How to Fill Your Speaking Pipeline

Professional speakers are always speaking.  That’s advice coming from professional speaker Mike Jaffe who says that what he does provides a Human Wakeup Call.  As a business and personal coach, Mike provides an important jumpstart for his clients to help them reach their goals.  That’s because Mike himself experienced a huge wakeup call quite a few years ago that put him on the path he’s on now.  You can read his story of what happened to him by visiting his site http://www.HumanWakeupCall.com.

Have you seen the white board you can take anywhere: Whiteyboard

I interviewed Mike Jaffe recently on my television show FROM THE SOAPBOX TO THE STAGE (http://StartaSpeakingBusiness.com) and asked him for a few tips for aspiring speakers or for those who need a jump start for their speaking business.  During the interview Mike made it clear that professional speakers are always speaking, even during downtime and in between the higher paying gigs.  He reminds us that there are many organizations seeking speakers for their meetings, such as Rotary.  Here’s the clip of that interview:

I love it when someone contacting me about my availability tells me that they heard about me from another source.  This proves the point that the more you get out there and speak, the more you get seen and heard AND recommended.  You certainly have to have good speaking skills to showcase, but if you’re not putting yourself out there, what’s the point.  We all want to get paid for our work, but speaking for free should always be an option to help clients and to showcase your skills.

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Speaking for free doesn’t mean you can’t gain something from doing it.  Your first gain is that you’re giving something to someone and helping them.  At the same time, new people are meeting you and experiencing your skills.  It’s been my policy that I think first about how I can help someone, and look for a benefit for me second.  At free events I’ve sold books, had the organization video tape my presentation for me, publicize the event to get more people in seats, and the best result… having people come up to me afterward and ask for my business card.

My friend Mike Jaffe says speak, speak and speak some more.  During your slow seasons it’s great to be creating content, working the phones to generate more work, and networking.  But it’s equally important that you’re speaking where ever you can find an audience interested in hearing what you have to say.  

ASSIGNMENT:  Leave a reply to tell me about a free (or low-paid) gig that turned into something big for you.