Annie Jennings PR Presents Author & Expert Promotion Tips & Strategies!

Top 10 Tips for Becoming a Professional Speaker 

By Speaker Coach, Mary Gardner

1. Be Prepared! The number one reason why people get nervous is that they don’t feel prepared. It is important to practice your speech over and over and over in the mirror and on tape so you can feel comfortable that your message will be strong. Fear is minimized by visiting the location of your speech in advance, meeting some of the people in advance if possible and dress for success! If all else fails, use deep breathing exercises before you go on stage to remain calm.

2. Know your subject well and have facts to support your opinion.
You will have left brained and right brained people in your audience. Some people respond best to facts and figures and some of them will respond best to stories. But your story will be unique and it is important that you pay attention to getting the facts straight and list your resources. People will remember how they FELT in your presence.. and not all of the facts and figures you’ll toss out. But, it’s important to show your expertise along with being a great story teller.

3. Be a great storyteller!
Not only must you have great facts to back up your speech or training, but make it personal by adding stories that are fun, interesting and have a point. Make the stories short enough to keep peoples attention and if you can be dramatic during your presentation.. even BETTER! Be willing to BE YOURSELF and incorporate aspects of your life that are unique.. if you ride a motorcycle, or have a child, add it! These are ways to make people feel closer to you as a person.

4. Have top notch marketing tools!
Speakers traditionally have a one sheet that is a glossy printed sheet of a short bio, references, their picture or pictures, and the topics they can discuss. Speakers also must have a well written bio, topic sheets, any press that you have had on you, articles that you’ve written or have been written about you, and as many references as you can get on letterhead if possible. If you have out of date reference letters, white out the date and copy the letter and send it. If you have a book, you can include it but it’s not necessary. The video is perhaps the most important and should be between 5-10 min. of you speaking in front of a live audience.

5. Have a marketing & PR plan in place.
Most people are using their website as a marketing tool and on the website should be downloadable pages for meeting planners to bring to their committee. Many people even have color printers so if you send a mailing out announcing your Website, they’ll be able to download everything. Send regular updates via email and even in mail form if you can afford it. It might get tossed, but it’s the consistency that people are looking for. If they see you pop up year after year, they are bound to give you a shot at some point. Many speakers have freebies on their website, give workshops to spread the word, and network with other speakers to mutually support one another. Spending time getting your name out to the media is a very worthwhile thing to do and ALWAYS mention that you are available to speak and your website by referring to it during your interview. You can offer some sort of free list or information if people go to your website. People always like to get stuff for free!

6. Be willing to be flexible and tailor presentations.
Many organizations are going to want a tailored presentation. They might have a need for a keynote and a seminar and if you can offer both, you might get the business over someone who can’t. Also, if you offer a 3 day workshop, the corporation might only have 1 day available for you to work, so if you can also offer a shortened version, you’ll be seen as flexible. Many speakers work with the meeting planners or agents in advance to get as much information as possible about the group or industry. This shows you’ve done your homework and aren’t just showing up.

7. Assess your audience in advance.
Organizations are made up of many different skills and skill level. Education backgrounds vary according to industry or job title. Be aware of the group that you are talking to so you won’t speak over their head, or quite frankly, below it. Audiences are smart and you really can’t ‘wing it’ much any more. While they might be polite to your face, they WILL tell your agent or spread the word and not have you back. Stay away from sexual jokes, political talk, religious references and knocking an industry or company if they are down on their luck. It is best to only speak positive about others because you are ON STAGE and people ARE WATCHING.

8. Speak for free!
When you are first starting your speaking business, do whatever you can including speaking for free, workshops, training, keynotes, coaching and consulting. You never know when opportunities will arise and most speakers do a combination of all of the above in their business until they are well known and profitable.

9. Meet as many agents and bureaus as possible.
If you are working with several agents, you are more than likely to get more bookings. Agents are people and like working with individuals who are professional, trained, and successful. It makes them look good. Agents usually get 20-30% commission on top of your fee, and they earn every penny. They are on the phone and marketing full time and developing the relationships that you need in order to be booked at associations, corporations and colleges.

