Articles by Julie Austin

Julie Austin is an award-winning author, inventor, futurist and innovation keynote speaker. Her patented product, swiggies, wrist water bottles, have been a NASDAQ product of the year semi finalist and are currently sold in 24 countries. Julie and her products have appeared on The Today Show, The Queen Latifa Show, HGTV, Lifetime, Inc.magazine, Fast Company, ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX News, along with dozens of TV shows, magazines and radio shows around the world. She's a "go-to" media expert in the fields of innovation & creativity, giving keynotes for Fortune 500 companies, and is featured in the books "Patently Female" and "Girls Think of Everything".

Last week I talked to a meeting planner who had a keynote speaker coming from Florida who wasn’t able to get to their event due to hurricane Irma. When I asked what she did, she said she keeps a list of speakers she knows she can count on in a pinch, and goes through the ones local to the event in case of an emergency.

I’ve been on the other side of that as a speaker who was booked because of another speaker having to cancel. When you have to pull together a speech literally at the last minute, it helps to be an expert in that topic who knows the subject backwards and forwards. Here are some examples of speakers who have been in that situation and meeting planners who have saved the day when a speaker cancels:

“As an international planner who has been in the events profession for over a decade, I have experienced a handful of times that a speaker has canceled their set less than two weeks prior to a conference. Only once have I had someone cancel onsite, and that was due to food poisoning. Surprisingly, he pulled it together and showed up after he cancelled.

In the times that a speaker has canceled, we have a few systems in place. First, we work with the speaker to see if there is a way for us to pre-record some of the content for our group or find out if there is a way to do a live stream before we announce any changes. Most of the time, either of those solutions works. Sometimes they have a protege they can send in their place, which most of they tend to deliver messages with more enthusiasm.

We also work with the speaker who canceled to implement post conference content that can be pushed to the attendees, which is a win-win for both their brand and for the attendees to still feel they received information from an industry leader. In addition to those strategies, we always contact several speakers beforehand on their schedules and inform them that we may need them for a conference. Most of these speakers are of the lower tiered in their category, so their schedules are a bit easier to manipulate.”

Robin Oloyede
Events and Communications Director for Texas State Optical
Global Accounts Manager for Helms Briscoe

“As a frequent speaker, I find that too many meeting planners try to get their speakers on the cheap which is what leads to cancellations. Yes speakers have important information to share, but frankly, we are not doing it for our joy and personal satisfaction alone, but we need compensation to keep doing what we are doing.

I have found today that too many speaking engagements are offered as ‘networking opportunities’ with very little financial incentive to make those engagements worthwhile. Personally, I don’t accept such engagements, because I don’t want to be forced to cancel at the last minute, but I think the idea that “you get what you pay for” is important for those who need professional speakers to round out events. Being too cheap simply sets them up for last minute cancellations.”

Pam Danziger
Speaker, Author, Market Researcher
Unity Marketing

“I’ve been an meeting planner for 2 decades and speaker’s canceling at the last minute is rare. Although, I worked a conference for another planner this week and 5 speakers canceled in two days which was really unusual. I hope it’s not a trend. I teach a class at AZ State Univ. and funny enough last night the topic was “meeting planners working with speakers” and we talked about this exact topic!

What do you do when a speaker cancels happens? Three things:

The contract w/speaker is critical as there must be a cancellation clause that details out what the liabilities are when the speaker does cancel (6 months out, 3 months out, etc.). The next part is how the deposit will be handled such as return of % of deposit to the association or company based on timing.

In the contract you could require if the speaker does cancel they are responsible to providing a replacement based on the terms of the contract, meaning no additional cost to the host company.

As the planner or educational committee you need to have a list of back-up speakers who could be called on to present the topic. The resources could be just knowing who are the experts in the field they can call on, other planners who have a list of recommended speakers, speaker bureaus
Cancel the session if it happens at the last minute, like the day before, and the planner doesn’t have a local expert – this is the worst option as attendees are always disappointed that the topic they want to hear is not available. This happened yesterday when a speaker didn’t show and the room was packed. Truly a bad reflection on the speaker.

