It’s a tough time for most professional speakers. The recession has wiped out speakers with a weak value proposition. The same thing happened after 9/11. The most telling sign is the National Speakers Association convention, which is being held in Orlando next week. Just over 1,000 speakers are registered. When I joined in 1997, it...
One of the fastest ways to catapult your public speaking career is to be interviewed on national television. Last year I was on the Today Show, Good Morning America, FOX, ABC News, NBC, CBS, and a bunch of others. I can tell you from experience this is one the best things you can do for...
One of the greatest thrills you can have as a professional speaker is addressing a sold-out stadium packed with 10,000 people. In 40-minutes you can reach more people with your message than most speakers reach in years. I’ve been lucky enough to give lots of stadium speeches, and I’ve learned some important lessons along the...
If you could achieve your ultimate vision as a professional public speaker, what would it look like? Would you be speaking at Microsoft’s national convention with Bill Gates in the front row? How about being the opening keynote at a convention with 20,000 people in Madison Square Garden? Whatever your dream is, make sure your...
Fortune 500 executives are famous for referring to vendors in what they call ‘Tier Levels’. They take pride in only hiring “Tier 1 speakers”, which is another way of saying “the best of the best”. After all, they can afford it. When you’re spending five million dollars on a national convention, what difference does it make...
Toastmasters International is the largest public speaking organization in the world with over 250,000 members. I love Toastmasters and have been an active member since 1996. I co-founded the Bill Gove Toastmasters Club in Florida, and I’ve keynoted their regional and international events for free to show my support. The problem is there’s a myth...
I’m excited to offer you the opportunity to take a 10-day professional speaking training course online…for FREE! I’m offering this course as a way to offset some of the misinformation being perpetuated all over the internet about the paid public speaking business. This is a LIMITED TIME OFFER, so please take advantage of this before...
Most speakers guess when they’re setting fees. The amount of bad information about how to determine your fee is staggering. I’ve attended sessions at NSA where the presenter tells the audience that there is no formula for setting fees. This is ridiculous, and it shows why so few people make money in this business. Meanwhile,...
Og Mandino, one of the most popular authors of all-time, wrote one of his last books about a fictional thought-leader/public speaker. Bill Gove, Og Mandino’s speaking coach and mentor, told me back in 1996 that I had to read this book. As usual, Bill was right. I’ve never forgotten this book. It’s a must-read for...
One of the most misunderstood aspects of professional speaking is the power of the keynote speech. Teachers and trainers call our office every day and ask why they should focus on becoming a keynote speaker. Many people believe it’s because of the fee’s keynoters receive, but the truth is that’s only the beginning of why...