The speaking market can be a little confusing!  How much should you charge if you're just starting out?  If you price yourself too low, you lose credibility.  If you price yourself too high, you lose the gig! 

I suggest you find out what others are charging and find a fee that you're comfortable with.  The first sale, after all, is to yourself.  If you're not comfortable, you won't be credible making the sale.  And yes, the truth is, you're not in the speaking business, you're in the marketing and sales business.

Find a fee that is just above your comfort level and go with it.  You'll soon be comfortable with it.  More professional speakers hurt themselves by charging too little than lose the gig from charging too much.  If 15% of your prospective clients don't object to your fees, you're priced too low.

Make sure your marketing materials such as website and promo page, support your fee in terms of  the level of professionalism. 

If you'd like more information, sign up for our advanced marketing newsletter at www.speakersgold.com

Cathleen Fillmore

www.cathleenfillmore.com

416-532-9886

To do well as a professional speaker, you need to make your marketing material stand out.  You really need a strong positioning statement and great speech titles to catch a meeting planner’s attention.

Gone are the days when lame materials got the hiring
committee’s approval! 

You may be a great speaker with a powerful message but if your materials don’t convey the value you bring to audiences, you’ll lose
the gig to other and possibly less talented speakers.  And that hurts!

You know how good you are.  Isn’t it time others did as well?  Review your material and see if it stands up to scrutiny.  If not, then back to the
drawing board!

If you’d like to more about becoming a six figure speaker, register for my free teleconference call at http://www.eventbrite.ca/org/441217050

Cathleen
Fillmore

Speakers
Gold bureau

What Speakers Bureaus Look for in a Speaker

As a bureau owner, I have chosen to represent a small select roster of speakers simply because I
like to be really familiar with the speakers I recommend. 

Here’s what I look for when considering whether or not to represent a speaker. 

First of all, integrity and enthusiasm. 

Secondly, does your promotional material really reflect your fee level?  If your fee is higher than your promo
materials merit, I have to wonder about the disconnect. 

Do you have a well designed promo page?  If not, I just can’t sell your services.  Bureaus sell
the package not the person. 

Do you have a credible short video?  Buyers want to
make sure you can engage an audience. 

And finally do you have a reputation for being easy to work with? 

If you’d like more info on becoming a six figure speaker, register for my fre*e webinar at http://www.eventbrite.ca/org/441217050.

Cathleen Fillmore

Jamie Clarke was one of the best speakers I’ve ever seen.  I was sitting at the back of the auditorium out of the fear that listening to a speaker for an hour would be boring and I could escape easily if I needed to.  There was no need!

Jamie ran onstage and rather than loud music and huge fanfare, picked up the microphone and said quietly “Good evening ladies and gentlemen.”  It was as though he spoke directly to each of us and he had us all in the palm of his hand from that moment on.

After that, he showed fabulous slides of his journey walking across the Saharan desert and mentioned briefly his climb up Mount Everest.  He had us enthralled and took us on his adventure with him.  So we all felt like heroes although we were safely in our seats!

When we left, a woman turned to her husband and said “I know he climbed Mt. Everest but how did he do this here tonight?”  And I thought, “Right.  This was a great accomplishment!” And a rare one.  How good a speaker are you?  And how can you become the champion speaker?

Whenever I’m asked what makes a successful speaker, I have to say that it’s life force.  Everyone alive has a life force but a dynamic speaker is not only fully in touch with that inner force but actually becomes one with it.  Cheryl Perera, our 2011 Talent Showcase winner, was like a woman on fire when she was speaking.  She wasn’t perfect, she wasn’t all that polished but she was astounding and the audience hung on every word.

Her authenticity was simply shining through.  Every year when I run the showcase, I ask myself why I do it.  A couple of years, I didn’t have an answer until almost the last speaker spoke and those three minutes were so amazing that they were worth all the time and money we put into the showcase.  Those three minutes changed my life forever because I will remember the speaker and the story forever.

Do you have that kind of power?  Are you really in touch with your life force or are you disconnected?  You need to be healthy and happy in order to be fully connected.  And you need to have that inner knowledge not only that you’re brilliant but also that it’s not about you at all.  It’s about the value you bring to your audience.