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3 tips to build your speaking business

After wrapping up my first week of complimentary coaching calls, the most popular questions I received were all about how to build a speaking business, where to start, and how to grow it.

Now look, one size never fits all and one blog post can't nearly cover all the steps and strategies to build a speaking business ... BUT I'm going to give it a try. In fact, I'm going to break it down into 3 actionable steps.

Reading the steps is one thing ... knowing how to apply them is another. So keep that in mind as you read below. I'm here to help, so after reading, schedule your complimentary coaching call with me to explore how to really be getting some serious speaking gigs for yourself in 2020. Because what you do now through October will very likely determine the majority of your speaking gigs in 2020.

Tip #1: Develop a rockstar presentation.

Whether it's a 60-minute keynote, a workshop, or a full day training program, a speaker's presentation is their product, not them. And the speaker is the messenger of that product. I wish I better understood this when I first started speaking. Once I got rid of my speaker ego, my speaking business catapulted to new levels. (note: this is tough to finally recognize)

Furthermore, the product (i.e. presentation) must be crafted to help the audience (whether 10 people, 500 people or 5,000 people in the audience) solve a problem or complex series of problems they are facing in their industry, career and/or life. If it doesn't help them solve challenges they are facing, it won't be relevant and they will be checking their phone texts and emails within the first 10 minutes of the presentation. So you must recognize that a speaker is a problem solver, plain and simple. The speaker must also package the solutions to those problems in the presentation through actionable and relevant content that the audience can apply. If a speaker hasn't designed and outlined their presentation to help the audience solve problems they are facing, it will be dead upon arrival.

Speaking of a presentation being dead on arrival ... if the speech isn't outlined properly to create an immediate "heartbeat" for the audience that connects with different personality styles and emotions, it will be a very boring and painful time for the speaker on stage as well as the audience. I've been there. So that is why I created my "Speaker Storyboard" that helps me outline every single speech to maximize how I engage and connect with each audience.

A presentation must also include a signature story that differentiates the speaker and makes the entire audience experience memorable. Most speakers struggle with this ... or they think they have a signature story but they really don't. A signature story needs to capture the heart strings of the audience and be a story that demonstrates purpose for the entire presentation itself.

** Modules 1 and 2 in my book, PAID to $PEAK, are designed to help speakers craft a presentation that achieves these essential elements above. If you don't yet have a rockstar presentation, start here first because nothing else really matters. So start with developing a dynamic, rockstar presentation. My book will help.

Tip #2: Identify your target audiences

If you don't have a target audience, you don't have any.

A speaker knowing their target audience is what makes Tip #1 above most powerful. And by identifying your #1 target audience, I don't mean TEN audiences. I mean ONE! A speaker must have a clear #1 target audience when starting off in building a speaking business and when desiring to grow it further.

From my experience coaching speakers, identifying a #1 target audience is where most folks struggle quite a bit. And I understand why it's so difficult, because most speakers can actually speak to a variety of audiences and industries. But when starting off, and desiring to grow further, focus is essential. A speaker must focus and list a variety of target audiences ranked in priority level.

From this list, they will apply Tip #3 (below) to ensure that target audience has structure and events to pay speakers. If it doesn't, then I tell them to move on to the next target audience on their list. Speakers who want to build a successful speaking business should never be investing their time in target audiences who can rarely ever pay speakers a $3,500 or $7,500+ fee. If these audiences can't pay speakers, then they aren't really target audiences for a professional speaker. Make sense? (If this sounds confusing, no worries ... we will discuss during your complimentary coaching call!)

I recognize how difficult it is to narrow down to just one target audience, but this is what separates successful speakers from struggling speakers. I assume you want to be a successful speaker, correct?

** Module 3 in PAID to $PEAK overviews not only how to identify your target audience, but also how to reach out to them. I developed a specific model for my own speaking that works, and it's been replicable for every industry I've ever spoken.

Tip #3: Know how to find PAID speaking engagements...and who to contact

The right type of target audience will have structure and events that can pay speakers ... and pay them lucratively.

If a target audience does not have a specific association it belongs to that has what I call a "statewide structure" and various events throughout the year (such as conferences and training events), then it actually isn't a target audience. It's just an audience that cannot pay speakers.

Understanding how to find PAID speaking engagements boils down into knowing what to look for. The answer in knowing what to look for is knowing how to verify there is both structure and events within your target audience.

I wrote a blog not too long ago titled, "How Speakers Find PAID Events" that I encourage you to view here. This is how I validate and verify target audiences for not just myself, but also the speaker coaching clients I work with ... and I'm sharing it with you!

Modules 3 and 4 in PAID to $PEAK explain and show you how to find PAID speaking engagements and how to reach out to them.

*** So if you're serious about building a speaking business that you can live off of, and getting PAID to live your dream of speaking and helping people in the audiences listening to you, I'm here to help.

For the next week, I've opened up my calendar in a few spots for you to schedule a complimentary call with me to talk about your goals for your speaking and possibly how I can help. Click here to take advantage of scheduling a complimentary call with me...

Don't focus on where you are; rather, focus on where you want to be. If you want to be a professional speaker, I've created a program that can help you do what I've done in far less time.

Look forward to speaking with you soon about building your speaking business.

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