Public speaking is about connecting with an audience, plain and simple. Connecting with your audience, then, and giving them what they want, should be the goal of every public speaker.

I have spoken in front of live audiences since I was 7 years old, so being a professional speaker has been an easy jump for me in my career. Connecting with live audiences – whether as a college instructor, as a sales person making a pitch to a room full of prospects, an emcee, a keynote speaker, a breakout trainer, or a featured platform presenter – has been the way I have made my living my entire professional life. But it’s only been in the past couple of years I’ve begun using the slide show technology PowerPoint with my presentations – and then only if it’s asked for or requited of me.

PowerPoint is a fabulous visual aid. All speakers should be familiar with it and be able to prepare an effective PowerPoint presentation. Unfortunately the problem with PowerPoint is that it’s so easy to use incorrectly.

In fact there are so many potential user errors this article is limited to discussing and helping you eliminate just one. That one major problem I see with most PowerPoint presentations: too many words.

There are multiple reasons why having too many words on your PowerPoint slides is a definite no-no. But first let’s look at the purpose of a visual aid.

The job of a visual aid in any speech is to clarify or enhance a particular point you are presenting. As you prepare your visual aids keep that purpose in mind and with each slide you create ask yourself, “What exactly does this slide clarify or enhance and how?”

Some professional speakers actually argue you should never use any words on your slides. Why? Because as a speaker it’s your job to tell the story of your slides to an audience. I agree, images, graphics, tables, charts, and photographs can all stand alone without any written text. Yet, I believe well-chosen text can help clarify or enhance your slides.

Here are a few tips for reducing or eliminating “text clutter” from your PowerPoint slides:

1. Limit the number of words: Each slide should ideally contain fewer than 10-12 words for maximum effect. Remember, it’s your job as the speaker to explain what the audience is seeing on each slide.
2. Use compelling text: Your slides can ask a question, state a fact or statistic, provide a definition, or give a quotation.
3. Find compelling images: Search the web for free clip art, royalty-free photography, and other images to help illustrate your story or main point. Or use your own. (Note: copyright infringement is illegal – just because you find a photo, image or graphic freely displayed on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s legal for you to use it. Make sure you’re not breaking the law!)

Remember your job as a speaker is to connect with, engage, and give the audience what they want. Your job is NOT to read them your slides as if you’ve just written the next great American (or British or Canadian or Australian) novel. When you’re reading you cannot engage – you’re busy reading – and the same is true with your audience. If they are busy reading your slides, they are not listening to and engaging with you either.  Engage with your audience and you will be a dynamic public speaker.

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Public speaking is one of the most effective ways to market a small business. I invite you to discover how to create your own talk and the 5 easy steps you can take today to get started with this powerful marketing tool. Pick up a FREE recording where you’ll get all the secrets of marketing your business with a speech. Go now to http://www.SignatureSpeechSecrets.com

Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a communication consultant, speaker & coach specializing in training small and home-based business owners effective communication and public speaking skills so they can see more cash flow now.

Professional speaking for many entrepreneurs and business professionals creates an opportunity for another stream of income.  For professionals who want to add speaking to their career mix as either their primary or secondary source of income there are multiple options.

1. Keynote Speaking: This is the type of speaking most people think of when they envision speaking professionally. You’re up on a stage, you get paid a nice fee to be there and you’re the headliner.  Some events have an opening keynote and a closing keynote.  Keynote speeches tend to be inspirational, motivational, and humorous.  If you’re new to the speaking world, this may seem like the “best” type of professional speaking. It can be lucrative, depending on your fees and your goals. Some plusses: you set and negotiate your fee, travel, and expenses and know exactly what you’ll be paid prior to the event.  A negative: as a keynote speaker your fee is your income for the event, period. If you happen to have a book you might be able to negotiate a selling your book at the event, but typically you’re not asked to sell, so you’re income is fixed.

