How to Find Great Speakers for Your Summit
So, you're thinking of hosting a virtual summit, but you're not quite sure how to find top-quality speakers? It's not as simple as it sounds.
The hard part usually isn't coming up with a standout summit topic. It's finding people who are a strong fit, available, interested, and willing to promote without turning the whole thing into a mess. I've found that the best speaker lineups come from being more thoughtful, not from casting a wider net.
Finding summit speakers is getting harder
In B2B, there are so many summits now that a lot of speakers are overbooked or overcommitted. The people you'd most want on your lineup often have too many invites already, and that means they're pickier about the events they say yes to.
In my summit survey, which fed into my State of Summits 2026 Report, I saw speakers committing to fewer events this year. Which makes sense, ifomeone's inbox is full of speaking requests, they're not only looking at the topic. They're looking at the host, the mission, the values, and the promo expectations too.
B2B speakers say no more often
A crowded market changes the standard. It's not enough for your summit to sound useful. It has to feel aligned.
If the event looks generic, the audience feels vague, or the promotion asks feel heavy, good speakers will pass. Not because they're difficult, but because they have to protect their time.
B2C can still be tricky
In B2C, there may be less speaker competition in some niches, but that doesn't mean it's easy. Sometimes there aren't many people to choose from. Other times the issue is experience. You can find smart people, but not all of them have speaking experience or feel comfortable saying yes to a summit.
That makes it a real challenge. You're not only looking for expertise. You're looking for people who can show up well in as speakers!
Build your pitch list before you need it
The first thing I recommend is simple: start a pitch list.
Mine is a living document with names of people in my industry who could be good collaborators. They don't all need to become summit speakers. That's not the point. The point is that when I spot someone interesting, I save the name somewhere instead of trusting myself to remember it six months later.
That one habit saves so much scrambling. When it's time to build a lineup, I'm not staring at a blank page trying to come up with twenty names in one afternoon.
Where I find speaker leads
Most of the names on my list come from places I'm already paying attention to:
Communities I'm part of
Programs I'm learning from
Mentors and peers I follow
People I see consistently online
Recommendations matter a lot too. If I know someone is a good collaborator, I'll often ask who else they think would be a strong fit. Good people know good people, after all!
A warm introduction can get you in front of someone who might have felt out of reach otherwise.
I also keep this process organized with Summit Speaker Guide, which includes my Notion pitch tracker, resources for keeping tabs on possible speakers, and the pitch email templates I use. (You can swipe my full system inside Simple Audio Summits!)
If you're short on names, the problem is usually scope or size
If you've gone through your list, asked for recommendations, and still don't have enough people to pitch, I usually see one of two things happening.
Your topic may be too narrow
Sometimes the summit topic is so tightly defined that there simply aren't enough strong-fit speakers to fill the lineup. When that happens, I widen the scope a bit.
That might mean including adjacent niches or inviting experts from different fields who can speak to one piece of the topic. You don't have to only invite your direct peers or competitors. Often, a better lineup comes from pulling in people who bring a different angle to the conversation.
You may be aiming for too many speakers
The other issue is numbers. If you're trying to book a large lineup in a smaller niche, you may be making the project harder than it needs to be.
A smaller summit can be a better experience for everyone. It can feel more focused, more intimate, and easier for attendees to engage with. In a tight-knit niche, that can become your edge, not your problem.
When I'm thinking through a summit plan, this is one of the first things I look at. If you want help mapping that out, my summit strategy session is where I help sort through those decisions.
Why I pitch speakers one-on-one
I strongly prefer pitching individual speakers instead of opening up general applications.
For one thing, it gives me the chance to build an actual relationship with peers in my industry. That often leads to other collaborations later even if they say no, which is a nice side effect!
It also means I spend my time inviting people I already believe are a fit, instead of sifting through a pile of applications that were never right in the first place.
Open applications create awkward conversations
This is even more important if you'd be putting the application in front of your audience. Some of the people applying may also be people who want to buy from you.
That creates a weird dynamic fast. Now you have to tell someone in your audience that no, they aren't the right fit to speak. I'd rather keep things clean and do the work of reaching out one-on-one.
Follow-up is where bookings happen
A personalized pitch matters, but the part people skip is follow-up.
Emails get missed. People get busy. A lack of reply does not always mean no. Because of that, I like to send at least three follow-ups after the first pitch. Some are by email, and some are DMs in other places if that makes sense for the person.
That one habit has helped me book some of my biggest-name speakers. So if you're pitching good people and hearing nothing, don't assume the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is simply, "I didn't see it yet."
Promo requirements can make or break the yes
You want speaker support when it comes time to promote the summit. Of course you do. But asking for too much can turn people off fast.
This is one of the biggest mistakes I see. A speaker might love your topic and still say no because the promo requirements feel rigid, heavy, or unrealistic for their content calendar.
Ask for promo to be a fair exchange
That means speakers do commit to promoting the event, but I'm more flexible about what that looks like, as long as it still feels fair. I don't force everyone into the exact same timeline or require the same number of solo emails no matter what.
That flexibility has gone a long way for me. I've had high-profile speakers tell me that's why they said yes.
And if you're worried that being flexible means people won't follow through, that hasn't been my experience. I've had an almost perfect promo completion rate. I think a lot of that comes from treating speakers like peers, trusting them to pull their weight, and supporting them so they can show up at their best.
The best speaker lineups are built with fit, not volume
Finding great speakers isn't about reaching the highest number of people. It's about finding the right people, approaching them thoughtfully, following up well, and making the experience feel respectful from the start.
If I get stuck, I go back to the same basics every time: build the list early, widen the scope if needed, shrink the summit if needed, and protect fit over filler. That's what gives me better speakers, better conversations, and a better event.
