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by Burt Dubin

A touch of background first:   A successful, journeyman level public speaker, serving associations and corporations, I routinely received fees of $3000 to $5000-6000 for 1 to 3 hours of programs. I got 1 or 2 bookings a week.   This was in the late 1980’s.

Active in my Chapter of the USA National Speakers Association, I watched the revolving door of aspiring public speakers come and go every month.  

Also active at the national level, I was dismayed to see that a full third of the NSA membership changed every year. As a skilled researcher I had cracked the code.  The secrets of getting a gig or two every week were no secret to me.  I was doing it.

Now to the action and the outcomes:

I said to myself, I can change this tragic loss of talent. I can show my fellow speakers how to do what I do. And as a marketer, I knew I had to stand out from all others.  Had to be unique and unduplicable.

Here’s what I did. Here’s what I do.  You can do it too:

Action 1:
I market the outcome of my services for public speakers and trainers, not the services themselves. I market success in the business of public speaking. Nobody else did that.  Today, 14 years after launch, nobody else does that.

Market the outcomes of your
speaking/training services, and
not the speaking/training itself. 

Action 2:
I give a money back Warranty of success. In writing.  With teeth. The first few years, I gave back some money. Since 1995 nobody has legitimately requested their money back.

Give a real  personal satisfaction
money-back warranty.  

Action 3:
Do exhaustive research.  Spare no expense. Make yourself the very best on earth at public speaking and training. Do more that is required.  Do more than is expected.  Do more that anyone in their right mind would do.

Be the best, the very best
at public speaking and training. 

Action 4:
Stimulate referrals.   Let your clients or customers know they are rewarded for referring folks who invest in what you offer.   Give appropriate gifts, depending on the size of the ticket.  My Inner Circle Gold Membership is $7000 to $10,000. I give a choice of gifts.  $500 in cash. $600 to their favorite charity in their name.  $700 in products.

Reward referrals generously.

Action 5:
Treat people right.  Be there for them long after the sale.  Care about each client. You’ve heard this before: “People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care!”

Let the Golden Rule govern your attitudes,
your thoughts, your words and your actions.

Action 6:
Don’t sell.  Instead, market.  What’s the difference?  This: Selling is persuading someone to buy your public speaking services. Marketing is creating conditions under which the buyer is attracted to your public speaking services and decides on their own motion to engage you. How do you do that?    PR. Advertising. Word-of-mouth.   In the words of Walt Disney, 

Do what you do so well that people can’t resist
coming back for more and telling
their friends to do the same.

Action 7:
Have resolute integrity.

Be impeccable in all you represent.

________

These 7 stratagems are some of the methods I use to move myself from unknown journeyman public speaker to respected, successful, well known creator and marketer of the Speaking Success System.

Adapt these principles.  Adopt these principles. Own these principles.

The success you create will be your own. You can have it if you want it.  And you’ve got to want it enough to have it.

________

Burt Dubin may be reached at www.speakingsuccess.com or +800-321-1225, or, from overseas, 928-753-7546.  Or you can E-mail Burt at burt@BurtDubin.com. For a free subscription to Burt’s Speaking Biz Strategies Letter, send an e-mail to Burt with a one-word message, Subscribe.

by Burt Dubin

How to collect even higher speaking fees by creating alliances with sponsors…

Can you believe that a perfectly simple, marvelous, easy-to- implement marketing idea can be largely ignored by the community of professional speakers?

Can you imagine having an organization with deep pockets of cash promoting your programs at their expense, building your name and fame in markets you want to penetrate?

Can you picture this cash-rich sponsor sending along a logistics person-on the speaking tour they’ve set up for you-(Be still, my beating heart!) to handle all the physical details like room set-up for you.

And, of course, you may as well fantasize your sponsor then doing all the advance publicity to be sure you address a packed house. Well, hold on to your hat because all the above is true. It’s real. It’s happening now for 2 speakers. They are-in alphabetical order-Michael Chatman and Barb Schwarz, CSP. This article is due to their generously revealing how they do it.

What is a sponsor:
A Sponsor is a group, a company, any cash-generating, profit- making entity that can benefit from exposure to your target market. Sponsor needs you because they want to market to the same folks you target. When you work together you create a triple win. The third winner is your target market. If your target market is schools and their students, logical sponsors include retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers. They get their name and logo on your handouts. They get great PR. They are the good guys. Remember the firms that place soft drink, snack and candy machines in the schools, suppliers of uniforms for school athletic teams. Purveyors of the foods served in the school cafeteria.

I share these insights anecdotally. I do not pretend to have access to any wisdom beyond my own experience. What I say here is true for me. You alone can decide whether it is true for you. And this may not be all there is. It’s simply what I get here and now:

Photographers who do class pictures, school ring vendors. Every entity that makes money from providing equipment, supplies, consumables to the school. If you address sales professionals, cellular phone companies, computer companies, vendors of everything salespeople buy are potential sponsors.

If you speak to real estate agents, title companies, escrow companies, mortgage companies, etc., are appropriate sponsors.

In any industry or trade group that buys from a group of vendors, any member of that group-including vendors presently frozen out by trade custom or long-time habits-is a prospective sponsor of your programs.

Your sponsor, or sponsors, use funds from their advertising or promotion budgets, funds already committed to be spent somewhere, to advertise and promote attendance at your programs.

How do sponsors benefit from promoting you:
Exposure of their products and their company before the program starts through the publicity created by any of the interested parties.

