I receive at least 3 enquiries a week from people wanting to know what it takes to be a Professional Speaker.

They are either aspiring speakers wanting to get into the business or they are people already speaking with some skill (e.g. well seasoned Toastmasters -DTM AC-g or company trainers) and wanting to make the transition and or they are people who are being paid (i.e. professionals) and want to up their game.

To make it easier for you to establish where you are or what you need to play in this space I have developed the questionnaire below.  Please read the questions below and then mark your answers to each. These questions take into account the qualifying Criteria of most Professional Speakers Associations around the world and should help you focus on where you stand right now and what it would take you to get to your goal.
The Questions:

Please answer each question Yes/No/ or choose a letter that best describes your speaking business.

By answering these questions you will be able to
determine for yourself whether:-

1. You are a Professional or not   and
2. Where you are on the professional speaking ladder.

PS:– these are merely items that indicate that you have the necessary items in place to be a professional speaker – the real test is your speech content and your speaking and platform skill that makes people book
you repeatedly and refer you to others – without this all the above is a bit meaningless.

If you would like to discuss any of these items or the Speaking Profession in general please contact me directly and let’s
see how I can help you achieve your dreams.

Two very interesting concepts that most people in business believe they deliver but which most customers/clients complain about.
So why is there a disconnect between the Provider and the Receiver?

Let’s look at the two concepts:
Professionalism, in its simplest form, merely means that a person is being paid for a service. The mere act of accepting money makes one a professional as opposed to an amateur/volunteer.

Two definitions of this term give us some interesting insights (1) -Professionalism is knowing how to do it, when to do it, and doing it. – Frank Tyger and (2) Professionalism: It’s NOT the job you DO, It’s HOW you DO the job.- Author Unknown.
Other Criteria to be considered a Professional include:-
• Expert and Specialised Knowledge in a specific field.
• High ethics– confidential relationships.
• Very high quality of work/service.
• Specialist education and skills
• Autonomy and Independence
• Applying theory to practice and solving problems
• Enthusiasm, commitment and loyalty
• Ongoing Life Long Learning
• Setting an example others follow
• And many more ….

So where do we fit in and how do we regard and measure ourselves as professionals?

Truth be told I guess we believe and espouse to be true professionals and we state that on out web sites, marketing material and even say it when we sell ourselves and our services to our client’s and prospective clients.
But the true test of professionalism is not what we think but rather it’s all about what our Clients and the world at large thinks and says. So how do you measure your professionalism? Do you ask for specific feedback from your clients as to how they felt you deal with the issues at hand with specific reference to your professionalism? And if found lacking what do you offer your clients in compensation for lower than expected delivery?

Let’s now look at Standards

Standards may be defined as the level of expected results demanded by our clients. It is not about what we believe is good enough its what our clients (colleagues/industry) believe we should be delivering.

The following quotations gives an inkling of what is expected:- (1)The idea for which this nation stands will not survive if the highest goal free man can set themselves is an amiable mediocrity. Excellence implies striving for the highest standards in every phase of life. John W. Gardner and (2) You must regulate your life by the standards you admire when you are at your best. John M. Thomas

Some minimum standards considered to be no-brainers:-
• On Time and In Budget every time
• No hidden costs and agendas
• Value for money
• Pay it Forward if it’s out of your skill set/domain
• If you don’t know – say so
• Don’t renege on promises / your word
• Unquestionable Honesty
• And many more ….

So how do you stack up?
• Do you have your own check list against which you evaluate yourself and your business transactions and interventions?
• Do you ask your clients for feedback on how you are doing in their eyys after each intervention?
• Do you test your professionalism and standards against the norms in your industry
• Do you offer a 100% of fee refund if your clients complain that you delivery was not up to standard

Professionalism and the Highest Standards are a clients right and we need to ensure that we are continually looking to provide them with what they are paying for and then some.

It’s no longer acceptable to just give the client a good experience – to stay in business and get referrals and grow our businesses we need to be delivering WOW experiences.
If we expect them to give us business referrals we need to be better than they expect us to be.

It’s a great habit to review your own Performance on a quarterly basis at least – so take 2 minutes now and set aside an hour in your diaries to do so every 3 months and you and your business will be better for it and your clients will truly believe you are the best thing that has happened to them this year.

Have fun and be better than the best you think you can be!

They hate the concept because it reminds them of Targets and KPA’s and Work and Performance Assessments and most importantly Failure.  This is a common issue and they would rather not set the goal than set it and fail and go through yet another negative – I can’t do it etc type self fulfilling prophesy. So they rather stay away and just ignore that they need to set some kind of goal and plan to get what they want and ultimately remain miserable because they can never achieve their dreams and get the things they want. And so the song continues over and over again.

