What Is a Descriptive Title?
Think of it as your professional headline. It must work as hard as a business card, a search result, and a pitch line — all at once.
Quickly Communicates
Who You Are
What You’re Known For
Main Topics & Expertise
It works as hard as a business card, a search result, and a pitch line all at once.Descriptive Title Appearance
First single line directly beneath your name across our website lists, your profile and marketing materials. It is the first thing event organizer reads when deciding whether to explore your full profile
Drives Inquiries & Matching
A well-crafted title drives more inquiries, improves event matching, and appears across search results, proposals, speaker directories, and marketing materials.
How It Appears on Your Profile & When We Pitch You
Your Descriptive Title is the single line that appears directly beneath your name across our website, marketing materials, event proposals, and search results. It is the first thing an event organizer reads when deciding whether to explore your full profile. A strong Descriptive Title immediately communicates who you are, what you speak about, and why you are credible — in one glance.
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How It Appears on Your Profile & When We Pitch You
Your Speaker Name
Workplace Energizer & Humour at Work | Leadership, Change, Corporate Culture & Innovation Expert
www.speakerscanada.com/michael-kerr
The Three-Part Formula
Your Descriptive Title follows a simple structure: [Who You Are] | [What You Speak About] | [Your Authority Word]
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Part A: Identity Titles
Your most recognizable professional identity. Use your strongest career credentials, public roles, or designations. The Main identity of how people know you, past and current roles, accomplishments, unique identifiers to ensure people can relate your name with your identity title in one glance.
Title Examples
CEO, Founder, Olympian, Olympic Gold Medalist, NHL-Player, Former Educator, Retired General, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, Entrepreneur, Executive Coach, Hall of Fame Speaker, Journalist, Broadcaster, Comedian, Scientist, Economist, Psychologist, Mentalist, Philanthropist, Venture Capitalist, Astronaut, Explorer, Educator, Best Selling Author, Business Coach, Leadership Coach, Corporate Consultant, Business Consultant, Sales Consultant, Health and Wellness Educator, Former Educator, CEO, CFO, Founder, Entrepreneur, Nurse, Doctor, Physician, CSP, Hall of Fame Speaker, Behaviour Psychologist, Futurist, Economist.Common Mistakes
Internal corporate titles written fully, acronyms audiences would not recognize, or vague terms like “Thought Leader” or “Visionary” without a concrete identity attached. Degrees, abbreviations, certifications also do not work here. - 2
Part B: Topics & Expertise
List your core speaking, themes and using clear, commonly understood language. These are the subjects event organizers are hiring you to address. Use the words that audiences and planners would naturally use when searching for a speaker on these subjects so that they can identify you quickly in a list.
Topic Examples
Leadership, Mental Health, Resilience, Human Connection, Belonging, Peak Performance, Workplace Culture, Innovation, Diversity and Inclusion, Business Strategy, Teamwork, Change, Sales, Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Transformation, Artificial Intelligence, Health and Wellness, Overcoming Adversity, Cyber Security, Truth & Reconciliation, Burnout Prevention, Entrepreneurship, Employee Engagement, Communication, Safety, Business Leadership, Business Strategy, Growth, Habits, Energy at Work, Mentoring, Work-life Balance, Managing Change, Disruption, Employee Engagement.Common Mistakes
Standalones audience specific or industry specific topics. Not enough topics or too little. Topics positioned to not relate to transition well off one another such as mental health and sales expert. Writing a sentence out. - 3
Part C: Your Authority
Every Descriptive Title ends with a closing authority word that defines your authority over the topics listed in Part 2. This works as a quick distinction for organizers to classify you quickly for your topics.
Expert
when your authority comes from broad experience, leadership, or public recognition across your topic areas.Specialist
when your authority comes from deep, focused expertise in a specific discipline (e.g., medical, technical, legal, financial).Advocate or Awareness
After any diversity and inclusion, human rights topic or mental health only.Consultant or Coach
Leadership, Performance, Business, Sales and other business titles.Speakers & Keynote Speaker
Can not be used for this area since it conflicts with SEO from another field on the same page.Other Options
May submit other authority options like words below, however we may change it at our will to mee our standards. Strategist, Energizer, Researcher, Sparker, Igniter, Guru, Disrupter, Etc.
Technical Requirements
Every Descriptive Title must meet all of the following requirements before submission. Understanding how to use separators and characters correctly ensures your title displays properly across all platforms and proposals. These are non-negotiable platform standards.
