Here are some answer to questions I often get asked:
Should
I practice ad nauseam? Not
unless you want to be sick. Practice, yes. Know your stuff intimately, yes.
Practice to the point where you lose your emotional contact with your talk –
never. That’s why a safe, live audience is so good. They’ll keep you on your
toes.
Do
I write my speeches out word for word? For major
new talks yes – to begin with. Then through practice I get comfortable with the
words and the delivery to the point where it looks and feels natural, not put
on. That’s the point where I don’t have to worry about giving the speech word
for word. I try to get to where I am comfortable enough to introduce parts of
other talks if I have to – and they may occur in the middle of the speech
simply because someone may have asked a question or made a comment.
How
many times do I practice a talk? The full
talk, not that often in comparison to the parts of the talk. These I probably
practice more. For instance I may have a section of the new speech stuck to the
bathroom wall and as I’m having a shower I’m practicing that part of the
speech. 30 morning showers a month – 30 practice runs of a part of my speech.
Why
do I compete in contests? Because I’m nuts! No, the real reason
is that every time I compete I’m having to get better. Every time I win I have
to improve because someone wants to beat me. Contests are a chance to deliver
under pressure. They push you to be the very best you can be.
Why
did I become a professional speaker? It wasn’t
because of the money. The money is worth it, even though I’m not anywhere close
to the Anthony Robbins league. But if you get into speaking for the money alone,
than your reason is wrong. Every professional speaker, I believe, wants to make
a difference. Be it to people, to business, to the country or to the world. The
top speakers get paid what they do because they are exceptionally good – but they
get paid more because they are exceptionally good at making a difference.
Have
I ever stuffed up on a presentation? By this
question I gather it was meant as have I really, majorly, seriously stuffed up
in giving a presentation, not just the forgetting a line or such. If so, then
yes, three times that I can recall in 21 years. Once where I felt I didn’t
prepare my stories as well as I could, they weren’t targeted enough to my
audience and even though the client was really happy, I wasn’t as I knew I
could have done far better.
The second time was when I wasn’t prepared enough on a brand new
speech and hadn’t practiced the whole speech enough beforehand. Again the
customer was happy and the comments made afterwards by those there were all
positive – and I was asked back, which is always a good sign. But I knew I
wasn’t as prepared as I should.
The third time was recently, when I was asked to present someone
else’s material. I knew the topic well enough as I had been giving similar
presentations for the past three years on the topic. But I wasn’t as prepared
as I should for the direction and the questions that came throughout the
presentation. This was the only time I have ever refunded a client’s fee payment.
But notice the theme in each of these. Each of them come back to
one thing and one thing only, preparation. It doesn’t matter how new my
material is, or how old and comfortable my presentation is I know I can never,
ever relax and think that I can do this in a breeze. Every speech, every client
deserves my best and that all comes down to preparation.
How do I ensure that I have enough appropriate stories related to
that client – preparation! How do I ensure that all of the sections of my talk
flow and I am comfortable with it – preparation! How do I ensure I know far
more than what I need for a presentation – preparation!
Do your preparation if you want a magnificent presentation.
Can
you make money from speaking? Yes. But I suppose you mean can you
make a living or even a lot of money from speaking? Yes and Yes.
But! (Notice, there always seems to be a but somewhere?)
There are thousands of speakers world-wide, and yet most people
would only ever be able to recall the names of the headliners – Anthony Robbins,
Dr Norman Vincent Peale, Cavet Robert, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Kevin Sheedy, Amanda
Gore etc..
And there is definitely an income difference between these
headliners and the rest. The headliners make the really big dollars, you are
looking at $20,000 - $100,000 plus per talk. The rest of us fit somewhere below
that scale often hovering in the $4,000 to $15,000 mark.
So, yes you can make money from speaking. And here is where the “but”
kicks in. Watch the very best in action and you will see why they are paid the
dollars they are. They don’t just go out and deliver a message. They deliver so
much more. They are polished, natural, fun, serious, challenging, comforting,
inspiring and thought provoking.
They bring something to the lectern; something called presence. They
have a presence that says, before they even speak, “You will want to hear what
I say”. They have a bearing, a confidence that is unstated – it just is. They
own the message. The own the stage. They get to own a bit of you. And you get
to own a bit of them.
They can do that because they know their stuff. They believe their
stuff. They live their stuff. And they have prepared and prepared and prepared
their stuff. It’s not a part time event that they just happen to turn up for.
They are committed professionals who never do second best.
I love watching the Olympics. Every four years the finest athletes
get to perform on the biggest stage in the world. To get to that point often
takes 5 to 10 years of preparation. My son and daughter were swimmers who trained
up to two times a day, six days a week; doing 80 to 120 laps a session. Then
there was the running, the gym, the food and more food and even more food. Even
a visit to the doctor required having the medication checked against a register
of allowed drugs in order to avoid falling foul of the testing regime. And they
did that for years in training themselves to compete at a top level.
Why should anyone expect anything less of a professional speaker?
The money? Yes it can come. How much? How prepared are you?
Inspire The World With Your Words
Colin
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