How to Get Paid to Speak Publicly
You have decided you would like to be a paid public speaker. Once you establish yourself as an inspirational expert in your field, you can command fees from a few hundred to a few thousand per engagement. You may want to charge less or waive your fees for nonprofit or charitable functions, gaining in reputation what you might forego in income. There are likely several opportunities for you to speak in your local business and civic communities, or you can expand your reach and market yourself to a broader geographical area.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
How to Get Paid to Speak Publicly
-
1
Having published articles establishes your authority for speaking engagements. Publish an article or editorial. Doing so is not as difficult as it sounds, and it is a first step on your way to becoming a paid public speaker because it establishes your credibility. Many trade publications look for contributing authors to fill their pages. You can approach a local newspaper about contributing a guest column or editorial. You can list these pieces on your curriculum vitae for use as you seek public speaking opportunities, establishing you as an authority in your field.
-
2
Attend as many chamber meetings and networking events as possible. Join your chamber of commerce. Not only will you be listed in the member directory as a public speaker with expertise in certain areas, but you can offer yourself as a speaker for chamber events. Attend as many chamber networking activities as you can, and serve on a chamber committee for more intimate networking with other business members in your community.
-
-
3
Volunteer to speak at trade conferences and gatherings. Join a trade association or community organization, and offer your speaking services. Trade groups hold seminars and conferences and generally have plentiful speaking opportunities. You may lower your fee slightly for speaking at trade member events while you are establishing yourself. Many people with whom you are networking belong to more than one business or trade group, so as they hear you speak at one organization's events, they are more likely to remember you and recommend you to other organizations to which they belong.
-
4
Join a speakers' bureau. Speakers' bureaus are fairly common within chambers of commerce and some trade groups, but there are also free-standing speakers' bureaus, whose sole job is to locate speakers for their clients. Your chances of being accepted by a good speakers' bureau will increase after you have established yourself as a capable and successful speaker with other organizations. These for-profit bureaus generally take a percentage of the speaking fee. You can also start a speakers' bureau within a trade group or organization.
-
5
A paid seminar can be a lucrative speaking option. Hold a paid seminar or webinar. If your topics and expertise has proved popular in other speaking engagements, you have a better chance of successfully selling tickets for a paid seminar or getting people to attend a webinar. You can promote these seminars to corporate executives you have met in your chamber and other networking activities; the executives may send several employees to attend. There are training companies that offer seminars you can join, but the travel is generally great and your percentage of payment will likely be lower.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Ask your audience for feedback, such as via private survey cards or handwritten notes. The feedback can give you ideas for improvement or suggest areas to avoid when addressing similar audiences in the future.
It can be tough to use the same speech over again in smaller cities, particularly where business leaders join several different organizations. Be prepared to modify your speech for different audiences or to make modify it to keep the information current.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images Digital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images
