Frequently Asked Questions
About the Speaking Success SystemTM
1. I'm a Toastmaster with a full-time job. How long will it take me to become a full-time paid speaker?
 That depends: The elements that yield speaking business success are inside of you. They include tenacity... a will that's unyielding. Plus at least a bit of charisma. Folks want to feel good in your presence. And energy, the more the better. Diligence in keeping every promise you make is a requisite. Intuition, gut wisdom, helps a lot. And motivation, a powerful vision of the possible for you. Some people rocket ahead. Others don't. In sum: How long it takes depends on you.
2. How much money can I earn for a speech when I'm starting out?
Little or nothing. Get good first. You know you're on the way to being good when an audience member comes up to you with glistening eyes, takes your hand in both of theirs -- and asks you plaintively how much you'd charge to come to their company and say what you just said.
3. Is it better to have one speech or several presentations on different topics?
At the start, one speech.
4. What is the biggest misconception about what it takes to become a professional speaker?
There are two: That you think you're better than you are and that you don't know how very good you are. And one more, the biggest of all -- not realizing that speaking is a business... and business disciplines always apply.
5. If I were already working with you and found I had $1,500 to devote to my speaking business, what would you encourage me to spend it on?
Your question is very broad. I'd look for the speaking business asset you most need at the time and guide you to acquire it.
6. What is your advice about speaking for free?
Speak free. Anywhere and everywhere any group is willing to listen to you. Speak free. After that, speak free some more, this time before selected audiences every member of which could hire you to speak. Later, speak free for your favorite causes.
7. How will you help me figure out what topics to speak about that someone will pay me for?
Very good question! I'll be as brief as possible. We start with your personal history, adventures, education, experiences, philosophy, feelings, and yearnings. These make up the unique essence of consciousness that is you.
We match your uniqueness to what the meeting market wants now. This market includes corporations, associations, organizations and groups of all sorts. Each has its own perceptions of the values and insights, the feelings and satisfactions, the outcomes and solutions they desire from the intervention of outside experts.
I show you how to deliver what they want. You discover how to engage your uniqueness. You identify your most appropriate topics and issues. Then, together, we identify the best niche markets for you now. You start giving free speeches locally. (You don't quit your day job until you're making more speaking part-time than your day job pays you.)
We proceed, one-on-one, to complete the Million Dollar proprietary processes I conceived. (Yes, that's what I invested in the research.) These processes are infallible. They can't not work. (That's why you get a Money-back Guarantee.) The work may take you days, weeks, or months. The speed at which you advance is up to you. You move ahead on several fronts all at once.
One morning you wake up smiling, happier than you've ever been. You're glowing and grateful for your awakened realization. You're a successful and well-paid speaker.
8. I want to make sure I'm learning from someone who is current with the business today. How many times a year do you book yourself as a professional speaker to meeting planners?
Does the spacecraft designer fly off into space? Does the fashion designer walk the runway modeling fashions? Does the designer of bug-proof veggies farm the fields?
In my full-time speaking career (1978-1988), I boosted myself from obscurity to nation-wide success. (I cracked the code. I designed my successful speaking business.) By 1989, more and more USA speakers were at my gates. They wanted my help. They implored me to show them how to do what I proved I could do over and over. They longed to drink from my well of wisdom. They hungered for my methods. This ain't braggin' reader, it's the plain and simple truth.
I felt a higher call. I had to share my gift, my talent. Touching lives was wonderful. Touching the lives that touch lives is better.
Today, I serve the world of speakers. I attend every major convention of speakers world-wide. I'm a regular in Europe, (Professional Speakers Association of Europe,)in Australia, (National Speakers Association of Australia,) Canada, (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers,) and the USA (National Speakers Association) In addition, I'm a Member of the International Federation for Professional Speakers.
And, I usually participate, whether by speaking or by hosting a Meet The Pros Table wherever I go.
Further, I host and lead an annual 6-day Boot Camp and Retreat for my Inner Circle Members in Sedona, Arizona.
Most important, I study our business with the passion of a lover. I research trends endlessly. My findings are published -- and eagerly awaited -- worldwide. Nobody else dares do what I do...and nobody does it better.
9. As part of your Speaking Success System, do you do coaching of presentations and critiquing of tapes. Do you review marketing materials, brochures, one-sheets, etc.
10. There are others who give marketing advice or presentation coaching advice to speakers. What makes you and your Speaking Success System unique?
It works. It's the fruit of my mind. It is the world's exclusive resource for success in the speaking business. Others sell the tools for success. I offer the reality of success as an expert who speaks. Which do you prefer? Which would you rather have?
11. I attend the NSA Conventions and workshops and listen to lots of tapes. What does your System give me that I can't get there?
12. How did you get the "1 Speaking Success Road" address?
Observation yielded this for me. Rene Gnam, a direct mail specialist, uses 1 Response Road, then his city, state, and 9-digit zip, as his "street address." Publishers Clearing House has 1 Winners Circle, then city, state, and 9-digit zip as their "street address."
I thought about this. Since my theme is speaking success (fellow speakers being my market), I addressed an envelope to myself with this address: 1 Speaking Success Road, Kingman AZ 86402-6543. It promptly arrived at my post office box. That's the key. Get a PO Box and get one at the smallest possible convenient post office branch. NSA member Tom Antion, to whom I gave this idea, wasn't able to make it work. His post office is big and has a large turnover in help.
Use a 9-digit zip. That seems to matter because post office mail sorters are taught to read the numbers of the zip code rather than the words of the address
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