# How to get speaking engagements: organisers want measurable value

Author: Marin Niehues, Stage Starter · Published: 2026-05-27
Topic: Finding Conferences (https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/topic/finding-conferences/)
Source: https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/how-to-get-speaking-engagements/

Anyone wondering how to get speaking engagements in 2026 meets organisers who are under pressure to prove the value of their events, which in our assessment favours talks with a measurable result. At IMEX Frankfurt 2026, held from 19 to 21 May 2026 at Messe Frankfurt, the Forrester analyst Conrad Mills presented the third "State of Events" survey, and according to the [IMEX report](https://imexevents.com/events-industry-knowledge-hub/frankfurt-2026-education-report-trends-and-research), only 39 per cent of chief marketing officers are satisfied with their events. According to the same report, fewer than half of the organisations surveyed actively measure what an event achieves. For speakers, this means that a talk proposal has better chances if it tells the organiser how the success of the talk can be read.

**Key points at a glance**
- IMEX Frankfurt 2026 took place from 19 to 21 May 2026 and, according to the organiser, drew more than 13,000 participants, including more than 4,500 buyers.
- Forrester presented the third "State of Events" survey with around 400 responses: 39 per cent of CMOs are satisfied with their events.
- According to the report, about two thirds of organisations have flat or shrinking budgets, and fewer than half actively measure the impact of their events.
- In its 2026 Planner Sourcing Report, Cvent says only 28 per cent of event programmes have a robust measurement framework and nearly 30 per cent have no KPIs.
- According to Forrester and Skift Meetings, formats with fewer than 200 participants are growing fastest.

## What IMEX Frankfurt 2026 shows about getting speaking engagements

IMEX Frankfurt is a trade show for the events industry at which organisers and suppliers come together. In its [closing release of 21 May 2026](https://imexevents.com/media/press-releases/imex-frankfurt-2026-final-day-confirms-industry-growth-and-global-demand), the organiser reports its biggest show floor to date, more than 13,000 participants, more than 4,500 buyers, close to 3,000 exhibiting companies and 73,000 pre-scheduled meetings, including 63,500 one-to-ones. For speakers, it is mainly the education programme of the show that provides material, because research on the situation of organisers was presented there.

**Satisfaction and measurement among organisers**
- 39 % | of CMOs are satisfied with their events, according to Forrester
- c. 400 | responses in the third Forrester "State of Events" survey
- 2/3 | of organisations with flat or shrinking budgets
- under 50 % | of organisations actively measure the impact of their events
- 28 % | of event programmes with a robust measurement framework (Cvent)

The IMEX report summarises the Forrester findings by saying that satisfaction with events has fallen for three years. Many marketing chiefs focus on new leads and overlook the value an event creates across a customer's whole buying group. According to the report, Forrester recommends splitting resources 50 per cent to core events, 40 per cent to refining them and 10 per cent to something new. From these figures we conclude that those responsible for events have to prove their value, and that this pressure reaches down to the individual item on the programme.

## Why organisers look for measurable value when you want to get speaking engagements

According to the figures that the [IMEX report](https://imexevents.com/events-industry-knowledge-hub/frankfurt-2026-education-report-trends-and-research) reproduces from Cvent's Planner Sourcing Report 2026, 90 per cent of event programmes face increasing scrutiny. Only 28 per cent have a robust measurement framework, and nearly 30 per cent work without KPIs. As the most important measure of success, 63 per cent of planners worldwide name engagement. We read the Cvent figures only as reproduced by IMEX and did not open the report itself.

What follows is an interpretation that the sources do not draw expressly, and we flag it as our own. A programme committee that has to justify its programme to its own marketing department or its sponsors is more likely to choose a talk whose participation and value can be described than a talk on a general topic. How committees assess proposals is described in our article [What a programme committee looks for](/en/blog/what-a-programme-committee-looks-for/), and the IMEX figures fit with it.

## To get speaking engagements, name the success of the talk in advance

Getting a speaking engagement means that a programme committee accepts your talk proposal and gives you a place in the programme. Your proposal competes with all the other submissions, from which the committee picks the talk it can best justify to its own backers. A proposal that already supplies arguments for this takes work off the committee.

A calculation makes this tangible, and it rests on assumptions. Suppose your slot has 150 listeners, and you offer the organiser that you will involve 40 per cent of them with a question during the session and afterwards provide a handout that 30 per cent of those present will download. After the conference, the organiser can then read off 60 participants and 45 downloads, which makes two figures for engagement, the measure that 63 per cent of planners name as most important according to Cvent. A talk that builds these figures into the proposal gives the committee an argument for choosing it.

Smaller formats make measuring easier. According to the IMEX report, Forrester and Skift Meetings both pointed out that formats with fewer than 200 participants are growing fastest, and the report mentions organisations moving to sessions of 200 to 300 attendees. For you, this is an opportunity, because with 150 people you can hold conversations after the talk with a large part of the audience, which is hardly possible in a hall of 2,000, and because the organiser can count participation more easily in a smaller room. How such a talk is built is explained in [How to build a good talk for the stage](/en/blog/how-to-build-a-good-conference-talk/).

## How to get speaking engagements: five steps for your next submission

1. Define the result of the talk in one sentence: describe what a listener can do differently after 30 minutes, and name the figure or the case from your own work that substantiates it.
2. Write the measurable part into the proposal: name one interaction and one follow-up material that the organiser can count after the conference.
3. Build the title around the result: a title that names the problem and the benefit shows the committee the value at once. How to do that is explained in [Conference talk title](/en/blog/conference-talk-title/).
4. Choose suitable organisers: conferences with smaller formats and a clear audience give you the best conditions for showing impact. How to find them is covered in [How to find the right conferences](/en/blog/how-to-find-the-right-conferences/).
5. Plan several submissions: Marin Niehues, the founder of Stage Starter, started out with a success rate under 2 per cent on his submissions and is now at around 10 per cent. Suppose you also reach 10 per cent, then about one talk follows from every ten submissions, and [How many abstracts to submit for one acceptance](/en/blog/how-many-abstracts-to-submit-for-one-acceptance/) works that out in more detail.

**According to the IMEX report, only 39 per cent of CMOs are satisfied with their events, so at conferences the talk whose value the organiser can already read in the proposal has the edge.**

**How Stage Starter gets you onto conference stages**
Stage Starter is a speaker agency for entrepreneurs and independent professionals. We develop your talk with you, write the abstracts in several versions, research the conferences where your clients sit, submit in your name and follow up with the organisers. Marin Niehues has received more than 100 invitations and has spoken at more than 50 conferences in 30 countries on six continents, and Sessionize named him Most Active Speaker in 2024 and 2025. In a [first call](/en/erstgespraech/) we discuss which topic will get you onto the stages of your industry.

**IMEX Frankfurt 2026 showed that organisers are under pressure to prove the value of their events, and that only 39 per cent of CMOs are satisfied with them. Anyone who wants to get speaking engagements therefore writes into the proposal how the success of the talk can be read, and submits it to several conferences.**

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I get speaking engagements at conferences?

You submit a talk proposal with a title, an abstract and details about yourself to a call for papers or call for speakers, and the programme committee then decides whether to accept it. A convincing proposal describes a concrete problem that you solve with a substantiated result, and a benefit that the organiser can recognise after the conference.

### What do conference organisers look for in speakers?

Organisers look for talks whose value can be justified, because they have to defend their events to marketing and sponsors. According to the IMEX report on the Frankfurt conference in May 2026, fewer than half of organisations actively measure the impact of their events, and only 39 per cent of CMOs are satisfied.

### What did Forrester present at IMEX Frankfurt 2026?

Conrad Mills of Forrester presented the third annual "State of Events" survey with around 400 responses. According to IMEX, it shows that satisfaction with events has fallen for three years, that about two thirds of organisations have flat or shrinking budgets and that fewer than half actively measure impact.

### Are small conferences better for starting as a speaker?

Smaller formats are growing fastest according to Forrester and Skift Meetings, and for speakers, impact and conversations are easier to achieve there. A talk in front of 150 people from your target group can bring more contacts than a slot in a large hall.

### How many submissions do I need for one talk?

That depends on your acceptance rate. Marin Niehues started under 2 per cent and is now at around 10 per cent, which corresponds to roughly one talk for every ten submissions.