Fear of public speaking is often rated as #1 fear, ranking higher than “fear of death.” Some agree – or let’s say most people agree – which creates this whole aura of being somethin’ special if you have the courage to stand up in front of a crowd and speak.
Let’s face it, there are hundreds of thousands of us out there who love to speak in public. Toastmasters International members alone are more than 100,000 and many of them are great speakers, then there are all the speakers who volunteer their services for worthy causes… and many speakers who speak whenever they can, even though they might have nothing to say… and, let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of speakers who do this for a living: workshop presenters, keynote speakers, seminar leaders, info-preneurs who sell from the stage…
If you are terrified of public speaking, but have a desire to share some life-changing information with others; or perhaps you have a hobby that you think would be of interest of others; or you are passionate about something and you’d like to share you passion with others; public speaking is the best venue… better than writing a book (though, you should consider that too: public speaking + publishing a book on the topic of your speaking = more success).
Companies spend billions of dollars on speakers on a variety of topics:
- team-building
- stress management
- dealing with difficult people
- improving performance
- improving managers’ performance
- improving team effectiveness
- coaching skills training
- conflict management
- and a myriad of other topics…
If you do a search on “speaker,” “keynote speaker,” or other related keywords, you’ll get tens of thousands o hits…
Do you have a topic that you think might sell?
Of course, the corporate market is only one of the markets. There are associations out there and other groups who pay speakers; and then, of course, there is the “public seminar” or workshop…
Maybe you have developed some parenting techniques that other parents would benefit from; or you lost weight in a super-effective way; or you know how businesses can benefit from using social media… you might have any numbers of topics that you could speak on…
All you need now is a room, an audience, and some promotion…
Hotels usually have inexpensive meeting rooms; or you can try to use one of your community rooms (perhaps at no cost). Room is always available – the question is always “can I find a free one, or do I want to pay for a fancier one to project more professionalism?”
Now hold your horses!!!
Just by having a good topic and a room, is not really enough… and maybe for some it is enough….
You must plan your workshop carefully:
- how long will your presentation be?
- what time of the day should I do the presentation?
- what will I wear?
- what points will you cover? (being careful not to try to dump everything on your audience in a short time — it is always a good idea to cover 3 to 10 great points, and then leave them wanting more… and that’s when you can sell your book, booklet, coaching service, audio CD, DVD, or whatever you might have that your audience would need as a result of your presentation)
- will you develop a great introduction – let’s say, opening with a story that smoothes into your topic? Or do you just say “Hi, I’m Joe Blow and I’ll talk to you today about how to grow tulips” (none of them is really wrong – but a great intro and great closing is what separates great speakers from mediocre speakers — well… ok, and a great content will make a difference too; but it is the opening that will either grab the audience or will make them feel like “ok, here comes another boring speech”)
- will you use PowerPoint?
- will you have handouts? (I believe in handouts – it forces you to organize your subject into points that are easy to follow, and it leaves the audience with something that they can take home.. hopefully with your website address on it + a call to subscribe to an offer that you have on your website
- will you interact with the audience, or will you speak throughout the whole time you are together (I found that audiences love interaction – they love group activities, or anything that makes them feel part of the experience… often just sitting and listening -even to the most exciting topic – can get tiring for many people)
Once you considered the above few points, you are ready to get it crankin’…
Fact is, public speaking, in workshop format or training format can be super fulfilling – both emotionally and financially (and so is keynote speaking for some, but for me that’s a bit nerv-wracking; though once I put it together I do enjoy delivering it). It is great to feel that you helped people in meaningful ways, and it is great to count the money at the end of the day. Just think about it, if you have 30 attendees at $97, that’s close to $3,000 for a few hours of work (of course, you put hours of work into preparing for it, and you have your expenses for the rental, handout printouts, and perhaps you invested in some equipment; but once you have a program you can deliver it over and over again, often to organizations where your only expense is your gas to get to the airport).
So what do you think? Are you ready to make some $$$s through your public speaking skills?
If you don’t have a topic, or you are impatient and want to get started right away, there are many providers who sell ready-to-go workshops, complete with:
- ice-breakers,
- great intros and closings,
- great interactive activities,
- professional looking and customizable PowerPoint slides
- professionally designed handouts (that can be made into training booklets),
- and best of all, great content
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