Insights from the World’s Largest Bureau (ft. Ryan Heil)

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Insights from the World’s Largest Bureau (ft. Ryan Heil)

What we can learn from an industry powerhouse with a startup attitude run by a philosopher

OPENING QUOTE:

“So, I think that's our job, is to help speakers identify those nuggets, and the speaker's job's to take the complex and make it super applicable.”

-Ryan Heil

GUEST BIO:

Ryan Heil is the president of Washington Speakers Bureau, the largest and quite possibly the single most respected bureau on the planet. But if you dive into his resume, you'll find a whole bunch of unexpected treasures. A former player for the New York Mets and a D1 college baseball coach, Ryan also holds a doctor of philosophy. He co-authored a book entitled Choose Love Not Fear, and has served in numerous leadership positions at Clemson University.

Links:

CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:

[7:44] - Finding the Fun in Futurism

Why Ryan Heil doesn’t fear what’s next

Not only is Ryan not concerned about the future of speaking in a rapidly changing marketplace — he’s excited by it. He’s brought a startup attitude to WSB, ensuring that nothing is sacred and no business strategy goes forward simply because “that’s the way it’s always been done.” His mantra, “Is there a better way to do this?” has helped WSB look toward the future, when many other long-established bureaus might be tempted to look only to their past. While Ryan acknowledges the company’s history has many lessons to teach, he believes those lessons revolve around how to evolve — and what happens when you don’t.

[13:41] - Helping Speakers Reinvent Themselves

How WSB helps guide speakers into new frontiers

When helping coach speakers to make themselves more marketable — and when selecting new speakers to go exclusive at WSB — Ryan focuses on a set of core questions.

Who is going to pay to hear these people speak and their message? What question is the speaker answering that the customer knows they need to answer? How do we help connect that dot? What is your simple message that you repeat over and over again? Do you have platform skills, and how good are those platform skills?

Emerging speakers should write these questions down somewhere, then set about answering each of them as they develop their brand.

[22:40] - When Not to Go Exclusive

Exclusive feels special, but it isn’t always right

When it comes to going exclusive, Ryan advises putting it off early on. When you’re figuring out who you are, making a name for yourself, carving out a space in the market — that's the time to work with as many different groups of people as possible. Keep developing your content, building your product, and finding customer bases. When it comes to the point where you need to either hire a back office or get with a bureau, then you know it’s time to start thinking seriously about going exclusive.

[28:39] - Ryan’s Realistic Optimism

The speaking industry will change. But it will also endure.

Ryan doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to potential upheaval in the speaking industry.

“What budgets start to look like, what honorariums shift to, how contracts are done, I think all that's going to change. The inclusion of technology and AI into a lot of things, it's all going to change.”

And yet, Ryan says, “I do believe that the core of this is going to be around the relationships. Regardless of where people work, who they work with, the structure they work in, people are going to hold meetings. They’ve been holding meetings and having speakers since the beginning of time, and I think that’s going to continue.”

RESOURCES:

[1:29] About Washington Speakers Bureau
[1:50] Choose Love Not Fear, by Ryan Heil

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Follow Josh Linkner:

ABOUT MIC DROP:

Hear from the world’s top thought leaders and experts, sharing tipping point moments, strategies, and approaches that led to their speaking career success. Throughout each episode, host Josh Linkner, #1 Innovation keynote speaker in the world, deconstructs guests’ Mic Drop moments and provides tactical tools and takeaways that can be applied to any speaking business, no matter it’s starting point. You'll enjoy hearing from some of the top keynote speakers in the industry including: Ryan Estis, Alison Levine, Peter Sheahan, Seth Mattison, Cassandra Worthy, and many more. Mic Drop is sponsored by ImpactEleven.

Learn more at: MicDropPodcast.com

ABOUT THE HOST:

Josh Linkner is a Creative Troublemaker. He believes passionately that all human beings have incredible creative capacity, and he’s on a mission to unlock inventive thinking and creative problem solving to help leaders, individuals, and communities soar.

Josh has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million and is the author of four books including the New York Times Bestsellers, Disciplined Dreaming and The Road to Reinvention. He has invested in and/or mentored over 100 startups and is the Founding Partner of Detroit Venture Partners.

Today, Josh serves as Chairman and Co-founder of Platypus Labs, an innovation research, training, and consulting firm. He has twice been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.

Josh is also a passionate Detroiter, the father of four, is a professional-level jazz guitarist, and has a slightly odd obsession with greasy pizza.

Learn more about Josh: JoshLinkner.com