Did you know that you can run a professional speaking business from your home with very low overhead costs? And a great thing about a speaking business is that you can do it either part time or full time. Companies use professional speakers at conferences all the time. And cruise lines often hire "enrichment speakers" to provide

presentations to their passengers. What a life!

So just how much do professional speakers make anyway? Surveys of working professional speakers indicate that they earn an average of $3,000 to $9,000 for breakout sessions and keynote speeches. The upper end is usually for presentations at national events.But that's not the only income you will get paid as a professional speaker. Back of the room sales can be very lucrative, if you set up a counter selling your books, tapes, video tapes, workbooks and other materials.

So professional speaking is an excellent career choice for those who would like a very lucrative business and also flexibility of a freelance career.

If you are not convinced by the money and the lifestyle, how about the dating? That's right. Professional speakers are often extremely popular when it comes to dating.

A good way to get started as a professional speaker is to look around your community for groups and organizations for whom you can give short speeches for free. Many communities have organizations that are in constant need of speakers. This is an excellent opportunity to improve your skills, to build your reputation as a speaker, and to obtain important contacts through networking at each event.

You should also consider joining organizations such as the National Speakers Association or National Speakers Bureau, as this will lead to you learning of upcoming speaking opportunities.

Once you have your first speaking engagements, go out and do a good job. Don't forget to request a testimonial letter. Ask the leader of the organization to write up a letter testifying to your skills as a speaker and how well you spoke to them. Now you can use key sentences from that testimonial in your marketing materials.

If you really want to get started as a professional speaker, there is no reason why you cannot take the first steps today.


Steve Wilson is the manager of FreelanceSpeaking.com. Visit his site today to discover exactly how to get started as a professional speaker, how to market your speaking services, how to improve your speaking skills and how to find the best speaking gigs. http://www.FreelanceSpeaking.com.

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