Right now, while you are preparing for your next keynote, event planners at major corporations, national associations, and global conferences are sitting in planning meetings. They are finalizing their speaker rosters for fall 2026 and building their 2027 calendars. And the speakers who are going to fill those stages are the ones who are actively submitting to open calls for speakers right now. Not next month. Not when things slow down. Right now.

There is a speaking opportunity that most established keynote speakers are either overlooking completely or not taking seriously enough. Open calls for speakers represent one of the most direct pathways to new stages, new audiences, and new revenue available in the speaking industry today. Furthermore, they are sitting right in front of speakers who have the expertise, the credibility, and the message to win them consistently.

The problem is not a lack of opportunity. The problem is a lack of strategy and consistency in pursuing it.

Why the Timing Right Now Matters More Than Most Speakers Realize

Before diving into how to approach open calls for speakers, it is worth understanding why right now is such a critical window.

Event planners at corporations, associations, and conference organizations do not book speakers six weeks before their events. They plan months in advance. Sometimes a year or more in advance. Major associations and large conferences typically operate on a 12 to 18 month planning cycle. Which means the decisions being made in boardrooms and planning meetings right now are determining which speakers will be on stages in fall 2026 and throughout all of 2027.

According to the National Speakers Association, the most consistently booked professional speakers actively maintain a submission pipeline rather than waiting for opportunities to come to them. Therefore, the speakers who are going to fill those fall 2026 and 2027 slots are already in motion. Their proposals are already in front of decision makers. Their names are already being discussed in rooms they have never walked into.

If your name is not actively in front of those decision makers right now, you are not in the running. Not because you are not qualified. Simply because someone else submitted and you did not.

What Open Calls for Speakers Actually Are

For speakers who have not made open calls a consistent part of their business strategy, it helps to understand exactly what they are and where to find them.

Open calls for speakers are invitations from organizations, associations, conferences, and corporations actively searching for speakers for their upcoming events. Additionally, many of these opportunities are publicly posted on organization websites, association event pages, conference submission portals, and speaker directories like eSpeakers.

These are not cold outreach situations where you are pitching yourself to someone who did not ask. These are warm opportunities where the event planner is actively looking for exactly what you do. Furthermore, submitting to open calls for speakers puts your name in front of decision makers who are already in buying mode.

The speakers who treat open calls for speakers as a consistent and strategic part of their business development are the ones who build speaking pipelines that generate bookings year over year rather than relying on referrals and hoping the phone rings.

Why Established Speakers Win Open Calls for Speakers

Here is something important that most speakers do not realize about open calls for speakers. The most decorated speaker does not always win. The most strategic submission does.

Event planners evaluating open calls for speakers are not just looking for impressive credentials. They are looking for a speaker whose message connects directly and specifically to their audience, their theme, and their goals for the event.

A submission that demonstrates a deep understanding of the organization. A clear and specific connection between the speaker’s message and the event’s objectives. Evidence that the speaker has done their homework about who is going to be in that room. These are the elements that make a submission stand out in a competitive field.

As a result, established keynote speakers actually have a significant advantage in open calls for speakers. Years of experience, strong testimonials, a clear and proven message, and the ability to customize content at a high level are exactly what event planners are looking for. The key is making sure the submission reflects all of that clearly and compellingly.

What a Winning Submission Looks Like

Understanding what event planners want to see in open calls for speakers is what separates the speakers who get selected from the ones who get passed over.

First, specificity matters more than anything else. A generic submission that could apply to any event is the fastest way to get overlooked. Instead, the winning submission speaks directly to that specific organization, that specific audience, and that specific event theme.

Second, social proof is essential. Testimonials from event planners who have worked with you before, video clips from previous keynotes, and specific audience outcomes carry significant weight in the evaluation process. Furthermore, a well maintained eSpeakers profile that is current and positions you specifically as a keynote speaker in your niche is one of the most powerful assets you can bring to an open call submission.

Third, clarity about outcomes matters deeply to event planners. They are not just buying a speaker. They are buying a result for their audience. A submission that clearly articulates what the audience will think, feel, or do differently because of the keynote is far more compelling than one that simply describes the speaker’s topic.

Building a Submission System That Works Consistently

One of the biggest reasons established speakers miss out on open calls for speakers is not a lack of opportunity. It is a lack of system.

Finding open calls for speakers, researching each organization, crafting a customized proposal, tracking submission deadlines, and following up appropriately after every submission requires a consistent and documented process. Without that process, open calls get identified and then forgotten. Deadlines get missed. Follow-up never happens.

Additionally, at the level established keynote speakers are operating, this process should not be consuming the bandwidth that should be reserved for stage preparation and message development. The research, the tracking, the submission process, and the follow-up that happens after every open call should be handled by someone who understands this industry well enough to represent the speaker’s brand at the highest level.

That is exactly the kind of operational support we build inside The Northcutt Signature Partnership. If you are ready to make open calls for speakers a consistent and strategic part of your speaking business, let’s connect.

👉 Visit bit.ly/workwithdeborah to schedule a discovery conversation.

And if you want to go deeper on building the operational infrastructure behind your speaking business, join me on July 23rd at 7 PM EST, 6 PM CST for my webinar Booked, Paid, and Still Overwhelmed.

👉 Register at bit.ly/gigs2speak

The Bottom Line

Open calls for speakers are not a strategy for speakers who are just getting started. They are one of the most powerful and underutilized tools available to established keynote speakers who are serious about building a speaking pipeline that generates consistent revenue year over year.

The window for fall 2026 is closing. Planning for 2027 is already underway. And the speakers who are going to fill those stages are the ones who are moving right now.

The question is whether you are one of them.

Deborah Northcutt is a Speaker Operations Strategist and founder of The Northcutt Speaking Agency. She helps established keynote speakers build the business behind the stage through strategic operations, visibility systems, and speaker support that leads to more opportunities and sustainable growth.