Speaker- Jan/Feb 2010

THE ART AND BUSINESS OF SPEAKING

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

reap the Benefits of Corporate sponsorships Create a successful Brand strategy (Just use your brain!)

Branding or marketing? you choose wow ’em with webinars!

TO HOWLD BUI T TRUS PA G E

36

couNtry MuSic leGeNd

mel tillis his lemons-to-lemonade approach to stuttering

T H E O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E O F T H E N AT I O N A L S P E A K E R S A S S O C I AT I O N • W W W. N S A S P E A K E R . O R G

tHe art aNd BuSiNeSS of SpeakiNG

Born to Perform

Mel Tillis used humor to transcend his speech impediment and build an illustrious singing and acting career.

By Jake Poinier

14

F E AT U R E S

32

Now a Word from 18 And Our Sponsors …

Increase your revenue, credibility and clients with corporate sponsorships.

By Linda Hollander

Mel Tillis is an avid fisherman.

or Marketing?

28 Branding A seasoned speaker shares his views on the virtues of marketing over branding.

By Michael Podolinsky, CSP

Art of Delivering 32 The Captivating Webinars

to Create a Successful 22 How Brand Strategy

and virtual Presentations

Use your head—or rather, your brain—to communicate your message to more clients.

By Ken Banks and Robyn Winters

Learn how to engage your audience for effective online presentations.

By Tom Drews

co lu M N S 6 reality check Putting a fine point on the speaking industry

8 What Would you do?

Casting a reality check on real-world conundrums

10 Welcome to My World A snapshot into the lives of the people who hire us

J A N UA RY/F E B R UA RY 2010

d epartM eN tS 12 relevant resources Time-saving tools and technologies

36 Beyond Borders Exploring culture, countries and comfort zones

40 it’s your Business Advice for enterprising speakers

46 Humor Me

4 News from Headquarters 42 index of advertisers 43 calendar of events

Quips, tips and parting shots

38 turning point A career-changing moment or experience January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 3

news from headquarters

National Speakers Association Officers Phillip Van Hooser, CSP, CPAE, President Kristin Arnold, MBA, CPF, CMC, CSP, President Elect Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, Vice President Ronald P. Culberson, MSW, CSP, Secretary Ron Karr, CSP, Treasurer Sam Silverstein, CSP, Immediate Past President Stacy Tetschner, CAE, Executive Vice President/CEO

Reported by Stacy Tetschner, CAE NSA Executive Vice President/CEO

Time’s Runnin’ Out! The countdown has begun for the 2010 Winter Conference in Nashville, Tenn., February 12-14. This is the ideal opportunity to learn and network in an intimate atmosphere, right in the heart of Music City, USA. Attend the content-rich sessions that will benefit you most, and leave with an action plan that you can implement immediately to boost your bottom line. Register now at www.NSAWinterConference.org.

Scam Alert Beware of scams targeting speakers. A church in London recently asked speakers to present at a women’s or youth conference, and was willing to pay the speaking fee without even inquiring about the amount. It also requested personal data, including banking information, that could be used for identify theft. In another scam, companies promised bookings to speakers if they purchased phony speaking designations and certificates.

To report a scam, please email Stacy Tetschner at stacy@nsaspeaker.org. NSA maintains a list of past members who have violated NSA’s Code of Professional Ethics, as well as companies that target speakers with scams.

NSA Foundation’s Silent Auction Silence can be golden for members who participate in the NSA Foundation’s Online Auction, February 13-27. Some of NSA’s most well-known speaking masters will be auctioned off to the highest bidders. Winners will receive one-on-one coaching and collaboration time with their favorite expert so they can take their speaking businesses to the next level. All proceeds will be donated to the Professional Speakers Benefit Fund to provide financial assistance to members suffering a health crisis or victims of natural disasters. Learn more at www.

NSAFoundation.org.

Join the Club If you’re a fan of Speaker magazine, you can join other loyal readers on Facebook and LinkedIn. Find us by entering “Speaker magazine” in the search field.

Loews Atlanta to Host 2011 Winter Conference The 2011 NSA Winter Conference will be held at the newly constructed Loews Atlanta Hotel in Atlanta, Ga., February 18-20. Planning has already begun for the only NSA mid-year conference scheduled in 2011. Mark your calendar!

This Month on V o i c e s o f

E x p e r i e n c e®

NSA’s monthly audio magazine

• Back Stage: Gerard Braud with Josh Sundquist • Category of One: Joe Calloway, CSP, CPAE, with Lou Heckler, CSP, CPAE • Ones to Watch: Jane Atkinson with Mike Robbins, CSP ff Stage: Rene Godefroy with Stephen •O Tweed, CSP

• If You Could Do Just One Thing This Month: Bill Cates, CSP, Chris Clark-Epstein, CSP, Ford Saeks, Mike Rayburn, CSP • NSA Conference Update: Gerard Braud with Mark Levin, CSP, CAE • Starfish Humor: Vinny Verelli • Dissecting Starfish: David Glickman and Ron Culberson, MSW, CSP • President’s Message: Phillip Van Hooser, MBA, CSP, CPAE

4 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

Founder Cavett Robert, CSP, CPAE Board of Directors Marjorie Brody, PCC, CMC, CSP, CPAE Kirstin Carey, CSP Jarik Conrad, EdD, MBA, MILR, SPHR Ed Gerety, CSP Scott Halford, CSP Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE Linda Keith, CPA, CSP Scott McKain, CSP, CPAE Sarah Michel, CSP John B. Molidor, PhD Ford Saeks Jean Houston Shore, CPA, MBA, CSP Francine Ward, JD NSA Foundation The Foundation serves NSA members and the public through: • Financial help for NSA members and their families who are facing health or natural disaster emergencies; • Grants to NSA members who need help with their dues or meeting registration fees; • Scholarships for speech/communications students and professors; • Oversight and funding for speaking-related research; and • Grants to help charitable organizations communicate through technology Founder and Chairman Emeritus Nido R. Qubein, CSP, CPAE Chair Stephen Tweed, CSP NSA Foundation Board of Trustees Lenora Billings-Harris, CSP Terry Paulson, PhD, CSP, CPAE

Jane Jenkins Herlong, CSP Sam Silverstein, CSP Don Hutson, CSP, CPAE Laura Stack, MBA, CSP Ron Karr, CSP Phillip Van Hooser, CSP, CPAE John B. Molidor, PhD Al Walker, CSP, CPAE

Speaker Editorial Advisory Board Molly Cox, Chair Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE Jill Konrath Gina Schreck, CSP Terri Langhans, CSP Dennis Stauffer

Managing Editor Design Barbara Parus switchstudio.com Publications Assistant Lauren Aiken Editorial Office and Subscriptions: National Speakers Association 1500 S. Priest Drive • Tempe, AZ 85281 Tel: (480) 968-2552 • Fax: (480) 968-0911 Web site: www.nsaspeaker.org.

Advertising Sales Mandy Schulze, CMP Sponsorships, Advertising & Exhibits Manager Tel: (480) 264-4297 • Cell: (480) 600-3512 Fax: (480) 264-4298 Email: mandy@NSAspeaker.org Speaker (ISSN 1934-9076) (USPS 012-886). Volume 4, Number 5.

Published monthly except February and August by the National Speakers Association, 1500 S. Priest Drive, Tempe, AZ 85281.

Periodicals postage paid at Tempe, Arizona, and at additional mailing offices. Contents Copyright 2009 National Speakers Association, all rights reserved. Subscription rate for NSA members is $35 of $425 annual dues allocated to Speaker; non-member sub­scription rate is $49 for 10 issues. Add $10 for Canadian or international postage.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Speaker, National Speakers Association, 1500 S. Priest Drive, Tempe, AZ 85281.

realIt y CheCK Putting a fine point on the speaking industry

Spread the Word: Meetings Matter

D

ifficult economic times and offhand comments by politicians and media pundits about meeting excesses have had a chilling effect on the meetings industry, along with the airlines, hotels, restaurants, sightseeing tours, event planners and professional speakers who serve that industry.

The exhibition industry declined 11.6 percent in first quarter 2009, compared to the first quarter of 2008, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research. With companies limiting convention attendance and travel budgets, hotel revenue has declined 18.7 percent for the first half of 2009.

“The first half of 2009 was, without question, one of the most challenging the U.S. lodging industry has experienced.

We are currently forecasting a total industry revenue decline of about 17 percent for 2009,” said Bobby Bowers, senior vice president at Smith Travel Research.

As speakers, we need to become better informed about our industry. The Convention Industry Council, Meeting Planners International and NSA have been promoting the message that Meetings Matter,, because they’re good for business and jobs. A recent U.S. Travel Association (USTA) study found that for every dollar invested in business travel, businesses experience an average of $12.50 in increased revenue and $3.80 in new profits. Meetings provide benefits to the meeting sponsor, attendees, and to the economically vulnerable meetings destinations. Even

6 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

a recent British Airways ad campaign stressed how face-to-face meetings help grease the wheels of commerce.

