Invite from Susan Levin

COMPLIMENTARY

YOU…THE STAR!!! SPEAK-WRITE-MARKET MINI SUMMIT & VIDEO DEMO SHOWCASE In Los Angeles

Sunday, Sept.26, 9:30am-5pm   $FREE  Register Now

In this day and age, to truly make a lasting impact, you need to be a media conglomerate: a compelling speaker…a credible author…a believable video performer…a master marketer.

In “YOU…THE STAR!!!” you will learn — from acknowledged experts in their respective fields — the ins and outs, the secrets and strategies for being a multi-faceted media personality.

Regardless of profession, everyone is an expert in their field and this event is a perfect opportunity to turn your expertise into a successful business; to master the game of speaking, to navigate the latest technology, and learn exciting new strategies for producing active and passive income.

THE PROMISE OF “YOU…THE STAR!!!”

- EARN why the magic of speaking is invisible

- POLISH your performance, presentation and communication skills, no matter what field you are in

- TRICKS to sharing your passion & excitement that translate into action and sales

- WITNESS a live video demo shoot

- DISCOVER why a speaker video demo is the ultimate calling card

- GET the #1 secret so you can “play” on camera – it’s the magic secret sauce that brings you $$S!

- LEVERAGE videos into your marketing campaign and convert visitors into customers

- EXPLORE self-publishing vs mainstream publishing

- CREATE time to write your book

- TURN your content into cash

- FIND out how event producers decide who gets booked

- UNCOVER what’s uniquely marketable about you and your mission

- MASTER Social Media, Blogs, Article Writing, Teleseminars, UTube

PRESENTERS:
Jack Barnard is a master presentation & branding coach, a media trainer & writer: a true maverick in the business. He works with speakers, authors & entrepreneurs, both one-on-one and in groups. His original method emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual, focusing on the permission to bring forth one’s distinctive style.

Susan Levin is owner & founder of Speaker Services. Susan is an International Marketing Consultant for speakers & authors. Her company offers marketing & training services & video production service.

Jean-Noel Bassior is a book coach & journalist who specializes in celebrity interviews. She is the author of Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television published by McFarland.

Barbara Niven is an Actress, Speaker and Performance Coach.  Barbara is in demand as a Performance Coach for actors, hosts, speakers & executives. In her studio she videotapes sessions for instant replay & feedback.

Location:  Marina del Rey, 9:30am-5pm

When you register you will receive the address and location.

REGISTER NOW

Great post by Helena Bouchez in MarketingProf Today

As I always say speaking is one of the best ways to connect directly with decision makers in your industry. Following the noted guidelines will help you better connect with the decision makers who can put you in front of an audience.

Speaker  Services can assist you in preparing your marketing materials and videos so that you will be more professional.  View a short video that I created on Speaker Marketing Plans at the bottom of this page.

Getting speaking gigs can be a mysterious and frustrating process, particularly if you don’t have much experience. You know the drill: Send pithy email offering yourself up (or copiously fill out online proposal form). Hit Send. Wait.

To find out what happens during “wait,” I interviewed a few content directors and program advisers, as well as some Web-seminar and teleseminar producers responsible for booking speakers.

Here is what they said, along with some sage advice on how to increase your chances of getting that breakout gig.

Be Patient

Long lead times for live conferences and events are the rule rather than the exception. Planning typically begins at least six months ahead of time but, depending on the size of the event or industry, can begin up to a year in advance.

Heather Lloyd-Martin, owner of SuccessWorks Search Marketing and program adviser for PubCon, SEMpdx, and major Direct Marketing Association conferences, explains: “There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes…. [When we're considering a speaker, there might be additional planning and logistics, and several layers of approval needed before we can confirm the slot.

" Lloyd-Martin says they approach A-list speakers first and then contact others who they think might be a fit. But, Unknowns, take heart. Lloyd-Martin says if she thinks you will do a good job and provide a fresh voice and perspective, she will bring you on.

Web seminars and teleseminars have shorter lead times (one to four weeks for teleseminars, three to four months for Web seminars) but can be even tougher to get in on because presenting virtually is much harder than speaking in person, says Marty Fahncke, a professional speaker and president of Conference Call University.

"If you are someone who feeds off the energy of people when onstage, the Web [seminar] or teleseminar format may not be for you. Keeping a virtual presentation moving and afloat requires the ability to sustain high, high energy for the entire session.”

Be Online

To be considered for either format, a robust online footprint is essential. “The first thing I’m going to do is type your name into Google,” says Fahncke. “I really want to see a book, but at the very least I should see examples of you being quoted by the media and links to whitepapers and articles you’ve written. Next, I’ll type in a few key phrases that would make sense given your topic. If you’re truly an expert in your field, your name should appear on the first page.”

MarketingProfs’ Web-seminar producer, Shelley Ryan, adds, “It’s best if I have come across your name already on social-media and networking [sites,] such as Twitter and LinkedIn. I want to know what you’re tweeting, are you interesting, are you engaged in conversation within the industry?”

Ryan says when considering someone for a slot, she will Google a candidate’s name to see what she can find out, and go to the candidate’s website and read the bio.

As for websites, all agree that a good one may not get you the gig but a bad one can lose it for you. Ryan recounts an incident with a Web expert she was considering for a presentation.

“He had a pretty good reputation and some interesting things to say about lead generation, and I thought, Gee, maybe… To find out more, I went to his website, but I didn’t stay long. It looked like his nephew had built it for him.”

Traci Browne, president of tradeshow marketing firm Red Cedar Publicity and Marketing, books speakers for organizations, including the Business Marketing Association Philadelphia. She says she looks for online evidence of expertise but will contact the organizers of conferences in which speakers have presented to before to find out what the audience response was.

Says Browne, “In this day and age of Flip cameras, it is almost not acceptable to not have a video sample of your presentation—or several samples. We’re not looking for high production values; we just want to see if you’re a good speaker or not. A video will show us how dynamic you are.”

Lloyd-Martin says she tries to get a sense of a person’s personality and what that person will be like in front of an audience. She also emphasizes that title and position do not guarantee someone is going to be a good speaker (a statement that everyone I interviewed agrees with).

“We’ve had really high-level executives read straight from their notes, which the audience does not enjoy. They might have a fantastic message, but if people tune out, it gets lost,” Lloyd-Martin says.

To avoid that scenario, she taps her network to find someone who has heard the person speak before or has been on a panel with that person. If she doesn’t have contacts, she said, she might dig into what the person has done online.

“Everyone’s an expert and being promoted as [an] expert. But if I go online and find that the person has never written on their topic, and I can’t find any information about them beyond LinkedIn, I have to wonder if they are really who they tout themselves to be,” she says.

Make Contact

How people want to be contacted varies. For example, Ryan prefers to be contacted directly by the speaker, rather than by a public-relations (PR) person or handler.

“Talking directly to the presenter allows me to start a relationship as well as to get a sense of what that person is going to be like for a broadcast.”
She doesn’t have much patience for candidates who play hard to get. Case in point:

“If a Guy Kawasaki [founder and managing director of Garage Technology Ventures and co-founder of Alltop] or Seth Godin [best-selling author and renowned speaker] can pick up the phone and call me directly…” Lloyd-Martin doesn’t mind working with representatives but cautions, “Build a relationship with me but don’t hammer, or I’ll be thinking, If I bring on this speaker, I’ll be bringing on this obnoxious PR person, too. Can I handle that? All agree it’s a good idea to ask what the preferred form of contact is in the initial email and to abide by it.

Browne urges candidates not to underestimate the power and purpose of the online proposal application form, which she uses as a screening tool. “If speakers can’t be bothered to fill out the form, chances are they won’t put much thought into their presentation, either.”

All agree that if there is an online submission form, it’s safe to assume that is the way the organization prefers to receive your application. Other things on which the interviewees agree: (1) Email is the best way to make initial contact, and (2) dispense with the clever subject line (which might be construed as spam) and get right to the point.

