Pro Tip of the Week: Weekly Recaps

In line with the theme of a New Year, consider recapping your week at the end of the week to capture your wins, opportunities, and lessons learned.

This is helps you zoom out of yourself and your business to see how you’re doing. Then you can better plan for the week ahead. It is also helpful to look back on every quarter and year to see all that you’ve done and how much you’ve grown!

Block 15 minutes off every Friday—make it an appointment in your calendar to make sure you get it done.

Recommendation of the Week: The 12 Week Year

What if a year was only 12 weeks long?

This is the questions behind the book, The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran. His theory is that thinking in this way helps you get more done and stops you from procrastinating on your annual goals. His system has been implemented at large organizations, but can be valuable for small businesses as well.

I currently use this system in my business, and recommend it to anyone that is interested in exploring new ways to set and reach goals in their business.

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Deep Dive of the Week: Setting Intentions for Your Speaking Business in 2025

Do you feel overwhelmed setting goals for you speaking business?

I’ve been there. Trying to predict how many speaking engagements you’ll book and how much they’ll pay for an entire year can feel daunting. Especially if you’re trying to grow your business.

Things might be feeling even more unpredictable in 2025 if you are a DEI focused speaker.

Let’s explore ways you can set intentions for your speaking business this year that feel aligned, challenge you, and set you up for personal and professional growth.

1. Reflect on 2024: Lessons and Wins

Gather the data:

• How many speaking engagements did you do?
• What was your income?
• How many sales calls did you have?
• What was the feedback you got from clients?

Evaluate the data:

• What worked well?
• What didn’t work well?
• What were some of the milestones you hits?
• What were your accomplishments?

2. Define Your Vision for 2025

Clarify your why:

• What is your purpose as a speaker?
• How does your message serve your audience in 2025?

Set your big-picture goals:

• Examples include: increasing revenue by 30%, book 45 speaking engagements, launch an online course, etc.
• Make sure these goals align with your values and long-term vision for your business.

3. Set Specific, Actionable Intentions

Financial Goals:

• Set revenue targets and strategies to achieve them.
• Example: Increase speaking fees from $3,000 to $5,500 or book 10 gigs per quarter.

Audience Growth:

• Focus on expanding reach through email lists, social media, or collaborations.
• Example: Add 1,000 subscribers to your email list by mid-2025.

Content Creation:

• Develop thought leadership content to solidify expertise.
• Example: Publish articles to Medium, start a podcast, or post regularly on LinkedIn.

Professional Development:

• Invest in training, coaching, or certifications to enhance skills.
• Example: Work with a speaking coach, join an association such as the National Speaker’s Association, or attend a conference.

4. Create a Roadmap

Break it down:

• Assign key milestones to each quarter (or 12 week year if using the system mentioned above).
  • Example: Q1: Secure 10 speaking engagements, Q2: Launch podcast, etc.
• Write out the tasks that you’ll need to do for each goal—be specific so you can see everything that will go into it.

Daily and Weekly Habits:

• Implement systems for consistency (e.g., outreach emails, social media posts, rehearsals).
• Time-blocking your calendar can be amazing for this (Pro tip: Book similar tasks together like all admin tasks.)

5. Build Accountability

Find a Mentor or Peer Group:

• Join a mastermind or speaking association for support and feedback.
• These groups can help you grow your skills and business, and help you stay motivated along the way.

Track Your Progress:

• Track nearly every data point in a spreadsheet, notebook, or app.
  • These include: cold outreach messages sent, booked called, secured speaking engagements, Request for Proposals (RFPs) submitted, etc.
• Regularly review progress and adjust your strategies as needed.

Embrace Change:

• Stay open to new opportunities and innovations in the speaking industry.
• Celebrate the wins (big and small) throughout the year to stay motivated.

Thinking about growing your speaking business in 2025 doesn’t have to feel overwhelming.

Just like you write a speech bit by bit, you can set your intentions and goals for the year the same way. You may be just getting your business off the ground and booking your first 4-figure talk, or you may be looking to book your 100th talk of your career. Start with where you are and go from there.

Community > Competition—there are enough speaking opportunities for all of us.

What else do you want to know?

If you have a specific topic you want covered, let me know about it here. I’ll do my best to work it into a future newsletter!

That’s it for this week! Be sure to check your inbox next Wednesday as we dive into hidden revenue streams for your speaking business.

Take care,

Sebastian Dziuk (he/him)

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