Sponsor can do a Pre-program presentation. You can sometimes, depending on the venue, give Sponsor table top display space in the back of the room. Sometimes you can arrange for sponsor to have a booth. Sponsor name and logo may go on all printed materials, including any tickets, book covers, albums, bumper stickers, your letterhead.

In media interviews you always mention sponsor’s name. Sponsor’s representatives can sit down in front and you can introduce them during program. Sponsor’s customer goodwill and loyalty is enhanced. Sponsor may get more direct business because they sponsored you.

Is there to be signage at this program? Arrange that each sponsor have the exclusive sign for their type product. If sponsor markets a soft drink and refreshments are to be served, you arrange that sponsor is to have exclusive pourage rights with no other soft drink to be made available.

There may be $ generated from your product sales-and you need to agree in front whether you get all this or whether sponsor shares. You can create a data base of attendees or of key influencers for later follow-up.

Burt Dubin may be reached at www.speakingsuccess.com or +800-321-1225, or, from overseas, 928-753-7546.  Or you can E-mail Burt at burt@BurtDubin.com. For a free subscription to Burt’s Speaking Biz Strategies Letter, send an e-mail to Burt with a one-word message, Subscribe.

by Heather Hansen

Have you ever been really excited about going to a conference just to be unpleasantly surprised by the quality of the speakers?

There are some really high caliber speakers in the world, many of which charge thousands of dollars for a 1-hour keynote speech, but many of them still haven’t mastered the very basics of public presentation.

Please, don’t let yourself fall into these traps! But don’t feel bad if you’ve done some of these things because even the pros slip sometimes!

1. You look awful

If I am wearing nicer clothes than you and I’m in the audience, you’ve got a problem. One of the very first lessons I learned about public speaking (when I was 12 years old) was that how you look matters more than what you say.

Yes, that’s right. Disappointing, isn’t it?

You can use all the flowery prose you like, but if you don’t look well-groomed, professional and credible no one will care too much about what you have to say.

2. You forget you’re wearing a clip mic

When you’re wearing a clip mic, please don’t look down at your shoes when you speak. You actually shouldn’t be doing this anyway, but it’s even more annoying when you’re wearing a mic because you end up yelling, spitting and/or breathing heavily into it!

Also be careful that you don’t hit the mic when you gesture. Finally, make sure that your jacket isn’t rubbing up against it every time you move.

All of these extra noises are distractions to your audience.

3. You tell inappropriate jokes

It just amazes me in this day and age when political correctness is such a hot topic that so many people can still stand up in front of audiences and make inappropriate, sexist or just plain sexual comments to large groups of people.

Cut it out! It’s not funny. It’s just unprofessional.

4. Your examples don’t fit the culture you’re speaking to

I can’t even count how many metaphors I’ve heard over the past few weeks referring to basketball and baseball or examples using basketball and baseball stars. If you’re speaking in a country outside of the United States, use some examples that make sense to your audience. Here in Singapore you would get a lot farther talking about badminton, football (that’s soccer) and cricket!

5. You think that yelling is the same as motivating

Really, it just hurts our ears. If you want to yell to make a point, please move your mic away from your mouth before you blow out the speakers.

6. You pace the stage

It gets very distracting watching a speaker endlessly walk back and forth across a stage. It almost makes me dizzy.

It also gives the impression that the speaker is nervous, can’t stand still or is literally darting questions or issues.

Stand tall and proud (in one spot) and deliver a powerful message. Use movement when changing topics to signal a new train of thought.

7. You stand behind the lectern and read your speech

I simply couldn’t believe it when not one, but THREE of the speakers I have seen lately simply stood behind their lecterns and read their speeches - word for word.

What a waste of time!

I could probably find those speeches somewhere on the internet and read through them myself, skipping the boring parts, and be done in less than half the time I spent watching them read their scripts.

8. You try to speak with your mouth closed

For those of you who have tried this, you’ve probably found that it’s pretty hard to do. When you’re standing in front of a large group of people, it is so important to enunciate your words.

Open your mouth, project your voice and speak CLEARLY. I can’t stress it enough.

What’s the point of giving a presentation if we can’t understand what you’re saying?

9. Your power point slides are illegible, and the ones we can read are littered with typos

Check, double-check and then triple check your slides. Pass out copies of the slides to three friends and have them repeat the process. It is really important that your slides are error-free.

Of course if they are like the slides in most presentations, we probably won’t be able to read them anyway because there will be too much information and the text will be too small.

In that case, it doesn’t really matter.

10. You have no stage awareness

I know that speaking in public is hard enough without having to think about the stage too, but it is just so important! Be aware of where you are on the stage. How far away you are from your notes, the laptop running your presentation or your water are all important things to know.

The silence can be unbearable not only for you, but also your audience as you walk all the way across the stage because you forgot what you wanted to say next.

Also be aware of the lighting. Sometimes lines are drawn on the stage and you will be asked not to cross them. There is a reason for that! It’s so that we can SEE you.

Heather Hansen, founder of Singapore-based Hansen Speech & Language Training, is an executive speech and language coach, writer and trainer. Become a star speaker! Join her mailing list today at http://www.hansenslt.com to receive a free special report and her monthly newsletter, Speak like a Star!

Overcoming Pre-Presentation Jitters
by Heather Hansen

There is nothing more impressive that an eloquent public speaker. Confident, well-versed and in-control, he makes it look easy, doesn’t he? But we all know it’s not as easy as it looks.

It is a very natural reaction to become nervous before a presentation. This is basically because it is very unnatural to put yourself in the vulnerable position of standing before a large group of people who will judge you and what you say (which is really an extension of you, isn’t it?).

