If Public Speaking Is Dead – How Can My Speaking Business Survive?

I recently published a new report which sums up my view of the last 2 years of the public speaking business by concluding that “Public Speaking (*as you know it) Is Dead!”

If you would like a free copy of the report, you’ll find a link to it here on the main page of the Unforgettable Speakers.com site.

This report contains my opinions, but the facts support and top speakers agree with what I have concluded.

Well-known speaker and author, Jim Cathart, CPAE, a Past President of the National Speakers Association, recently commented that:”Scott Dennison has nailed it. The problem in our business is that it’s not there anymore. The needs are still there and our skills are still valuable, but the ways in which people buy our services has permanently moved. It’s time to go where the buying is happening.”

So what is all of the buzz about? And if the public speaking business is dead, how can you survive as a speaker? Here are three easy steps you take take to ensure a bright future.

1) Understand that the new rules apply to every speaker. We’re no longer living in a world when speakers could just present their message, collect a high fee and go home. Since the meetings that require a speaker have been reduced, we all need to have a different approach.

What this means is that you need to think like a publisher or content provider. You’re not just a speaker anymore. The audiences who once attended your speeches are still hungry for information on your area of expertise and want to gain access to your knowledge. They are seeking content and the new rules state you must give it to them.

2) Try to find out what audience members loved about your presentation. Was it the information itself? Was it your unique view on your topic? When you understand that, you can attract those who get excited about your topic and build relationships with them.

When you can fill a need in someone’s life with your content (information), it does not matter where in the world they live. It only matters that they have access to you through the Internet. The days when your access to audiences was limited to those who would or could travel to hear you speak in person are over.

3) Provide content for your users in multi-media formats for them to consume. When you offer your information in video, audio and text based formats you meet the needs of everyone and do it in a way that allows them access in the learning style which they most prefer.

It is not uncommon to see a presentation that was recorded in video, later made available as an audio CD, as a book, offered in a series of articles or blog posts and many other forms of distribution. While that may seem like a lot of work it’s actually quite easy and very profitable to do so.

Instead of thinking you need tens of thousands of people to hear you speak to make a great living, imagine building strong relationships with only 1000, who each like what you do so well they invest $100 per month to learn from you. If you do the math on that, you’ll understand that THERE IS life after the death of public speaking.

Related posts:

1. Public Speaking; It’s a Business, not a Speech
2. In the Public Speaking Business, How Important is Passion?
3. A Public Speaking Tip That Pays Dividends
4. What Makes Your Business “Fly”?
5. A Public Speaking Class Requires Work, Right?

Tagged with: Audience Members • Audiences • Bright Future • Buzz • Cathart • Content Provider • Dennison • Living In A World • National Speakers Association • public speaking • Relationships • Speeches • Three Easy Steps • What This Means

Filed under: Articles • Product Development • Speaker Training • Speakers Marketing • Speaking Tips

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