Here Are The 5 Critical Keys That Will Teach You The Secret of How to Become A Professional Speaker!

Dear aspiring speaker,

When it comes to being a professional speaker or trainer, there are 5 essential things you must know about and complete. They are the critical factors for success for all professional speakers and trainers.

This article will explain each one of them and help get you started.

If you really want to lean how to become a speaker, a professional one, who is paid to speak by associations, corporations and speakers bureaus like mine, - then what you're about to learn is essential to your success.

The 5 Keys

1. Your Topics

The selection of your topics is critical to your success as a speaker.

It's important to understand that when you choose your topics you're positioning yourself, not just picking things to speak about.

The wrong selection of topics, and I see it often, will cause you to lose hundreds of speaking opportunities and thousands of dollars and can be the difference between being a thriving pro and an out of work want to be.

Even when I coach highly paid professional speakers - we ALWAYS begin with their topics. So the selection of your 'topics' and the language you use to describe them - is not just for beginners.

The thing to remember is that some topics receive 100 times the inquires and requests than others. So by adding them to your list - you increase your ability to get booked exponentially.

And by blending the most often requested topics into your 'passion center' topics, you multiply your popularity many times in that one single act.

Also - NEVER have more than 5 topics. All your ares of expertise should fit into 5 or less. More than 5 topics makes you look like you don't know any one of them very well. VERY few if any highly paid speakers have more than 5 topics.

Choose the topics that:

A. You're passionate about and have some expertise in
B. Are more commercial

The mistake most speakers make is to choose topics they like - but for which there is little demand. The art is to blend the two. Then you get to speak about what you love and make lots of money too!

My 8 week course, coaching programs, live seminar and online coaching plans all start with helping you identify the best set of topics for you - those that get the most requests AND those you're passionate about. - and laying them out into your key 45 minute to 1 hour presentations.

2. Confidence & Skill

One of your biggest challenges as an aspiring speaker is obtaining confidence and skill when delivering your key 45 minute to 1-hour presentations.

This is usually a bit longer than most new speakers are used to.

The most important way to get confidence in the new programs you're presenting is to give them over and over to live audiences. And the best way to do that, is to give lots and lots of FREE speeches.

Not the short 10 minute one's so common at a toastmasters meeting. But the 45 minute to 1 hour version you'll be paid for later on.

You need to know all the kinds of groups who want speakers in your area, and you need specific language you can use when you call them up and book yourself as a guest speaker.

A special module is included in my 8 week course, coaching programs, live seminar and online coaching plans - that will teach you how to get dozens of local speaking gigs (non paid) in your area. This is the key to speaking for free a lot, so you can get the confidence that's so important at this phase of your journey.

3. Marketing Materials

There are 5 core marketing essentials you must have. Most importantly they must be done correctly. They are:

a. Your 1 sheet
This is a 1 page overview of you, your most requested topics and your expertise. You must have at least two 1 sheets. One for faxing and one for emailing. They require different things. Your' 1 sheets must be bureau friendly.

b. Your video
Your video is one of the singular most important things to have when it comes to getting bookings. It should be on your web site, be 7-10 minutes long - and load EVERY time. Those are just a few things to get you started.

c. Your web site
Like the other marketing essentials listed in this section, there are too many little things that need to be done correctly on your website, for me to cover them all here. With that said, here are a few major ones to help get you started.

Your web site must:
* Have video on it
* It must be centered in the browser
* It must be more than 5 links and 5 pages - that looks like a beginner set it up!
* It should NEVER contain the tone of the color red that's the same as a stop sign, * It MUST make it clear you're a professional speaker - above the fold
* Visitors must know instantly you are a professional speaker or trainer.

There area also many other things you should NEVER have on your web site that will reduce your number of inquires and bookings.


d. Your online press kit
Your online press kit consists of your video, 1 sheets, bio, introduction and other things that visitors to your web site can down load. A photo or two is always a good idea - and the photos should be wallet size. They must all be in email and mailing condition as well.

e. Your off line press kit
Your offline press kit is the most expensive thing you'll create as a speaker. It's your printed materials and DVD's of your presentations that you mail out to prospects.

I will help you create and evaluate all your marketing materials including your web site, video and 1 sheets in my 8 week course, coaching programs, live seminar and online coaching plans. Best of all, I have a lot of ways to do them for less than you might think they'd cost. There are definite ways to save a lot money on these things.

4. Pricing And selling Your Services

Pricing your speeches and trainings correctly will help you get a lot more bookings.

Your Prices

If you've never been paid to speak before, I suggest you seg way from giving lots of free speeches to paid amounts you're comfortable with. You could start with $500, then go to $1000 and so on.

A paid professional makes at least $2500 per presentation and does at least 2 a month. All my programs help aspiring speakers get to that level - so it's a good figure to keep in mind. When you're doing a couple gigs every month at $2500 or more per gig, you're a pro.

Selling Your Services

Once your presentations are ready and you've got your marketing materials put together - you'll need a reliable sales process that gets you bookings and really works.

You should expect to sell yourself on a regular basis.