“Not only do meetings help drive a vibrant and productive economy but, with the right programs and speakers, meetings matter in developing leaders and a workforce ready to help invent a profitable future,” says NSA President Phillip Van Hooser, MBA, CSP, CPAE. Global Speakers Federation (GSF) President Lindsay Adams, CSP, noted noted, “Meetings and conferences matter because they help sustain an educated and connected global workforce. Where there are meetings, knowledge is gained, revenue is generated and millions of jobs are maintained.”

Meetings, however, mean more than business. Author and management visionary Peter Drucker once observed, “The fastest growth industry in the United States will soon be continuing education of adults because things are changing so fast in every field and occupation.”

The age of lifelong employment and secure professions is over. There is a compelling need for targeted, competency-based programs to help adult learners move from obsolescence to relevance. Companies and associations that provide such programming at their meetings give their people the best “insurance” policy— updated and relevant skills positioned to invent the future.

In support of meetings, NSA and GSF leaders are challenging speakers worldwide to use the platform to provide valuable, engaging and relevant content, and to take time to reinforce the message that Meetings Matter in every presentation.

Meetings mean business, and informed and trained leaders and professionals. By working together, we can make this message viral and help meetings stimulate global economic growth. Be part of the solution—give value, blog about meetings, and tell audiences why meetings matter!

Terry Paulson, PhD, CSP, CPAE, is a past NSA and GSF president, and an author, columnist and professional speaker on change and optimism. For more information, visit www.terrypaulson.com.

what would you do?

Casting a reality check on real-world conundrums

Model Behavior Motivational speakers need to understand that we all talk about the same thing—with variations. How many ways can you say “The cup is half full, have goals, and climb every mountain”? Sometimes we just need to chill and remind ourselves what makes us great is not our message—it’s us.

Now, if another speaker is using my stories, my acronym and/or my jokes, I’d firmly confront him. I’d tell him that I know what’s happening, and he needs to stop immediately.

If he persists, I’d direct him to Mark Mayfield, CSP, CPAE, whose keynotes are much better than anything I’ve ever presented.

Perhaps he’ll go after Mark and leave me alone.

—Brad Montgomery, CSP Centennial, Colo.

I would initiate a discussion about the model and inquire about its sources. I also would ask probing questions to determine if there is actually a problem or if it is just a coincidence.

If there is a problem, I would address it directly and discuss possible solutions.

—Steve Waterhouse, CSP Fleming Island, Fla.

8 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

I’d let the dust settle to avoid an emotional confrontation, and then respectfully ask him to “do the right thing.”

It’s not always cut and dry who is in the wrong.

But you will never get the result you want without at least asking for the other party’s cooperation.

—Jane Atkinson London, Ontario, Canada

You learn that another speaker is using a “model” that is a lot like one you have invented, but with different terminology. You are struck by the similarities. How would you handle this discovery?

This happened to me recently. I carefully approached the other trainer and suggested that some of the material in his new program seemed a lot like what I had in mine. His response was, “It could be. I only steal from the best!” I wasn’t sure whether to punch him or be flattered. I have to work with this man fairly often, so I decided to just accept his compliment and move on.

—Elly Valas Glendale, Colo.

What Would You Do? is a regular column that presents a real-life dilemma faced by professional speakers. NSA members are encouraged to submit a dilemma for possible discussion in this column. Please submit dilemmas to ethics@nsaspeaker.org. NSA reserves the right to edit submissions for length and style. All dilemmas will be anonymously attributed. Opinions expressed are those of the individual respondents, not NSA.

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welCome to my world A snapshot into the lives of the people who hire us

Working with Wonder Women

F

rancine B. Read’s vision is to create a company built on relationships.

As the owner of Voices Contemporary Lecture Series for Women and GreatWomenSpeakers.com, she has created many of them over the years.

Read is in her 17th season of running a lecture series featuring the world’s most interesting women. As a meeting planner and a bureau, she understands both business viewpoints. Read often starts as a buyer and then morphs into a broker. But no matter what hat she wears, she always focuses on the customer.

win-win experience. I want to work with solution-oriented professionals who go the extra mile. It drives me crazy when speakers need their hand held, or can’t figure things out for themselves.

Molly Cox: What’s it like working in a niche market of women?

They should respond to a request promptly, even if they’re just confirming their availability with a “yes” or “no” on a Blackberry. If I

Francine Read: It’s very interesting.

Women understand the benefits of long-term business relationships. There are some amazing women whose life stories can change our lives. I learn from them every day.

Give me an example of someone who doesn’t “get it.”

That’s easy. Male speakers send me packets of information and ask me to represent them. Are these guys serious? They sent their packs to GreatWomenSpeakers.com.

How can speakers enhance their relationship with a bureau?

style. If you can’t explain it or show me in a video, it’s impossible to discuss your skills, talents and abilities with a client.

Do you see any business trends?

Business slowed last summer due to the economy. Many corporate clients didn’t hold meetings, or they had an in-house person speak at their events.

“Relationships are built on trust, so be trustworthy. Do what you say you’re going to do. My clients trust me.

For me to keep their trust, I must trust the speaker.”

Is it easy to work with women?

I think most women are easy to work with, and most women in this business “get it.” But there are a few prima donnas and head cases out there. I can’t help those who don’t “get it.” They either do or they don’t.

What is the “get it’ factor?

If you’re working with me, make it a 10 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

don’t get a response quickly, I’ll move on to other speakers. Speakers also should be flexible because we are getting more requests that require wiggle room in fees and services because of the economy.

Know what you do. I need a clear understanding of what you speak about, how you present it, and your

We receive most of our inquiries online, and they’re just starting to pick up again.

Everything is online today, so my office is no longer filled with books and videos. DVDs are immediately accessible, and it’s easy to download headshots, bios and all of the paperwork needed to run a business.

Special Update on Industry Trends How do industry trends affect the way clients hire speakers? At NSA’s 2009 Fall Conference, Kirstin Carey, CSP, facilitated a panel discussion titled “The Truth About the Economy, Getting Booked, and The Future of Professional Speaking” to expose speakers’ challenges in today’s economy.

The panelists, Andrea Gold, president/CEO of Gold Stars Speakers Bureau; Lindsey Kerby, manager of Professional Education & Conference Development at St. Joseph’s Hospital & Medical; Karolyn Kiburz, CMP, president of Meetings & Concierges Source, LLC; and Jen Merkel, operations manager at CMI Resources, observed these current trends: • Speakers are adding extras like Webinars, coaching sessions and book signings.

• Clients want richer content with ROI to justify budgets.

• There are lots of short-term bookings and fewer entertainment requests.

• Current hot topics include sales, marketing, negotiation, social media, communications and leadership. Motivation and humor always book.

• Clients are looking for real-time tactical tips that attendees can use repeatedly.

The panelists check speakers’ Web sites and rely heavily on videos and recommendations. A Web site must include a bio, photo, introduction and video.

“Women understand the benefits of long-term business relationships.”

Speakers can impress clients by asking how they can help promote events, and by filming a 45-second pitch describing their proposed efforts.

Merkel is a stickler for checking references, and wants to know if a speaker is punctual, easy to work with, and submits materials on time. All panelists appreciate speakers who respond quickly to emails, and stay connected after the event.

Lately, Gold said that the majority of speakers she has booked are getting

Tell me about your bureau and lecture series.

We generally work with celebrities for our lecture series, and everyone is really good. It’s presented in a setting of less than a thousand people, which is surprisingly intimate the way it’s set up. On the bureau side, I like to work with fun people. I don’t like it when people object to paying a bureau— we’re all in business to make money and have fun.

Do you have any other advice for speakers?

Buzz happens. If you have had a bad experience with a client or there is some negative information about something you’ve done, I’m going to hear about it.

Address those issues right away.

$15,000 and higher, and clients are paying for name recognition speakers, even in today’s economy. Kerby added that speakers need to have a book or a compelling story to book hospital meetings.

Many speakers are reducing their rates. Kiburz expressed her concern, however, about speakers dropping their fees too low because planners will expect it next year.

“You are running a business, so be a business,” Gold said.

Francine B. Read is the

Molly Cox, 2009-10 Speaker

president and founder of

editorial advisory board chair,

VOICES, INC., a lecture

is a speaker and the co-author

management company

of Improvise This! How to

featuring the VOICES

Think on Your Feet so You

Contemporary Lectures, the premiere

Don’t Fall on Your Face. Cox inspires people

women’s lecture series in the Northwest and

to use humor in healthcare, business and

www.Greatwomenspeakers.com, the

education to balance their daily lives by

premiere speakers bureau for booking

laughing at even the most absurd circum-

world-class female speakers.

stances. Visit www.mollyspeaks.com.

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 11

relevant resourCes Time-saving tools and technologies

1

Tidy Up in 2010 Start the new decade with a clean slate, starting with your office. Make a resolution to get organized and be more efficient. You can add color, cut clutter and save time and money with these fun, innovative products.

