One of the most powerful ways to build massive authority as a marketer is to do public speaking… but is public speaking for everyone? Is it worth the hassle? What are the benefits and pitfalls?

We will be discussing all things “speaking” in this post… enjoy.

Dean says:

“public speaking” two words that only 18 months ago would have sent shivers down my spine… a friend once told me that when I talked about my public speaking fears, my face actually went white.

But that was then, and this is now… and since then, I have spoken at some of the biggest and best events on the planet.

I would like to discuss the pros, cons and how to overcome the fear/nerves of public speaking… oh, and how to get booked as a speaker… even if you are not a “big name”.

Why Public Speaking Rocks

Public speaking can be quite a thrill… there is the obvious adrenaline rush, and the feeling of self-satisfaction afterwards… and in some cases, there are even groupies (hehe).

But the main benefits surely have to be the money and the authority.

Nothing screams authority more than getting up on a stage at a huge industry event and talking nonsense infront of 400 people.

If you want to take your personal brand from zero to hero in a flash, speaking or writing a best selling book are your best options.

Remember, authority is a perception, and online, perception is reality… so why not embrace it?!?

Public Speaking $$$

The money in public speaking depends on a lot of factors:

Industry

Size of event

Type of event

Audience quality

Your skills as a presenter and sales person.

Tip: I would recommend that in your first speaking gig, you don’t pitch… as it takes away some of the nerves. Selling from stage means there is a scorecard to measure you by… which is not ideal in a high pressure situation. I am sure James will disagree though.

Fee vs Pitch

There are two main types of speaking arrangements… you either get paid a fixed fee to speak, or you don’t get paid, and instead, you can sell a product or service from stage.

Note: In the latter, the organiser usually gets 50%.

I have been offered both, but have only accepted the pitch from stage.

The obvious issue with this is that you are taking the financial risk yourself, and living in the UK often means I have to travel to places like Washington, Orlando, Sydney and Dubai… so those expenses quickly add up.

I have a unique deal with one promoter whereby they pay for my hotel and flights, and they deduct that amount from my sales at the end of the event.

This helps with cashflow, puts more of the risk on their shoulders, and proves that they believe in me. If you are in a position where you can get such a deal, then I strongly recommend it.

The perils and frustrations of public speaking

For me, the obvious downside to public speaking is the nerves, stress and energy-sapping that it causes me.

Often, for as much as 10 days prior to the event I am mentally drained, and I rarely sleep the night before.

So whilst it may be 60-90 mins on stage, it can consume me for two weeks or so…. and for that reason, I pretty much retired from speaking within a year of starting it.

The annoying thing is that I am pretty darn good at it, but the nerves hold me back quite a bit.

pitch-fests and speakers without morals

The outer surface of the world of speaking may seem like a glamorous, first class, 5-star world… but once you dig a little deeper, you will find that it has an underbelly of scams, hype, fluff, ego-maniacs, and theft.

In particular, the multi-speaker “pitch fest” events (often they are free/little entry price)… are by far the worst. They are often filled with people that ONLY speak, and therefore are so out of touch with the online world that they are still peddling disguised adsense farms and out-dated techniques.

Also, unfortunately, such events rarely reward honesty, content and value… instead, hype, fluff and false promises are MUCH more effective time and time again…

So this creates a vicious circle, the speakers with the most BS tend to make the most money, so the promoters invite them back over and over.

There is also an often unhealthy competition between speakers… I hate to generalise, but a lot of speakers are often ego-driven, and it is not uncommon to hear of speakers sabotaging other speakers, dirty politics, and even theft of material (something which James will no doubt discuss further).

Don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions to the rule… Yanik Silver’s Underground in 2009 was great, and James’ Fast Web Formula event broke the mould, and frankly, if all events were like that, I would still be speaking regularly.

I will shortly discuss how-to overcome the nerves… or at least, face your fears and do it… but first, I can’t wait to hear James’ thoughts on the wonderful world of public speaking.

James says:

I never get nervous before speaking. It is strange but I can only guess it is because I have pushed my fear envelope further than most. Jumping out of a plane a few times helped!

