The 5 Stages to Becoming a Major League Speaker

Coaching a new client to develop a strategy for launching her new speaking business gave me an opportunity to reflect on how my professional speaking business has developed over the years, and I noticed tremendous similarities to my first career in professional baseball.

Skip Weisman, professional speaker, delivers a keynote address
to over 300 project managers at the May, 2013 PMI-Northern Utah
Professional Development Day

A baseball player that reaches the pinnacle, a career in the Major Leagues, has to endure at least some time in the Minor Leagues. Some endure more time than others, but all but a handful in the entire history of Major League Baseball have spent time in the minor's honing their skills and trying to leverage their opportunities.

 

It's the same for us as professional speakers.
 
In baseball there are six levels of minor league development a player must work through before reaching the Majors, for speakers I've identified five levels.

To become a professional speaker, meaning someone is willing to pay you to be on a stage in front of their audience, which can be either company employees or members of a professional industry association, a speaker needs credibility.

To gain credibility most professional speakers must be seen in action. This rule does not apply to some on the speaking circuit who has gained status from their previous profession, such as athletes, politicians or military leaders (this doesn't mean they're great speakers, but it does mean they can command high fees due to their celebrity status).

For us, mere mortals building a professional speaking business we, like the minor league baseball players, hone our craft and build credibility before a being paid.

Here is how you do it:

1. Professional Speaker Development Level 1: Free Speaking Level 1
   Speak for free to anyone that will have you.This can be local civic clubs (Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, etc.) that need speakers on a weekly basis for their meeting programs, library programs, local Chambers of Commerce, SCORE Chapters (Service Core of Retired Executives).
   
2. Professional Speaker Development Level 2: Free Speaking Level 2
   Identify an industry that is a good fit for your expertise and signature topics and research the local/regional chapters to speak at their monthly membership meetings.
   Rarely do these chapters have resources to pay a speaker but they will have people involved in the larger state and national affiliated associations they can refer you to for potential paid speaking gigs
   
3. Professional Speaker Development Level 3: Fee Speaking Level 1
   The next level would be the regional and state associations of your industry niche where you can usually have, at least, your travel expenses covered to get in front of audiences as conferences as a breakout session seminar speaker, get positive anecdotal feedback and high assessment scores from session attendees that can lead to referrals and requests to return.
4.  Professional Speaker Development Level 4: Fee Speaking Level 2
   As you build credibility speaking as a breakout session speaker in exchange for travel expenses you can begin to request a speaking fee depending on event budgets. At this time you can also begin to identify opportunities to get on the larger stage for a keynote position or other general session where the entire group of conference attendees.
5. Professional Speaker Development Level 5: Fee Speaking Level 3
   At this level you are getting referrals and calls from other meeting planners within that niche industry because of your credibility and what you have delivered for other groups. This is where you can begin to command a higher speaking fee.

For more tips on building a professional speaking business and doubling your ability to impact and influence audiences of all sizes and industries, visit PresentationPowerForLeaders.com. There you can sign up for 52 Presentation Power Tips for a full year of weekly tips to help you reach the Major Leagues of professional speaking more quickly.

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Skip Weisman is The Leadership & Workplace Communication Expert, and is a member of an elite group of international World Class Speaking Coaches.  

Skip works with the owners of companies with between 6-60 employees to transform workplace communication in 90-days and create a more positive, more productive and even more profitable company. 

Additionally, he coaches and trains business professionals and professional speakers to become a World Class Speaker and presenter that can inspire and motivate any type of audience.  You can learn more about Skip at www.WorkplaceCommunicationExpert.com and www.SkipWeismanSpeaks.com .

No One Cares About What You Want to Speak About - Here's How to Overcome This Challenge

Have you ever heard speakers say things like:

• "Today I'm going to share with you..." or 
• "I'd like to tell you about..." or 
• "Let me tell you a story" ?

Whenever you hear those statements from a speaker what is your initial reaction?

You may, or you may not be like me, but if you were like me your immediate thoughts would be something like:

• I don't really care what you're going to share with me, tell me why I should care first.
• I don't really care what you'd like to tell me about, how does it relate to me.
• Why should I let you tell me a story? And, anyway you've got the stage, I'm in a seat in the audience I have no power to let you do anything, I'm stuck here listening.

Have you ever felt the same way?

With those types of lead in statements the speaker comes across as making the information all about him or her. It sends the message that they are the expert and the genius and you are going to learning something magnificent just by listening to them speak.

It is an arrogant and condescending way to present.

Your audience members will either overtly be turned off by that type of language or they will unconsciously sense that you care more about yourself than them.

Powerful speakers know and practice using "you" statements that lead into the stories and points they want their audience to learn.

Just like I opened this blog article with the statement "have you ever" using that language to direct the audience's attention towards their own experience related to a point you are about to make.

Here are three slight adjustments to the "I' versions of the statements above that will make you an even more powerful presenter:

• Instead of saying, "today I am going to share with you," turn that around to make your point in a more powerful and engaging way with, "today you are going to hear about..."
• Instead of saying, "I'd like to tell you about," have your audience lean in to listen even more intently when you say, "you are going to learn about."
• Instead of saying, "Let me tell you a story," engage your audience's curiosity by saying, "if you've ever had this happen, then you know what I went through just getting here today."

