My apologies for the lack of blogging recently; I have been pretty busy with talks and speechwriting over the past few weeks so I now have quite a few posts to add, each, as always, containing at least one useful presentation skills tip...
New Forest Veterans of Normandy
On 28 March, I spoke on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer to the Normandy Veterans Association New Forest Branch in Ringwood.
There were around 60 there for this morning meeting, including a number of women who, I assumed, were wives, widows or daughters of veterans. Many members travel considerable distances to attend, for example, Mr Ball, their Speaker Secretary, comes in all the way from Yeovil.
They were a very good audience and I received a number of compliments afterwards.
I mentioned last year that I had collected all the DVDs of the World at War TV series given away with the Daily Mail. The night before this talk, I made a point of once again watching the programme devoted to the Normandy Landings, not because I was going to mention anything about them in my talk, but simply to remind me of the incredible shared experience of this remarkable audience.
Public Speaking Tip #187: Doing some background research about your audience - even if none of it will be used for tailored content - helps to give a speaker a fuller appreciation of them.
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Monday, April 28
Audience Appreciation
by
Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)
on Mon 28 Apr 2008 08:12 AM BST
So where do public speakers find their public? (Part 3)
by
Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)
on Mon 28 Apr 2008 06:02 AM BST
Who books speakers?
In my last two posts, I mentioned how Sarah Rourke could use public speaking to promote her podcasting company, not only by addressing business clubs but also by giving a more general presentation about her radio production career to a wider range of organisations. I am now going to list some of the types of groups I speak to on a regular basis (I have a feeling that this will be one of those posts where I keep thinking of further information to add afterwards so it might be worthwhile to revisit it from time to time!) Please note that although I have given links to the national websites of many of these organisations so that you can find out more about them, you should contact individual local branches if you want to be considered as a speaker, not their national HQs. Probus: I have given more talks for Probus than any other organisation. These clubs hold monthly meetings for retired professional and business people (hence the name Pro-bus). There are thousands of these clubs worldwide, many with waiting lists, and members meet purely for social reasons, not charity fundraising. The majority are men's clubs but there are an increasing number of ladies' Probus and (certainly in my home county of Dorset) some which are mixed. The single sex Probus clubs have regular meetings where partners are invited and these pay a slightly higher fee. Although most of these clubs have meetings in hotels or restaurants that are based around a lunch (to which the speaker is always invited as a guest), there are some Probus which just meet for coffee mornings in village halls. Morning Probus talks can be up to an hour whereas speakers after a lunch may be asked for, say, 40 minutes. Some also have annual dinners with a guest speaker. Attendances can range from around 25 to 80 for a meeting with guests. The audiences are welcoming, highly attentive and appreciative and ask some excellent questions. Although Probus clubs usually meet every month, it is worth pointing out that there is a policy of encouraging their own members to deliver talks about their careers or interests so there are not necessarily twelve speaking slots for outside speakers to fill each year. This is more than compensated for by the sheer numbers of these clubs around the country; sometimes even tiny towns will have two or three very well-attended Probus clubs. Ladies' Luncheon Clubs: Besides Probus, there are many other clubs for 'ladies who lunch' which book speakers. Some of these are actually Conservative ladies' luncheon clubs but they don't mention this in their names. I have found that politics is rarely mentioned at many of these clubs, except perhaps to announce that a well-known MP has been booked as a speaker at some future meeting. As with Probus, some book speakers for the morning, others for a shorter spot after the lunch. It is very rare for a speaker not to be invited as a guest to the meal itself. Ladies' luncheon clubs may seem a little overwhelming to some (male) novice speakers, especially as audiences can range in number from, say, 20 to well over 100, but they are generally very friendly audiences - provided your material is appropriate and you don't patronise them! Women's Institutes: Although they are mainly thought of as a rural organisation, many urban areas also have WIs. I wrote in some detail about WIs and their speaker selection process last month and in my very first post in this blog last August, I tried to dispel some of the preconceived ideas about what WIs are like as audiences. Townswomen's Guilds: Seen by some as urban versions of Women's Institutes (there is a saying that you should never mention the WI to a Townswomen; in reality, many members belong to both!), there are also TGs in many small rural towns and larger villages. Their monthly meetings can be in the morning, afternoon or evening and attendances can range from around 20 to 