Speaking can be a part-time job that you use as an essential part of your business strategies. It can also become a rewarding full time career. As a speaker you have the opportunity to help lots of people while possibly gaining financial rewards and becoming a local celebrity.

The secret to have a prosperous career in professional speaking is mastering the three main aspects of the speaking industry.These are public speaking skills, finding your niche, and marketing to your chosen...

Consider these 7 tips to boost your career in public speaking!

Find a mentor:

It is always beneficial to have someone to look up to. Having a mentor with credibility and relative success will not only inspire you but can also help you mold your own style in public speaking. Try to find someone who inspires you to improve your speech and yourself. Find someone to emulate. Learn from his or her examples.

Practice, Practice, Practice:

Constantly hone your...

Preaching what you don't practice

Motivational speakers usually talk about ways of overcoming adversity. They are generally considered life strategists, enlightened and knowledgeable about particular life topics. In this industry, a level of integrity needs to be maintained. If a speaker does not practice what he preaches, it shows the audience that he or she does not believe in their own teachings.

In a business sense, motivational speakers have products that can inspire...

Don’t knock it; “Keep It Simple, Stupid” is a great rule to live by. Nobody likes a website to “yell” at them, with blaring colors and flashing lights. Too many buttons will turn customers off. I had this problem with my homepage at . A colleague of mine, who makes a lot of money, pointed out the cluttered look of my site. I had worked so closely on every detail of the page; that I couldn’t see it for what it was anymore.

I set out to simplify...

Sigmund Freud wrote:

"The most favorable condition for comic pleasure is a generally happy disposition in which one is in the mood for laughter. In happy toxic states almost everything seems comic. We laugh at the expectation of laughing, at the appearance of one who is presenting the comic material (sometimes even before he [she] attempts to make us laugh), and finally, we laugh at the recollection of having laughed."

This concept has been termed 'in fun' by...

One-liner is a general term for very short pieces of humor. Using one-liners is probably the best and easiest way to begin adding humor to your public speaking engagements. These brief bits of humor are quick and easy to deliver and they don't have to be all that funny to be effective. If you are a little apprehensive about using humor, this is the place to start.

The audience likes one-liners, because they can get a quick mental break from content heavy material. Also, if the...

Do you remember that song by Lynyrd Skynyrd? 'Gimme three steps, gimme three steps mister, gimme three steps towards the door.' I try to remember that song when I am moving on stage during a public speaking engagement.

When you are moving on the stage, make sure that your movement has a purpose. If you take a step, go at least three steps in that direction to cue the audience that you are moving for a reason. One of the biggest problems I see, even when coaching top speakers, is...

Question-and-answer sessions are great opportunities to show off your sense of humor and get audience participation during a public speaking engagement. Let's see how we can have some fun with them.

A good way to open up a Q & A session is to say, 'The last time I opened up for a Q & A session, the first question I got was 'What time is it?' or 'Can I be excused?' or 'Aren't you getting tired up there?' Say anything except the old boring 'Now let's open it up for...

When you speak a lot you run into some crazy room setups. It's your job to be there early to make sure all the little preparation details taken care of. One of these details is the visibility of you and your visuals from each chair in the audience.

It doesn't even amaze me any more that a hotel room setup crew would put up a projection screen that 1/3 of the audience couldn't possibly see. Most of the time this occurs when tables and or chairs are placed too far forward in the...

A Moment My Presentation Coach Uncovered

by Darren LaCroix

If you'd been sitting in the front row at theChampions' EDGESummit (our bi-annual "members only" event on Tuesday), you would've heard me say something that hadnevercame out of my mouth before! As soon as the words left my mouth, fellow World Champion, Craig Valentine said, "That was gold!"

Wow...what did I say?

Sometimes if we're speaking from our...