Careers in Public Speaking

One tip I want to pass on to anyone considering a motivational speaking career is this-Take Risks.Taking risks ensures originality.  Taking risks also ensures some fear.  The following poem stirs me to take risks.  It encourages me to play my own symphony in the performance hall of life.

Risk
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk exposing our true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before the crowd is to risk loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try at all is to risk failure.
But to risk we must!
Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing—
The man and woman who risks nothing,  has nothing, does nothing,  is nothing. Author-Unknown

When I was first hired by AchieveGlobal, they flew me to Las Vegas for a five day certification program. The first three days were instructional.  The last two were spent actually doing a couple of forty-minute public speaking jobs in front of the leader and the group. While preparing for my Thursday presentation on Wednesday night, instead of simply doing my assignment, I risked it.

Wanting to impress everyone with my creativity, I went way out of bounds and came up with some wild exercises that I hoped would dazzle them all.  The next day, during my public speaking opportunity, I proudly unveiled my elaborate, intricate, complex exercise to the group!  Knighthood would not be far away!  And…It bombed! I’ll spare you the details (and spare myself the painful memories of dazed expressions, empty stares, and total silence)……It bombed! Never in my life had I been so humiliated.  Never had my ego been so blistered.  My boss, Kelli Lynn, quickly called for a break.  During that break, alone with Kelli Lynn, I did something I hadn’t done in years… I cried…just sat there…and cried. Turning to my manager, I began mumbling. “I blew it.  I was trying something new, and it bombed.  You’re probably regretting ever hiring me…” She interrupted my confession by handing me a brightly colored paper.  On it, written in bold neon letters were the words: Keep  on Taking Risks in your motivational speaking career!!! ]]> http://www.presentationfire.com/careers-in-public-speaking/feed 2 http://www.presentationfire.com/speaking-careers http://www.presentationfire.com/speaking-careers#comments Sat, 06 Dec 2008 02:09:02 +0000 Motivational Speaking Team http://presentationfire.com/?p=39 With the dismal job reports and the decline in our economy many U.S. employees are looking at alternatives. Some are considering a motivational speaking career in the public speaking industry.

Some have attended keynote speeches and thought to themselves “if that speaker can have a motivational speaking career…then I can do that too”. Well don’t underestimate the time and energy it takes to prepare a keynote speech. Learn from Winston Churchill. One day, while Prime Minister Churchill was splashing in his bathtub, his valet overheard him loudly talking. Believing he needed assistance, the valet entered andinquired, “Did you call, Sir?” “No,” Churchill replied. “I was just giving a speech to The House of Commons.”

At the small risk of leaving myself open to a charge of splitting hairs rather than implanting new growths, I’ve decided to separate speaking practice out from underneath the umbrella of speaking preparation. Practicing, or rehearsing, stands alone in effectively extinguishing fear. That said, let’s explore the value of vigorous rehearsal. You’d never have caught Sir Winston standing before Parliament and winging it.  In fact, according to James vanFleet, in his book, Hidden Power, Churchill never made a speech of major importance without first rehearsing his speaking in front of a mirror.  Imagine the man voted to have one of the greatest careers in public speaking but not be willing to rehearse?