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Know your Audience & Topic

What I learned last meeting at the National Speaking Association was that every speaker has to decide 2 things: topic and audience.  Topic: what my message(s) is. Audience: who I want to talk to. I have a problem because I do not have an answer yet. I love talking about the environment specially clean energy, health & fitness, presentation skills, personal development & peak performance. For any new speaker like me, it is a difficult step. At the National Speakers Association last month, David Newman gave an awesome presentation about how to market yourself as a speaker. He talked about the strategies we need to take to position ourselves as paid speakers. He emphasized having a niche. I have been working on this since then: my niche! Is your niche supposed to be one topic? I hope not. Because mine has 3 topics: presentation skills, health&fitness, and the environment. I have knowledge in these 3 areas and want to share them with my audience. But who is my audience? Do you know who your audience is? your topic(s)?

Do you want to get paid to speak?

I just decided to become a paid public speaker, so I joined the National Speaker Association in Tampa,Florida. They have meetings every third Saturday of each month from 9 to 12pm. These meetings are a great wayto meet other paid speakers and learn from them.

After the morning meetings,  I attend the Speakers Academy to learn the business side of becoming a paid speaker.When I went to school to get my bachelor and master degrees at the University of Florida, I knew exactly the classes I had to take. However, becoming a paid speaker is a path that is not clear to me yet. It seems like there are different roads to get there.

I decided to start this blog so I can help others become a paid public speaker. I will give advice as I learn the business.  It is an exciting journey and I am ready. I never thought I would say this. Just 2 years ago, I joined toastmasters to overcome the fear of public speaking. I left after 4 months, but I came back in 2012. I have been attending the meetings since then.

Public speaking has become my obsession. I love talking in front of people. The larger the audience, the better. I hope to help others who are on the same path. This blog is for people who want to become paid public speakers like me and don’t have a clue what the first steps are. This blog is not for people who are already talking in front of audiences and getting paid. The academy ends next year in July and will share everything I learn at the meetings at the National Speaker Academy (NSA). We will learn together!