The first stumbling block to remove, I find, is to re-educate them on the fact that mistakes and failures are not negative at all. They are the only means by which we can in fact gain experience in life and improve. Experience is after all the lessons learnt from making mistakes and failing at something and learning how not to do it wrong again. Once they start accepting that to fail is OK then one can get into the process of identifying where they are , what they want and where they want to go and developing the action plans that go with that new belief.

The Second stumbling block with goals is to overcome is the mindset that they are there to regiment ones life and take the fun out of living. A lot of people believe that goals are meaningless as once you achieve one there is no reward other that the Achievement High. What then follows is yet another goal and then another and so the roller coaster continues.

The way to overcome this is to look at goals as the Desires rather than just good old SMART Goals. Desires are either Positive things we want that we don’t have already and that will give Pleasure and / or Negative ones that will remove Pain. Once we understand the Pain and Pleasure elements to the goals we set ourselves we start making progress to achieving those two states of enjoyment. The next trick is to take the stress out of what goals mean to you. – Goals need not always be BIG they can be small things you want to complete or achieve – like how to cook pasta. Beware of goals that others set for you  – they should be things you want to and agree to achieve.

So what should ones goals be?

In my Go APE (Achieve Personal Excellence) workshop we follow the following guidelines:-

Firstly – The Pleasure – things you like and enjoy – like your natural talents, interests and skills. Things that interest you and not necessarily others – remember they are yours to achieve and enjoy.

Secondly – The Pain – things that you don’t like or want – like being overweight or having a bad relationship. This can then set up the goal to get rid of the pains.

Thirdly – The 12 Elements of your Life – Consider how you would score your life currently in the 12 key elements of your life – give each a score out of 10 where 1 is not worth living and 10 is ecstasy. Draw a PLP Map (Personal Life Plan Map and review it every 6 months). The 12 areas of your life to consider are (in no particular order). Your Mental Attitude; Your Physical being; Your Spiritual Life; Your Finances;  Your Blood Family; Your Social Life; Your Community Life; Your Career; Your Talents; Your Fun Life; Your Love Life and Your Education;

Fourthly – Work Goals –  Also known as Targets, KPA’s, KRA’s  etc. These are necessary for the fulfilment of your work ambitions and also assist you in creating your Personal Development Plans w.r.t work based skills etc.

Fifthly – Your Eulogy – Sit down and write you own eulogy  that you would LIKE to be read out at your own funeral one day – Write down all the Nice things you would want people to say you achieved in your life even if they are only Ideas or Dreams right now. These can then focus your mind on some of the goals you need to set yourself now so that someone can actually say them one day.

Remember your purpose on this earth is to enjoy yourself and the journey – and the achievement of goals makes the journey a truly enjoyable ride. Without goals we tend to wonder around from pillar to post and eventually we die and leave no or little legacy.

Enjoy the process and the ride – it’s a wonderful experience.

 Adolph P Kaestner

1. Celebrity Speakers

• Speakers by virtue of their being either a Sports celebrity, a Politician, an Actor etc.
• Usually get invited to speak at functions as a Crowd draw card and speak about their experiences in their own field.
• They also often act as MC’s at events.
• They usually speak on a full time or part time basis and command good speaking fees for their keynote talks and breakaway sessions

2. Circumstantial Speakers

• Speakers by virtue of a Circumstance such as An Accident, Traumatic Experience , Life Surviving Event etc
• They usually concentrate on telling their story as their core speech.
• They usually speak on a full time or part time basis and command good speaking fees for their keynote talks and breakaway sessions

3. Experts Who Speak

• These speakers are usually Subject Level Experts by virtue of Academic Studies, Self Study, Work Experience and or a mixture of all of these.
• They speak at conferences and events based on their Specialist knowledge and experience.
• They usually speak on a full time or part time basis and command good speaking fees for their keynote talks and breakaway sessions.

4. Industry Speakers

• These are mostly executives and experts inside of business and industries who speak on their specific specialist fields.
• They usually do not charge a fee for their services as they speak on behalf of their organisations and gain exposure as payment.
• However of late they too are demanding a speaker’s fee or at least direct cost compensations.

5. Motivational and Inspirational Speakers

• These are speakers who concentrate on the emotional upliftment and rejuvenation of the spirit of their audiences through Motivational and Inspirational Stories, Anecdotes and Value Principles etc.
• They are most often called on as Opening or Closing Keynote presenters at conferences, Strategic Planning sessions, management or sales meetings and the like.
• They usually speak on a full time or part time basis and command good speaking fees for their keynote talks and breakaway sessions.

6. Entertainers

• These include comedians, magicians, ventriloquists and others who use "speaking plus" to get their point across
• They usually speak/perform on a full time or part time basis and command good speaking fees for their keynote talks and breakaway sessions.

7. Trainers

• These are Speakers who provide Training Courses, Seminars and Workshops in many different fields of expertise.
• They also often speak on their subjects of expertise at Conferences and Seminars and from time to time present keynotes on their fields at such events as well.

