Be a Fitness Presenter

Insider Secrets to Making a Name for Yourself as a Fitness Presenter

If you’ve ever been to a fitness convention (and I hope you have), you know the exhilaration of participating in sessions that’ll help grow your fitness career by leaps and bounds. Well, I can tell you from experience that presenting at such an event magnifies that feeling of exhilaration 10 times over!

It’s exciting to stand up there, educating your colleagues about how to train better, teach better and/or ensure a more successful fitness business.

If your target market includes other fitness pros, you attract plenty of new customers. (I always do.) And imagine how impressed your training clients or class participants will be when they hear you’re heading to New York, Toronto or Sydney to train other industry leaders!

Being a presenter instantly elevates your status as a fitness pro. The question is, do you have what it takes to be a successful presenter?

There’s no better person to learn from on this subject than my friend Sharon Donaldson of Fitness Resume. She’s been the Convention & Special Events Director for Can-Fit-Pro and a member of IDEA’s presenter selection committee.

This woman is on the INSIDE of what it takes to be a sought-after fitness presenter.

I credit Sharon with helping me break into presenting at Can-Fit-Pro Toronto, a world-class conference that attracts thousands of delegates and plenty of competition for presenting spots.

Now you can get the same inside advice I received from Sharon in her new product, Presenter Insider Package: The tips and tools you need to become a fitness presenter this year.

Read this recent exchange between Sharon and me about the application process and financial payoff of being a presenter.
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Amanda Vogel (AV): So, I’m curious, what's the single most important thing to include in a conference application that most aspiring presenters either don't think of or don't put proper care into?

Sharon Donaldson (SD): I’d say it’s the quality of the application itself. If you can't get them to like you on paper, you'll never get them to love you in person. It doesn't matter how great an educator you are and how talented you are on stage.

AV: It’s similar to the image you portray when marketing to fitness clients, right?

SD: Exactly. If your application is sloppy, contains typos or poor grammar, or is just poorly written, you'll never get your chance. You are competing with hundreds of other applicants. If you come across as ill-educated or unprofessional, your application will go right into the "no" pile.

So take time to write a proper cover letter. Put care into crafting clever session titles and engaging descriptions. Ensure you've got your contact info in multiple places in your package and make it easy to do business with you!

AV: You must get a lot of people asking about the financial payoff of being a fitness presenter. Like anything, you have to work up to the big bucks, but what do you tell fitness pros who want to make money at this?

SD: Presenting at the big conferences adds instant credibility to your resume. There are endless income streams, including being a master trainer for an educational program, writing articles, endorsing fitness products, or becoming a sponsored athlete.

Presenting on the national stage really opens doors for you with the media, and you can gain more exposure for your facility or fitness program back home.

AV: True. I often go to conferences on a Press Pass looking for story ideas and presenters to interview for my articles.

SD: And if you produce your own training materials or workout videos, presenting at conferences is a must for marketing yourself as an expert.

In fact, many presenters tell me they make more from selling their wares at conferences than they do in presenting fees!

AV: Yep – the last batch of products I brought to a large conference sold out in the trade show on the first day!