I Became A Speaker By Accident: Here's What I've Learned

It’s crazy to think that I have a TEDx coming up, yet junior year of college I dropped out of a Public Speaking class because I found out in order to pass the class you had to give speeches (go figure). Even after being a singer-songwriter for years, I’ve always struggled with speaking in front of crowds.

In the beginning of 2018 I set a goal to do 2 speaking engagements throughout the year and had no idea that it would take off in the way that it would. At the end of 2018 I had completed 15. Some free, some paid; and I used each speaking engagement to leverage more. But initially it was kind of something that just happened unintentionally. Here are some things that I’ve learned along the way.

Have a Short Memory

My very first speaking engagement was terrible — like hide in the bathroom stall after the performance terrible. My second wasn’t all that much better. And honestly either were the next few times. I had this idea in my head that because being in front of the camera was “my zone” that the stage should have been the same for me. And clearly that wasn’t the case. Being on camera and standing on stage are two completely different things.

I realized this:

1). People don’t care as much as you do. If it’s not great, more than likely they will just forget about it. So don’t overthink it if you perform poorly. Just do better next time.

2). You have to have a short memory. Even if you do well. Move onto the next performance.

Own Your Weaknesses

If you knew me in grade school, high school, college, or even early last year you would be surprised to see me speaking on stage and enjoying it. After my first speaking engagement I declared to myself, and everyone that followed me, that I would master it. And that was a huge turning point for me.

Initially, the reason I started recording videos was because I was interviewed on camera once and it was so embarrassing that I decided to dedicate myself to shooting a video every single day… and now I’m predominantly known for video. I wanted to do the same with speaking. And I told my community that. That I was going to get so good at it that it appeared that I was a natural — even though it’s always been something that’s deeply terrified me.

Be open about your flaws.

Be Willing to Speak for Free

Even today, the majority of the speaking engagements that I do are free. And typically those speaking gigs generate leads for my company and/or more speaking engagements.

If I started off paid I would have improved at a much slower pace. I got lucky that the LinkedIn video feature came out when it did, because I didn’t have to reach out and ask to speak. It’s been predominantly inbound thus far. But, if I were starting from scratch today I would 1). still focus on building a brand and setting myself apart but also 2). I would spend more time reaching out and offering to speak for free.

When you reach out maybe put together a one sheeter or provide this info:

• Speakers Bio
• Achievements
• Topics you can speak about
• Price/s (I used to leave the price on my one sheeter but still offer to speak for free)

Something else I did (and still do) is offer photos / videos for them to use as promotional materials; as well as promotion through my channels. Find out what makes you unique and position your ask as a value add for them.

Document Your Talks

Hands down, this is the step that has generated the most speaking engagements for me. Instead of telling people what value you can bring, SHOW them. That's all.

Know Your Unique Value Prop

My first year of entrepreneurship I had a friend that wanted to be a motivational speaker despite having yet to accomplish much professionally. I also wanted to be a speaker of some sorts. He pursued speaking. I launched my first company. There is no right or wrong path when it comes to becoming a speaker. But ask yourself, why should they bring you in to speak? What value will they receive? What makes you special?

I was one of LinkedIn’s first video “storytellers” and later became the co-founder of one of Milwaukee’s fastest growing startups. I leaned into what made me unique and I didn’t venture outside of that until recently.

Find your "thing" and lean into that.

Implement Stories

Up until recently, for my TEDx talk, I hadn’t written a speech. Everything has been on the spot and completely improv. Before I dove into speaking, I created a ton of videos telling my story and highlighting the stories of others. When I go on stage I can always pull out those stories whenever I need them. Having a handful of stories that you can pull out of your back-pocket will strengthen your talk.

This is what works for me and what I've learned. It’s my method. Not THE method. So find what works for you. But if you want to be a speaker, the best way to go about it is to start putting yourself out there and start speaking.

love,

#justQ ??