2

Ready, Set, Charge!

Powermat™ is a wireless technology that charges your laptop, cell phone and mp3 player without cords and adapters. Simply attach your devices to the receivers, and then place them on the ultra-thin mat. Choose a sleek home/office mat or a foldable, portable mat. Both options power up to three gadgets at a time, and include a USB port and eight tips for charging hundreds of different devices. $100. www.powermat.com.

You’ve Got Mail

Who says everything in your office space should look dull? Spice it up with the 2D:3D powder-coated steel in-out box from Blu Dot. Its contemporary styling will surely get your creative juices flowing. Available in gun metal, white or fire engine red (shown). $45. www.bludot.com.

3

Cool Carry-On

Your search for the ideal carry-on bag is over. The Travelon Wheeled Underseat Carry-On has ample room for organizing your stuff in its large main compartment, front organizer and zippered pocket, mesh expansion pocket, plus a full-size backup bag for compact storage. Load it with an extra extension cord, markers, tape and other supplies. Available in red, blue, khaki (shown) and black quilted microfiber.

Measures 14” x 12” x 8.5.” $95. www.ebags.com.

12 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

ORGANIZATION TIPS:

4

Funny Files

6

Got Clutter?

Make filing fun with Knock Knock’s bold file folders. Add humor, color and a bit of honesty to home organization or workday madness with file folders to hold one-sheets, proposals, 1099s and more. Two of each style, six folders per pack. $10.50. www.paper-source.com.

• Clean out desk drawers to create storage space.

• Color code files to make finding information easier.

• Clear off your desk at the end of the day so you can start fresh tomorrow.

5

All Aboard!

Replace your plain cork bulletin board with a sleek magnetic one.

The Magnetic Bulletin Board from PureModern is made with real wood applied to powder-coated steel. Match it to your home or office décor. Choose bamboo, walnut, maple or stainless steel, or mix and match. Sizes: small (2” x 14”) or large (2.5” x 28”) $9.9519.95. www.puremodern.com.

NeatReceipts is an intuitive mobile scanner and digital filing system that can scan your receipts, business cards and documents for easy recalling. Save digital copies, track expenses, export data and even create your own searchable contact database. Using NeatWorks 4.0 patented software, NeatReceipts identifies, extracts and organizes key information. Think of it as your personal assistant for the road, home or office. $199. www.neatco.com.

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 13

Mel Tillis (center) with members of his band, The Statesiders.

14 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

New to the lectern (but not to the stage), legendary singer-songwriter-actor-comedian Mel Tillis was …

BORN TO

PERFORM

By Jake Poinier

T

o hear him tell it, Country Music Hall of Famer Mel Tillis is still wet behind the ears when it comes to public speaking.

“Well, I’ve had many offers over the years, but I turned ’em all down until a few months ago,” he says about his invite to speak to an

audience of baby boomers at the Wiregrass 50 Plus Expo in Dothan, Ala., last October. “At first, I turned that down, too, but they told me I only had to do 20 minutes for $15,000. I said, “Twenty minutes? Hell, I can’t say hello in 20 minutes with the way I stutter!’ So, they told me I could go as long as I wanted.”

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 15

Tillis weaves humor and folksy anecdotes into his presentations.

Of course, after 52 years of performing as a musician and actor, Tillis has a pretty keen sense of what an audience wants. Weaving in a blend of folksy anecdotes, he talked for an hour to the group about how humor had helped him throughout his career, and how it helped him transcend his speech impediment—even becoming part of his schtick as an actor and spokesperson.

(Interestingly, he doesn’t stutter when he sings.) “They liked me so much that they kept me over for another day,” he says. Did he get another $15,000?

“Naw, another five,” he says. “But I did think to myself that I need to be doing some more of this, since it paid almost as well as singing—and I was the only

one on stage. If you have your band up there, somebody’s always doing something distracting.”

After the event, Tillis had talked to his cousin, a motivational speaker from Oklahoma who’d sent him a list of the different categories of speeches that people make. “It’s a long list, and humor is in there, of course—they say that’s the hardest,” he says. “But that’s the easiest for me because I’ve been doing it in my stage show for years, so I know what I’m doing. Anyway, I told her what I got for speaking, and she says, ‘Lord have mercy, I just get a couple of hundred dollars.’ But then I told her that that I was a little bigger draw than her, and she said I was probably right.”

Warm Up for the NSA Winter Conference Everyone’s heard the adage: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But would you like to hear why Mel Tillis is a perfect example of it? Then, c’mon down to the Winter Conference!

Who: Lou Heckler, CSP, CPAE, and Mel Tillis What: Bonus Pre-Conference Seminar*–Making Lemonade from Lemons: Turning a Difficult Start into a Great Finish When: Friday, February 12, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

Where: Nashville Airport Marriott Why: Tillis will regale the audience with stories illustrating the valuable lessons he’s learned in life, which speakers can apply to their own audiences. *This seminar is complimentary for registered attendees.

16 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

Any Stage, Anywhere At 77, Tillis has written well over 1,000 songs, about 600 of which have been recorded by major artists—some of the most notable being “Detroit City”

by Bobby Bare, “Emotions” by Brenda Lee and “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” by Kenny Rogers. “When I wrote Ruby, my wife said, ‘Oh, my God, that’s the worst thing you’ve ever written.’ Yes, she told me that. And it’s been a monster hit.”

As a performer, Tillis himself has notched three dozen top-10 singles, including number ones such as “Good Woman Blues,” “Coca Cola Cowboy,” and “Southern Rain”—and he still performs about 100 live shows a year in the United States and Canada. The cast lists of his stage acting career read like a “Who’s Who” of Hollywood.

“I’ve made a million TV shows,” he says. “I was on Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, Tony Orlando, Glen Campbell, the Grand Ole Opry, David Letterman. I’ve had scenes with Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.” All told, he has appeared in 13 movies, including Every Which Way But Loose with Clint Eastwood and Smokey and the Bandit II with Burt Reynolds, and he played the lead role with Roy Clark in Uphill All the Way. In his acting roles and as a spokesperson for companies such as Whataburger, his speech impediment has always been part of the gag. “I’m Mel Tillis, and this is what I am,” he says. “They’d come out and write a script for me, and they’ll put the stutter in there. And I’ll say, ‘Take that out! I might not stutter there. Just write it like you would for Don Ameche.’”

One of the classic examples, Tillis says, was in a scene in 1979’s The Villain, which starred Kirk Douglas, Ann-Margret and heavily Austrianaccented Arnold Schwarzenegger. “I said, ‘B-b-boy, you t-t-talk f-f-funny,’ and he said, ‘That’s easy for you to say.’”

Portrait of an Artist Tillis looks back with fondness on his career achievements—not to mention his pre-fame days of driving delivery trucks and serving as a baker in the U.S. Air Force in Okinawa.

Over the years, he also managed to diversify his fame well beyond the recording studio. He’s published an autobiography, Stutterin’ Boy, and is currently in the process of writing a novel. As a businessman, he bought and sold several radio stations over the years, and built the Will Rogers Theater and Mel Tillis Theater in Branson, Mo., in the early 1990s.

He sold his theater in 2002, but it was during that 13-year stint that Tillis honed another one of his creative talents: painting. “I picked it up late,” he says. “I loved to draw and color in school, and when we’d go to the Ringling Bros. Art Museum in Sarasota, those paintings just jumped out at me.

Van Goghs, Gaugins … it was always in the back of my mind.”

On his off days in Branson, Tillis took lessons and began to sell his oil paintings at the theater—and learned a business lesson the hard way. “I was selling the originals, and my teachers said, ‘Don’t do that! You’ll never get those back!’”

I told them that I already sold about 50. “You keep the masters, and have the canvas transferred to a new canvas so it looks just like the real thing,” Tillis explains.

A 33rd degree Mason, Tillis was commissioned to create a painting for the Scottish Rite Foundation, which operates speech and hearing clinics across the country. To date, limited edition prints of “Masonic America” have raised more than $80,000.

His other major charitable initiative is the m-m-Mel Tillis & Friends Fishing Tournament every year on the Steinhatchee River in Florida, for which all the proceeds go to the Shriners

Hospital for Children. “Those are the ones I’m proudest of,” he says. “I do other benefits here and there, usually singing—Lord have mercy!”

“He’ll Be Hanging Around Somewhere” Although Tillis no longer owns his theater in Branson, he still packs the house when he’s in town. (He did 20 dates there in November.) “I’m always coming up with new anecdotes and stories, so it seems to work,” he says.

“Especially in Branson, these people have seen me, but they keep coming back.”

In that way, Tillis empathizes with one of the main challenges facing professional speakers. “Sure I get tired, like if I have to sing ‘Coca Cola Cowboy’ one more time, I think I’m gonna die,” he says. “But what you need to do is act like it’s the first time you’ve ever done it.”