It’s okay to be nervous - as long as your audience never finds out! Follow these tips to overcome nervousness and build confidence:

Before your audience arrives

1. Be prepared

This should not be the first time you deliver your presentation. A very thorough understanding of the topic and how you want to present it is necessary for success.

Have a general outline of what you want to say, and know exactly how you want to deliver it before standing up in front of your audience. The more prepared you are, the fewer reasons you have for being nervous.

2. Get comfortable with your surroundings

Always be the first one to arrive at the place where you are presenting. Even if it is the company boardroom that you’ve been in a thousand times, spend some time standing at the front of the room. Envision people in the chairs looking at you. If you know the people attending your presentation, envision their faces. Get comfortable with this image.

Make sure the room is set up the way you want it to be. Move furniture appropriately and make sure there aren’t any traps - cables you might trip over, tables you could bump into, etc.

The more comfortable you are with your surroundings, the more relaxed you will be able to be.

3. Set up your presentation

Make sure your computer is working, set up Power Point, place participant materials, name cards, bottles of water, etc. at each person’s place. Make sure that everything is ready to go so you can focus on your audience when they arrive.

4. Take a deep breath and stop fidgeting

Take a deep breath, meditate, go to your happy place - do whatever you need to do and whatever works for you to relax. Do this before your audience arrives or in a place removed from your audience - don’t roll out your yoga mat on stage.

Also be aware of your nervous habits. Stop playing with your hair, tapping your foot, biting your lip, wringing your hands, straightening your suit, etc. Your audience should only see the relaxed, confident, professional you.

If you think you don’t have any nervous habits, video record one of your presentations. You may be surprised by what you see. Make a conscious effort to identify your own habits and put an end to them.
 
When your audience arrives

1. Create a friendly environment

When the audience begins arriving, the nerves go into overdrive. Combat this natural force by creating a safe and friendly environment.

Depending on the size of the audience, greet each participant individually and casually chat with the group. With larger groups, circulate and socialize with smaller groups of audience members.

Small talk will get your mind off of your nerves and make you feel more comfortable with the people that are there. It will also make your audience feel more at ease and leave them with a good first impression of you!

2. Give yourself a pep talk

Take a moment to prepare yourself mentally before you begin. This mental preparation could start as early as when you get out of bed the morning of the presentation, or it could be a quick pep talk just before you begin.

Remind yourself that there is a reason why you have been asked to speak - you have something very important to say! The sooner you really believe this, the better.

Everyone there wants to listen to what you have to say. They’re on your side, and want you to succeed. It is a safe environment filled with friendly professionals who can’t wait to hear what you have to say.

These things may or may not be true (generally they are, but there are of course exceptions to the rule) - it doesn’t matter. It’s about building confidence and making you feel more comfortable. The more you believe you have something important to say, the easier it is to convince your audience. It will be natural and obvious to them.

3. Find your biggest fan

In every audience there is at least one person that stands out as a “supporter.” You may have identified the person during pre-presentation small talk, it could be a colleague who is a good friend, or it could just be a “head-nodder” (one of those people who really reacts to presenters by nodding his head, taking notes, and generally being very supportive).

These people are your biggest fans. If you’re feeling nervous as you begin to speak, or if you run into problems during the presentation, focus on these individuals. No matter what happens, they will continue to smile and nod their heads, giving you that extra push you need to get through.

4. Take one last deep breath, smile and begin!

Heather Hansen, founder of Singapore-based Hansen Speech & Language Training, is an executive speech and language coach, writer and trainer. Become a star speaker! Join her mailing list today at http://www.hansenslt.com to receive a free special report and her monthly newsletter, Speak like a Star!

Written by Craig Harper 

We all understand what happens to our body as it ages. Without intervention (an exercise/activity program) we know that our muscles waste, our lung capacity decreases, our heart gets weaker, our bones become brittle, our flexibility and mobility decrease, our reaction time slows, our posture suffers, we move slower, and we become more susceptible to illness and injury.

Unless of course we happen to live a naturally active lifestyle (one where we regularly expend lots of energy, move, lift, stress our body — consistently do stuff physically).

I have written before about a concept called biological age (also known as physiological age) and we have established that by controlling certain variables (diet, lifestyle, exercise, stress levels) we can “turn back” our body clock. Even though we may be fifty (chronologically) we can ‘build’ ourself the body equivalent to that of a typical thirty year-old (in terms of cardio-vascular function, strength, bone density, blood pressure, and flexibility). If you’ve punished your body for fifty years it may be a different story, of course, but at the very least, you can turn back the clock a little and see a notable improvement in health, physical function and overall fitness.

What happens (typically) with a large percentage of the population is that we get to a point in time when we simply stop moving as much. We stop lifting, walking, hammering, climbing, cleaning, working — doing physical stuff. As soon as this happens, our body begins to age at a faster rate. The rate of aging is hard to quantify, as it varies from person to person, but let’s just go with “a much greater rate.”

For many people, retirement should be renamed the-beginning-of-the-end; they stop doing pretty much everything that kept them in shape. (I’m talking about from a health and function perspective here, not from a looking incredible perspective.)

I’m not suggesting that we all work until we’re ninety five, but for some people, the day they retire is the day they stop using their mind and their body in a significant way. It is the day they begin to deteriorate. Ironic, when you consider how excited most people are about that day.

And while it’s common and ‘normal’ for some of us to train our body in an effort to stay young physically, surprisingly, the majority of us don’t consciously take a similar approach when it comes to keeping our mind in shape. We don’t consciously ‘exercise’ our mind like we do our body.

