Pick a Workshop Topic That Leads to Your Offer
The workshop that gets the most comments is very often the workshop that sells nothing.
I've watched it happen a lot. Somebody teaches a beautiful, generous session, the chat fills up with people saying it was the best one of the whole event, and then that speaker's opt-ins convert at almost nothing and they never hear from those people again. Meanwhile somebody else teaches a narrower, less exciting workshop and ends up with buyers that same week.
The difference is usually the topic, and the topic gets picked in about four minutes by most people. You look at the event theme, you think about what you know how to teach, and you pick the thing you've taught before. That's how you end up with a workshop that's good and disconnected from everything you sell.
This is part two of the Get Speaker Ready series. Part one covered what a speaking spot is actually worth. Here we're picking the topic, because every other decision hangs off this one.
The two ways a topic goes wrong
There are really only two failure modes, and they're opposites, which is what makes this tricky.
Too broad
You teach something general enough that everybody at the event finds it useful. "Five ways to grow your email list." "How to price your work." "Getting started with AI."
Everybody shows up, which feels great. But a room full of everybody is a room where almost nobody is your buyer, and the people who opt in are opting in because it was interesting, and interesting doesn't turn into a sale. You end up with a big list of people who have no particular problem you can solve.
Too close to what you sell
This is the one that trips up experienced people. You know your signature offer inside out, so you teach the core of it in 30 minutes and you do a genuinely good job.
Then somebody watches, gets the main idea, feels satisfied, and closes the tab. You just handed over the thing they would have paid for, and you did it well enough that they don't need the paid version. The better you taught it, the worse this gets.
Narrow enough that the right person feels like you're talking directly to them, and one step upstream of your paid offer so finishing the workshop makes them aware of the problem your offer solves.
The upstream test
Here's the question I'd run any topic through before you commit to it.
When somebody finishes this workshop and does what I told them to do, are they now standing in front of the problem my paid offer solves?
If yes, you've got it. If they're standing in front of nothing in particular, the topic is too broad. If they're standing on the other side of the problem already solved, it's too close.
That's it. That's the whole test, and it takes about a minute to run once you're clear on what your signature offer actually does for somebody.
How to find the topic, working backward
Most people pick the topic first and then try to connect it to their offer, which is backward and it's why the connection always feels forced. Do it the other way.
Step one: name what your signature offer actually solves
Be specific and be honest. Not the marketing version, the real version. If you sell a $497 course on launching a membership, the real problem it solves might be "I have an audience and no recurring income and I don't know what to put inside a membership."
Step two: name the moment right before that
What has to be true about somebody before they'd be ready to buy that? In the membership example, they'd need to have decided that a membership is the right model for them, and they'd need some idea of what their people would pay to be part of.
Step three: teach that moment
Now you have your workshop. It isn't "how to build a membership," it's something like "how to tell whether your audience actually wants a membership, and what to put in it." Somebody who does that work walks out knowing they want to build one, and knowing they don't want to figure out the rest alone.
"Your workshop should make somebody decide. Your paid offer should help them execute the decision."
Dr. Destini CoppTwo examples
The pattern designer
Say you design sewing patterns and you sell a $197 course on turning patterns into a real income. Teaching "how to design your first pattern" is too broad, because half the room is hobbyists who will never sell anything. Teaching "how to build a pattern business" is too close, because that's the course.
The upstream topic is something like how to tell which of your existing patterns people would actually pay for, and how to price it. Somebody finishes that workshop, looks at their own files, picks one, and immediately hits the wall of "okay, now how do I actually sell this." That wall is your course.
The launch strategist
Say you sell a done-with-you launch package. Teaching "how to launch a product" is the whole thing. Teaching "email marketing tips" is too broad.
The upstream topic is something like how to tell whether your offer is ready to launch, or how to size a launch to the list you actually have instead of the one you wish you had. Somebody runs that check on their own business, finds out where they stand, and now they have a specific problem with your name attached to it.
Teach the mechanism, and show it on screen
One more thing about topic that matters more than people expect. At Creator's MBA events we're looking for operators who can teach a tactic and show the build, meaning the prompts, the tools, the workflow, actually on screen.
There's a reason for that beyond making a good event. A workshop where somebody watches you do the thing produces a completely different feeling from a workshop where somebody listens to you describe the thing. When people watch you work, they trust that you actually do this, and trust is what makes the offer at the end land.
So when you're choosing between two topics, pick the one you can demonstrate. If you can pull up a screen and walk through it live, that's your topic.
Check it against the event before you lock it in
Every event has tracks and a stated audience, and those are on the event page for a reason. A topic that passes the upstream test but sits outside what the event is filling is a topic that either gets declined or gets put in front of the wrong room.
Read the "who we're featuring" line on the event you applied to. If it says newsletter operators who run a newsletter themselves, and you advise newsletter operators without running one, that's telling you something useful. Pick a different event or a different angle.
- Does finishing this workshop leave somebody in front of the problem my offer solves?
- Would the wrong person self-select out of this workshop based on the title alone?
- Can I show this on screen instead of describing it?
- Does it fit a track the event is actually filling?
What if your offer is broad
Sometimes the reason you can't find the topic is that the offer itself covers too much ground, and you genuinely can't name the one problem it solves. That's worth knowing, because it means the workshop is going to be hard to write no matter what you pick.
If that's where you are, work on the offer first. A signature offer with a specific promise makes the workshop topic obvious, and it makes the free gift obvious after that, and the whole chain gets easier. A vague offer makes every downstream decision a guess.
Next up
Once the topic is settled, the free gift almost picks itself, because the gift has one job and it's to help somebody act on what you just taught. That's part three.
- What a speaking spot is actually worth
- Pick a workshop topic that leads to your offer (you're here)
- How to pick the free gift for your speaking spot
- Put something to buy behind your free gift
- What to do with your leads after the event
Map the whole thing out in your first month.
Inside the Creator's MBA AI Mastermind you get a strategy session with me in your first month to map your topic, your gift, and the offer path behind them. $97 a month, cancel anytime.
Join the AI Mastermind →Frequently Asked Questions
Work backward from what you sell. Name the specific problem your paid offer solves, then name the moment right before somebody would be ready to buy it, and teach that moment. The test is whether finishing your workshop leaves somebody standing in front of the problem your offer solves.
Usually not the whole thing. If you teach the core of your paid offer well in 30 minutes, people feel satisfied and close the tab, and you have handed over the thing they would have paid for. Teach the step before it instead, so they finish the workshop aware of a problem your offer solves.
The topic is probably too broad. General sessions attract everyone at the event, which feels great in the chat, but a room full of everyone is a room where almost nobody is your buyer. Narrow the topic so the wrong person self-selects out based on the title alone.
Showing the actual build on screen. Hosts at Creator's MBA events look for operators who can teach a specific tactic and demonstrate the prompts, tools, and workflow live, rather than describing an approach. If you can pull up a screen and walk through it, that is your topic.
That is useful information. If you cannot name the one problem your offer solves, the workshop will be hard to write no matter what you pick. Tighten the offer promise first, because a specific offer makes the workshop topic obvious and every decision after it easier.
