“The Speaking Business Laid Naked”

You want the truth . . . here is the truth . . . my perceived truth   after 27 years on the National and International speaking stage.   And you’re getting it unclothed.  Naked as a Jaybird.  Not a stitch.  In your face.   Not watered down.  Not blown up.   Are you ready . . .  Here goes . . .

1. The Dark Side . . . The speaking business is a tough go . . .

Most people who dream of becoming a paid expert who speaks do not succeed.   I mean 97% do not make it.  They go back to their day job.   Because they fail to recognize the requisites for success.

(I don’t say this to discourage you.  I want you to see reality.)

Where do I get that 97%?   From the seat of my pants.  From 26 years as a member of the USA National Speakers Association.  I’ve  met thousands of aspiring speakers.   Watched most not survive.  I see the paid speaking business as a superb business for the few who understand the rules of the game.  And it’s a revolving door for those who do not understand, accept, and engage implacable rules  . . .

2.    Why do aspirants not succeed . . .

Because of lack of character.  Lack of talent.  Lack of bulldog blood.  Failure to understand the harsh realities of the speaking business.   They gripe and moan, squirm and writhe . . . because they refuse to accept the reality that a paid speaker is, first of all, a marketer. Do you see what I mean?

As John Wayne’s character often said in his movies, “Get this and get it good…”

You first make yourself a competent marketer of your speaking services.   Only then do you get to deliver your speaking services.  So you get to figure out who to call,  when is the best time to call, what you are to say, whether you fit this company, their purpose this year, the theme of this years conference . . . it goes on and on.   (And it is not easy . . .  unless you are in my Inner Circle!)

3.    But wait, there’s more . . .

Let’s say you develop your marketing muscles.  Now you get to develop a new set of skills:  your presentation skills.   Stagecraft, timing, audience involvement, showmanship, story telling, pacing and a whole lot more.

You shape and mold and massage every aspect of your audience’s experience of you.  This usually means years (and tears) as you slowly master each element of your platform persona.   (Unless . . .)

4.    And another requisite then rears its head . . .

If you are to be original, sparkling and different, there’s another requisite:   You gotta make yourself a competent researcher.  A researcher of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the industry, the organizations, the people and the markets you impact.

You see your world through your own eyes.  And your perceptions are what you share. You are to be a visionary seeing around the corners and beyond the horizons of the universe you serve.  Think of Franklin, Edison, Ford, Marconi.   This is exactly what each of these people did.  They saw around corners.  They changed their world and yours.

Let’s not leave out, in recent years, Tim Berners-Lee, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and others.   Why not you?   You have everything it takes to be next . . .

5.    What about the prism through which you speak . . .

Whatever your specialty may be, whatever your past experience, you see the world subjectively. You see everything outside of you through a unique prism:   Yours.

Then if you are to be authentic, when you speak you share your personal vision of the realities you observe . . .  You share your perceptions, your values, your philosophy, your findings, your understanding of what life is about . . . and your prescriptions to improve matters for those in your universe . . .

6.   The bright side . . .

If you feel you have the intelligence, the experience, the passionate desire to make a difference, the ideas and strategies to add values for those you serve . . . plus the stamina, the energy, and the willingness to wear the hats of marketer, researcher, and content-rich presenter, then you may enter a whole new realm of life experience . . .

(I, a high school dropout, have lived this life for over 26 years. The coastline view from my Malibu home, private schools for my sons.)

Four and five star hotels, upgrades, white tablecloth dining rooms with no need for you to glance at the right side of the menu . . . Breaking bread with company presidents, eager to pick your brain . . . Suites and mini-suites, honors and deference, flying in the front cabin at least some of the time.  (Did you know the airlines pump more oxygen into the first Class Cabin?)

And as for your lifestyle, you’re in charge.  A nicer home, on the water or  the hillside or the golf course (maybe all!) if you like.  Private  schools for your children . . . lots of time with your loved ones. . . fabulous vacations . . .

