WAYS TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER

Many successful business owners and freelancers often look for income from different fields. Like, a freelance fashion designer might give designing classes in some college or institute.

Some people also take themselves forward as a professional speaker as a source of extra income. If you take speaking as your business, it may be a little difficult to get into but when you start getting paid opportunities, you would start loving it and flourishing in this business.

Many are of the opinion that an introvert cannot become a professional speaker. This is not always true. You can always work on your weak points and become one.

Steps to Become a Professional Speaker

If speaking professionally looks like the next step for you, then follow the steps below.

• Work on your speaking skills. This would surely be the first and the foremost step to become a professional speaker. The way you deliver your speech is utmost important. You may join some public speaking course, some groups or clubs where you get ample opportunities to speak before the audience. This would also help to develop your confidence, ideas and fresh content to make you talks engaging. Record your speeches and watch them. Speak before a mirror. All this helps in improving body language, voice modulation, hand gestures and of course, your speaking skills.

• Apply to speak. Initially, you may have to ask people to give opportunity to speak in front of audience as you would not be known as a speaker then. When you think you have your content ready and you are ready to face the audience, that’s the time when you are ready to speak. You can get opportunities to speak in a public speaking course also. You should offer to speak for free at the initial stage. You may contact some event organizers for getting such opportunity. But as you grow, the opposite will happen. Instead of you applying to speak, people would look forward to have you as a speaker in their event.Speak for free at various events so as to make yourself known and to get yourself prepared to become a paid speaker. Once you become a known speaker and you are in demand, you shall start charging.

• Market yourself. When you are ready with your talk, go out and market yourself. Building a website, spreading yourself as a speaker on social media would be a great idea. Also, people are more attracted by word of mouth. Writing books, blogs, guest posts on different sites, making videos are some more ways to market yourself. Keep a video ready having some of your speeches, clippings of you, review by the audience etc. to show to an event manager as they would also want to see your performance before signing you.

• Ask for referrals. Even if you are marketing yourself though website, social media etc., referrals are always good to have. You may ask friends, your closed ones etc. for giving your reference to others or for referring someone to you who is looking for a professional speaker for his/ her event.

• Set your price. After giving free speaking session, you would now be ready for getting paid for your sessions. Before setting the remuneration for your session, research in the outside world to get some idea. You should not be over charging to turn the others off towards you. At the same time, you should not be under charging either as people sometimes think that a cheap thing may not be of a great value. Set a rate that is somewhere close to that of your potential customers.

• Be prepared for hurdles. Just like any other profession you may choose, you will have to face some hurdles, some issues in this too. You may not get speaking opportunities, you may not get the remuneration that you want, you may not get an audience like you expect and many more. So you should be prepared for all these challenges.

• Keep faith in yourself. Whatever hurdle you may have to face, have the courage and the will to cross it. Trust yourself, believe in yourself all the time that no hurdle can stop you from moving ahead in life.

To become a professional speaker, you must start working on your presentation skills. Then make videos as proof of these skills to show to others and last but not the least start marketing yourself as a professional speaker. Be prepared to face the hurdles in the beginning but gradually the path would become easier and smoother for you. Keep faith in your capabilities at all the times.

You can enhance your public speaking skills and presentation skills under the guidance of Mr Anurag Aggarwal, public speaking trainer and business coach since May 2000. So take a step forward towards your goal of becoming a professional speaker. Feel free to contact us at 7834-99-9292 or visit www.anuragaggarwal.com for any queries on our public speaking course.