Speaking Tips: Public Speaking, Toastmasters, and the Inspirational Speaker

Want to be an Inspirational Speaker ?

You’re a Toastmaster? Good. You want to become a sought-after speaker? Someone people really want to hear? You can. It’s easy. The catch? You’ve got to go outside of Toastmasters. You have to get out among the ‘general public.’

How? Phone and ask. Write and ask. There are literally thousands of organisations out there who meet monthly, fortnightly, weekly- nearly all of whom are crying out for competent speakers. And once you have landed a few engagements you get ‘word of mouth’ referral from then on. The word simply gets around. Before you know it, you’re in demand.

My speciality, at the moment, is the ‘Retiree’ group. Make no mistake about it, there are hundreds of them. They range from people in Nursing Home ‘Day-care Centres and Retirement Villages, to Probus Clubs, National Seniors, Golden A, etc..

When I checked recently my list of audiences, I found with pleasant surprise that I’d spoken to over 38,000 people in a little over seventeen years.

 Because  I’m retired, I pick groups that meet in the daytime.   But it’s just as easy to line up evening engagements.  Rotary, Lions, Apex, Soroptimist, Zonta Clubs generally meet weekly, so imagine how many speakers they need.    

Of course, you’ll have to give ‘em more than a 5-7 minuter. Anything from 20 minutes to 50 minutes is the norm. But that’s what you need do if you want to grow as a speaker.

So don’t put it off any longer. Get out there and do some speaking!

I hope you enjoyed Speaking Tips : Public Speaking, Toastmasters and the Inspirational Speaker.