When people ask me how to become a speaker, they usually mean: how do I get the big stages? How do I get invited to TEDx? How do I build the kind of platform where event organizers come to me?
It's the right question. But it's missing a step. Before any of that is possible, you need to build authority. And authority has almost nothing to do with how many followers you have.
What Authority Actually Is
Authority is the perception that you know something valuable — deeply, practically, and from real experience — that your audience needs to know.
It's built on three things:
- Depth of insight — not just knowledge, but a distinct perspective developed through real-world application
- Consistency of message — showing up with the same core ideas, refined and deepened over time
- Quality of rooms — the stages you've been on, the people who have trusted you with their audience
Notice what's not on that list: follower count, viral content, or a bestselling book. Those things are outputs of authority, not the source of it.
Step 1: Find Your One Thing
The biggest mistake aspiring speakers make is trying to speak about everything. They want to cover entrepreneurship, motivation, leadership, marketing, and personal development — because each topic feels important and they don't want to limit themselves.
The result is that nobody knows what they stand for. Event organizers book speakers who are the clearest answer to a specific question. "Who should we get to talk about building entrepreneurial communities in Indonesia?" That's a question I can answer clearly. "Who should we get for a motivational speech?" — there are a thousand people competing for that.
Find your one thing. The thing you've actually done, not just studied. The thing you can speak about for four hours without a slide deck. Then go deep on that one thing until you own it.
Step 2: Start in the Rooms You Have Access To
Every speaker I know who has built a real platform started by saying yes to every room — no matter how small.
I spoke at community events with 20 people before I spoke at corporate events with 500. I facilitated small business workshops before I stood on a TEDx stage. Each small room was practice, proof, and often the path to the next room.
Don't wait for the big stage. The big stage is a reward for having earned smaller stages. Get in front of 30 people. Then 100. Then 300. Build the reps and the references before you aim for the flagship events.
Step 3: Build Your Intellectual Property
Speakers who command premium fees and repeat invitations have proprietary frameworks — ideas that are distinctly theirs.
Not "7 habits of effective people" (already taken). Not generic leadership principles. But frameworks built from their specific experience, given their own name, packaged in a way that only they could have developed.
My speaking IP is built around the TES journey: what I learned building an ecosystem from scratch, what patterns I've seen across 12,000 entrepreneurs, what the data tells us about what separates founders who scale from those who stagnate. Nobody else has that material, because nobody else built that community.
What's your equivalent? What have you built, experienced, or observed that nobody else has? That's your IP. Name it. Package it. Teach it consistently.
Step 4: The Credibility Stack
Every speaking engagement adds to your credibility stack. A TEDx talk is worth more than a community event. An international keynote is worth more than a local workshop. A corporate event at Astra is worth more than a startup event.
The strategy is to build the stack deliberately: use smaller engagements to earn bigger ones. Get the testimonial from the community event organizer. Record your talk. Build a speaker reel. Share the stage with more prominent speakers whenever you get the chance — their credibility rubs off.
Three TEDx talks didn't happen because I had a big Instagram following. They happened because I consistently showed up on smaller stages, built a clear point of view, and earned the credibility of event organizers who had seen my work.
"The room you're most afraid to enter is usually the one that changes everything."
A Word on Social Media
Social media accelerates authority — it doesn't create it. If you have genuine expertise and a clear point of view, consistent content amplifies your reach and makes it easier for event organizers to find you and vet you.
But content without substance is just noise. Build the authority first. Then use social media to broadcast it.
Looking for a Speaker for Your Next Event?
Klemens has spoken at 700+ events across Indonesia and ASEAN — corporate, government, university, and international forums. Available for keynotes, seminars, workshops, and panels.
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