The following article was created from my podcast, The Mike Veny Show. This is from episode 2, How to Become a Professional Motivational Speaker for Youth Events. I invite you to listen to this episode on iTunes, Stitcher, Sound Cloud, or below. It’s the second part of a series. If you haven’t done so, read part 1…
Please remember to leave a comment at the bottom.
#4 Know exactly who you are marketing to
As a motivational speaker for youth, there are two groups of people that you are marketing to:
- Your audience, which consists of young children, teenagers, adolescents, or young adults.
- The decision-makers that hire you, which consist of the school board, administration, faculty, Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), youth organization, or meeting planner.
This Spring, I am hired to speak at a middle school. The students are my audience. As a speaker, I have an obligation to make sure that my message is applicable to that my presentation is going to engage them. The decision-makers that hired me were a combination of the principal of the school and the PTA. It’s important that I have an understanding of their vision for a successful event.
In any given situation, the person that hires you can be a combination of people. In fact, many schools have extracurricular organizations (clubs) that have the money to hire a speaker. Recently, I had a group of high school students reach out to me about speaking at their school.
As you develop your speaking business, you will develop a clearer understanding of who the decision-makers will be in a particular situation. Keep in mind that it is impossible to keep track of all of this information as you are growing. As you start to generate some income, I encourage you to invest in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution. It’s software that tracks all of your relationships, allows you to categorize them, and automates email and follow-up. The software I use is called Infusionsoft.
When I logged into Infusionsoft a few days ago and viewed my list of colleges, I had about 600 different contacts that I have reached out to over the years. That’s a lot of people to keep track of and it’s one of many lists that I have to keep track of.
Infusionsoft allows me to look at each relationship and see who the decision-makers are. I can also make notes about their budget, what type of speakers they like, and I can see when I last contacted them.
Whether you use Infusionsoft or a spreadsheet, it’s important to start organizing a list of the organizations that you are reaching out to. It’s not necessary to invest in Infusionsoft right away, but something that you want to keep on your radar as your career grows.
The important thing is to know the difference between your decision-makers and the audience that you will be presenting to. MAKE SURE YOU MARKET TO BOTH!
Learn how to identify your target market here…
#5 Create programs that align with educational goals
As you create your speaking program (or programs), you have to have more than just your story. More often than not, people who are interested in speaking to youth (or professional speaking in general) approach me and tell me that they have a really inspiring story. They believe that their story will be the thing that sells them as a speaker.
As you read this, I want you to remember something very important about the business of speaking. This may be painful to read if you feel that your story is the main thing that will sell you as a speaker, too:
NOBODY HIRING YOU CARES ABOUT YOUR STORY
The role that your story is plays is that it’s a component of a much bigger presentation, not your entire presentation.
I listened to a great podcast episode with Josh Shipp, who I mentioned in part 1 of this article. Josh shared stories about his experience as a youth speaker and what it takes to be successful as a youth speaker. He suggested that your program(s) include one of 3 words in the title in order to appeal to schools and youth organizations:
- Leadership
- Prevention
- Motivation
If your presentation(s) address one of those three, then you are more likely to succeed as a motivational speaker for youth events. In my particular case, I speak about suicide prevention and motivation. Check out two of my programs here…
Keep those three ideas in mind when creating your programs.
#6 Establish clear takeaways from your presentations
As I said before, you must have more than your story in a presentation. When meeting planners are in the process of hiring speakers, they look at more than just your website, bio, and videos. They are looking for what’s in it for them.
The people that hire you only care about one thing. It’s everyone’s favorite radio station WIIFM: “What’s in it for me?”
- How will you change the lives of the people in the audience?
- What are the takeaways that audience members will receive from your presentation?
For my mental health presentations, I let the decision-makers know that the audience will receive practical tools and tips that they can use to talk about their mental health issues in everyday conversation. They will also learn how to share their own stories in a way that will help others.
These are just some examples of the takeaways for my presentations that make them more than just my story. I think you get the idea.
As you think about your presentations, ask yourself what transformation the audience will experience after you leave the stage. Begin listing your takeaways from there.
Once you are clear, create a profile on eSpeakers and SpeakerMatch to begin looking for speaking engagements.
#7 Have realistic expectations about money
WARNING: Don’t pursue a career as a professional speaker if your objective is to make a lot of money quickly.
How to become a professional motivational speaker for youth conferences
Yes, there are some speakers who make millions of dollars each year. They are the exception, not the norm.
In my career, I’ve made some good money. As you read that, remember that what constitutes ‘making good money’ is subjective. ‘Making good money’ to me might be poverty to someone else.
The important thing is to know that there are different fee ranges for every speaker at every level.
Jeff Yalden says that a good youth speaker will make $3,500 to $5,000 per presentation.
In the spirit of transparency, my fee for a presentation is $7,500 at the time of this article being published.
I saved this tip for last because I feel that money is one of the most difficult subjects for people to discuss. Ultimately, you have to be realistic about what you are worth and be comfortable asking for whatever that is.
If you are just starting out, you might be speaking for free for a whole year. That’s okay. The most you might get is $500 and only do two or three events in the year. That’s okay. Regardless of how much you start charging, you have to start somewhere.
As you get more comfortable in speaking, and develop testimonials from clients, more videos and polish your speech, you are naturally going to be able to charge more money. The top speakers charge $10,000 or more for presentations. Some excellent speakers only charge $1,500. The range varies, but the key is you need to find a number that works for you when you are determining your price. When you decide on that number, practice saying it over and over again.
When a decision-maker asks for your fee, say the number and SHUT UP! Learn to enjoy the uncomfortable silence and let them respond. This is where you start to learn about sales and negotiation skills, an important set of skills for every professional speaker to develop. Part of these skills include never apologizing for your fees.
Finally, check out my article, The Truth About Becoming a Paid Mental Health Speaker…
The most fun and satisfying part of being a motivational speaker for youth has been the young people that I have met. I LOVE SPEAKING TO YOUTH! I’m so grateful that I get to do it and get paid for it. It’s a wonderful experience to be on stage, knowing that I have an opportunity to change a young person’s life for the better.
What questions do you have about becoming a motivational speaker for youth events?
Please leave your question(s) in the comment box below…
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