Speaker - April 2009

you’re at it, get rid of that photo from 1983 and replace it with a current snapshot. Review your marketing materials. Are they up-to-date? What about your speech? This is a good time to do some research, write some new stories, or maybe even create an entire new keynote or workshop.

Have you written a book lately? Well, that’s what I’m doing this year, and you can, too. Write an entire book by yourself or get

10 friends together who speak on the same topic and write one chapter each. You could finish that

book in a month!

The next time you speak, invite an NSA speaker friend to attend and critique your program. Even if you don’t have the extra budget to hire a speaking coach this year, you can learn a lot just by teaming up with a friend.

Are you in a mastermind group?

Don’t wait—get five to seven speakers and start working together.

Challenge each other. Make a difference!

Write down at least one great idea from every edition of Voices of Experience^® and every issue

of Speaker magazine. Now put those ideas into action immediately. In your mas-

termind group, share your one idea with everyone. If there are seven of you in the group, you’ll end up with 14 ideas per month.

In a recent conversation, someone compared the current economic situation to sitting at a red light. When the economy slows down, however, we need to speed up instead of playing the waiting game. There is business available for professional speakers, and we need to work hard to get our share.

That’s right. We need to move faster, cover more ground, and transform any free time into money-producing assets. This is also a great time to get the full value out of your NSA membership.

If you haven’t updated your bio in NSA’s online database, get to it. While

Try hard to budget so you will be
able to attend a national meeting and
take advantage of the best in educa-
tion and networking opportunities.
We tell our clients to continue to hold
meetings for educational purposes and
personal growth. The truth is that this
also applies to professional speakers.
When you return from an NSA con-
ference or the Annual
Convention, meet
with another speaker
or your mastermind
group and hold each
other accountable for
implementing the best
takeaway ideas.
There is speaking
business out there and
new clients to be had.
There are so many
businesses that need

our messages, our ideas and our techniques. Know the true value that we deliver as professional speakers, work to convey that information to the market, and speed up whenever you have the chance. Let’s work through these tough economic times together.