Marla Harr

Business Professional Development Consultant

Business Etiquette International

Act Well Do Well

“I was speaking at a conference in Boston 2 years ago in February, the winter of historic snowfall in the area. A major storm hit the day before the conference so several speakers could not make it into town because the airport had cancelled so many flights. I am based locally and ended up speaking 3 times on different topics the day of the conference.A lot of people who were already there ended up having to step in as well. It actually worked out amazingly well, the attendees were appreciative that the event went on and many seasoned speakers like myself were able to join panels on related topics or step in and give an impromptu talk based on their experience and background.

The survey after the conference rated it very successful and popular,sometimes you just have to roll with the punches as needed. I have spoken at other events over the years when the keynote had a last minute family emergency or conflict and the person who replaced them gave a terrific talk. Sometimes it works out even better than expected, the replacement speaker does not have time to get nervous so speaks off the cuff and the audience has lower expectations and is blown away by the authenticity of a less prepared speech.

Paige Arnof-Fenn
Founder & CEO
Mavens & Moguls

“Every meeting planner has that stomach-dropping moment when they have a room full of people waiting for a speaker that doesn’t show. The mark of a good planner is the ability to think on their feet – and this is definitely a test! Act quickly and calmly – if you have other sessions happening simultaneously, make a short announcement informing attendees of their other choices, and ensure them that you will have any materials (slide deck, handouts) they missed out on circulated post-meeting.

If you’re in a situation where the speaker is the main event, here’s where knowing your audience is key. Every conference has a few stakeholders in the room who may have a presentation or some seasoned advice up their sleeve – this is the time to pull together an onstage interview or fireside chat with those folks who you know will jump at the chance for the mic.

None of these options available to you? Slot in some extra time for networking! Many conference attendees are bored by constant programming and wish they had more time to connect with their peers – turn this into an opportunity.

Whatever you do, make sure you follow up with attendees who may have been disappointed by the change in schedule. Reach out to your speaker to see if they’ll record a video message or send a note to your attendees who missed out on their knowledge.”

Moey Fox

Senior Manager at Scott Circle, a full service communications, conference, and event management firm based in Washington, D.C.

“One time I was attending a 3-day leadership conference — as a participant — when it was learned that one of the speakers scheduled for the next morning would be unable to make it. So, when asked if I could possibly jump in to fill this void, I had to put together an entire 3-hour workshop – including powerpoint slides and handouts – overnight, on the fly! Glad to be able to report that it went great.

I’ve jumped in to speak, sit in on panels, and deliver workshops a few other times, as well, with less than a day’s notice.

The key to me, first of all, is to be a subject matter expert in your field, and to have a strong brand, so that others feel confident reaching out to you to step in with little notice. And to know your content so well that you can deliver it with minimal preparation.

Secondly, and of equal importance, is, in your preparation, to be clear on who your AUDIENCE is…and what your PURPOSE is. One-size-fits-all, generic presentations are, usually, not very effective. So I always try to find out as much as I can, as quickly as I can, about the Who, What, When, Where, and Why…so I can best determine the How.”

Todd Cherches

CEO & Co-Founder

BigBlueGumball LLC

www.bigbluegumball.com

“I host an annual event for small and growing business owners called, The BOLD Move Event. We’ve been doing these two-day events since 2012, and have had only one speaker cancel. She literally cancelled the day before the event because she said, “She wasn’t feeling the crowd; I don’t think there will be enough people for my workshop.” Well as the event host, I had become so full of last minute registrants, changes, sponsor requests, that I literally said, “Fine. We will do something else.” I consult with businesses and do some speaking, so I created (on the fly) a workshop about when we have to make adjustments to plans and activities in business. It was a big hit.

A last minute speaker cancellation can cripple an event and do harm to the hosting organization’s reputation, especially if the event is built around that speaker. If the host is knowledgeable, flexible and quick on his or her feet, a last-minute cancellation can create a positive lesson for conference participants.

Michelle Aikens

Sepia Prime Woman

At least several times each week a speaker will call with the question “Would you do my sponsorship on commission?” This is usually followed up with something like “I have the best property in the world. You’ll make lots of money on it.”

