I did a keynote address a few weeks back for the Women in Trade & Technology association called What Technology & a Cute Guy Taught Me About Taking Risks and Being Myself.
Some of you may be looking at the title of my speech and saying:
“Leesa, what a silly title.”
However, the first rule of speaking is – Know Your Audience. Because I was speaking to a group of 15, 16 & 17 year olds, I knew that I could be a little bit more zany and wacky with my speech title.
I got paid a good sum of money to do this keynote. When I told my mom how much I was getting paid, she nearly choked on the soup she was slurping.
“For just 45-minutes?” she balked.
Now, my point isn’t to brag about how much I was paid. On the contrary, it’s to show you why paying your speakers for their appearance at your event is worth all the money you’ll invest if you’re an event organizer.
Even if it’s not a full speaking fee, at least give an honourarium of some sort. Even a gift certificate to Chapters-Indigo is good enough. I got so many of these over the past 3-months, I was able to buy a slew of books.
I digress…
So, let’s go through the steps of what I did to prepare for this keynote just to give you an idea.
- I researched my topic. Because it was keynote to an audience I wouldn’t normally speak to, I had to do some research to make my speech even more interesting. So, I pulled up some statistics, grabbed a few quotes from some books I read and found some material online to make sure my points were well supported. I even had to ask my younger sister (who’s 21) what is the street lingo used by high school students just so I could look current. I mean, using the word “cool” would probably date me about 15-years, so I had to know what the kids are using these days.
- I practiced my speech. I spent about an hour a day the week prior to the event going through each point, timing myself with a stopwatch, just to make sure I got it all right. A few times, I would be in front of my computer while I practiced so I could type out what I said and edit my notes as I was rehearsing.
- I made my speech edutaining. I knew that if I were to maintain the attention of a group of young women for at least 30-minutes, I had to make sure my speech included characters, gestures and vocal variety that would make them laugh, smile and sit on the edge of their seat.
- I prepared an activity sheet. I love interaction from the audience when I present, so I included an activity sheet that the young ladies could work through in between the end of my speech and right before the Q&A.
- I drove a total of 4-hours to and from the event. I went from Toronto to Brantford, a distance of about 120-km one way (not sure what that is in miles). I would’ve gotten there sooner, but the weather was miserable for driving that day, plus there was a jackknife tractor trailer on the QEW East that halted traffic on both sides because the westbound traffic slowed down to take a look.
- I hired my assistant and cameraperson to accompany me. I videotape most of my speeches. It gives me an opportunity to review it later on. The more times I review my speeches, the better it gets as I can make improvements. If I rely on my memory to try and recall my entire speech, I will do a poor job, so having the video really helps. Also, my assistant totally understands what I do at events, so I absolutely need her when I do a speaking engagement.
Overall, I believe I spent about 20-hours preparing for and doing this keynote. When you consider what I was paid in relation to all the preparation I did and the people I had to hire, my speaking rate is now spread out over several hours.
Speaking is extremely important to me and anyone who’s been to one of my presentations will tell you that I’m passionate about my topic. I want each and every person that hears me speak to walk away knowing something new. Whether free or paid, I give no less than excellence.I study how to speak and present.
It’s a skill I’ve mastered and am still mastering. I teach others how to speak with confidence. And I’m a member of Toastmasters, so I invest my own money every year to be a member, I compete in the International Speech competitions and I’m constantly refining my craft.
If you’re an event organizer, take a look at the steps that a speaker needs to do to prepare for your event. Then ask yourself if it’s fair to ask someone to speak for free. There’s alot of work that goes into crafting an entertaining and educational speech, one that will wow your audience and make you (the event organizer) look like a star.
Skimp on the cost to put flowers on each table, but don’t skimp on compensating a speaker to speak at your next event. Trust me, your speaker will appreciate an honourarium over nothing at all.
Tags: speaking, toastmasters, event planning, public speaking, presentations, events, conferences
Leesa:
Truer words have not been spoken on respecting a speaker’s abilities and, in turn, the speaker’s responsibilities to their audience.
Sounds like you did everything right (as I would expect).
In the years I’ve been giving talks, I wish more folks had read the part about reasonable compensation (and no that does NOT include a clock or pen and pencil set…thanks anyway).
Oh, BTW,
I should have mentioned earlier, Toastmasters is FANTASTIC. I ahev been a member for about 13 years across 3 states in Australia.
If you want to learn Public speaking, either go there (or to my courses 🙂 ).
Cheers
Darren Fleming
Public Speaking Coach
http://www.executivespeaking.com.au
Ah yes, the old networking spin-off. That can be worth a bit can’t it.
At the moment I don’t have any product to sell from the back of the room at public speaking gigs (or through my website).
I am in the process of setting some up in the next few weeks. Just have to get the right audience to record! Keep an eye on my website http://www.executivespeaking.com.au for the free audio and newsletters coming soon.
Cheers
Darren Fleming
Executive Speaking
http://www.executivespeaking.com.au
Scott, too funny. I’ll have to remember that anecdote for future conversations.
And Darren, thanks for stopping by. Seems like speaking is not a respected skill worldwide and the problem lies with the fact that many people who call themselves speakers are giving their services away for free. For every speaker who stands firm to their “you pay I speak” policy, there’s probably a dozen or so out there who will do it for no-fee.
Now, it’s not to say that I won’t speak for free if I know that I’ll get $5,000 worth of business through networking after my gig or selling a product at the back of the room. I ask these questions before saying yes, such as – how many people are going to be there, who’s going to be there and can I sell my product afterwards.
If the people attending are in my target market and there’s going to be more than 500 of them, then I’d probably say yes I’ll do it for free on condition that I can sell my wares. But then again, that’s only for local events. If I have to fly anywhere, plus put myself up in a hotel room, that’s a different story.
Hi Leesa,
Great Post.
I’m glad to see that it is not only in Australia but Canada too that people are asked to work for nothing! I usually politely decline unless they have somehting reasonable to pay for my speech.
Cheers
DArren Fleming
http://www.executivespeaking.com.au
Great post Leesa – it reminds me of an old joke I use when presenting to entrepreneurs.
A husband and wife come upon Vincent Van Gogh doing street portraits in 1880 and offer to pay him the handsome sum of ten guilders for a portrait of the wife. That was a great deal of money in those days.
Van Gogh sits down with the wife, spends a minute adjusting things, and proceeds to paint an amazing portrait of the woman in just ten minutes.
He shows it to the husband, who is clearly pleased with the quality of the work, but then frowns and says, “Ten guilders for ten minutes work? – you must be joking. That’s outrageous.”
To which Van Gogh replies, “No sir, ten guilders for ten years of practice that allowed me to paint such a nice portrait in ten minutes.”
Your story of preparation shows that your 45 minute talk indeed required more of you than the casual observer could possibly realize.
As for honoring speakers, I couldn’t agree more. As someone who is often asked to speak in return for “exposure,” I have started to reply, “When I can pay for my groceries at the supermarket with EXPOSURE, I’ll gladly accept that in return for my talk. Until then, how about sharing the gate?”
Cheers.