If the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Can Make Money Just by Giving Speeches, Maybe You Can, Too! Even During a Pandemic

Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are reported to be asking for a cool one-million-dollar fee for speaking engagements. Although that seems a little steep, I wouldn’t rule it out. People like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Theresa May routinely collect six-figure speaking fees.

What about the rest of us? The midst of a worldwide pandemic is not the best time to gather huge audiences of people who want to pay hundreds of dollars each for a hotel buffet and the chance to hear someone give a speech, but opportunities to speak can arise in the most surprising ways.

Mere commoners are not going to collect million-dollar fees, but it is not unusual for professional public speakers to charge fees in the range of $2000 to $20,000, plus expenses, to give a major speech at a business or professional conference. Topics vary: people speak about how to overcome stage fright, how to close a sale, better ways to organize a hospital, and any number of other topics. Universities that I worked at often hired outside consultants to give major presentations plus all-day seminars in return for generous fees.

And as people get used to online meeting technology, organizations will continue to hire specialized experts to share their expertise, knowledge, or humor with their members.

How to get started? I am assuming that you are qualified to speak about some specialized topic that will interest the commercial world. Are you in real estate? Politics? Sales? Health care? Are you skilled in a trade?

First, speakers need to start by getting practical experience. No matter how well you did in your public speaking class, start by giving out several weeks or even months of freebies: speak to churches, synagogues and temples, youth groups, and Rotary Clubs. Even with these groups are close, many of them are eager for someone to present online content. Or offer to give lunchtime seminars at your place of employment. Even people who are working from home need to eat lunch. This gives you two benefits. First, practice makes perfect and your speaking will improve. You can never be too good! Second, you never know who will be listening. The more presentations you make, the more chances you give program planners to hear how good you are.

Second, speakers need to work up their publicity materials. Inexpensive business cards, one-sheets, or trifolds are basic. Maybe you'll write up brief free articles about your topic, format them attractively, and distribute them (with your contact information prominently displayed, of course). Give your publicity materials to anyone and everyone. If you’ve written a book, congratulations, and of course you should have copies for your assistant, spouse, or friend to sell on the spot. During the pandemic, the sales table is not a place to ignore social distancing. If you are speaking on line, you can provide clickable links to your sales page. (This might require you to have a business license, which you should have anyway, and to pay sales tax, but it's worth it.)

If you have not written a book, and if you’re a good writer, well, write one. It doesn’t have to be huge. Make sure it includes lots of inspiring stories. If you can't find a commercial publisher, you can hire a contract editor and self-publish. Sell it at your presentations.

Third, an online presence is essential. Twitter and Facebook are basic. Celebrities put their selfies on Instagram, so you should, too. Break out your camera and take a lot of pictures. Make sure they are captioned and include your contact information. Don’t forget about Flickr and Tumblr. If you’re young and know the latest dances, swallow your pride and get on Tik Tok. (Please don’t look for me on Tik Tok. LOL.) Most important, start a blog and post at least once a week. Blogger, WordPress, and Weebly are among the web hosts that make things easy for amateurs.

Your online presence will also need to include short  examples of you speaking on YouTube and Vimeo. Make sure that you’re energetic, because YouTube is what Marshall McLuhan called a hot medium. If possible, include audience reactions. For best sound quality, make sure to use an external microphone.

Link: Tips for Videoconference Speakers

Fourth, obviously, master every online meeting software. Learn everything, and I mean everything, about using Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and any other platform that emerges. Know all of them. You want to be so skilled with meeting software that you never need to ask for tech support. In fact, make sure that you know enough that you can provide technical support to anyone else who needs it. If someone is giving you money to speak online, you’d better know how to do it. If you’re speaking online, be sure to obtain quality camera and sound equipment. With modern technology, that’s much less expensive than you might think. You can spend $100 or less and get a good USB microphone with the mounts and accessories. Never use the tiny microphone built into your laptop. Practice with the equipment until you can use it comfortably.

Fifth, professional speakers almost always work with speakers bureaus. You will need to send them samples of your work, including audio and video, and they will want you to have the kinds of experiences that I list above.

Sixth, if you are speaking professionally, you need to be 100% reliable. You need to be on time for your in-person engagements – and when I say on time, I mean an hour early – impeccably dressed, and completely prepared. A delayed airline flight, heavy traffic, or Internet glitch is not an excuse to be late. Your computer and visual aids absolutely must work. Have a backup and contingency plan for anything that might go wrong. If you are speaking in person during the pandemic, practice social distancing without compromise and wear a suitable mask even when you are speaking. Do not let anyone intimidate you into being careless with your health. Contrary to what politicians say on television, a mask does not noticeably obstruct your voice.

