If you have recently read Career Journal.com you may have seen an article about professional speaker
Keith Harrell. Keith is truly a successful motivational speaker which
is documented quite well in this article. Career Journal's article
title was Successful Motivational Speaker so I thought it might be
appropriate to link to from this web site.
http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/success/19990315-pollock.html
Happy reading, Justin
justindri@gmail.com
The first question every speaker seems to have about bureaus is: "How can I get a bureau to represent me?" All seasoned speakers will give you the same pat answer... "When you need them, they don't want you and when you don't need them, then they want you!" Typically, this is true but you as a speaker can get a bureau to notice you sooner if you are very good at what you do, are a team player and respect a bureau for the work they do. I will always love working with bureaus. Let’s face it...they do a lot of the work that we would usually have to do and they lead us to new clients.
Still, it is foolish for any speaker to rely solely on a bureau to keep them busy. A bureau works with many speakers and cannot be expected to focus on your calendar. Of course, as always, your calendar will reflect your quality as a professional speaker.
If you get an engagement from a bureau, remember that you are working for that bureau. That is, the bureau is your client and the actual client is that of the bureau’s. When you realize this, you recognize that your work reflects on the quality of the bureau, not just you! Thank the client for choosing to work with such a high-quality bureau. I also often send a gift to my bureau to say thanks. Bill Sanders taught me that bureaus are looking for speakers who are ready to be part of a team.
When you prepare your promotional materials, remember that the bureau will not use it if you have your address and phone number all over it. Often bureaus recommend that you put your address and phone in one place where they can put their businesscard-size sticker over your numbers with their own. I recently printed several promotional pieces with a blank for their numbers -- this is going the extra mile and is appreciated.
Another aspect of being part of the "team" is giving the bureau leads. Sometimes clients contact me for a date that I cannot speak on or a subject that I do not speak on. If I know of no other NSA members who speak on that topic, I will offer the client the bureau’s number. This impresses both the bureau and the client.
There are four ways that my bureaus found me. First, I called them. I found a bureau that I wanted to work with and I simply called and asked if they would look at my promotional material. This bureau asked for any and all tapes that I had and became my first bureau contact. Secondly, one bureau saw my ad in our state directory when we sent her a copy to promote PSAM membership. She liked the ad and asked for my material. Another saw my national ad and similarly asked for my material. Thirdly, another speaker friend that I met at the national convention (Eric Chester of Colorado), recommended me to a bureau and they called me. Finally, and probably the best way, was when one bureau happened to be in the audience where I spoke and enjoyed the presentation enough to ask for my materials.
There are several types of bureaus. Some charge a fee to list you, some add their fee on top of yours and some take a percentage of your fee as theirs. I only work with the latter who take a percentage of my fee. This percentage is usually 25% of my fee. When you realize just how much work the bureaus do for your engagement, it is more than worth it.
Working with bureaus has helped me to remain consistent with my fees. Occasionally, clients will call a bureau, get a name, and then call the speaker. Since a good bureau will never negotiate your fee, it is important that you remain consistent with your fees when a potential client calls personally to negotiate. Once I almost discounted my fee for a client when a bureau called me with the same client. When I realized what was happening, I recognized that I almost put a valued bureau relationship in jeopardy. So, if you choose to work with bureaus, you need to be consistent with your fees.
Some speakers seem to be uncomfortable with bureaus. Certainly, there are good and bad bureaus just like there are good and bad speakers. But for me, bureaus are an advantage that I appreciate.
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By: Michael Scott Karpovich
E-Mail: michael@karpovich.com
Phone 1-800-648-3367
Home Page: http://www.karpovich.com
How attractive are you as a speaker? No, your looks, but your consistent ability to provide a quality presentation, attract clients, and be irresistibly attractive to meeting planners and speaker bureaus? Below are some useful tips that I learned while owning a national, professional speakers bureau for 13 years.
1. Presentation – do you have something interesting, inspiring, and useful to share with audiences? Be mindful of your voice (keep it deep and low pitched), your personality and attitude (positive), your tone (soft, loud. Encouraging as needed), your style, your vocabulary.
2. Connection – how quickly do you get to the core of your audience’s problems and challenges? Skip what is between their ears and go straight to their hearts.
3. Passion – do you love what you do? Develop a niche or specialty that you truly enjoy … and are good at.
4. Network – enhance your speaking career by networking with 50 or more other speakers. They become your referral sources. Join the National Speakers Association – a 4,000 member organization that holds conferences and has local chapters to help you with your marketing skills and networking. Call 480-968-2552 (Arizona)
5. Products – write a book, booklet(s), create audio tapes, video tapes, CD/ROM. Having products will catapult your speaking career and make you more valuable to your clients. This “passive” income is like having frosting on the cake.
