SPEAKER SERVICES http://speakerservices.com Newsletter, January 2001 #27 Get Listed in the Directory: http://speakerservices.com/adv_pkt.html Content: 1. A Word from the Publisher 2. New & Renewing Speakers 3. Before You Quit Your Day Job... Don Blohowiak 4. Mechanics of a Video Taping Session, Ed Primeau ****************** OUR SPONSORS: Inspire others to excellence! AvidLearn is seeking experts to present live, online seminars. Enjoy tremendous exposure and unparalleled convenience. To find out more, register for our free "How To" course at www.avidlearn.com. For further information, contact an Account Executive at (888) 493-2100 or experts@avidlearn.com. ****************** Five Star Publications, Inc. Full Book-Publishing Services Since 1985 >From production to publicity, have it all with just one call! www.BookProducer.com and www.eBookery.com Your partner in electronic publishing. e-mail: radke@fivestarsupport.com ****************** Need new clients? Want to increase your business in the New Year? Get support on utilizing speaking as a marketing tool for your business, presentation skills, sales training, speech development and communication skills. Heidi Parr, internationally recognized seminar leader and executive coach offers individual and customized packages in person in Los Angeles or telephone consulting. Call 310-915-0094 or e-mail heidiparr@aol.com for more information. _______________________ New & Renewing Speakers for Free & FEE Sara Armstrong: Life survivor offers techniques for conquering adversity and staying in charge of your life Ann Boroch: Naturopathic doctor and MS survivor shares vast knowledge of natural modalities for fostering perfect health Hugh Bromma: Investment advisor offers investment secrets of the super-rich. Teri Fisher: Consultant demystifies "unspoken rules" of business and personal success Scott Hunter: Organizational coach-trainer has proven track record of creating extraordinary business teams Rebecca Hulem: Health educator explores strategies for perimenopausal and menopausal health, well-being and longevity Keith Ivey: Simple 60-day plan brings career recognition, appreciation and rewards Lisa Malik: Stress-management consultant offers transformative techniques for life enrichment LivHome: Eldercare specialists offer sensitive and innovative solutions for caregivers Forrest Miller Humorous presentation adds "lite" years to your life Anne Silver: Ask the Everyday Poet to fire up, dazzle and delight your business, social or spiritual gathering Katie Ralston: Picture perfect parties and functions with caricature artist Laura Rubinstein: Discover the keys to vitality, joy and success Dr. Hal Wexler: Chiropractor specializes in alternative healthcare approaches to aging and longevity North Wood: Laws of personal change, techniques for reaching goals, creativity and talent. ___________________________ A WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER Greetings and Happy New Year In early December I attended The International Business & Consciousness Conference in Mexico. I met and heard many speakers among them Dan Millman, Richard Barrett, Laurie Beth Jones, Martin Rutte, Gay Hendricks, Lance Secretan and Richard Moss Natalie Petouhoff and Terry Braverman, two of our speakers presented as well. The highlight for me was Patricia Aburdene (Megatrends 2000). In her latest work, Digital Soul, Patricia described how today's most successful high-tech and Internet companiesÐÐCisco, Yahoo, Hewlett Packard and others intuitively follow the "new business rules" that reflect many universal principles that we have discovered on the spiritual path. The Internet, Patricia argues, is but a primitive replica of the universal grid of consciousness that links all things. Her presentation was excellent not only in content but in the way she structured the talk. Great research, stories and heart to heart connection with the audience. There were people from all over the world in attendance. I had a great time with my friends and I played hooky two days and went to the beach. So I came home refreshed and now we are in the midst of the holiday season and 2001 is right around the corner. Take some of the advise from Don Blohowiak in his article Before You Quit Your Day Job. Ed Primeau offers information on steps to creating a great video demo. Our Video Demo Showcase in Los Angeles is full for February 25th. Our next shoot will be June 10. It's a 3 camera shoot, fully edited with a live audience for $850. Interested to be an audience member-let me know and I'll send you the directions. Teleclasses resume in January with the following classes: Leveraging Your Speaking Engagements, Vickie Sullivan, Video Demo's, Ed Primeau and Storytelling, Barry Segal and Guerilla Publicity, Jill Lublin, Check out the following link for the exact schedule http://speakerservices.com/teleclasses/index.html. Remember audio tapes are available if you can't make the classes and we have the previous teleclasses on tape too. Happy Holidays. Susan Levin Speaker Services _______________________________________ Before You Quit Your Day Job... Don Blohowiak, Trenton, N.J. Do you secretly think of yourself as a professional speaker even though you1re drawing a paycheck from an employer? Here1s a more probing question: Should you quit your day job to pursue your fantasy of becoming a speaker for hire? The worst thing you can do in dreaming about a career as a full-time speaker is to deny yourself the opportunity to pursue it. The second worst thing is to jump into the pursuit prematurely. So, what are the realities of moving from employee (comfortableÜalbeitre pressedÜwith steady paychecks and benefits), to speaker (creatively fulfilled though eternally in search of cash flow?) For the last ten years of my career as an executive on a corporate payroll, I thought of myself as a professional speaker-in-the-making. I wrote books, got quoted in some impressive publications and began giving paid speeches. I joined NSA, picked up bureau representation and grew increasingly restless in my "real" job. Two years ago, I resigned my former position to earn my living where I found my passionÜstanding in front of audiences, sharing insights, stimulating thinking and teaching important skills. If you aspire to take a similar path, the following thoughts may save you some time, money and wrenching heartache when you finally leave your day job to pursue your new career. Perfect Your Skills While you1re gainfully employed, develop your speaking, marketing and business skills. Recognize the escalating expectations of those who hire speakers. They demand engaging and entertaining presentations jam-packed with fresh insights and take-home value. With the proliferation of videotapes and conferences featuring top professional speakers, meeting planners have been thoroughly exposed to the best in our industry. Their expectations are high; to compete, you need to fulfill them. You must be so good that people who hear you will enthusiastically want to tell others about you. Study Where You Are If you speak on a topic related to your current professional life, your employer becomes your laboratory. Take notes, clip articles, attend industry conferencesÜall on your employer1s nickel. Participate in every NSA event that you possibly can. Be active in Toastmasters. Hire a coach to develop the best platform and business skills you are capable of. Once you1re on your own, if you want to eat, you will have to produce income and run a business. Your time for learning the business then is greatly reduced. A great way to learn more about the speaking business is to hire speakers for the company you work for right now. Volunteer to serve on a program committee. I learned a great deal about this business by hiring speakers for sales, management and incentive meetings for my former employer. Moonlight Speaking while you hold a regular job is a great way to build both the credibility and the relationships that will fuel your future success. Use your vacation days as an investment in your future. You1ll return to your regular job energized from the speaking experience. Stash Away a Fortune No matter how well you prepare in advance, you1ll need savings to cover living expenses while waiting for the world to discover you, additional monies while you wait for the conferences of those who discovered you and even more while you wait to get paid for the dates you were fortunate enough to secure. Accumulate a year1s worth of living expenses (or more if possible) in addition to what you1ll invest in your video demo, brochure and office equipment. You cannot force a fast success in this business, even if you1re an outstanding and well-connected talent. This business can be brutal. Anyone who has belonged to NSA for more than three years has seen promising colleagues come into the business only to leave a year or two later. Staying power requires more than talent and commitment. It requires business acumen backed by financial resources to keep you intact during the inevitable lean times. You can do everything right in this business and still have to wait longer than you want for your bookings to build to a level that approaches your former salary and benefits. Three or more years is not unrealistic. Even when you begin to build momentum and receive those golden referrals and recommendations, the nature of the meeting business can mean torturously long lead times between the initial interest in your services to being paid for delivering them. Other Financial Considerations Planning to buy a house or finance a car? Get those big purchases behind you before you open your business. CreditÜthe kind requiring approval of an applicationÜis tough to come by when you own a new business. Financial institutions look at someone self-employed as essentially unemployed until a prosperous track record has been established. Get a software program such as QuickBooks to track your business expenses and income. Set up a separate business checking account. It may not seem important when speaking is a sideline, but getting into the