Consider these two facts:

1) People typically slow down mentally as they age.
They experience short-term memory loss (where are my keys?), process information more slowly, find it harder to concentrate and focus, are more easily confused, become vague, and tend to be less creative and less adventurous.

2) They don’t have to!
Countless studies, and simple observation, tell us that our mind, like any other muscle (it’s not a muscle but you get my point), needs to be trained to stay in shape. Excluding people with specific medical conditions, we find that people who have remained mentally active as they have aged typically see little or no deterioration in their level of brain function.

The moment we stop using it, we start losing it. The good news is that our brain (like our body) is amazing and can adapt (grow ‘muscle’) at any age. We can (to an extent) undo some, if not most, of the damage. It’s great to be in shape physically but what’s the point of having four percent body-fat, Olympian biceps, and veins on our veins, if we have a mind like a Dalmatian?

After years of helping people get in shape physically, here are my tips for developing and maintaining a high-performance mind.

1. Set goals.
The moment we stop setting goals is the moment we start going backwards. Without goals we don’t have to think, plan, rationalise, problem solve, or create (as much).

2. Laugh.
It’s not illegal to laugh, be silly, or have fun as you age. Although some grumpy old farts will take me to task on this, they’re wrong. “Hey Johnnie… pull my finger.” (So juvenile.)

3. Play.
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” Two of my favourite people in the world are a (nearly) seventy years young couple who ski, ride mountain bikes, run up and down sand dunes, hike, lift weights, travel, help others, play practical jokes, and hang out with ’silly’ young people.

4. Study.
You don’t have to go back to college and get your PhD, although you might, but maybe explore short courses, workshops, anything to blow out those cerebral cobwebs and get those rusty cogs turning once again.

Most people stop (consciously) learning when they finish school. Pity. One of my staff (Rona) is fifty-two. She started university for the first time last year. She will graduate with her bachelors degree in Exercise Science when she’s fifty-four and has already informed me that she wants to continue studying once she completes her current course. The other day she told me, “it’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life!” (Condolences to her husband!)

5. Learn a new language.
Research tells us that people who speak two languages regularly age (mentally) at a slower rate than their unilingual buddies. They stay in shape (mentally) for longer. It even delays the onset of Alzheimer’s. Now, if you spoke three languages…

6. Express yourself creatively.
Write something: a book, some poetry, a business plan, or start your own blog. Paint, draw, or sculpt. My father began to paint at sixty-five, and now is an awesome professional artist. Invent something. A lot of the best inventors are crusty old guys. Come on, you crusty old guys… invent something!

7. Read.
Not just romantic novels. Read stuff that makes you use your brain, challenges you a little. Makes you think, reason, and remember; exercise your brain.

8. Consciously try and remember stuff.
It’s there, you just need to dust it off. Find your old school photos and name all your classmates. Try and remember (and replay in your mind) moments in time. Your first boyfriend’s, next door neighbour’s, brother’s… name (the one you kissed).

9. Do some mental workouts.
Crosswords are fun and great for your brain. Puzzles, problem solving stuff, Su Doku: force yourself to think, reason, and calculate.

When you have time on your hands is the best time to brain-train: In the car, on the train, on the bus, or in waiting rooms, do maths problems, spell words, and try to recall specific information. Hmm, what does DNA stand for again? What is the capital of Poland?

10. Have a project.
Something to keep you thinking, communicating, planning, solving problems, and remembering. In general, bench pressing your brain.

Might be landscaping your property, starting a not-for-profit organisation, building a small business, rebuilding your 1956 Buick, climbing Mount Everest — whatever it is that keeps you stimulated, learning, adapting, growing, and mentally in shape.

Now, what was my first girlfriend’s favourite color and what was that perfume she always wore?

Hang on a minute — what was her name?!

ARE YOU READY TO SUCCEED?!
How many of you want to get rich? How many of you want so much money that you could do whatever you want? Envision your ideal life, and say to yourself: ‘I can do it!’

By Colleen Mastony
Tribune staff reporter

I yelled these words Monday at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, with 10,000 other people. We stood together and screamed affirmations such as: “YES!” and “I AM READY!” We thought positive thoughts, exchanged business cards in a two-minute speed-networking session and watched an audience member smash a wooden board onstage with a bare-handed karate chop.

Motivational speaker after motivational speaker ran onstage amid a burst of fireworks, smoke machines and pounding music. They jumped, yelled and pumped their fists. They even urged us to pray to Jesus for success. They said things such as, “Are you ready to break through the barriers in your life?!!”

I listened to talks by former presidential candidate and magazine magnate Steve Forbes, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Bears coach Lovie Smith — all who offered a bevy of advice including “think outside the box” and “play hard.” It cost me $29, plus a $4.99 workbook, for a total, including taxes, of $36.53. Here, in a limited-time offer (TODAY’S PAPER ONLY!!), I’ll share my newfound knowledge. Act now and read on, fellow success seekers!

My editor sent me to the “Get Motivated” seminar under the auspices of having me write a story. But I couldn’t help wondering if he had identified me as the reporter most in need of the “get-off-your-butt-and-get-to-work” boot camp, run by motivational guru Peter Lowe.

Lowe is the baby-faced CEO of Get Motivated Seminars Inc. For two decades, he has crisscrossed the country with revival-like rallies, preaching a gospel of make-more-money and typically drawing crowds of thousands. Lowe brings in about a half-dozen speakers for one-day events that usually feature an evangelical pitch that asks crowds to accept Jesus, and a headliner such as Bill Clinton who asks crowds to accept his politics. Lowe sells inexpensive tickets ($49 for an entire office!!) promising, according to recent full-page newspaper ads: MOTIVATION! INSPIRATION! CAREER SKILLS! WEALTH-BUILDING!