If you don’t hear back within a few days, it’s acceptable to send a follow-up email. If there is still no response, then call the person to make sure the email has been received and didn’t get caught in a spam folder. Remember to leave your email address on the voice mail so the person can check.

Pet peeve: people who enable email return receipts. Don’t.

Engage

Browne says proposals from association members and those who have a booth at the show definitely carry more weight. Her advice: “If you do get a booth, rather than staffing it with a salesperson handing out tchotchkes, consider offering free 20-minute mini-consultations to discuss solutions to pain points of participants who might be prospective clients.”

Similarly, Ryan says, MarketingProfs recruits first from its network of member contributors and often will invite candidates to write an article for the site to gauge interest in the topic based on click-throughs and reader feedback.

* * *

Helena Bouchez is principal and owner of Helena B Communications

An important element of your business is testimonials.  I teach my clients to collect their testimonials from their speaking engagements and add them to their marketing packets, blogs. flyers and websites.

LinkedIn has a recommendation section where you can write testimonials about your colleagues.  The following testimonials came from LinkedIn.

Here is how I will use them:  Posting it right here on my blog, adding it to my speaking coaching page on my website.

It is tricky to say I am the greatest…however, if you use a third party endorsement you can say Executive Coach, so and so said ….. Now you can add it to your bio and speaker introduction.

I love the following words.  This is how my colleagues and clients rate me on LinkedIn.

Qualities: Great Results , Personable, Creative, Expert , Good Value, Integrity

“Susan is a brilliant, dedicated and enthusiastic teacher and coach. She has helped my sister to develop professional skills in public speaking, in front of live groups and on video. Her seminars and newsletters are chock full of invaluable information yet despite her popularity, Susan treats everyone as a unique and important individual. I would highly recommend her.”
- Sigrid Macdonald, Writer , Freelance

“Susan offers a great deal of information at an affordable price. Her speaker services calls and services offer a great deal of support for speakers.”
- Jeanette Chasworth, Interior Designer

“Susan helps speakers grow in their skills and marketing capabilities. She invests her time, energy, passion and expertise to develop others. I worked with Susan at a speaker showcase and video production session in Beverly Hills, and got fantastic results from the event and the video. I highly recommend Susan to anyone who wants to boost their speaking career to the next level.”
- Gene Mage, Speaker

“Susan provides a toolbox of services and experts for the business person or author who wants to develop a revenue stream from speaking engagements. I used both her training and directory and more than doubled my speaking revenue in less than 90 days.”
- Betty LaMarr, Executive Coach, Speaker

“Susan Levin will push you into greatness. She knows what needs to be done to help you and she will make sure you get there. She has an amazing capacity to attract some of the best speakers and teachers to her seminars.”
- Gurutej Khalsa

“I had the occasion to refer a client to Susan and Speaker Services. The reports from my client were glowing, beyond her expectations. She reported tremendous value from the experience with Susan. I will refer to her again and again.”
- Rory Cohen, Founder and President , Entelekey, Inc./Take 10 now

“Through her web site, www.speakerservices.com, I have received several speaking invitations which turned into contracts. Susan is well connected in the speaking community and is willing to share her connections and vast knowledge. Whenever ANYONE asks me how to begin a public speaking career my FIRST recommendation is that they visit Susan’s web site and join her networks. Susan has also given me a great deal of personal advice which has helped me go forward in my career as a speaker and consultent. I am honored to know Susan and to have the opportunity to work with her.”
- Michael Hingson, Speaker

“Susan is a great resource for anyone who wants to expand their talents in speaking and writing. I have worked with Susan on several occasions and she has always been helpful with great advice. You can count on Susan to give you un-biased advice that is in your best interest. Her company, Speaker Services is worth your investment if you want to become a speaker or writer for profit.”
- Steve Martinez

“I first met Susan at a meeting for the National Speakers Association and heard her speak. She offers wonderful services for anyone who is thinking about becoming a speaker professionally. I recommend her services highly.
- Basia Chris, Marketive”

“Susan is just amazing at getting new speakers up and running in the profession.”
- Debra Valle, Coach

“Susan’s years of experience pay off! She is able to help clients always create a professional product that will take them to the next step on the way to their goals.”
- Camille Leon, President , WAVEgeneration

“Susan has a tremendous wealth of knowledge pertaining to the speaking world. Her events are extremely entertaining and filled with useful information from people at the highest peak in their speaking careers. I was introduced to Susan three years ago at the start of my new career. I wanted to learn how to become a more effective speaker, however life and mainly fears gave way to me avoiding a phone call to Susan. That changed a year ago when I enrolled in the Speaker’s Bootcamp. Along with Jack Barnard, Susan has taught me so much that week about the art of speaking but mainly, the spirit within me to capture my audience. I highly encourage anyone interested in learning about how to become a speaker to contact Susan and her band of merry teachers. You will be a better person for it; even just to be in her network.”
- Keav Ung , Financial Consultant , Retirement Benefits Consulting

“Susan does such an amazing job of putting on seminars that really help people improve their speaking abilities and effectiveness in any environment. She also has an ability to attract great people to her workshops so that you are surrounded by high level instructors and fellow students. I highly recommend her to anyone interested in speaking.”
- Raul Martinez

“Susan is a long-time pro when it comes to helping people get going in the speaking business, and I say that in a good way. She is constantly looking for ways to help new speakers get their acts together-literally-and to help them create successful speaking businesses. The people she hires to help her are all.”
-Alan Stafford

“Susan is incredibly generous in sharing her knowledge. Her private consultations yield great results. She also creates powerful events with wonderful networking opportunities as well as top-flight experts in the speaking industry. Susan has a deep commitment to offering high value at reasonable prices – I highly recommend her and Speaker Services!”
- Moira Shepard

“I would strongly recommend Speaker Services to anyone who is thinking about using speaking in public to enhance their business. Susan is professional, available, knowledgeable, generous and I always had an excellent return on my investment from Speaker Services!”
- Jessica Waters [Duquette]

“Susan is a tenacious networker. This manifests itself both through her exhaustive online as well as offline projects. She really spends all day, every day, keeping her ear to the ground to be aware of opportunities, best business practices and the latest useful tidbits. While this would have the potential to be distracting in another individual, in Susan it creates a comprehensive knowledge of the speaking industry at all levels and from all points of view.”
- Sam Levy, Netman

“Susan Levin is an expert in the field of Speaking and Training and has truly helped me launch my speaking career. In addition, she has connected me with phenomenal speaking opportunities and wants to see all of her clients and business associates succeed. I highly recommend Susan and her company, Speaker Services!”
- Ursula Mentjes, Author, Speaker

“I have taken Susan’s Media Speak, Speaker Summit and Market Yourself as a Speaker workshops. Susan offers AMAZING value and goes above and beyond to make sure that her students are successful. Her speaker listings are excellent. I recommend Susan as a top professional as well as a compassionate and caring person.”
-Carole Hodges, Speaker, Coach

“Susan has a passion and dedication to helping business people demonstrate their expertise through speaking and getting media attention. She knows the best people and is a wonderful resource. She really wants you to succeed.”
- Dr. Jeanette Raymond, Therapist

“Susan has been an invaluable resource for me. Because of Susan, my presentation skills have increased, my confidence as a speaker has increased and she has introduced me to wonderful people who have been tremendously helpful in other ways. This includes media experts, radio and TV hosts, etc. In addition, the video demo on my website was done by her company. If you want to make speaking a career or use speaking as a vehicle to enhance your business, choose Susan Levin as your # 1 resource.”
- Todd Creager, Therapist, Author, Speaker

“Susan is a great coach in professional development. I’ve learned a great deal from Susan Levin and her organization on public speaking presentations, self promotion, and marketing. I highly recommend her for your professional needs.”
- Susan Orosco

Just thought I would let you know that I have been getting hit after hit after hit on a comment I made on a CNN article on Professional Speaking for a living. EVERYBODY wants to know how to get their name out there.  I am letting the folks who contacted me regarding a career in speaking know about your services and the upcoming Speakers Summit. The support I have received from you has TRULY paid off.
- Marja Lee Freeman

Susan Levin is a marketing consultant for speakers and authors.  She is the owner of Speaker Services since 1992.  The online directory Speaker Services brings speakers and audiences together.  She can be reached at susan@speakerservices.com

Carmine Gallo  BusinessWeek

Practice makes perfect. Get in front of an audience by teaching a class or lecturing at conferences, libraries, or service clubs

New York real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran is a featured judge on Mark Burnett’s new ABC business reality show, Shark Tank. You might be familiar with Corcoran’s story—turning a boyfriend’s $1,000 loan into the Corcoran Group, a $5 billion real estate empire. You might be less familiar with how she became an effective public speaker. It’s simple, really. Corcoran recognized her weaknesses and sought every opportunity to overcome them.

