CarusoBlog

The speaking biz has a more than a little theatre

Composed in Sarasota, Florida-

A speaking engagement has brought me to the gulf side of Florida where my client gave me a special treat.  He arranged a VIP tour of the Asolo Repertoire Theatre. 

During the tour, it occurred to me that the speaking business has a lot in common with the theatre world. 

A "green room," for example, is a place where performers can chill out before going on stage.  The origin of the term is not readily evident, ut it might have something to do with limelight, eh?

"Black box" is a theater term used to describe a simple, unadorned performance space.  Speakers often do their thing in the rather simple surroundings of a hotel meeting room. 

Finally, many theaters use a "phantom light" to illuminate the the stage when shutting the building down.  It's an old superstition that guarantees the stage never goes completely dark. 

Like most speaker/authors, my mind never goes completely dark.  My brain is always churning, trying to figure out weird things such as how to turn a theatre tour into a meaningful blog post.

Keep people from falling asleep when you present

Posted from Hershey, PA--

I'm here in Pennsylvania to keynote a telecommunications conference.  (Photo by Marv Egolf.)

The topic is how to become an industry expert, which may be a bit more interesting than the breakout topics on data infrastructures, call accounting protocol and "What's New in CS1K Rls. 6.0" (actual title).

Someone has fallen asleep in every program I've attended here.

No one falls asleep when I speak. 

And no one will doze when you present, either.  Just use these nifty tricks for being more interesting:

1.  Crank up the volume.  Speak in a loud "cell phone voice."  Occasionally, blurt out a key word in the sam volume you would use to yell for the dog.

2.  Go mobile.  Grab your talking points, a wireless microphone and mosey around the room as you talk.  The podium is not your friend.

3.  Call audience members by name.  This really keeps people on their toes.  Thanks people who organized the event.  Mention the names of people you've been speaking with.  Recognize luminaries in the audience.  It all helps when you're trying to keep people awake.

4.  Make some noise!  Clap your hands, laugh, knock on tables.  Have others speak for a few seconds.  Do whatever you can to break up the monotony of your droning voice.

5.  Tell stories.  People hate bullet points.  People love stories.  Short stories. 

Have fun speaking, everyone!  Learn more from my 30-page e-book on the subject:   http://tinyurl.com/HowToSpeak

What to charge for speaking engagements

Speaking for money is a great way to go.  Unlike the manufacturing and retail industries, a speaker can pretty much name her own price. 

If you are getting started as a speaker and can't decide what to charge, here are some tips.  Remember, a speaker doesn't base his or her price on cost of goods sold.  Rather, a speaker fee is usually based on what the market will bear.  But, if you're new to the game, how do you know the answer to that question?

It should be fairly easy to compare yourself to similar speakers and people who speak at similar events.  Try to attend events where these other people speak so you can gauge your content compared to theirs.

When someone calls to inquire about your fee, delay giving it to them.  Say something like, "I'd love to give you a fair price.  First, please tell me more about your event."

Ask if they have had a speaker at last year's event and if so, who?   This may be an indicator of how much money they have to pay you.  Ask how much money they've have budgeted for a speaker.  Get as much information as possible before quoting your fee.  More rules of thumb:

-  If they have no budget, speak for a stipend and "soft money" benefits like a video recording of your speech or some sort of barter trade.

-  If you can't determine the client's budget, quote a fee based on how many people are attending the event.  If you're just starting out, quote at least $1,000 for speaking to 50 people.  For 100 people, quote $2,000 and for 200 people, quote at least $3,000.

-  Try to not price yourself out of the gig by saying something like, "I'll do my best to work with your budget."

-  Never quote a fee without giving a benefit.

 

For more information on speaking and how it can work for you, consult my 30-page e-book, The Lifestyle of a Speaker/Author.  It's part of my FastLearnerAudio4 program for entreprenuers.

Speakers Get a Lot of Feedback

Professional speakers get tons of feedback.

We may get formally evaluated more than almost any profession.  Conference chairpersons, meeting planners and Human Resource executives love to collect exit evaluations after every program.  This data is then analyzed and computed before it is shared with all concerned.  

I recently spoke to 100 student leaders at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan.  The event was the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA).  Organizers took a tip from me and included this question in the evaluation form:  What one word best describes this event? 

The words included "amazing, educational, empowering, entertaining, exceptional, inspirational, life-changing, motivational, outstanding and  . . .

Phenominal."

The event planners took "phenominal" to mean "phenomenal," a complimentary evaluation, to be sure.

At a follow up meeting, where the speaker was evaluated, yet again, the event's organizers had a good laugh as they jokingly referred to my paycheck as "fee nominal."

Presenting Made Easier; Learn From Your Audience

Composed in Akron, Ohio-

I learn something every time I give a speech.  Why?  My training sessions and keynote speeches are attended by the sharpest and most talented people on the planet.  They teach me what they know and I love it. 

This "reverse-learning" happened in a big way when I recently did some consulting work for a top-rated health insurance provider in Ohio.  I was asked to help their leadership team and sales force become better presenters.  It was a major consulting project and I spent a lot of time with over 70 of the client's employees, reviewing video recordings and offering customized advice on how to get better results from their presentations.  

Two of my trainees really got me thinking.

Human Resources trainer Keir Ulrich explained to me that the root word of facilitation is "facile," which means "easy."  He's right.  According to www.dictionary.com, facile means: 

Main Entry:	facile1
Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	easily accomplished or attained; easy
Etymology:	Latin facilis 'easy to do'

Therefore, a facilitator should make things easy.  This is excellent advice for presenters.

The second flash of brilliance came from a man named Heesoo Kim, a data analyst in the Information Age.  Heesoo says that society has lots of data, but not enough information.  Brilliant! 

And all information is not good information.  Just because something is published on the World Wide Web, doesn't mean it's true. 

Fact checking has become a very important life skill.  How do you tend to check facts?