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Every morning I wake up and pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. Being a public speaker and author is one of the greatest careers in the world. It’s a wonderful life. You get paid generous amounts of money to share your ideas and wisdom, travel to beautiful places, stay in fine hotels, meet interesting people and – when you get popular – you can afford to travel first-class all the time.
Does the thought of making a six or seven figure a year income appeal to you? It’s possible – many of us do it. Imagine you are at a vacation home, or a golf course, or a resort, enjoying the day with your family and friends. You receive a message from your agent at the speaker’s bureau to confirm your availability for a meeting at a four or five-star resort, in a very desirable destination, with a spa, golf, boating, fishing, horseback riding, great restaurants with world-class chefs, even amusement parks, oh – and you have to deliver a one hour speech for a company who wants to book you for big money to motivate, inspire and encourage their group. And it’s all expenses paid. Sweet!
When you listen and watch a keynote speaker delivering a keynote speech, What is more important to you, the style or the content? This is a question pondered by great people for thousands of years.
So what is the correct answer?
It depends what you like more – quality content in a keynote speech that inspires you to think and perhaps take notes, or a show that is entertaining and perhaps memorable. By now you may have said the best speech has good content and delivered with class and style.
So why doesn’t every speaker do that?
To often they are usually one or the other. The best can do both. So here is my question for you – if you are watching a public speaker, what is more important to you? And do you recognize it when a speaker has both style and content? Remember it is all about your expectations and and values. So what is important to you. Let me know.
Frank Candy
How many time a day do I ask this question in person at meetings, and on the phone with new prospects?
Is the marketplace ready for you?
Maybe you should be asking – AM I READY FOR THE MARKETPLACE?
The answer to both those questions is a complicated one, and worthy of much research and analysis.
Hey let’s analysis this for now.
Is your brand accurate, powerful, the right one for you? Is your marketing up to date with fresh copy? And do you have current video demos with a relevant message that reflects your brand?
Does your brand fit a niche in the marketplace that will have demand for you as a speaker, and pay for your message? (You may need an expert consultant in the speaking business to help answer this one.)
Are you uncomfortable selling yourself? Is it out of your comfort zone to be a self-promoting whore? How old were you when you discovered that every job, everywhere, largely consists of being a salesperson?
The art of promoting yourself (and it is an art) has several lessons to it.
1) Don’t promote yourself, promote your ideas. And make sure they work!
2) Be confident. If you aren’t inspired by your actions or ideas, no one else will be either.
3) Are they good ideas or wimpy ideas? Do your ideas support your brand? (This is where you need an expert, or advisory board who knows what they are doing, and will always tell you the truth!)
4) Will your ideas, brand, and platform be worthy of a viral buzz?
5) When your ideas and promotion takes off, is your foundation strong enough to handle it?
It’s likely that many people wake up daily and want to do something different with their career. Many people have jumped into the business of professional speaking, before looking, before hiring a coach, heck even before reading a book or several books on the subject.
So what is the answer to the question: Is the marketplace ready for you?
THE ANSWER LIES WITHIN YOU!
The author of this post and this web site is:
Captain Frank Candy
Chief Concierge and President
American Speakers Bureau Corporation
www.speakersbureau.com
10151 University Blvd. # 197
Orlando, FL 32817
407-826-4248