Sponsorship on commission

I can tell they already have the idea in their mind that someone will take them on for free and everyone will get rich. But then I have to explain how sponsorship really works, especially if you don’t have a property like the Olympics or the NFL. For a speaker, even an A list, top dollar speaker, I would say the odds of someone taking you on as a sponsorship broker on a commission only basis is probably zero.

It’s the same way Hollywood works. Every year tens or hundreds of thousands of actors flock to Hollywood looking for an agent who will take them on, for commission only, in the belief that they will work hard for that actor, and everyone will get rich. But that’s not the way it works most of the time. Just like sponsorship, you have to do the grunt work to get things off the ground before anyone will pay attention.

Sponsorship brokers

Once upon a time there may have been sponsorship brokers who would work on commission only, but those days are pretty much over. I tell speakers “If you find someone who is willing to do your sponsorship on commission only you should jump on it.” If you find anyone who will do anything on commission only, jump on it. But I’ve personally never found that person.

These days most agencies work on a monthly retainer, plus commission. Retainers usually range from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on the complexity of the deal. Of course, we’re talking about large events that already have established track records. Smaller properties without a track record might not even be able to get a sponsorship broker at all.

When people ask how much money you’re going to be able to bring them for that retainer you have to honestly say that there is no guarantee that you can bring them any money. (If they do give you a guarantee, that should be a red flag.) This is a hard pill to swallow, which is why, as a speaker, you have to learn how to do it yourself.

DIY speaker sponsorship

The next thing I hear from speakers is “I’m too busy. I don’t have time to do it myself”. So, if you don’t have time to form relationships with sponsors, how are you going to have time to service them after you cash their check? And how are you going to know what to do to help them get a return on their investment?

OK, now that I’ve burst your bubble, here is the good news. Once you learn how to get sponsors, you have a very valuable skill that will make you money over and over again. With around 18,000 corporate sponsors and over 25 million small business sponsors in the U.S. alone, there is no shortage of money out there for speakers willing to put some time into building up a sponsorship portfolio.

Once you learn that valuable skill, you never have to wait around for anyone to give you a speaking job. You simply create your own.

The Speaker Sponsor directory is a great place to be listed. Sponsors and meeting planners visit the site every day. That is guaranteed. Just like the monthly high dollar retainer fee paid to sponsorship brokers, there is still no guarantee a sponsor will pick you up. But at $9.00 a month it’s certainly much less than those huge retainer fees. And if a sponsor does pick you up from the site, 100% of the sponsorship funds go to you.

Just like actors in Hollywood, you have to do the groundwork to get your career started. And just like Hollywood, the speaking industry wants speakers who are already working. Sponsorship helps you jump past your competition while everyone else is waiting on the sidelines for someone to get the work for them.

Has your speaking career stalled? Has the phone stopped ringing? Getting fewer jobs?

This week is when summer officially begins, so I thought it would be a good time to talk about spring cleaning, since summer is typically a slower time in the speaking business.

Speaking career

I remember watching a video of Joe Calloway speaking at an NSA conference. He talked about how we tend to cling to our old speeches, outdated training manuals and jokes that no longer work. His solution… “throw it out!”

As speakers we work incredibly hard doing research, preparing speeches, writing books, creating workshops, putting together one sheets, etc. So hearing that we should just throw it all out sounds a little daunting.

But all artists (I would call a speaker a performing artist), need to occasionally sit down and take inventory of what’s working and what isn’t. There’s no point in spinning your wheels going in a direction that isn’t working for you. Every so often you need to re-evaluate your speaking career, and now is as good a time as any while business is slower. Here are a few things to think about when it comes to reinventing yourself as a speaker:

Do a forensic analysis

Go through all of your marketing materials one by one. Which things bring in the best ROI? Is it your website? Your printed one sheet? Postcards? Referrals? Are your materials outdated? Can they be improved? Sit down with someone who will give you honest feedback and get their input. Hire a speaker marketing coach to help you. Get several opinions. If you hear the same advice from a few different people you need to take notice. 80% of your business is probably coming from 20% of your effort. Find out where it’s coming from and do more of it.

