Unlike a Speech, the Opening Paragraph of Your Book is Critical

career - photo by John LeeI love going to free public speaking seminars: if the material isn’t good, I usually walk away with at least a good story. At one such event a few years ago, the leader let me deliver a five minute speech. His feedback was that my introduction had needed more oomph — he told me that I only had six seconds to capture the audience’s attention. I told him that advice was nonsense as people seated will take at times a few minutes to warm up to.  I know it’s important to have a good opening to your speech and that’s a topic in itself. But this isn’t about speeches, it’s about writing and that’s a different beast.

I’m a New Speaker – Do I Need a Website?

"information" by Flavio TakemotoIf you’ve taken that first step towards becoming a professional speaker, then congratulations. It’s an exciting journey that can be both fun and frustrating, but in the end, you’ll find it worthwhile and rewarding. There’s nothing better than wowing audiences day after day. Of course, making the decision to become a professional speaker is the exciting part. But in addition to the fun stuff, there are a lot of business and administration tasks that need to be done.