First speaking proposal for 2013 – check

Want to be a speaker?  Take a seat and start writing!

A portrait of the American writer Mark Twain taken by A. F. Bradley in New York, 1907. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I love to speak. It’s a great way for practitioners to share their knowledge, and not enough of us are out there doing it.   People often ask me how they might get started.   It’s very much like the old Mark Twain adage about how to become a writer.  It goes something like this:

The key to getting started as a writer is the application of the seat of the pants to the chair, so that you can start writing.

If you want to speak, you need to figure out your topic, develop a presentation, and then apply the seat of your pants to a chair, and submit a speaking proposal.   You also need to be willing to do it for love at the start.   Most people don’t get paid to speak when you first start out, especially if you are speaking about HR.   Do it long enough, and you can get paid (or at least get your expenses covered!)

Here’s the general concept description of the first speaking proposal I submitted this year.  Next step would be to start building a slide deck filled with research, great examples, and a few humorous moments.  Then I’ll have a speaking presentation.

If you know of a group that might be interested in hearing more about this topic, or topics related to social media, hit me up.

Tagged as: Business, Business Services, Communications, Education and Training, Mark Twain, Public Speaking, Speech, United States