What's a Speaker Reel? - How to Create an Effective One

Creating a speaker reel is an essential step in the process of becoming a speaker. It should be your first priority when you decide to become a speaker and start your journey to become a public speaker. The reason it should be your first priority is that it can take a long time to collect all the pieces you need to make an effective one. You need to be thinking about all the pieces you need to collect as you embark on your speaking journey.

Why is Creating a Speaker Reel so Important?

Let’s be honest here: You can’t expect people to hire you as a speaker, coach, or author to speak on stage if they can’t see what you have to offer. They need proof that you are the perfect speaker for their company. Your resume will not cut it.

You need an engaging and effective speaker reel that shows off your skills and expertise, as well as your speaking style, knowledge, and expertise on given topics. Your speaker reel is also called a video CV or personal video profile. It contains short clips of your best talks with an optional audio track and highlights of your past performances that give insight into your working methods and motivation for becoming a speaker. A good speaker reel gives potential employers and event organizers insight into who you are as a person, how you operate in public speaking situations, and why they should invest in hiring you as a spokesperson for their brand or company. How will you transform their audience?

Before you even start looking for paid public speaking gigs, you need to show prospective employers and event organizers that you can be effective as a speaker. This means that you need to show them how you speak: the tone of your voice, your gestures, your confidence, and your overall presence on stage. Your public speaking skills and your ability to engage with the audience are crucial for any type of event and any type of employer. Your first step should be getting high-quality footage of you speaking on stage. At Speaker Slam, we have launched many speaking careers because of our ability to create high-quality footage of speakers on stage. Consider applying to compete in our competitions to get started.

A speaker reel is crucial for your career as a speaker

A speaker reel is the only way to prove to potential employers and event organizers who you are and what you have to offer. And believe us, they will ask to see it, especially if you apply to speak at a big event. They even expect to see it if you are applying to speak at a small event. The only difference is that if you apply to speak at a small event, they won’t necessarily ask to see it. But they are expecting you to have one. With a good speaker reel, potential employers will be able to see your style of presenting, your strengths, and your personality. They will decide whether or not to hire you based on what they see in this reel.

How to Create an Effective Speaker Reel?

Your speaker reel should include a few short clips of your best talks. You can also add a short audio track with your own voice describing why you are the perfect speaker for the job. You should aim to keep your speaker reel between 1 and 3 minutes long. In order to create an effective speaker reel, you should have a clear idea of the type of speaker that you want to be. As a speaker, you should know your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your goals and objectives. Your speaker reel should include examples of the following: Your strengths and weaknesses Your goals and objectives Your speaking style Your knowledge of given topics Your working methods and motivation for becoming a speaker

A speaker reel can be a combination of the following:

• Video clips of your past public presentations. Ideally, you should aim to have at least 2-3 different pieces of footage of you speaking
• A documentary-style interview that describes who you are which can be intertwined with the footage to tell the narrative. You can optionally use an audio track but would require b-roll footage to help tell the narrative
• Infographics or visuals that provide social proof of your expertise whether it is data or logos of where you have been featured in media 
• Creative b-roll of you walking around, talking to clients, preparing for the stage, interacting with the audience, audience reacting to you
• At least 3 testimonials from event organizers or attendees that have relevant qualifications to your target event organizer

Creating a speaker reel is an essential step in the process of becoming a speaker. It is the first thing potential employers will see when looking for speakers and the only way to prove that you are the perfect public speaker for their event. If you need help getting started on your reel, Speaker Slam is here for you. You can learn about our speaker reel services here or book a call discovery call with Dan Shaikh, the co-founder of Speaker Slam on how we can help.

Author: Dan Shaikh