practice and habit of treating business funds separately will help immensely when you go full-time. Set Up an Office Acquire and become proficient with the tools you1ll need when you1re full-time (i.e., computer, software, fax machine). Get a business phone line with voicemail now. You don1t want your speaking-related calls coming to your current employer or your regular home line. Your spouse isn1t your secretary and your children certainly aren1t either. Create a Business Plan Can you live by speaking alone? Chances are that you1ll need to mix in some consulting, teaching, writing or other business activities to augment revenues (especially in the beginning, even if you1ve been moonlighting.) Understand the agonizingly long time it takes to build a reputationÜthat magic mix of name recognition and enthusiastic endorsements from important people. Think of a speaker you admire. How long have they been delivering paid speeches? Most likely, the answer is measured in years and decades. Prepare to Say ÎNo1 Early in the self-employed game, every opportunity looks exciting and inviting. However, you1ll soon discover that you must be strategically disciplined about how you spend your time. If you1re fulfilling a teaching fantasy and find yourself correcting exams, you1re not networking with prospects, writing articles or developing new promotional materials. Time is the most precious commodity you have; it1s finite and non-renewable and must be used selfishly and wisely. When you have excess cash in the bank from your wildly successful speaking career, you can better afford to indulge your varied interests than when you1re starting to pursue a business plan. In the meantime, get a clear picture of the ultimateÜrealisticÜexpression of your business and define your time and activities by whether or not they support the attainment of your vision. Think Through Your Business Processes Will you have staff? Who1s going to send out your promotional kits? Will you sell products? How will you bill and ship them? How will you track conflicting holds on your calendar? How are you going to capture and return phone messages? Who1s going to make your travel arrangements? While traveling, is someone going to check your fax machine? The more you think through these questions before Day One of your business, the easier and faster the start. Time management is crucial for two very different challenges in this crazy business: 1) Operating effectively under multiple, tight deadlines when you have a lot of current business; and 2) Operating effectively when you don1t have any. The second kind is the most challenging for me; it is in such sharp contrast to the deadline-driven mode we must so often work in. When those deadlines no longer frame the week (or month), I start to feel a bit adrift. Here1s what I suggest to be productive when no client deadline looms: Keep a list of projects you want to develop and get right to work on them when you see unscheduled time on the calendar. Projects might include writing a newsletter for your clients (or an article for a newsletter published by someone else), introducing yourself to (or rekindling a relationship with) speakers bureaus or speaking prospects; call old clients to renew your interest in their business; research a new topic or refresh your data on an existing one; schedule an appointment with your accountant to review your current business plan and forthcoming tax matters; or, begin or continue work on a book, tape or other product. The key is to be productive with an eye toward the long-term success of your business when you are not frantic with short-term obligations. To do so takes both discipline and focus, but it can be some of the most productive work you will everÜand mustÜdo. Speak Freely No brochure or video can boost your business or create demand quite like having people see your unique contribution from the platform for themselves. ______________________________ THE MECHANICS OF A VIDEO TAPING SESSION: HOW TO LOOK, DRESS AND ACT ON CAMERA Ed Primeau: ed@primeauproductions.com On many occasions, I am asked for some tips and techniques on preparing for a video taping session. Here are 10 of the most common tips I provide to help prevent some of the more common mistakes made during a video taping session. Some are Elephants. Some are Mosquitoes. 1. Be sure to always remove your name badge when speaking. Regardless if you are videotaping or not, when you wear a name badge while you are speaking, it can be a distraction. This is an Elephant. 2. Treat the camera like an audience member. If you don1t, and never make eye contact with it, the viewer of the video will feel left out like an audience member whom you never make eye contact with. This too is an Elephant. 