How to Pitch Yourself as a Conference Speaker: 3 Templates
How to pitch yourself as a conference speaker: 3 templates under 120 words, which door to use at IBBA, AM&AA and ACG, and the follow up timing that works.
By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.
How to pitch yourself as a conference speaker: do not pitch yourself, pitch a session. Send the person who builds the program a named session, one argument, three takeaways and the panelists you can bring, in under 120 words, months before the agenda goes public.
Here is the scene. The call for speakers opens. You write four paragraphs about your career, your firm and your passion for the lower middle market. You attach a headshot. You hit submit and never hear back. Meanwhile, a peer sends a committee member five lines with a session title and two named panelists. She is on the agenda in March.
I have never spoken at a conference. I have made over 1,000 introductions, and the ones that get a yes are short, specific and make the other person’s job easier. A speaker pitch is an introduction of an idea to someone who needs one. Here is how I would write it.
Which door are you pitching through?
Pick the door first, because each one wants a different pitch. Some events run a public form, some take email to a chapter, and some are filled by a committee with no form at all.
| Door | Example | What to send | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public submission form | IBBA 2027 workshop submissions, open through November 13 for May 21 to 23 in Orlando | Template 1 in the form fields | Before the deadline, early |
| Speaker interest form | AM&AA 2027 Winter Conference, which says a representative will reach out | Template 1, then reply fast when they call | As soon as it opens |
| Chapter email | ACG Atlanta asks members to email “a content or speaker idea” | Template 3 | Before the chapter’s planning cycle |
| Committee member | Anyone on the program committee you already know | Template 2, as a text or short email | A few weeks before their planning call |
Verify every date on the official page before you plan around it. Deadlines move.
The committee door is the one most people never use, and it is often the best. The ACG Boston Speaker Committee says its goal is “to determine content and speakers that will inform, entertain and generate discussions among the M&A deal community.” Those are working dealmakers. A pitch from someone they know reads differently than a form from someone they do not.
How to pitch yourself as a conference speaker: what goes in it?
Five things, in this order, and nothing else.
- The session title. Eight words or fewer, specific to this year’s deals.
- The one argument. The sentence the room repeats at dinner.
- Three takeaways. What an attendee can use on Monday.
- The panel you can bring. Two names and their seats: lender, broker, operator, attorney.
- Why you, in one line. A current fact from your own deals, not your career.
Leave out your firm history, your availability for every format, and adjectives about yourself. If the organizer wants more, she will ask for your one sheet.
Template 1: the form or interest form pitch (100 words)
Session: What lenders are asking searchers in diligence now
The argument: the lender’s diligence list changed this year, and most buyers find out at the worst moment.
Takeaways:
- The five questions lenders now ask first
- How to answer them before the LOI
- Where seller notes fit in a high rate market
Panel: I can bring a senior SBA lender and a business broker who closes main street deals, so all three seats in the deal are on stage.
Why me: I closed [your deal fact] this year and sat on the buyer side of every question above.
Template 2: the committee member text (66 words)
Hi Dana, great seeing you in Dallas. Idea for your next planning call: a panel on what lenders ask searchers in diligence now. Hallway topic I heard all week. I can bring a lender and a broker, so you would have the panel built. Happy to send a one paragraph outline if it helps. If it is not a fit this cycle, no worries at all.
Template 3: the chapter email (88 words)
Subject: Content idea: lender diligence for searchers
Hi team, a content idea for the chapter. Session: what lenders are asking searchers in diligence now. The argument is that the list changed this year and buyers find out late.
Format: a 45 minute panel with a senior SBA lender, a business broker and me as the buyer. I can confirm both panelists this week.
Why it fits the chapter: [one real fact about the chapter’s members and this topic].
Glad to adjust the angle to what your members need.
Each template is under 120 words. Replace the example names and the bracket with your own facts. Organizers can smell a template, so the specific line about your deals is the part you never skip.
How should you follow up on a pitch?
Follow up once, about a week later, to a named person, with one new piece of value. A confirmed panelist is the best one. “Both panelists confirmed they are in” gives the organizer a reason to reply. “Just checking in” does not.
After that, stop asking and start giving. Send the organizer a speaker for another session, a sponsor who fits their room, or a topic their members keep raising. The phase by phase calendar for that is in how to get invited to speak at conferences. For how committees build M&A programs, read how to speak at M&A conferences.
What happens after a yes?
A yes is the start of the relationship, not the end of the pitch. Prepare with the moderator, show up early, and send the organizer a short thank you within 24 hours. These thank you email templates for event organizers cover what to send. Then work the moderator, the panelists and the room, which is how one panel turns into three.
Why good pitches still lose
Good pitches lose on timing. The call opens while you are in diligence. You mean to text the committee member after the event and the planning call happens first. The pitch you would have written in March gets written in June, for an agenda that is already set.
The full stage strategy is in the speaking, podcasts and panels playbook.
The system that keeps you in the planning call
That is why I built FRONT OF MIND. It opens on your 10 minutes for today. The committee member you met at an event 9 days ago and never followed up with shows up with that reason. When an organizer posts about next year’s lineup, you see it, and posts are only shown once confirmed to belong to that person.
Every person comes with a drafted text style message, 40 words max, in your voice. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits. Ask Liala out loud, “who do I know that is an SBA lender,” and the panel for your pitch is one question away. Intros to make this week show up with dated proof on both sides.
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