Here's a 9-second video clip of what I'm talking about, notice the "you" focused statements I use here:

More on powerful "you" focused statements to connect with and build deeper audience relationships next month.

If you'd like to learn more easy to apply, World Class Speaking strategies to set you apart  join the  PresentationPower for Leaders Community for FREE to receive a weekly Presentation Power Tip that can transform your presentation skills.

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Skip Weisman is The Leadership & Workplace Communication Expert, and is a member of an elite group of international World Class Speaking Coaches.  

Skip works with the owners of companies with between 6-60 employees to transform workplace communication in 90-days and create a more positive, more productive and even more profitable company. 

Additionally, he coaches and trains business professionals and professional speakers to become a World Class Speaker and presenter that can inspire and motivate any type of audience.  You can learn more about Skip at www.WorkplaceCommunicationExpert.com and www.SkipWeismanSpeaks.com .

Stretching Your Comfort Zone to Become a More Powerful Presenter & Speaker

If you’re not stretching your comfort zone, you’re not growing.

If you are not growing, you’re dying.

What is an area you need to grow in in 2015?

Last month my comfort zone stretched tremendously as I delivered a keynote address in front of 800 people on a topic I've never spoken about before. I nailed it!  The testimonials from audience members, and their actual takeaways and learnings were exactly what I was hoping for when I created the keynote.

But, what was even better was that I played the guitar, and sang a song in public, at the end of it. Something I've never, ever done!

Even though I messed up the song, no one cared and I had fun with it.

My confidence is through the roof and I can't wait for 2015 to get back on stage to speak (and maybe even sing, again!)

When the meeting planner and her emcee host learned I had been taking guitar lessons for about five years, they asked if I'd play something after my keynote address.

Since this was a huge comfort zone buster for me, I immediately said, "NO!"

Then, I figured, "what the hell," it won't kill me and may even be fun.

What things are you saying "no" to in your speaking that may make you even stronger?

Stop saying "no" to those comfort zone challenges in 2015 and step up to become a more confident presenter.


A great way to bust your comfort zone and to double or even triple your presentation skills next year is to go to www.PresentationPowerForLeaders.com and sign up for my 52 Power Presentation Tips, they're free and will come to you once a week for 52 weeks.

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Skip Weisman is The Leadership & Workplace Communication Expert, and is a member of an elite group of international World Class Speaking Coaches. Skip works with the owners of companies with between 6-60 employees to transform workplace communication in 90-days and create a more positive, more productive and even more profitable company. Additionally, he coaches and trains business professionals and professional speakers to become a World Class Speaker and presenter that can inspire and motivate any type of audience.  You can learn more about Skip at www.WorkplaceCommunicationExpert.com and www.SkipWeismanSpeaks.com .

You Have An Inspiring Speakers' Gene, Are You Developing It?

Imagine, you're at an airport on layover flying home after speaking in front of 1,500 people for the first time in your life wondering if you had an impact on anyone in the audience.

After 17 years as a business professional having given hundreds of presentations in front of audiences no larger than 100 at local civic groups, I had developed a belief that great speakers are born and not made.

And, I was certainly one of those missing the "inspiring speaker gene."

Then, killing time at the gate in Terminal C at the Detroit Airport I checked email.

Less than 12 hours after leaving the stage, there was a Google Alert with my name attached to a news item.

I clicked the link to see an article by a blogger who was in the audience.

Below is what I paraphrased from his article for a testimonial after we spoke about his experience with my presentation:

 

Maybe I did have that "inspiring speaker gene," after all?

Genes are like seeds, they need to be watered and cared for to blossom.

My "inspiring speaker” gene just needed to be nurtured.

But, it took inspiration from outside myself to help fulfill my aspirations as a professional speaker.

One day I was in an audience with 2,000 people watching and listening to the greatest speaker I had ever experienced.

He told us a story about how he was not a naturally born speaker and how he learned to become a dynamic presenter.

It inspired me to learn the craft of impactful, inspiring public presentations.

That was in 1998.

The speech Mark Curtis experienced was in 2009.

It took 11 years, but I got there.

Ever since, I've been inspired every time I step on the stage knowing I can impact people's lives.

Some let me know immediately, while others take what they've heard and apply it without sharing.

Either way I know I'm making a difference.

Do you? Would you like to?

Learn simple, easy to apply, World Class Speaking strategies to set you apart when you join the PresentationPower for Leaders Community and receive a weekly Presentation Power Tip that can transform your presentation skills.

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Skip Weisman is The Leadership & Workplace Communication Expert, and is a member of an elite group of international World Class Speaking Coaches. Skip works with the owners of companies with between 6-60 employees to transform workplace communication in 90-days and create a more positive, more productive and even more profitable company. Additionally, he coaches and trains business professionals and professional speakers to become a World Class Speaker and presenter that can inspire and motivate any type of audience.  You can learn more about Skip at www.WorkplaceCommunicationExpert.com and www.SkipWeismanSpeaks.com .