7.   Actions for you to take now . . .

Most readers of this piece will proceed to say, “That’s nice”.  They do nothing.  They settle for the dream.  They lack the courage.  They lack the sense of self, the energy, the ability to accept this truth . . . that the seeds of greatness are within them right now.  They persist in living their lives in the mire of mediocrity.

They do not engage Ralph Waldo Emerson’s wisdom:

“The power that is in you is new in nature.  And none

but you know what that is which you can do.  Nor do

you know until you try . . .”

Do you resonate to this? Do you recognize and accept that the seeds of greatness are within you right now?    Do you feel in your heart of hearts, in your bones, in your guts, ready to justify the space you take up and the resources you consume during your brief transit here?  Are you ready to shatter perceived limits?  To step out of the ordinary, out of the mundane, out of the mire?  Then do this now:

Review your options.   Ask yourself whether you own the personal qualities, the talent, the bulldog blood and the persistence to defy your demons and to pay the price in time, effort and sacrifice to actualize your potential and make the difference you know you can make for the market you choose to serve.

Then roll up your sleeves and, with iron resolve, take appropriate actions.   Commit yourself to “pay any price, bear any burden” until you are in orbit as a paid expert who speaks.  Do this now, do it right now:

7.1 Return to my home page   <  http://burtdubin.com >   Go to “Mentoring.”  Review your options.  Review your Guarantees.  See how I take all the risk when you invest in my Speaking Success System.   (Or in my Home Study Courses.)

7.2 Review all the Testimonials. Contact a few of the people who are grateful for the outcomes they generated for themselves with my guidance.

7.3 Then call me to arrange a complimentary, personal, 20 minute Breaking Into Public Speaking consultation.  I only offer 5 of these each month.  We look at where you are now, where you want to be, and your options to get there.   Reach me at 800-321-1225 or +928-753-5315.  This consultation costs you nothing.  You have nothing to lose . . . and a whole new life to win. Do it right now . . . while it is on your mind.

P.S.  Why?   Because “On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, at the dawn of victory, sat down to wait . . . and, waiting, died.”   You can have speaking business success you yearn for.   And you’ve got to want it enough to have it.

Why Have Bulldog Blood:

O.K.  You want to know.  You want to know how I did it.  Maybe even how I do it now.  So—in 2 minutes you will know.

My #1 characteristic as a lifelong achiever can be said in 2 words:  Bulldog Blood. That’s bulldog blood. Do you know the nature of a bulldog?

Imagine this:  A bulldog comes after you.  Once that dog gets its iron-jaw teeth into your leg, it locks on. And does not let go.

You can shoot the dog.  You can end its life.  Still that iron jaw, those teeth do not release their hold.  That’s it.  That’s how I transformed my life experience from abuse, emptiness and lack to worldly success.  With bulldog blood.

When I was 4, my father, 29, started beating me.  Every evening.  Bare ass beatings.  That’s right.  He pulled down my short pants and beat my bare ass.

With a sturdy cat-o-nine-tails he had me watch him make from clothesline.  He caused me to sit there in the basement of our red brick row house at 6050 Webster Street in West Philadelphia and watch him make a thick knot in the end of every tail.

That first evening I listened to my angels.  They told me I was to defy him.  I did.  Though he hit me hard, determined to break my spirit, I defied him.  I did not make a sound.  Not one peep.

I resolved to not let his cruelty touch me.   He was bigger and stronger than I.  He could beat my body.  He could not reach me.   Not the real me.  Not my essence.  Not my inner self. (I didn’t know these words then and I sure sensed the concept.)

As he manufactured the first cat-o-nine-tails he peered into my eyes for my reaction.  He saw a stony stare.

After 2 or 3 years of these nightly beatings, he wore out his instrument.  So he made another.  This time he made me watch him double-knotting each knot on the end of every tail.

There were 4 years, 48 months, 208 weeks, about 1500 consecutive evenings of these stinging scenes.  He never heard a sound from me.  Not once.