2.  Break-Out Session Trainer: At many events that have a keynote speaker, there are typically multiple training  — or break-out–  sessions that require experienced facilitators to present.  This is an excellent starting ground for newer speakers and can give you an opportunity to get experience, testimonials, and video.  You can fill your speaking schedule with these events, but they typically pay a fraction of a keynote fee and often do not include travel expenses because event planners try to hire local talent as much as possible to stretch often tight budgets.

3.  Platform Speaker: Unless you happen to be a high profile former (or current) athlete or politician, by far this type of speaking provides the biggest opportunity to make a significant income.  Your job as a platform speaker is to not only speak to entertain and teach, but also to sell your products and/or services via “back of the room” sales.  This type of presentation also carries the biggest risk to a speaker because you are not paid a fee to attend the event. You get a free “ticket” usually for yourself and a guest, and a room filled with those interested in at least the same general subject as your products and services.  But you pay for your own airfare, hotel, and meals while at the event. And whatever you sell you can expect to split 50/50 with the event promoter.  But because audiences at these events typically expect speakers to present offers to them, many are prepared to purchase what you have for sale.  And as a result of that, making multiple five and six-figure sales is not uncommon.

Finally, did you know public speaking is one of the most effective ways to market a small business? I invite you to discover how to create your own talk and the 5 easy steps you can take today to get started with this powerful marketing tool. Pick up a FREE recording where you’ll get all the secrets of marketing your business with a speech. Go now to http://www.SignatureSpeechSecrets.com

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Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a communication consultant, speaker & coach specializing in training small and home-based business owners effective communication and public speaking skills so they can see more cash flow now.

Public speaking has multiple purposes, but all speeches fall into one of three categories. You can speak to:

• Inform
• Persuade or
• Entertain.

Each has their own subtleties and organization patterns to choose from. In particular, when speaking to inform you have only three choices for organization patterns: by time, by space or location, or by topic.

Let’s now examine how you can organize your thoughts by time. A time or chronological organization pattern works best under certain circumstances. For example if you are discussing:

History: Depending on your topic, your audience may be interested in hearing about the history of your area of expertise. Using a chronological organization pattern you can simply break the main points of your speech into historical eras or time periods.

How to: When you are teaching an audience how to do something, a time pattern obviously works well, too. Showing a step-by-step approach makes more sense in this situation rather than starting in the middle and jumping around. Use clearly defined steps presented in a logical sequence to achieve the desired results.

Analyzing the future: Another opportunity to use a chronological organization pattern is when you want to orient your audience to the future and discuss what they can expect next with regard to your area of expertise. Often it is helpful for an audience to have the context of the past and present before they can understand the future, which you present as the third and final point.

When you organize your speech by time make sure you start at a logical point for your particular audience. Consider:

• Who is in the audience
• Why they are in the audience
• What they expect to learn from you

Once you have determined what your audience will expect form your speech, you can simply organize your speech chronologically by what will the easiest for your audience to follow.

Public speaking is also one of the most effective ways to market a small business. I invite you to discover how to create your own talk and the 5 easy steps you can take today to get started with this powerful marketing tool. Pick up a FREE recording where you’ll get all the secrets of marketing your business with a speech. Go now to http://www.SignatureSpeechSecrets.com

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Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a communication consultant, speaker & coach specializing in training small and home-based business owners effective communication and public speaking skills so they can see more cash flow now.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Felicia_Slattery

It’s fun to be a professional speaker. The all-expenses paid travel to beautiful locations, the enthusiasm and appreciation of a happy audience, and the fulfillment that comes from knowing you helped some people during your great speech that you were paid to deliver all add to the glamour and excitement.

Typically, after each speech I give, an audience member will approach me and say something like, “I just love what you did and I’d love to be a speaker too. What can I do to get started?”

According to Rick Butts, who made more than $1 million during his professional speaking career, there are three keys to making great money as a professional speaker. After working closely with Rick for my own speaking business and based on my background and knowledge as a speaking coach, I completely agree with his three keys.