After entering real estate, Corcoran was asked to give a speech to a banking group. During it, she froze up and couldn’t finish. The next morning, she decided to teach herself how to be a better speaker and signed up to teach a course at New York University. “Losing my voice at that speech was wonderful. I was rewarded for not being a good communicator,” Corcoran once told me when I interviewed her for one of my books. Great speakers are not born. They work at it. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell suggests it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be world-class at a particular skill. Well, you’ll never practice speaking and presenting that much if you don’t pursue every opportunity to refine your skill. Follow Corcoran’s lead, and decide on a topic or two you can teach an audience about. Then consider colleges and universities in your area as well as other venues where you can put yourself in front of a live audience.

Conferences. Aaron Wheeler owns a luxury real estate firm serving the San Francisco and Las Vegas markets. He routinely gets himself invited to conferences around the country by pitching organizers directly or filling out “call for presenters” forms online. Although few conferences pay Wheeler to share his expertise about leveraging technology for real estate marketing, they sometimes reimburse him for his travel or offer free access to the conference. But Wheeler says he doesn’t speak to get paid. Instead, his presentations help him sharpen his presentation skills. “I’ve learned how to engage the audience by being more concise and to give more frequent and more effective demonstrations of the technology I’m featuring,” says Wheeler. He has learned that audiences don’t want to hear him sell himself. Instead, they want to hear specific tips that they can use immediately. “Attendees can vote with their feet. If you’re not providing meaningful content, they’ll walk to the next room and you won’t be invited back.”

Libraries. There are more than 100,000 libraries in the U.S., and most host events by local authors and experts. While authors understand that libraries provide valuable exposure for their books, few business professionals take advantage of the fact that you don’t need to have written a book to speak at your local library. Libraries are constantly looking for experts to share their knowledge. No, they won’t pay you, but you can improve your speaking skills while giving something back to your local library. It’s also exposure for you and your business; many libraries promote their events to thousands of patrons via e-mail, newsletters, and local newspapers. (You can learn about libraries’ resources for entrepreneurs in this story.

Civic and business organizations. Chambers of Commerce and Rotary and Kiwanis clubs are always looking for guest speakers. These groups typically promote speakers in advance, so your audience is typically very receptive—the people want to be there to learn something. It’s also great marketing for you. The key, however, is to pitch yourself as someone who offers valuable advice—not someone who has something to sell. Wendy Gutshall, special events manager for the Pleasanton (Calif.) Chamber of Commerce recommends that you get in touch with the events person at your local chamber and pitch a talk with a strong business hook. Explain clearly and concisely just how your subject matter applies to members of that particular organization and how those members will benefit from your talk. “Above all, never make a sales pitch,” Gutshall reiterates. “We look for strong content and relevant advice.” This is the most important distinction between an inspiring speaker and one who never gets invited back. The former share information; the latter sell themselves.

Houses of worship. Matt Montague is a PR pro in the Finger Lakes region of New York. About 10 years ago, Montague messed up when trying to describe his client’s public relations plan. “I froze completely for a very long minute. It was embarrassing and unprofessional,” he told me. Montague volunteered to be a lector at his local church. Speaking in front of hundreds of people for the Sunday readings “helped with voice control and gave me the confidence of facing a large audience without fear. Once you can speak to that many people, you can speak in front of anyone.” (Montague has spoken at masses with 1,200 people). Montague is not alone. Several business owners have written me recently, each with a story of speaking at church helped them overcome their fear of public speaking or helped them improve their skills.

All of these venues are great places to practice public speaking regardless of your level of skill. The first steps are to determine what you can teach your audience then seek out regular opportunities. By doing so, you’ll be on track to give a good business presentation when the next make-or-break moment arrives.

Carmine Gallo is the communication skills coach for the world’s most admired brands. He is a popular speaker and the author of several books including Fire Them Up! His upcoming title, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience, will be published by McGraw-Hill in October. More of Gallo’s columns are available in his ongoing series.

Speaker Services offers marketing and training services.  Check it out.

Lisa Sasesvich, The Invisible Close Queen

From prehistoric cave drawings that portray the hunt to the latest innovation in movies, storytelling has been a constant. In fact, if you think about it, in every technological era, the inventions that help us better tell a story are just as enduring as those that assist us with more basic needs.

Given that the need for stories seems to be hard-wired in our brain, it’s not surprising that they would be potent tools during presentations. Stories told well offer many benefits, including:

- Perking up the audience, which becomes more attentive.
- Emotionally impacting the audience, connecting them with their hearts.
- Enhancing your credibility by providing social proof of the benefit of your product or service.
- Conveying benefits far better than a list of facts.
- And, they’re easy to remember. The story (and your offering) is what the audience will take away.

Before I tell you how to tell a killer story, first, let me correct a common error. When you’re presenting information about your product or service, choose about three key points. A big mistake I see is people shoving 30 different points into a talk. That overwhelms and confuses the audience. Remember, a confused mind says no.

After you choose your three or so points, illustrate each one with a story that conveys a benefit about your product or service.

It’s also important to prepare your stories carefully in advance to make sure you truly love telling them and that they touch your audience in the way you desire.

Here are a few additional ways to tell a powerful, interesting and effective story. To give credit where credit is due, these guidelines are a hybrid of teachings I picked up many years ago from trainings I participated in with Landmark Education and PAX Programs, Inc.

1. Start with real “material” from your or another person’s life. This will usually be something that happened as a result of implementing your system or service — something that would not have happened otherwise. For example, let’s say you offer a weight loss program and one of your three points is your powerfully effective exercise component. You show that powerful effectiveness by telling the story about the family you worked with who all together lost 200 pounds. And you focus, especially, on the daughter, who went from having a difficult time at school to gaining friends and social standing and truly transforming her life.

2. Construct your story in a BEFORE and AFTER model. If the story is about yourself, think about how you were before you learned what you learned or did what you did. Using the weight loss example, perhaps you, yourself, lost 100 pounds. What was your life like before you lost all that weight and how has it changed?

3. Don’t summarize! Savor the opening. Take your time. And provide memorable, pertinent details. For example, going back to your young client, perhaps she’d always wanted to run for student government but lacked the confidence to try. You fully explore her story, provide details about her unhappiness, and then, how after her success with your program, she ran for student body president and won! Tears rise in the eyes of your audience, who relate so much to that girl’s struggle and celebrate her (as well as their own possible) success.

4. Did you make “the point?” After you think you have constructed your story well, tell it to several friends. Ask them if the point is clear, if they were able to follow you, and if the story significantly increased their interest in what you offer. If not, keep working on it or, perhaps, find a better story.

Remember, it’s about making an impact, demonstrating the power of your offering in a way that touches the audience’s heart. Because, as I wrote in a recent Nugget, from their heart is where your prospects should buy.

