by Rene Godefroy | Mar 11, 2015 | Become A Motivational Speaker, Make Money Speaking
I just finished coaching a client, and I was shocked at a couple of things she said. I could not believe it!
She basically gave me all the excuses in the book in order to avoid drumming up some speaking engagements. She told me that she was too busy to go out and meet people. She also said that she is shy.
Really?
If you are a shy motivational speaker, you need to do something about it now or find another profession.
How in the world can someone be a motivational speaker and he or she is shy? I don’t get it.
Now, I am not saying you cannot be shy. After all, I was a very shy person. My first speaking engagement at a Toastmaster Club was a disaster. Yes, I bombed. I was extremely shy. My hands were shaking with the lectern.
Well, when I realized there’s no way I could become a highly paid keynote speaker by being a shy motivational speaker, I fixed that quick. I know what you are thinking.
“How did you get over you shyness, Rene?”
The answer is simple:
- I nipped it in the bud by telling myself to cut that out
- I put myself in situations to confront my shyness
- I did what I was afraid of
I wish I had a real secret to share with you about being shy. But, I don’t. You simply have to confront your fears. Dare to do the things that scare the hell out of you in spite of your fear. Got it?
Look, you did not come out of your mother’s womb as a shy person. Something happened along the way when you were a kid. Perhaps you grew up with shy people. I don’t know. What you must keep in mind is this; you can go from shyness to courage if you want to.
Sorry. I digressed. Here’s the fundamental lesson I want to share with you here.
You cannot build a business incognito. Stop being invisible. You are not in the secret service. You are running a business. And it makes absolutely no difference what business you are in.
Meeting Planners Cannot Hire You To Speak If They Don’t Know You Exist.
They cannot buy your products or services if they don’t know about them. You have to be everywhere. People have to know and remember you.
- Your calendar should never have a bunch of blank spots in it
- Go where the people gather
- Make sure every week that you, at least, attend three networking events
In the US and Canada, there are hundreds of networking events every day. If your country or city does not have those kinds of events, create yours. Bring some businesses together to share ideas and leads. Invite some people to come and discuss how to get ahead in life.
To this day, some of my best clients come from the networking events I attend. Sometimes, I make a connection with a person who is not in a position to hire me. But, guess what?
They know someone they can refer me to. At the very least, they can buy my book, CD, or DVD. In some cases, they have an idea I can use to build my business. Please do not prejudge anyone.
Do you see what I mean?
Oh, just for the records, my client gave me the permission to write this. She felt like my feedback was awesome. She wanted to make sure all of you learn about it.
Just like her, she wants you to pledge that you will never be a shy motivational speaker. Be visible! Go tell the world about what you do. Let others feel your passion and fire.
By the way, stop being invisible now and here. People need to know about you. Share your feedback with me.
by Rene Godefroy | Jan 3, 2013 | Speaking
Wow! What a nasty flu? I was in bed for three days during the Holidays. Thank God I’m back to my normal routines. Calling clients and booking speaking engagements. Yes, that’s one part of your speaking business you should not totally outsource.
Anyway…
I’m really happy many of you watched the videos and took the right actions in 2013. Some of you finished your books. Some of you are still working hard at it. Others secured some really cool speaking engagements. Queen booked engagements in 9 states. Kudos!
For the rest of you who are still analyzing, debating, and perfecting, I say to you let’s do something. Anything. Success is not hard when stick with the fundamentals. Ever day, do something that brings you closer to your goals. Thinking is the key to success. Doing is the key.
Heck, some of you already gave up. You declared defeat before starting the battle let alone being mired in blood, sweat, tears, and eating peanut butter sandwich.
Look, success should be your ONLY option.
As I said to you before, I wish someone took the time to share all the information I share in the videos with me when I first started in the speaking business many years ago. I would gladly pay good money for it.
I was so lost!
It took years before I was able to discover some of the insights I shared with you. I never forget how I trembled when I pulled out my pen to write a check for $12,000 to attend a speaking
bootcamp. I just didn’t have that kind of money. I maxed out all my credit cards (cash advances) and eventually took a second mortgage on my house.