When my editor first dropped the advertisement for “Get Motivated” on my desk, I tried to dodge the assignment. Stone-faced, he told me, “You can’t get out of this.” So there I sat Monday at 8:15 a.m., in an uncomfortable blue folding chair, after fighting an hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic, struggling with my broken car door (which only opens from the outside) and paying $15 for parking — which left a dollar in my wallet. No matter. Today was the first day of the rest of my life. Today I would learn the secret of high achievers. Today I would see failure as a steppingstone.

By 10 a.m. I was eating goldfish crackers, dropping crumbs on my pants, and listening to Forbes tell us to “buy low, sell high” and “be disciplined” and sometimes “be prepared to break the rules.” Then he launched into a tirade against the Internal Revenue Service and lectured on the benefits of the flat tax.

I chatted up my fellow supplicants: salesmen, mail workers, small-business owners, real estate agents — many of whom had come in large groups or on tour buses, having been sent by their bosses to get fired up to work harder, faster, smarter.

The next several hours went like this: first an encouraging talk by someone who earnestly seemed to want to motivate, and then a pitch from a snake-oil salesman who tried to get us to empty our 401(k)s into an “incredible investment opportunity!” (With the low ticket price, Lowe makes his money, experts say, in “back of the room” sales.)

In the morning, a fast-talking huckster hawked an Internet investing program. Regularly priced at $10,779, today it could be had for just $995, plus $299 every six months!! Act now, he urged, and you can become a millionaire! Satisfaction 100 percent guaranteed! At the back of the arena, workers waved light-wands to direct people to the credit card machines.

In the afternoon, a drawling Texan pitched a real estate investing class. A value of $1,800, today available for just $99! “I’m telling you, this is the best deal of the day!” he declared. The event took on the air of a three-ring circus. During the breaks, we stood to eat hot dogs and soft pretzels.

Amid the come-ons and the corny one-liners, there was common sense. Treat people with respect. Learn patience. Find a mentor. Never give up. All of which seemed to fly in the face of the “get-rich-quick” schemes for sale at flimsy card tables.

Lovie Smith offered this tip: “Set goals, and stay with them.” Zig Ziglar — “America’s No. 1 motivator” — told the crowd to find ways to help other people and they, in turn, will help you.

By late afternoon, it was time for the grand finale of mega-motivation. A blizzard of red-white-and-blue confetti blasted across the stadium. Lights flashed, music pounded. And Powell, flanked by two beefy security guards, stepped into the spotlight. His strapping build and dark power suit made him the picture of leadership. He shared this advice: Inspire your team, convey a clear mission, act with fairness, and ensure your people have the tools needed to get the job done.

But as Powell spoke, the audience had already started leaving. Few were listening to the secrets. After the all-day event, the crowd had lost interest. I wanted to bar the doors and scream: “Wait! Here’s someone worth listing to!” But I said nothing.

Then the lights went up, and the last confetti flake fluttered to the floor.

I headed to the door, feeling hungry and tired. In the car, I popped open a bottle of soda, which exploded in my lap. Focus on the positive. Focus on the positive. Even in damp pants, I will write a great article. A brilliant article. I CAN DO IT!

I was speeding down the expressway in my car when a cicada flew in the window and down the back of my shirt. This is just another steppingstone to success, I said to myself, as I tried to get the bug out of my blouse. ———- cmastony@tribune.com

- - -

‘Never give up!’

Peter Lowe sells motivation and inspiration. What he doesn’t mention in his full-page newspaper ads is that his last company, Success Events International, collapsed in December 2001. Lowe says he has since paid at least $3 million of his own money to pay off that company’s debts.

In the months leading up to the Success Events crash, Lowe came to Chicago and sold thousands of tickets promising a half-dozen motivational speakers for a Sept. 25, 2001, show. But the day of the event, seven of the top speakers, including Lowe himself, never showed up. Angry crowds demanded refunds, but the organizers instead offered vouchers for their next expo, which they said would be “bigger,” “better” and “more awesome!” Within three months, Lowe had resigned and the company went belly-up.

Since then, Lowe followed his own advice (Never give up!) and launched Get Motivated.

– Colleen Mastony

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

A keen martial artist I discovered that my performance was not purely a reflection of training, diet and rest. I discovered that positive influences were crucial to my competition success. I learnt that positive influences had to become a cornerstone of all aspects of my life. It took me years to realise this and years to change it. I tried to surround myself with like minded people the old adage comes to mind. “You can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family”. I needed some extra help and discovered a world of help at the local bookshop.

Seven years on my life has changed. My house is full of inspirational books, articles, pictures and goals I have set myself for this year, five and ten years. For anyone new to personal development and even the seasoned scholar (how many times have you revisited a book only to find a gem of information you cannot believe you missed), here are five great tips I regularly read and am sure every inspirational and motivational speaker believes in.

1. Monitor Your Inner Conversations
The downward arrow or spiral of thought is a classic concept in cognitive psychology and often discussed in books combating depression. Whether you suffer depression or not, we are all subject to the negativity our minds produce and if we are to truly succeed in this life, we need to overcome those shackles.

Chosen to lead a new project at work your self doubt kicks in. You have been drawn into the downward spiral. Before you know it, you are telling yourself you cannot possibly do it, that you are a fraud and other people are better than you. It can spread into the rest of your life, damage your self-esteem and make life a misery. There is no logic, no sense and the spiral sucks in every other aspect of your being and self worth. This is a gross simplification and as a young man, I experienced it first hand.