Sales-from-the-podium expert Lisa Sasevich has x-ray vision for seeing the sales opportunities that exist in every company, and the creativity to convert them into gold! If you’re looking for simple, quick and easy ways to boost sales without spending a dime, get your FREE Sales Nuggets now at www.theinvisibleclose.com.

One inexpensive but effective marketing tactic that many consultants and service providers use is speaking in front of target audiences. They find that speaking engagements help them to build awareness of their business.  Speaking has a lot of benefits:

-  Opportunity to talk to a group of potential referrals and future clients

- Helps to establish you as an expert for your topic or field of interest

- More effective than just attending a meeting and networking

How do you get those speaking engagements?  One way is by using a speaker sheet, which can be compared to a sell sheet or spec sheet for a product.  A speaker sheet is also called a Speaker Fact Sheet or “One-Sheet“.

They are designed for meeting planners to quickly review information needed for booking the speaker. The speaker sheet should show how you are an expert in a certain area. It’s a sales tool to aid in getting speaking engagements.

Speaker One Sheet: Preliminary Planning

The goal of your one sheet (also known as a a onesheet, onepage, one page, one pager, promotional sheet, etc) is to present a visual representation of you, your topic(s) and what you will deliver to an audience—in a condensed, easy to disseminate format. Your one page is about YOU the speaker and your presentation, not your company or a sales piece on the services your company offers.

A one sheet should be:

- Be visually appealing and professional

- Give the reader an impression of what the audience will “feel” when you speak

- Generate interest in you, your topic and what is unique and special about your presentation

-  Show value and results

-  Provide credibility

-  Provide a way to contact you or your bureau for additional information

-  Be only one page. (one or two sided)

- Be printed professionally on high quality paper and you need to have an online PDF version. The online version is becoming the most important these days. But some people still request hard copies.

Tip:  5-7 bullet points of the benefits of your presentation.  What’s in it for the audience.

ie: Design an electronic presentation package that attracts meeting planners to hire you

Use action words-verbs that paint a picture.  For example:abolish, accelerate, achieve, adopt, align, assess, avoid, capture, choose, connect, create, define, deliver, develop, discover, eliminate…

Speaker Services is offering a one day workshop in Los Angeles on July 11, 2009 with Sheryl Roush Solid Gold One Sheets and guest writer Jean-Noel Bassior 

Sheryl Roush, Marketing Design Expert, Int’l Speaker & Trainer, 12-time Author, Sparkle Presentations, Inc. www.SparklePresentations.com

The fee is $325 through July 1 thereafter $425 (includes 30 minute consultation with Sheryl).

Learn more/register

Listen to a teleclass with Sheryl talking about Solid Gold One Sheets.  Click here to listen

I have to say this was by far one of the best events that I ever produced.  We had 20 speakers, 75 attendees over three days and the feedback was fabulous.

Save the dates for 2010 Summit, April 30, May 1 & 2, 2010.

Today I am going to share the handout that Marilyn Snyder provided for the Summit attendees on how to Avoid Death by Power Point. marilynsnyder3.doc

 Marilyn Snyder

Here are some moree photos of the event: 

James Malinchak & Susan Levin

Speaking on how to get booked in the college market

Sheryl Roush, Solid Gold One-Sheets & Sparkle Presentations 

Lisa Castro visiting Speaker Services Table

Ladies at breakfast

Lisa Sasevich, The Invisible Close Queen after her talk

You’ve decided to become a speaker, you have the knowledge, the talent and the desire to share with the world! You have spent hours putting together the perfect presentation and the money to create a speaker kit along with an online presence…now what?

Where will I find the opportunities that will give me more exposure…more credibility?

First, you have to interact with the planners, the organizers, and the media, build relationships, network and let your presence be known…let them know you are the expert, otherwise they won’t even know you exist! It’s like opening up shop in the middle of the woods…no one is going to know your deep in the woods, that you have an excellent service to provide if you don’t let them know! It is important to get yourself out…network…market…let them know you are the expert and while doing so open your mind to all the possible opportunities that are available to you…all the ones that are just laying there waiting for you to grab them!

Opportunities are in abundance for those who know where to find them and how to use them to their advantage…open your mind and heart and you will find them…and be careful because sometimes opportunities can find you and you don’t even realize it until it’s to late…keep your eyes open!

Don’t turn down an opportunity just because you feel it isn’t big enough, or isn’t really your thing because what your doing is shutting the door to a potential opportunity that could have taken your business into the next level.

Opportunities can come in many different forms and those that can find the “hidden” opportunities and use them to their advantage will be the ones that advance in their speaking career much quicker. Don’t be so blinded to an opportunity when it’s looking you directly in the face…open your mind to what could come of that opportunity, where could it take you? How can you leverage it? Sometimes we overlook the smallest thing…the smallest opportunity and not even realizing that it could have been one of the biggest stepping stones to success!

Sometimes opportunities will come to you and they will be visible as day, sometimes they will be hidden and unclear…and more times then not the ones that were unclear and hidden…the ones we weren’t looking for…are the ones that will open the door to new ventures, new opportunities, new relationships and new clients!

Remember great enterprises were built on small opportunities… think about that when your turning down your local rotary club, a fundraiser, an interview, or school function. Look beyond the obvious… beyond the initial dollar sign… you might be surprised what you find!

Being a creative and resourceful business development expert for 23 years Wendi McNeill coaches, encourages, and teaches speakers, coaches and authors how to take the essential baby steps, while completely focusing on one step at a time so they can advance to the next level in their speaking business. www.CharliJane.com

Check out www.SpeakerServices.com   we offer training, marketing and development services to professionals who want to increase their income and business through speaking.

by Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, The Productivity PRO®

You’ve got the talent! You’ve got the ambition! You’re sick of that corporate job!  You’re ready to break out on your own as a professional speaker…or are you? Here are some things to consider before you leave that 9 to 5 job and segue into a professional speaking career:

1. Get real-world experience before you quit the employment ranks.
People always want to know “how I got started” as a professional speaker. You don’t really just “start.” I highly recommend you get some real-world training experience first. My first job in the training profession was as an employee with TRW Defense Systems. Understanding of the role of training vendors in a corporate setting is invaluable when you start approaching prospective clients, and you get paid while you learn. I then taught adjunct courses at the University of Colorado, which gave me skills in Instructional Design. You could teach a class at a Learning Annex, university extension center, or Free University in your area. Next, I presented seminars around the country for CareerTrack, Inc., which gave me a broad understanding of the meetings industry and gave me extensive platform time in front of real learners.

2. Get business training.
I went to college and got my undergraduate and masters degrees in business. The biggest reason people fail when they break into the speaking business is they fail to understand it IS a business. It takes marketing, accounting, technology, customer relations, systems, public relations, and financial savvy to make it work. You have to know how to sell your services, relate to meeting planners and bureaus, back up your presentations with products and many other skills related to managing your company. You will not fail because you’re an excellent speaker; you will fail because you stink in business acumen. If nothing else, take some college business courses for no

3. Get a mentor and some guidance.
The National Speakers Association has local chapters around the country. Each chapter operates a bit differently, but most of them offer some type of “Apprenticeship” or “Fast Track” program for people who are seriously interested in moving into a professional speaking career. For example, in Denver, you can join the NSA/Colorado chapter as an Affiliate (not a professional member) and participate in the “Fast Track” program. Fast Trackers meet once a month, to help people ramp up quickly in the mandatory competencies of platform mechanics, professional awareness and relationships, topic development, and sales and marketing. Many chapters also offer a “Coaching” program, which will pair you with an already-experienced professional speaker to work one-on-one with you for a year. For information on a local NSA chapter in your area, visit http://www.nsaspeaker.org/search/chapter_directory.xpl.