I gritted my teeth and reflected.  Yes, at 4, I reflected on the roots and the nature of his bestial behavior.  When I was 8, he simply stopped.  I had prevailed. He did not break my spirit.  I don’t think he liked the way I stared him down.

Two outcomes eventuated:  I became—and am—incorrigible. Resolutely so.  And gentle.  I developed huge empathy for the human condition.

The iron resolve I manifested at 4 made the difference for me.

I started on what became a lifelong pattern of creating the conditions and circumstances I desired at the time.

Years later I created my blog . . . my Bare Ass blog!

Bare-ass shortcuts to speaking business success

How do top-shelf speakers do it?   How do they get there?  How do you do it . . . and how do you do it faster?

1. Know your subject. Know it inside out, upside down, backward and forward.  Study your specialty tirelessly, endlessly, relentlessly.  Make it your bare-ass intimate other.  Love it with a passion that knows no bounds, has no limits.

Devote yourself to your topic resolutely . . . and make yourself its master. Dedicate your time, your energy, your resources without limit and without reserve to your chosen discipline.  Yes, have a love affair with your theme.

When I was 17 I lied about my age to get a job at RCA.  I was the sole support of my mom and my two kid sisters.

I quit high school to go to work because there was no one else to support them. I quickly worked my way into the electronic test group.

I studied my task just as I recommend you to do.  My love affair with the CRT (cathode ray tube) and the alignment process yielded me new, original, previously undiscovered ways to shorten a procedure from 45 minutes to 15 minutes.

Standing firm against non-believers, I prevailed.  I got the process I conceived turned into the new standard, thus tripling production in my department.  I knew my subject. Know your subject, speaker!

2. Know your market. Know exactly what people, companies, associations, groups, industries, are most likely to appreciate about you and your mastership . . . and to reward you handsomely for your insights, your views, and your bare-ass, no-holds-barred recommendations.

Know their demographics.  Know their psychographics. Then stay on top of events that matter to those in your market.  Be a restless, hungry, greedy seeker of every crumb of data, knowledge, and wisdom impacting those at every level in your market.  From the shareholders, to the CEO, to the Board, to every level of senior management, every specialty, every group and sub-group.  Leave no stone unturned.

Years ago, way back before I dreamed of being a speaker, I represented the Pepsodent Division of Lever brothers to retailers in the greater Los Angeles area.  I found retailers who didn’t know that they longed to carry my line, to display it, feature it, promote it.  I found dozens and dozens of stores, targeted them . . . and won them over.

Not just as customer, far more than that.  I made them advocates, believers, disciples.  Amen, Brother!  My passionate devotion to the cause of that brand carried me to recognition, awards, and much more.  I knew my market.  Know your market, expert-who-speaks!

3. Know yourself. Know your values.  And know your value.  Do not settle for less. Know what you stand for.  Know what matters, truly matters bone deep, to you.

Know where you’ve been.  Know where you’re going.  Know why you do what you do.

Hey, fellow speaker, I’ve lived this stuff; I don’t just teach it.  Years ago, when Pepsodent didn’t reward me adequately, I quit.  (When a market doesn’t reward you adequately for your contributions as an expert who speaks, find another market that does recognize and reward you for your bare-ass contribution to their desired outcomes.)

When I moved on I joined Cole Steel Equipment Company . . . and in 5 years tripled their sales in my marketing area.  This went on and on until I started awakening others to their potential . . . and how to actualize their potential.

But . . . you don’t want my life story.  You’re more interested in your life story.  And how you can write future chapters you’ll be proud to show your kids.  (Know yourself, fellow expert-who-speaks.)

Actions to take:

1. Review this article.

2. Grab these principles by the balls.

3. Make them your own.

4. Engage them relentlessly.

5. Make your own rules.

6. Be the iconoclast you always knew you were.

7. And soar into your personal orbit.

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Bare-ass Room Set-up Strategies

Do you choose to make your programs more effective for everyone attending?

And would you like better interaction between you and your audiences every time?

Sources of these strategies

The strategies I share here come from hard experience, real-world programs, hundreds of engagements at which I spoke.

