Public Speaking | Page 7

Ever listen to a speaker who employs a plodding pace and maddeningly steady monotone? Don't let that be you.

Prepare carefully for your speech but, remember, everyone is there to see you. Let your personality show.

Learn to read the cues from the audience and adjust accordingly.

If you've transformed yourself from mess to success, you might have the makings of a new career helping others as a motivational speaker.

Bernie Swain had no experience in his field when he quit his job and started the Washington Speakers Bureau in 1980.

Consider counterbalancing your freedom of speech with your right to remain silent. Both are precious.

Why not set yourself up to get paid to share what you know?

It's going to take more than a wish and a vision board to transform yourself into a successful paid speaker.

If you want to start speaking, here's what you need to know to avoid wasting your time.

You need a plan for when your plan isn't working, and then another plan for when nothing is working.

Preparation, packaging, and promotion will make the difference between whether you get paid to speak or not.

A successful speaker should deliver content that will impress, amaze and excite an audience.

Speakers who invest and hire pros to make them look like superstars are the ones who's fees double, triple, in sometimes quadruple.

Before you take the stage, you have to effectively market yourself as a speaker.

How I scored speaking gigs, press and community by just being myself.

A million years of evolution trained our brains to see danger, even if we overlooked opportunity. We need to keep evolving.

Save yourself from frustration and embarrassment with these simple tips.

Whatever your motivation, paid public speaking is an exciting, mentally stimulating way to make some cash.

Time is limited, and attention spans are short. Make a smart move, and use video to capture your audience and tell your story.

Jim McKelvey advises aspirational entrepreneurs to listen to the stories of accomplished people with a healthy dose of skepticism. Listen and learn, to be sure, but don't take anyone else's journey as gospel.

Don't let fear silence you, understand how to embrace your nerves at the podium and you will deliver.