| The wonderful dearly departed comic Chris Farley had | | | | you love to do, speaking to larger groups about your |
| a character that was a professional motivational | | | | area of expertise. |
| speaker. That character was Matt Foley and he was | | | | As might happen if you took your area of skill that you |
| an absolute mess. | | | | have the most knowledge an put that in a book form, |
| His speaking style was painful and destructive and he | | | | that focus is your meal ticket to be successful as a |
| lived (say it with me) in a van down by the river. Well, | | | | professional public speaker. |
| as hilarious as that routine was, that characterization of | | | | So to get the ball rolling, the first step is to add to the |
| professional speakers is obviously for comedy | | | | level of notoriety you may have as a professional in |
| purposes only. | | | | your field of knowledge. The internet is a good starting |
| If you have been given the gift of public speaking, | | | | place. |
| there is every reason to believe that you can make a | | | | By building a web site where you can showcase your |
| very good living doing it for a living. | | | | knowledge and using the skills of internet marketers to |
| One way to view making your living as a public | | | | get some traffic to that web site, it is there you can |
| speaker is to see it as a variation on the profession of | | | | begin to build an audience for your knowledge area |
| professional author. | | | | and to keep them informed on times and places |
| When you think about it, a writer of informative books | | | | where you will be speaking. |
| takes an area of expertise that they have excelled at | | | | Once that web site is in place, it can be a foundation |
| and they used their skills in writing to lay that out for | | | | for your new public speaking career. You can send |
| people who need that knowledge. | | | | people to it after each talk you give where they can |
| And when people buy that knowledge, it's a fair | | | | learn more about how to use your talents for their |
| exchange to pay that person for that valuable | | | | function and for their audience. |
| knowledge and allow that author to continue writing. | | | | But don't just rest on the internet and expect it to do all |
| You can also compare a professional public speaker | | | | the work. There are lots of organizations that you can |
| to the noble calling of teacher.A teacher, after all, is | | | | speak at either for free or for a small gratuity |
| someone who does public speaking every day for his | | | | (sometimes just lunch). But the value of these |
| or her students. | | | | meetings is not the pay, its getting momentum and |
| And that public speaking has a vital function in our | | | | some buzz as a speaker. |
| society. Without it, our children would not be educated | | | | From then on its just a matter of networking.As |
| and the way our culture functions would be in serious | | | | members of those groups carry your business card |
| danger. So professional public speakers are important. | | | | with them, they refer you and you get more and more |
| How to get your own career as a professional public | | | | "gigs" presenting your talk to bigger groups. Before |
| speaker going is the challenge.You may be used to | | | | long the gratuities turn into real pay. And when you are |
| public speaking to help with your work or as part of | | | | on your way and things start to click, you will never |
| your membership in a church or other organization. So | | | | look back on your decision to become a professional |
| it may not be a big leap to think of taking that skill to | | | | public speaker. |
| the next level and seek ways to get paid doing what | | | | |