How to be Found on LinkedIn for the Right Opportunities with Donna Serdula.

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As a speaker, you're also a business owner, a salesperson, and a marketer. And as a marketer, you need to present yourself in a way that inspires confidence in your abilities, your products, and your services. Today, social media — and LinkedIn in particular — is one of the most powerful platforms for doing exactly that. In 2009, Donna Serdula pioneered her LinkedIn profile optimization methodology. Since then, she and her team have helped over 6,000 professionals around the world tell their stories and build powerful professional brands. Here's the conversation.

Why LinkedIn Networking Matters More Than Ever

Donna: With the shift to remote work, people miss the water cooler. They're going on LinkedIn to network, to put names to faces, to figure out who they're going to be talking to. They're scrolling the feed, engaging with posts, starting conversations — finding there the interaction that in-person work used to provide. It's become more important than ever as a professional networking tool.

The SOAR Framework

Donna: My four-point methodology is SOAR — Strategize, Optimize, Amplify, and Relate. The first step is to strategize: know why you're on LinkedIn, who your target audience is, and what keywords a person might use when searching for someone like you. Without a clear strategy, you don't know where you're going — and you'll never get there. Once you have that, you optimize your profile. Your profile is not just a social presence — it's a database entry. Event planners and meeting organizers are actively searching LinkedIn for speakers. If your profile doesn't have the right keywords, they'll never find you.

Amplify and Relate

Donna: Once your profile is optimized — written not just for the past, but for who you are today and who you want to become — you amplify by building your network. If your connections are under 500, you're essentially shouting in a closet. Connect with everyone you've met. Keep connecting. And then relate: scroll the feed, read, and don't just scroll — comment. Engage. Forge real conversations. When you comment meaningfully on a post, you signal to LinkedIn that the content is relevant and quality. You're also helping someone — and they'll often return the favor.

Sharing vs. Creating

Donna: Sharing someone else's post is a kind gesture, but it consistently underperforms original content. If you want real traction — views, engagement, new connections — take the idea, write your own post, give the original creator a hat tip, and tag them. You get the reach of original content, and they get the recognition. Win-win.

Optimizing Your Profile: Where to Start

Donna: Start at the top. If your background image is the default grayish-green stripe, you haven't uploaded one — and that's the first place to start. Speakers especially: find an image that shows you on stage. Your profile photo should be a close headshot — not a full-body shot, not a group photo. Most people view LinkedIn on a phone, where images shrink. Make it a clear, beautiful face. Then your headline — that field is highly sensitive in the search algorithm. Inject your target keywords there. From there, every field is an opportunity: your About section, your experience, your skills. Every field represents you to someone who's already on your profile and qualifying themselves as a potential client or booking contact.

Connection Etiquette and the Right Mindset

Donna: If someone recognizes you, a personalized note isn't required. But if you don't know them, ask yourself: why are you connecting? You can follow someone instead — there's even a notification bell so you can be alerted to their posts. Engage with their content, let them get to know you, and then connect when there's a real relationship forming. As for etiquette: don't go on LinkedIn to take — go to give. Educate, add value, inspire, motivate. Go in with a giving mindset and an openness to learn, and something remarkable happens: people want to do business with you. You become the obvious choice when someone needs what you offer.

Peter: Donna, where can listeners go to learn more?

Donna: Visit linkedinmakeover.com — I have a free LinkedIn headline generator and a ton of other resources. You can also find me at donnaserdula.com, my speaker site. It's there partly because I think it's useful for other speakers to see how a speaker presents themselves online.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Public Speaking with Peter George. Are you ready to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then visit petergeorgepublicspeaking.com and let's make it happen. I'll see you next time.