Some people are intentional about getting their speaking career started. Maybe they’re in it to  spread a meaningful message, which in return could gain them and audience and make them a thought-leader in their field. Maybe they are primarily in it for the money, since speaking can lead to a very lucrative career. Then there are some people who accidentally stumble into it. They don’t even realize that they are doing it every day and an opportunity comes up that they take advantage of. You can choose to speak for any number of reasons, but fear often stops many of us from ever getting started. Being a Professional Public Speaker, Motivational Speaker or whatever you want to call it is definitely getting more popular, but even with numerous speakers around, it’s still somewhat unchartered territory. There is a fear of the unknown. So before you know it, an avenue that could bring your more business and really allow you to make a huge impact in this world is one you decide to shy away from. Not only from the main stage, but from the small opportunities that may pop up every now and then. It’s truly unfortunate, because I find the many people overthink getting simply getting started.

For those of you who don’t realize this, each one of us will forever be judged until our time is up. Yet, the fear of being judged is the most common thing I hear people say stops them from pursuing Public Speaking and it gets me every time. On the job you most likely have yearly reviews, maybe even quarterly. You are judged on your performance. In relationships, if you aren’t being consistent and you start to lack in some area, judgment will start to bleed through. In regular conversation, if you happen to say conversate instead of converse… trust me…you’ll get those looks. My friend, those are looks of judgement. We go through everyday life being judged on a constant basis, plus we judge others.  Yes, being a Public Speaker opens you up to be judged by hundreds or even thousands. But you learn so much and it only makes you better. Don’t let the fear of being judged make you quit before getting started.

But how do I go about getting a demo video? That’s a question I get a lot as well. I don’t have enough of an audience? I’m not popular enough. I don’t have the right equipment. My keynote isn’t perfect like I want it to be. These are popular misconceptions behind the purpose of a demo video. People think that you have to have a full audience and all the fancy equipment to get footage.  Some people have a lot of resources to start out with and may come out the gate with a killer demo video, while some won’t have as much. Doesn’t matter, because the purpose of a demo video isn’t to showcase a whole 45 minute keynote. The purpose is to show highlights of the most important things that you feel will really resonate with a perspective viewer. It could literally be multiple 15 second clips that make up a minute and a half to two minute video. Think of your movie trailer. They’re usually no longer than two minutes and they show all of the highlights of the movie. Usually they give you reason buy tickets to watch the movie in full. In other words, those movie trailers leave you wanting more. That’s exactly what you want to do with your demo video, leave perspective clients wanting more.

If you are just starting out, you can make a video demo with just yourself. I know it don’t sounds like much, but until you get to where you envision yourself being, you have to work with what you have. That means not waiting until you have one hundred people in the audience. That means not waiting until you are officially a paid speaker. That means not waiting until you feel like your content is 100% perfect. That means recording a session even when you are only speaking to two or three people. That means your first 10 professional engagements may not include a speaking fee, but you can get great demo footage. That means when you review your demo footage, you may see some mistakes and things that you really need to improve on. If you let the hundreds of excuses stop you, how can you figure out how great you can become. Don’t let the silly things stop you from being impactful. The Public Speaking game allows you to make an impact. But you have to want to do it. You have to be willing to put yourself out there.

Make your next presentation, your best presentation!

Sincerely,

Julian A. Leonard
(Founder of The JLeonard Group LLC)

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