Do you have a passion for what you speak on? Are you persistent in pursuing your speaking goals? Here are some steps to take to get you to the economic buyers who will hire you. 1. Join toastmasters-an international club that helps people speak more effectively. Club members usually meet weekly in groups of 20 or less: http://www.toastmasters.org 2. Enhance your speaking career by networking with 50 or more other speakers. They become your referral sources. Join the Nation Speakers Association, a 4,000 member organization that holds conferences and has local chapters to help you with your marketing skills and networking. www.nsaspeaker.org 3. Prepare yourself by collecting material 24/7/365. Carry around a mini-cassette recorder as you would your cell phone. Record your personal stories, your mishaps, your triumphs and struggles. Your stories will transform peoples lives. 4. Become familiar with groups that hire speakers. The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) is the worlds largest society of executive planners, who, collectively, book some $56 billion in conventions each year. The 16,300 members of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) coordinate 800,000 meetings annually and book many professional speakers. 5. Hire a speech coach. The Olympic Games remind us that a world-class athlete is surrounded by a number of people whose function is to keep him or her on track. No serious athlete or professional speaker would expect to progress very far without a coach. 6. Create a list of advocates who will know what you offer and pass you on to prospective clients. Contact this group at least once a month with updates about your speaking career progress. Make them your cheerleaders! It is way too hard to do this alone. 7. Finally, feel reverence for the work you do. It is a privilege to be on the platform. And with this comes an awesome responsibility to your audience. Live/speak from the inside out. Publishing Guidelines: You are welcome to publish this article in its entirety, electronically, or in print free of charge, as long as you include my full signature file for ezines, and my Web site address ( http://www.schrift.com ) in hyperlink for other sites. Please send a courtesy link or email where you publish to sandra@schrift.com Thank you. COPYRIGHT: 2006 by Sandra Schrift. All rights reserved |
