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Author:
Sandra Schrift

Do you have a passion for what you speak on? Are you persistent in pursuing your speaking goals? Here are some steps to take to get you to the economic buyers who will hire you.

1. Join toastmasters-an international club that helps people speak more effectively. Club members usually meet weekly in groups of 20 or less: http://www.toastmasters.org

2. Enhance your speaking career by networking with 50 or more other speakers. They become your referral sources. Join the Nation Speakers Association, a 4,000 member organization that holds conferences and has local chapters to help you with your marketing skills and networking. www.nsaspeaker.org

3. Prepare yourself by collecting material 24/7/365. Carry around a mini-cassette recorder as you would your cell phone. Record your personal stories, your mishaps, your triumphs and struggles. Your stories will transform people’s lives.

4. Become familiar with groups that hire speakers. The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) is the worlds largest society of executive planners, who, collectively, book some $56 billion in conventions each year. The 16,300 members of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) coordinate 800,000 meetings annually and book many professional speakers.

5. Hire a speech coach. The Olympic Games remind us that a world-class athlete is surrounded by a number of people whose function is to keep him or her on track. No serious athlete or professional speaker would expect to progress very far without a coach.

6. Create a list of “advocates” who will know what you offer and pass you on to prospective clients. Contact this group at least once a month with updates about your speaking career progress. Make them your cheerleaders! It is way too hard to do this alone.

7. Finally, feel reverence for the work you do. It is a privilege to be on the platform. And with this comes an awesome responsibility to your audience. Live/speak from the inside out.

Publishing Guidelines: You are welcome to publish this article in its entirety, electronically, or in print free of charge, as long as you include my full signature file for ezines, and my Web site address ( http://www.schrift.com ) in hyperlink for other sites. Please send a courtesy link or email where you publish to sandra@schrift.com Thank you.

COPYRIGHT: ©2006 by Sandra Schrift. All rights reserved

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.

Buy the audio CD (available as an MP3 download). "POWER PRESENTATIONS FOR PROFESSIONALS" at http://www.schrift.com/Power_Presentations_for_Professionals/

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| Article Keywords: Professional Speaker

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... 13 Publicity Tips for Professional Speakers In a funk because other speakers seem to be snagging all the media attention? It’s time to start claiming your share. Here are a baker’s dozen of tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed. 1. Every time you speak before a group, offer to submit a short summary of your presentation for the group’s newsletter. Don’t forget to send your photo. It gets you in front of those you just spoke to as well as those who missed you the first time around. Many groups also send their newsletters to the media. Be sure the last paragraph tells people what you do and how to get in touch with you. 2. Call the advertising department of every newspaper and magazine you want to get into and ask for a copy of their editorial calendar. It’s a free listing of all the special topics and special sections coming up during the calendar year. It will tip you off to sections where your story idea would be a good fit, so you can query the editor weeks and even months ahead. 3. Call a reporter from your local newspaper and invite her to lunch or coffee. Offer yourself as a resource and Ask "How can I help you?" Feed her tips and story ideas. Become such a valuable source that she keeps coming back to you for more information and eventually writes about you. 4. Consider starting your own television show on your cable TV station’s community access channel. The station will provide the camera equipment for a $20 fee, and you can produce either one show or an entire series of programs. Air time is free. Call your cable company for details. 5. Build a network of other speakers who concentrate on your topic or area of expertise. Agree informally that you will refer reporters to each other whenever the media calls. Often, reporters want more than one source for a...