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Structure
- Part A: Professional Identity: minimum 2, maximum 3 words
- Part B: Topic Themes: minimum 2, maximum 3 words, 2–4 core speaking themes
- Part C: Authority Words Expert, Specialist after last topic. Only one authority word per title
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Word Count Per Part
- If Part A has 2 words, Part B usually has 3 words
- If Part A has 3 words, Part B usually has 2 words
- In some cases both parts may have 3 words each
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Character Count
- Minimum 90 characters
- Maximum 100 characters including spaces and punctuation
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Capitalization
- Use Title Case throughout
- Capitalize the first letter of every major word
- Applies to both Part A and Part B
The Pipe Divider |
- Use “|” to divide Part A and Part B
- Only one pipe divider per title
- No other divider format is accepted
The Ampersand &
- Use “&” in place of “and” between topics
- 2 topics or titles: use “&”
- 3 topics or titles: use commas “,” plus “&”
- If a topic naturally contains “and” (e.g., Health and Wellness), leave it spelled out in full
What to Avoid
- Proprietary framework names
- Internal corporate titles
- Vague terms like “Thought Leader”
- More than 4 themes in Part B
- Repeating the same word (e.g., Leadership, Leadership)
- Must end with Expert, Specialist, or Advocate
Examples
The following are approved examples that demonstrate the correct structure, length, and format for a Descriptive Title. Use these as your reference when drafting your two options.
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1
Physician, Doctor & Healthcare Leader | Leadership, Resilience, Change, Health and Wellness Expert = 98 characters
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2
Olympic Gold Medalist & NHL Hockey Player | Leadership, Health and Wellness & Performance Expert = 96 characters
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3
Indigenous Advocate & Artist | Truth and Reconciliation, First Nation Community Reinvention Expert = 98 characters
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4
Health & Wellness & Hall of Fame Speaker | Burnout Prevention, Work-life Balance & Purpose Expert = 97 characters
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5
Executive Coach & Consultant | Business Leadership, Change, Disruption & Entrepreneurship Expert = 96 characters
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6
Award Winning Journalist & Best-Selling Author | Psychology, Brain Science & Mental Health Advocate = 99 characters
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7
Olympic Gold Medalist & Women’s Rower Champion | Leadership, Resilience & Team Building Expert = 94 characters
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8
Serial Entrepreneur & Venture Capitalist | Business Leadership, Innovation, Startups & Growth Specialist = 103 characters
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9
Entrepreneur & Former Engineer | Leadership Under Pressure, Problem Solving & Teamwork Expert = 93 characters
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10
Humanitarian & Award-Winning Journalist | Women’s Rights, Mental Health, Conflict & Culture Expert = 98 characters
Common Mistakes to Avoid
These are the most frequent errors submitted. Review each one carefully before drafting your two options.
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1
Too Short
“Athlete | Leadership Expert” — Using a single word for Part 1 before jumping straight to Part 2 does not give the organizer enough context about who you are. Part 1 should include at least two identifiers that together paint a clear professional picture.
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2
Too Vague
“Inspirational Speaker & Thought Leader” — This tells the organizer nothing about what you actually speak about or why you are qualified. Always lead with a concrete identity and include specific topic themes.
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3
Too Long
“Award-Winning International Best-Selling Author, Executive Leadership Coach & Corporate Consultant | Workplace Culture, Employee Engagement, Diversity, Inclusion, Mental Health, Resilience & Innovation Expert”reads like a keyword dump and won’t fit.
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4
Non Searchable Language
“Creator of The Resilience Reboot Method | Certified Neuro Change Practitioner” — Event planners do not search for proprietary frameworks. Use the plain-language version of what you do.
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5
Missing Identity
“Leadership, Communication & Teamwork Expert” — This tells us what you speak about but not who you are. Always lead with your professional identity as the very first thing read in Part 1.
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6
Missing Topics
“Olympic Gold Medalist & Entrepreneur” — This tells us who you are but not what you speak about. Always include your core speaking themes in Part 2.
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7
Credential Stacking
“CEO, CPA, PhD, MBA, PCC, CSP & Certified Executive Coach | Leadership Expert” — Listing every credential and certification you hold turns your title into an alphabet soup. Choose the one or two most recognizable identifiers and lead with those only.
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8
All Topics, No Identity
“Sales, Marketing, Branding, Social Media, Digital Strategy & Growth Expert” — A list of topics with no professional identity tells the organizer nothing about who you are. Always lead with a clear, recognizable credential or role before listing your themes.
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9
Using ‘Expert’ or ‘Specialist’ in Part 1
“Award-Winning Expert & Leadership Specialist | Communication & Team Building Expert” — Expert and Specialist are closing words reserved exclusively for the end of your title and must not appear in Part 1.
