#2- Decide what market and audience your message and expertise would fit best. If you had 30 minutes to speak on your best content and strategies what would your message be and who would your ideal audience be? Corporate full day training? Company executives? College students? World class athletes?

#3- Get competent help with your marketing.  Like any business, in your speaking career you have to market yourself and your small company which is YOU. The interesting thing about a career in speaking is that your product is you, your credibility and your message. If you have the world’s most important keynote speech but no one can find you then your message will not be heard, and you will not get paid. And then you will be out of the speaking business. It’s not enough to have a great message. Hire an expert who knows the speaking industry and how to get you maximum exposure with with the search engine and social media. Click here for my recommended Rock Star marketing specialist.

#4 Invest in your self by getting speaker training .

The best investment I ever made in getting my speaking career going was getting training from individuals or organizations who knew how to craft a keynote speech and all the delivery techniques. And then I invested thousands of hours in rehearsing in front of a microphone, a video camera and small no-fee audiences until my message was great! Click here for my speaker training course.

How much do great motivational speakers get paid?

Speaking fees paid to professional keynote speakers, whether motivational or not, vary based on the speaker’s skills, star power, and experience. Speaking fees for trained professional speakers range from $2,500 $35,000 per speech. Of course celebrities often demand fees from $50,000-$100,000. They are not always the most talented speakers on the stage but brand recognition can bring the crowds so they can demand higher speaking fees.

Let me offer you one self evaluation that will help you qualify yourself for the public speaking industry. The great English poet and artist William Blake said it best when he described the energy he felt as a writer: “Sparks emit from my fingertips, in anticipation of my day’s vocation.” That is it! Step one in making a decision to go after a public speaking job is passion. It’s as if you have a burning desire to become speaker. Do you remember the 60′s rock singer Janis Joplin? She not my favorite but one thing I do admire about Janis Joplin is — she had passion.  Her passion comes through in her songs. And when I listen to her stirring music, I hear someone who has set her soul on fire. There are many times when I am contemplating making a statement to an audience that may be a bit risky, and I glance down and see Janis’s picture in my notebook, and she literally encourages me, saying: Say it, man.  Go for it! Speak like it’s the last time you’re going to speak.  It may be the hundredth time you’ve said these things, but it’s the first time they’ve heard it.  So, go for it!

Janis= Passion. Passion,” contends Richard Chang, “is not a privilege of the fortunate few, it is a right and a power that we all possess.” Passion, then, is neither a gift nor a talent.  It is a choice, a decision. In my training course for speakers I help you identify your “Passion Point” in your presentations. Every great keynote speech must have one.  Practice and rehearse with the great passion and it will generate within you. Make it something you believe in, and you’ll be on fire every time and keep your audiences enthralled.

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/motivational-speaker-training http://www.presentationfire.com/motivational-speaker-training#comments Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:00:15 +0000 Motivational Speaking Team http://presentationfire.com/?p=142 Motivational Speaker Training–> Here

In just about any profession it does not hurt you to have the reputation of being eager to learn and continue getting more education.  Motivational Speakers are no different.

We need to always be learning and improving our motivational speaking skills. Did you ever think about learning from others as a blessing? As a Motivational Speaker the benefit is how this activity affects so many parts of your business especially relationships in speaking. Our clients enjoy sharing their thoughts, their knowledge, and their stories.

Get the Best Speaker Training–> Here

I always think about Tiger Woods as a great learner and easy to teach. He’s watched all the great golfers and tried to pick one thing they did best and go and learn that. Tiger has hired golf swing coaches to help him continue improving his game and stay the number one player.
Think about it do you remember that person who always had to share how smart they are? Do you recall that person who always corrected others about their facts? The one with whom it was pointless to disagree? I used the words “remember” and “recall” because odds are these are friend and acquaintances of the past. Actually, no one enjoys being around a know-it-all for very long. In contrast, imagine someone who is interested in your thoughts and views. Isn’t it great when someone asks you to explain further your comments, and responds:“That’s a good point!”
“I have never considered that.” “That is very interesting. Please tell me some more about that.”
Learning from others is about much more than just getting more knowledge. It involves having the humility to put aside our “mental fact sheets” and to open that space for others’ ideas. Learning is about honoring others who share new or different viewpoints.

Motivational Speaker’s Enemy

I have discovered that our biggest enemy in this area is my ego. Sometimes our pride doesn’t want to learn. It wants to be recognized and be the teacher! It wants to share with others how much it knows. My ego wants to correct others to set them on the right path. When someone disagrees with or questions my point of view, I’m quick to get defensive. Do you Learn from your friends and colleagues? Learn From Everyone you encounter and view them as superior in some way.

Come to My Motivational Speaker Training course and you’ll learn to transform your speaking career.

“Every man I meet is my superior in some way;
in that I learn from him.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Some of the pictures from our “How to Become a Motivational Speaker Workshop” last year. This was a great event. We’ll be announcing our How to Become a Motivational Speaker Workshop for 2009 very soon on our website. Continue to check back as we are working diligently on this for you. This was a great success and many attendees are now enjoying great speaking careers in all different fields. The recession actually creates more speaking jobs than you might expect. Companies need more help with training and motivating their employees.