The Summit Host HangoutĀ® Podcast

Hundreds of episodesĀ filled with real stories, real strategies, and real numbers to help you make your virtual summit (and the launch that follows) as streamlined and profitable as possible.
Get a curated playlist of episodes here!

Do Speakers Care if I Launch My Course After a Virtual Summit?

Are speakers bothered when you use a summit to lead into a launch? Let's cover what to avoid and my top tips to be sure speakers are comfortable with the launch.

Lately, we've been talking more and more about using a virtual summit to launch a course, membership, or high-ticket program.

Using the momentum from your summit to launch on the backend has truly incredible results for you as the host... but what about your speakers? 

I've been asked a few times recently whether or not speakers care if you incorporate a launch into your summit:

  • Do...
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Behind the Summit #7: What to Do When a Speaker Drops Out of Your Virtual Summit

This week's episode shares my favorite ways to fill a spot that opens in your summit schedule, whether it's a month out or a few days out from your event.

You've got the perfect speaker lineup and you're ready for your summit to happen...but then....someone drops out. 

Having a speaker drop out of your summit causes many first-time summit hosts to panic, but it happens more often than you might think. 

There are all kinds of reasons that speakers might drop out, such as...

  • They got excited about the event initially and later realize...
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Behind the Summit #4: Pitching Virtual Summit Speakers

Come behind-the-scenes as I finish up final tasks and pitch virtual summit speakers and look at the stats from my all-access pass payment plans from last year!

While a lot of summit hosts send all their speaker pitches at once, I like to break them up into groups and send my pitches in rounds.

This helps me get some easy yeses right away from speakers I feel pretty sure will say yes, and it also gives me a confidence boost before reaching out to people I don’t know as well. It also gives me some “social proof” I can include in my...

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Behind the Summit #3: Preparing to Pitch Speakers

It's tempting to send your speaker pitches as soon as they come to mind, but there's work to do first. I'm sharing a behind-the-scenes look at what all I did!

Believe me, I know how tempting it is to send out your speaker pitches as soon as they come to mind, but that’s not the best way to go about it. 

Last week I shared all about my speaker brainstorming process that I use to strategically determine which potential speakers to reach out to, but there are still a few more steps to go before sending out those speaker pitches.

Between...

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Behind the Summit #2: My Speaker Brainstorming Process

Deciding who to pitch for your summit can either be super easy or fairly complex. I walk through my full 7-step process to decide exactly who to pitch for my event.

When it’s time to pitch your summit speakers, which approach do you take?

Do you…

  1. Send your pitches on the fly as potential speakers come to mind?
  2. Pitch the people you know will say yes and let that determine your speaker line up?
  3. Strategically plan who to pitch based on the topics you want to cover and the transformation you want to create through your summit?

...

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How to Make Non-Transactional, Ick-Free Speaker Connections with Michelle Warner

It’s possible to make speaker connections without it feeling transactional, forced, or awkward. Here is a 4-step system that you can maintain in 5-minutes a day.

Networking can have a big impact on the growth and reach of your virtual summit. 

That's because, having connections to reach out to when summit planning makes the entire process flow more smoothly, specifically when it comes to creating your speaker lineup.

While, a lot of the time, reaching out to speakers can feel transactional, forced, and awkward, it's totally possible to...

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Virtual Summit Speaker Q&A

Have questions about your virtual summit speakers? I've got answers for you in today's rapid-fire Q&A episode covering everything from contracts to benefits.

One of the things that surprised me most about my first summit was how much went into the speakers.

Even the pitching alone has a ton of moving pieces and can bring up more questions than you expected. And that's just the beginning.

You might be asking yourself questions like:

  • Have you had speakers drop out when you send an agreement?
  • How can I convince speakers if I don’t pay them?
  • ...
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Can I Require a Certain Email List Size from Virtual Summit Speakers?

There's a strategy where virtual summit hosts pitch speakers and mention that a list size of at least 5000 subscribers is required. But is it okay to do?

In case you haven't experienced this yet for yourself, there's a pretty widespread strategy where summit hosts pitch you to speak at their summit, and then at the bottom of the pitch, they mention that you need to have 5000 people on your email list to participate.  

Let's break down whether it's okay to require a certain email list size from virtual summit speakers and why.

Virtual...

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How to Decide Whether You'll Speak at a Virtual Summit

Consider this before you decide to speak at a virtual summit:ā ā  the host, availability, fit, likelihood that you'll benefit, and your desire to participate.

How many virtual summit speaking opportunities have you said "yes" to and regretted later? ...I'm counting on two hands.

This happens because many speakers feel obligated to say "yes" to opportunities. When those opportunities aren't truly a good fit, they turn into annoying obligations that you wish you'd have turned down.

From a summit host's perspective, it's actually a good thing when a...

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How to Make it EASY for Speakers to Promote Your Virtual Summit

Here’s the #1 reason virtual summit speakers don't promote, how to make promotion easy, and examples of the 3 summits I've gone hard with promotion for and why.

"I gave my speakers swipe copy and graphics to use, but they're still not sharing and I'm so frustrated with them. What else can I possibly do?"

I see a version of this question often and, unfortunately, by the time you're asking...it's too late to do a whole lot.

Even though swipe copy and graphics make the *act* of promoting easy, it doesn't make *wanting* to promote easy.

Your...

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Free: Virtual Summit Prep Timeline

Learn how much time to set aside for planning and launching your profitable, stress-free online summit and use my calculator to set the due dates for you.