If only it was as simple as entering “How to become a keynote speaker” into Google and having a step-by-step guide of what to do. Actually, now that I think of it, you can do that… And while there are varied guides out there, I can’t say by reading through them just now that I would trust the advice you’re given. Sure, certain parts will resonate and can make perfect sense but the reality is, everyone’s path towards becoming a successful speaker is different.
I’ve been asked numerous times about what my own process was and when I compare it to the top result on Google, my journey is not even close. Let’s take a look: Identify Your Niche - My least favourite word…
Why does it have to be so specific? Why do you have to decide so early?
Hone In On Your Uniqueness - People’s interest in sharks made this one pretty obvious to me. Perfect Your Presentation Skills - The next 3 steps are the same thing for me. You can’t perfect your skills without doing it, and you can’t expect to be paid early on. Take everything and build your network. (Maybe it’s the next 4 steps that are the same)
Practice Public Speaking - A lot of practice. Take Free Speaking Gigs - Every chance you get! If you’re wondering when you begin to ask to be paid for your work unfortunately it’s not really up to you. People will only pay you when they see the value in it, so when the first person offers to pay you to speak, you can now consider it. Create Networking Opportunities - Word of mouth is EVERYTHING in speaking.
Market Yourself - Of course! You’re a professional speaker now, go get that work!! Maybe I’m being a little too sarcastic. This is a perfectly serviceable guide when it comes to getting around the basics but it also highlights the problem with all of these “How to” guides which is why I thought I’d start a “How To” series of which you are now firmly in the middle of! The problem is that the variance is too wide on people’s experiences and while these guidepoints may help someone, I can guarantee they will rarely come in this exact order.
This was all brought to my attention yesterday as I was speaking at a graduation ceremony at my local school when one of the students came up to me and said they’d love to be able to do what I do. It was a heartwarming interaction that I deeply appreciated but there was not much advice I could offer them beyond this generic list above because as I see it, this student was already way further ahead of me compared to when I first started. This student had already spent time on stage, they wanted to speak, and they’d already overcome what was the most crippling fear for me right at the beginning and that’s a massive advantage.
So what could I say? “Go and get bitten by a shark, that’ll give you something to talk about” The reality is that I am lucky to have the story that I do, it’s essentially made me work through the stages of becoming a speaker out of necessity, rather than planning. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to be in my situation to become a speaker. I wholeheartedly believe that every single person on this planet has a story worth sharing, but the real key comes down to why you’d want to stand up on stage and share it.
Hang on, does this take us back to the beginning of our 9-step Google Speaking Framework? I think it does. And it’s a lovely full-circle moment that I have not at all engineered before getting to this point in my writing. I would argue that “Step 1. Find your why” is the only one of these steps that is non-negotiable. It may not come as the first step someone takes but it’s the one thing that will give you the passion and the drive to make the other steps work in whatever order or capacity they fall.
I don’t want to discourage people from googling the steps, or asking others what’s worked for them because at the end of the day, if you care about why you’re doing something you’ll be willing to at least try all of the suggestions. From there you’ll find out what works for your own situation and things will fall into place as long as you know that it’s not going to happen overnight.
As I’ve been writing this, I’m thinking about the interaction I had with that student and I know they’ll find their way. I did share with them my admiration for their desire to be on stage because it’s not something you see in young people enough these days (this is probably a post for another time).
It has become a goal of mine to help provide a platform and a pathway for younger people to be able to get into speaking and hopefully I’ll have news to share about that soon enough but for now I have one request that is completely unrelated to the resolve of this article. If you’re looking for someone to speak at your graduation ceremony, hit me up. I’ve spoken at a few now and absolutely love adding my story to these amazing events.
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