Create your material in different ways

Keynote speaking isn’t the only kind of speaking out there. Many speakers make a great living doing workshops. In fact, I recently talked to a meeting planner who told me they got all of their keynote speakers for free. When I looked at the line-up, I was surprised. “You mean this guy speaks for free?” He said “Not only does he speak for free, but he actually pays us to speak on our stage”. I was surprised. So, if established speakers are paying to speak, where does that leave up and coming speakers? He said his company pays very well for trainers, and that it’s going to be much more in demand in the future. So, do you have a workshop ready to go? Do you have training materials? I lost a good job opportunity a couple of years ago because I didn’t have a workshop prepared.

Freshen up your performance

When I first moved to L.A. I worked in a comedy club and I watched how comedians prepared their material. One night was dedicated to open mic, where new comedians could get practice and established comedians tried out new material for their act. If it bombed, usually no one saw it. And if it got a great response, they would add it to their act, and constantly honed it until they got 5 minutes of the very best material. You can do the same thing as a speaker. Summertime is a great time to try out new things. Test out something new, and if it works, add it to your speech, while cutting the lame, old material that isn’t your best. What you want is what comedians aim for – 60 minutes of killer material.

Most professional speakers work as independent contractors and run their own businesses. With all of the business expenses speakers encounter, there are also plenty of tax write-offs for speakers. We asked the experts what expenses speakers were allowed to write off and which expenses they tend to overlook:

“In addition to the meals, travel, etc., here are some deductions that people might not know about:

Tax writeoffs for speakers

Educational materials – If you take classes, lectures, or online courses on how to become a better speaker, it’s usually deductible

Losses due to theft

Newspapers and magazines – You can use these to stay on top of the industries in which you speak

Prizes for contests – This is a good deduction, especially if you run a contest to get some promotion”

James Pollard

TheAdvisorCoach.com

Speaker business deductions

“If you’re a professional speaker, most likely you are self-employed. Small business owners and self-employed individuals can write off almost any ordinary and necessary business expense that they need to keep their business running. For a professional speaker, some of these deductions might include….

Transportation for work

You can make deductions on any transportation expenses you incur for work, including any driving you do for business purposes (as long as you keep a detailed record of all miles driven). If you travel away from home for speaking engagements, you can also deduct travel expenses (as long as they are for business, not pleasure, and aren’t overly lavish or extravagant). If a trip is longer than a normal work day, then you can deduct lodging and meals while you’re there as well. You may even be able to deduct dry cleaning and laundry costs.

Advertising and promotion

Business cards, brochures, posters, and branded giveaways to promote yourself are all deductible. So is your website and any mailing list software or services.

Phone and Internet

You can deduct fees for Internet and phone service. If you use for both business and personal, then you must keep track of what percentage of the use goes to business and deduct only that amount.

Equipment and Supplies

Whatever supplies you need to be a professional speaker are probably deductible. This might include basics like pens, paper, and printer ink or it might include projectors, microphones, lights or other equipment for your speaking engagements.

Education and Research

Your education expenses are deductible. Any classes or seminars you take and books or supplies you need to buy are write-offs. You might also qualify for a tax credit. Some credits only apply to higher education (college) costs, while others will cover continuing ed and any other classes to will help you improve your speaking skills. Your student loan interest is also deductible.

Child care costs

If you’re the parent of a child under the age of 13 you might be allowed to claim a credit for money you spend on childcare while you’re working.

Charitable work

If you donate your time for a charitable event you can’t deduct the time spent volunteering, but you can deduct expenses you incur while volunteering, such as transportation costs.

Tax preparation costs

You can even deduct the fees you paid your accountant to prepare and file your taxes or the cost of tax preparation software.

Joshua Zimmelman

President

Westwood Tax & Consulting LLC

265 Sunrise Highway, Suite 1-411

Rockville Centre, NY 11570

Tele: (516) 792-0505

Fax: (516) 324-3136

Web: www.westwoodtax.com

Email: josh@westwoodtax.com

Overlooked tax deductions

“Some of the overlooked tax deductions we see speakers miss out on are (1) software and online service subscriptions (2) Business entertainment and meals and (3) commissions paid by your business.”

