101 How to become a Professional Speaker.

As the president of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa (formerly the NSASA) I am often asked how I became a speaker. People think I have a wonderful job. I get to travel all over the country and all over the world, stay in the best hotels, have plenty of free time and get paid to tell people what I think.

Actually I do have a wonderful job but it is not always that glamorous.

If you would like to become a speaker you can, but don’t expect it to be the easiest ride of your life. Of the hundreds of people who decide to take up a career in speaking every year, very few have the stamina to make it. Many of them have had a career in Human Resources or Sales and are used to speaking in front of an audience. They see the speaker at their annual conference speak for an hour and get paid well, so they decide this is the life for them. Most of these people fail in the speaking industry. They work for a couple of years trying to make a go of it but move into another more reliable career when their golden handshake runs out. In the PSASA we help people avoid the pitfalls and develop a speaking business that works.

There are four things involved in becoming a professional speaker:

1. Develop a good message
2. Acquire exceptional speaking skills
3. Find paying audiences who want to listen to your message
4. Work out a good business model

Let’s have a look at these one at a time.

Develop a good message

People often go into the speaking business for the wrong reason. They have the skills to deliver a message, but they are not passionate about the message they deliver. The first stage to being an exceptional speaker is to have a good message. You may well have climbed a mountain or walked the Great Wall of China, but what is the message in the experience? What does your target market care about? In the PSASA we often talk about the “Niche” you should focus on. It is a mistake to try to be all things to all people, so where should you focus?

Acquire exceptional speaking skills

People are not born good speakers, they acquire the skills to speak and then practice. I will often encourage people to join the Toastmasters organisation to develop their speaking skills, but the best way to fine tune them is to practice. Once you have a message, get yourself in front of as many people who will listen and present your ideas. There are many organisations that are looking for speakers at their meetings. Organisations like Rotary, Round Table, and networking groups are crying out for interesting speakers. You will not get paid for this of course, but you are fine tuning your skills at their expense which is worth its weight in gold. If you have a book or video on the subject, take it with you to sell after the event. During my first year as a speaker this income was sometimes the only money I had to live on.

Find paying audiences who want to listen to your message

This is a tough one. You have a great message and the skills to deliver that message, now you need to find people who will listen and pay you for the privilege. The Speaker’s Agents and Bureaus will help here but don’t rely on them to be your only income. They are in business just like you are so don’t expect them to invest a lot of their time in you without getting a good return on that investment. They will help of course, especially if you have an interesting or unique message. Their customers are always looking for something a little different. Some speakers work entirely with bureaus but this is unusual. Most speakers also create their own audiences with Seminars, Training courses, or working directly with companies at their conferences.

Nobody is going to hand you audiences on a plate; you have to work hard for them. Many speakers fail at this point because they expect the audiences to beat a path to the door. It’s just not going to happen.

Work out a good business model

It is well known in the speaking industry that you have to create a business model that is sustainable. It isn’t just about speaking. Most speakers have written a book or two to give them credibility and have something to sell at the back of the room after the presentation. Others have become consultants, give webinars or teleseminars, become coaches or mentors, and have DVDs, CDs and MP3s to support their message. Each successful speaker develops their own business model and this is where the PSASA can be of great assistance. We cannot help you get audiences, but we can help you with advice on how to create a sustainable business model. Our monthly chapter meetings have speakers from all over the world who are delighted to share their experiences and offer advice.

So if you want to become one of South Africa’s great world speakers, have a interesting message, develop the skills to deliver that message, start to work on getting as many people to listen to you as possible and create the right business model. That’s all you have to do! See you at the next PSASA meeting.

This article is written and published by Richard Mulvey who can be contacted on www.richardmulvey.com. You may re-publish this article in any media as long as it is not altered in any way and it contains this final paragraph