Did you ever have part of your audience unable to hear you because some of the ceiling speakers were turned off, left off for a different room configuration yesterday’s audience required?  I have!  (Many times in North America)

Has a wireless mike ever stopped working in the middle of your speech—and then found yourself without a hard-wired reserve mike waiting and ready?  I have.  (In Washington D.C. when I spoke for the NSA Chapter.)

What about the straight seating arrangement most venues love to offer you . . . because it’s easiest for them?  As you know, this inhibits interaction and messes up sight lines.  Have you seen the difference between this military arrangement and the warmth and connectedness curved seating allows?

I could regale you with  preventable flubs and catastrophes I had to endure . . .  instead let me share some strategies with you.

How to start

Start with this wisdom:  Your room set-up is the setting for your jewels. Your jewels are your programs.

So create a setting that allows you to be seen at your best . . . to showcase you, your spirit, your concepts and your ideas.

Use savvy room arrangements to more deeply impact your audience with your insights and your wisdom . . . to reach into the consciousness of those present and plant your seeds.

These ideas yield better programs

1. Double-check early AM that all ceiling speakers are operating and the volume is right in every part of your room.  (I’ve seen front-of-the-room speakers off—and audience  members moving to the back of the room to hear me.)

2. Have a hard-wired reserve mike in place and ready to use.

3. Reset the room yourself if you must.  Create curved seating,     from a crescent to a half-circle.   Why:  You want your audience members to see reactions of others to whatever you say or do.

4. Eliminate the center aisle.  Instead, have 2 aisles on each side of a center section.  Most fire codes allow for 13-15 seats in a center section.  This Bare-ass strategy adds energy to the room—instead of letting it dissipate down a center aisle.  Test this and see the difference at once.

5. Locate the riser or stage at the center of the longest wall— and as far as possible from the entrance door.   Do not place yourself at one end of a long room.   This creates more intimacy between you and your audience.  More people see you better.

6. Double-check all audio/visual equipment for placement, functioning, spare bulbs, even a spare projector.  Anything that can possibly go wrong, will!  (Murphy is alive and well.)

7. Use checklists.  See your room the evening before your event.  Then check it thoroughly again early in the morning.  Terrible things can happen overnight.   Be eagle eyed as you seek opportunities to get things right well ahead of your program.

To release your bare-ass magnificence now, simply control assets.

You already do:

You are in total, absolute control of your most valuable asset:  Your bare-ass.

So do one thing . . .

Just one:

Use your asset . . . Be of greater service to more decision-makers.

Take the bit in your teeth.   Be fiercely committed.   Surrender to your purpose.

Put all your chips on the table and place your bet . . .  Place your bet on your own bare-ass.

It’s no sin if you don’t win.  It’s a tragedy not to find out what you really can do.

Grab yourself a dream.   Yours.    Pay the price to make it happen.

Hers a secret:  There’s no way to fail.  You win.  You win.   You always and evermore win.

That’s because through your grit, gall and gumption you reveal the greater you.

You reveal the possible you.     The possible . . . you.

So this is your formula . . . And here’s your key:

Be of greater service to more decision-makers . . .

And more of the others in your universe . . .

Then, as Polonius said, “it must follow as the night the day . . .” you always and evermore win.

You defeat your demons . . . you slay your saboteurs . . .

You emerge into the light . . . you reveal the incredible you.

And you celebrate all the way to the bank.

These 7 strategic actions remove risk, thrill decision makers, magnetize
more bookings to you now

“It’s a new world, Goldie . . .” said Tevya to his wife in “Fiddler on the Roof.”

And it’s a new world now for speakers, educators, and consultants now.  Your ass is on the line like never before.

Decision makers who can hire you don’t care a hoot about you personally.  They are interested only in what you can do for them.  I mean first for them personally and then for their organization.

Why?  Because their butt is at risk when they choose you.

Actions to take:

How to impact your audience profoundly using the 7 secrets of wholeness

Wholeness is a state you awaken within you.  Acknowledging your wholeness is a pillar of the Temple of Speaking Success.