Controlling the thoughts that run through your mind, choosing not to take notice of the negative, illogical thoughts that appear from nowhere. Replacing the negative thoughts with positive thoughts, positive visions.

Remember the saying “if you can hold it in your head, you can hold it in your hands?” Well the same applies to negative thoughts. Keep an eye on them and kick them out.

2. Decide What You Want – Then Write It Down
What do I mean? I mean do not simply get up, go to work, watch TV then repeat. You are not a machine. To coin a Les Brown phrase (paraphrase) “A dog can only be a dog” you can be anything you want to be. More than a third of UK individuals claim to be unhappy with their jobs and their hours.

So how do you decide? Start by noting your five biggest achievements, your five proudest moments. Next, make a list. Write down everything you want to achieve, everything you would like to do. Then separate them into one year, five and ten year lists. Straight away you can start to see how your think. If you have lots of one year goals and no ten year goals you need to start thinking longer term. If you have no short term goals, well how do you achieve a long term goal? How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time and the larger long term goals need smaller ones to help you along and keep you motivated.

Ok so what I am getting at is goal setting. Personally I found Jim Rohn’s goal setting methods very good. Les Brown says, write them down and check them three times each day. The important thing is that you write them down and review them regularly. Another proven method.

3. Take Action
As obvious as it seems, make this one a motto regardless. How many times have you said “I’ll do it tomorrow?” Ever heard of “Analysis Paralysis?” When you think, plan or simply wait of the right moment you are not taking action. All the planning and best intentions in the world will not change your current situation. If you are waiting until you have more time or have more money. Forget it. Get going now.

The past does not exist, the future does not exist. Only this moment now exists. This moment right now, as you sit at your computer reading this. Right now there is just you and I. Everything that happens from here onwards will be sculpted by this moment. By the action you take right now. Have a quick look around and be “present”. Eckhart Tolle talks about this in his book “The Power of Now”. It is fantastic book and discusses the impact of negative thoughts too. I highly recommend it.

I could put all three points into one simply sentence. Become a positive, goal setting doer. Changing your life is as simple as that.

I love Mahatma Ghandi and I love this quote “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Sure, you want the best possible speaker for whatever your budget might be. A dynamic or informative speaker generally is a stellar investment in the success of your meeting. But, sometimes your budget is not enough for the speaker you want. What’s the solution? Hire a less expensive speaker—squeeze the speaker you want for a better price—think beyond conventional wisdom?

Thinking beyond conventional wisdom might look like, limiting the number of speakers at your meeting. It is always less expensive to have a single speaker do several sessions than to have several speakers present a single session each. Not that every speaker is capable of presenting multiple sessions, however because of the multiple travel and hotel rooms cost, sometimes it is even cheaper to hire a speaker to deliver multiple programs than to have several non-paid speakers participate in your meeting. Even if these unpaid speakers drive in, thereby eliminating their airline travel expense, they will still want a free hotel room for the conference and free registration. Perhaps they were going to come anyway? You would have then received their conference registration dollars. Sometimes the true cost of non-paid speakers is staggeringly hidden.

Let’s explore the difference between a professional speaker presenting the same program multiple times vs. presenting multiple programs. The big difference for the speaker is preparation time—including: research, handout development and PowerPoint preparation. Unfortunately, few meeting planners take this key time issue into consideration. Speakers are selling both their knowledge and their time. The latter is finite, so the more you consume, the more you should expect to pay. In paying for a speaker’s time, you have to consider presentation time, travel time and preparation time. Unless of course you want a canned speech, then the preparation time is not an issue. Before you jump on the cost savings of a canned speech, remember that today, few attendees will tolerate a canned speech.

This idea of a single speaker presenting multiple presentations for a single fee is growing in the world of professional speakers but is counter to standard operating procedures for most speaker bureaus. If you like this idea, you might have to abandon the ease in speaker selection that you have enjoyed when working with bureaus.

The Bureau Conundrum

Speaker Bureaus provide a valuable outsource service for meeting planners that are time squeezed. A planner can contact a bureau, give their budget and the bureau will take it from there. For planners that have to fill a large number of conference session slots and do not have sufficient staff—bureaus can be their solution. Yet, there are many more speakers that are under or non-represented by speakers’ bureaus, than there are speakers that they recommend. Most bureaus only have a small corral of speakers that they can easily sell and therefore will generally recommend them first. Many of the underrepresented speakers are quite good and are a tremendous value.

Another component to consider is that some bureaus serve two masters. What I mean can be illustrated by a recent conversation I had with a planner from a very large biotechnology manufacturer at a meeting industry trends summit. We were chatting at the event’s evening cocktail party and the planner was bemoaning about a request for a speaker that she submitted to a very large East Coast speaker bureau. The planner went on to tell me that the information sheets for the speakers that this particular bureau sent her, had no relationship to her submitted speaker request. The planner was upset that the bureau didn’t pay heed to what she requested. I explained to the planner about that particular bureau specialized in speaker exclusives—meaning that the bureau was the only place through which a particular speaker could be booked. As such, the bureau would recommend their exclusive speakers first, and if none were selected, would then recommend other speakers—even when a non-exclusive speaker would have been a better fit. Unfortunately, this trend is spreading through the speaker bureau industry.

For most speakers, speaker bureaus are but one of the many channels by which they go to market. Speaker bureaus need to be viewed as one would view any distributor or sales agency. If two-step distribution serves your needs, and there are a number of reasons that it might, then by all means select that method.

