Get Going Resources to Help you Become a Polished Speaker

by Sandra Schrift

Published on this site: February 25th, 2004

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. Invest in your success. Enroll in Speakers University teleclasses at www.speakersuniversity.com We keep the enrollment limited to 15 people. Three international experts give you solid content and electronic handouts.
   
   
5. Purchase a six-cassette audio program called How to Succeed in the Speaking Business at www.schrift.com/success_resources.htm
   
   "What a great set of tapes! Everything you need to know to take yourself to market as a speaker. I know I can speak well but the "How to Succeed in the Speaking Business" tape series helped me understand the intricacies of the industry in a very short amount of time. I don't even want to think about the opportunities I would be missing if I had tried to figure this all out on my own."
   Heather Bradley - Coach/Consultant
   
   
6. Just Released. 6 hours of streaming audio on How to Make it as a Professional Speaker. (Includes handouts and a 20-minute coaching session with Sandra). Four National Experts: Judy Cullins, Sheryl Roush, Sandra Schrift, and Chris Witt teach you how to be a highly paid speaker. Order today and download all 6 hours to your computer so you can listen at your convenience.
   http://www.schrift.com/success_resources.htm
   
   
7. 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.
   
   
8. 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.
   
   
9. 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.
   
   
10. . 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.

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 MAKE IT AS A PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER, go to http://www.schrift.com/success_resources.htm
Join my free bi-weekly Monday Morning Mindfulness ezine http://www.schrift.com/monday.htm.