Speak up to Succeed: 6 Strategies to build your speaking career

by: Marjorie Geiser

Through the years, I’ve honed my speaking skills to the point where today organizations contact ME. But this wasn’t always the case.

To celebrate “Speak up and Succeed Day”, which is January 22, I’d like to share six strategies to grow your own speaking career, that have worked for me. Although you can follow any order with these, this may be the best progression to follow:

Join Toastmasters. Before I joined Toastmasters (TM), I thought I was pretty good at presenting. What I learned was that I had a LONG way to go! I learned how to use the stage, how to use my voice, how to use timing. I learned things I never would have learned on my own. And the most amazing thing about TM is that after every speech, someone comes up and gives an evaluation speech on YOUR speech! I still remember the first presentation I gave after joining TM: It was at a national conference, with an audience of around 700 people. In my mind, as I’m using the stage, my mind was running through all I had learned from my weekly TM meetings. I was a different person on that stage than ‘before TM’. Today I feel I’m just a rookie, although I have much more experience under my belt.  

Speak, speak, and speak. They say practice makes perfect, and with speaking to audiences, this couldn’t be truer. Contact local organizations and offer to give free, short presentations, speak at every meeting at your TM club. Learn how audiences react to certain stories; learn what you are best at, etc. The more you speak, the more confidence you build up, too. Every new presentation I give provides me with clues about what worked and didn’t work, so I’m able to refine my message for the next time.  

Determine your rates. Certainly when you start speaking, you may not really know what to charge. And speaking at local community groups isn’t going to grow your income. BUT, if you plan to include speaking as one of your revenue streams, you need to include it in your business plan as you outline your services and products. Do your research: What do others charge? Who is your target audience and how will you reach them? With speaking, perceived value DOES come with your rates, so plan accordingly. When I started, I was happy if someone would just PAY me! But I have to admit that I did a lot of ‘pro bono’ work. When I was asked for my rates early in my speaking career, I was really stumped, because I hadn’t thought it through ahead of time.  

Learn how to negotiate. Often a new speaker will be contacted by an organization and asked what their fees are. Unfortunately, the person gives a pat answer, without opening the door for negotiations! So, high on the list should be how to negotiate.  Keep the door open, be clear what your own expectations are, and keep the discussions honest.

Create a platform. A common mistake that many new speakers make is thinking they have to create TONS of presentations! But probably the best piece of advice I could offer would be focus on what your core message is and create presentations on that. For me, it’s that with vision and planning, anything is possible. Because I work primarily with service professionals who want to start a business, much of what I speak on has to do with what it takes to get that business out of your head and into reality. The best book on this topic is “Made to Stick” by the Heath brothers, because they emphasize the importance of being clear around your one core message.

Get it on tape. How can potential clients know how great you are if you can’t give them a piece of what you do? This is probably one of the hardest things to work on, but definitely can make the difference between an amazing opportunity or being passed over for the next speaker, who DOES have a video available. My suggestion is to spend time researching who has videos online and watch them. Then find any way possible to get your work recorded and put out to the world. Afterall, if you can’t tell the world what’s great about you,  how will they know?

If you dream of becoming a popular, well-paid speaker, start telling people your dream! We have to ask for what we want. Thus, today is, again, “Speak up and Succeed Day,” so get out there and speak up! 

To learn more about public speaking, I have two resources for you. Come visit my page here to visit Charli Jane Speaker Services. While there, if you scroll down to where it says articles written by me, you will get MANY more than just my articles! I recommend it for any aspiring speaker.

The second resource is for dietitians who would like to not only learn more about speaking, but also earn some CPE’s. Featuring professional speaker Marilyn Jess, we offer a 3-part home study course called SpeakUp RD.

And, above it all, get out there!