That’s quite a collection of letters after my name, and I hope reflects my enthusiasm for professional development and association. It may not even tell the full story – I could probably add a few more from my NLP qualification and my membership of the British Psychological Society. I also say I might consider becoming a member of the Institute of Electronic Engineers just to get a few more vowels in there.
Yet letters after your name are not the real mark of professionalism. This is in what you do and the contribution that you make to the lives of others. Along the way, as financial services professionals, we get the opportunity to share our skills, knowledge, and experience with other professionals. This can be an opportunity not just to contribute but also enhance our own professional profile and the profile of the organisations we represent.
But how can you do this in a time-effective way and manner which combines contribution with profile rather than putting across mere self-promotion?
Why Speak to Professionals?
Your motivation matters. If speaking to professional audiences feels like an obligation rather than an opportunity, it’s worth questioning whether this is the right activity for you. But approached as a genuine contribution, speaking to fellow professionals offers unique benefits.
You must ‘rock up and work out’ regularly – not just at renewal time.
For employed professionals, this may also form a part of marketing and PR strategies but also reflects an organisational desire to promote the benefits of the organisation’s mission more widely.
For self-employed professionals, this may well form part of an overall marketing strategy to sit alongside social media campaigns and other marketing activity and authorship. There is also the prospect of getting paid to speak – for some, this can develop into a significant line of income.
I have said to many audiences that membership of a professional association is like a gym subscription. Just paying your fees annually is not enough. You must ‘rock up and work out’ regularly – not just at renewal time. Sharing your knowledge and experience with other members is one way in which you can rock up and work out, and enable others to do so too.
Understanding your motivation is the first step. The second is identifying where your expertise will be most valuable.
Who might be my audience?
Being a member of a professional association may provide an audience, as many organise events which require speakers. These can come from both the membership and outside the association, but if you are a member, speaking to fellow professionals within your chosen association may be an obvious place to start.
Professional associations vary in both their size and the level of professionalism. This provides an interesting methodology for comparing the benefits and reach of different associations.
The blunt measure of association size comes through the number of members. Large players here include:
- The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants also has over 230,000 members worldwide.
- British Medical Association (BMA) with over 200,000 members
- Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development around 160,000 members
- Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) with around 125,000.
- Royal Society of Arts (RSA) has around 31,000 fellows, including me.
- Compare this to the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), which has around 6,000 members worldwide and is therefore a more niche offering.
- I am also a member of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, which has around 3,000 members, and the Professional Speaking Association (PSA), which has around 600 members.
The number of members does not necessarily correlate with the number of speaking opportunities. But it may provide a clue about potential audience size, and most of these associations organise a mixture of national and regional events which need speakers to contribute thoughts on topics relevant to their membership.
The term ‘professional’ itself varies across associations. For some—medicine, law, accountancy—membership and qualifications are statutory requirements. Others, like the CII and CIPD, offer professional qualifications that enhance careers but aren’t mandatory. As many of us experienced, the Chartered Institute of Bankers was in this category.
Still others, like the RSA or Chambers of Commerce, focus on networking and development without formal qualifications. This distinction matters when considering whether to speak about qualification-related topics or broader themes of interest to members. Examples would include the CII and the CIPD, and.
There are other associations which do not offer a formal qualification. Examples here could include the RSA and, for example, membership of a Chamber of Commerce.
The significance of qualification could relate to whether you are going to speak as a contribution towards those qualifications, or whether your speaking would be around another topic of interest to members. Not every association runs events purely related to their qualifications. Many of their conferences and conventions discuss themes that go some way beyond the essential qualifications that their members take.
How do I get involved?
My membership of the PSA and the CIPD has led to me being involved in organising events for both, which has provided an insight into what the organisations look for in their speakers.
As an organiser of events for both the PSA and CIPD, I’ve gained insight into what associations seek in speakers. The key is demonstrating genuine value rather than self-promotion. Cold outreach beginning with ‘I’ve recently published a book…’ rarely succeeds because it focuses on the speaker, not the audience.
As a member, you may be invited to contribute, but you can also offer your experience to the organising committees. When evaluating potential speakers, I focus on three key criteria—which conveniently form the acronym ROI:
- Relevance and Relationship – Does the topic address current challenges or hot debates? Does the speaker understand and respect what the organisation stands for?
- Opportunity – What specific benefit will members gain? How will this session help them in their professional development?
- Interest (both ways) – Is the speaker engaging in their delivery? Do they show genuine interest in the association’s objectives?
This simple ROI structure provides high-level tool for potential speakers to gain the attention of professional associations. But it is also more importantly in the mind of people when they are considering booking onto an event and listening to you speak about your specialist topic. It is not your topic, your experience, or your qualifications that they will leave the room thinking about. It is how your speech helps them understand more or develops their capability further in their field.
ROI provides a starting point for you to think about how you could speak professionally to others in professional associations, and how they may benefit from your expertise.
