This is the second lesson of the 'Get Started As A Speaker' email course.

Today, we'll talk a bit about getting clear on what you want to speak about. In our first email we talked about the “why”, but now it’s time to get clear on the ‘what’ which can also help determine your market and fees.

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You’re a speaker? That’s pretty cool!

I have this conversation a lot with people. You know the drill…

What’s your name? So what do you do?

People think being a speaker is cool. And it definitely is. But their inevitable follow up question is always the same...

What do you speak about?

So then what do you say?

Figuring out what you want to speak about doesn’t have to be complicated. Let’s start with a simple question...

Assuming you were put in front of your ideal audience to talk about any subject, what would you speak on?

Take out all pre-concieved ideas of what you should or could talk about. What are you dying to talk about? What is the perfect topic for you to share about?

5 Ways To Discover What You Want To Speak About...

1. Experience - What experiences do you have in life? These can be both personal or professional. Maybe you've worked in a certain industry or business that has given you specific experiences. Maybe you’ve had some type of personal, life experience you want to speak about. Generally we think of these to be overcoming negative challenges such as divorce, death, abuse, or bankruptcy.

But maybe your experiences have been positive. You built and sold a business. You’ve had a successful marriage. You traveled the world. These could all be experiences you could share with others that they could learn from.

2. Expertise/Knowledge - What topics do you just know a lot about? What do you feel extremely knowledgable on? What do people commonly ask you questions about?

For example, people regularly ask me about how to get started as a speaker. So naturally, I know there’s an opportunity to teach that expertise and knowledge to others. Your knowledge may be in in something like time management, dealing with people, leading a team, overcoming adversity, starting a business, writing a blog, or homeschooling your kids. The options are literally endless.

3. Awards/Recognition - Perhaps, you’ve won some type of award or recognition that gives you credibility in a certain space. My friend Omar Zenhom hosts the hugely successful podcast, The $100 MBA Show. Last year, the show won a Best of iTunes award which is only awarded to a handful of the thousands and thousands of shows that exist.

So guess what? Omar is seen as a go-to person on the subject of podcasting because of that award.

Within our Booked & Paid To Speak private community, one of our members, Lisa Simpson, was a contestant on the TV show, The Biggest Loser, and even lost 108 pounds as a result! That experience and recognition gives Lisa the opportunity to get booked to speak on that topic.

4. Passion - A key component of a good speaker is someone who is passionate about and loves the topic. If you’re just going through the motions or you don’t care about the subject, that shows through. Passionate speakers are much more engaging and enjoyable to listen to.

So what are you passionate about? What do you love to read and talk about the most? If you were to ask 5 people who really know you well, what would they say you’re passionate about? (hint: maybe you should actually do that

5. Enjoyment - On behalf of audiences everywhere, please, please, please only speak on topics you actually like talking about! When you talk about subjects you enjoy, you’ll have more fun, and the audience will have more fun as well.

Also, keep in mind though that just because you’re knowledgable on a topic doesn’t mean it necessarily has to be something you speak about. There are plenty of topics that I’m knowledgable on that either A) I’m not interested in speaking about or B) there’s just not a market for.

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So at this point, you probably have a decent idea of why you want to speak and what you want to talk about, but there’s one more critical question to the 3-legged stool that you must answer. Without it, you'll have a very scattered and unfocused business and will have a difficult time gaining any traction.

What is that last question?

I’ll tell you in the next email

Today's worksheet is short and sweet, but it’ll help you answer this key question.

Lesson 2 Worksheet: What do you want to speak about?

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