Keeping it fresh also means keeping his longtime band, The Statesiders, on its toes. “We don’t do a set show,” Tillis says. “My band has no idea what we’re doing until I give a signal. For ‘Burning Memories,’ I motion like I’m flicking a cigarette lighter. Or if I do ‘Heart Over Mind,’ I hit my chest and then scratch my head. Sometimes I confuse ‘em, and scratch my butt.”

Joking aside, Tillis still gets a big charge from being on stage, and shows no signs of slowing down, let alone stopping. “Every time I walk out there, it’s a different audience,” he says. “I’m 77 years old but I’m in good shape. I can outrun my band members, every one of them.”

Contributing writer Jake Poinier shares a birthday with Mel Tillis (August 8), but he can’t carry a tune or tell a joke without stepping on the punch line. He blogs regularly at http://jakepoinier.blogspot.com.

A Singer (and Comedian) Is Born When he started at Woodrow Elementary School in Plant City, Fla., Tillis didn’t realize he had a stuttering problem or a singing talent. He quickly found out about the former from teasing classmates. Then, his teacher, Miss Clark, realized that Tillis could sing without a hitch.“I guess I could sing pretty good, so she’d take me to other classrooms and let me sing,” he says.“It felt good. I felt wanted, and like I’d accomplished something. So I went home and boy, I told my momma, and she says, ‘I’m so proud of you, Melvie.’ It was a Gene Autry song with the line ‘I wanna drink my coffee from an old tin can.’”

At school, Tillis also learned the deflective power of humor.“I said, if they’re gonna laugh at me, I’m going to give them something to laugh about,” he says. “We moved around a lot during the Depression—I had to change schools and start all over again. It was embarrassing, but the humor helped me out. I was socially involved, and I’d get invited to all of the parties. They’d say, ‘He can’t talk, but he sure can sing.’”

Tillis credits his mother’s gene pool for his comedic talents and many of the stories that he tells on stage.“She had seven sisters, and every one of them was funny,” he says. “On the Tillis side, they were sticks in the mud. But on my momma’s side, they’d kick up their heels, and the girls would get out their fiddles and play and tell stories. We just had a great time. It’s always been a part of my life, and I try to pass that along.”

On Mel’s Mantle • Country Music Hall of Fame, 2007 • The Grand Ole Opry Inductee, 2007 • Golden R.O.P.E. Songwriter Award, 2001 • Golden Voice Entertainer Award, 2001 • Nashville Songwriters International Hall of Fame, 1976 • Country Music Association’s (CMA) Entertainer of the Year, 1976 • CMA Comedian of the Year (six times) • Broadcast Music, Inc. Songwriter of the Decade (two times)

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 17

18 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

And Now a Word from Our Sponsors...

Increase your revenue, credibility and clients through corporate sponsors.

BY LINDA HOLLANDER

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 19

Are you looking for new ways to generate revenue from your speaking business? Consider getting corporate sponsors. They will foot the bill while helping you do what love, reach more people and make more money.

What makes me an expert on corporate sponsorships? As a speaker and skills trainer who does local and nationwide speaking, I deliver life-changing messages to audiences virtually and at live events. When I needed more revenue for my speaking business, I started looking for corporate sponsors and discovered that they were willing to give me money. Even better, I didn’t have to pay back the sponsor dollars, so there was no debt.

I’ve been fortunate to work with many top-tier sponsors, including Citibank, FedEx, American Airlines, Staples, Marriott Vacation Club, Hansen’s Beverage, WalMart and IBM.

with the media. To illustrate, I received $25,000 in value from one radio station in a sponsorship deal that drew attendees to my speaking event.

In-kind sponsorships also can be leveraged to get cash sponsors; for example, media gives you extended reach to more people, thereby attracting cash sponsors.

Sponsorship Spending Is Up

Benefits of Corporate Sponsors

Companies are spending more money on sponsorships every year, even in the current economic downturn. In fact, companies spent approximately $16.78 billion on sponsorships in 2009—a 50 percent increase from 2004 and a 100 percent increase since 2000.

Companies realize that sponsorships can yield better returns than traditional advertising.

Money. Speakers and entrepreneurs often ride a business roller coaster.

You get speaking opportunities and clients, and life is good. But then business slows, bills pile up and you need to scramble to book more speaking engagements. If you know that sponsor fees will be coming on a continual basis, this revenue lets you play at a higher level. You can achieve celebrity status, reach more people and dream bigger.

Definition of Sponsorship Sponsorship is a cash or in-kind fee paid to a property in return for access to the commercial potential associated with that property. In the sponsor world, your speaking business is your “property.”

Rachael Ray, for example, is a property and Nabisco is one of her sponsors.

In-kind sponsorships, which are also called trade sponsorships or soft dollars, will trade benefits and services. Although speakers need cash to run their speaking businesses, in-kind sponsorships can be extremely valuable, especially those 20 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

Exposure. Sponsors can promote you to their colleagues, employees and customers.

Renewals. After you get sponsors, you can get renewals. I recommend a oneyear contract with a one-year renewal.

Sponsorship is a relationship business, so communicate regularly with your sponsors to secure renewals.

How Sponsorship Works Zero in on companies based on the target audience or demographics you want to reach and the benefits you can offer. Call prospective sponsors and send them a proposal with the description of the demographic, marketing plan, benefits, mission statement and the sponsor fees. Follow up with your prospective sponsors, finalize the agreement and collect the sponsor fee. Repeat this process for annual renewals.

Credibility and expert status. You gain credibility when you’re sponsored by leading-edge companies. When people observe that first-rate sponsors trust you with their brand image, you gain more authority in the marketplace.

More clients. There is a simple rule in business: If you want to be successful, hang out with successful people. Your sponsors will help you get referrals and attract more clients.

Impact more people. As a speaker, you’re in the life-changing business. Sponsorship gives you resources to grow your speaking business, help more people and change more lives.

How to Get Sponsors Shift your focus. One of the biggest mistakes speakers make is waxing rhapsodic about their business. Sponsors, however, want to know how a speaker can benefit their business. They want you to exhibit an understanding of their company, marketing campaigns, goals and visions. You can obtain this information in your initial conversation with the sponsor, or by perusing the sponsor’s Web site. If your prospective sponsor is a public company, you can order an annual report. When you talk to potential sponsors, inquire about their goals before launching into your presentation, wherein you will explain how you will help them accomplish these goals.

Clarify your demographics. Many speakers think their message is paramount. In the world of corporate sponsorships, the demographic is one of the most valuable assets speakers can offer a corporate sponsor. There are various ways to collect data on your demographic, such as doing an Internet search or ordering media kits for publications that target this demographic and contain pertinent statistics.

Build your reach. Sponsors want to know that you have extended reach to people

who purchase products and services.

(Think Oprah.) These could be your clients, people on your email list, your company database, your advisory board and your strategic alliances. If you don’t have extended reach, seek out people who have connections. Use the powerful strategies of borrowed credibility, media and joint ventures.

Create cause-related marketing opportunities. Cause-related marketing is a sales or promotional partnership between a sponsor and a property that benefits the community. Sponsors want to be known for their good will because people like buying products and services from companies that give back to the community.

By aligning their brands with the lifechanging work that you do, corporate sponsors can bask in the halo effect.

Develop a compelling proposal. The sponsor proposal is the most important, but least understood document in the sponsor industry. If you want a bank loan, you need to fill out an application.

But if you want top-tier corporate sponsors, you need to submit a compelling sponsor proposal, which is also called the sponsorship deck or prospectus. It is a business plan that provides a snapshot of the benefits of your property, including a mission statement, sponsor benefits, demographics, marketing plan, goals, media opportunities, advisory board and sponsor fees.

Concentrate on value, not expenses. Many people make the mistake of calculating their expenses, and then asking a sponsor for that amount of money.

Sponsorship is a value-based proposition that is not based on expenses.

Inform the sponsor about leading-edge companies that you know or worked with in the past. If you have a new property, devise a long-term marketing plan—you can sell sponsors on your concept. Although I had never produced a live speaking event, I persuaded Bank of America, WalMart and IBM to come aboard as my sponsors. I had no track record, but plenty of passion.

Make integrity part of your brand. Sponsors seek integrity and credibility. They will test you to see if you can deliver. Provide requested information on time and arrive early for appointments. You need to pass their unspoken tests before they will allow you to handle their brand image.

Fine tune your follow up. Follow up can make or break you in the sponsor game. When talking with a prospective sponsor, always schedule your next appointment and confirm it via e-mail.

If this area is not your strong suit, find someone to handle it for you.

Web Site and Emails Post your sponsors’ logos on your Web site. In your email messages and marketing, incorporate hyperlinks and descriptions about your sponsors and how they help people.

Social Media Include sponsors in your social media profiles and incorporate their graphics in your company’s description, fan pages, news feed, videos, photo galleries, etc.

Corporate sponsorship can give you the resources to skyrocket your speaking career. My sponsors have given me opportunities to do more speaking, travel the world, create my own events, do lots of media, and empower more people with my message. You have quality and value to offer sponsors, so follow my tips and go out and get them!

