Gwen Bell

Gwen: How'd you get that first speaking engagement?

Patrick: My first speaking engagement was South by Southwest Interactive 2008. I delivered what they refer to as a book reading for my book, "Managing Online Forums." They give you some flexibility as to what a book reading is - you can read from the book, talk about the book or deliver a presentation around a concept in the book. I opted for the last option and delivered "Creating a Positive Environment on Your Forums."

I was able to get in at the last minute by emailing the conference organizer, Hugh Forrest, directly and introducing myself, asking if I could participate in the Book Readings, which were brand new to the conference at that point. At first, they were full, but they had a slot open up, Hugh offered it to me and I accepted. 

You were so at ease in what was your SECOND engagement (when I saw you speak on trolls, admittedly a loaded/triggering topic for many). How were you so at ease?

Thank you for the kind words. I'm always nervous and there is always that doubt in your mind that creeps in at bad moments and tells you that you aren't good or smart enough to do something. If you're not nervous, you probably don't care enough. I try my best to beat that by putting a lot of thought into my presentations and a lot of time into preparation. Preparation is important to me. I am not the type of person who does their presentation the night before I deliver it.

I would like to hope that whatever calmness I am able to portray on stage, it comes directly from that preparation and from me simply falling back on what I know.

People who have been on panels I've led will tell you how I got them all on the same page, how I required them to read notes and contribute to notes within specific deadlines, to ensure that everyone was working together. I think that the best way to feel confident about presenting is to prepare in whatever way makes you most comfortable. Me, I like to develop my outline, create my slidedeck and rehearse at least a few times and adjust it as I do so. But, it may be different for others.

You mentioned on this thread on Google+ you turn down speaking gigs. I do, too. What has been the net benefit of doing so.

If you want to be a professional, paid speaker, eventually you must learn to say no a lot. A big part of this is the money. If you truly know what you are talking about, people will gladly have you speak for free, all the time. And a lot of them will tell you how great you are, fill your head with kind words... but never even offer to pick up some expenses. It is, at the end of the day, on you to recognize your value and to start telling people no and insisting that you be paid. You have to be willing to walk away.

This isn't to say that free engagements are bad. I have done a bunch of them, especially when I was building my speaking experience. It is a good way for an unestablished speaker to build a resume and learn how to interact with a crowd. That's not to say you shouldn't speak for free when you do have experience. I speak at SXSW for free. I find value in it. I'm sure I'll speak at other events for free. There are some events I speak at for expenses and take a small loss on because I am friends with the conference organizer or something along those lines. 

There are some conference organizers who would like to pay, but just can't afford to. But, there are also many conferences organizers who could pay speakers or could help them out, but decide not to because they plan poorly, because they view speakers as a commodity or because they just don't care. I jokingly refer to these people as bloodsuckers. They will bleed you dry, will have you speak at as many events as they can and give you nothing. Oh, and also, write 10,000 guest posts for our blog and tweet the conference link a million times. You have to be the one to tell them no.

Being a professional speaker and saying no allows you to more wisely spend your time, I believe. It's like when you are a successful consultant and you raise your rates because you want to be bogged down less time wise but still generate the same amount of money or more. Having standards or requirements helps to trim the field and allows you to spend your time more wisely. Of course, if you trim it too much, and it hurts you, you can always adjust. 

But, it is important to remember that speaking comes at a cost. The three main costs: 1. If you have a business you run or a main professional thing that is not speaking, it is time away from that. 2. It nearly always will take you away from your family or loved ones. You can never get that time back. 3. Generally, traveling does no favors to your health. You have to balance these three factors, and others, and ensure that you are taking care of yourself.

How do you know when it is a good fit? (More to the point: describe your ideal speaking engagement. I should do this, too.)

So, I delivered my first keynote last year. It was at a small event in Kansas. I have spoken at various large interactive/social media conferences and I have spoken at small ones, as well. I have been treated well by organizers and not so well. I have spoken in bigger cities and smaller ones. 

But, the event in Kansas was a legitimate, professional operation, despite being small and having a registration price of only $5. They were booking a speaker and they were paying a speaker. And you weren't telling them otherwise. Too often, I have to be the one to raise the question of expenses and fees as if they are hoping I won't so that they can just get whatever they can out of me. 

The event in Kansas was different. They made it clear that they would be paying my expenses, all of them, and that they would be paying me a speaking fee. In other words, I would be treated as a professional and this event would be run professionally and treated like any other business trip. If you go on a business trip, you expect to be reimbursed for all of your expenses. Not just airfare and hotel. That's professional. This conference actually was that. The fee wasn't high, but I appreciated their directness and I loved speaking for them. They treated me well and with respect. Money isn't the only thing that counts.

I know it's a good fit when something like that happens. When I don't have to uncomfortably say "hey, I'm a professional with 11 years of experience, I need to be paid for my time." When the organizer is a professional that understands that from the go and also understands that speakers are not a commodity. Just because you may have 1,000 people apply to speak at your conference doesn't mean there isn't a 5-10% that is going to provide more value than the rest. I'm not saying that's me, or whatever, but you get my drift. Not everyone is equal.

I like when organizers think enough of speakers to actually offer to pay them. It's not hard. Just focus on quantity control (that's right, quantity control, not quality control). Instead of trying to get as many free speakers as you can, set a budget and figure out how many good speakers that will allow for. For example, with a $10,000 budget, you can bring in 5 speakers from out of town for $1,500 each. Then you can pay 5 local speakers, who don't need the airfare or lodging, $500 each. That's 10 speakers. You can then supplement that with some free speakers, preferably local people who are hungry for the experience. $10,000 may sound like a lot, but for a well planned event with sponsors and a modest registration fee, it's definitely doable.

Plus, I think what people miss a lot is that when you pay a speaker, you get more out of them. They are more of a stakeholder in the event and they are able to dedicate more time to promoting the event and helping you to make it better. They are more deeply invested.

Why would you want an agent, if you've built a speaking career without one?

To me, the value of an agent would be that I'd like to have someone who is actively looking for speaking engagements for me. I only have so much time in the day. I would love to have someone out there looking for events where I could speak and would gladly pay them a percentage of my earnings.

I believe that having good representation is well worth the little bit that they take. I have a literary agent and he was so valuable to me with my first book. He worked with me on the proposal and the book itself, he pitched it to many publishers, talked with the editors and when we received the offer. He negotiated the contract, adding a bunch of useful clauses and raised the advance by 25%, more than covering his 15%. It was a great experience. 

Sometimes, people get mad when I say this as if I am suggesting that you can't have a great experience without an agent. That's just not true. Of course you can. But, my point is that, if you can find a good agent, who cares and works, I definitely recommend having one. I am not too familiar with how speaking agents work, but I'd want the proactive kind, who goes out and gets engagements, not the kind that expects me to refer engagements to them. Because, if that's what they want, most of their value goes out the window for me.

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