I started speaking about 18 months ago to a small room of Warrior forum members in some guys house. It was fun and I did not get paid. People liked the content.

Next I managed to get thrown into a speaking event when i went for coffee with a friend at an event. He had to go home early and I took his spot (It was ok since I had my slides from the last time). That went well and I got invited back.

About one year go I spoke to about 600 people and had the first of many six figure days! That was great and I got asked to do more stuff. I have traveled the world since and done a mix of paid speaking plus non-paid expert guest appearances like John Carlton Action Seminar, Jeff Johnsons Underground Lab Live , Brad Fallons Stomperlive, and Ed Dales Coming Home Seminar. Speaking at these events really builds bonds with my peer group who I respect tremendously.

Another often overlooked benefit is public speaking for list building.

When you speak you build a list of highly qualified buyers who pay to be on your database. So aside from the authority and money you can build a community when you leverage the opportunity properly.

Speaking can be like crack cocaine.

Some people get so high on the ‘fame’ and money that they forget to build a business around the speaking gigs. This is ESPECIALLY true in Internet Marketing. It has been my observation that some people speak up three times a week because this has become their only way to make money. Often they sell outdated strategies and offer low levels of support.

Some speakers are bad news

The reason I stopped speaking at multi-speaker events (aka pitch fests) is because I was sick of the other speakers taking my presentation then presenting at the next event. The other reason is the promoters will often have ten speakers pulling the audience in ten directions. This is confusing to the audience who are being subjected to sales pitch after sales pitch. I sometimes felt as though I was the only person with a product that works amongst a sea of con men. Another thing that shocked me is that many ‘experts’ are broke. Frightening but true. ( One speaker I met was so broke he had to stay in the country on loyalty points until his next gig because he could not afford to buy a plane ticket back to the states!).

NOTE: My own events have several experts but nobody hard sells, not all the experts sell, and they each complement my own fast web formula, which actually does work!

My tip is to build a business

If speaking is your ONLY marketing channel then you are in serious trouble. If you are NOT already speaking then you are missing a big income possibility. Speaking is one of the medium leverage strategies I encourage students of mine to engage in to build a list, get authority and have some great paydays.

Only a medium leverage strategy?

Even though I have sold more than $200,000 in one speaking gig I still consider it un-leveraged. Huh?

Yes, you have hundreds of people right there all at once. Yes, you can create an instant community. However there are aspects that need to be taken into consideration.

Travel time

It takes days to travel to a far away place and get settled. Then you travel back. I allow one week of interruption now for a speaking event. That is time I can be building online profit businesses or promoting my own websites etc…

Paperwork!

Event promoters need you to sign contracts, submit ‘offer sheets’ send a bio, pictures, content etc… Then you have to go through spreadsheets and deal with client support for stragglers who make part payments or default etc… Plus the promoter often does not pay you for months since they need to collect funds and allow for credit card charge backs. When they do pay you they typically keep 50%.

It Takes Just One year

If you are a true expert at your field and if it is in a hot market you should be able to generate one million dollars from your speaking PLUS your business when you leverage it within a year. After you have authority, a community and some start up money you can REALLY leverage by setting up webinars, affiliate programs, mentoring, coaching, licensing and list building websites to do your promoting for you. Many of the online experts can pull a million dollar launch day sales with joint venture partners. Also you can become a promoter (I did) and run your own events and record then sell them!

(oops! I’m sharing some of the things I teach my $5k a month mentees )

The way I approach speaking now is this:

If it is with a QUALITY promoter, in a place I want to visit and I can make it pay in either sales OR authority / relationship building I will consider it. Otherwise I’m sticking to building my other marketing channels. There are many other ways to make money from speaking without having to speak. I tend to license out my speaking now so that I don’t actually speak but still get paid from this channel. I now teach others what I have learned so they can profit, get authority and build a community (list) for themselves.

I liked traveling around the world to different destinations where I was able to pay my way in sales. Dubai, New Zealand, London, UK, Canada, US etc…

Have Your Say

What are your thoughts on public speaking and public speakers?

‘Speak Up’ and have your say in the comments below.

Dean & James

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Tagged as: authority, events, john carlton, Public speaking, speak, speakers, stompernet