80. Talks tend to last an hour with questions and they have special Federation events, such as annual lunches, and also residentials which feature instructional speakers. There is no audition process for lists of TG speakers; they seem to be compiled according to recommendations from individual Guilds who have enjoyed a speaker's presentation. Trefoil Guilds are (usually fairly small) groups of women involved in Guiding and Scouting. Again, they book speakers as entertainment for their meetings. Rotary International: With the motto 'service above self', Rotary is the biggest of the service (ie charity fundraising) organisations in the UK. Until recently, Rotary was a men-only organisation but women are now allowed to join (although not all Rotary clubs have them yet!) Rotarians meet weekly, either for breakfast, lunch or dinner meetings but it is usually only the evening clubs which represent much of a market for speakers - and then only monthly as the other meetings are devoted more to business. Rotary Clubs also have occasional Partners' Evenings and, as with Probus, these larger audiences may pay a slightly higher fee. Audiences tend to be aged from 50 upwards and are very responsive. It is worth pointing out that annual Charter Meetings and Christmas dinners may be a little, er, boisterous in the case of some clubs! Inner Wheel: These are the wives and partners of Rotarians. They also do a great deal of charity work and have their own separate meetings with speakers. 41 Club: These are former members of Round Table who have to leave when they are 45 (it used to be 41, hence the name which has not been changed). There are fewer of these clubs but, like Rotary, they do a great deal for charity. Their monthly meetings also feature speakers. Once again, it is worth pointing out that, perhaps because of their slightly younger age and their background in hard-drinking Round Tables, these audiences can sometimes be rather lively! Tangent: Wives and partners of 41 Club members who used to be in the Ladies' Circle. They also raise funds and book meetings with speakers. Another women's charity organisation which sometimes books speakers, at least for annual events, is Soroptimist International. Two further service organisations which may book speakers for their monthly meetings are Lions Clubs International and Moose International. There are numerous clubs for former members of HM Armed Forces, with local branches booking speakers on a wide range of subjects. These organisations include: the Royal British Legion, the RAF Association and Women's Auxhiliary Air Force Association, the Royal Naval Association and the Association of Wrens, the REME Association, the Normandy Veterans Association, the Royal Army Medical Corps Association... Retirement Clubs are a huge market for those giving talks. Some examples are: the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship, the NHS Retirement Fellowship, the National Association of Retired Police Officers, the National Association of Retired Firefighters, the National Federation of Royal Mail and BT Pensioners... There are a phenomenal number of other groups, whose members may have worked for national organisations or for companies such as British Gas, Southern Electricity, Boots or Sainsbury's. I am approached all the time by organisations I didn't even know existed! I have mentioned the University of the Third Age (U3A) in my blog. They hold monthly social meetings with guest speakers for their members, sometimes with audiences of up to 200, aged 50-plus. Many churches have fellowships who book speakers. I should mention that their meetings often begin with a short service, perhaps consisting of a hymn and a prayer - something to bear in mind if you have differing religious beliefs or none at all. As far as these groups are concerned, I have noticed that although most of them book a wide range of speakers, Mothers' Unions only seem to book talks related to Christianity, charities, etc. Your presentation might have a particular appeal to a group such as a literary or historical society. Which brings me on to special interest organisations. Now, you might think that a Decorative and Fine Arts Society, A Quilting Club and a Recorded Music Society would only book speakers concerned with those subjects - and you would be right. So the same would presumably apply to a Rose Society, a Wine Circle, a Morris Minor Owners Club, a Diabetic Association and a Welsh Society, right? Wrong! I have spoken to all of these types of groups on my usual topics which have nothing to do with horticulture, home brewing, classic cars, medical developments or the land of my grandparents! Public Speaking Tip #184: Organisations connected with a particular field of interest may book speakers on totally unrelated subjects. Try to obtain a copy of their events calendar for the year ahead to see what sort of speakers they have lined up. How can speakers get booked? The above list is by no means exhaustive but it should give you some idea of the range of organisations that might book you. I have mentioned about the Women's Institutes' speaker selection process for their Yearbooks in each Federation but how can you make yourself known to other organisations? Firstly, I would forget about press advertising. Although advertising in magazines did result in a certain number of engagements for me in the past, many of the ads failed to 'pull' and the whole exercise was not very profitable overall. But a good newspaper interview or article about you which just happens to mention that you are a speaker