Mark A. Wingo | Author of Wingonomics
President & CEO – New Beginning Financial Group, LLC

www.nbfinancialgroup.com

Toll-Free (877) 483-NBFG

And if you are a speaker who works on cruises, here are some cruise tax write-offs:

“Presently you can only deduct up to $2,000 per year for each person attending conventions and seminars on cruise ships, and only if the cruise trip meets all of the following requirements:

– The convention, seminar, or meeting offered on the cruise ship must be directly related to your trade or business.
– The cruise ship must be a vessel registered in the United States.
– All of the cruise ship’s ports of call are in the United States or in possessions of the United States.

– You must attach to your tax return a written statement signed by you that includes information about:

The total days of the trip (not including the days of transportation to and from the cruise ship port),
The number of hours each day that you devoted to scheduled business activities, and
A program of the scheduled business activities of the meeting.You attach to your return a written statement signed by an officer of the organization or group sponsoring the meeting that includes:A schedule of the business activities of each day of the meeting, and the number of hours you attended the scheduled business activities.Accordingly, conventions and seminars offered on Caribbean cruises are not tax deductible since their ports of call fall outside the United States. There is a way, however, to take a Caribbean cruise and deduct more than $2,000 in travel expenses: simply find a convention or seminar held in any of the North American Areas sanctioned by the U.S. Department of State and travel there by cruise! The North American area includes U.S. islands, cays, and reefs that are possessions of the United States and the locations listed below:

Territories

American Samoa
Grenada
Micronesia
Antigua and Barbuda
Guam
Midway Islands
Aruba
Guyana
Netherlands Antilles
BahamasHonduras
Northern Mariana Islands
Baker IslandHowland Island
Palau
BarbadosJamaica
Palmyra Atoll
BermudaJarvis Island
Puerto Rico
CanadaJohnston Island
Trinidad and Tobago
Costa RicaKingman Reef
USA
DominicaMarshall Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands
Dominican RepublicMexico
Wake IslandUnder this tax strategy there would be no need of restricting your travel on US vessels and to US ports of call, and of signing and of obtaining from the group sponsor detailed prescribed attest statements. If your cruise does not exceed a week, simply attend a business related seminar or convention (even a one day event suffices for a one-week cruise), and you have satisfied the ordinary and necessary expense criteria of a qualified business tax deduction of your travel expenses. Of course, on any business trip, document your business expenses by addressing the who, what, when, where, why questions, save receipts, and collect convention/seminar paraphernalia as IRS souvenirs. If your cruise exceeds a week, you are still eligible to deduct the cost of the cruise as long as your nonbusiness activity does not constitute 25% or more of travel time. ”

Vincenzo Villamena, CPA

Online Taxman | 347 Fifth Ave. Suite 1402-171 | New York, NY | 10016 | vincenzo@onlinetaxman.com | (p) 646.400.0046 | (f) 815.550.8651 |

Don’t forget to include your Speaker Sponsor membership and any sponsorship courses you take!

As conferences become more interactive, and audiences demand experiences over lectures, new technology for public speakers will take a front row seat. This is also true for sponsorship, and sponsors are asking for programs that are customized to fit their needs.

Speakers can integrate technology into their presentations before, during and after to give their sponsors the best return on investment for their sponsorship dollars. Here are some ideas of new technology for speakers:

“For meeting and event speakers, there’s so much new technology out there, that choosing the right path can be frustrating, time-consuming and expensive. However, the reality is, if you don’t tap into a strong mobile presence, you’ll lose valuable data and interaction with your audience. They expect it, they have their smartphones in hand, and they’re ready to be reminded that attending your session/event was more than worth their time and money.

Our #1 tech recommendation for speakers? Invest in (or ask your sponsor to invest in) a smart, well-designed, and easily operable app.

Whether you’re planning an international conference or regional corporate meeting, there is an overwhelming amount of information out there. The trick is, how do you make sure you’re gathering it efficiently while equally focusing on the content you’re delivering, ROI for before, during and after the event, and in-session attendee participation?

