I am often asked, “How can I become a motivational speaker? How can I get started? How much money can I earn?” I’ve been an industry insider for more than 15 years and can help if you’re looking to pursue a career in the speaking industry. As President of the Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau, I can assure you that whether you’re just starting out or simply curious about becoming a motivational speaker, this blog will help. Or, if you’ve tried to become a motivational speaker but have yet to “crack the code” of earning tens of thousands of dollars as a speaker, this is for you, too.

Most motivational speakers are driven by a desire to:

• Share their experience or their knowledge,
• Enjoy the travel and excitement of being a professional, paid motivational speaker,
• Have great influence,
• Promote a book they’ve written, or
• Earn a highly lucrative income doing what they love … sharing their story.

These are all fantastic reasons. Many speakers can find themselves in high demand. Some successful speakers include those who have conquered overwhelming adversity, achieved a tremendous and unique accomplishment, or those who have business or life experience and a talent for storytelling.

What Qualifications Do You Need to Become a Motivational Speaker?

Aspiring speakers ask, “Does it take a lot of skill to become successful?”  Almost anyone who can tell an interesting story with a beginning, middle, and end, can call themselves a speaker. To inspire and motivate, however, takes a greater degree of skill and talent. Understanding how to monetize your message is the real key to success! Speaking is an industry; your dream of becoming a successful speaker CAN be yours. You just need to understand how the industry works so you will know the secrets to success.

Start by asking yourself, “What is my message?” “Is it unique to me? What can I share about this that other speakers can’t?” Not everyone has flown to the moon. Some motivational speakers speak on sales, networking, change, leadership, or other in-demand topics.. 

A few years ago, I booked astronaut Captain Jim Lovell. It was incredible to meet a living legend. I was thrilled to spend the day with him. He had flown to the moon and back 50 years ago. Captain Lovell, along with astronauts Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, survived an oxygen explosion just two days after their launch aboard Apollo 13. Their survival and return home were so dramatic that Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment made a movie about the experience. You may remember Jim’s iconic line, “Houston … we’ve got a problem.” The astronauts had never prepared for an explosion, as the likelihood of surviving one wasn’t even considered. My client’s audience was spellbound as Jim shared the real story of what happened up there. His expertise is problem solving … he’s an inspiration to all who have heard him speak. 

At that same event, I also got to hear a Quantas pilot talk about how he’d landed a crippled Airbus A380 in 2010. Captain Richard de Crespigny was piloting Qantas flight QF32 when it suffered an uncontained engine failure after takeoff from Singapore. The captain was a real-life hero, as he saved 440 lives that day.

I was on the edge of my seat listening to these speakers!

But, what about speakers who simply have a story to share? Maybe they are great at crushing sales goals or inspiring audiences with less heroic stories. Can THEY earn a great living, too? The answer is YES!

How Much Can a Successful Motivational Speaker Earn?

It’s important to understand that unless you’ve flown to the moon, your success as a speaker will lie in your ability to inspire and motivate. Becoming great at marketing yourself will help, too. And, add a little “show business” into the mix. You want to be able to deliver a memorable presentation.

Most new speakers start out speaking for free. Success guru Brian Tracy said you can plan on speaking for free about 300 times. This is when you’re just starting out. You can speak on what’s affectionately called “The Animal Circuit”, ie: Lions Clubs, Rotary, Elks Lodge, etc. These are great opportunities to hone your skills. Once you feel comfortable enough to charge, start with a reasonable speaking fee. A lot of speakers start out at $500 – $1,500 for a one-hour presentation. As your calendar

fills up, you can increase your fee. The more you accomplish in life and in your speaking career, the more you’ll be able to charge. Captain Lovell’s fee is $35,000 for a keynote presentation. But then, he’s flown to the moon. Within a few years, if you’re working as much as you want, you can raise your fee to $5,000.00. It’s pretty exciting to fly home from a keynote speech with a $5,000.00 check in your wallet. Most speakers earn between $2,500 – $10,000. To earn more than that, you will need to become one of the best motivational speakers anyone has ever heard!

I mentioned becoming great at marketing yourself, too. That’s critically important. There are many ways to promote yourself and start earning six figures. This is what I meant when I said it’s important to understand the speaking industry. There are some shortcuts that can have you earning more even faster. I created an online course, “INSIDER’S SECRETS: Keys to 6-Figure Speaking” because so many speakers I hear from want to know how they can fast track their career as a motivational speaker. I’m inviting you to watch the video on this page, as I share some of the most misunderstood aspects of the speaking industry. I also share some of the biggest mistakes many speakers make. 