A sales system is a set of steps you take consistently. It should include:

* A way of producing leads on a consistent basis
* A way of tracking inquiries
* A conversion process that includes what to say and specific language
* A closing method to close the sale
* A way of getting referrals and follow up bookings, consulting etc.
* Ways to quote your rates
* A way to qualify prospects
* A simple contact

A good sales system will make your career profitable as a speaker and trainer.
A bad one, or not having one at all - can result in years of struggle.

Only a small % of high paid speakers have the luxury of only working with and being booked by speakers bureaus. Most high paid speakers still do a combination of both booking themselves and working with bureaus.

I'll teach you my complete sales process - the one I've used successfully for over 20 years to book trainings and get PAID speeches and bookings - in my GREEN and ORANGE coaching programs.

The BLUE coaching plan is for those who want to focus on getting all 5 of the keys in this article completed correctly. When you're ready, you can upgrade to the GREEN coaching plan - just to learn my proven sales process.

5. Working With Speakers Bureaus

The final key is the ability to work with speakers bureaus. I can't begin to tell you how many speakers need to learn this!

Bureaus are a source of a good deal of work for the speaking professional. We most often represent speakers at the top of their game - earning well over $5000 per presentation and up.

Here are some things to remember when it comes to bureaus:

a. Don't approach speakers bureaus until you have the 4 things above completed and completed fairly well. Speakers Bureaus are like the agents of the industry. Yes you can approach them - but you need to already be successful to a certain degree.

b. It's NEVER appropriate to approach a speakers bureau for possible representation if you're just starting out. As an example, think of the acting world. If you're just starting out as an actor, you take acting lessons first and get good at your craft, you get head shots taken etc. You don't call William Morris and tell them you want an agent and expect them to put you on a sit-com immediately.

b. Never ask a speakers bureau to be your agent. It's an incorrect term. Bureaus are NOT agents. Agents are exclusive. Bureaus are not. Only the highest paid people in this industry have agents and they're usually in house staff that are paid to help manage the speaker's career. Celebrity bookings are another category entirely.

c. Don't set your fees to rigidly - be a little flexible. Have a workshop you can add on for a little more. Be available for a little less in your home town. It's a lot easier to book you if you're not rigid in your fees.

Have a "call me with anything over x" amount. So you get bookings to consider.
Have a price RANGE - not one set amount.

d. Do ALL of the 5 Keys correctly and well and bureaus will find you and want you.
I guarantee it!

e. Always sound good on the phone when you are speaking with someone from a speakers bureau. If you sound tired or low energy on the phone, they'll often assume that's how you're going to be on stage - presenting. Call them back when you're rested and fresh. If you don't they can take you off their list in a blink. Your voice is your tool as a speaker - remember to use it to best advantage on the phone.

f. It's appropriate to call bureaus you work with a few times a year, and email them to check in - confirm your rates and ask if they need anything. But it's not appropriate to put them on your email newsletter and be bombarding them with info on all your programs ever other week as if that's helping them book you.

At The Alexander Speakers Bureau, we have well over 1200 speakers in our data base from 14 years of booking speakers and trainers. Can you imagine our email box if they all emailed us their e-zine every week?

Emailing bureaus too often will likely damage your relationship with them. All your info should be summed up and in your marketing materials anyway - so it can be delivered by a bureau to a prospective client in minutes.

My 8 week course, coaching programs, live seminar and online coaching plans all include a module on how to work with and approach speakers bureaus so you can have several that send you bookings.

The REAL Secrets

Here are a few final secrets that glue all of this together.

SECRET #1

It is essential to your success that you have all 5 of the 5 key things:

1. Completed
2. Completed correctly and well

If you have 4 out of 5 done well, but the 5th isn't up to par - you won't get bookings, or you'll get significantly fewer bookings. It's all or nothing.

SECRET #2

The fact is - this is a lot of stuff. And that's why so many speakers poop-out on the road to success and don't have them all done or don't have them all done very well.

So that makes getting help and support and motivation - more important than ever.

Speakers fall short for many reasons. One is money. So I think one of the BEST things I can help you do is to save money on producing your videos, 1 sheets and web site and press kits.

Finally,

You now know more than most aspiring speakers and even many pro speakers about how to become a speaker - a successful and well paid one I might add.

The next step - is up to you.

I wish you much success on your journey to being a professional speaker.

Alexander Van Buren

President
The Alexander Speakers Bureau

PS:
You can get a FREE phone consultation with me, if you have any questions about my coaching plans.

PPS:
If you remember nothing else - remember this: Absolutely NOTHING is more important to having a successful career as a professional speaker and trainer - than completing these 5 keys correctly.

I set up all the programs you see on this web site because I see so many hopeful speakers who haven't done these things correctly and are losing a tremendous amount of opportunities.

I will help you every step of the way to know what to do and to complete these five key factors for success. And I'll help keep you in momentum - week by week - step by step.

PPPS:
If you haven't already done so, I recommend reading the article on the right side of this web page that will explain why there has never been a better time to become a professional speaker or trainer.

I hope this article has opened your eyes, given you some things to start with, and helped you to understand how to become a speaker, what it really takes, and what's necessary to succeed in this industry.

Be sur to check out the 2 day Pro Speaker Weekend in Golden CO.