All event apps help speakers do at least one of those things, but in order to make a sound investment, you need technology that helps you achieve all three simultaneously. Here’s what we tell speakers to look for themselves or ask for from event planners (whether they choose our app or not):

An app that tracks user behavior as it happens and gathers critical data for future outreach
An app that promotes unique ROI for the speaker (e.g., Arcivr extends the life of sponsorship/speaker dollars (or internal promotions) through ongoing interactive ads).
An app that allows you to easily and efficiently access the backend so you can adjust your engagement efforts in real time, based on the behavioral data you’re receiving.

(more…)

Anyone who is in the meeting and event industry already has their finger on the pulse of what’s happening, but it’s always good to look at some statistics on paper to confirm it. The more speakers know about future trends in the meeting industry, the better prepared they will be when a meeting planner calls. Or how to get the meeting planner to call in the first place.

According to the Meeting Professionals International, the industry is moving from a sellers market to a buyers market. For now, it still remains squarely in the middle, which is a much better place to be than strictly a sellers market, at least for speakers.

68.2% are optimistic about the industry in 2017, or at least expect no negative change. Half of government meeting planners and international planners expect conditions to be worse. They expect attendance at live events to rise in 2017, and a full 23% of organizations that hire meeting professionals to increase their employees.

Here’s some very good news for speakers. According to the Destination Hotels’ survey, 37% of respondents say they have more money to spend on meetings in 2017, 57% have the same amount, and 30% say they will be planning more meetings. The extra money may not be spent all on one meeting, but will be spread out among more meetings, giving more speakers more paid speaking opportunities.

One trend that is catching on is the experiential meeting. Hands-on learning is making a comeback, along with using different styles of learning for audiences who want their information in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic ways. Remember that when you plan your speech, and consider creative ways to integrate your sponsor within them.

Security is the number one topic on a meeting planner’s mind. According to the MPI report, “Forty-eight percent of respondents to the quarterly survey said they expected the costs of meetings to rise due to the need for greater security. Forty-four percent reported that they anticipated changes to the meeting and event industry due to the increasing prevalence and threat of terrorism. Cyber security is also a big concern for meeting planners.

Planning Pod, a top events blog, feels that niche events will become a hot trend in 2017. “events focused on smaller niche audiences to sub-events or tracks focused on select attendees to smaller sessions and audience sizes, events that are micro-focused will start gaining more momentum as attendees want more personalized experiences and seek out more intimate settings to learn and connect.” This is even more of a good reason for speakers to start honing in on their niche.

Building better relationships with the audience is going to become more important to meeting planners. More time will be spent getting to know who the audience is and what they want. As a speaker who is looking for sponsorship, this is important to you as well. If you’re asked to speak for free, hopefully the meeting planner will be willing to share some of that info with you so you can maximize your sponsor’s ROI. After all, sponsors are interested in who is in the audience, and not so much what you speak about.

I was talking to a speaker the other day and asked her what topic she spoke about and she answered “whatever they want”. That might have worked in the speaking industry 20 years ago, but today’s meeting planner is looking for an expert in a topic, a thought leader who knows more about that topic than anyone else, and has a solid background to back it up.

Branding yourself as a speaker

You might think that limits your opportunities as a speaker, but it’s actually the opposite. I’ve spent some time studying the top speakers, and work with some top speakers. And one thing they have in common is that they have narrowed down their niche. They dig deep within the one thing they know better than any other speaker and they stick with it.

I know so many speakers who have incredible hard skills knowledge they could be using, but say they would rather speak on topics that meeting planners simply aren’t looking for, the speaker isn’t really an expert in, or the market is saturated with.

Meeting planners talk amongst themselves, and when they are looking for a particular topic your name should come to the top of the list. If you want to speak on branding, have you ever actually created a brand yourself? You will be competing with people who have created world class brands that are household names. Why would they choose you over someone who started a Fortune 500 company with a brand that’s a household name?