4. Get a mastermind group.
It is incredible helpful to network with a group of people (even across the country) who are on the same journey you are. As you’re getting ramped up, you’ll want to exchange ideas with others who have the same aspirations. Having a mastermind group is like having a personal board of directors for your new company, to give you guidance and shorten your learning curve. An excellent resource is the Academy for Professional Speaking (www.academyforprofessionalspeaking.org), which is a community of experts who want to turn their passion and talent for public speaking into a successful career. The Academy accesses NSA’s vast universe of learning opportunities, friendship, participation and growth. Best of all, it offers you the support of other aspiring speakers and additional seminars and educational opportunities, its own newsletter, and a networking directory of other national members.

5. Get some platform time.
Let me dispel one myth of the professional speaking business. Some people may tell you to never speak for free, which I believe is absolutely ridiculous. When I first started speaking, I would talk to anyone, anytime, who would listen to me speak. I had a really nice collection of coffee mugs going from all the rotary groups I visited. There are many service clubs in your area that are in desperate need for a speaker each meeting. They can’t pay you, but the objectives in getting started in the business are to meet people and SPEAK. Alan Weiss says it beautifully in his book Money Talks (the bible of the industry), “You’re better off speaking for free in front of potential customers than you are not speaking at all in front of no one.” Pick up a copy of your local Business Journal and turn to the “Calendar” section. You will see a list of groups and contact names just waiting for you to speak. Most of these local meetings only require 30-60 minutes of your time, and you can arrange your work schedule accordingly. These programs will allow you to practice and hone your speech before you try to sell it.

6. Get some clients BEFORE you stop moonlighting.
I saw Guy Kawasaki (one of the masterminds behind Apple Computer) speak in LA a few years ago. He said one of the successes of Apple was that they allowed their potential customers to test drive their computers. In the speaking business, you are the product, and you should allow people to “test drive” you too. When they like you, they will eventually buy. When I first started out, I offered free “brown bag” luncheons to large corporate clients as a way to get my foot in the door. You don’t even have to quit your day job! Identify a company you’d like to work with, call the main number, ask for the person who handles employee training and development, call that person, introduce yourself, and ask, “Do you sometimes bring in outside training contractors to conduct onsite training seminars?” Be honest. Tell them you are “just starting out” in the business and are offering a complimentary one-hour brown bag seminar as a way to introduce yourself and your product. It’s a good idea to work up a little “one-sheet” on yourself first, so that you have a piece of promotional literature to send. Registering a business name and getting business cards printed up is a good idea while you “moon-light” in this fashion. After giving the presentation, I would ask for a testimonial letter in return to help you start your client list. Having these letters will be very helpful when you start asking for money. After they love you, they will want you back. Get enough of these…and bang…you have enough clientele to support you when you get started.

A little training, a little preparation, a little support…combined with your immense talent…and you, too, can be a professional speaker!

Susan’s Note:  Check out our online directory www.speakerservices.com for connecting with audiences and for training Speakers’ Bootcamp http://www.speakerservices.com/services/thegame.html

The following post is from Graham Moore

Presenting to an audience no matter how small or how large is an important part of the way we do business today. It may be to motivate and influence our team to perform at their best, it may be to pitch for new business, it may be to present proposals to the board, to persuade the customer to buy, it may be simply to convey to others information about a new process or a new idea.

In my work see many presentations and I am so often disappointed by what I see. Almost daily, I see these mistake and it saddens me because I know these people could do so much better.

As a presentation skills coach and trainer, I’ve worked with many people to improve the impact of their presentations. Often there are some simple changes which people – yes, people like you – can make which significantly increase the impact of the presentations.

But let’s look at the biggest mistakes made by people in business when they are presenting.

1. Not being concise

This is what I call the ‘Waffle and Fluff’ syndrome. How often have you been watching a presentation and the presenter takes so much time to get to the point of is topic and or when they do, they add unnecessary and irrelevant material. It is important that you make it clear up front what you are going to talk about then keep to topic, Sure, there are various tools you can use as a presenter to engage your audience but make sure you are clear on what your message is ? and stay on topic. So cut the ‘waffle’ and ‘de-fluff’* the presentation. (*Fluff ? We could also call this ‘filler’- filling out the presentation but not adding any real value.)

2. Not understanding their audiences’ needs.

If you’re going to be presenting to an audience, it’s important that you understand who they are, what is their level of understanding of what you’re talking about, and what do they need from you. Do your research before you present. It’s often a very simple thing to do and will make your task easier and make your presentation a ‘fit’ for the audience.

3. Relying on PowerPoint

We’ve all seen it – the presenter who not only has a lot of material on the PowerPoint presentation (Far too much detail to be read on the screen!) but he or she reads the PowerPoint material as each slide comes up. It’s as if they’ve written their all presentation on PowerPoint and then simply read it to the audience. PowerPoint is an aid to the presentation, it should be used to enhance what you are saying and, by following a few simple rules, can be a very effective enhancement to help convey the message. But when the person reads everything on the slide – or has too much on each slide – they lose the audience’s attention. Nothing will kill your presentation quicker – that’s why it’s called ‘Death by PowerPoint’.

4. Not engaging their audience

Engaging the audience is of important if we want to have any sort of impact. How can you sell, persuade, influence or motivate if you don’t have the audience engaged? Engaging means they will want to listen to you, they will want to take on what you are saying, they will be motivated. If they’re not engaged, they are just sitting there waiting for you to finish. So how do we engage our audience? Well, there are a number of ways – and they’re easy to do.

Three of the ways are 1. Being concise (See above) 2. Understanding your audience (see above again) and 3. Effective use of PowerPoint.

Even by simply looking at each person, you will increase the level of engagement. But there are other ways – and they’re not hard to incorporate in your presentations.

5. No call to action

The purpose of any business presentation, indeed any presentation at all, even if it’s to the Mother’s Group or the PTA, has a purpose. You have an objective in making that presentation. You may want them to buy your product, accept your proposal, take on and act on the new information or be inspired and motivated to change their behavior. Many presentations end with what can only be called a ‘whimper’. It’s as if the person making the presentation is so glad it’s nearly over that they just want to finish and sit down. They are missing the all-important ‘call to action’. If you’re not incorporating a call to action at the end of your presentation, you should take time to learn how to do this – or your presentations will not be effective and get the outcome you are seeking.

You can avoid these big mistakes and set yourself apart from other colleagues and other presenters. Speaking effectively is such an important skill for anyone in business or in the corporate world today and those who take time to sharpen their skills in this area will stand out from the pack, will be more confident and will be more successful in achieving business outcomes.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Graham Moore is a professional speaker and trainer who presents to audiences internationally. With over 15 years experience, he also conducts presentation skills training and coaches professional speakers , managers and executives to improve their speaking and presentation skills. If you’d like to easily and effectively make significant improvements to your speaking and presenting skills in business go to http://mooresuccessonline.com

You may know that I bought a flip video camera and I have been learning how to use it. This past weekend we produced our annual Speakers’ Summit I was able to capture several snippets of the various programs. I will share one of the videos with you in my posts for the next week or so.

John Kremer listed tips in his e-zine today about how to use video for marketing. As you will see I am already using the videos I created as he suggested.

Below you can see the short video of Jack Barnard who spoke at the Summit on FOUR-PLAY: THE FUN-DAMENTALS for an ORGASMIC PRESENTATION.

How I plan to use her video is to post the short video on my product page for the mp3. I also put it on youtube on my speaking channel and on Facebook.

Tips oh how to use video

1. Create short videos about your products and services, upload them to your website, and include video links in your press releases.

2. Speakers, create short video snippets of your presentations and post them at your site

3. Use videos to demonstrate how to use your product.

4. Authors, create short little videos that discuss portions of your books.

5. Take visitors on a tour of your website using a screen-capture software program like Camtasia.

6. Shoot your own video of events the media won’t cover, and submit the video to local newspapers and TV stations, many of which offer consumer-generated video at their websites.

