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Author:
Ross Bainbridge

What separates a professional motivational speaker from an ordinary guy? Mostly it's just studying the basics and practicing the established techniques of an established, successful professional motivational speaker. Unless you are that one in a million type of person who can just wing it on stage and hold a large audience of people captive with the strength of your personality and the power of your voice, you must learn the basics before you begin to speak publicly. These naturals exist, that but they are few and far between and, truth be told, they've practiced and rehearsed even that seemingly relaxed, improvisational style. Most people take the time to learn the basics. Here are some to start with:

Audience awareness Many beginners are so concerned with their appearance and the way they come off that they pay absolutely no attention to who they are talking to. The better you know your audience the better chances you have of being accepted by them

Content You can be charming and have the voice of an angel, but after a few minutes, if you don't start speaking about something the audience wants to hear, you'll be ignored until you stop.

Test your equipment Fiddling with microphones, slide presentations and such is the true sign of a nervous amateur and someone who will not be listened to.

Preparation Stumbling over your speech and being unfamiliar with your subject material is a sure way to be ignored.

Be humorous Unless you are a stand up comedian brought in to relax the audience you want to use some humor in your speaking but not so much as to detract from your message.

Be approachable Getting in and out of an event fast is a good way to be forgotten. Take the time to meet people, and talk with them. That way they'll pay more attention to you when you speak and they'll remember you when you're done.

There are so many things you have to learn to become a professional motivational speaker. You have to look right, sound right, act right and say the right things to be accepted as someone worthy of being listened to. It takes time and hard work studying and practicing the lessons of an established professional motivational speaker before you can be accepted on your own. When that happens, then you can formulate your own teaching program and instruct others how to duplicate your own success.

About the author:

Motivational Speakers Info provides detailed information about youth, professional, and Christian motivational speakers, as well as advice on how to become a motivational speaker. Motivational Speakers Info is affiliated with Business Plans by Growthink.

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A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Professional Speaker... Anybody Can Be a Speaker! Anybody Can Be a Speaker! In my work, I often hear this refrain: "I'm a fine communicator one-on-one, but put me in front of a group and I just die!" There seems to be a mystique about the ability to be an effective presenter...a mystique that many professional speakers would like to maintain. Yet the truth is that everyone has the innate gifts to present effectively in public. True, few may possess the flamboyance of the professional motivational speaker. But I question the value of many of these presentation skills. They can be mechanistically learned and may mask the speaker's own uniqueness. The Best Tool of All: You Envision for an instant the most compelling speaker you have witnessed. Chances are you felt he or she was 100% authentic, no matter what speaking "style" s/he possessed. This willingness to fully be ourselves in front of a group is both the risk and the gift of truly wonderful speakers. I work with many individuals who never thought of themselves as speakers--whose personalities are naturally introspective or reflective, the opposite of what is popularly thought of as "speaker material." Yet when these presenters "unpeel" their previous expectations about what a speaker should be or do, they often become the most moving and impressive I have seen. Three Essential Tips 1. Connect. It's important to remember that speaking publicly is, to use Lee Glickenstein's phrase, a relationship event, NOT a performance event. Your audience remembers what you say because you connect with them, not because you are the smartest or most charismatic person in the world. 2. Don't speak "to," speak "with." Think of the event as a dialogue or conversation. Look directly at people and share your knowledge with them....