I’ve seen speakers who say they speak on the topic of social media who only have 300 Twitter followers and a Klout score below 40. Why would a meeting planner hire them to teach their employees about social media?

Are you an expert in your field?

The first thing I look at on a speaker’s website is the “about” page. What kind of background do you have that qualifies you as an expert in that topic? As an audience member, why would I listen to you? Just because you’re passionate about a topic doesn’t mean you’re the right person to deliver that message. Your credibility is something that has to be earned.

If you look at the backgrounds of some of the top speakers, they have extensive knowledge, hands-on experience in the real world, media attention in their area of expertise, industry awards and years of training. They’ve earned the right to stand on a stage and speak on that topic.

The good news is that most of us have all of those things. It’s a matter of doing what speaker Joe Calloway calls “picking a lane”. I know I’ve used this example before, but Brene’ Brown is a good example of a speaker who picks a lane. In fact, on the home page of her site it says she has “spent the past 13 years studying vulnerability…” When a meeting planner is looking for that topic, she’s at the top of the list. And she works… a lot.

Find your own audience

Another part of a speaker’s brand is in their delivery. If you look at comedians, someone like Jim Carey has a very different style from Steven Wright, Mitch Hedberg’s style was very different from Melissa McCarthy’s style. They all found their own audience, as you should do as a speaker.

As far as style goes, there’s no right or wrong way when it comes to being a speaker, but it should always fit your comfort level. I would never feel comfortable lecturing from a podium with a lot of charts and grafts. But many meeting planners would rather have that style, and there are plenty of speakers who feel more comfortable giving them what they want. There’s no reason to fit a square peg in a round hole. Be who you are and the audience that’s right for you will find you, love you, and hire you over and over again. Are you branding yourself as a speaker?

According to the National Federation of Independent Business, a recent poll of over 600 small business owners determined that small business optimism has hit its highest level since 2004. These small business owners feel that business conditions will get better and that sales will increase by 20%. This is great news for speakers looking for sponsorship as businesses think that now is the time for them to expand. In fact, 36% expect to add jobs.

Community banks have seen more requests for business loans, and earlier in the year than normal. Banking regulation reform will bring relief to small community banks, who in turn will be lending more to main street.

Even though arts, education, entertainment, and cause sponsorship still only makes up around 25% of the sponsorship pie, it’s still good news for speakers seeking sponsorship. Unlike large corporations, small business owners spend less on sports and more on arts and education. In fact, the sponsorship pie is most likely flipped, where only 25% of small business sponsorship is in sports, mainly local community sports.

When small businesses are flush with cash, they need artists and other creatives even more. Whether it’s graphic artists to help with website design or advertising, or speakers who promote them to a targeted audience, this is good news for artists of all kinds.

One trend has been around lately and will continue into the future. Sponsors are asking for more customization from sponsees. It’s not a bad thing, it just means that you have to up your game if you want to attract a sponsor. Small business sponsorship is much less competitive than large corporate sponsorship, but sponsorship in general is still a competitive game.

Even with more cash to spend in an improving business environment, that doesn’t mean small businesses want to waste money. They still want to get the most bang for their buck, and sponsorship is a great way to do that. You are putting them in front of their target audience for less than it would cost for advertising in many cases.

Business optimism leads to more innovation, and business owners being open to new ideas. Now is the time to start adding sponsorship to your portfolio of ways to make money as a speaker.

It seems many people look at New Year’s resolutions as big changes, and either try to go full blast and fail, or don’t do anything at all for risk of total failure. I learned that putting too much pressure on myself to force big change never seems to work for me. So, instead, I just set small, attainable goals that I know can be kept. Here’s a way you can add small changes as a speaker in 2017:

