How to Be Great at Public Speaking and Get Paid For It
Conventions, conferences, meetings, and cruises are a booming
business these days. Event planners are making lots of money,
and they need you to help them fill empty speaker slots. It's
your job to figure out how you can appropriately fit into these
schedules.
Check out organizations such as the Cruise Lines International
Association, the International Association of Convention &
Visitors Bureaus, and Meeting Planners International, which will
probably also have a local chapter in your area.
Do some research to find out what kinds of topics are being
discussed on the circuit. How can you create a topic that is new
enough to set you apart, but not so new that you won't fit in?
If you're having difficulty deciding on the right topic for you,
try to do a survey of your target market to determine what they
most want to learn. Create a questionnaire to discover their
needs, and then find a way to fill those needs.
Become an Expert
Once you have determined your topic, you need to establish
yourself as an expert. There are several ways to do this. You
can write articles and offer them for free to appropriate
publications. You can self-publish a book or put an e-book on
CD, which you can then include with your press kit and sell
after your speeches.
Whenever you do make a booking, submit a press release to
appropriate media outlets announcing your speech. You can use an
online service for this, or you can target specific
publications, radio and television stations. If you give radio
and television outlets a tag line for their commercials that
will make their listeners tune in, you have a much better chance
of getting on the air.
Every time you make a booking, ask the client for referrals!
Tailor Your Topic to Your Audience
When you get a booking, make sure your material is tailored to
your audience. Find out about the people who will be listening
to you. Have they chosen to be there, or are they required to be
there? What are their ages? What positions do their hold? What
do they most need to learn?
Most importantly, how much do they already know about your
subject? While you don't want to talk over their heads, you also
don't want to bore your audience with information that is common
knowledge to them.
Public Speaking Tips
Practice your speech aloud, and time it. Have extra information
to impart if you find yourself with more time than you
anticipated, and know what you can leave out if you run out of
time. Running out of time is much more likely, and you will need
to be able to cut from the center in order to end your speech
appropriately. You don't want to end in the middle and have your
ending fizzle.
Always have someone else introduce you, and always write your
own introduction. This way, the most important information about
you will be imparted to the audience, and it won't sound like
you're singing your own praises. You will sound impressive, and
the audience will immediately be excited about hearing what you
have to say.
Don't try to be funny unless you know for sure that you're
funny. Remember how Johnny Carson always had something
self-deprecating to say after a joke went flat? His joke about
his bad joke was usually funnier than the original joke. If
you're going to try jokes, borrow Johnny's tactic. This will
help you to save face and keep you from getting flustered if no
one laughs.
Avoid slides with too many words. Your audience will read each
slide before you finish describing it, and this will just make
them feel they've jumped ahead of you.
Whatever topic you choose, expand your expertise even further by
reading and researching your topic. Learn everything you can. It
will not only improve your speech, it will increase your
confidence and ignite your passion even further.
If you follow these guidelines, before you know it, you will be
a great public speaker who is also a professional speaker.