As a professional speaker, the first message type is the verbal message. First off, your verbal message should be clear and concise. Your discussion points should be detailed and well supported by data, testimonials and perhaps even visual aids. Discussion and transition points should flow and lead your audience from point A to point B.

The environment that you hold your presentation in impacts your message as well. The room itself can be a distraction and you can lose your focus and worse yet, you can lose the attention of your audience. Details like the room temperature (too cold, too warm) or noisy traffic (beeping horns and emergency vehicle sirens) may seem like they are out of your control, but you do have some control. Other environmental considerations include the appearance of the room. Is it professional? Is it warm and cozy? Does it enhance the message you want to convey or does it take away from it? It behooves you to minimize as much as possible all of these types of distractions from your presentation.

Go before your audience expecting to make an impact! People aren't interested in what you know. They want your information for themselves and passion is like the "grease" that lubricates that passage of information! Do you expect that your audience will receive what you have to say? Do you communicate that you're excited to be there and you're also excited that they are there as well?

Relate to your audience. Relating to your audience goes beyond just speaking to them. It encompasses everything from the greeting you give, the way you dress and your tone of voice you use to address them. Part of relating to your audience means knowing who they are and what appeals to them. You'll have to research beforehand who your audience members are. If you do this, you'll be positioning yourself to be more relatable to them.

Achieving success as a professional speaker

One of the most important factors in having a successful presentation is serving the needs of your audience. Going back to the idea that you need to leave your audience with something of value, caring for your audience's needs doesn't require perfection. You can make mistakes with speaking and it's going to be okay. The projector equipment can fail and it's still going to be okay. You don't have to include humor in order to be a success. With that in mind, real perfection is more like being successful at reaching your audience.

Give your audience something of value by becoming their friend. Sometimes you may need to stop thinking of yourself as a professional speaker and start thinking of yourself a close personal friend of the audience member. You'll teach them something and give them advice. You'll sound more natural in our speech and you'll be more relatable to your audience. People often associate those on stage as automatically having knowledge and wisdom on the topic covered. While this thought is great to establish you as a leader, the points you make in your presentation may be better received if you came across from a more personal standpoint.

Your professional speaking portfolio

Speaker bureaus and meeting planners - Expect to see certain pieces of information in order to see if you are the professional speaker they are looking for. These pieces of information include a content sheet highlighting the material you'll be presenting, a speaker biography, testimonials / reviews, a list of the services you provide including educational materials and fee schedule, a sample client list, a demo video and a business card with contact information. You can also include a letter on a personalized letterhead stating your interest in the event and why you feel they should choose you.

Speaker biography (bio) - highlight certifications and qualifications in your 2 -3 paragraph narrative. Each paragraph should be about 2-3 sentences long and should tell give bureaus and planners an idea of who you are and what you're about. This bio may also be used as part of the advertisement of the speaking engagement and may be shortened to a short paragraph. You should also send a picture of yourself.

List of the clients you've worked for - you can combine this with your testimonial and review sections however, keep in mind that not everyone will respond to your request for feedback. Either you didn't ask for a review or they didn't take the time to fill out your review sheet. You can still keep a running list of the people who have used your services.