Have you ever wondered how you can become a motivational speaker?

Perhaps you have heard that a career in motivational speaking is very profitable or maybe you know someone who got rich with motivational speaking. It's even possible that you have been to a speaking event and you were so inspired by the speaker that  delivered a moving speech. You see yourself as that person; a confident, self-assured, wealthy person.

Fortunately, almost anybody can be a motivational speaker.All you need is the genuine desire to help motivate people and an awareness of how the industry works. With decent speaking skills and the knowledge on how to choose your market and how to promote yourself, you too can be a successful motivational speaker in an instant.

Desire and knowledge to share are the first thing you need. If you have a passion for speaking in public, and a desire to help a lot of people while improving your self professionally and financially. At the same time, having a knowledge about the methods to use during your speech and the approach to take with your marketing and the approach to get there. Not having both of these skills will make your journey towards motivational speaking success hard and possibly futile.

Having all the desire in the world without the knowledge to succeed will make it hard for you go places. You will likely be speaking for free. Eventually, your desire will fade away. On the other hand, having thorough knowledge but lacking in desire will also not work. You cannot implement the knowledge effectively because you don’t have passion in the process.

If you're reading this I'll assume you already have the desire, let me give you the basic knowledge.

Speaking is not just about speaking

A successful speaker has products that either bring in another stream of income or build more credibility. Usually, motivational speakers have books they can offer. The contents of the book can be based on basically the same material as what your speech is about. These often sell and give you credibility in your community.

Other products can be audio Cd's, videos, membership websites and transcripts of your speeches.

Speaking is Marketing

You won’t get paid if you don’t know how to promote your self. You may have the skills but you need to know how to find the market.

Get out there and network with the right people. Get referrals from happy customers and get friends who can help you spread the word. Make marketing materials, such as brochures and pamphlets to improve your chances. It is only through marketing that you’ll get rich speaking.
To be a successful motivational speaker, you must choose a market and know everything about that niche.

Try to choose a market audience that you are an expert about. Determine if what you have to share is really what they need and want to hear. Do the research on your market. Find out what their problems are. What kind of products do they buy? What kind of information do they need? Your materials address your market accordingly.

Know your competition

Knowing your competition gives you a better perspective about your niche. Learn how your competition gets his bookings. Determine their strategies in marketing and what type of products they sell. How do they perform their speeches? How are they reaching out with the market?

With the knowledge from your research you can begin to devise your own strategy because you have been studying examples of success and learning from others. People who have been in your position and have gone on to succeed.