Is this the year you become a professional public speaker?  And if you’re interested in the idea, what are the first steps?

If you’ve sat in an audience watching the keynote at your industry’s annual conference and thought, “I could do that,” then maybe this is your year.  Or, if you’ve given speeches to small groups of 100 people or less, and it’s gone well and you’ve loved the great feedback you’ve gotten, then maybe this is your year.  Or if you’re the kind of person that lights up a room when you walk in, then maybe this is your year.

Probably the only bad reason to think about a career as a public speaker is the thought that, “Hey – $20K for an hour’s worth of work – what’s not to love?”  Because the hour that you see a keynoter on the stage is the culmination of many, many hours of preparation.  So don’t start out on a career in public speaking thinking that it will be a very easy, very lucrative hobby.

Why not?  First of all, the bad news.  Since the Great Recession, the world of conferences and keynote speakers has recovered nicely, and that means to you that there is lots of competition.  It’s probably harder than it has ever been to break into professional speaker given all the people in line ahead of you.

And too many of those people are ready to speak for free, or nearly free, to get experience (and one day become a paid speaker).  The result is that the first question a conference organizer will ask you if you do enter the fray is, “We have no budget; will you speak for free?”

What they really mean is, “We have all of our speaker fee budget (a relatively small part of our overall budget) allocated to hire Malcolm Gladwell, since he’ll bring in a bunch of paying customers, so we’re hoping to fill the rest of the speaking slots with freebies.”  And it’s all too easy for those meeting planners to fill those slots in that way.

So the competition is tough.  And then the road is long.  You’ve got to develop your message and voice, find your audience, spread the word, and build demand for your speaking.  Don’t start on that road this year unless you can answer yes to the following three questions:

1. Am I more passionate about my idea than I am about sleep?
2. Am I willing to put in the hard work developing my chops, refining my message, and building my contacts?
3. Is my ego strong enough to take me through the development period, and humble enough to realize that it’s not all about me, but rather the idea in service to other people?

Realize that three “yeses” is the start of a very long journey.  And here’s wishing you every success this year and beyond.