You can host your first virtual summit with a small list and no reputation yet. Respected speakers say yes to new hosts when the invitation is personal, the audience fits their work and saying yes is easy. Once a few of them have said yes, your audience sees you standing beside them, and you start to share their credibility.
This article is for the coach, therapist or healing practitioner, or expert-led service owner who is good at the work but still waits for clients to turn up in bursts. You've helped people. You just aren't known yet, and that makes it feel a bit cheeky to email someone with a podcast and a book and ask them to join your event.
I know that feeling well. When I ran my first summit, I had no audience, no connections and no credibility in my new field. Here's what I learned about getting the yes, and what to do with the credibility once you have it.
Key Takeaways
- Start your speaker outreach with warm introductions and people who already know you, because a referred invitation gets a much warmer hearing than a cold one.
- Write every invitation for one speaker, linking your summit's mission to their work and saying plainly what they get out of it.
- Once three speakers have confirmed, name them in every invitation you send after that.
- Host every session yourself, so attendees spend days hearing how you think next to people they already trust.
- Plan your offer and follow-up before the summit opens, because borrowed credibility fades if nobody hears from you afterwards.
Why Respected Speakers Say Yes to a Host They've Never Heard Of
Speakers have their own reasons to want your stage, and most of those reasons have nothing to do with how famous you are.
Dr. Frank Buck described it well on the podcast, talking about his own reasons for speaking on summits. The people on his list already hear from him every week. A summit puts him in front of people who have never heard of him, and some of them go on to visit his website and join his list. Your audience is new to them, even if it's small.
Sheri Moise found that people want to be asked. When speakers turned her down, it was usually because the dates didn't fit their schedule, not because of who she was.
Then there's personal attention. Stephanie Slocum invited speakers to a summit about keeping women in engineering. She researched each one, recorded short personal videos holding a sign with the speaker's name, and showed how their work tied in with her mission. Two well-known speakers told her they get asked to do summits all the time and usually say no. They said yes to hers because they could tell she had looked at their work.
Marc Guberti adds one more reason. Speakers can earn affiliate income when they promote your all-access pass, so a clear paid offer gives them a practical reason to take part.
My First Summit Had Nothing Behind It but the Speakers
On July 6, 2020, I left my job as a Chief Technology Officer to start a coaching business. I had a six-week course priced at $497, a list of about 100 people and nobody in my new field who knew my name.
The Solopreneur Accelerator Summit started on August 31, 2020, eight weeks later. It had 27 speakers over four days. I built it in two weeks, which I don't recommend to anyone.
I'm also an extreme introvert. For the first two days I barely introduced myself, and I let the speakers carry the event. On day three I started pushing through that fear. It was the start of a long process, and the summit was where it began.
My list grew from about 100 people to 750. I sold four places on the $497 course and $3,500 in VIP tickets, about $5,500 in total, eight weeks into a brand-new business. That's my own result, and it doesn't predict what another host will see.
What surprised me came next. My second summit, in January 2021, had 37 speakers, and more than half of them approached me. One summit had given me enough standing that the next round of speakers came looking for me.
How to Pitch Speakers When You're Not Known Yet
You don't need a polished brand to write a good invitation. You need to show that you've done your homework and that you'll look after them. Our guide to recruiting summit speakers who actually promote goes deeper on keeping them engaged once they've said yes. Here's the pitch itself.
- Start with people who already know you. Peers, colleagues, past collaborators and anyone you've been a guest for. Meg Casebolt said on the podcast that a cold pitch makes her hesitant, but "Andrea says I should reach out to you" gets a yes. Ask each early speaker who else they'd suggest.
- Research each speaker before you write. Read their recent posts, their book or their latest launch. Link your summit's topic to something they care about.
- Say what's in it for them. A new audience that fits their work, a chance to share a free gift, and affiliate income if you have a paid pass.
- Attach a one-page summary. Include the summit name, the problem it solves, who the audience is, what makes it different, who has confirmed, a short note about you and a simple next step.