Live Connections Every time you speak, it’s considered a live event in the sponsor world. Call it a speaking or media tour—not a speaking presentation. At your live events, give the sponsor five minutes of your talk, allow the sponsor to introduce you, include the sponsor in your signage, and distribute company marketing information.

Linda Hollander, the “Wealthy

Media Messaging When you do media, always mention and thank the sponsor.

Bag Lady,” is the author of Bags to Riches and an industry leader in teaching entrepreneurs about small business success and attracting corporate sponsors. She is the founder of the

Elaborate on experience. Sponsors want and expect experience. If you don’t have it, share your previous experience in a related business. Surround yourself with key influencers on your advisory board.

What Benefits Can You Offer?

International Association of Business

Product Promotion If you sell books and programs, include coupons and/or samples of the sponsor’s products.

Sponsorships and the upcoming 8th Annual Women’s Small Business Expo in Los Angeles, April 28, 2010. For more information, visit www.wealthybaglady.com.

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 21

d. a.

Strategize.

Develops a vision, sets goals and answers “Why?”

Analyze.

Focuses on facts, logic and data to determine “What?”

c.

Personalize.

Makes an emotional connection to identify “Who?

b.

22 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

Organize.

Arranges information systematically to answer “How?”

How to Create a Successful Brand Strategy Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy when you use your brain!

by K E N B ANK S AND R OBYN W I NTE R S

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 23

A

t a recent Chicago conference for marketing and advertising professionals, several speakers shared ideas and case studies focused on a current trend in targeting clients and customers: Be even more defined than ever before. Why? Based on innovations in technology, it’s now possible to pinpoint exactly who will receive your message.

Being too specific about who gets your brand’s marketing message, however, may limit your scope and potential. A groundbreaking system for speakers and entrepreneurs broadens their reach and appeal by understanding what truly engages audiences, what motivates clients to buy, and what opportunities you may be missing by being too narrowly focused.

A New Way to Connect Speaking professionals and entrepreneurs need to take a whole brain approach to developing their brand strategy. By using an approach that engages the four areas of the brain (called quadrants) that determine an individual’s thinking style, you ensure that your message resonates more effectively, and with more people. This system of whole brain branding is called Brain Branding®.

Everyone has a thinking style, and every thinking style is unique. Different people automatically and unconsciously prefer to use different parts of their brain when processing information, solving a business problem, or making a buying decision. As a speaker, trainer, consultant, coach or author, you need to know how to connect with everyone’s brain, not just the ones you’ve determined are in your target market.

The more specific and narrow your focus, the more likely it is that your brand is missing opportunities. The same logic holds true when you’re speaking, presenting or selling. The most effective way to get your message 24 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

to resonate successfully with every member of your audience, or with potential clients, is to use a whole brain approach, and engage the most preferred quadrants of everyone’s brain.

What This Means Everyone has heard about right- and left-brain thinking, but there’s more to your brain than that. Based on the results of William “Ned” Herrmann’s scientifically validated research, we know that there are four regions of the brain. Each is a unique processing area, ranging from detail orientation to emotional connection, from analytical problem solving to visionary strategies.

All four come into play in different ways when people listen to you speak or select your brand. Thinking preferences differ in each person, so you need to broaden your reach to appeal to a wide spectrum of thinkers. Too often, you focus your marketing on one key component of your brand, and forget that an individual may also be interested in other components. Consider Lexus, for example.

One appeal of Lexus is that it has

been the No. 1 luxury car for the last 10 years. But being the No. 1 luxury car isn’t its only appeal. Some people are more interested in the fact that Lexus has maintained the best automotive repair record year after year, or that it’s rated “superior” in customer service, or that it’s a leader in innovative engineering. If Lexus’s brand strategy had focused on only one or two of those elements, it might have missed out on a huge section of its customer base. Instead, Lexus implemented a whole brain branding strategy.

What Is Brain Branding?

Brain Branding combines two disciplines: brand strategy development and whole brain thinking.

Many people believe that developing a brand strategy means redesigning their logo and Web site marketing materials. Then, they develop a catchy slogan to drive their marketing messages. That’s good, but it’s not enough.

Your brand needs to tell a story about your product or service, and it needs to speak to all four parts of the

“Your brand needs to tell a story about your product or service, and it needs to speak to all four parts of the brain.” brain. That is what differentiates it from other similar brands.

Your brand is your DNA. It forms the foundation for an enduring relationship with your clients, and answers their question: “What are you famous for?” The answer to that question is what people expect you to deliver.

Think Oprah, Zig Ziglar, CPAE, and Lou Heckler, CSP, CPAE.

Engage Their Brains Ned Herrmann’s Brain Dominance model demonstrates this concept clearly and simply. If you want to connect with more people, use the words, symbols and visuals from all four parts of the brain—that is, the parts that comprise everyone’s thinking style. The more engaged their brain is, the more likely it is that you will achieve your business goals.

The following quadrants form the core thinking style, based on Herrmann’s model: Quadrant A: Analyze. This quadrant looks for facts, logic and data.

It seeks information that will answer

“What?” and provides the rationale for listening, taking action or buying.

Example: Lexus, the No. 1 selling luxury car in the last decade.

Quadrant B: Organize. This quadrant wants details that are arranged in a systematic way (preferably linear and sequential). It also is concerned with reliability and history (what came before, what will come after). It looks for answers to “How?” Example: Lexus, the best automotive repair record.

Quadrant C: Personalize: This quadrant searches for an emotional connection. As speakers, we use stories and anecdotes to cross the bridge to our audiences. The emotional component is a strong motivating factor, and it answers “Who?” Example: Lexus, rated superior in customer service experience.

Quadrant D: Strategize. The fourth quadrant looks for the big picture, a vision of the future. It sets long-term goals, explores possibilities and develops strategies. It looks for the answer to “Why?” Example: Lexus, the leader in innovative automotive engineering.

These four thinking styles ultimately provide the motivation that affects listening, understanding and decision making, and need to play a significant role in developing your own brand’s strategy.

Four Steps to an Effective Brand Strategy You can use this four-step approach to create a successful brand strategy. (A fifth step—innovation—comes later.) It’s not coincidental that these four steps mirror the four quadrants of the brain, the motivators that influence people to remember what you’re famous for and to select your brand.

1. Develop a vision: Strategize. Your product or service must identify a need that isn’t being met, and how your brand satisfies that need comes from your vision. It’s here that many brands fail because they try to be like other successful brands on the market. To succeed, you must understand your brand’s unique reason for being, and then satisfy that unmet need for your clients and customers.

2. Research: Analyze. It’s critical to amass all of the facts about your market, your clients, your staff, the competition and the current trends.

What’s being done now? Who’s doing it? Who are the buyers? In short, you need to conduct thorough research before making the decisions necessary to creating a successful brand.

3. Create emotional value: Personalize.

Audiences want a relationship with you and your brand. If there is no emotional involvement, there is no connection to your brand. While people certainly consider cost as a motivating factor, it’s the emotional component that ultimately influences people and wins them over.

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 25

An Example of Effective Brain Branding Past NSA President Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, intuitively knows the importance of appealing to the brain’s four thinking styles. He clearly demonstrates the “whole brain” concept through his work and his Web presence. This is how Brain Branding is reflected in Sanborn’s branding strategy:

QUADRANT A: ANALYZE. ANSWERS “WHAT?” Whether Sanborn is strengthening leaders or helping organizations increase sales, he provides the facts and logic that guide clients to set clear objectives and achieve projected outcomes. He works to attain bottom-line results. When you look at Sanborn’s Web home page, you will see that the left-hand column contains brief, substantive facts about his background and business.

QUADRANT B: ORGANIZE. ANSWERS “HOW?” Sanborn’s presentations are carefully organized and planned. His speeches and training programs are structured to lead from point A to point B, and his Six Principles of Leadership offer a specific plan to becoming an effective leader. The information on his home page is displayed in three columns, providing sufficient detail without being overwhelming.

d.Strategize. a.Analyze.

QUADRANT C: PERSONALIZE. ANSWERS “WHO?” Sanborn’s stories pack enough emotional content to make you feel as if you are experiencing them yourself. His book, The Fred Factor, weaves a remarkable story about passion, compassion and commitment. Sanborn’s sense of humor helps audiences form an immediate relationship with him and his subject matter. Sanborn’s Web site is personalized with vibrant photos, videos and book covers to add dimension to his brand.

c.

Personalize.

b. Organize.

4. Formulate an action plan: Organize.

Unfortunately, many speakers and entrepreneurs use this step as the starting point and skip the other steps (and quadrants), often with disappointing results. Why? Because the plan was not well organized, researched or integrated before it was rolled out into the marketplace.

The Bottom Line Brain Branding works for every business. Whether you’re a sole proprietor, 26 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

QUADRANT D: STRATEGIZE. ANSWERS “WHY?” Sanborn has a vision for his business and his audiences. When he served as president of NSA, he focused on the big picture and articulated that vision. He took members from being speakers with an area of expertise to experts who speak, enabling them to increase their value proposition.