A brief intensive course or series of meetings for a small group of people, emphasising interaction, exchange of information and problem solving among the participants. (Interaction and group participation is the key differentiator)

Seminar

A meeting for the exchange of ideas where the seminar leader presents information to a small, medium or large group of people with a minimal amount of interaction between them. (One-to-many information transfer)

Conference

A meeting for the interchange of opinions where there is usually more than one speaker presenting a paper or address to a larger audience on similar subject matter or a common theme. (Many-to-many information transfer) (Interaction between the audience members and the speakers is minimal)

Indaba

A Conference to discuss matters of strategic importance

Imbizo

A Meeting of leaders when an important issue needs to be resolved

Bosberaad

A Conflict resolution meeting where everybody has the same authority
Also sometimes used to describe a group Brainstorm Session

Lekgotla

Solving problems with the community.

Ubuntu

“We are who we are through other people”
It means respecting the dignity of all people, no matter how humble and our actions must reflect this concern for the wider community

I guess more has been written and commented on the use of Power Point Presentations in the last 5 years than almost any other Presentation Tool introduced over the same period.  The Reason – Simple – Microsoft Built a Tool to make Presentations simpler for us all and also added almost every Gizmo and feature they and their clients could think of. – The Problem – People try to use all/most of the Gizmos without paying attention to the value of the tool as an aid to enhancing the message and not the message itself.

So what am I recommending?

The primary questions you have to ask yourself are:-

• What is the purpose of my Talk/Presentation?
• Who Is The Audience?
• What is the Call to Action/Message?
• What is the session all about – Speech (motivation – inspiration – entertainment), Training Session, Sales Proposal, Information Dissemination Presentation, Brainstorm and Workshop?
• Will a Data Presentation be appropriate to get the message across and get the right call to action in the end?
• Where will this happen – Venue and facilities for a Data Presentation?

OK – so you have decided that the best way to enhance the message is with a PowerPoint presentation. – So what format should it take so that you don’t bore the audience to death?

Here are some Keep It Simple Guidelines based on the Types of Presentations.

1. Key Rules
2. Appropriate Pictures say more that words ever will!
3. Contrast  is critical –

•  Light Backgrounds with Dark Text
• Dark Backgrounds with Light Text
• Light backgrounds better in large and light rooms
• Dark backgrounds require stronger projectors and darker rooms.
• Get to know the Colour Wheel and What colours work for what effect in a presentation.

1. Speech – ( Motivation – Inspiration – Entertainment )
   • Slides to Contain PICTURES (Not Clip Art) and
   • Maximum – 5 Words per slide- Less if at all possible
   • The Idea is that the picture will enhance the message YOU are Delivering as the Speaker.
   • Finding the right picture takes time and thought as it must add value otherwise it’s just a prop / “plonk-in” as an afterthought.
   • NB- beware copyright issues on pictures you “borrow” from the web – search for Free pictures or pay for them from a stock list.
2. Training Session and Information Dissemination Presentations.
   • Here the Slides are made up of a 50% mixture of Key Bullet Points and
   • Appropriate Pictures that enhance the main point of the slide and
   • Interspersed with appropriate Video Clips that also enhance the value of the point – either seriously or humorously.
3. Sales Proposals
   • These Slides are usually based on presenting the Problem and then the Solution in Side by side boxes.
   • Max 5 Bullet Points per Box – Differentiate the Boxes (Problem and Solution) with different background shading.
   • Precede the slide with one of a Photo Depicting the problem
   • Follow the Solution bullets with a Slide depicting the Solution if at all possible
4. Workshops
   • A workshop is where there is one or more presenters talking to a group
   • The mix is- presenters give Max 50% input via presentations – illustrations etc.
   • The Delegates are involved at least 50% of the time with break away or individual work time.
   • This is more  facilitation techniques that a presentation but if presentations are used-  then apply the rules for training sessions discussed above.
5. Brainstorm Sessions
   • If data projector is to be used then best to use it with expert typist and software for Mind Mapping
   • Generally use facilitation tools and techniques and not PowerPoint for these sessions.

This is a vast subject to cove – I trust these few pointers will assist you in your next presentation.

Remember always – YOU are the centre of attention and the reason the audience is there – Not the PowerPoint presentation.

 If that was the case then rather just mail the presentation  to the audience and stop wasting everybody’s time if all you are going to do is read what is on the slides to them (also known as “Death By PowerPoint”)

Have fun !!!! and Blow their Socks off with your next presentation !!

What a waste of time !!- there can be no greater waste of time and energy than wishing and hoping!

The Key to success and achievement has to be the Development of Personal Excellence so that you are the most efficient and productive person you can be in your chosen field of work and endeavour.

And to be Personally Excellent one has to take action to get there – you cannot buy it, inherit it and it wont come through some wild intervention by others – it takes Personal Commitment and Action.

That is what I am all about and I have dedicated myself to assisting those who truly want to excel to get there and to be the leaders and not the followers in their lives.

I look forward to working with you all to achieve the same