Take online speaking seriously. Dress professionally, and be set up and ready to go well before your scheduled time. Be ready to receive last-minute phone calls and emails.

Link: More About Professional Public Speaking

Professional public speaking is a highly competitive enterprise, but there is money to be made, and program planners are always interested in energetic, interesting, witty, and informative speakers. Professional public speaking is a tough business and not without financial risk. Still, if the Duke and Duchess can give it a try, maybe you can too.

Finally, in all seriousness, please follow all pandemic safety rules. No point in making a lot of money if you end up in the hospital.

If you have been speaking to groups, please post a comment to tell my readers about it. Happy speaking!

How Can You Sound Good When You Present at a Videoconference?

My last post talked about creating a good visual impression during a videoconference. With the coronavirus pandemic putting the kibosh on live conferences, we’re meeting on the Internet instead. But what about how you speak? Your vocal presentation gives you a chance to shine.

So, point number one is to speak in an energetic but not overwhelming style. A videoconference speaker wants to speak with plenty of vocal variety – especially variations in the rate and pitch of speech – but not with Paul Harvey-level enthusiasm. You’re speaking into someone’s home or office, not in a big auditorium, and you prefer to sound conversational. At the same time, if you are too cool, you can get lost in the Internet shuffle. To judge how people are responding to you, keep an eye on their nonverbal reactions. (That’s why the conference software shows everyone in a little box.)

Second, a videoconference speaker should never speak too fast. That’s because the Internet does not carry audio reliably. Yes, a super-fast Internet connection will help, but no one should ever trust the Internet. I do mean never. Fast speech might sometimes get garbled before people hear it. If there’s a lot going on at the conference, you might not get a second chance to make your point, so you need to make sure people hear you the first time. Slow down a bit!

Third, remember the Internet lag. At a live conference, people will hear the speaker’s voice within milliseconds. Over the Internet, the signal could travel for a second or more before everyone hears it. Furthermore, there’s no guarantee that everyone will hear the same speaker at the exact same moment. That’s another reason to avoid fast speech and it’s a good reason to pause briefly to punctuate your points.

Fourth, watch microphone placement. The microphone hanging from your computer is not ideal. That’s because the microphone wants to be six inches or so from your mouth, but the best camera placement will be a bit farther away. We’ve all noticed how awkward it is when an Internet camera peers at a person’s face, emphasizing the nose and every blemish. But if you back the camera off, vocal quality can break down. There’s a physics reason for that, but I’ll spare you the explanation. I purchased a separate web microphone – it wasn’t expensive – and it helps a lot. I can plop the microphone on my desk about 10 inches closer than the camera, making the camera and microphone both happy.

At the same time, don’t put the microphone right against your mouth. No one wants to hear your P’s pop. A few inches away will be best, and the ideal distance varies with the microphone. It’s not a bad idea to test your microphone and camera setup by conferencing with a sympathetic family member ahead of time to make sure that your visual and audio setup is the best.

Fifth, since you aren’t there in person, vocal quality rises in importance. Here are some old announcer’s tricks. One is to breathe from your abdomen, like an opera singer or a baby. Good speakers don’t move their shoulders when they speak. Paul Harvey himself once said that, when he was growing up, his mother liked to dress him in cute sailor vests. She didn’t have enough money to buy him a new vest as he grew, and he learned abdominal breathing to avoid suffocating. He joked that his mother was, without knowing it, preparing him for a career in radio. Another trick is to take a few moments to relax your mouth, throat, and shoulders, breathing deeply and thinking peaceful thoughts. We don’t sound our best when our muscles are tense. What about pitch? To find your ideal pitch range, close your eyes, relax, and hum. You will be humming in your natural pitch range. You’ll probably notice that this is higher or lower than the way you usually speak. Trust me, you will always sound better in your natural range than if you try to force your voice to be higher or lower than it wants to be.

Finally, be sure to project into the microphone. People will neither understand nor believe you if they can’t hear you. Again, checking your microphone setup ahead of time will help you find the correct volume. You probably need to speak a bit more loudly than you would expect, although, of course no one likes yelling.

I hope all that helps! Videoconference speakers usually want to be moderately enthusiastic, project their voices, and sound relaxed and confident. If possible, watch a recording of your presentation afterwards so you can learn from experience. Finally, and this most important, enjoy going to your conference, interacting with colleagues, sharing what you know, and learning from other people. That's what it's all about.

My upcoming post talks about hot and cold media. Is a videoconference a hot medium or a cool one? Or something in between? It makes a difference when we start speaking to one another on line.