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September 7, 2007 6:31 PM

Last Saturday I gave a speech to a group of about 500 people and I rocked it. Standing ovation and all. I want to start doing much more public speaking, but how do I promote myself as public speaker and land some more speaking opprotunities? (either paid or unpaid)

My area of expertise is activism, labor unions, leadership development, community development, etc... I could easily fit public speaking into my day job, so finding people to pay me to speak is not a concern, but how do I find people willing to listen?

posted by jlowen to media & arts (12 comments total)

Toastmasters. (But you gotta take turns.)
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 6:39 PM on September 7, 2007

activism, labor unions, leadership development

OK, skip those first two Tony Robbins.
posted by caddis at 6:49 PM on September 7, 2007

You could sign up with one or more speaker's bureaus, if you dream of honorariums, and don't mind the bureaus taking 25-35% commissions and fees (in fairness, they sometimes do some collections on your behalf, if clients try to stiff you). If you are just looking for places that will let you speak on topics of your choice, you could try contacting service clubs in your area (Rotarians, Lions, Kiwanis, etc.), with an outline of your topics. Many people on program committees run dry for program possibilities around the holiday season.

Nothing is stopping you from booking a meeting room at your local library, printing up a few fliers, contacting the local papers and alternative weeklies with your date and topic announcement, and then regaling whoever shows up. Finally, some public parks have soapbox corners.
posted by paulsc at 7:12 PM on September 7, 2007

Rotary clubs are always looking for speakers. They won't pay you, but it's good practice and something to put on your cv. Similarly Lion's clubs, etc. Some of them tend to be politically conservative (so go light on the labour unions) but into improving the community and/or the world. Look up some of their activities and tailor your activism talk to stuff that might be helpful to them.
posted by arcticwoman at 7:16 PM on September 7, 2007

how do I promote myself as public speaker and land some more speaking opprotunities?

Toastmasters will not help you do this. Toastmasters is primarily for people who are terrified about getting up in front of a group, and basically functions as a support group to stop them from shitting their pants when they have to speak to a group of ten or more. It does not help you promote yourself.

If you rocked a crowd of 500, you're way beyond Toastmasters.
posted by jayder at 7:38 PM on September 7, 2007

I make a decent chunk of change from public speaking. I like rocking crowds of 500 though often I'm just sort of amusing and enlightening crowds of 50, it totally depends. I speak to librarians and the big thing in my field is that the librarians do professional development stuff a lot. So, every state has a library organization and many libraries do professional development days. Knowing that, it's easy to figure out, for me, what sorts of things make good talks at these events, how much to charge, etc.

I found that once I had a few decent talks under my belt -- my first invites were really pretty random -- word of mouth spread. I was, and am, very easy to get ahold of. I always returned phone calls and wrote people back, even if I just had to say I couldn't do something, and I tried hard to be a pretty gracious speaker, flexible, etc. Some of my speaking is big keynote type stuff and some of it is much smaller. Starting out you may want to look at conferences in your loose field and get some great proposals together for talks you might want to give. And branch out, heck talking to community developmnet to librarians, for example, might be worthwhile.

So, you need to figure out what sorts of things people are going to where people like you speak (annual meetings of labor unions, social responsibility groups as part of larger conferences, student type events) and figure out who is speaking at them, what they do to get there (send them email, ask) and then work on it. It helps to have a small promotional website you can point people to -- if you're a subject specialist, a blog type thing is great of course -- that has basic info like maybe what you like to talk about a headshot and links to past talks. Here's mine, for example. Get a memorable domain and an email address that is either easy to remember or professional. Carry business cards or Moo cards with you everyplace.

That's top of my head stuff. I enjoy the work that I do in this vein. I've gotten to travel a lot, met a bunch of really interesting people and keep myself more on top of things than I might if I wasn't sharing what I knew al the time.
posted by jessamyn at 8:07 PM on September 7, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

Listen to the This American Life episode etitled "The Spokesman." It follows the career of a young guy who found himself really really good at speaking gigs and the story of what comes next is interesting and poignant. Not necessarily the supercharge-my-career info you're looking for but definitely germane and interesting to listen to.
posted by scarabic at 10:16 PM on September 7, 2007

You really have to be responsible for getting the word out. To everyone. I just landed a speaking gig over the summer at Culture in the City in Miami because I had been chatting with a professor about things that interested me. And here's what got me the opportunity - someone else bailed at the last minute. So my flexibility and willingness to step up to the plate were key in that situation. If I hadn't mentioned my interest she never would have asked. Another thing that helped is that I give the appearance of being a very responsible student, someone who wouldn't flake out on a commitment like that.

In reality, I am not the world's most motivated person and do quite a lot at the last minute. There are other very motivated and punctual people who give off a vibe that is lackadaisical or carefree. That vibe is unlikely to get you invited to speak regularly.

And thanks for reminding me to keep pursuing this. I had slacked on off spreading the word.
posted by bilabial at 10:52 PM on September 7, 2007

join a local chamber of commerce and network
posted by Soulbee at 8:21 AM on September 8, 2007

I've been a pretty successful speaker in my field, but because I work in a not-for-profit sector, other than expenses, I haven't made a lot of money at it. I have been able to travel extensively because of it though.

Because I also have a whole set of other responsibilities in that job, I actually turn down invitations. But my reputation really came not from networking, but word of mouth. And I have no idea how to facilitate that other than be good at it. I guess what I'm saying is, sounds like you're already on your way. Success breeds success. If you killed in one city, others will hear about you and you'll receive more invitations.

One of the nicest side effects to come of it is with that reputation came quite a few invitations to sit on professional advisory boards. This not only lead to more invitations for speaking, but also the ability to help mold the future of my industry, publishing. So while I haven't gained much monetarily, I have been able to shape the agenda of an industry that needs more input from the little guys, the non-profits, and the educationally oriented. So yes, network within your own professional community. And focus not just on turning the speaking into money, but also influence, which will provide opportunities which will lead to more speaking and other service. Think of it as reputational inertia.

If I pointed to one feature of my presentations that made me a good speaker, it's something both you and Jessamyn also mention, humor. I can teach and persuade quite a bit to people who are laughing. When ever appropriate, I'd encourage that.
posted by Toekneesan at 9:46 AM on September 8, 2007

Depending upon how flexible your work schedule is, most cruise lines are always looking for motivational speakers, instructional lecturers, etc., to give presentations during cruises.

I nth investigating Rotary Club and similar gigs; you'll speak before a mixed group of business people, and quite often you'll be approached by one or more to give a presentation at his company, or for a conference she's planning, things like that. You might also join your local Chamber of Commerce as a professional speaker, and attend one or more of their monthly mixers. Loads of corporations hold functions that require some sort of guest speaker, and you might fit their bill.
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:14 AM on September 8, 2007

idealist.org has a section for speakers to advertise. it seems like you're speaking about the sort of thing idealist users might be interested, so perhaps worth a shot.
posted by prophetsearcher at 11:08 AM on September 8, 2007