Calls for speakers for 2027 events are already opening. Conferences, associations, universities, TEDx organizers, and meetup groups publish them months ahead, and most close within a few weeks. The speakers who land the best stages are usually the ones who see the call early and submit something well matched.
Below you will find every major source of speaking opportunities, the exact search strings that surface hidden calls, and a 30-minute weekly routine you can run without burning out. At the end, you will see how to automate most of it.
How calls for speakers work
A call for speakers (also called a call for proposals, CFP, or call for presentations) is an open invitation from an event organizer to submit a session idea. The typical cycle looks like this:
- The call opens, often six to twelve months before the event.
- Speakers submit a title, abstract, learning objectives, and bio through a form.
- A committee reviews and scores submissions after the deadline.
- Accepted speakers are notified, usually a few weeks to a few months later.
This timing matters. If you want to speak in spring 2027, many of the relevant calls open or close during the second half of 2026. Planning a year out is normal in this field.
The main sources of speaking opportunities
Industry and professional associations
Almost every profession has a national association, and many have regional chapters that run their own events. These conferences need a large number of breakout speakers and often publish formal calls with clear criteria. They are one of the most dependable sources of speaking opportunities for subject-matter experts.
- Search "[your industry] association annual conference call for proposals."
- Check chapter websites, which often run smaller regional events with less competition.
- Join the association's newsletter list, since calls are announced there first.
Higher-education and academic conferences
Faculty, instructional designers, student affairs professionals, and researchers have a deep calendar of academic and higher-ed conferences. These events usually require learning objectives and sometimes a paper or poster option. Compensation is often limited to registration or travel support, but the credibility and networking can be substantial. Our page for higher-education speakers covers how matching works for this audience.
TEDx events
TEDx events are independently organized, and each one sets its own speaker process. Some run open applications, while others rely on nominations. Search for TEDx events in your city or region and check their site or social channels for speaker application windows. TEDx talks are generally unpaid, and speakers value them for visibility and a professionally recorded video.
Meetups and local professional groups
Local meetups, chambers of commerce, Rotary clubs, and professional networking groups need speakers constantly. Few of them publish formal calls, so reach out to the organizer directly through the group page. These events are ideal for testing new material and collecting short video clips.
Corporate events and internal conferences
Companies run sales kickoffs, leadership retreats, employee resource group events, and lunch-and-learns. These rarely appear as public calls. You reach them through relationships, your speaker page, and referrals from past audiences. Corporate events are also where paid engagements tend to concentrate, which we cover in how much to charge for speaking.
Podcasts, webinars, and virtual summits
Podcast hosts and webinar producers book guests weekly. Many podcasts have a guest application form on their website. Virtual summits often publish speaker applications a few months out. These are usually unpaid, and they build a portfolio of recordings that organizers of larger events like to see.
CFP aggregators and directories
Aggregators collect calls from many sources into one list. Some focus on tech conferences, others on academic events or a single region. They save time, but each covers only part of the market, and listings can go stale once deadlines pass. Worth the Pitch keeps a public directory of open calls for speakers that hides expired calls automatically and shows the proposal due date and conference date for each one.
Tip: For every source you find useful, write down when it usually posts its call. Annual conferences tend to open their call around the same month each year, so one good find becomes a recurring reminder on your calendar.
Search operators that surface hidden calls
A lot of calls live on small event sites that never reach an aggregator. A few search patterns find them quickly. Paste these into your search engine and swap in your topic:
| Search string | What it finds |
|---|---|
| "call for speakers" leadership 2027 | General speaker calls on your topic for next year |
| "call for proposals" "higher education" 2027 | Academic and higher-ed conference CFPs |
| "call for presentations" cybersecurity conference | Alternate phrasing some organizers use |
| "speaker application" OR "become a speaker" marketing summit | Summits and events with rolling applications |
| "call for speakers" intitle:2027 healthcare | Pages with the year in the title, often the call itself |
| "submit a session" OR "session proposals" nonprofit conference | Association and sector conferences |
| "call for speakers" "travel covered" OR "honorarium" [topic] | Calls that mention compensation |
Use your search engine's date filter to show results from the past month. That cuts out old calls that still rank well.
