Speak for a Living: The Insider's Guide to Building a Speaking Career

INTRODUCTION

I gave my first paid speech in a big red barn in Toad Suck, Arkansas. I got paid $500 and, boy, was I happy. I’m pleased to say I’ve come a long way since that day I propped my handouts and notes, literally, on a haystack. To add more irony to that first paid professional engagement, you have to know that I am a New Yorker from the Bronx.

Toad Suck was about as far away from my world and reality as you can get. But that’s the life of a speaker/trainer. We often find ourselves in places around the globe that are far removed from the world we call home. And how fortunate are we to be welcomed into the diverse and different worlds and cultures of others? Very! When a speaker is invited to step into and experience someone else’s world—other ...