Proactive speaking strategies

People approach me and ask about how to get into public speaking.  I often begin by referring to my own experience and how I began by taking initiatives to make conference presentations in 25 countries as part of my Ph.D. research.  Yet, my presentations branched out form the purely academic to cover varied areas based on my places of employment, community involvement and affiliations.  I didn't feel that I could simply offer a repeatable recipe for people to model.  So, I wrote this article to offer some more general guidelines.  I always suggestion self-examination.

Most professional speakers I've met or heard about tend to have developed their knowledge and skills in a particular field and then, branched out either consciously or unexpectedly.  Sure, other opportunities will present themselves, but you have to know where to look, how to keep your senses open, and you also benefit from learning how to nurture your skills.  Its a proactive thing.  Are you taking action to move forward in an area of interest? 

1) Do you know how to market yourself effectively?  Getting involved in local public speaking groups can boost your skills and confidence, but you also need to reach out and actually go into communities and offer to speak.  Practice is as important and getting your name "out there."  Who would you like to know about your availability? What can you do to tell them who you are? Why not take steps to present a speech at a public function like a wedding, retirement or awards dinner? All practice matters, even if you don't yet have an idea of your target audience.

2) How would you step outside-the-box? : Back in school, if you ever had a "career day," or took part in job shadowing, 'public speaker' may not of been one of your many options.  I recall such a high school career day.  Many people took part; local farmer, musicians, a fireman, policeman, electrician, plumber, government job representatives, local athletes, doctor, nurse, dentist and small business people promoted their fields.  Personally, I spent most of my time at speaking with a chef.  I learned how to fold a variety of napkin formations to decorate gourmet tables.  I didn't aspire to become a professional chef, but I chose to gain insight into a person's motivation and to recognize the value of developing transferable skills.

3) How do you tap into networking? : If you think about why you desire to something, this will often lead you to figure out who would benefit from it.  If you work on improving your talents and skills, and take time to reach out and offer what you know to others, you will find that people will point you in meaningful directions.  One thing often leads to another.  One speaking engagement can lead to other people finding out who you are, and contacting you to speak for their organisation.  Its part of a larger process.  You need to talk about your hopes and desires.

4) Who are your mentors? You are already your own person, but to think about who inspires your professional aspirations can be very helpful.  Do you know their life stories? To consider public speakers, you will recognize many different types of people.  You may think of comedians, artists, writers, professionals who discuss their expertise at conferences and seminars, psychic intuitives, motivational and self-help gurus, religious or spiritual leaders and others.  All of these people have a following because of something they have done that interests other people.

5) What is your measurable plan?  You can always be doing things to improve on what you know and to be working toward reaching certain goals.  However, you will be far more productive if you identify a schedule or timeline by which you plan to accomplish these goals.  You may not be able to know how many paid speaking engagements you'll have this week, but you can make a point of volunteering your time to speak somewhere and to meet people there.  You can begin by counting initiatives and the number of letters you write to specific people and organisations.