Build a speaking business that gets you booked more often.
The systems a professional speaker needs in their business today.
Join Maria Franzoni and James Taylor for a three-hour live online event that combines proven speaking business strategies with practical AI applications to help you find more opportunities, win more bookings and build a more predictable speaking business.
Saturday 23 January 2027 | 2:00–5:00 pm GMT (UTC+0) | Live online
Early-bird tickets from USD499Â
Early-bird pricing closes Friday 11 December 2026.
THE PROBLEM
Getting booked is one thing. Building a business that gets you booked consistently is another.
You know you can deliver on stage. You’ve been paid to speak, your audiences respond well, and you have expertise that organisations value.
But how predictable is your next booking?
Perhaps you’re relying on referrals, repeat clients or speaker bureaus to bring opportunities your way. Maybe you’re spending too much time researching prospects, trying to reach the right decision-makers or following up on enquiries that never seem to convert.
And when you’re busy delivering speeches, who is looking after your pipeline?
The most successful speaking businesses don’t leave everything to chance. They have clear positioning, consistent business development activity, effective follow-up and systems that help turn one booking into the next.
Speaking Business Live shows you how to build those systems, and how to use AI to make them work harder for you.
HOW IT WORKS
The right strategy. The right systems. AI to make them work harder.
Knowing what you should be doing to grow your speaking business is one thing. Finding the time to do it consistently is another.
Speaking Business Live brings together two complementary approaches: the commercial strategies that help professional speakers get booked and the practical application of AI to put those strategies into action.
Part One: Maria Franzoni
The five essentials of a more bookable speaking business
Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in the speaking industry, including running an international speaker bureau, Maria will take you through five critical areas:
- Relevance – Understand your market and give buyers a compelling reason to book you.
Understand the professional speaking market, where the opportunities are, who books speakers and what influences their decisions. Discover how to position your expertise to meet buyer needs and make yourself easier to find, consider and book.
- Marketing – Make it easier for the right clients to find you.
Discover what makes a speaker more marketable, and what your website, LinkedIn profile and marketing materials need to communicate.
- Prospecting – Find opportunities rather than wait for them.
Understand where speaking opportunities come from, who makes the booking decisions and how to identify potential clients.
- Systems – Build a business that doesn’t depend on your memory.
Know what to track, how to manage your pipeline and which systems help you stay on top of enquiries, proposals and follow-ups.
- Sales – Turn more opportunities into paid bookings.
Understand the buying journey, improve how you handle enquiries and identify opportunities for repeat business and referrals.
Part Two: James Taylor
Put AI to work in your speaking business
James is an internationally experienced professional keynote speaker who uses AI in his own business. He’ll take you behind the scenes to demonstrate how AI can support the business development activities that take up so much of a speaker’s time.
You’ll see how to:
- Use AI to research potential clients and identify relevant speaking opportunities.
- Analyse and segment your existing network to uncover opportunities you may have overlooked.
- Prepare more relevant, personalised outreach without starting from scratch every time.
- Use AI tools and agents to support prospecting and follow-up.
- Build a more efficient process for moving prospects towards a booking.
You’ll understand both what needs to happen to generate more speaking business and how AI can help you make it happen.
 WHAT YOU GET
Everything you need to start building a more bookable speaking business
Speaking Business Live gives you the commercial knowledge, practical AI techniques and resources to help you build a more consistent, proactive approach to winning speaking business.
Every ticket includes
Three hours of live training with Maria Franzoni and James Taylor
Learn the principles and systems behind a successful speaking business, then see how AI can help you put them into practice.
Practical AI demonstrations
See how James uses AI in his own professional speaking business to research potential clients, identify opportunities, prepare outreach and support business development.
Access to the event recording
Can’t attend live or want to revisit something afterwards? You’ll be able to watch the training again at your convenience.
BONUS - International Speakers Summit interview library
Access recordings of more than 140 interviews with successful professional speakers, offering insights into their businesses, experiences and approaches to building a speaking career.
BONUS - International Speakers Summit interview library
Access recordings of more than 140 interviews with successful professional speakers, offering insights into their businesses, experiences and approaches to building a speaking career.
Upgrade to the Two-Hour Q&A Deep Dive
Your questions. Our experience.
Join Maria Franzoni and James Taylor for an exclusive, interactive two-hour session focused on your speaking business.
Bring your questions, challenges and opportunities, and get practical guidance on positioning, prospecting, winning bookings, using AI and building more effective systems.