His book and Web site focus on ROI and long-range improvement.

an entrepreneur or a larger company, using a whole brain approach to develop your brand strategy will motivate your existing clients to be more loyal and enable you to reach new clients who didn’t fit into your target market. The bottom line? Increased profitability!

In merging the two disciplines of brand strategy development and whole brain thinking, a brand can be more successful and enduring, unlimited by type, market or scope.

Ken Banks, a branding and marketing expert, and Robyn Winters, a brain-based communication expert, have combined their more than 30 years of experience in developing Brain Branding™. They realized that this innovative combination would give brands more recognition and staying power, particularly for speakers and entrepreneurs. For additional information, visit www.brainbranding4.com; or e-mail them at info@brainbranding4.com.

What’s YOUR Story?

The nation’s premier agency providing educational speakers, interactive workshops, and live webinars to America’s colleges & universities.

Discover our story at www.campuspeak.com

Learn about the college speakers market: www.campuspeak.com/academy

Now accepting applications for speakers Deadline: February 1, 2010

www.campuspeak.com/join

Interested in helping to form a P.E.G. for college speakers in NSA? E-mail T.J. Sullivan at

P. O. Box 440560 Aurora, Colorado 80044-0560

sullivan@campuspeak.com

(303) 745-5545

28 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

Branding or Marketing?

A SEASONED SPEAKER SHARES HIS VIEWS ON THE BENEFITS OF MARKETING OVER BRANDING.

BY MICHAEL A. PODOLINSKY, CSP

B

randing is not for speakers. It never has been and it never will be. Branding works for products like soup or tampons, but not for people—and definitely not for service businesses. There. I’ve said it, and I know my opinion is not going to earn me any points for popularity.

In the speaking business, marketing works. If you disagree, try naming the top 10 branding experts. How about the top three?

It’s difficult, isn’t it?

I’m not trying to disparage branding gurus, but speakers should not put branding ahead of good old-fashioned, rock-solid marketing. If you want to build a highly successful speaking business, follow these 10 rules—some of which run counter to popular branding myths.

Be a good speaker. Writing a best-seller can make you a flash-inthe-pan speaker, but you won’t have legs to last. When I owned a speakers’ bureau, one of our speakers was an Olympic gold medalist. Everyone

wanted her, until they watched her demo—she read off cards. We couldn’t book her. On the other hand, our clients did not know Janie Jasin, CSP, but when we sent out her video, she was booked nine out of 10 times. Why? Jasin can speak! You can’t brand your way to the top in this industry. Unless you’re a celebrity, speaking is what people want.

Keep selling yourself. Even if your speaking business is booming, it’s important to keep your name and face ever-present in clients’ minds. The late Robert Henry, CSP, CPAE, one of the funniest men on the planet, was not above calling prospects, marketing through his group of humorists, schmoozing

bureaus and showcasing his talent.

Know what you’re good at.

Frankly, this took me a while to figure out. I’m not a platform diva like Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE, or Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, whose welltimed words are mesmerizing. That is not me. I identify more closely with Tim Gard, CSP, who’s quirky, uses lots of props and interacts with the audience. Like Gard, I love spontaneity and play well off the audience.

Be relevant. Your topic must be relevant to your clients, and help them get the results they want. Some speakers are well-branded, or positioned, in their niche. But speakers who are world-class cake decorators or huggers, for example, can’t help audiences achieve their desired goals.

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 29

Stick to your knitting. When you do a big presentation for an important audience, don’t change what you have been doing to get to that audience.

According to NSA Past-President Mark LeBlanc, many speakers try to do something different than their norm.

In their efforts to impress, they leave a lasting impression—and don’t get asked back.

Do not have a narrow specialty. It’s the death knell of business. If you have a really hot but narrow specialty, you will burn bright for one to three years, and then flicker out. Emulate speakers who have broad topics and full speaking calendars.

Ron Kaufman speaks on customer service in Asia and much of Europe.

Customer service is a broad specialty that transcends every industry and market. He can teach customer service as it relates to leadership, strategy, front-line retailers and more.

Jim Rhode, CSP, and Naomi Rhode, CSP, CPAE, “own” the dental industry, not a topic. They teach dental professionals how to have a rock-solid marriage, build their practices, stay ahead of trends, and fill their dental offices with products and systems.

Be original. Clients do not want to pay for a second-hand version of someone else’s wisdom. They want a speaker who has developed his or her own material, and can share relevant real-life examples that resonate with the audience, the industry or the geographic area.

Become a good thief. My original material is sprinkled with quotes from other speakers, trainers, comedians, world leaders, famous authors, cartoon characters, TV shows and movies.

When quoting other sources, exercise

30 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

caution: If you use too many quotations, you are not original. Too little, and your content appears to lack supported opinion.

A good thief always strives to give credit to the original source of the quotation. Contrary to popular belief, frequently quoted John F. Kennedy actually borrowed these famous words from Cicero (550 B.C.): “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

By cobbling together small bits and pieces from everyone they meet, read and experience, speakers can make the material their own. To illustrate, a comedian on the old Tonight Show with Johnny Carson told a hilarious joke.

Later, I heard a top humorist on the NSA platform tell the same joke but in greater detail. The speaker had refined the joke so much that it really became his signature story.

Tell ’em what they want to hear. In 1982, two well-known NSA members shared the secret for getting a standing ovation: Tell the audience what it wants to hear, not what it needs to hear. In my 27 years as a speaker, I have found this advice to be absolutely true.

But, if you want to transition beyond entertaining audiences to effecting change, you need to start telling attendees what they need to hear. Is your goal to get a standing ovation or bring about long-term change in your audience? While I started with the former, I eventually opted for the latter because I wanted to change lives. My quest began overseas where CEOs asked me to run their strategic planning retreats. Now, the bulk of my work is a deep-tissue massage of morals and material in a well-seasoned sauce of local mirth.

Love what you do. If you are not

having fun speaking, do something else.

Your performance will suffer when your heart is not in it, no matter what the field of endeavor.

Speaker and author Michael A. Podolinsky, CSP, is a master at leadership development. He develops people by teaching them how and where to focus for success. Working with audiences from eight to 8,500 attendees across six continents in 32 countries, he impacts over 11 million people worldwide. For more information, visit www.michaelpodolinsky.com.

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32 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

The Art of Delivering

CAPTIVATING WEBINARS & VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS

By Tom Drews

P

resenting in the virtual environment is the wave of the future, although it will never replace face-to-face meetings. Using WebEx, GoToMeeting® or any comparable tool can be an incredibly effective means of communicating your message and value. It fills a huge gap, somewhere between making a phone call and meeting in person. In the past several years, the demand for this medium has grown amazingly fast. And for those of us who have experienced less time on the platform lately, it is a powerful, cost-effective alternative for connecting and communicating with our audiences.

I was introduced to Web conferencing six years ago. WebEx, a leader in Web conferencing, hired me to deliver sales presentation skills training for its sales and marketing teams. After each of my programs, a handful of people would ask, “Hey, this is great, but can you teach us how to present online using WebEx?” I realized that if experts had a need for this, then so would everyone else. Since then, teaching people how to effectively present online has become the majority of my business. And there is a good reason for it: Presenting in the virtual environment comes with challenges, which require a new set of skills.

How to Captivate Your Audience There is tremendous value in presenting online, but it means next to nothing if you cannot engage your audience effectively. This is a presenter’s greatest challenge. The average attention span of the typical American is between five and eight seconds. If you can’t get your audience’s attention right from the start, then you’re likely to lose them forever. How many times have you sat in on a Webinar or virtual presentation and wandered off to do something more important? There are endless distractions, including Twitter, Facebook, email, Internet surfing, and even “Dancing with the Stars.” The following eight best practices will help you to more fully engage your audience online so you can leave them with a message they won’t forget.

Know Your Platform There are over 180 Web conferencing platforms and it is impossible to master all of them. In my early days, I inadvertently kicked 150 people out of a meeting, crashed my computer, and kept an audience waiting for eight minutes while I figured out how to push the start button. Learn from my mistakes and know your Web conferencing tool inside and out! Practice makes perfect. Make dry runs and call support when necessary.

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 33

Consider the Audience’s Needs Delivering value is especially important when presenting online. The very small percentage of Webinars that hold attendees’ attention are those that deliver genuine value based on the audience’s most important needs. The best online presenters connect with their audience in advance to find out what their greatest challenges are and what they would most like to learn. Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE, one of my virtual presentation clients, is very adept at delivering engaging and entertaining Webinars. One of Fripp’s greatest Webinar skills is delivering consistent and genuine value from start to finish.

Add Some “Hollywood” I moved to Hollywood after college to become an actor. I had small parts on soap operas, acted in commercials, performed improvisation, and learned some valuable lessons for adding “Hollywood” to online presentations. Instead of designing a dull PowerPoint® presentation, imagine yourself as the writer, director, producer and actor of your own show. An Academy Award-winning film consists of images strung together to tell a story. Apply this approach to your Webinar. How can you add photos and other visuals to help you tell your story and illustrate your points? For examples, visit www. slideshare.net and search for Tom Drews. For stock photos, visit www.istockphoto.com.

