Speakers are thought leaders, and that means part of our job is to study and keep up with the people and events that shape the world. One of those people is the late philosopher/novelist, Ayn Rand, author of the 1957 classic Atlas Shrugged. This work became one for the most successful novels of the 20th...
Do you have a speaking business or a speaking job? Most speakers have a speaking job, but they think its a business! A business pays you when you sleep, while a job only pays when you’re there. The wealthiest speakers build a business from speaking. In the age of disruption, this is more important than...
Like many professions, the speaking business is in the midst of massive disruption. The audios, videos and information we used to sell is now available online 24/7, for free. The days of earning passive income, back of room sales and huge public seminars are over. Speakers that recognize this and adjust to the change will...
It’s time to set your speaking goals for 2019. The profession is experiencing massive disruption, and the only speakers who will succeed in 2019 and beyond will be the smart and savvy. I would recommend that you focus on your numbers, starting with cash flow, and work backwards from there. I’m expecting to have our...
The best way to get booked as a speaker is through a constant stream of referrals, but the best pro active marketing tool is a demo video. It doesn’t need to be a Hollywood production, but it needs to show your best…at least for a few minutes. Watch this short video post (5-minutes) and then...
There are lots of public speakers. Teachers, politicians, clergy, etc. Many people make there living onstage. The difference that separates the good from the great is their ability to entertain and excite an audience. Teaching and training are basic skills that millions of people have the talent to acquire. Entertaining an audience for an extended...
Over the past 5 years, the professional speaking industry has experienced major disruption. The 7-figure passive sales of audio/video albums that many of us earned has been relegated to the dust bin of history. Like in the music industry, YouTube and other FREE channels give away the content that made some of us millionaires. The...
Professional speaking is a tough business. It spits people out faster than anything I’ve ever seen, yet internet marketers love to tell people how easy it is, even when they’ve never been paid a fee to deliver a speech. I’ve watched this for over 20 years, and people still buy into it as much as...
How do you structure a paid, professional speech? Ask 100 of the highest paid speakers and you’ll get 100 different answers. Speech writing is an art. That being said, Bill Gove, the father of the industry, taught me his best secrets. I share one in this short video that’s helped me earn over $15 million...
One of the most common questions I get is “How do you practice for keynote speaking tours?” The answer isn’t sexy, and the practice isn’t fun, but it’s helped me earn over $15 million dollars in speaking fees over the course of my career. Not as much as some, but enough to help us leverage...