What you need to be a successful speaker:

1. Talent. While almost every business owner can easily speak about their businesses at local networking meetings, for example, not everyone has the talent to become a highly paid world-class speaker. The good news is, regardless of how much natural talent and ability you have, you can practice and hone your craft to become better and better. In a competitive field like professional speaking, you must stand out above the average good speaker. Talent, ability and lots of practice and attention to detail will get you there.
2. Passion. You are going to deliver your one speech over and over and over again. If you are not passionate about your topic, if you’re not excited to share your content, if you don’t care about your audiences, you’ll never make it. Passion draws an audience in like nothing else. It’s that same passion that sustains you in the early days as you work to make it big that will also sustain you after you’ve delivered the same speech for the fourth time that week and allow you to keep it fresh for each new audience.
3. Willingness to work. Being a highly paid and much sought after professional speaker doesn’t happen by accident. Speaking is a business and you need to treat it as a business. You can’t expect your speaking engagements to fall into your lap just because you whipped up a website. You have to work to build your reputation, your credibility, and your platform. You have to write a stellar speech that will stand out above the rest. You have to practice your speech to make your delivery engaging, memorable, and fun for an audience.

When you have these three keys working together, you will create a successful speaking business.

And if you know now is the time for you to become a highly paid professional speaker and make money while sharing your passion, I invite you to visit http://SpeakerMachine.com where you will discover the 5 steps to becoming a professional speaker, including that all-important question: what will I talk about? Absolutely free.

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Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a Chicago-based professional speaker and the CEO of Speaker Training.TV, a partnership with Rick Butts who has made more than $1 million in his speaking career. Together we’ll show you what you need to know to be successful too.

Public speaking can lead to a lucrative career on its own or it can simply be used as another (very powerful!) marketing tool for your small or home-based business. Regardless of the reason you plan to speak, consider recording yourself so you can use that recording for continued marketing success in the future.

Using video can be expensive and is a hassle to get organized. But an taking audio recording of you delivering your speech can be quick and simple to do if you have the right, easy-to-use tools. This really is one of those tech-type things you can do on your own even if you’re a beginner. Following is a list of what you need to know to record your own presentation with minimal effort and expense.

These two items are the only tools you need at your speaking event to get your speech recorded:

1. Recorder

I use an Olympus Digital Voice Recorder. Make sure when you buy your recorder it is digital so you can transfer the sound later to your computer. Also, choose a model that comes with a USB cable to transfer your recording onto your computer. Prices vary from $50 – $100.

2. Microphone

You’ll need a lavaliere microphone to attach to the recorder so the sound from your voice goes directly to the recorder without any background noise getting in the way. These microphones are sold separately and typically clip on to your suit jacket and simply plug into the recorder. Prices range from $15 – $30.

Next, at your event there are a few things to know:

3. Be Prepared

Make sure your clothing has a pocket to slip your recorder into as you present. Tuck the wire from the microphone into your suit so it’s not distracting to the audience. A special note for women – Too many women’s suits and pants don’t have pockets and then you’ll be stuck having to carry your recorder during your whole talk, which is not convenient or practical. Be aware of this and make sure your new suit can accommodate your recorder (about the size of a cell phone).

4. Getting Testimonials

Here’s a little tip I learned from professional speaker, Tom Antion. Keep the recorder going after your talk while you answer questions from the people standing in line to speak to you. Immediately following your speech people tend to be thrilled with your content and will tell you what they liked best. You can use this feedback on your website saying, “According to one enthusiastic participant, …”

5. Uploading and Editing

When you get home from your speech you can simply pull out your USB cable, plug it into your computer and recorder and upload your recorded speech and testimonials to your computer. To edit, download free editing software like Audacity at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ to remove any sounds that don’t belong. After your edits are done burn your completed recording to a CD-R. After that they sky’s the limit for using the recording of your speech!