I was desperate, dumb, and naive at the same time. But, in a way, I’m glad I was all of that.
If you are getting started today, you are really lucky. Everything you need to get going is extremely inexpensive. If you watched all the videos I created for you, you should be well on your way.
Yes, some of you are grateful. Yet, others, for whatever reason, think they paid for the information. Just two days ago, a guy left this voice message, “I just ordered your free videos and I didn’t get the first one yet. Please have someone from your office call me ASAP.”
I laughed so loud.
Then I realized maybe I should charge for the videos. After all, it took me hours of my time to prepare and record. Plus my editor, Dennis, spend hours edidting and uploading.
Alright, enough ranting. Just promise yourself you are not going to let your dream die a slow death. Please revive it. Breath new life into it. Declare victory now. Stop depriving the world from your unique gifts.
Let’s go for it!
Rene
by Rene Godefroy | May 25, 2012 | Book Writing Tips, Career in Public Speaking, public speaking jobs, Public Speaking Tips
Let me guess. You are either a paid motivational speaker, or you are starting your speaking journey. If you are just starting as a motivational speaker, welcome. Together, we’re making a difference. We are inspiring others to greatness. Simply put, we’re world transformers. Every time you and impact an individual, we impact the world in our own way.
You see, we are living in a time where so many people are defeated and discouraged. The news is so depressing. More and more, the world desperately needs inspiration and encouragement. It’s a privilege to be called upon to stand and deliver in these uncertain times. Right? Now, you may be thinking, “I’m not a motivational speaker”.
Okay, let’s look at it this way: If you are speaking for a living, you are a motivational speaker. Regardless of your chosen topic, you are motivating someone to do something. All speaking is motivational speaking. It doesn’t matter if you are speaking about email marketing, sales, or self-esteem. You still have to motivate your audience.
Yeah, I know you cannot motivate people. Motivation is intrinsic. They have to find the motivation within themselves. However, they still need something outside of themselves to trigger the motivation. The more motivating and influential that something is, the more they are motivated. That brings me to exactly what I want to share with you about speaking for a living.
Be The Solution To Their Problem
Yes, when it comes to speaking, credibility is everything. If you cannot establish that you are the solution to their problem, you will always struggle to get speaking engagements. Meeting planners will not put on their stages. Notice I didn’t say that your message has to be the solution to their problem. Why? It’s because you come before your message. They have to buy you first before they buy what you have to say.
If your audience doesn’t believe you are the right person with the right qualification to talk about your subject, you won’t make an impact. And, if you are not making an impact, you are not making money. As a motivational speaker, your job is to make sure your audience is sold on you before you even open your mouth to say the first word. Your reputation must precede you.
I’m sure you’ve heard that perception is reality, right? Well, it’s your job to create, mold, and shape that perception. When I started investigating the speaking business, I was a doorman at a hotel in Atlanta. I knew it was going to be really hard for me to convince meeting planners to put on their stages. I basically didn’t bring much to the table to position myself as the solution to their problem.
My background did not create the perception that I was the man for the hour. After all, life started for me in a poverty-stricken village in Haiti. I arrived in the United States with five dollars, two shirts, one pair of pants and unable to speak any English. I worked as a janitor in Miami and later became a doorman in Atlanta.
As you can tell, that kind of resume was not convincing enough to persuade a meeting planner to put on his or her stage. But, through trials and errors, I discovered how to boost my credibility. I found out how to create the perception that I was the right motivational speaker for the hour.
So, let me share with you how to position yourself as the solution to your prospective clients. For some of you, consider this as a reminder. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that we all need reminders. For most of you, this will be very valuable. Please pay very close attention.
5 Ways To Boost Your Credibility So You Can Become The Choice For Meeting Planners
1- Know What Problem You Are Solving
Another way to say this is, when you choose a topic, you must understand the problems that exist around your topic. When I’m coaching business owners, the first question I ask them is, “What problem are you solving?” As a speaker, you have to clearly know the problem you’re solving for your audience.
