Maybe you’ve always been someone with influence — someone who loved to stand in front of the class and share your thoughts as a kid. Maybe you've felt energized when speaking in front of groups over the course of your career. Or maybe you just have a story to tell. Regardless of where you’re coming from, there are a few things to know if you’re just getting started in the world of professional speaking.
Here are six of them:
It’s easy to look at a successful speaker on stage and assume that they’re up there because they have some amazing background or story. Perhaps, you think, they landed a break or the perfect agent. Even if they did, the reality is this: That speaker is up there because they put in the work — day in, day out and especially when things get tough.
While resources exist that can help to accelerate your speaking journey, there’s no magic solution that’s going to immediately get you up on stage in front of a corporate audience. Even when you do hit the big stages, you’ll still constantly need to work on refining your content and practice if you’d like to stay there.
Here at ImpactEleven, we like to say that legends do the work. Speakers with established practices know this to be true.
Writing speeches, practicing and getting up to present them is just one part of your work as a professional speaker. You’ll also be building an actual business. You’re not simply landing speeches — you’re selling them. That means you need to understand concepts like demand generation (creating interest in your business), as well as how to structure your speaking fees.
You also have to be willing to invest time and money into your business. You may have to take on early gigs for free just to get the experience, for example. You'll also need to pay for and spend time on critical assets like your website and speaker reel (video promoting your speaking).
A lot of speakers have amazing stories, and it can feel surprising to discover that your words alone won’t carry you up on stage. Committing to building a business around your message? That’s your ticket.
Many speakers come out of the gate thinking they need an agent or speakers bureau to get started. The problem? Oftentimes with agents, you get one chance to make a solid first impression. If you don’t have clarity on your messaging, strong marketing assets (especially your website and speaker reel) and momentum in your speaking, you won’t make the most of that opportunity.
Unless you are a celebrity or someone who has achieved huge success, you will likely be better off waiting before searching for representation.
As you jump into speaking, you’ll learn that agents are only one role to know. You’ll also hear terms like speaker manager, meeting planner and booking coordinator, to name a few. Then you’ve also got speakers bureaus and associations to become familiar with. Understanding what relationships might look like within each of these categories takes some effort as you learn the landscape.
It can feel like quite the juxtaposition to go from speaking up on stage in front of a large audience to eating a ham sandwich by yourself at the airport gate. You’ve likely envisioned the large audience, but as you get going, you’ll find that you actually spend more time flying solo in those travel moments or working on your business behind the scenes.
If you enter professional speaking simply in hopes of a higher paycheck, it can be hard to stick with it. You’ve read about some of the industry’s challenges and can probably see why some people decide to leave. After all, you can generate income in a lot of ways.
But those driven by impact? They tend to have more staying power. When you feel called to share a message that can make a difference in other people's lives, then you really don’t have any choice other than to embrace the industry’s challenges and put in the work.
If this all feels like a lot, that’s okay. Normal, in fact. And if it feels like you want to stick with this, like you’re ready to fully commit to professional speaking despite these challenges, that’s great. We’re here with you every step of the way, starting with this blog. Stay tuned to learn things like how to grow your business, further understand agents, decode this industry and find community, so you can strengthen that impact.
We believe that we’re better together. Let’s go.