Avoid This Costly Mistake – If You Want to Be Paid For Speaking

Are You Speaking For The Right Reasons?

Have you ever received bad advice about speaking?

My prospective client Mr. Stevens did. He wants to become a paid speaker. A speech coach told him, “You should find a hot topic, one that people are paying good money for. Build your business around that.”

This is bad advice.

Why?

Doesn’t it make sense to speak on a topic that others will pay for?

Yes. But, with one condition. To create long-term success in speaking, you have to be an expert on your topic. Organizations today want presenters who can do a deep dive into their topic.

To sustain yourself through the ups-and-downs of the business, it helps if you enjoy your topic, too.

Speaking on the ‘subject-of-the-day’ isn’t an effective — or proven — long-term strategy. Fads come and go. Hot topics typically last a year or two, or even a few months.

If you follow this strategy, you’ll always be chasing new topics. And you can’t predict which ones people will pay for.

There’s a bigger problem with this approach. Speaking just to receive a paycheck is insincere. Audiences today are perceptive — they sense lack of authenticity. And you will not positively impact them.

This isn’t why you want to speak, is it?

How do you solve this dilemma?

A Proven Business Formula For Paid Speaking

Follow the advice of Alan Weiss, leading business consultant, author and speaker. These are four conditions he suggests when pursuing paid speaking engagements:

CONDITION #1: Understand the value you can bring to others

CONDITION #2: Research to determine who needs what you offer

CONDITION #3: Find those people

CONDITION #4: Discover if they can pay you

This is a simple formula, but it’s not easy to execute. It will take time, energy and persistence. But, it’s a proven process that has worked for many successful speakers who are well-paid.

As your speaking career evolves, be selective about the advice you follow. Consider the long-term implications of suggestions you receive. Well-meaning individuals can send you down a path that sets you back years. They may even ruin your opportunities for success in the speaking business.

Follow Alan Weiss’s four-step model and you will “stack the deck” in your favor. Meeting planners and organizations will seek you out. Your impact will resound long after you speak. And, you’ll enjoy speaking more than ever.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

‘Go Ahead and Laugh: A Serious Guide to Speaking With Humor’

What is the right type of humor to include in your speeches?

How do you include funny material without taking away from your message?

If you’re not a naturally funny person, how do you make people laugh in a speech?

In ‘Go Ahead and Laugh, A Serious Guide to Speaking with Humor,’ presentation expert Rich Hopkins breaks down 11 speeches and helps you understand how to uncover the humor that exists in your stories. After reading this one-of-a-kind book, you will know…

– The difference between humor and jokes [there is a HUGE difference]

– How to use your stories to make audiences laugh

– Techniques to deliver your funniest material with maximum effect

– Using humorous self-deprecation to increase your likability

…and much more!

Once you’ve learned how to create more laughter within your speeches, you’ll find that, your speeches improve and you’ll become a much more in-demand presenter. 

To order, visit:  https://speakingcpr.com/go-ahead-and-laugh/