Now, you don’t necessarily need to know everything about your topic. However, you have to know enough to offer some solutions. Okay, how do you choose your topic? Well, start with what you know or what you are passionate about. Usually, it’s the thing that many of your friends come to you for advice on.
Please don’t think because you are a motivational speaker, you don’t need a topic. No. Motivational speaking is not a topic. Maybe you can speak on self-esteem, persistence, time management, bullying, leadership, change, etc. You need to focus on a topic. You will have more clarity and less confusion.
It makes it so much easier for you to create the right marketing materials.
2- Make A List Of Your Truism
Once you decide on the topic you are going to talk about, make a list of everything you believe that is true about your topic. For example, if you are going to talk about leadership, list what you believe leaders must do and not do so they can be a successful at leading people. Your list is your truism or leadership according to you. You can also call them your philosophies. Next…
3- Turn What’s In Your Head Into Physical Things
If you want to boost your credibility and get on meeting planners’ radars, you have to put what you know in a physical format. No matter how smart or knowledgeable you are about your topic, to the world you don’t know beans until they can touch your knowledge.
If I were having a conversation with, I would repeat that sentence again. It’s that important. You need to convert your truisms or philosophies into CDs, DVDs, special reports, and ultimately into books. That’s how you create, shape and mold the right perception.
So, the idea is to take your list and write a piece of content or article about each one. Read the article in front of a video camera to create a DVD. Then, extract the audio from the DVD to create a CD. Hire someone to transcribe the audio for you and turn it into a special report.
4- Write A Book Now!
Yes, I know you have heard this over and over. Write a book. Have you written a book yet? It took me a long time before I forced myself to sit down and write my first book. I’m so glad I did. It was the best thing for my speaking career. I can tell from personal experience that writing your book will be the best move for you. Do it! I know.
Writing a book can be an overwhelming task. However, the problem is, most people try to cram too many books in one book. Look, you are not writing an encyclopedia. That’s a surefire way to confuse and turn off your readers. You need to share simple ideas with your readers. As I mentioned before, we all need reminders.
People need to be reminded of the basics. It’s kind of like you as a speaker. I bet there a lot of things you used to do that worked. Then, you stopped doing them. Now you need reminders. Just so you know, you can make a fortune reminding people of what they already know. Let me share with you a simple formula to write your book fast.
It’s the 10/10 formula. Write 10 chapters and 10 pages per chapter. That should give you a total of 100 pages. Now, it doesn’t have to be exactly 10 pages per chapter. Some chapters may more and others less. Guess what? Later on, you can use your more in-depth knowledge for your second and third book. Make sure that your first book is version 101.
5- Give Away Your Stuff Lavishly
The reason I’m encouraging to turn what you know into CDs, DVDs, books, etc. is not to have a garage full of them. Also, the trunk of your car is not a storage place for your stuff. In case you don’t know, your products are your marketing materials. They are your positioning tools.
The big difference between your one pager and your book is that one will go to the trash can while the other will be displayed permanently on a bookshelf. You should always give away your stuff to people who might open a door for you to speak.
When you are making a cold call to find who you can send your “7 Ways To Triple Your Sales In The Next 30 Days”, you are not making a cold call. You also are not calling as a needy person to beg. Do you see what I mean?
6- Don’t Give Up
Please don’t walk away too soon. Speaking is a business just like all other businesses. The main difference is, the barrier to entry into the speaking industry is very low. But, that doesn’t mean you should give up when you are not getting the speaking engagements. It means you have to be more persistent.
There are lots of awesome speakers who started when I did. Today, they are not around. They gave up. You see, it’s takes patience and dedication to run any business. The main reason I’m still speaking today is because of persistence.
All right, there you have it. I just shared with you some great ideas on how to speak for a living. If you’ve been looking for a magic formula, there’s none. Just build your credibility, create products, give them away lavishly, and don’t give up. I wish you incredible success!