- Name your confirmed speakers. Marc Guberti found that once three people have committed, saying so in each invitation brings far more yeses.
- Ask early and follow up. Speaker Nagina pointed out that calendars fill up, so asking a few months ahead helps. And send a polite follow-up, because invitations get buried in inboxes.
Here's a hypothetical example of the opening lines. A health coach might write:
"Hi Dana, I loved your episode on blood sugar and sleep, especially the point about late meals. I'm hosting a summit for women in their 40s who are tired of crash diets, and your perspective is exactly what they need to hear. Two of your colleagues have already confirmed."
It's short, it's about her, and it shows you've actually listened to her work.
How to Borrow Credibility From Your Lineup
Once your audience sees you introducing and interviewing respected people, they start to place you alongside them. That shift happens quietly over the days of the event, and it's the main reason a summit works for someone who isn't known yet.
Pick speakers whose names already carry weight with your ideal clients. Our article on choosing speakers who raise your authority covers how to judge that before anyone promotes.
Then make sure you're visible in the event:
- Host every session yourself and ask the questions your ideal client would ask.
- Open each day with a short welcome that explains why this topic matters to you.
- Give your own talk, or a closing session, that leads to your offer.
- Thank speakers by name in your emails, which keeps their goodwill attached to you.
Stephanie Slocum had already written a book, yet she said the summit did more to cement what she was known for. In the week after it ended, people asked her to run workshops and projects.
Don't take your eye off the offer. At one of my summits I was too exhausted to put a proper one together. People loved the event, it added 476 people to the list, and it made only about $1,800 while it ran.
A note for therapists and practitioners: frame your summit as public education. Don't present it as therapy, don't use stories or testimonials from therapy clients, and check your licensing board's advertising rules before you publish speaker bios or claims. For example, a couples therapist might host a summit on staying connected after a new baby, with a sleep consultant and a family financial planner as guests.
Where EventRaptor Takes Over the Speaker Work
When you're unknown, looking professional to speakers matters. EventRaptor gives you a speaker application form, invitations, e-signed speaker agreements and a place for speakers to upload their materials, so nobody has to dig through an email thread. Their speaker pages and the schedule are built from those records. Each speaker gets a promoter link, and they can all see the leaderboard.
If you're stuck for names, the EventRaptor speaker directory lists more than 3,800 speakers who want to be invited to events. Jennie also runs Speaker Connections, a free Zoom networking event on the first and third Tuesday of each month, where hosts meet speakers looking for stages.
And if you'd rather teach and host while someone else runs the machinery, our done-for-you team can produce the summit with you. Jennie and I have hosted 13 summits of our own and over 40 summits for clients. Registrants sync into GHL/CRMRaptor with tags, so your follow-up can start right away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will well-known speakers really agree to speak on a summit for an unknown host?
Many will. Speakers want to reach people who don't know them yet, and most turn-downs come from a full calendar rather than who's asking. A personal invitation that ties your mission to their work, with a few confirmed names, gives them good reasons to say yes.
How many speakers do I need for a first summit?
There's no fixed number. My first summit had 27 speakers, but smaller events can work well with a tight, focused lineup. Choose a number you can look after properly, and leave room for a speaker or two dropping out.
Do I need a big email list before I host a virtual summit?
No. I started with about 100 people. Your speakers' promotion brings most of the audience, so a clear topic and speakers who promote matter more than your starting list size.
Can therapists host a virtual summit without breaking advertising rules?
Yes, as long as the summit is clearly educational and you follow your licensing board's advertising rules. Don't use therapy client testimonials or promise mental health outcomes, and don't present summit sessions as therapy.
Your Next Step
This week, write down ten people you'd love on your stage, then mark the three who already know you or know someone who can introduce you. Those three are your first invitations. When you're ready for dates and timing, the 90-day plan for a first summit with a small list takes you week by week.
If you'd like help shaping your topic and speaker list before you send that first email, Book your Client Attraction Planning Call. We'll look at your offer and audience, and help you decide whether a summit is the right next step for you.