By Christine Ntim

I keep getting the same repeated questions around breaking into the paid speaking industry and we are going to answer all of them live this Thursday!

Entrepreneur’s Paid Speaker Blueprint: 5 Hidden Reasons You’re Not Getting Paid to Speak — and How to Fix Them Fast

[Register Before We Go Live] ( Live September 25, 2025 at 11am EST. Included is replay access + worksheet)

This is the session where I go deeper into the real reasons entrepreneurs get stuck in free gigs… and how to finally break through.

Most advice online tells you to “get a reel,” “network more,” or “pitch harder.” If that worked, you’d already be booked and paid. The real blockers are deeper—and they’re fixable:

1. Lack of Positioning: Most entrepreneurs fail to frame themselves as an authority or solution provider that event organizers are willing to pay for. You’re positioned as “interesting,” not indispensable. Event organizers make business decisions. If your talk doesn’t clearly solve a pain that costs their company time, money, or risk, you’ll be inspirational… and unpaid. Your topic must be a sellable solution, not a story.
2. No Speaker Assets: Without a proper speaker page, reel, or LinkedIn presence, you’re invisible to decision-makers. Planners look for evidence: audience outcomes, relevant testimonials, a tight 60–90s video that shows you can move their crowd, not just a crowd.
3. Pitching the Wrong Way: Sending generic pitches or waiting for referrals keeps you overlooked and underpaid.Your pitch is organizer-centered in theory—but self-centered in practice. Most pitches talk about the speaker’s journey, not the event’s goals. That’s why they get deleted. Winning pitches mirror the audience’s problems, the program theme, and the KPI the organizer must hit (engagement, retention, sales enablement, safety, etc.).
4. Speaking for Free Without Strategy: Free gigs can open doors — but most people don’t know how to turn them into paid bookings. You are speaking on multiple different topics for free and now planners can’t place you. Without a clear niche + named outcomes, you’re forgettable.
5. Unclear Revenue Path: They don’t know how to link speaking to products, services, or brand revenue — so even if they land gigs, they don’t monetize them effectively. Conferences lock topics and headliners months in advance. If you’re pitching 4–8 weeks out, budgets and agendas are already closed. You need a pipeline that matches the industry’s 6–12+ month buying cycle.

What you’ll walk away with:

A clear roadmap to move from free to paid speaking.

Tools to make event organizers see you as a must-have

Practical, timeless strategies you can use immediately.

If you’ve been waiting for your chance to step into paid opportunities — this is it

Register Before We Go Live

Don’t miss the blueprint that’s already helped dozens of entrepreneurs shift from unpaid to paid gigs this year.