Speak more – Yes, I know this sounds simple, but it’s something every speak can do. Some of the best speakers I know speak a lot. They don’t wait to get paid to speak, they just take every opportunity possible to do it, even if they aren’t getting paid. Whether it’s practicing in your own living room, volunteering to be on a panel, or giving a toast at a wedding. Don’t want to speak for free? Find a free speaking gig, get your expenses paid for, and get a sponsor to pay your fee. Speak locally so you don’t have to travel. Use these opportunities to test out new material and new power points.
Become more knowledgable about your topic – You can never know too much about your area of expertise. You should know your subject matter like the back of your hand and be able to get up on stage and speak about it for an hour. If it’s a topic you enjoy speaking on, this should be something you’re doing all the time anyway. Keep up with the latest information in your industry and incorporate it into your material.
Study other speakers – Watch speakers live whenever you can. Watch TED Talks and speaker videos. How can you differentiate yourself from speakers in your topic? Never copy, but be inspired by the good ones, and learn from the mistakes of bad speakers. What do you have to offer that other speakers don’t have? What topic can you speak on that no one else can speak on?
Learn a new skill – Take an improv class or a stand-up comedy class to add some humor into your presentations. Take an acting class to improve your stage presence. Or a dancing class. Singing lessons and breath technique will help you vocally. What skill are you weak in that you need to brush up on?

The new year is a time to start fresh and hit the ground running. What are some of your New Year’s resolutions as a speaker?

As a speaker, it’s helpful to know what the person hiring you to speak is most concerned about. You never know. You may have skills that can help them in problem solving, and that will go a long way when it comes to hiring and rehiring you. Always help make their job a little easier.

In a recent study conducted by Development Counsellors International, who polled over 200 North American meeting planners, over half of them are struggling with limited budgets and felt they were being overworked on top of it.

An article in Meetings and Conventions Magazine listed 25 ways meeting planners could cut their budgets. Two things on the list are of particular concern to speakers. The first one said to look within the organization for talent, offering them a free ticket to the conference in exchange.

This is something I’ve been hearing a lot lately from meeting planners, so it backs up what the article says. This is why it’s so important to have a portfolio of your own sponsors, so you can offer that to a meeting planner as an option when they don’t have the money in the budget. It’s possible they may find a good speaker from within to do it for free, but my guess is they would prefer to have a professional speaker with outside knowledge if they could.

The other thing on the list was to get more from your speakers by getting them to add a breakout session to their keynote fee. Another way speakers can add value is by helping to promote the event. This is something you should do anyway if you are working with a sponsor.

Here are other concerns from meeting planners:

“As an event and meeting planner with more than 25 years of professional experience, these are a few things that keep me up at night.

1) A speaker who manages to engage the attendees, but whose message provides no real teachable lessons — or the flip side — a speaker who provides a plethora of good information, but goes too deep in the weeds and bores the attendees is a major consideration.

2) Attendees who pay a significant amount to attend a meeting or conference, but feel as though they didn’t get the value out of their investment is always a concern.

3) Equipment and tech failures with microphones, audio, etc., can keep one up at night. While you can test the equipment and conduct sound checks,it’s those phantom times when the PowerPoint and audio has a mind of its own and does not work properly.

4) Will the the meeting rooms be too cold or too hot? Will attendees be able to find their sessions? Will the meeting and seminars run on time? Will the speakers all show? There has been an occasion where there is a no-show.”

Greg Jenkins

PartnerBravo Productions

www.bravoevents-online.com

“My biggest concern: how to a leverage the event and how do I create an experience to get people excited to show up live.

As far as an event, it’s never just the event. I have to consider if I live stream the live event, turn it into a podcast, transcribe it for blog post, turn into an article, pitch to media, create social media posts, and leverage every single second to justify the event cost. Some people just won’t attend a live event. I have many that will watch online so I have to make certain I’m on the platform and medium they desire and allow them to do so on their own time.

Experience. I definitely am more focused on creating unique events. How to I elevate the live event where people won’t want to miss it. Is it the mix of people in the room? Is it a special venue? Do attendees get something special? Is it going above and beyond to make people wowed?

Interesting example:

In 2011, I live streamed a four hour event via a rigged Go-To-Webinar trick. We had 100 in the audience, and we had 80 people show up from all over the country the entire time. After the event, I produced the video on our YouTube channel (with permission of all speakers). This one speaker, really used the video. She’s had almost 55k views on the video in five years. She still gets people that call her because of this event.

Aaron Norris,MBA, APR,CSPG

The Norris Group