Christopher V. Flett

“Practice as if you are the worst, perform as if you are the best.”

I frequently get asked how I became a professional speaker. Unfortunately I wasn’t an overnight success. I didn’t even reach success in one year or three. It’s taken ten years to get to where I am today and it feels like I’m only on the first few steps of the big game. When I started Think Tank Communications, back in the 90′s, I dreamt of commanding an audience one day. I frequently went to see speakers and would get excited at watching them take the stage, do their presentation, and leave me inspired. Not to mention, they made very good money to do what they do. I remember walking up to one speaker when I was in my early 20′s and asking him how he became a speaker. “I one day offered to give a speech on my area of expertise. That led to another speech, then I started getting honoraria, then I started getting asked for my speaker’s fees, then I started negotiating my speaker’s fees, and now I’m a full time, professional speaker.”

Seemed like a simple enough formula. In the late 90′s, I started giving presentations around sales and business development. One of the first ones that sticks out in my mind was one to the Southwest Business Improvement Area, in Kamloops B.C. It was held in the Aberdeen Mall food court prior to the mall opening for the day. Probably not the best speech, but I got applause and got clients. From there, I went on to deliver 20 presentations that first year, and each year after that, I gave more than the year previous. As of today, I’ve given in excess of 1,000 presentations. Some days I give a 45 minute presentations, other days, I’ve done 4-5 presentations back to back. It is not uncommon for me to make off one speech, what I used to make in 2 months, full-time in my corporate job. But instead of working 320 hours (160 hours a month x 2 months), I make it in 45 minutes. Not bad for practicing a craft for the last ten years.

Becoming a speaker is all about platform. There are some givens:

• You have to enjoy speaking
• You have to have something to say
• You have to be a good speaker

Okay, now that we have the fundamentals out of the way, now the important part: Platform. What will you (or do you want to be) known for? For me, specialities include women’s leadership development and overall business development systems. Licensing has been sneaking in there as a third platform, but I’m keeping a harness on it .Platform is what you are known for and how you are different from the 1,000′s of other speakers out there. What will your platform be? Here are some questions to guide you:

1. What are you good at?
2. What are you an expert in?
3. What solution to others problems do you have?
4. What you can you speak on that is unique, memorable, and valuable?
5. Who would want to hear what you have to say? (What groups?)

When you can start to get clarity around these things, you start to pencil in your platform. That’s the first step. Decide what you want to be known for, consider which market(s) are interested in your message, deliver the message, fine-tune your skills, and then build a speaking practice, one presentation at a time. It doesn’t happen over night. Rather, it takes night after night of taking the stage, perfecting your craft, and engaging your audiences. You can do it, but you need to start like the rest of us…with a plan, with a platform, and with a wiliness to learn what works and what doesn’t, one step/speech at a time.

Best,

C/

p.s. If you want to watch a great documentary on working your ‘material’, check out the documentary on Jerry Seinfeld called Comedian. Here’s a clip: