How to Become a Thought Leader

Do you have a favorite professional issue or topic that you are an expert on? Do you love to educate others about this topic? You can become what we call a thought leader!

A thought leader is anyone who is a subject matter expert on their given area of expertise – someone who others look to for advice or information. These people are the ones that the rest of us try to learn from. We go to them when we need to know all the details.

How do we become thought leaders? Hire your favorite PR firm, of course!

But really, we can help you become the go-to people in your industry. A good public relations firm will help promote you and your company/project/etc. as the industry leaders in your area of expertise. We start with white paper articles or blog posts on your own website. Then, we promote your article in a different way to other publications – either as a stand alone article or post, or in another format, like an opinion editorial. This can lead to follow up media attention, and speaking opportunities. And then, you’re off!

My top tips for becoming a thought leader:

• Know your stuff. You have to actually be an expert on your topic.
• Once you know what you want to talk about, we help you refine your message and ensure that the language you use is simple and easy for the general public to understand.
• Use multiple platforms to promote your message – this can include a blog post or press release, which we will help turn into a magazine article or gain media coverage, and then use that coverage to promote you as a speaker at conferences or other events.

If you aren’t sure about public speaking, we can help with that too! PR firms like ours do a lot of media training for people who are not used to being on camera. The same can apply to speaking in front of large groups – we will help you become comfortable speaking to any audience, large or small.

The key is that practice really does make perfect – and even if you, like me, have spoken to audiences in the past, a new subject or a new audience can still be daunting. It never hurts to practice your full speech a few times to become more comfortable with the content and tweak your delivery a bit.

All that is to say, we go back to basics and help you level up your voice in speaking about all of the things you care about most. Whether it is in a blog post, media article or interview, or helping you attain a speaking engagement, we will help you refine your message and promote your brand across your local area, regionally, nationally or internationally.