The business of speaking

Honestly Speaking

By Fredrik Haren

Tonight I had the privilege to meet up with Andrew Vine, founder and CEO The Insight Bureau. I was honoured to receive one of the very first copies of his new book: “Honestly Speaking”.

There are thousands of books about professional speaking written by speakers, some are great, some are good and many are bad. But there are very, very few books written about professional speaking written from the other side – from the perspective of how to HIRE a professional speaker. Thankfully, now finally there is. In Honestly Speaking Andrew Vine shares his extensive expertise from placing thousands and thousands of some of the best speakers in the world . Andrew Vine is one of the world’s most experiences speaker representatives and he has helped countless companies and conference organisers get the right speaker for their events. In this book he now shares his experience on how to – and how not to – book a speaker. Getting the right speaker for the event can be the difference between a great conference or a terrible one and considering the amount of money that goes into organising a big conference it is mind-blowing how little professional work some companies put into getting the right speaker.

This book is essential for anyone who work with booking speakers and organising conferences. And it should also be compulsory reading for anyone who is, or wants to be, a professional speaker. You should really not be allowed to handle a big or important conference that includes booking speakers without first reading this book.

To find out more about the book go to: Amazon.

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Life of a professional speaker

The job for people who do not like to work all the time.

By Fredrik Haren

(Vadoo Island, The Maldives)

For the last two months I have done almost no speaking.

Instead I have been on paternity leave. (Look at my other blog – www.paternityDad.com to find out more.)

So my days have been full of trips to the zoo, trips to the playgrounds – and as of right now, a trip to The Maldives with my youngest daughter and my wife.

It has been bonding galore.

The perfect thing with being a professional speaker is that you can take periods off like this.

The job market for keynote speakers are seasonal. Almost all big corporate conferences take place during a few months in the autumn (September to November) and a few months in the spring (basically March to June).

(It is easy to understand why: If you organise a big conference with hundreds of people you do not want to put in during a time when there is a big risk that many of the delegates that you want to attend are gone on vacation.)

So even if I can do 100 speeches in 30+ countries in a year I normally have a couple of months off during the summer and more or less one months of (at least) around Christmas.)

When I work I work like crazy.

When I travel I travel like crazy.

But when I do not, I rest, play with my kids and relax – to make sure I do not go crazy.

People who are just getting into the industry of speaking tend to get stressed out when they do not have any bookings for weeks in the summer (or in December).

That is the wrong response.

A speaker should get stressed out when he or she is not booked solid during the “speaking season”.

During the low-times you hibernate so that you can be full of energy when the active season kicks-in.

Or at least that is how I look at the business of global professional speaking.

 

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Life of a professional speaker

Up in the air. (the commute of a global speaker)

By Fredrik Haren

(Stockholm, Sweden)

You are booked for a speech in Bangkok on a Wednesday that will end at 12.00 noon (Thailand time).

You have another booking in Stockholm, Sweden, that begins at 3 pm (Sweden time) on Friday.

Now a client calls you and asks if you can speak on the island of Hainan, in Southern China on Thursday morning.

What would you say?

Some speakers would say: “Sorry, but I am already booked in two countries on two continents in three days, so it is not possible.”

Some speakers would say: “It looks tight, but let me check the flights.” (And when they realise that the flight they would have to take is a flight from Bangkok to Shenzhen and then onwards to Hainan leaves Bangkok at 2.05 pm they would say, “It’s too tight.”

And then there are the global speakers. 🙂

I replied: “I would love to!”

I then booked the 2.05 pm flight (and also a back-up ticket for a flight leaving 3.25 pm but not arriving in Hainan until 1.25 pm (which would not be ideal since it would mean too little sleep, but it would work as a back-up would I miss the 2.05 flight.)

12.05 I leave the conference room to jump into a waiting car that got me to the airport at 12.55 pm.

Arrive in Hainan 11 pm. Arrive at hotel at 11.50 pm.

Gave speech in Hainan 9-10 am on Thursday. Hanged around on the beach all day. Boarded a plane from Hainan to Hong Kong at 20.2o pm. Had a 1,5 hour lay-over in Hong Kong and then flew to Stockholm (via Helsinki) to arrive in Sweden at 8 am. In hotel at 9 am. Early check-in to get 3 hours of sleep in a bed. Shower, breakfast and at conference at 1 pm to listen to the other speakers. 3 pm speak in Sweden.

Three speeches, in three countries, on two continents (including 6 flights and 7 airports) in around 60 hours.

I even got to experience a sand-castle building competition on the beach.

If you want to be a global speaker you have to be ready to make travel arrangements like this.

The life of a global speaker is the opposite of a “normal” job.

A normal job has 40 hours of work per week and 8 hours of commuting.

A global speaker has 5 hours of work per week, and 40 hours of commuting…

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