The conventional marketing message espoused my most bureaus is that for speaker X, you’ll pay the same price through us as you would booking speaker X direct. That is a nice ideal that frequently may be true. Yet, in a supply chain where a distributor or manufacturer’s representative sales agency receives 25 to 30 percent, the reality is generally not quite the ideal. There was a reason behind Sam Walton championing the idea of Wal-Mart working directly with manufacturers, thereby eliminating the distributors. This was a necessary strategy in order for him to continually deliver low prices to his Wal-Mart customers.

Go Direct?

If you should select to work directly with a speaker, the price you will assuredly pay is time. Time both in your search and selection process as will as time working with the speaker on meeting logistics. If this route is best for you, there are a number of advantages that could make your time investment a profitable one. Some of the benefits to you could be, no lost communication through an intermediary, better negotiation possibilities (the Sam Walton dynamic) and the speaker offering programming ideas and insight that most likely would have never been transmitted through a third party.

Searching for a speaker directly has never been easier. To start, there are a number if Internet search engines that will do a magnificent job in searching for a speaker by topic or keyword. Remember to look past the first search page because that is most likely where you are going to find the speaker bargains. A great source to aid your search is the Web Site of the National Speakers Association (NSA).

National Speakers Association

NSA is an alternative method for finding speakers. NSA has an open online search capability that anyone can access at http://www.nsaspeaker.org./ It is true that only members of NSA are listed, which does limit your possibilities just a bit, but nonetheless you will find that the NSA Web Site a valuable source in your search for the right speaker. NSA offers its members a certification called Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). While the CSP designation does not guarantee a speaker’s success at your meeting, the process through which a speaker goes to receive a CSP designation is not an easy one. The CSP is a good indicator that the speaker is truly a professional.

Approaching the Speaker

Never approach a speaker, out of the gate, by asking if they negotiate their fees! What the speaker hears is, “I’m calling to ask you for a discount and offer nothing in return.” That’s a turn-off in anybody’s book. Besides, everything in life is a negotiation—just assume that they will. A better approach is to first talk with the speaker about what you want—engage them in conversation. After they have affirmed that they can deliver what you want, then move into the “we have a budget issue” phase. Do this by first suggesting some of the things your organization can do for the speaker to create extra value for them. Also ask the speaker what creates value in their life. Perhaps you have value to offer a speaker that you had never realized?

Keynote Vs. Breakout

Believe it or not, more speakers will be willing to talk to you about your budget challenges when you are talking general session (meaning that there is no other session competing at the same time) vs. breakout or concurrent sessions. The reason for this is exposure and product selling capability. If a speaker is going to fly across the country to speak at a meeting, which do you think is more valuable to the speaker—speaking to 40 people, or 400? Naturally, it is the 400. More people that could potentially recommend the speaker for future events and more product will surely be sold to 400 people than to 40—but, rarely do planners think about this.

In making your decision about how to acquire your next speaker, I hope the above has stimulated your thinking beyond conventional wisdom. Please fell free to access a number of resources available to you at: www.rigsbee.com/downloadaccess.htm.

by Alvin Phang

I know I am not yet a popular public speaker or motivational speaker, but I strongly believe that these skills that I am about to share will be able to impact some part of your life.

There is a saying that 90% of the world’s money are earned by the rich people which are 10% of the population of the world. I do not know how truth is that but based on my own experience I felt it kind of truth based on 10 friends I have survey.

Most people who were like me, grew up in a family where they got their children into an education system where they say it’s important to get a job to make money. But not a single subject was taught to us on how to build business, isn’t that strange when we know most successful people who are rich have businesses! It was until when I was about 21, when I pick up this book call Rich Dad Poor Dad my concept about rich people changed =)

That book talked about 4 types of people in the world within 4 quadrants. And it’s kind of truth what he says makes sense. While 90% of most people who are working will think about how to pay those bills, 10% of rich people will be thinking how I can take my money to invest and create passive income.

For those of you who are in business, maybe you can relate to this about passive income. But if you got no clue what that is, I strongly recommend you get that book Rich Dad Poor Dad =) It really open my mind so much about business.

As a young man who had no experience in business, I decided to start a mini store of my own at those night markets where I actually place my items on the floor to sell. Surprisingly people do buy 2nd hand stuff! From that experience, I learnt that money is not easy to make in business. It takes hardship and sometimes even tears just to make $10 as I have ever stand for 10 hours and only made $50! How’s that for a start.

I was about to give up that time but I knew I was still young and had nothing to loose. Then came a silly decision I made to open a store with 3 friends. Which in the end was a big mistake because I did not know having too many partners is even more worst! There were fights and quarrels among us about money but all that was gone when I decided to close it.

However then, because I wanted to be rich I still did not give up but went on to explore other ways to make money. Then after attending and listening to motivational tapes and speakers I realized the reason why I was always failing was my mind was too small to think that I can ever made a Million Dollars. It was just a few minutes before I got the idea to write was that I told my friends a secret how Millionaires become rich. You may disagree with me on this as this is based on what I have experience, the formula to succeed in business are determine by these few factors.

1. Who You Hang Out With Often (Your Inner Circle)
2. Your Goals In Life
3. Your Drive And Determination To Succeed
4. You Must Be Willing To Fail Numerous Times
5. Willing To Take Any Risk And Just Going For It

My formula to succeed goes like this:

Success = Goals + Effort

It took me I think 4 years to know this but I hope what I just shared with you will open your mind or at least give you some inspiration to go to a bookstore to pick up a business book =)

If you are currently working now in a 9 to 5 job, just ask yourself this question. Will you be able to see yourself in your current job in 30 years time and be happy about it and retire? That is how important building passive income is and that is why successful people create profitable businesses.