6. Value added – become known as a value added speaker. Provide handouts, attend the cocktail reception before your program, stay after your speech, offer follow-up teleclasses, offer your consulting services, be a facilitator.
7. Hire a Coach – The Olympic Games remind us that a world-class athlete is surrounded by a number of people whose function is to keep him/her on track. No serious athlete or professional speaker would expect to progress very far without a COACH.
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Sandra Schrift 13 year speaker bureau owner and now career coach to emerging and veteran public speakers who want to "grow" a profitable speaking business. I also work with business professionals and organizations who want to master their presentations. To find out How to Become a Highly Paid Professional Speaker, go to http://www.schrift.com/ProfessionalSpeaker/ Do you have a question about your speaking skills or presentations? I will answer your top question at: "Ask Coach Sandra" http://www.schrift.com/ask/ Join my free bi-weekly Monday Morning Mindfulness ezine http://www.schrift.com/monday.htm
Scott Ginsberg was a guest on my podcast back in February but he continues to produce great resources. Check out his latest article on approachability. If you are in business you must read this article. His web site is loaded with more great articles like this.
http://hellomynameisscott.com/articles.aspx?arGUID=a56fd996-c51b-4ab9-926b-ee2b57010168
If you've ever
held an audience spellbound you know it is a true form of power. You
may not desire to make your living yakking, but you know it would only
do you great if you could dazzle when you present at the next meeting
or pitch your next big idea. Having earned my money for four years now
based on my ability to grab the mic and yammer well for an hour or so,
I offer nine bits of advice: * Be enthusiastic or stay home * Force people to sit close together * Open with a bang * Tell stories * Reach out and talk to someone * Make it fresh * Work work work on your script * Change your speech some the night before * Remember, we all sucked at first
If you're going to give a talk bring your enthusiasm. If you haven't got enthusiasm for your topic get some or call in sick.
Audience
members like to spread out but you've got to corral them into a crowd.
I bring tape and I block off the seats in the back and the seats on the
side. Let people spread and the audience feels dead. Force them in
tight and everyone feels right.
Don't
waste the all-important first 30 seconds with a courtesy remark i.e.
"It's so nice to be here. Thank you for coming. How are you today? Blah
blah blah." Say or do something Unexpected: Force people to say "Wow!"
And if I hear another person open with a joke that ain't that funny or
isn't related to their talk I just might hurl.
People
remember stories. If you're speaking it's because you've been there -
you've had the experience, and people want to hear about it straight
from the horses mouth. The formula for success: A few superb concepts
and many great stories. Caution: Unless you're a true performer, keep
your stories short (less than 3 minutes). Anything longer than that and
you'll probably be telling stories of the bedtime sort... zzzzzzzzzzzz.
If
you're the speaker and you've got an audience then for heaven's sake,
talk to your audience. I'm not saying talk at them. I'm saying talk TO
them. Pick a happy face and ask them a question or use them in an
example. Bring them on stage. Throw them candy. Anything. Just make
sure you break the barrier between them and you.
Incorporate
something - anything - from the same day into your talk. The instant
you speak a word about a just-happened-event your audience thinks
you're alert, smart and spontaneous. I make a point to read a magazine
or newspaper hours before my talk because I usually find something that
works well enough for me to honestly say "I just read in the paper that
..." And if I don't find it in the papers I strike up a conversation
with a stranger (often someone who's come to see me speak) and I let
them tell me something about my topic.
In
my humble estimation 90% of the reason that speakers are often
not-so-good is because they didn't work hard enough on their script.
They didn't read additional books to bolster what they know or they
didn't research additional facts to strengthen what they're saying. And
one draft is not enough. Neither is two. Rule of thumb: For every five
minutes you're going to talk, work three hours on your script. Sixty
minute talk = 36 hours of scripting. I know - I know - Your style is
off the cuff: Every not-so-powerful speaker's style is off the cuff.
If
you're writing your speech the night before you've already let your
audience down. But if you're revising your already ready-to-go talk
you're doing exactly what it takes to make your presentation sizzle. My
best ideas often hit me the night before, just when I'd like to be
hitting the sack early for a good night's sleep. But I stay up an extra
couple of hours and incorporate the after-midnight inspirations.
Experience has taught me that are usually responsible for the WOW
factor in my talk (not to mention the fact that last minute changes
ensure that I'll be nervous enough to sparkle.)
I
cringe while watching videos of myself during my first year of talking.
I don't like my second year videos for that matter. But the simple
truth is that if you work hard and stick to it you'll become a speaker
that dazzles.
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Written by Patrick Combs
www.goodthink.com