Start Speaking! Whether you want to become a Motivational Speaker just to have more confidence when speaking on a local level to area businesses or if you aspire to become a 6-Figure Speaker, the first step is to start speaking. Not all speakers present at arenas packed with 15,000 people. Many speakers earn six figures speaking primarily to smaller groups of 500 guests or less. You can do it! You just have to get started now and take that first step.

~ Robin Jay, President, Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau, Award-winning Author & Filmmaker, Publisher

The post The Stunning Truth About How to Become a Motivational Speaker appeared first on Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau.

As president of the Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau, I now know what many speakers do wrong in their efforts to get booked. This is because before I founded the speakers bureau, I was an author and a speaker. I hate to admit I’ve made many of those same mistakes myself.

The fact that I have now worked running a speakers bureau AND as a speaker puts me in a unique position to help other speakers. I used to work hard to promote myself to get hired for paid speaking engagements. Now, even though I am still happy to speak, I also work to help my clients find and book the best speakers for their events. I have done both of these jobs successfully. Launching the Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau and seeing all the ways speakers go about trying to get booked for paid gigs now makes me laugh at many of the tacts I, myself, used to take! And THIS is what makes me a valuable “INSIDER” and a resource for speakers today. 

Speakers Bureau Insights

Some speakers have other jobs and want to speak as “industry experts.” This category includes doctors, professors, engineers, and other professionals from varied fields. The biggest mistake they make is having someone from their office (or worse – their wife or mother!) make calls or send letters on their behalf. I get tons of letters that start out with, “Dear Robin, My name is Jennifer and I work with Dr. Johnson. He is an incredible speaker.”

MORE Mistakes that Speakers Make

Some of the mistakes speakers and their reps make when contacting the speakers bureau include reaching out to promote themselves without first establishing a need. Instead, “the Jennifers” of the world would do better to open with Dr. Johnson’s credentials, keep it brief, and send a short video clip of the doctor wowing an audience.  

I often hear from people who want to SIGN UP to be listed. I don’t have a sign up sheet or standard intake form. The Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau is a smaller, boutique bureau. I can book nearly ANY speaker working today, but I have a few speakers on each topic that I know will make my clients happy, so my focus lies in promoting them. Even bureaus that list 5,000 speakers have their favorites, too. I have a tip for getting around that at the end of this post.

“Please send us an application for your speakers bureau.” I get this one a lot! As I just wrote, I don’t have an application, per se. I need to hear about you or discover you. 

Have a NARROW FOCUS!

“Speaker has a broad range of subjects they speak on.” THIS may sound like a great line, but it’s not. The more a speaker can specialize in any given topic, the more successful they will become. You speak on Sales? What kind of sales? Network marketing, outside sales, real estate sales? See how being extremely specific can be a plus? No one can be all things to all people. I know several speakers who worked for national training companies before striking out on their own. They speak on ALL topics – Sales, Leadership, Overcoming Adversity, Motivation, Creativity, and more. It’s FINE to have those talks in your tool box. But, to get booked more often and for a higher fee, you want to specialize!

Lastly, I hear from speakers who “…are looking for more opportunities to speak.” That’s a big, “No kidding!” ALL speakers want more speaking opportunities.

The key to a successful speaking strategy absolutely includes getting listed with speakers bureaus. More than that, though, the best thing a speaker can do today is to set themselves on fire so they will get noticed not just by the speakers bureau, but by ALL the speakers bureaus and meeting planners in the world! That means they should have a best-selling book, have an attractive and informative Website, they should write blog posts and maintain a strong social media presence, and have captivating video of themselves really connecting with an audience. It takes a multi-pronged approach to attain great speaker success.

The post A Speakers Bureau “INSIDER” appeared first on Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau.

As Speakers Bureau President for the Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau, I hear from professional motivational speakers every week who want to get listed on the LVCSB.com site. Of course they do! I love serving my clients and booking incredible speakers for conventions, conferences, and events. And, I love cutting checks for those speakers. My clients are happy, the speakers are happy, and I’m happy. Yet, in the 10+ years that I’ve been running this speakers bureau, I’ve come to appreciate that the speaking industry is one of the most misunderstood industries.

Misunderstanding #1: As Speakers Bureau President, I’ve Realized Many Speakers Fail to see Professional Speaking as a Business

Most motivational speakers choose to become professional speakers because they want to share their experience. Perhaps they overcame tremendous adversity. Often, they have a deep understanding of business, sales, leadership, or change. Whatever their expertise, most speakers have their heart in the right place. And, fueled by their desire to share that experience, they declare themselves to be “Professional Speakers.”

