Bookers used to start with a phone call. Now, for a growing number, it starts with a prompt. Michael Levey, Director at Speaking Office, shares what he’s seeing from the other side of the desk, and what separates the speakers who surface confidently in an AI search from those who don’t.

There’s a version of a speaking career built on autopilot: get good, get booked, then let the phone keep ringing. For a lot of established speakers, that’s quietly stopped working. Tim Gold, who’s spent years at the centre of the UK bureau market, explains why.

Inconsistency is the top complaint speakers raise – not bad work, not the wrong stages, not unfair fees. It’s bookings that arrive in bursts, with gaps that feel impossible to predict or control.

Every speaker knows the feeling: the moment you try to claim your space or own the room, something pulls you back. Julie Masters has spent twenty years working with speakers at the highest level and she’s identified exactly what that feeling is costing you.

Good topic. Strong track record. Inconsistent bookings. So the conclusion forms: get onto the right roster and the pipeline sorts itself out.

It’s one of the most common beliefs in the speaking industry and one of the most expensive.

Twenty-five years ago, if you asked a client why they were booking a speaker, the honest answer was usually: because we have a slot before lunch.

I’ve been booking speakers for twenty-five years. In that time, I’ve watched speakers I genuinely believed in, those who are talented, prepared and commercially aware, disappear from the market.

There’s a version of events that most speakers believe. You get good. You get known. Bureaux find you, put you on lists, and the phone starts ringing. The quality of what you do on stage is what drives the opportunity.