Set up alerts
Most search engines let you create alerts for a query. Set one for each of your two or three strongest topics combined with "call for speakers" and the coming year. You will get new pages delivered to your inbox as they are indexed.
How to decide which calls are worth your time
Finding calls is half the job. Filtering them is the other half. Before you draft anything, score each call quickly on these questions:
- Topic fit: Does one of your talks fit a stated track, or would you be stretching?
- Audience fit: Are these the people you most want to reach, such as buyers, peers, or future clients?
- Compensation: Paid fee, travel and hotel, free registration, or nothing?
- Logistics: Location, dates, virtual or in-person, and whether you are available.
- Strategic value: Recording, a prestigious stage, a target client in the room.
- Deadline: Do you have enough time to write a strong proposal?
A call that scores well on three or four of these is usually worth pursuing. If you want a structured approach, here is how the Worth the Pitch match score weighs these factors.
Worth the Pitch searches the public web and trusted event feeds for calls for speakers, removes duplicates, and scores each one against your topics, audiences, location, and fee floor. You see only the calls above your minimum match score, each with a Worth it, Negotiate, or Skip verdict.
See your matches freeA 30-minute weekly routine
Consistency beats marathon search sessions. Block 30 minutes once a week, on the same day, and follow this sequence.
Minutes 1 to 10: Scan
- Check your search alerts and saved searches.
- Scan one or two aggregators, including the open calls list.
- Glance at newsletters from your top associations.
Minutes 11 to 20: Filter
- Score each new call using the questions above.
- Add the keepers to a tracker with the deadline and submission link.
- Drop anything that fails on topic or audience fit.
Minutes 21 to 30: Plan
- Sort your tracker by deadline.
- Pick the one to three calls you will write proposals for this week.
- Put drafting time on your calendar before the deadline, with a buffer day.
Then use a separate block for writing. Our guide on how to write a speaker proposal includes a fill-in template that shortens that part considerably.
Tip: Keep a "maybe next year" list. When a great event closes before you find it, note the organizer and the month. Next year you will be first in line.
Build inbound opportunities alongside outbound searching
Searching for calls is outbound work. Over time, you also want organizers to find you. A few habits help:
- A clear speaker page with your topics, signature talks, a headshot, and an easy way to invite you. Worth the Pitch gives every speaker a public page and a listing option in the speaker directory.
- Visible evidence such as clips, slides, and past event names.
- Follow-up after every event to ask the organizer for referrals to peers who run similar events.
The combination of steady outbound submissions and a growing inbound presence is what turns a few gigs into a full calendar. The 90-day plan for getting paid speaking gigs puts this into a week-by-week schedule.
How Worth the Pitch automates the search
The routine above works, and it takes discipline to keep up. Worth the Pitch runs the scanning and filtering steps for you:
- Discovery: it crawls the public web and trusted event feeds for calls for speakers, then extracts dates, location, format, audience, compensation, travel coverage, deadline, and submission link.
- Matching: each call is filtered against your profile and scored from 0 to 100, with strengths and concerns explained.
- Fresh results: matches refresh every six hours and whenever you update your profile. Expired calls disappear automatically.
- Alerts: a daily digest of top matches and reminders 7, 3, and 1 day before a deadline. See alerts and reminders.
- Apply this week: a board of calls closing in the next 14 days, plus a one-click option to draft proposals for your top three.
You can read more about the approach on our call for speakers page or get set up with the getting started guide.
Build your profile in minutes, set your minimum match score, and let the calls come to you. The Free plan needs no card.
Start finding calls for speakersYour next step
Pick your two strongest topics today. Run three of the search strings above, add anything promising to a tracker, and choose one call to submit to this week. Next week, repeat. Within a month you will have a clear view of the 2027 calls in your field and a pipeline of proposals moving toward decisions.
