It suddenly seemed to get quiet here in the community. Where did everyone go?

Believe it or not speaking takes a lot of energy. Many people have said that some of the greats lik Zig Zigler and Tony Robbins walk back and forth across the stage to the tune of 10+ miles during a presentation. That is just the presentation!!! Now add in preparation, rehearsal, travel...etc. It takes a serious toll on the body. So be sure to take care of yourself. Eat a balanced diet, even on the road. Get regular exercise. Meditate. Take a day of rest after a presentation to decompress. With the energy required in this industry, taking care of your physical and mental health is imperative!

I love Toastmasters! Its a fantastic organization and you cant beat the value for the education that you get by participating. The mentorship and the feedback on your projects will take you to the next level in your craft. And if you choose to attend advanced and specialty clubs in the toastmasters organization, the sky is the limit. However if you want to be a professional speaker, you cant rely on just toastmasters. You see, Toastmasters will teach you the "craft" of speaking. But they will not teach you the "business" of speaking. You will need training and systems for marketing, prospecting, logistics, tech, and a host of other things that you never imagined that you needed to consider. For that half of the formula, I would recommend the NSA. No, not the cyber spies for the government; I talking about the National Speakers Association. They provide classes, workshops and resources for the business of speaking industry. I highly recommend that you find your local chapter and as soon as it is in your budget, join and dive in to everything that they have to offer.

You are leaving a lot of money on the tabYle if you dont have a product at the back of the room waiting to be sold. You need something to sell. Most people expect it and if they love your presentation, they will almost demand it. I had a mentor talk about how he had to lug around a bunch of CDs, DVDs, tapes, and books back in the day. (I still have his CDs) That part of the business used to intimidate me, but now everything is digital. I was going to do flash drives myself until i found a fantastic service: DropCards dropcards.com A comedian that I love was selling an 8 album set of his past shows with the proceeds going to charity. I immediately went back expecting to walk away with a stack of CDs. I was surprised when he handed me what looked like a gift card. It had a website to go to where you enter a code and get the download of the MP3. I immediately saw the potential for speaking. I didn't have to do up a bunch of flash drives or shell out a ton of $$$ for other products to be created. You just upload the track and it costs about $.60 for each card to be printed. CRAZY CHEEP!!! Now all you need to do is create some material. Well, an easy way is to record speeches you are already giving to audiences. Then send the track to a sound tech to clean it up and add some theme music and you have a product you could easily sell for $20. As you grow and create new material and programs, you can have more products. Then have some of your programs transcribed and send it off to a ghost writer and you will have a book that you can self publish. When you have product, you will never do a free gig again. Because if you do a free presentation, and get a bunch of sales in the back of the room... then you got PAID!

I was thrilled to receive the best table topic award from Toastmaster's. The recognition not only reflects my dedication to improving my public speaking skills but also highlights the supportive environment that Toastmaster's provide. Forever grateful! GOD is the greatest!🙏😇❤️💙