10. Show me the Money!
Back of the room sales can more than pay for your honorarium if you can arrange it. Speakers sell books, tapes, video tapes, workbooks and collaborate with other speakers on projects to sell them jointly. The most common advice is “do tapes before you think you are ready”. You can always upgrade and you should continue to upgrade!

About Annie Jennings:  Annie Jennings of the National PR firm, Annie Jennings PR is a National Publicist specializing in promoting authors and experts to the media.  Annie’s vision and insight has revolutionized the publicity industry as many of the publicity techniques, tools and strategies in widespread use throughout the industry today have been developed by Annie Jennings PR.   Annie freely shares her publicity strategies with authors and experts so everyone can have access to PR strategies, both the basics and advanced PR thought, so they can share their messages with millions for the betterment of all. 

Annie created the concepts of media websites and online press kits, defined how to create a powerful platform, developed the most advanced branding concepts known to the industry, created the HOT 35! & HOT 50! Radio campaigns where you are only booked on TOP SHOWS in major BIG CITY markets and on regional and nationally syndicated shows and crafted the revolutionary Pay For Placement Publicity Program that has helped thousands of authors and experts build powerful platforms. 

Annie Jennings PR has over 20,000 authors experts signed up with her company and every morning Annie and her staff have but one thing to say:   “Let’s Kick It Up A Notch Today!” 

BOOK PROMOTION TESTIMONIAL: " In this age of "too bad for you" customer service, the staff of Annie Jennings PR is an absolute treasure. These folks do what they say they will do, on time and with great results. I went to Annie Jennings PR after a frustrating year of little action on the part of a previous publicist. Annie Jennings PR had confidence in my book and the expertise to ignite a "buzz". And they did it inside of three weeks! I wrote take Two Apples And Call Me In The Morning because I had a message I wanted to get out and. I am so grateful to Annie Jennings PR for helping me accomplish my goal. In my book, they are an investment well worth making!"

--Judy Stone, MSW, CN

RADIO PUBLICITY TESTIMIONIAL: "I had a very short time span to get my message out on radio. Annie made a promise to me. She delivered on that promise and, she did it on time! I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. . . . I would recommend Annie Jennings PR to anyone who is serious about getting a job done and getting it done on time."

-- CNN Investigative Journalist & Author Of The New Book, God Stories, Jennifer Skiff

PUBLICITY TELESEMINAR TESTIMONIAL: Thanks so much for conducting such a wonderful teleseminar on creating media-friendly websites!  With my permission, you and Maria critiqued my website during the call and I’ve already implemented several of your suggestions.  Please let me know when the next one comes along, as I’ve got colleagues and clients who’d love to participate.

-- Liz Bywater, PhD, President. Bywater Consulting Group, LLC

BUILDING A POWERFUL PLATFORM TESTIMONIAL: "Annie Jennings and her team are the best! I highly recommend her 100% I have worked with a few publicists and none compare. What she did for me has created a ripple effect over the years...the rewards for each placement she got me continue longingly.

-- Dr. Laurie Moore, Animal Intuitive

PUBLICITY TELSEMINAR TESTIMONIAL: The Annie Jennings PR teleseminars are fun and innovative--but more importantly, the techniques work. I consistently get calls from producers and journalists who find my media site. This month's results included a segment on National Public Radio (NPR) and an appearance on the Today Show. When fires threatened the area, believe it or not, among the first items packed up for evacuation were the notes and CD'S from Annie Jennings PR! Annie, as you know I am an avid fan of your teleseminar series. Implementing your suggestions have really paid off. My media site consistently attracts the calls of producers, journalists, and meeting planners--and the media training you suggested has been invaluable. This month alone resulted in a segment on National Public Radio and an appearance on the Today Show and both invited me back!"

-- Diana L. Guerrero, Author, Speaker, Animal Expert

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