TOP TEN WAYS TO MAKE MONEY PUBLIC SPEAKING
by Tom Antion

1. SELL YOUR KNOWLEDGE

This is my overriding principle that came from years of hard knocks trying to get people to hire me to speak. I get more speaking engagements than I ever had before when I quit trying to sell them and began selling my knowledge in as many different formats as possible. The idea is that infinitely more people can buy what you know through books, tapes, CDs, Ebooks and videos than could ever hire you to speak. Your name recognition because of your knowledge distribution makes speaking engagements much easier to come by because the people that could hire you have already heard you and your message on your knowledge based products. In the mean time, the money from the product sales keeps your business thriving.

2. GET SPONSORSHIP

You can get other companies to sponsor your speaking fee so they can be associated with your message when you speak. Stop and think of what kinds of groups would want to be associated with your message. Let’s say you speak to the banking industry. Maybe mortgage, or mutual fund companies would sponsor you. Maybe bank equipment companies would. Think of anyone who would want to have exposure to your target audience then simply make a proposal to their public relations department.

3. GET DIRECTLY PAID

This is pretty straight forward. As a motivational speaker, you speak to a corporation, association, civic group, or anyone who would hire you and they pay you directly. Most of the time you should try to get a deposit up front of about 50 percent and the balance either before the event, or the day of the event. You will use various methods to get hired. I have had the greatest success in my career getting hired to speak by promoting myself properly on the Internet.

4. SPEAKERS BUREAUS

A speakers bureau is a for profit organization that locates speakers for paying clients. The speakers bureau normally takes a percentage of your gross fee. The percentage is usually in the 15 to 30 percent range with the average fee being 25 percent. It is very difficult to start with speakers bureaus unless you are a bonafide celebrity and your fees are substantial. You must remember they get paid on straight commission and the higher your fee, the more they make. Also, unless you have a proven track record, a speakers bureau will be afraid to put you in front of one of their clients because if you bomb they could lose many more bookings from the same client. You must also supply the bureau with promotional materials that don’t have your contact information so anyone that sees the material will contact the bureau directly and not you.

5. PUBLIC SEMINARS

This is another fairly simple idea, but that doesn’t mean it’s simple to do. Basically you promote your seminar to the public and they buy tickets to attend. You could also promote it to corporate management and get them to buy tickets for their employees to attend. I avoided public seminars for years because of the risk and expense involved in printing and mailing brochures. Now I do lots of public seminars because I can promote them at no cost through my website and email magazine.

6. TELEPHONE SEMINARS

This can be a form of public seminar, or it can be done for private groups. You arrange for a telephone bridge line (very inexpensive), or a conference call (can be VERY expensive). You have participants call in and you deliver the seminar over the telephone. This saves a tremendous amount of money on travel expenses for you and the participants along with all kinds of savings for the participants (travel, time, etc.) For visuals you can have the participants sitting in front of their computer while on the phone. You tell them what web page to visit to see your visuals. 

7. WEBCASTS

This is similar to telephone seminars except you are using the Internet instead of a telephone to hold the seminar.

8. TRAINING COMPANIES

In this case a company hires you to deliver their programs to public seminar participants, or to participants all from the same private company. Career Track, SkillPath Seminars and Fred Pryor Seminars are examples of companies who hire seminar leaders. In some cases you can develop programs for the seminar company and get a higher fee for delivering that program and a fee each time it is delivered by another seminar leader. You also get a percentage of all the back of room products you sell. These companies can keep you on the road quite a bit so you better be ready to travel and don’t think each event will be in the Bahamas . . .Your events are more likely to be in places like Toledo, Cleveland and Columbus. These are relatively low paying jobs when compared to the kind of money you can get promoting your own speeches and seminars.

9. MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS SPEAK FREE TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS

Many professionals (including professional speakers) speak or give free public seminars to help get clients. Attorneys, doctors, dentists, accountants, real estate agents, lawyers, home builders and many other people from a wide variety of professions give seminars to promote their business and to gain clients directly from the seminars. To do this effectively you must not spend the entire seminar promoting yourself. You must give the participants good information with the idea of establishing yourself or your company as the expert. There is certainly nothing wrong with showing people how complicated things are and even though they can do it themselves, it might not be a wise thing to do. For instance, you could be a plumber giving a seminar on how to remodel your bathroom. You tell the participants every little detail of how to do it and also tell them the perils if they do it wrong. No one will complain that you were just giving a sales pitch, but many will think to themselves, “Maybe this is too much to tackle by myself. Maybe I should hire this person to either help me or do it for me.”

10. SPEAK AS PART OF YOUR JOB

Many companies have their own speakers bureau. Normally the only reason it exists is as a public relations tool to provide a good image of their company to the community. One of the ways you can speak for pay in your company is to volunteer to be in the speakers bureau. As long as you are on company time when you are speaking, you are indirectly getting paid to speak. If they always ask you to speak after hours on your own time, well that’s a different story. You still might want to do it to continue to become a better motivational speaker. Another way to get paid to speak in your job is to join the training staff of your company, or start one if one doesn’t exist. You can simply target a problem the company is having and work up a program to train others in the company on how to solve the problem. Suggest a few sessions to your boss to see how it goes. If you get results, chances are they will want you to do the same program for others in the company.