1. 1. Your physical body: This is your self-repairing vehicle of physical experience.  Give due regard to its needs for sleep, good food, exercise, recreation and shelter.

1. 2. Your emotional well-being: Are you sharing love intimately?      If not, are you open to this possibility?  Do you seek and allow yourself emotional fulfillment?  Do you acknowledge you deserve it?  All else is an empty shell without allowing this aspect of wholeness to be invited into your life.

1. 3. Your ongoing education: Be sure it is ongoing.  Do not allow yourself to become obsolete in this high-tech age.

1. 4. Your life as a speaker/educator: Speaking is your vehicle for sharing your essence with the universe of lives you touch.

1. 5. Your inner child: It’s so nice to let this 7 year old you out to play.  In time, you may allow your playful essence to be part of your every moment.

1. 6. Your money case: Handle it so you can be of uninhibited service to the world.

1. 7. The spiritual you: The purpose of the preceding aspects is one-pointed . . . to allow this, your highest aspect, to be expressed.

Finally, look at the outcome of your recognizing, accepting, embracing and sharing your wholeness with each audience:

They sense a subtle energy, a subliminal je ne sais qua that adds immeasurably to their experience of being in your presence. They are touched.  They are moved.  They may find you unforgettable.  And this is the bare-ass truth!

© Burt Dubin

Be yourself.  Everyone else is already taken

1. “No one else gets to be you.   Let’s take it as a given that you’re very good at what you do.  If you aren’t, either get better at what you’re doing or do something you’re better at.”

For example, some speakers are better working large audiences in the big room.   Other speakers are skilled at leading smaller groups in breakout sessions.  Test your talents.    Then target the size audience with which you are most effective.  Be relentless in going for those gigs.

2. “We’ve all been given amazing gifts.  And we can study and improve so you can be superb at something.”

Some speakers are natural keynoters.  Others are superior presenting detailed educational events.   Target the type of program in which you shine brightest.

3. “With that as a given, what can you (adjust in your marketing) that would take your (cash flow) to a magnificent new level?”

4. “What can you offer that’s dazzling.  How can you identify    your unique message.”

Ask yourself what sort of programs prove most effective with your audiences.  Then focus on offering these programs to decision makers.

5. “How do you find your own village of loyal clients who love you more than anyone else and will support you in style for the rest of your days?”

Some speakers limit their practice to one industry.  They make themselves favorites in that industry because they understand wants and needs better that anyone else.

Other speakers focus on one segment of many industries.  Sales trainers are one example.

6. “So, yes, work on your positioning.  Work on your USP. (your unique selling proposition)  Understand your relationship to your market, find your winning difference, your rightful share of clients.”

Do this by testing, by experimenting.   See how you feel after speaking for different groups.   Here’s my way:  When I complete a program feeling exhilarated rather than exhausted, I know this is the kind of group for me to target.

7. “Because beyond what you know and what you’ve learned and how you specialize, what you have to offer is you.   It’s as simple and as complicated and as wonderful as that.”

The sentences in quotes above are by the brilliant marketer, Sonia Simone.  Google her name to see other examples of her brilliance.

Summing up, shun the shotgun approach.   Instead, be a sharpshooter.  Make yourself irresistible.  Use powerful strategies to secure the programs and the groups that allow you to be your best and deliver the most value now.

How to make next year your best year ever

I kid you not: This works. I know because I’ve done it for years.
Stop selling speeches. Stop selling breakout sessions. Stop selling programs. That’s right.
No, I’m not out of my gourd. I simply understand (and shortly you are to understand,) the mindset of the decision maker.
Instead, research the organization from which you yearn to harvest a fat speaking fee.

GETTING HIRED TO SPEAK AT CORPORATE CONVENTIONS:

Let’s say your target is a Corporation. Do some internet research in advance.