Avoid PowerPoint Abuse PowerPoint is a very valuable—and abused—tool when designing Webinars. Most of my clients’ presentations contain too much information. People are naturally drawn to read what’s in front of them, so when they’re reading your busy slide, they’re not listening to what you’re saying. Each PowerPoint slide should contain no more than six bullet points and six words per bullet point. That’s if you even use bullet points! And be sure to add some “Hollywood” to support your points, but limit the animation because it can be distracting.

34 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

I’m often asked, “How many slides should I have in my presentation?” When you present in person, you don’t need slides. When presenting online, however, your audience only sees what’s on the computer screen. Keep attendees visually occupied and interested with relevant photos and other graphics throughout your presentation. If you follow my tips, then you might end up with 120 to 180 slides for a 60-minute virtual presentation.

Use Your voice When presenting in person, you can leverage eye contact, facial expressions, voice, gestures, body and movement to engage your audience. You don’t have these luxuries when presenting online, but you do have your voice. Making the most of your voice will go a long way in keeping your listeners engaged. There are many elements of voice, including volume, tone, inflection, pace and articulation.

Record your Web presentation, and then play it back for yourself and others so you can collect feedback and make an honest assessment of your voice. It’s best to avoid presenting with a speaker phone or cell phone because of poor sound quality.

A cordless headset connected to a landline is a good way to go. You’ll find several options at www. headsets.com.

Use Annotation Tools Most Web conferencing platforms provide annotation tools, which include pens, arrows, boxes, circles, laser pointers and more. The highlighter is one of the most useful tools. It is essentially a pen that allows you to highlight text and other images.

Using annotation tools throughout your presentation will keep your attendees engaged and focused on the content.

Stand and Deliver Wearing a cordless headset connected to a landline will allow you to have your hands free, as well as your body. If you use a remote clicker, as you would when presenting in person, you can

move about the room while advancing your slides.

It frees up your energy so you can be your most enthusiastic self. When I was introduced to the WebEx sales team, I was intrigued by the way salespeople walked around and gestured enthusiastically while delivering virtual sales presentations.

Interact Often There are several ways to interact with attendees.

Polling, which most Web conferencing platforms provide, is an effective way to get people involved.

It also provides you with useful information so you can customize your presentation on the fly. You also can use the chat room to interact by posing an open-ended question, such as, “What is your greatest challenge when presenting online?” People love to share their thoughts, and they also enjoy hearing the responses from others. You can ask questions and field questions on a regular basis. My No. 1 strategy for interacting and engaging with smaller groups is to address people by their first names. It’s wise to spread your audience interaction evenly throughout your presentation.

Presenting in the virtual environment can be an incredibly effective way of communicating your message to your audience. Focus on your value, add some “Hollywood” flair and entertain them.

By doing so, you’ll engage your audience members and have fun while you’re at it.

Tom Drews is a leading expert in the field of Webinars and virtual presentations. In the past eight years, he has delivered in-person and virtual sales presentation

Benefits of Presenting Online If you’re a speaker, trainer, coach or consultant, Web conferencing can be a highly effective means for you to deliver your programs, market to your prospects, and collaborate with your colleagues. It’s a valuable complement to speaking and presenting in person.

WITH vIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS, YOU CAN: • Deliver sales presentations and training programs.

• Reach international audiences.

• Market your services to a broad audience and close more business.

• Present from any location in the world at any time.

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Choose a platform based on your desired features and what you want to achieve. Most Web conferencing companies offer a 30-day free trial. Do some research and talk to salespeople to determine which platform works best for you.

WebEx (www.WebEx.com) is a powerful program, but it’s also more expensive than others. GoToWebinar® (www.GoToWebinar.com) allows you to present to up to 1,000 participants at a time for a reasonable monthly fee.

skills, as well as time-management management programs for a variety of companies, including WebEx, Cisco, Google, McKesson, Symantec and CLIF Bar. For more information, visit www. whatworks.biz or email Tom at tom@whatworks.biz.

Other options include: Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™, www.adobe.com Microsoft® Live Meeting, www.livemeetingplace.com Fuze Meeting, www.fuzemeeting.com

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 35

beyond borders Exploring cultures, countries and comfort zones

Trust or Bust

A

t the recent Economic Forum in China, world leaders announced that our biggest crisis is not financial, but rather a lack of trust and confidence. Globalization has created new markets, along with suspicions and misunderstandings. We now can reach across borders, but will people on the other side trust us?

A lack of trust costs time, money and loyalty. It is your biggest expense.

The good news is that you can build trust by following these guidelines.

•

Consistency. People trust McDonald’s because it delivers the same burger in Cleveland as in Tokyo. Bureaus and meeting planners want a speaker who delivers a high-quality presentation every time.

•

Clarity. People trust the clear, and distrust the ambiguous. Be clear about your purpose and results.

What exactly do you speak on?

What are the expected outcomes?

•

Compassion. Think beyond yourself. Most speakers act like prima donnas at some point, but a speaker who shows compassion on and off the platform is memorable, unique and gets booked.

•

Character. Do you pay taxes on back-of-the-room sales, refer all spin-offs, and act the same in spite of the circumstances? Your character will kill you or propel you over the long term.

36 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

•

•

•

Contribution. Results build trust. For a bureau, spin-offs and happy client are desired outcomes. For a VP of sales, audience attendees who implement ideas after the conference lead to more sales and are the result of a contributor who speaks.

Competency. Staying fresh, relevant and capable builds trust. Do you take time to get to know your audience and its culture? One wrong move or word from the platform can destroy your trust in many countries; for example: Don’t speak with your hand in your pocket in Latvia. Bow until the eldest stops in Japan. Speak softly in France, especially in small groups or at a restaurant.

Connection. Relationships are built by finding common ground.

Reaching across a variety of audiences and cultures takes effort, but it is worth it. Observe, ask questions and listen. Other cultures will sit and listen to an American ramble out of honor and respect. Later, they will compare notes on the obnoxious and arrogant American. In Japan, an

American speaker was no longer invited to dine after events because she was self-centered and rude.

•

Commitment. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s followers trusted him because they saw commitment and sacrifice for the greater good. Commitment reveals and builds trust.

Trust does not start with the economy or government. It starts with individuals becoming trusted.

Those who are most trusted enjoy the greatest impact, and usually the biggest bottomline, in spite of any borders. If you want to go beyond borders, your No. 1 priority should be building trust.

David Horsager, MA, CSP, is a business leader, strategist and professor who has researched and spoken on the bottom-line impact of trust across four continents. His new book is titled The Trust Edge: What Top Leaders Have & 8 Pillars to Build It. For more information, visit www.TheTrustEdge.com or email dave@ davehorsager.com.

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turnIng PoInt A career-changing moment or experience

NSA Rocked My World

T

he phone rang, a staff member answered it and announced, “Eric Chester (CSP, CPAE) is on the line.” Eric was the chairman of the 2008 NSA Annual Convention in New York.

“Waz up?” I kidded. Eric asked me if I would introduce Manny Medrano, JD, the keynoter for the NSA Rocks conference, from the platform. After picking myself off the floor, I replied, “Sure.”

This was a big deal. Already I was planning my outfit. Everyone would be watching, and whatever I was wearing would be seen on a really big screen.

I’m a full-figured woman, so choosing the right clothing is always a challenge.

Eric explained that I would have one minute to introduce the speaker, rev up the audience New York style, and radiate rock ‘n roll style. “By the way, you have to dress like a rocker,” he added.

“A rocker?” I stammered. “No problem. Thank you so much for the opportunity. This is great!” We said good-bye.

Then, I did what every normal woman would do in that moment— I called my friends for advice. “What should I wear?” I asked.

I contacted two college friends who majored in theater with me: Winsome McKoy, a New York City movie stylist and wardrobe mistress, and Diane Devitte, a well-known meeting planner.

“Oooh, let’s have fun and go wild” said Diane. Winsome asked, “If you could be anyone who rocks, who would you want to be?”

38 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

I immediately thought of Joan Jett.

Bingo!

I dyed my hair black and cut it punk style. I had a total makeup makeover, including glitter and eyelashes. I went to my optometrist to order some funky glasses. Then, I bought black everything: jeans, Spanx and tops with studs and rhinestones. I topped off the look with big rings, cuff bracelets and biker necklaces.

My husband accompanied me to New York. He played along and dressed like a rocker, too. The evening before the opening event, I attended a private reception hosted by a speakers’ bureau.

I wore my rocker outfit, complete with fake eyelashes, studs, pants and high black boots.

At the party, a woman approached me and asked my name. When I responded, “Pegine,” she was floored.

She said, “Really? You look so cool and so different!” I preened.

The following night at the Opening Grand Event, I waited in the green room with Mark LeBlanc and Manny Medrano. Mark, clad in white undies, and I walked onto the stage. Our part was over in a flash.