7. Use video on a one-page sales letter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, video can close the sale.

8. Generate leads and pull traffic by creating videos and posting them to YouTube and other video-sharing sites.

9. Use video at your blog, or create a video blog on a free WordPress platform.

Jack Barnard, Master Presentation Coach speaking at the Speakers’ Summit08.

We just finished the 5 day Bootcamp and I am always blown away by the comments of the attendees. Eileen Joyce wrote a poem about her experience.

See a very short one camera video that was created at the Bootcamp.  Doug McKee  click here.

See more comments and next Bootcamp Dates. I will be adding some of the short videos that the attendees created soon on the Bootcamp page and here as well.

What happened to me in Jack’s Speakers Bootcamp
I went not knowing quite why
I flubbed a lot of exercises
And had the time of my life

Each day opened something new inside
Although I couldn’t tell you what

Then the day after it ended
I see who I am, what I’m doing and saying
who wants to hear it and what we all get from it!

I’m selling
a way to open your heart—to the secrets it holds
so you can fully express all your pain and your passion.
Start living each day like it’s the last one you have.

I call it Speaking From Your Heart
And we all can do it!

THANK YOU Jack Barnard and fellow beings

Here’s the gang

A one-sheet is one of the most important elements of your presentation packet. Along with a 3 camera video demo and a great one-sheet you are on your way to getting booked. Karen Saunders owner of MacGraphics, a design firm weighs in today about one- sheets.

They’re the workhorses of any marketing program. They hit the streets for you, and they’ve got muscle. Everything you want someone to know about your expertise and services – all in one place. So if you don’t have one, you’ve got to get one!

Picture this: You take the time to get involved in various networking groups – or maybe you do some cold calling – or maybe you happen to meet someone who may have a genuine need for a person just like you. So now what? Well, there’s a simple and effective way to share your expertise. And it’s called a one-sheet.

Here are seven questions that a typical decision-maker would ask you in person at a first meeting, so get ready to answer:

- How would you describe your area of expertise?
- Who are your presentations designed for, or what type of people do you work with?
- If we hire you, what are the benefits for the leaders of the organization? For the participants in the ranks? For organizational progress?
- What have you done that makes you such an expert?
- Which groups have you worked with before?
- What did participants think of you?
- How can we reach you for more information?

Now that you know what questions they will ask, there’s a clever formula to including all of these elements in your one-sheet.

You’ll cover all the bases if you include the following points:

- The topics/programs you address
- Who you target audience is
- Benefits (put them right in the headlines)
- Your biography
- A client list
- Testimonials
- Contact information (list it all – phone, fax, email, website)

And don’t forget the secret ingredient – you. Even if you have all of these other elements in place, the icing on the cake will be your own personality.

Let me give you an example. My client, Doug Butler, is a speaker whose message is “Cowboy Wisdom”. I’ve built his one-sheet around the western cowboy theme, and it’s now part of his brand. We included lots of cowboy graphics, an action shot of him with a lasso, and a portrait shot of him wearing a cowboy hat with his guitar. His one-sheet reflects his personality, and it’s what participants want from him.

You’ll add credibility if you can include logos to show your affiliation with any industry or professional organizations that will be recognized by your target market. Be sure to include your own logo along with a clever tag line. Doug uses this tag line: “Forge a firm foundation with Doug’s tried-and-true Cowboy Code.”

But these techniques don’t stop with the one-sheet. You can carry them over to all your other marketing materials! With these must-have elements in your one-sheet, you can turn your prospects into sales, and watch your revenue grow!

Karen Saunders is the owner of MacGraphics Services, a unique design firm for today’s entrepreneur. Whether you outsource your promotional pieces or are a do-it-yourselfer, Karen takes the mystery out of marketing.

Note: At the Speakers’ Summit, May 2 and 3 in LA- One Sheet Expert, Sheryl Roush will be talking about Solid Gold One Sheets along with 5 other expert speakers. Join us and bring 2 friends for a modest investment of $397 total. Click here to learn more.

One of the biggest mistakes speakers make is offering too much information in their programs. Somehow speakers seem to think that they have to give more then less so that their audience will get it! Check out the video below that TJ Walker did on Data Dump Before You Speak.

Another thing happens too-the presenters forget to involve the audience and when the audience is not involved what happens? They tune out.

Here are a few suggestions for organizing your presentation:

- In an hour talk have 3 to 4 points

- Support your points by telling stories that the audience can relate too

- Involve the audience by asking questions and don’t forget to repeat their answers so everyone can hear them

- Create a simple partner exercise that supports your point and don’t forget to ask a few folks what their experience was and don’t forget to repeat their answers

There is much to learn about organizing your presentations. And if that is not enough you also need to connect, have confidence and of course content. We call that the holy triad.

If you are interested in learning more about great presentations join us for the 3rd annual Speakers’ Summit in LA on May 2 and 3. I am offering an unheard of fee to attend $397 and bring 2 guests. Do you know anyone who might be interested? This is a once a year event. Please look closely at the program

Jack Barnard, my partner will be talking about the THE MAGIC OF SPEAKING IS INVISIBLE at the Summit. He says, “You can have all the outside stuff together, you can be fire-branded, media-trained, slickly structured; have well-designed, colorful one-sheets, possess a commanding voice, connect like peanut butter and jelly, and look like Dr. McDreamy…but if you’re not truly cozy surfing the present moment, results are compromised. It’s all about the present moment. That’s where the promise of speaking and presentation is brilliantly delivered.”

And that is only one of his talks. The other talk is quite racey and I am sure it will get your attention. Are you ready for this? FOUR-PLAY: THE FUN-DAMENTALS for an ORGASMIC PRESENTATION

My colleague T J Walker has a short video with great tips click here to listen Data Dump Before You Speak

He says, “If you want people to fall asleep while you speak, cover 38 facts and 27 bullet points. However, if that information is really important TJ has a solution.”

by Burt Dubin http://www.speakingbizsuccess.com

Here’s how to make every presentation lead to requests for you to speak again at other events. Make building your reputation and enhancing your perceived value the primary function of every presentation.

Here are seven tested, proven methods I’ve discovered from my study of the skills of the masters of the professional speaking business. Use this concentrated wisdom to improve your speaking business skills from booking to booking!

1. Satisfy the decision maker and the meeting planner

- With your skills, credentials, experience, books, articles, and media coverage.
- Make your program description show exactly what your presentation delivers.
- State your recommendations, guarantees, and endorsements.

2. Exploit your window of opportunity

With associations that have annual meetings, make your initial contact about one month after their last annual meeting. Ask when their planning starts for the next meeting. Ask when the theme is selected. The time window for booking your presentation opens at that point. This window to book more speeches lasts as little as one month.

Decisions on keynote speaker and other general session presentations are made first. This may be 3 months before Breakout Session presentations are selected.
Study your market and know that market intimately. Think like your market’s decision makers think. Get the right promotional materials before the right person at the right time. It is a critical to demonstrate your professional skills at this time.

3. Give decision makers and meeting planners the value they want

- Provide in-depth knowledge, wisdom, and strategies on a topic or issue that is hot at the time.

- Offer two, sometimes three programs. For example, offer a keynote speech for the major program followed by a breakout session addressing the “how-tos”.

- Offer also to speak on a panel or lead a presentation to senior executives. Use your skills and ingenuity. Deliver extra value. Offer pre-event presentations or training, too. Add value every way you can.

4. Generate areas of expertise

Topic expertise. Get known as the skilled specialist – the expert who speaks.
- Platform artistry. Showmanship skills are everything.
- Promotional expertise. Market yourself professionally.
- Negotiating skills. Make their booking you win-win.
- Credibility as an expert presenter in your topic. (See 5, below.)

