I’m very excited to announce our first annual Public Words Speaker Forum (2010) for June 11-12, 2010.  The professional speaking world is changing rapidly, the book business (speakers need published books) is changing even more rapidly, and we need to get some smart minds together to sort it all out.  The event will be held in conjunction with The Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School, in the historic Taubman building on the Kennedy School campus in Cambridge, MA.  We’re also going to give a select number of speakers a chance to show their stuff in talks that will be recorded so that we can create professional-quality DVDs for them. 

The Forum will begin with a day devoted to exploring the current state of the public speaking world with some of the smartest minds in the business.  In a series of discussions and talks, we’ll hear from a successful speaker, marketing and content experts, a social media expert, literary agents, publishers, speakers’ bureau representatives, and meeting planners.  There will be opportunities throughout the day for networking and detailed discussions with experts in the public speaking business, as well speakers themselves.  We’ll close the day with what we hope will become a Speaker Forum tradition:  an improv demonstration and contest that will encourage all speakers present to develop their ability to respond in the moment to whatever an audience sends their way! 

The second day will feature a showcase of some of the most interesting speakers currently on the circuit.  David Meerman Scott is our first headliner who’s signed up.  These presentations will be taped, and a panel of industry experts will review the speeches afterward.  Participants will receive professional-quality DVDs of their speeches to use in their marketing.  In addition, for those who don’t want to attempt an entire speech, we’ll be recording 3-minute clips for promotional use on the Web.  

Attendees will gain an insider’s knowledge of the speaking business and an understanding of what it takes to establish and sustain a successful public speaking career. 

Let me know if you’re interested – click on the link and sign up. 

And please make any suggestions for content you’d like to see discussed, and ideas for making the Forum a success. 

Here’s a tentative (evolving) agenda: 

June 10, Thursday:

Drinks and dinner for attendees who arrive in time

June 11, Friday:

Day One Agenda:

8:00 – 9:00:  A Successful Public Speaker Tells How He Did It

9:00 – 10:00:  Messaging and Content Development:  How to find your audience (Mark Bloomfield)

10:00 – 11:00:  How to Structure the Content and Deliver the Best Speech of Your Life (Dr. Nick Morgan)

11:00 – 12:00:  Traditional PR or Social Media?  How to Create an Audience that Wants to Hear You Speak
 
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

1:00 – 2:00:  A Literary Agent’s Perspective:  What It Takes to Get a Speaker’s Book Published (Esmond Harmsworth, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency)

2:00 – 3:00: A Publisher Speaks:  What You Should Know about the Publishing Business (Jeff Kehoe, Harvard Business School Publishing)

3:00 – 4:00: The Speakers’ Bureau and You:  How to Work Well with the Best (Martin Perelmuter, CEO, Speakers Spotlight)

4:00 – 5:00:  A Meeting Planner Dishes on Speakers:  What You Need to Know to Get Hired Again (Christine Carlson, V-P, PrudentialFoxRoach)

5:00 – 5:30:  Improv and Public Speaking (Steve Kleinedler, ImprovBoston)

Dinner reception

June 12, Saturday:

Agenda:

9:00 – 4:00:

The day will showcase some of the current top speakers and each speaker will be reviewed by an expert panel of industry insiders.  (Lunch and refreshment breaks included.)

Including:  David Meerman Scott