Speaking Business podcast
The One Thing Conference Organisers Want That Most Speakers Don't Have
Published: 21 May 2026 at 08:07 Europe/London
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Episode notes
In this episode of Speaking Business Podcast, I'm joined by Steve Markman, founder of Markman Speaker Management, who has more than 35 years' experience in the speaker field and has helped over 1,000 leaders secure speaking opportunities globally.
Steve shares what speakers often don't realise about the conference world, including how competitive it is, how far in advance events are planned, and why your abstract can matter even more than your bio. We also talk about the difference between paid and unpaid speaking, why unpaid speaking can still lead to future income, and what paid speakers can learn from executives using speaking as part of their visibility and thought leadership strategy.
This is a practical conversation for speakers who want to understand what really happens behind the scenes, how to make themselves more attractive to conference organisers, and how to position their content so it matches the audience, the event and the opportunity.