5. Develop your credibility
- Become a celebrity.
- Publish articles and books.
- Document your skills and accomplishments; be recognized; earn academic degrees and industry certifications.
- Create a proven track record.
- Develop a client list. Big names are best.
- Earn magnificent evaluations.
- Keep your fees appropriate, even a bit less than you’re worth.
- Seek prestige engagements. Target well-known prospects.
- Answer your office phone professionally.
- Upgrade your promo kit and your brochure.
- Upgrade your demo tapes, both audio and video.

6. Make yourself worthy of higher fees

- Improve your topic expertise, presentation skills, negotiating skills.
- Ask for what you want. Be prepared to reject inappropriate offers.
- Relate any difference in fees to the total meeting budget, total head count at your session, cost of the luncheon or banquet per person.

7. Fit the Budget without altering your fee structure
- Offer multiple programs at the same engagement.
- Offer multiple engagements of the same presentation.
- Offer to split travel expenses between meetings of other organizations at the same time in the same city.
- Offer a flat fee; combine speaking fees and expenses into one quote.
- Offer a product sale arrangement. Sell product and reduce your speaking fee.
- Offer a separate presentation the next day at no extra charge.
- Find a sponsor. Have a profit-making organization or member sponsor or co-sponsor your presentation, paying all or part of your fee.
- Offer to barter for something they have that you want, for example a free booth at their trade show or a master videotape of your presentation.
- Offer to permit the association to market videos and recordings of your presentations as well as your products and you share the revenue with them.

I’ve been learning how to create video from my mac laptop and here is a very short video message that I created. I want to reach out to my e-audience in a more personal way rather then always via text. Have a look please and let me know what you think. Does it inspire trust-do you get a sense of who I am?

speak-your-way-to-more-biz.mov

Today’s post is by Scott Jeffrey

A speaker’s kit is a brochure to promote your various speaking services (keynotes, workshops, etc). Event planners (sometimes via speaker bureaus), business executives, and small business owners are your most likely recipients. The size of your speaker’s kit will depend on how actively you speak publicly and in what venues. The design of your speaker’s kit should be similar to your media kit, which should be consistent with your website and your overall brand or professional identity.

Here are the various pages and information that you’ll probably want to include:
Keynote Presentation: This is your “flagship” presentation that probably parallels the main topic of your latest book. What’s the title of this talk? Who is the target audience? How will they benefit from hearing you speak?
Seminars: Do you conduct seminars or workshops? What are they called? Do you offer them to businesses and conduct your own venues as well? Who is the target audience? What will they get out of it?
Testimonials: This section is often called “What Others Are Saying.” Although you can create a separate sheet of testimonials from past clients, it may be more effective to sprinkle your testimonials throughout your speaker’s kit.
Past Clients: Where have you spoken before? Having a few high-profile companies under your belt lends credibility to your platform and builds certainty in the mind of a potential client. If you speak frequently, list your top (most recognizable) clients. If not, list your past engagements. This information can be presented with your testimonials or your seminars, or can be listed in the margin of another page.
Biography: The bio included in this kit can be longer and more detailed than the media kit. There’s a good chance that a person looking to spend thousands of dollars to bring you in to speak to his company will want to know more about you. Be sure an appropriate headshot is included on the bio page.
In addition to having your speaker’s kit available for download on your “Speaking” or “Events” web page, you’ll want to have one or two short downloadable videos (two to three minutes) available on the same page. Show prospective event planners what you’re like live.

For an excellent speaker’s kit examples:

Patricia Fripp’s www.fripp.com (click on “For Meeting Planners”).

Tony Alessandra’s Meeting Planners page: www.alessandra.com (click on “For Meeting Planner”)

Marjorie Brody’s www.brodycommunications.com.

Scott Jeffrey is an author coach and the author the 10-CD audio program, Everything You Need to Know to Become a Best-Selling Author. For more information, please visit www.BestSellingAuthor.com.

Listen to a 9 minute audio/mp3 with me Susan Levin talking about the purpose of speaking.

Why-Why do you speak?

Who- Who is your audience?

What- what is your message?

Where- Where you might speak

How-How will you give your presentation?

Included below is a presentation worksheet/checklist for you.

PRESENTATION WORKSHEET

• What are you passionate about?

• What topic creates a great compassion in you for your listeners?

• In one sentence, what is the purpose or mission of the specific presentation you want to work on?

• Who wants to hear it?

• If you have no choice in picking the audience or topic, how can you analyze this audience to find their wants, needs, attitudes, and capabilities?

• Once you’ve made an educated guess about the audience’s attitude, will you need to design the presentation using more benefits or humor?

• Are you prepared? What will it take in rehearsal and study to ensure you will not have stage fright and a fear of making changes in your presentation?

• Are you an expert in the topic area you will present ? What else must you do so you will view yourself as a credible expert?

• What overall theme will you use to substantiate your mission?

• What three or four main points must your listeners take home?
1
2.
3.
4.

• How will you organize the material, what format do you like?
Analogies, Storytelling? Problem, cause, solution?

• What mood does the meeting planner wish to be created with this meeting? Fun? Serious,, Educational? A special dress theme?

• What title have you given the presentation?

• What can you do to ensure your listeners will listen, understand, believe and retain the information?

• What else can you do to ensure you will have rapport with your audience?

This is me Susan Levin with Jack Barnard, Master branding, media and presentation coach at the NSA Convention

Thank you Jack, and fellow booties for helping me dump outdated thoughts, feelings and behaviors and claiming the resourced communicator within!
- Doreen Van Leeuwen, LMFT

The Bootcamp is truly a transformational experience. Jack’s generosity with his skills, knowledge and talents helps everyone make gigantic strides in their speaking abilities.
- Raul Martinez, Mortgage Planner

Jack and Barbara

Betty and Barbara

Bootcamp was indeed an experience. It met my expectations and more. I left with an incredible brand and identified a plan and process for developing speeches and seminars.
- Betty LaMarr, Executive Coach

Jack is the Wizard of Oz for speakers. Every person had a profound transformation and walked away with marketable branding and a solid speech foundation. Thank you Jack, for your heart and soul. We’ll take part of you with us out into the world.
- Barbara Niven, Actress, Writer, Director, Speaker

Darryl

I asked God to bring people into my life that can help me reach others struggling with addictions. I truly believe Jack has moved me to the front of line.
- Darryl Hagar, Merchant Marine Officer, Author

The depth and practicality of this 5-day Bootcamp was as inmpactful as Jack’s passion and personal genius for his topic. Thank you for setting me up as a speaker and helping me create our brand.
- Otto Siegel, Genius Coach, Author

Jack takes us to our growing edge and pushes us beyond it.
- Rik Isensee, Author, Therapist

I had an eye opening experience. Jack is the master coach of masters.
- Roy Brown, Speaker

January Jones

The Booties 8/07

What a great group of folks

Angie and Marlin

In 5 days Jack unraveled and untangled 20 years of insecurities. He took me on a journey into authenticity which (to my surprise) revealed an inner strength that I didn’t know was available.
- Angie Milhous, Speaker, Change Your B.S.

Jack has the unique ability to quickly identify, understand, extract and teach his students the true messages they most desire to speak about… The Speakers’ Bootcamp was the perfect forum to obtain the necessary skills to learn the magic of speaking.
- Marlin Keesler, Author, Our Life on the Run

Susan (me) talking about marketing yoursef as a speaker

Jack teaching

Jack and Carlos

The phone rang the other night at 10pm and it was one of our new speakers calling in a panic. The message was, I need to talk to you right away, I got a call to speak out of state and I don’t know how much to ask for a speaking fee-help!

When I responded, I asked her a few questions ie: what’s the budget and who is the group? She answered the later but didn’t know what the budget was nor did she know how to negoiate a fee plus put together a contract.

I sent her a sample contract (I included one for you below) along with a pre-program questionairre and offered suggestions on how to speak to the meeting planner.

