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I am frequently asked by students how someone becomes a professional speaker. Like anything, it's a career that evolves for most people – it certainly did for me – and it's like building a very complex small business. There are 1,000 steps, but here are the first 12 for the aspiring speakers out there.
1. Decide what you can talk passionately about, night after night. It's not enough to decide you can be a speaker. You have to figure out exactly what you want to speak about. Sexual assault prevention? Alcohol and drugs? The dangers of driving without wearing seatbelts? The history of potato chips? Whatever you choose, you're going to spend a ton of time with it. You're going to have to read about it, attend conferences about it, and develop some unique angles that allow you to convey a unique perspective about it. Wanting to help people is not enough. Knowing what issue you want them to care about, or what skill you want to teach them, is critical. Also, you're going to have to commit to one thing. Suze Orman, for example, is one of the nation's most successful speakers on Personal Finance. That doesn't mean people will pay her next week to speak on Drug Prevention. Successful speakers are typically known for one thing and one thing only, but they absolutely rock on that issue.
2. If you want to get paid eventually to speak, you have to choose something with broad appeal and then develop a special approach to communicating about it. It's wonderful to talk about "racism in turn-of-the-century Ohio," for example, but not many people are going to pay for that. Talking about racism in generic and broad terms is much more marketable. Talking about racism in corporate America and having a special and cool angle that gets every company in the Fortune 500 calling you is what makes you rich and famous.
3. Figure out to whom you want to speak. Do you want to speak to college students like the folks at CAMPUSPEAK? Do you want to speak to high school students, church groups, women in the tourism industry, veterans, or wheat farmers? Figure out who your target audience is going to be. You can't talk to high school students the same way you do to college students, for instance. You are going to have to structure your program within a context that makes sense for your particular audience.
4. Ask yourself these three critical questions: What will the audience walk away with after listening to me? What will they understand more clearly? What will they be inspired to do differently? These are your guideposts.
5. If you have some personal tragedy or memorable experience that is your primary motivation to speak, you better figure out what the other 80-percent of your program is going to be. No one wants to pay you to share your story if you can't make it apply to your audiences' experience and needs. If you're just dying to share your story to anyone who will listen, then honestly, you need therapy, not a speaking career.
6. Design two talks. The first one is 20 minutes long, and it needs to be quick to the point, funny, engaging, and should include one clever twist or activity. This is your keynote program. This is the one you will use for small meetings, community groups, and to give people a taste of what you can do. This is the first thing you will road test. The second program is your hour-long program. This goes more in depth, and it's the one people will eventually pay you for. It should include at least three interactive elements, maybe some audio visual element like a video or a series of illustrations. This one takes a long time to develop, so be patient.
7. Avoid PowerPoint. If you can't engage an audience without it, you're not going to be successful as a speaker. Too many people who want to be speakers think Step One is to put together a PowerPoint, and it's not. Study other speakers – how do they break up a program into parts?
8. Watch a lot of stand-up comedy. Don't focus on the jokes. Intensely study their timing and their use of pauses. Watch how they use their eyes and facial expressions. I did stand-up for a short time, and that experience gave me the confidence that propels me every night when I get up on a stage to speak to students on a campus.
9. Work your network and ask to do your program for free at upcoming meetings. Give the damn thing away for a while and see how people respond. Don't expect big adoring crowds. Ask for criticism and suggestions. If people like it, ask for quotes and letters of recommendation. If you're in higher ed, then call friends at other schools and ask if you can come do 20 minutes at an upcoming council meeting. If you want to focus on community members, call the local Rotary Club. Look for conferences where you can present, also. This sometimes costs you money because few conferences will pay you (even expenses) to come speak if they don't know you.
10. Continue to try new things. Do the program a little differently every time and see what works and what doesn't.
11. Pay for a professional portrait that matches the audience you are trying to reach. If you want to hit colleges, you need casual, friendly shots. If you want corporate, you have to look corporate. Doing grade schools? Look trustworthy and parental.
12. Write up a 200 word description of your program. You'll need to provide this to people over and over and over. So, if you're not a good writer, have someone help you. The text should be interesting, should paint you in an interesting light, and convince the reader that the issue you talk about is a critical one for them to address.
These are the first steps to becoming a paid speaker. There are many, many more that follow, obviously. There are lots of folks who think they could become successful speakers, but frankly, very few people put the work in that it takes to really do it. That's why those of us who do it well get rewarded.
