism while summarizing your history of credentials, authority, and expertise.

But there are oh so many ways to mess up your speaker one sheet!

So let me reveal to you the 8 ways you can sabotage your speaker one sheet so you can avoid these mistakes and succeed at filling your calendar full of gigs.

Mistake #1

Make It All About You! The booker wants to know what’s in it for his or her audience. What problem will you solve that is keeping them up at night? How will you change the life, health, or fortune of the people to whom you are presenting? Give the bookers a clear roadmap of the outcome for their community.

Mistake #2

Bad Images or Sleep-Inducing Photos. Give them dynamic shots of you on stage or at least a great headshot. If you look uninteresting, they will think you are uninteresting. Make sure it’s in focus and not from miles back on the stage.

Mistake #3

Testimonials From the Wrong People. Bookers want to see testimonials and raves from people who have booked you before. That gives them the confidence that you will be great in their stages. Only use testimonials from clients and people who have heard you speak if you don’t have bookers’ review quotes. Reach out to the bookers right after the engagement for a testimonial rather than waiting until they have cooled off.

Mistake #4

Uninspiring Presentation Titles. Don’t lull them into tedium with a long, dull, or process-driven title. Make it snappy, funny, ironic, insightful, fear-inspiring, or compelling—and keep it fairly short. Your title should get them excited about what is to come!

Mistake #5

Badly Written and Boring Presentation Descriptions. You have one or two paragraphs and 3 to 5 bullet points to create an image in their minds of what the audience will learn. Distill it using empowering words, action verbs, and word pictures of what they can expect to experience. Make it sound like an experience!

Mistake #6

No Call to Action. If it doesn’t ask them to book you, you’ve just lost the opportunity. Your speaker one sheet isn’t just a pretty showcase; it’s a clarion call to book you. “Book Jenny to awe your audience!” 

Mistake #7

Homemade or Bad Design. Poor design will mark you as an amateur, whether you do it yourself or have your brother-in-law do it for you. For a few extra dollars, you need someone who can make you shine. It must have the bells and whistles that are the hallmark of a great presenter.

Mistake #8

Out-of-Control Costs. Yes, you need to have a pro do it for you but don’t get yourself stuck in a blank-check situation. There are three ways costs can escalate:

1. You weren’t clear with the designer in advance that you were working with a fixed budget.

2. You weren’t clear with them on what you wanted and then multiple changes upped the cost.

3. You didn’t correct misspellings or grammatical errors until you were in the final proof.

You can avert all of these by setting some ground rules and providing the right copy, headlines, and graphics from the beginning.

You can also look for cost-contained solutions. One is SpeakerTunity Sheets®, the interactive speaker one sheet design service. It has a highly affordable fixed cost so you know exactly what you will spend. You select a template and colors, and then you fill in a form that tells you exactly what to put in it. Then the designers can produce it in 3 to 5 days. You can explore more at www.SpeakerTunity.com/sheets.

And with the tips you picked up here, you should be well on your way to giving the designers all the right content to ensure your speaker one sheet is spectacular.

About the author:

Jackie Lapin is the founder of SpeakerTunity, The Speaker & Leader Resource Company, providing leads, tools, and strategies for leaders, coaches, and entrepreneurs to get booked for speaking conferences, meetings, podcasts, virtual summits, and TEDx events You can also get a professionally designed speaker one sheet. SpeakerTunity is the Speaker’s Ultimate Tool Box. www.SpeakerTunity.com