Yesterday, I was teaching marketing skills at the Speakers’ Bootcamp and shared the same information with our “booties”. BTW: Tomorrow is the 5th and last day for the Bootcamp and we’ll be offering it again in March ’08.

Here I am talking about negotiating fees

Here are a few tips on how to negotiate fees

- Have a small form made up and ready when potential customers call. List: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. When they ask you to speak for their group, smile and say “Tell me more.” After you get all the rest of the information ask this question: “What is your budget for this program?”

- When clients say they need to negotiate and reduce your fee, do not give them a bargain price for no viable reason. Find a way to exchange value for value. When you do this, customer will have respect for you and the quality of your services you offer. If you do not value your work, no one else will.

Reasons to Consider a Lower Fee

- Showcase Opportunities to Prospective Buyers: If working for this client has marketing opportunities for other speaking, consulting, or product sale. Audiences of speakers bureau representatives, meeting planners, and association or corporate executives fall into this group.

- Barter part or all of your fee: If the client has a service or product that is of real value to you, barter part or all of your fee in exchange. Speakers have traded speeches and seminars for new automobiles, long-distance dialing credits, boats and many other valuable things!

- Exchange part of your fee for an ad in their company or association publication: If the audience might prove a good market for your books, cassettes, products, and other services. An ad is a concrete value which has a price which you can negotiate.

- Exchange part of your fee for an ad their event program brochure. These ads can bring you cash sales. An ad is a concrete value which has a price which you can negotiate.

Talking to the “booties” about marketing

Sample Invoice for Payment & Agreement to Engage

Description or title of the event:

Date(s) of engagement:

Time Frame for presentation:

Location:

Correspondence, billing etc shall be directed through:

The client, _________ agrees to pay _________ (speaker)
the following fee of $______. In order to secure the engagement date, a
non-refundable 50% deposit in the amount of $2,000, or full fee less 10%
discount in the amount of $3,600 is due within ten (10) working days upon
the receipt of this agreement. The balance of $2,000, if applicable is due
by ______

The engagement is confirmed only when payment and signed
agreement is received by (your name) _________________________.

Payable
to_________________________Address________________________
Phone ______________ Tax ID#________________________________ .

Travel expenses from ______________ to __________, and two nights hotel
accommodations, to be pre-arranged and paid for by the client Other out of
pocket expenses such as meals, ground transportation, etc to be reimbursed
by client. Client consents to having any products (books and tapes) (name) ________ displayed and available for purchase at, or just outside the room
where his presentation is held, All proceeds go to (your name) ______, unless
client wishes to order products wholesale for resale of the event.

Because of the potential loss of income and travel complications for(your name)_______, if the engagement needs to be rescheduled by the client, (your name)_________ must be notified at least 45 days before the event, or a surcharge of 20% will be added to the total fee.

Cancellation within 45 days of the event carries a surcharge of 35%, in
addition to the deposit, plus all expenses incurred by (your name) ______ in
preparation for this event. Al late fee of 10% of the balance applies if
the balance is not paid by the due date.

If (your name) ______ is unable to deliver the work to be performed due t illness, injury, or an act of God, the client can either reschedule the engagement,
or receive a full refund of any fees paid.

Reservations for two nights accommodations will be made at _________________

Transportation from the airport provided by _________________________

Transportation from the hotel to the meeting site provided by_______________

If questions arise, Mr. ______________needs to contact _________________
Phone number: ___________________ E-Mail: _________________________

Approved by the client, signature ________________________

title______________________ date ______________________

Approved by Mr. _____________ signature and date________________________

Here are several suggestions on mapping out a marketing plan for your speaking business.

Also an article on what meeting planners look for when hiring a speaker with tips on video demos too.

Establish yourself as an expert through speaking – a powerful marketing tool that lifts your business or service to the next level. Begin now to build a profitable speaking business that gets your message out to the world.

- Design an irresistible presentation kit that makes meeting planners want to hire you.
In this kit would be your one-sheets for each topic you speak on

- Customize your talks with targeted pre-program questionnaires

- Launch new product ideas based on solid game-plans

- Produce powerful video demos

- Create powerful websites, blogs and e-zines

What Meeting Planners Look for When Working with Speakers

• Are you easy to work with? The desirable speaker or trainer is organized, professional in all communications, and is flexible as opposed to “whiney” and demanding. Make their job easier and they will use you again and recommend you to others.

• Are you an expert in your topic? They look for a presenter who can communicate effectively with impact, drawing in and captivating the audience.

• Do you take the time to learn about their organization and customize your presentations for their people? They want someone who will take the time to research, and then adapt your presentation so that it is relevant and appropriate to the culture and climate of their organization.

• Do you engage the audience? Decision makers want a presenter who will get the audience involved and invested. They look to see if your audience seems sincerely interested and responsive to you, as opposed to someone who is just tolerated.

• Will you help the company achieve its goals? If their goal is to create long-term change, they need to be convinced that you can accomplish this before they invest in you. If they are looking for entertainment, they want to know that what you do will achieve this for the majority of their people.

• Do you have a video demo? Is it streamed on your website?

A great video demo can be your ticket into places you could have never reached without it. It can increase the number and the caliber of your bookings. It can be sent through the mail, streamed on your website, and even sent by e-mail. For most serious speakers and trainers, it is an absolute necessity for success.

Many meeting planners and executives will not even consider a speaker or trainer without seeing them in action. So your video demo can get you in the door, but then you have one chance to impress your prospect quickly. There is a lot of competition out there, and most professionals have a demo video. To stand out from the pack it’s essential for your video be creatively and intelligently designed, with excellent quality. It can mean a significantly higher income.

It makes sense to invest in a demo, but to increase the return on your investment, you need to design your demo to target, reach and persuade those who have the power to say yes or no to you. With that type of planning, you’re shooting at your target with laser guided precision! Without great planning and execution, you are just shooting arrows with a blindfold on.

Of course every speaker and trainer is unique, so each video should be unique. The tone, pace and image of your video will differ from others because of who you are and what you do. However, there are some basic attributes that appeal to most decision makers. It is up to you and your video production company to communicate that you have those qualities.

Tips on Video Demos:
Your demo video is like a five to seven minute sales call. A quality three camera professionally produced demo video lets your client know that you are a professional, experienced and in-demand speaker. A poor quality video has the opposite effect, and will usually not be watched at all.

• Stream your video and post it on your website so that you can be seen right away.

• Make a CD or DVD of your demo to send out to the planners when it is requested.

A quality demo video can:
- Help you get in the door and past the “gatekeepers” to the decision makers.
- Make a quick and great impression.
- Show your unique style and how the audience responds to you.
- Entice potential clients. Grab their interest so they’ll want to hear more of your presentation.
- Give you a quality tool to reach thousands of potential clients by streaming on the web.
- Increase the caliber of your bookings.
- Get you hired and increase your income!

See streaming video samples of 3 camera video demos that Speaker Services produces for their clients at the Video Demo Showcase. Next showcase is November 4, 2007.

Welcome to Market Yourself as a Speaker blog. Dedicated to sharing information with business folk and authors who are interested in using speaking as a way to grow their business.

I am Susan Levin a marketing consultant for speakers and authors. I was one of the first 1500 people to have a website in 1994. I have assisted thousands of people with their speaking careers for the past 15 yrs.

www.speakerservices.com is my website which brings speakers and audiences together. Unlike a speaker bureau I do not take commissions however, I do charge a fee to be listed on our site and all the calls go directly to the speakers and they do their own bookings. I feel that given the opportunity to speak to a group of 10-100 is a blessing and a terrific way to attract business.

Speaking is a business and like any business it must be nutured.

In addition to the online directory I offer conferences, symposiums and summits plus video demo showcases.

I have a fantastic team of folks who I work with and I refer to them all the time.

Our E-Zine is archived on my website for the past 5-6 years. It offers great articles and tips and advice as well as leads.

Next time I will share some marketing tips with you.