Month: March 2020

Life of a professional speaker

Speakers: Keep singing! (Professional Speaking. Episode 276.)

By Fredrik Haren

Birds sing in the forest. But put them in a cage and some of them still sing. Be that bird.

As speakers, we are used to be on the big stages, in front of 1000’s of people. So that is not happening at the moment. And to be frank: It will not happen for quite a while.

But do not let that stop you from spreading your message. If you are not sharing your message now, you were never a messenger – you were “just” a speaker.

When the market comes back, we will get booked again – especially the messengers.

Personally I have been creating, sharing and collecting more content in the last month than in any other month in my 20+ year speaking career. I suggest you do too if you are serious about professional speaking.

 

 

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The business of speaking

How to create a video that sells you as a speaker – without selling you as a speaker. (Professional Speaking. Episode 275.)

By Fredrik Haren

Last night I released a video that I have worked on for months.

I had 2 cameramen following me around the world to capture my work as a global keynote speaker.
(They went with me to 4 countries during a total of 10 days.)

All in all I used clips from my trips around from over 10 countries: From North Korea to The Maldives.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/wsjaIAKauhQ

I am sharing this video with you as an example of how a “Speaker showreel” does not have to look like a “speaker showreel”.
Yes, I am showing some clips of me on the stage for a few seconds at the end of the video, but the vibe of the video is not about me as a professional speaker – it is about me as “The Creativity Explorer”.

I think people are much more interested in a topic – than in a speaker. So instead I created a “trailer” for “The Creativity Explorer”.

I hope it will work as an inspiration for how you could create your own video

ps. Keep developing every aspect of your professional speaking career. Work on all aspects of your business – including the videos! – so that you are ready when the market comes back.

Here is the link to the video again: https://youtu.be/wsjaIAKauhQ

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Life of a professional speaker

Right strategy. Almost. A speaker war story. (Professional Speaking. Episode 274)

By Fredrik Haren

I think this will be a valuable lesson because we learn the most from stories where not everything goes perfect.

As a global speaker, I started to pivot and move my focus from Asia to Europe 6 weeks ago as I saw how conferences in Asia started to get canceled.

On short notice I was able to secure 5 speaking slots in Sweden for one week in March.

I was supposed to fly to Sweden tomorrow to deliver those talks next week.

Yesterday and today they all choose to postpone their events to later in the year, due to big Covid-19 outbreaks in Sweden this week…

My observation was right – almost.
My understanding was right – almost.
My execution was right – almost.

And if the outbreak in Sweden would have stated just a few days later I would now have been on my way home to Asia again after delivering 5 speeches in Sweden.

Instead, I have 5 more postponed events to add to the list of already postponed events.

Sometimes you can get it almost right, and yet end up with nothing. Like a fish getting off your hook just as you pull it out of the water. I tell you this story to inspire you to keep trying to get it right. “Almost” is very close to “Got it”.

#speaker #publicspeaking #professionalspeaking

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