Who knows where the time goes?

Hey ho, midsummer's day is just past and I have less than five months of my presidency to go. I'm glad to say that things have gone extremely well so far. I've achieved almost all of the targets that I set for myself at the start of the year, and the remainder should be ticked off soon. Time for a sun lounger and a cold beer? Well, not exactly. In fact far from it. It's time to start devoting myself to my real business again soon.

Since I'm going to be keeping up my work rate as PSA President until the very last minute, I need to make sure that come the 10th of November, I can start earning money again. Of course, I have been doing bits and pieces of work throughout the year, but being a volunteer president on an expense budget of zero does make my accountant wince.

Like everything else, you need to do something to make things happen. I was appalled to hear a speaker say recently "All you need to do is to visualise what you want, and it will happen". What nonsense. I'm visualising a pile of tenners right now. Hang on..... Nope, nothing. I'd better do something. Time to make those phone calls.

Gearing up for the big ones

There are two speaking conventions that I never miss. The PSA, here in the UK is an obvious one - particularly this year, while I'm President. It's on the 7th to 9th November at the Forest of Arden Marriott near Birmingham, in case you hadn't noticed. There will be masses of enlightenment, and bags of entertainment. I guarantee it will be worth every penny of the ridiculously low fee (only £495 plus VAT for the whole weekend, including all hotel expenses, if you book early).

The other, of course, is the National Speakers Association in the USA. This year it's in New York from 2nd to 5th August, and I have been given the honour of presenting on the youth programme. What a treat.

Actually, now I come to think of it, I had a great time in Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Kuala Lumpur and South Africa too. I really don't want to miss them either. I should have got a bigger passport.

Doing what we do

I attended a fantastic event last Saturday. It was brilliantly organised by Roger Harrop, my very good friend and my successor as PSA President, when I hand him the reins this November. And yes, it was a PSA event.

The standard of speaking was excellent, with a mix of contrasting styles on display. It just goes to show that there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to professional speaking. In addition, there were a couple of "question time"-type panel discussions where the experts fielded tricky questions. That's the bit that often unnerves even the best speaker, but these guys were very polished in their responses. I learnt a lot. I always do, despite the fact that I've been speaking on stages around the world for thirty years. One day I'll crack this business....

So what did Mark tell you?

OK, I've had so many requests for this piece of brilliant business advice, I've decided to put it in here.

This comes from a meeting with Mark LeBlanc, President of the National Speaker Association, when we met in Halifax Nova Scotia last year. I've used the advice since, and it works. Here it is -

Don't worry about calendar or financial years - focus on the next 30 days.

Decide how many bookings you want at what fee in each 30 day period - "X days at a fee of Y"

Every morning ask yourself - "What am I going to do today to help me book X days at a fee of Y?"

Every evening, ask yourself - "What did I do today to help me book X days at a fee of Y?"

That's it. It's that simple.

It doesn't even matter when you do the work, as long as you make the bookings.

Go on - try it out!

Back with a vengeance

Well back, anyway. I know, I know, I've done the usual blogging thing of starting off enthusiastically and then disappearing. Well, with the advent of the brilliant new website, I'm back in action.

Over the past month, I've spoken on five continents - in Paris, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Durban. Yes, I am a bit tired,and somewhat bored with airline food. The great thing was meeting professional speakers all over the world at their national events. The standard is very high (though we in the PSA can hold our heads up on the world stage), and I learnt a great deal. I'll be passing that on to you over the next few messages.

Watch this space! (Well not this one, because there's text in it already - but you know what I mean).

Where does the time go?

OK, I've been a bit tardy (posh word for lazy) in writing this blog recently. However, I've given myself a good talking to, and now I'm back on the case.

To be fair, I have been a bit busy, often with PSA activities. I've been at a Board Meeting, a Strategy Session, a very successful National Meeting (more of which in a moment), agreed speakers and pricing for the Convention in November, helped continue the search for a new Secretariat, and answered emails from dozens of members. Oh yes, I've had to look after my paid clients too.

So - back to the National Meeting, which was in London on Saturday 19th January. Brilliantly organised by Roger Harrop, and called "Four Fellows and a President", it focused on issues of interest to speakers that we don't often discuss - ethics and fees for example. Almost seventy people packed into the hall, and the audio system (ably provided by Fergus McClelland) was excellent. Two panel discussions generated some lively debates, and one or two questions had me struggling for answers, to my chagrin and the entertainment of the audience. Fair enough - as President I'm there to take on the tough questions.

Very soon (I'll tell you when), you'll be able to sign up for the November Convention, which will be a sell-out. Make sure you book early.

Happy New Year!

OK, break over, back to your desks. Today (7th Jan) sees the rush back to work - as evidenced by the flood of traffic (3 cars) past my window at 7am. As do their drivers, as does this blog.

I'm making travel plans today for various excursions. Can't say too much, since some of them are "mystery shopping" trips, in preparation for a speech in 10 days time. I'm told that some of the shops have got wind of the fact that I'm visiting, and have posted a picture of me in the staff room. Ah well. I used to do a lot of this type of thing when I worked at Which? magazine - hidden cameras, the lot. As a result of my investigations, I never eat food from a salad buffet in a restaurant, or pick up one of the mints in the bowl by the till (don't ask).

I wonder if speakers should be "mystery shopped"? I wouldn't object to it at all if it happened to me. In fact, I think the more scrutiny the better. Now, where did I put that tiny camera?