In that one minute, however, I was more me than at any other time in my life. I felt totally fused together: the star, the expert, and my don’t-messwith-me-attitude were blended like an awesome smoothie. I felt whole.

The transformation in my life and business began immediately. I got new headshots, a new logo and new energy.

I booked four engagements from the New York event, including one for Harley Davidson. When I showed up at client gigs sporting my new look, they were thrilled. Business, like Mark Victor Hansen says, is booming for me and in a recession! And I owe it all to my rocker look for the NSA Convention.

Pegine Echevarria, MSW, is the creator of the licensed corporate training program “White Guy Are Diverse To!™” Her work on leading in a diverse world includes appearances on NPR Fresh Air, CNN, MSNBC, and NewsTalk Television as its on-air expert on women and minorities in the workplace. Pegine (Peg-een) is one of 58 inductees into the Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame—the first Latina and one of eight women. Visit www.pegine.com.

It’s your BusIness Advice for enterprising speakers

Secure Your Financial Future

W

hen the financial system collapsed in September 2008, virtually every American began feeling the effects of the recession. By September 2009, more than 7 million U.S. jobs had been claimed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even those who are employed share a collective sense of change and uncertainty.

The current recession is an important reminder to check your financial safety nets. For many, relying on Wall Street to provide the American dream of retiring in comfort has proven to be a false security. People cannot abdicate the responsibility of their financial future and well-being to Wall Street or the government. They must rely on their own ability to produce, be of service to others, and manage their own affairs.

When Keynoter Shawna Schuh, CSP, addressed the recession at the 2009 NSA Annual Convention in Phoenix, she said, “You know what I think? It’s a dog—are you going to let a dog beat you?”

Speakers can beat the dog by following some solid financial advice.

Invest in Your Professional Development For a moment, set aside your worries about the recession’s impact on your investment portfolio. Remember, the best and safest investment you can make is in the company over which you have the most control. The investment 40 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

with the least uncertainty is the one you know the most about— your own speaking business.

During tough financial and economic times, speakers should protect their financial future by investing in their professional development and striving to remain an asset to their clients. You can leverage your speaking revenues by plowing those hard-earned dollars back into your speaking business and the niches in which you are an expert.

Ensure your competitiveness and continued leadership within your niche.

Design your business model to provide dividends and a cash flow for you as you enter retirement.

Review Your Portfolio The assets in your portfolio do not run on auto-pilot. Review the companies in your portfolio after each quarterly earnings announcement. Stay abreast of whether the assets you own are performing in accordance with your investment goals as the economy changes, and rebalance as needed. Even if your money is professionally managed, you owe it to yourself to know your financial consultant’s job almost as well as or better than he or she does.

ranked by Forbes in 2008 as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately $62 billion.

Simply put, value investors buy assets in the marketplace when there’s a “half-off ” sale sign on them. What matters most is not what you invest in, but when and at what price. There is such a thing as paying too much for something. Buying “half-off sales” provides investors a safety net or a “margin of safety,” as Buffett would say. Companies with stable and predictable cash flows that have a history of growing their dividends also provide investors another cushion or safety net.

A long-term investment strategy for your speaking business, along with disciplined long-term investment decisions based on prudent strategies, will strengthen your safety nets both professionally and financially.

John Bougearel is a registered Commodity Trading Advisor and author of Riding The Storm Out, a book on the economic crisis and how to

Safe Income at a Reasonable Price

stay out of harm’s way. Bougearel holds

Learn the Gramm-Dodd approach to value-investing. This is the disciplined, long-term approach to investing used

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seminars on trading, investing and understanding market behavior. Visit his blog at http://www.financialfuturesandequitymarketanalysis.com and his Web site at http://financialfutureanalysis.com.

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PASS IT ON! Help us build our NSA community and increase awareness of the speaking profession! By passing on an issue of Speaker magazine, you are joining over 1,000 NSA members who are getting the word out about NSA. After you have finished reading this issue of Speaker magazine, simply pass it on to someone who might be interested in learning more about NSA. Or leave the information in a public place for someone else to discover; for example, on an airplane, at your doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office or in a beauty salon.

All editions of Speaker magazine are available in digital format at www.nsaspeaker.org.

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Questions? Please contact our offices at (480)968-2552 or email information@nsaspeaker.org 42 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

calendar NSA Winter Conference Feb. 12-14, 2010 Nashville, Tenn.

PSA Holland March 19-20, 2010 Amsterdam

NSAA Convention April 16-19, 2010 Queensland, Australia

PSA South Africa April 30 – May 2, 2010 Johannesburg

APSS Convention May 8, 2010 Singapore

2010 NSA Convention July 17-20, 2010 Orlando, Fla.

GSA Convention Sept. 10-11, 2010 Cologne, Germany

AFCP Convention Oct. 19-22, 2010 France

PSA UK & Ireland Nov. 12-14, 2010 Midlands Area

CAPS Convention Dec. 5-7, 2010 Montreal, Quebec For more information on any NSA event, call (480) 968–2552 or go to www.nsaspeaker.org. Details for Global Speakers Federation (GSF) events are available at www.IFFPS.org.

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 43

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NSA is proud to continue its FREE Web 2.0 Webinar series in the new decade. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, you’ll want to get in on the action of learning the latest and greatest information about virtual platforms from leading content experts—right in the comfort of your own office or home. Register today so you can take your business to the next level in 2010!

Save the date for upcoming Webinars:

January 14, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. EST

Presenter: Nhat Pham Use Social Video to Build Visibility and Creditability Think video is too complex? Got a YouTube account and not sure what to post? Learn how to promote yourself using video on social networks.

February 24, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. EST

Presenter: Gina Schreck Take Your Speaking and Training Business into Second Life, Teleplace and Other Virtual Worlds Discover how to use virtual platforms to extend the learning or your live programs, and hear how other companies are using this new technology.

THANK YOU

For more information and how to register for Webinars, visit www.mynsa.org/Webinars.aspx.

To Our 2009 Fall Conference Exhibitors

We appreciate your support of NSA! For more information on becoming a sponsor or exhibitor, contact Mandy Schulze at (480) 264-4297.

Broadcast Interview Source, Inc www.expertclick.com Entrepreneur Press www.entrepreneurhouseauthors.com eSpeakers www.espeakers.com Access Laserpress www.access-laserpress.com Interactive Presentations www.PPTDesigner.com PR/PR www.prpr.net

January/February 2010 | SPEAKER | 45

humor me Quips, tips and parting shots

Debriefing Another Satisfied Client

S

peakers are usually upbeat and optimistic. No matter what a client or meeting planner tells me, I always find the positive angle as revealed in my recent phone dialog with a meeting planner.

Bill: Hi Mary, this is Bill Stainton.

I’m just calling to get your feedback on my opening keynote last week.

Meeting Planner: You’ve got some nerve! You and your so-called “opening keynote” ruined the entire convention.

I know exactly what you mean!

When a fabulous dessert is eaten first, the rest of the meal pales by comparison! I hope you’re getting a lot of compliments on hiring me.

Compliments? You’ve turned me into a pariah within my own organization.

That’s wonderful! I love it when I can make the meeting planner a hero.

Do you know what “pariah” means?

Coming from you, Mary, it must be something good! So what do you think was the audience’s biggest takeaway from my presentation?

46 | SPEAKER | January/February 2010

From your presentation?

Probably that any idiot can go on stage and call himself a professional speaker.

I’m honored that you think I was that inspirational. I guess that’s what I do as a speaker. I change lives.

Well, you certainly changed mine. I can’t even show my face at work anymore.

I’m the same way, Mary. I guess we both shy away from too much adulation.

Did you hear the audience booing you as you left the stage?

Yes, it was very flattering. I also was disappointed that I couldn’t spend more time with them. But you know the old adage: “Leave them wanting more!”

They didn’t want any! Half of them left within the first 15 minutes!

Wasn’t that amazing? That couldn’t wait to start implementing my ideas.

You must be very happy.

Happy? I’m apoplectic!

You’re making me blush. May I use that as a testimonial?

If you even insinuate that we know each other, I’ll call my lawyers.

Terrific! I love speaking to legal groups, and I’d be grateful for the recommendation. Can you think of any other organizations that could benefit from my message?

I’d only recommend you to organizations that want to ruin their conventions,

drive their members away, and experience pain like they’ve never experienced before!

What a coincidence! A lot of other clients have called my presentation an experience as well. It’s something I work hard at, and I’m flattered that you noticed.

Without question, you are the most obtuse person I’ve ever met.

You’re not the first satisfied client to compliment me that way, Mary. I hope we get a chance to work together again very soon.

I’d rather die.

I agree. And if every client were like you, I’d also want to spend eternity with them. Bye Mary!

[Mary hangs up.]

I love this business!

Bill Stainton is a multiple Emmy Award-winning TV producer, writer, and performer; a highly sought-after keynote speaker; and an internationally-recognized Beatles expert.

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