Why Most Speakers Are Sitting on a Broken Stool

If you’re thinking about how to get more speaking engagements, you’re not the only one.

I had a speaker reach out to me recently. He has 50,000 followers on LinkedIn, solid credentials and definitely knows his stuff.

The phone wasn’t ringing.

Another one: big logos on the website. Impressive stages in the reel. Ten — yes, ten — speakers bureaus representing them.

Still not making money from speaking.

I hear versions of this story constantly. Visible, credible, accomplished speakers who are quietly frustrated because the business isn’t working the way it should. They’re doing the things they were told to do, and it’s not enough.

Here’s what I’ve come to believe: most speakers aren’t failing because they’re not good enough. They’re failing because they’re sitting on a broken stool.

The Speaker Stool

What is The Speaker Stool?

Think of your speaking business as a four-legged stool. Each leg represents a different way bookings can come to you:

Leg 1: Speakers Bureaus The traditional gatekeepers. You get listed, they pitch you to their clients, they take a commission. In theory, passive income. In practice, almost everyone I talk to is disappointed. Over the years I’ve spoken with maybe two speakers who are genuinely thrilled with their bureau results. The rest? They’re okay with it. Or worse.

Bureaus aren’t inherently bad. But they are passive. You are one name in a roster of hundreds. You are not their priority. One interesting nuanced version? Scurati. This is a company with a thesis on helping speakers get surfaced.

Leg 2: Speaker Referral Platforms and Peer Networks This includes platforms like eSpeakers and SpeakerHub, plus the informal peer referral networks that develop when speakers recommend each other for opportunities. When used well, this leg can be surprisingly productive. Most speakers underinvest here.

Leg 3: Marketing Your content. Your brand. Your assets. This is your website, your LinkedIn presence, your newsletter, your videos, your thought leadership: the things that make buyers find you, trust you, and think of you when an opportunity opens up.

TEDx talks live here. Not as a career strategy, but as a marketing asset. A well-produced TEDx talk in your niche, on a stage aligned with your positioning, becomes a permanent piece of content that works for you over time. The talk refines you. The video markets you. The process of preparing for it makes you a sharper speaker.

But only if you use it effectively. Most speakers hit publish and wait. That’s not a marketing strategy, that’s a lottery ticket.

Leg 4: Strategic Relationship Development This is the leg most speakers ignore completely. And it’s the one that, in my experience, makes the biggest difference: and it’s the one where you have the MOST CONTROL.

This is about developing sincere, intentional relationships with the right people — not to extract something from them, but because relationships are how real business gets done. Warm introductions. Hearty recommendations. Someone who knows you, trusts you, and thinks of you when the right opportunity comes up.

This is my leg. It’s what I do, it’s what I teach, and it’s the one I want to spend the most time on.

All Four Legs Work: The Problem Is Balance.

Here’s the honest truth: any one of these legs can generate bookings. Bureaus do place speakers. Marketing does create inbound. Referral platforms do connect speakers with opportunities.

But a stool with one strong leg and three weak ones doesn’t stand. It wobbles. And when it wobbles, you get inconsistency… a great quarter followed by silence, a burst of activity that dries up without warning.

The speaker with 50,000 LinkedIn followers had one very strong marketing leg. The speaker with ten bureaus had one very strong bureau leg. Neither had built the full structure.

The goal is a stool that stands on its own: one where bookings come from multiple directions, where you’re not dependent on any single channel, and where your business compounds over time rather than spiking and crashing. This is risk mitigation for YOUR entire business.

The Leg Most Speakers Think They Don’t Need

Let me be direct about something.

A lot of business people — especially experienced ones — hear “strategic relationship development” and think: I know this. I’ve been networking my whole career.

Maybe. But there’s a difference between knowing something intellectually and actually doing it with intention and system.

For those that don’t come from a business background? A lot of this can feel VERY unfamiliar, and it can feel very overwhelming, too.

Here’s a question: when did you last reach out to an event organizer, a conference chair, or an HR leader: not to pitch them, not because an opportunity was on the table, but just to build a genuine connection?

If the answer is “not recently” or “I wouldn’t know where to start,” you’re not alone. Most speakers wait for the opportunity before they build the relationship. By then, it’s too late. Someone else is already in the room.

And here’s a harder question: do you even know who to target, and why? Not just “event planners” as a category — but the specific organizations and events that align with your ideal client profile and your overall business strategy? There’s a difference between knowing your audience exists and knowing exactly where to find them, how they think, how to build real connections with stakeholders and determine what they actually care about.

