Become a Certified Speaker Agent. Build a Business. Grow an Agency. Or Get Your Speaker Booked.
Learn the systems, strategies, and AI-powered tools to find, pitch, and manage speaking opportunities professionally.
Dolores Hirschmann
Investor · Strategist · TEDx Organizer · Speaker · Author
Twenty years helping experts find clarity in their vision, message and market strategy. Since 2012 she has organized TEDxNewBedford — one of the largest TEDx events on the East Coast, 1,200+ people a year. She co-founded AYR Stage Agency, later acquired by 10X Stages, an agency placing speakers on stages nationwide. She is also an M&A advisor, and her company Masters in Clarity helps thought leaders multiply their visibility and impact.
She built Book Stages to put that same system in your hands — the finding, the contacts, the pitch. You keep the speaking.
Whichever reason brought you here, the training is the same.
Start your own speaker placement business
Build a recurring-revenue service from scratch — find, pitch, and place speakers on stages using BookStages’s software and Dolores’s playbooks. Aim for two paying clients as you build momentum.
Active certification: at least one paying client by the end of month four.
Train your team to get you booked
You don’t necessarily need to hire an outside speaker agent. You may already have the right person on your team. Give them the training, systems, and technology to manage your speaking opportunities professionally.
Already a BookStages customer? Sign in and invite them as an account assistant from your Profile tab.
Add speaker placement services to your agency
Get your team members certified in the same core program, so your agency can deliver speaker placement as a new, high-value service across multiple clients.
Your agency’s own license is a separate purchase — one person’s certification doesn’t replace it. See agency pricing →
The 90-day certification model.
Same curriculum for every path — foundations, fulfillment, then client acquisition.
Month 1 — Foundations & tools
The category, the offer, positioning, workflow, AI tools, and deep BookStages software training.
Month 2 — Fulfillment excellence
Find stages, evaluate opportunities, negotiate, pitch, manage the client process, and deliver the service.
Month 3 — Client acquisition
Website templates, sales scripts, proposals, outreach, and the conversion process to sign clients.
One certification, one price.
$1,497 pay in full, or three payments of $597 — certification is awarded once paid in full. A 90-day program: six live group sessions with Dolores, three special expert sessions, plus on-demand videos, worksheets, templates, scripts, and AI-tool training, no matter which path brought you here.
Tentative founding kickoff: Wednesday, November 4, 2026, noon ET — capped at 50 total agents across this cohort.
FAQ
Does certification follow me if I change jobs or join an agency?
Yes. Certification follows the person, not the employer. If a certified agent joins an agency, the agency doesn't pay a second certification fee for them.
What's the weekly time commitment?
Plan for about 5 hours a week across the 90-day program.
I already have a team member in mind — do they need any experience?
No prior speaker-industry experience is required. The curriculum is built to take someone from zero to a working, professional process.
Is this three different certifications?
No — one certification, one price, one curriculum. The three paths above are different reasons people take it, not different programs.
Apply for certification.
Tell us which path fits — Dolores reviews every application herself.