BECOME A PAID PUBLIC SPEAKER

Public speaking is one of the general public’s greatest fears, sometimes even more than death and taxes! Despite the fear, the professional public speaking industry continues to grow. Professional speakers can easily earn six figures in annual income, and some of today’s top business speakers charge a minimum of $50,000 per engagement.

There will always be a need for strong communicators who can inspire and motivate an audience. If you dream of being a paid public speaker, it’s important to get the right training — both on and offstage. To build a successful and sustainable business requires more than just great on a microphone, it takes smart strategy and diligent execution to run the business side of things.

No matter how good we are at saying what we have to say, we will never truly be great without a measure of confidence. Our results are a reflection of our own awareness of our potential and our ability to carry out that potential. Paul Martinelli, VP of Business Development of the Maxwell Leadership Team, often says, “You never outperform your own self-image.”

Paul knows a thing or two about self-image. A high school dropout from a poor, working-class family in Pittsburgh, Paul’s future didn’t look so bright. He admits that early on, he believed life was lived by default and not by design. Everything changed when he started to get serious about personal development, see his own self worth, and create new beliefs. This intentional path of growth helped him overcome a severe stuttering disability, gain confidence, and rise from a janitor to a multi-millionaire entrepreneur who has now shared the stage with the likes of Seth Godin, Les Brown, and John Maxwell.

A person’s belief system drives their behavior. These belief systems are programmed into us in one of two ways – either by a sudden emotional impact wherein we immediately assign the belief, or through continued affirmation by repetition. This is why it’s so important to have a quality coach during your development as a speaker. It’s hard to see your own potential, but it’s even harder to see your blind spots and self-limiting beliefs.

Never aim to impress an audience. Rather, be focused on how you can help them. Author and speaker Donald Miller often says, “Be the guide, not the hero.” Be intentional in the framing of your message as well as how you want to present yourself to others. Your goal is to have a conversation with the audience. One way to do this: instead of panning your eyes across the entire audience and pacing back and forth, focus on a few people, taking a few seconds to look right in their eyes. You never want to be speaking at them, you want to be speaking with them.

A fantastic message can be destroyed in delivery, so being audience-focused is one of the hallmarks of our Speaking track at the Maxwell Leadership Team. There’s no way to predict what kind of audience you’ll be speaking to at any given time, and it will be nearly impossible to completely avoid naysayers. It’s important for you to learn how to convey both approachability and confidence at the same time — if you can do this, you can speak effectively in nearly any environment.

On a recent podcast interview, John Maxwell was asked about the #1 obstacle people face when setting out to become a professional speaker, coach, or trainer. He said, “Many times, we want our answers before we take action. What I tell people is to just jump in, dive into the stream and then we’re going to help them.”

One of the terrific things about the Maxwell Leadership Team is that we have several lanes of learning: Speaking, Coaching, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, and Marketing — and our members are exposed to all these lanes when they join our program. As you’re there meeting people, listening to new faculty members, and getting incredibly helpful information, things will begin to resonate with you. True progress works like this: take the action, make the decision, and then the answer comes.