For professional speakers with a calendar to protect

Virtual assistants for professional speakers

Arrive ready for the audience, with the booking details already organized. An assistant can coordinate inquiries, organizer requests and the preparation behind each engagement. Knows The Drill recruits and prepares your assistant for your speaking business before handoff.

Find your assistant

A date hold should never look like a confirmed engagement.

An organizer asks about a date. Another needs a biography and headshot. A booked event is waiting for travel details and a briefing call. Each conversation sits at a different stage, but all of them compete for your attention.

Your assistant can maintain the booking record, collect what you need to assess an opportunity and follow through after your decision. You keep control of the audience fit, terms and commitments on your calendar.

The work to hand off

Give each engagement a clear booking and preparation path.

Prepare speaking inquiries

Collect the event date, location, audience, format and organizer's request. Gather the information you use to assess fit before the conversation reaches you.

What you get back: An inquiry brief with the opportunity and unanswered questions

Maintain date holds and booking status

Record tentative holds, your decision and the booking evidence required by your process. Flag competing requests and keep expiration or response dates visible.

What you get back: A calendar that distinguishes available, held and confirmed dates

Coordinate organizer materials

Send the biography, headshot, session description and requirements you select. Track requests for revisions, missing materials and the organizer's confirmation.

What you get back: An organizer packet with current approved assets

Assemble engagement logistics

Gather travel confirmations, briefing-call details, venue contacts and the schedule supplied by the organizer. Track changes and organize post-event administrative follow-up.

What you get back: An engagement brief with confirmed logistics and open items

Illustrative workflow

Move a speaking inquiry through a clear date decision

Use this example to define when a date is held and what turns it into a confirmed booking.

Capture the inquiry

Assistant preparesRecord the event, audience, format and requested date.

You or your booking manager decidesWhether the opportunity is a potential fit.

Place the agreed hold

Assistant preparesRecord the hold according to your calendar rules and flag conflicts.

You or your booking manager decidesWhether to hold the date and for how long.

Gather booking inputs

Assistant preparesTrack the organizer's response and required documents.

You or your booking manager decidesThe fee, terms and booking acceptance.

Prepare the engagement

Assistant preparesUpdate status after authorization and assemble the preparation requests.

You or your booking manager decidesThe content and commitments made to the organizer.

Illustrative example — not a client record

A speaking date-hold record

Use this illustrative inquiry to show the difference between a promising conversation and an accepted booking.

Opportunity: Example entryAssociation conference keynote on Thursday afternoon.; What to provide or checkRecord the event and requested appearance.
Calendar status: Example entryTentative hold while the organizer completes the booking process.; What to provide or checkLabel the hold clearly.
Booking evidence: Example entryAgreement sent; signed copy has not been returned.; What to provide or checkRecord the document status without treating it as acceptance.
Open preparation item: Example entryOrganizer has not confirmed the audience profile.; What to provide or checkIdentify the information needed for preparation.
Next action: Example entryAssistant follows up with the organizer; speaker or booking manager confirms acceptance.; What to provide or checkName who can turn the hold into a commitment.

Ready to hand over when: The event, hold status, outstanding booking evidence and acceptance owner are visible without marking the engagement confirmed.

Download the blank template (CSV)

No email required. The file includes field names and guidance, with blank spaces for your own inputs. Use it to describe the work during matching; keep private client information out of an initial inquiry.

Shape the role around the workload

Is the business around speaking ready for an assistant?

A useful fit when

Organizer requests and booking follow-up recur between engagements.
You need a consistent record of holds, commitments and preparation details.

Discuss the setup first

You need someone to negotiate representation terms or sell engagements independently.
Travel and event schedules require support beyond the role's agreed hours.

Managed support provides a dedicated, full-time assistant. Direct-hire responsibilities, hours and employment terms are agreed during matching.

Your calendar carries your commitments.

Set clear authority for holds, bookings and materials so an assistant can follow through without making a commitment you have not accepted.

You or your booking representative approves fees, terms, audience fit and confirmed engagements.
Speaking content, claims, final presentation materials and permission to reuse recordings remain your decisions.
Travel purchases, expense limits and support hours around an event are agreed as part of the role.

Bring us an inquiry and a recent engagement.

01The questions you ask before considering a speaking opportunity.
02Your date-hold rules and evidence required to confirm a booking.
03Your current biography, headshots, session descriptions and organizer requirements.
04The people who approve terms, travel and changes while you are speaking or traveling.

Recruit. Prepare. Hand over.

Recruited for you. Trained for your industry.

First, we discuss your niche and the work you want your assistant to own. Then we recruit and prepare them in depth for the industry and responsibilities agreed with you before handoff. The matching conversation defines the skills, tools and preparation time your role needs.

We assess English fluency, practical problem-solving and independent judgment, so your assistant can work through the next step and recognize when to bring you in.

Choose the support behind your hire.

Managed assistant

A dedicated, full-time assistant through our service, with ongoing support from our team. One monthly fee.

Explore managed support

Direct hire

We recruit and train an assistant for you to hire directly into your team. You manage the day-to-day. One placement fee.

Explore direct hiring

The examples on these pages are a starting point. Bring the broader range of work you want covered to the matching call. We agree responsibilities, preparation time, working hours, fees and terms before you start.

Before you bring someone on

Can an assistant respond to speaking inquiries?: Yes. They can collect your standard information, share approved materials and coordinate the next conversation. You or your booking representative decides whether to accept the opportunity and on what terms.
Can they manage tentative date holds?: Yes, using the rules you define. Agree how long holds last, who can release them and what happens when requests conflict. The assistant maintains the record and brings the decision back to its owner.
Can they send my speaker kit to organizers?: Yes. Provide the current assets and indicate which versions suit different engagements. The assistant can track what was sent and follow up for any missing organizer requirements.
Can they book travel for engagements?: Travel coordination can be included, with spending authority, preferences and booking approval agreed in advance. Your assistant can assemble the itinerary and track changes alongside the event's confirmed schedule.
Is this a speaker bureau or booking agent service?: This page describes an assistant who coordinates the administrative work around your speaking business. Sales representation, negotiation and independent booking authority are different responsibilities to discuss explicitly.

Make the next engagement easier to prepare for.

Show us the inquiries, date holds and organizer requests around your speaking calendar. We will help build an assistant role that gives each one a clear next step.

Find your assistant

A different kind of business?

Explore other ways to organize the work around your team.

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