3. No darting eyes at anytime while speaking, especially when videotaping. By "darting eyes" I mean quickly shifting from one focal point to another without making actual eye contact with the audience. To really connect with an audience, you must win them over one at a time. I like Lee Glickstein1s technique he teaches in his coaching programs. As soon as you take the platform, begin the process. Find your first connection, make eye contact for a couple seconds. Once you begin speaking, keep the process going. Make eye contact with the next audience member (3 seconds or so) then move on to the next connection. Within 10-15 minutes, you will have connected with various audience members and have them engaged with you and listening intently. 4. Perhaps you could try more silence during your presentation. This will allow your words to sink in a bit with the audience. For example, when you are introduced, do not talk at all while entering the stage. Rather, take the stage in silence, take in the energy the audience is offering until the applause ends, wait a second or two (great time to begin connecting via eye contact) then begin speaking. This too I learned from Lee Glickstein, and it works. 5. When wearing a lavaliere microphone, hide the microphone wire (not antenna wire) for a neater appearance. Men, hide it behind two or three buttons of your shirt. Ladies, feed the mic up through your garment then clip onto a part of your outfit that won1t move or rustle. Clip the lav on 9-10" below your chin. Men, clip the mic to your tie then tuck the wire behind your buttons so the wire does not hang out. Do not hide the antenna; it will affect the performance of your microphone1s reception. If the volume is too low, move the lave 1-2" closer to your mouth. 6. Use stories and examples the viewer of the video can relate to. These types of stories I call "attention getter" stories and really help improve the value of the video or the video brochure. They help the viewer relate to you. It draws them nearer to you and your message. 7. Stay in tune with the audience. You are their teacher (for lack of a better word) and should stay in touch with their reality as well as yours. Are they squirming? Looking around or talking to each other? I would guess that if you notice these activities, you have lost the audience. This does not look good on video and reduces your chances of being asked back. I have seen audience shots where three or four of the people in the shot look captivated but one or two ruin the shot because they tuned out. 8. Wear something that does not blend in or clash with the meeting rooms backdrop or background (walls etc.). Always wear your best outfit for videotaping but do not wear the same outfit twice for two taping sessions. If the meeting room has exit signs or doors in the background, for $50-$90, you can order some pipe and drape from the AV department and make the background look very neat and professional. Colors should range form black to royal blue to maroon. All look better than a wall or exit sign. 9. Fill empty seats upfront, so as to help keep your energy up and not show empty seats in the "B" roll or audience camera. The introducer will do the housekeeping if you put this request in writing with your other requests like A/V, set-up requirements, announcements about taping, turn off cell phones etcS. 10. Last but not least, test the mic and cameras before the program begins. Listen to the sound in the room and watch and listen to a test recording. This will help avoid 99% of problems that can occur while videotaping. These are some of the more common mistakes I see when reviewing speakers1 footage. More tips and techniques can be seen by logging onto primeauproductions.com. I wish you all the best in your video taping adventure. Ed Primeau is the founder of Primeau Productions, Inc., a full-service multimedia production company that works with professional speakers. He is a past president of the Professional Speakers Association of Michigan and received the 1998/99 President1s Award for Distinguished Service from the National Speakers Association. ________________________________ SPONSOR THIS NEWSLETTER! Get your message out to speakers 2,000 plus and meeting planners in this fast growing newsletter. $50 a month, limit to 6 lines of text, 60 characters per line issues or 6 months for $275 paid in advance. Previous issues are available at http://www.speakerservices.com/nl/index.html To contribute information to this newsletter send via e-mail to: susan@speakerservices.com. Letters and comments are happily accepted. To remove yourself from this newsletter send an e-mail message to susan@speakerservices.com with remove in subject. ************************ Meeting planners looking for speakers for free and fee or entertainers for your programs check out Speaker Services: http://speakerservices.com. Get Listed in the Directory: http://speakerservices.com/adv_pkt.html Presentation skills and marketing workshops offered in the Los Angeles area. http://speakerservices.com/services/la.html Speaker Audio Tapes/Books http://speakerservices.com/products/index.html ************************ Speaker Services Susan Levin 4023 Meier Street LA, CA 90066 310-822-4922 FAX: 310-822-9025 Toll free- 877-773-2800 e-mail: susan@speakerservices.com website: http://speakerservices.com