You’ll benefit not only from answers to your own questions but also from hearing the challenges and ideas of other professional speakers.
Saturday 23 January 2027 | 6:00–8:00 pm GMT (UTC+0) | Limited to 24 participants.
Choose your package
Package 1 – Speaking Business Live
$499 early bird | $699 standard
Includes the three-hour live online event, practical AI demonstrations, event recording, 140+ International Speakers Summit interviews, and the How To Find Speaking Opportunities course.
Package 2 – Speaking Business Live + Two-Hour Group Coaching Session
$799 early bird | $999 standard
Most Popular
Everything in Package 1, plus an exclusive two-hour Q&A Deep Dive with Maria and James. Limited to 24 participants.
Early-bird pricing closes Friday 11 December 2026. All prices are in US dollars.
Who it’s for
You’ve established the foundations of your speaking business. Now you’re ready to build on them.
Speaking Business Live is designed for professional speakers who are already being paid to speak and want to develop a more consistent, proactive and systematic approach to winning business.
Who this is for:
Speaking Business Live is for anyone who speaks to grow a business, whether speaking is your full-time work or a growing part of it. You’ll get the most from it if you:
- have a speaking topic you can explain in a sentence, and a sense of the value you offer
- have a good idea of who you speak to, or want help sharpening it
- have some speaking experience behind you and want a more reliable flow of bookings
- have a website, LinkedIn profile or other place where potential clients can find you
- are curious about using AI in your speaking business
Who is it not for?
This isn’t for you if you:
- expect results overnight. Building a speaking business takes consistent work over time.
- want a shortcut or a secret formula. We show you the systems, and you still have to run them.
- hope AI will do the work for you. It speeds up good thinking. It doesn’t replace it.
- aren’t ready to invest time and attention in your speaking career, as well as money.
You don’t need an AI subscription. James demonstrates everything live, so you can follow along and choose your own tools afterwards.
Newer to speaking? You’re welcome to join. You’ll get the most from the event if you already have a topic and some experience to build on.
Meet your hosts
Two perspectives. One goal. Helping you build a more successful speaking business.
Between them, Maria Franzoni and James Taylor bring two complementary perspectives on the professional speaking industry: what makes speakers bookable and how to build the systems that generate speaking business.
Maria Franzoni
Speaker Bookability Expert | Author | Former International Speaker Agent
Maria Franzoni has worked in the professional speaking industry since 1998, spending more than two decades representing and booking speakers for conferences and corporate events around the world.
Having worked directly with the people who book speakers, Maria understands what influences their decisions, what makes one speaker stand out from another and why some speakers consistently secure more business.
Today, through Speaking Business, she helps professional speakers become more bookable, command higher fees and grow their speaking businesses.
She is the author of The Bookability Formula, sharing the principles behind what makes speakers easier to find, choose and book.
Maria will show you what works, what buyers are looking for and which business systems you need to have in place.
James Taylor, MBA, FRSA
International Keynote Speaker | AI and Business Innovation Expert
James Taylor M.B.A. F.R.S.A. - who started his career managing high profile rock stars - is now an in-demand keynote speaker and internationally recognized leader in creativity, innovation and artificial intelligence. For over 20 years, he has been advising CEO’s, entrepreneurs, governments and leaders from Silicon Valley to Dubai on how to design innovative organizations, unlock creative potential and adapt to change..
Each year he delivers 50-100 keynotes in 25+ countries for companies including Apple, Google, Cisco, Deloitte, Gucci, Accenture, Caterpillar, UPS, Novartis, EY, Visa, McDonalds, ADNOC, American Express, Toyota and IBM.
Alongside his speaking engagements, James has developed AI-powered systems to support the way he researches opportunities, identifies prospects, develops relationships and manages his speaking business.
In Speaking Business Live, James takes you behind the scenes of his own business to demonstrate how he uses AI and AI agents to carry out activities that would otherwise require considerable time and manual effort.
James will show you how he puts these systems into practice using AI.
What others say
Experience that makes a difference to your speaking business
Maria and James bring different but complementary experiences to Speaking Business Live. Here’s what professional speakers who have worked with them have to say.
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Working with Maria Franzoni
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Working with James Taylor
“I’d heard a lot about James Taylor and I was absolutely impressed by the amount of information he shares. He is probably the best speaker that knows how to use technology and marketing automation. He walks the talk. I’d highly recommend working with James."