HOW TO DO THIS:

1. Start with the website of this organization. There is usually an announcement of the coming meeting with useful information about it.
2. Research the websites of the trade press.
3. Phone the organization. The telephone receptionist knows what is cooking or can connect you with insiders who do know.

DETERMINE THROUGH YOUR RESEARCH:

1. The theme of their forthcoming meeting.
2. The purpose of the meeting.
3. The desired outcomes of the meeting.
4. The challenges this industry is facing.
5. The challenges this group is grappling with.
6. The problems those who are to attend are dealing with.
7. The scuttlebutt, the inside scoop on what’s going on. (See #3 above.)

IDENTIFY THE REAL DECISION MAKER:

Then, identify the real decision maker, the key decision maker. It probably is not the meeting planner.
To do this, ask this question: “Whose meeting is this?” Within corporations this means out of whose budget is the investment in the event.
That person is the one with a reputation on the line for delivering ROI as an outcome of this meeting.

HOW TO GET TO THIS DECISION MAKER:

Tell the gatekeeper you are writing an article or a white paper on (what you know to be the primary concern of your target.) Ask to speak with this person as part of your research. You want to ask 3 questions and you promise to take only a few minutes. If you sound real, you will get through.
Ask in depth, probing questions. (If you do not know how to do this, send me an SASE and request a complimentary copy of my “The Triple Probe.” From outside USA, send one US dollar to cover postage.)

Dig for the pain.

Dig for the pain and rub salt in the wound. When your questions reveal all your advance research, your understanding of the inside travail, as well as your fluency and wisdom, your target is intrigued.
Now play your ace. You are busy, very busy. However, you have some of the answers and antidotes thy want. And you are available to share these in a morning program (only a morning program,) on the date of the forthcoming conference . . .

GETTING GIGS AT ASSOCIATION MEETINGS:

The psychology is different here. Major concerns of Associations are two-fold:

1. Perpetuation of annual dues by their Members.
2. Attendance at meetings by Members.

The above inbound flow of cash to Associations is their life-blood. It is their oxygen. It is what they want more than anything else.
So here are your advance actions: Do comparable research similar to what you see in the first part of this article. Your focus is to be on showing the decision maker how your program is to generate so much take-away value for the Members attending that they will continue paying their dues and continue attending meetings.

HOW THIS STRATEGY CREATES DURABLE LONG TERM VALUE:

Create a partnership in the outcomes your target longs for. This sets the stage for repeat bookings, for full fee consultations. You make yourself a continuing asset and a precious partner.
These ideas, wisely engaged, are to make next year your best year ever. And, obviously, when you need a hand, I’m here to help.

TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING,
BUT I JUST COULDN’T SLEEP.
I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS,
I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.

THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED -
THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE,
BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION
WITH ALL OF MY MIGHT.

TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION,
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.
SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR,
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.
GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.

I FELT MYSELF SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,
‘TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I ROSE OFF THE GROUND.
I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING, FLOATING INTO THE SKY,
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.
BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED PAST THE TREES….
HAPPY EATING TO ALL – PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.

MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,
MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES ‘N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP.
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS.
MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS!!

Today I received the above words from my old amigo, Liz Kearney.

This Thanksgiving season, as you gather with your loved ones, is more
economically challenging than any previous Thanksgiving in living memory.

Your expressions of gratitude (for all that you do have) is more important now
than ever before. I discovered this reading “Stress”, a book by Canadian Hans Selye.

My business, like yours, is down due to the down economy. And nevertheless,
there is so much to be grateful for:

Your life, your health, (and the life and health of those you love). The human
experience is not all wine and roses. These days there are thorns and economic
challenges. We are all on the ocean of life in our vessel.

Historically, with a spirit of hope, of gratitude, of faith and of confidence, we
are to live through this and come out stronger than ever after this experience.

This Thanksgiving day I am to be in Northern California with my sister, my son,
my sweetheart Elayne, my nephews and their wives and their brood. (I feel the best
part is seeing how the children have grown.)

May your Thanksgiving Day include being surrounded by those you love as you express your thanks for all the blessings you have.

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