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You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.
-Robin Williams |
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I began my speaking career by attending the National Speakers Association's national conference; three eye-opening days in a hotel where I discovered what I really needed, the book Speak and Grow Rich by Dottie Walters. I didn't become a member of NSA because membership was $300.
At the same time I bettered by my speaking skills by joining my local Toastmasters Club. Through Toastmasters I was able to practice speaking weekly. Two years prior, Levi Strauss & Co. had paid for me to take to a three day intensive speaking course called, Speak Easy. (The teachings in this book are detailed in the book Speak and Get Results by Sandy Linver).
I researched my topic, both at the library and on Compuserve's magazine database. The Compuserve searched costed me about $75.
Using guidelines laid out in Speak & Grow rich, I created a speaker's kit, which included a cover letter, a bio, a tip sheet, and a fee schedule. For stationary I used paper products by Paper Direct. Lastly, I made a 10 minute demo cassette with the help of my friend who owned music recording equipment. Duplicating 50 cassettes costed about $75.
Next I hired a photographer for $75 to take a headshot of myself. Then I created a black and white flyer describing my speech, and saved graphic design money by creating it on my Macintosh computer. I printed up 3000 on glossy white paper at cost of $250. I spent three evenings in a row stuffing these flyers, along with a cover letter, into envelopes (then there's the licking and stamping!). Stamps and envelopes costed about $300.
I mailed to 1200 colleges and got 40 responses. I mailed speakers kits to these prospects and did my best to sell my services of the telephone. After four months, I converted 1 of the 40 prospects into a full paid speaking date. (Important note: success rates will vary. I feel my initial success was below average.) The taker was a small school in Wisconsin.
During the four months of sales follow up, I also wrote a draft of my speech and two 600 word articles about my topic. To make them appear more legitimate, I desktop published them to look like newspaper columns (However, I didn't claim that they'd been published anywhere). I also improved my audio cassette twice. During this launching time my expenses, both business and living, were being covered by a credit card.
I improved my speaker's kit by taking it to a university marketing class for feedback from the students. This led to my being invited by a professor to speak to three classes of her students. These three lectures were my first and I used them as an opportunity to get written testimonials. A month later, I used these testimonials to make a brochure.
The next month I flew to Wisconsin and did my first paid speaking engagement successfully. Then over the next two months, with a combination of mailing and telemarketing I got myself another four engagements (some, but not all of them, fully paid) for the remaining school semester.
* 1998 UPDATE
1. There are two recently published books that a tremendous MUST READS for professional speakers:
Success Secrets of the Motivational Superstars, by Michael Jeffreys
Leading Out Loud, by Terry Pearce
2. Mark Victor Hansen, the co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, conducts a two day seminar titled Building Your Speaking and Writing Empire. I attended in 1998, at a cost of $390 and found it to be WELL worth the money. Call 800-433-2314 for info.
3. Presentations magazine and website (www.presentations.com) have great articles about the craft of speaking.
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