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10
Closing With ‘Advocate’ or ‘Speaker’
“Mental Health Advocate & Keynote Speaker” — Neither ‘Advocate’ nor ‘Speaker’ is an accepted closing word. The title must end with Expert or Specialist. Advocate works with mental health, awareness, wellness, or any diversity & inclusion topic.
Descriptive Title AI Prompt
Do not read this! Copy and paste into AI. Use the prompt below to generate or refine the topic description you already created. Go back above and review the steps to use AI if needed to ensure you follow exactly. Descriptive Title Prompt for Speakers (Final Override Version): Use this prompt exactly. Replace the speaker information before generating.
Act like a senior speaker bureau copywriter and profile strategist responsible for writing high-impact topic titles for a national speaker roster used across speaker bureau search results, media kits, event programs, client proposals, and speaker profiles. The title is the professional headline that appears beneath a speaker’s name across search results, event programs, client proposals, and media kits. This title determines whether an event organizer clicks through or moves on.
Objective: Write two descriptive title options that immediately communicate who the speaker is, what they speak about, and their authority while supporting search visibility and booking interest. Each title must create a clear positioning lane that is distinct, ownable, and aligned to the speaker’s real expertise.
Execution Control: Do not drift, do not hallucinate, do not assume missing information, ask questions if any required input is unclear before writing, preserve all verified credibility signals, remove weak generic or vague phrasing, group wording logically for SEO clarity.
Inputs Required: Speaker name, who they are role career public identity what they are known for, what they have done career highlights achievements awards designations, existing title or headline if used publicly, core speaking themes 2 to 4 subjects, key audiences served.
Structure: [Who They Are] | [Speaking Themes] + Expert or Specialist
First Half Identity: This defines who the speaker is and what they are known for including current roles and previous accomplishments using the most recognized and searchable positioning. strongest recognizable credential or public identity, real world introduction style identity, immediate credibility and clarity and prioritizes SEO searched titles for first half. Must not include topic words, Expert or Specialist, vague terms such as Thought Leader Visionary Changemaker, internal or low recognition job titles.
Second Half Speaking Themes: This defines what they speak about. Must have 2 to 4 themes using clear searchable language, common event planner terms, end with Expert or Specialist. Use Expert when authority is based on broad experience or recognition, use Specialist when authority is based on deep focused expertise. Must not use proprietary frameworks or book titles, jargon or academic phrasing, more than 4 themes, repeat identity language.
Separator Rule: use a vertical bar with one space on each side to separate identity and themes, format must be [Who They Are] | [Speaking Themes] + Expert or Specialist, do not use dash comma slash or multiple separators, only one separator per title to ensure consistency readability and SEO structure.
Keyword and SEO Grouping Rules: Keywords must be embedded directly into the second half of the title using clear, commonly searched terms that event planners use when sourcing speakers. Each theme must reflect real search language aligned to audience needs, industry demand, and event objectives. Avoid abstract or internal phrasing. Group themes in a logical order from highest search relevance to supporting topics. Place the strongest and most searched theme first, followed by complementary themes that reinforce the same expertise lane. Do not mix unrelated categories. All themes must clearly belong together and describe one focused area of expertise. Prioritize the most recognized and searchable identity signal in the first half of the title. Select the credential, role, or achievement with the highest public recognition and search value. If multiple credentials exist, choose the one most likely to be searched or immediately understood by event organizers. Ensure the full title reads as a cohesive search phrase rather than a list. The identity and themes must connect logically, allowing the title to match how organizers search, scan, and evaluate speakers within seconds.
Character Count Rule: each title must be between 90 and 100 characters total including spaces and punctuation, if under 90 add one relevant theme, if over 100 tighten language without losing clarity.
Language Rules: Title Case capitalization, direct professional fact based tone, no promotional or filler language, every word must contribute to clarity and positioning.
Keyword Rule: use natural high value search terms aligned to audience needs industry language common discovery phrases, do not keyword dump.
Positioning Rule: each title must represent one clear identity and one clear expertise lane, do not combine multiple identities in the first half, do not overlap positioning between the two options.
Validation: confirm character count is between 90 and 100, confirm first half is identity only with no topic words, confirm second half includes 2 to 4 themes and ends with Expert or Specialist, confirm title is clear within 3 seconds to a new event planner, confirm both options are distinct in positioning.
Output Format: Option 1: [title] ([exact character count]), Option 2: [title] ([exact character count])
No explanation, no commentary, return only the two titles
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