could bring in some bookings: a profile piece about me in a relatively small circulation free community magazine years ago led to about half a dozen talks in that area over the next 18 months or so - plus some subsequent visits. I have become very well known to a large number of organisations, often being booked anything up to half a dozen times by them. I also get a large number of recommendations, either from organisations I have spoken to or from other speakers, I have passed 12 WI auditions so I am in a very large number of their Yearbooks and this blog/site is starting to produce bookings as well but...I still have to keep approaching organisations who have not booked me before in order to keep the bookings at a certain level. Here's how I do it... At speaking engagements: the Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers leaflet which I give out free contains a list of all my talks plus my contact details. People often pass these on to other societies they belong to and this does lead to bookings. Is there an informative handout you could distribute after your presentations which could include contact details as well? The booklets I merchandise also contain my contact details. I also have detailed leaflets with tempting details about my different talks which I send out by email or post to organisations. Where my original and most popular talk My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer is concerned, I have a special version of the leaflet about this for Probus Clubs which mentions how many of these I have spoken to, the different types of Probus events and, of course, extracts from the dozens of unsolicited compliments I have received in letters from them or the write-ups they have given me in local newspapers, etc. I also have a special version of this leaflet for WIs, with details of all the auditions I have passed, WI testimonial extracts, etc. There are also versions for literary festivals and writers' groups, retirement clubs, Rotary, social clubs and functions, Townswomen's Guilds and women's groups, all with tailored CV additions and appropriate testimonials. But I still use pretty much the same methods to get these around as I did when I was still a relatively new speaker and only had one subject and one leaflet. When I speak in a venue such as a community association where many different groups meet, I look at the notice boards where they advertise to see if they look as if they would book any of my talks and then take down the contact details. Many centres publish a regular newsletter with details of all the activities of the organisations who meet there and how to get in touch with them. I read local papers, church magazines, etc, which have club reports. Often there will be a contact name and phone number which I can match with an address in the telephone directory so that I can write to them. If there is no name, just a phone number, I will ring and ask if there is an address where I can send details of my talks to. People don't mind once they find out that I am a speaker and not some other cold caller trying to sell them home improvements! Which brings me to an important point because I know that some of you will be thinking about these unsolicited approaches to speaker secretaries and wondering whether they are likely to complain. All I can say is that I have found that organisations are always looking for new speakers and are genuinely pleased to be given details of something new. I have never had one complaint about this. The 'worst' responses that I have had were some phone calls telling me very nicely that certain clubs no longer meet or that they do not book outside speakers. Public Speaking Tip #185: Speaker secretaries are always on the lookout for new speakers for their members to hear and welcome non-pushy approaches. There seems to be no such thing as 'speaker spam' (yet!) I look at websites of clubs and societies. Not all of them have a site, of course, but a huge number do have at least some details listed in online directories published by local authorities. Then I email a leaflet with a covering message. So that these attachments are not filtered out as potential spam, I put the name of the club followed by 'Speaker Details Attached' in the subject box and they seem to get through. If there is no email address, I will post a leaflet second class to the snail mail address given. Again, I put 'Speaker Details Enclosed' on the envelope. And if I cannot find any contact details for an organisation but I know where they meet, I will write to them care of that hotel or hall. I have obtained bookings this way. Some bookings come in almost instantly if your details arrive just as another speaker has cancelled; others may take longer. But if you have already spoken well on one topic and then send out details of a brand new one, the results can be quite startling. At the beginning of 2004, I mailed out just over 100 leaflets to organisations who I had spoken to in the past, this time with details of my new presentation about Patrick Campbell. Within a month, a third of them had booked me to come and deliver this new talk sometime over the next 18 months and the bookings just kept coming in, in fact, of the 11 engagements I had in March 2005, 8 were for that talk! Public Speaking Tip #186: One of the questions a speaker is most frequently asked after a successful presentation is 'Do you have any other titles?' As soon as you have some, let everyone know - it's virtually a guaranteed market for you! |
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