Misunderstanding #2: Speakers Bureau President Says, “Professional Speaking” is Vastly Different than Speaking to Friends or Colleagues

Speaking professionally (ie: getting PAID to speak) is 100% different than speaking in front of friends or colleagues. If you’ve ever worked for a company where a budget-conscious CEO decides he/she will say a few words at the annual meeting instead of splurging for the expense of a professional motivational speaker, then you KNOW how dynamic a meeting can become when a professional speaker takes the stage. A talented motivational speaker can electrify a room, get tired employees on their feet, engaged in their presentation. Attendees will come away with new ideas … their wheels turning with fresh ideas for productivity, sales, or their own leadership style. 

Misunderstanding #3: As Speakers Bureau President, I Assure You – It Can Be Easy to Start Earning Thousands Speaking Professionally 

Let me qualify this; it’s easy if you know how the industry works! If you never took the time to understand the speaking industry, or you see other motivational speakers earning tens of thousands of dollars and think, “I could do that!”, you may find yourself struggling … for years! And, you can end up spending tens of thousands of dollars trying to learn how the professional speaking industry works. It doesn’t have to be that way. It IS easy. You just need to decide you’re going to take your speaking seriously. Invest in yourself and get the right people to help you.

Remember, the “expert industry” is an unregulated industry in the United States. That means ANYONE can claim to be a coach, a consultant, a speaker or a speaker trainer. Do your research before you hire a speaker coach and find out what their clients have to say about them. I love to receive glowing testimonials. Anyone you hire should be able to provide you with names and contact information of people they’ve helped. 

For more information on becoming a successful speaker, click here to register for my FREE, LIVE webinar, “Introduction to INSIDER’S SECRETS: Keys to 6-Figure Speaking.” Several dates and times are available. 

The post Speakers Bureau President: Is Professional Speaking a Misunderstood Industry? appeared first on Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau.

As President of the Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau and writer/producer of award-winning personal development films, I have the privilege of inviting a few outstanding speakers & experts to appear in my films. I am currently seeking experts to appear in my newest film, Becoming the Keys.  This is a rare opportunity for experts from around the world and it’s the last chance for them to be featured in the final installment of the award-winning “Key Movie” series. Major production is scheduled for May 22 – 25, 2018.

Speakers & Experts Can Co-star in Film with Today’s Top Experts

The Key Movie series stars such iconic thought leaders as Jack Canfield, John Gray, Marci Shimoff, Brian Tracy, John Assaraf, Dannion Brinkley, Rev. Michael Beckwith, don Miguel Ruiz, Dr. Joe Vitale, and Gloria Loring. The stars, along with other experts and authors, appear in cameos as an integral part of the films’ narrative (fictional) stories. The films are designed to inspire and empower viewers on a global level.

Finding Speakers & Experts to Appear in the Films

I am often asked why I started making movies. After the success of “The Secret”, many people started producing similar “talking head” documentaries. As a bureau president, I felt I needed to watch them to see who was featured, what their message was, etc., as most of the films starred motivational speakers along with a few, more recognizable experts. The disjointed nature of the films, their lack of any cohesive storyline, and the poor production quality made them hard to watch. In December of 2010, my cousin was visiting. She loves coming to Las Vegas and enjoys everything the city has to offer – from gourmet food to gambling – and, of course, to see me.

That year, I insisted she watch “You Can Heal Your Life”, a film by Louise Hay (Hay House.) While I love what Louise did in that film (and she spent a fortune producing it!), it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. And, it wasn’t my cousin’s, either. After struggling to sit through about 20 minutes of the film, she said to me, “I get it, Robin… I should take better care of myself. Can we PLEASE go to the casino now so I can smoke and have a glass of wine?” That was that. I decided I wanted to produce a film that even my cousin would watch AND ENJOY!

Those of us who love motivation, inspiration, read non-fiction books, and study personal development and self-growth don’t just enjoy the books and films that are released; we want to SHARE them with our loved ones. And, if they aren’t entertaining enough, we will end up wasting our energy trying to get others on board.

That was really all it took. I thought, “SOMEBODY has got to raise the bar on this entire genre!” Armed with little more than the desire to create a better, more empowering inspirational film, I co-wrote and produced The Keeper of the Keys. The rest, as they say, is history.

If you’re a speaker or expert with a message you want to share in my newest film, Becoming the Keys, starring Brian Tracy, don Miguel Ruiz, Dannion Brinkley, and other incredible thought leaders, please contact me immediately. Production is scheduled to wrap in May/June 2018.  Robin at LVCSB.com

I look forward to hearing from you and seeing if this is the right project for you and if you are the right expert for this project. Thank you ~ Robin Jay, President, LVCSB.com, Writer/Producer, The Keeper of the Keys & The Secrets of the Keys

#Speaker #MotivationalSpeaker #Author #Expert #WUVIP #NSA

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Register NOW: Several dates & times for your convenience. Just click here to register for this game-changing FREE WEBINAR.

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