Public speaking is one important way to increase your credibility as a small or home-based business owner. I invite you to discover how to Increase Business by Communicating Your Credibility now. You’ll get this FREE e-course designed to help you attract more business and get more cash flow. Pick it up here: http://www.communicationtransformation.com/creating-credibility-ecourse.html

If you’d like to learn more about using public speaking to market your business, visit http://www.CashInOnSpeaking.com – You’ll learn everything you need to know, including how to choose a topic, how to best organize your speech to get instant results, and where to go to get booked to speak.

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Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a communication consultant, speaker & coach specializing in training small and home-based business owners effective communication skills so they can see more cash flow now.

“I have to get on the public speaking circuit.”

As a professional speaker, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that exact phrase from people who would like to add public speaking as either their main or a supplemental source of income to their business or career.

I have been professionally speaking in many capacities since I began my career in 1992, always in front of audiences for one thing or another.  So people naturally ask me all the time,

“How do I get on the speaking circuit?”

Here’s the thing.  It’s a big secret we speakers keep to ourselves so we know when we’re talking to a fellow speaker or just someone who thinks they may want to be on stage somewhere someday.

There IS NO speaking circuit.

None.

Zippo.

Zilch.

Nada.

So unless you want to look like a total beginner, stop saying you want to get on some type of circuit. Seriously there is none.

Let’s look for a moment at the definition of “circuit” according to Dictionary.com:

“a periodical journey from place to place, to perform certain duties, as by judges to hold court, ministers to preach, or salespeople covering a route.”

and

“a number of theaters, nightclubs, etc., controlled by the same owner or manager or visited in turn by the same entertainers or acting companies.”

Perhaps in the acting or preaching industries there may be a circuit.  And in fact, this could be where some of the confusion around the topic comes from, especially because public speaking can often involve travel “from place to place.”  But make no mistake, there are not many professional stages that qualify as a “circuit.”

Every speech you are booked for is usually just for that one stage and that one occasion.  And that’s it.

To others on the outside of the speaking business it may appear there is some sort of speaking circuit.  That’s because in certain niche markets a handful — say 20-30 of the most popular speakers often appear at various events together or in some combination at the events for that niche market.

And how do those same speakers get hired time and again? Simple: results. The information they share gets the audience the results they want.  When audiences are happy, event planners are happy.  When event planners and audiences are happy, speakers get a good reputation.  And that’s what gets you the next speaking gig.

So don’t despair that there isn’t really a speaking circuit. Because as you get hired and continue to market yourself and grow as a speaker, the opportunities will flow to you as easily as if there was a public speaking circuit.

Public speaking is known as one of the most powerful ways to market your business. As a public speaking trainer, I have the opportunity to see many great speakers first-hand. Lately I’ve noticed more and more entrepreneurs using public speaking to market their businesses. And it’s great!

In the spirit of constructive criticism and realizing there is always room for improvement with even the best speakers, the information in this article is meant to help. Although I have had more than 30 years experience speaking in public, I know I’m not perfect, either. With that in mind, I have noticed some good speakers making some mistakes. Hopefully knowing these top five mistakes will help you for the time when you get out there in front of a live audience.

Mistake 1: Rambling

Plan you presentation. Have a clear and focused goal and point of your speech. Follow it. Help your audience follow you.

Mistake 2: Too-Crowded Visuals

Don’t write every word of your speech on a Power Point Presentation and call that a visual aid. It’s a crutch for you and difficult on the audience. You’re better off without it.

Mistake 3: Using Filler Words

A presentation should feel like a conversation with your audience, yes, but there are a few things that may be acceptable in one to one conversation that you should avoid in a speech. Filler words like “you know” don’t do much to enhance a conversation in general, but truly don’t belong in any speech.

Mistake 4: Being Too Casual

Some people downplay the importance of dressing the part of a successful professional. However it is appropriate to follow through on your branding. For example my friend, Carrie Wilkerson, calls herself the “Barefoot Executive” so when she kicks off her shoes during a presentation that works for her.

Mistake 5: Not Having ANY Offer

Not every speech should have the purpose of selling something, but it’s a mistake to leave the stage without offering your audience reason for them to stay engaged and allow you to follow up with them after the event has ended.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Felicia_Slattery