A consultant receives an email: "Would you be interested in speaking at our conference?" No date, no audience, no topic, no mention of a fee. The consultant replies with questions. The organiser replies a week later. By then, the consultant is booked on that date, and a good opportunity has gone.
Speaking and workshop requests can be valuable. They often arrive with too little detail to act on.
Why speaking requests matter
Speaking at events builds a consultant's reputation, reaches new audiences and often leads to consulting work. Workshops for organisations can be a significant income stream. Both deserve prompt, professional handling, just as consulting enquiries do, as described in consulting enquiries that need scoping before a call.
What organisers ask
- Are you available on our date?
- What topics do you speak on?
- Do you run workshops as well as talks?
- What is your fee?
- Can you speak online as well as in person?
- Do you travel?
What to capture
- Event name and organiser
- Date and time
- Location or online format
- Audience size and who they are
- Topic or theme
- Session length and format: keynote, panel, workshop
- Budget or fee
- Contact details
Speaker and workshop pages
A page listing the consultant's speaking topics, formats, typical fees and past events helps organisers decide. It also filters out requests that do not fit.
Answering at any hour
SpideyChat for consultants answers questions about speaking and workshops from your own pages at any hour and captures the event details for you to review.
Organiser: Would you be available to run a half-day workshop for our leadership team in March? Assistant: The workshops page describes the leadership sessions the consultant runs, with typical formats and fees. So they can check availability, could you share the date, location, number of participants and what you'd like the team to take away?
Separating speaking from proposals
Speaking requests are different from consulting proposals, but both need qualifying. Unqualified proposal requests are covered in proposal requests from prospects who are just browsing.
Consultations and sessions elsewhere
Other professionals capture session details in similar ways. Dental practices do it for implant consultations, as described in implant consultations and the questions before booking, and salons for bookings, as in AI receptionist for beauty salons.
Online sessions and recordings
Many organisers now ask for online sessions, hybrid formats or permission to record. Explaining which formats you offer, how online workshops run and whether recordings are allowed avoids confusion. Recordings in particular raise questions about fees and usage rights, so a short note on your policy helps organisers plan and budget.
Charity and community events
Some requests come from charities, schools or community groups with little or no budget. Decide in advance how many of these you will accept each year, and say so politely. Many consultants give a few free talks a year as part of their community work, and being clear about that helps organisers know where they stand.
Travel and expenses
For in-person events, organisers want to know whether travel and accommodation are included in the fee. A short line on the speaking page answers it.
Following up after the event
After speaking, follow up with the organiser and, where appropriate, with attendees who expressed interest. Many consulting engagements start from a conversation after a talk.
A speaker page this month
Write a speaking and workshops page with topics, formats and typical fees, and capture requests properly at any hour. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.