A speaker argues that aspiring presenters should build deep expertise in a specific niche rather than chase hot topics. Trying to appeal to everyone dilutes your credibility. Find the audiences where your knowledge matters most, whether that's colleges or the military, and become the trusted voice they need.
Because if you're chasing what people want to learn, you will never be a subject matter expert. And there's too many speakers trying to sell to everybody. So if you're going to be an expert, and that's how you become a niche, that's how you become a necessity to people, then if you want to really be that, you have to decide what is my expertise and where can that be served, not what are the hot topics. And here's why that I want everybody to hear this loud and clear. People ask me this all the time. Hey Mike, you're speaking in college, you're speaking in the military, what are the hot topics? Can you imagine if I said, well, one, that's offensive phrasing. Let's just be clear. Saying that sexual assault's a hot topic is highly offensive to a lot of people. So would mental health be offensive to a lot of people. So could body identity be offensive to a lot of people. All right, so we have to be cautious of even that approach right there.
