Matt Drayton is a decorated combat veteran, corporate speaker, consultant, and leadership expert. He merges his military and corporate experiences to convey points on leadership, success, and productivity. He is quick to state,

There are no shortcuts to a successful speaking business - time and practice are necessary.

Matt believes in preparation checklists - for rapport, for practicing and over-practicing. 80 hours of preparation for a 20-minute presentation provides the opportunity on the day for extras in a lead-in, and the comfort to adjust to what's needed, and then return to what's been prepared.

Speakers need other revenue streams in addition to speaking, Matt believes. Therefore he's involved in:

• his website
• writing articles
• participating in and conducting webinars and interviews
• and consulting.

Matt admires the late Keith Harrell and recommends watching and learning from Keith's expertise as a speaker.

1. Be deliberate - take your time. Don't rush into things.
2. Put the work into your business, even when it's not easy.
3. Remember that a speaker is an entertainer.

Connect with Matt Drayton on his website - on Twitter - on Facebook - LinkedIn and watch his KEY5 presentation.

Alan shares how to break out of a monotone... tone!

Marcey Rader, an author, and speaker who focuses on productivity and health wants to disrupt the status quo of ill health and reactive behaviors and inspire people to be and do what they think they can’t.

In addition to the obvious preparation, when a company wants to customize their presentation,

• Marcey sends a "score card" to attendees - it's a survey on Google Docs to gather information
• and then creates an infographic and handout from those score cards

Her material for new presentations invariably comes from feedback from the audience. Her newest presentation is about distraction in the workplace which is directly from insight

Marcey Rader talks about various ways to be hired as a professional speaker including,

• a new source for her - the eSpeakers Bureau
• asking for a connection with a decision maker
• referrals - which takes a long time to build the pipeline

Marcey enjoys watching Tony Robbins and Brendan Bouchard because of their energy when speaking.  Marcey also enjoys a Raleigh native, Dave Rendall.  At the Key5 Conference Marcey was impressed by Karl Sakas' unexpected humor.

Find a mentor.

Receive feedback on pricing your value as a presenter.

Connect with Marcey Rader on her Website, MarceyRader.com - on Twitter - on Facebook - LinkedIn and watch Marcey Rader's KEY5 presentation HERE.

Check out Marcey's books on Amazon - "Beyond Travel: A Road Warrior's Survival Guide"  and "Hack the Mobile Lifestyle - 6 steps to Work Well and Play More"

Stan Phelps is a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator at PurpleGoldfish.com, an organization that inspires leaders to think differently about their most important stakeholders: customers and employees. He is the author of six books on customer experience and employee engagement.

Stan Phelps went from marketing to writing about marketing and then into speaking. After his first book "What's your Purple Goldfish?" was written, he was approached to speak.

He says about speakers and the importance of having a book:

A book helps you stand out in a "sea of sameness".

If you want to be hired as a speaker, first consider the needs of the group and/or the person hiring you, then position yourself to stand out as a speaker by how you can do one or more of these three things:

• make them money
• save them money
• make them look good

Preparation ensures your message will resonate with the audience.

• Ask the event coordinator for people to interview. Set up a phone interview with 3-6 people.  Use the insight you receive from these interviews to hone your content. and you'll walk into the room with a group of champions waiting.
• Use the first 1/3 of your preparation time to organize what you'll be presenting.
• Then invest the next 1/3 of your time with how the presentation will flow.
• The last 1/3 of time for preparation should be used for practice - even by arriving early to become familiar with the room, the presentation in the room, and the people.

By doing all this, you'll create a rich experience for everyone at the event.

Finish your presentation with a "last story". Build the Q & A timing into the presentation before your a "last story".  By doing that, it ensures the audience's memory of you will be something to resonate with the entire room.

Connect and learn more about Stan Phelps at his Website - Purple Goldfish Think Tank - on Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn.

Single Thought - One Person  S.T.O.P.

Share one thought while looking at one person, before you move onto the next thought and the next person.

Melissa West of Xtreme Results Coaching helps people think differently so they do differently. She inspires, energizes and empowers her clients to create the amazing life and business of their dreams and her speaking presentations do the same.

The phrase she tells herself as she prepares for every speaking opportunity is,

"Don't let what I want to say get in the way of what the audience needs to hear."

In her interview with Robert on the KEY5Podcast, Melissa touches on:

• When might you tweak your speech?
• What homework do you do before you begin your speech?
• Heart or Head? What works best for the audience?
• How to be sure you connected with the audience?
• Coaching or Speaking - which comes first?
• From where do you get your "style"?
• Her final tip for other speakers?

"Don't give up on working on your message - your voice is meant to be heard!" was the final tip from Melissa West.

Connect with Melissa West (Malueg) on Facebook - Twitter - and LinkedIn and visit her website XtremeResultsCoaching.

 Value the feedback you get - even seek it out!

Professional speaker - or business professional? It doesn't matter.

Everyone is in the speaking business, whether they realize it or not.

Alan Hoffler is the Executive Director and Principal Trainer at MillsWyck Communications. He believes that communication has the power to change a person, an organization, a community, and the world. With a coach’s passion, a teacher’s heart, and an engineer’s mind, he creates practical paths to greatness for his clients.

In this first KEY5 Podcast, Alan Hoffler touches on:

• mistakes we all make
• if all you hear is praise, it limits how you grow
• why watching a video of yourself speaking is needed
• why a speaker needs a coach
• conduit, content, connection - where do people struggle?
• and more!

Alan recommends studying other speakers, study yourself on video, and keep practicing - professionals continue to improve.

Want to win a copy of Alan's book, "Presentation Sin: The Practical Guide to Stop Offending (and Start Impressing) Your Audience"?

Each Podcast will include a "MillsWyck Minute", where Alan Hoffler will highlight one speaking concept. 

In this podcast, Alan talks about making mistakes as a speaker - how should you respond when you make a mistake?