That’s where most speakers have a gap: it’s not because you’re not trying, not because you’re not talented, but this is nuanced to target well and effectively.

The Shortcut That Isn’t

I want to address something directly, because I’m seeing it more and more: lead generation services for speakers.

The pitch sounds reasonable. Someone promises you 25 qualified leads per month. If you charge $20,000 per engagement, that sounds like half a million dollars in pipeline. Why wouldn’t you do it?

Here’s why.

Event planners talk. Senior executives talk. When a cold pitch lands in someone’s inbox with your name on it, that’s exactly how they’re going to perceive you — as someone willing to cold-pitch strangers. And to deliver those 25 leads, the agency is putting your name in front of thousands of people every month with a message you didn’t write and a tone you didn’t approve.

The math isn’t good. The psychology is worse.

I’ve seen it happen – have you? “Did you get that awful cold outreach from that speaker? Good credentials, but why are they cold-pitching me?” And the next person nods. “Me too. I hate that.”

We all hate cold pitches. The irony is that the speakers paying for lead gen services are the ones who know better — they just don’t want to do the work.

Your name is on the line. That’s not a job to outsource.

Jerry Orbach with a young Jonathan Dunnett and his parents

Jonathan with Jerry Orbach

Why Strategic Relationship Development Is Different

It’s not attending every event and handing out business cards. Quite the opposite, in fact.

It’s about understanding people — what they care about, what their problems are, how they make decisions — and building genuine relationships from that understanding.

I’m a Fellow with the Council of Competitive Intelligence with 17 years of experience profiling organizations and understanding decision-makers. I’ve done this kind of work for law firms, for corporations, for individuals building their businesses. The underlying skill is the same: understanding how to reach the right people, in the right way, at the right time.

And here’s what I know from doing it: the people you want to reach are more accessible than you think.

I once got invited to go flying with the former CEO of a major publishing company — someone who ran magazines you definitely know — within five minutes of a conversation on Twitter. Not because I pitched him. Because I was genuinely interested and intentional.

I once played golf with Jerry Orbach from Law & Order. Just by walking up and asking if I could join him and his friend.

Your buyers — the event planners, the HR leaders, the CHROs, the conference chairs — are real people with real wants, needs, concerns and motivations. They’re at events. They’re on LinkedIn. They’re speaking on panels. They’re reachable. Those are opportunities to create meaningful connection — if you show up as a person, not a pitch.

And meaningful connection matters for a reason that goes beyond the first booking.

You’re not a bottle of Coca-Cola — here today and gone tomorrow. A speaking opportunity is an opportunity: one keynote can lead to future keynotes, workshops, consulting, coaching and more. But if you treat it as “show up, do your thing, go home,” you’ll get the gig — and you’re probably leaving significant money on the table. The relationship you build in that room is often worth more than the fee you were paid to be there.

The speakers who are consistently booked have relationships with their buyers before the opportunity exists. That’s not luck. That’s strategy.

I’m Holding Up a Mirror

I want to leave you with a few honest questions. Not to make you feel bad — to help you see clearly.

On your stool:

Which leg is strongest right now? Which one are you almost entirely relying on?
When did you last actively invest in a leg that isn’t working?

On your marketing leg:

Do you have a clear, specific niche — or are you trying to speak to everyone?
Is your TEDx talk (if you have one) actively working for you, or is it sitting on YouTube collecting dust?
Does your content make your ideal buyer think that’s exactly what I need or just interesting person?

On bureaus:

Are you genuinely happy with your bureau results, or are you waiting for a phone that rarely rings?
Do you know what your bureau is actually doing on your behalf, or is it largely invisible?

On strategic relationship development:

Can you name five event organizers or conference chairs in your niche that you have a real relationship with — not LinkedIn connections, real relationships?
When did you last create a genuine touchpoint with someone who could hire you, with no ask attached?

I’m holding up a mirror to help you. What’s resonating?

What to Do Next

The stool framework isn’t complicated. But building it takes time, intention, and the willingness to do work that doesn’t have an immediate payoff.

If you’re reading this and thinking I know I should be doing this, I just don’t know how to do it systematically — that’s exactly what I help speakers with.

Not a lead gen agency. Not a marketing firm. A strategic approach to building the relationships and the business development infrastructure that generates consistent bookings over time.

If that resonates, let’s connect.

Let’s fix the stool

Jonathan Dunnett is a speaker business development coach and Council of Competitive Intelligence Fellows designate with 17+ years of experience. He organized the first TEDx Moncton in 2013 and has organized 75+ events since. He works with paid keynote speakers who are serious about building a systematic, relationship-driven speaking business.