- Kiruba Shankar, Speaker and Founder President of Professional Speakers Association of India
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“I’ve been working for a few months now with James Taylor. I’ve had access to the exclusive online portal where I’ve watched loads of videos that James provides. Plus there’s lots of downloads in there and I’ve had email coaching and support from James all the way through. It’s been a really amazing process and I certainly don’t think I would be anywhere near where I am right now without his help. So I’d definitely recommend James....James has all the content and will give you all the support you need.”
- Shirley Taylor CSP, Speaker and Past President of Global Speakers Federation.
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“There are so many secret tips that James shares that I can implement quickly in my speaking career; how to build your speaker bureau kit, how to pitch for speaking gigs, how to use artificial intelligence in your marketing. I’m a fan!”
- Pravin Shekar, Speaker on Referral Marketing
Watch first: The Speaking Business Podcast
Six conversations. Six essential elements of a successful speaking business.
Want a taste of what you’ll learn at Speaking Business Live?
Join Maria Franzoni and James Taylor for a special six-part podcast series exploring what it takes to build a successful professional speaking business.
Drawing on Maria’s experience booking speakers and James’s experience building his own international speaking career, each episode explores a different part of the business of getting booked.
Discover the principles, challenges and opportunities before joining us live on 23 January to explore the systems and see how AI can help you put them into practice.
Episode 1: Relevance
What are you selling, and who is buying it?
Understand what makes a speaker relevant to today’s buyers and why being clear about the value you deliver matters.
Wednesday 18 November 2026
Episode 2: Marketing
How do the right people discover you?
Explore what makes a speaker easier to find, consider and choose, and how to make your marketing work harder.
Wednesday 25 November 2026
Episode 3: Prospecting
How do you create opportunities rather than wait for them?
Discover how to identify potential clients, find speaking opportunities and take a more proactive approach to generating enquiries.
Wednesday 2 December 2026
Episode 4: Systems
How do you build a business that doesn’t rely on you remembering everything?
Explore the processes, tools and habits that help you manage opportunities, follow up consistently and keep your speaking business moving forward.
Wednesday 9 December 2026
Episode 5: Sales
How do you turn interest into bookings, and bookings into more business?
Explore the buying process, converting enquiries into confirmed engagements and creating opportunities for repeat business.
Wednesday 6 January 2027
Episode 6: Bookability
What makes a speaker the easy choice?
With special guests Diana Stoney and Dogan Altindag, explore how the speaking industry is evolving and what it takes to remain relevant and bookable.
Wednesday 13 January 2027
Ready to put it all into practice?
The podcasts explore the thinking behind a successful speaking business. Speaking Business Live takes you further, combining practical business strategies with live AI demonstrations to help you build the systems behind a more bookable speaking business.
Join us Saturday 23 January 2027 | 2:00–5:00 pm GMT (UTC+0) | Early-bird tickets from $499.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Speaking Business Live for?
Is this suitable for speakers who are just starting out?
Do I need experience using AI?
Will I need to do any preparation?
Is the event live or pre-recorded?
What if I can’t attend live?
What’s the difference between the two packages?
When does the Group Coaching Session take place?
What resources are included with my ticket?
Will you show me how to use AI to find speaking opportunities?
Will this guarantee me more speaking bookings?
How much does it cost?
Can I get a refund or transfer my ticket?
How do I access the event?
Ready to build a more bookable speaking business?
More opportunities. More bookings. A smarter way to run your speaking business.
You’ve already established the foundations. You know your subject, you know your audience and you’ve proved you can deliver.
Now it’s time to build the systems that help you find opportunities, reach the right people, follow up consistently and turn more conversations into paid bookings.
Join Maria Franzoni and James Taylor for three hours of practical insight, proven speaking business strategies and real-world AI demonstrations.
Discover what makes speakers more bookable and how to use AI to put the right systems to work in your business.
Saturday 23 January 2027 | 2:00–5:00 pm GMT (UTC+0)
Package 1 – Speaking Business Live
$499 early bird | $699 standard
Includes the three-hour live online event, practical AI demonstrations, event recording, 140+ International Speakers Summit interviews, and the How To Find Speaking Opportunities course.
Package 2 – Speaking Business Live + Two-Hour Group Coaching Session
$799 early bird | $999 standard
Most Popular
Everything in Package 1, plus an exclusive two-hour Q&A Deep Dive with Maria and James. Limited to 24 participants.
Build the systems behind your next chapter of speaking business growth.
