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𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴

Whoa -- that's a statement that reminds me that I'm called by God to serve His people.  This isn't about me. 

And being a speaker, that's not about you. It's about the calling God has placed on your life.

What are you doing to walk about that calling? Are you talking with the Lord about your calling? 
Let's look at the scripture passage I reference at the beginning : 

Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:1-3 CSB

I love this  passage of scripture in  The Message version

“𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬—𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘳𝘶𝘯!—𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦—𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵....”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:1-3‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Let's agree that we both need to RUN down the road God has called us to. 

Take the next step that God has put before you -- maybe that's working on your message or practicing how to deliver your message.  Maybe it's finding 20 churches to connect with.  

Remember there is a person who needs your message - she has a need and God is equipping you to fill that need.  

I want to walk worthy of my calling and I want the same for you.  Let’s hold one another accountable to this. 

What one thing will you do today to walk out your calling?  

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Are you ready to Activate Your Speaking Career?  the 12 week live training program begins April 12 -- it's a small group, so if you want in, sign up soon!!

Creating a Video Sizzle Reel that gets you noticed and booked!

Set up your recording area with good lighting, minimalist background and good acoustics.
Consider using a lapel mic to record -- as you can stand back and still have good sound quality.

Boya By-MI Condenser Mic for Smart phones  - this mighty mic is under $20 and does the job!
(You'll find a list of great resources here - episode 21)

Now, it's time to create a video that captures the event planner's attention.  Consider these four opening tactics:

Imagine -- use the word imagine to bring your audience into the message and to capture their attention. 

What if -- as a What If question to pose a thought provoking idea.  This grabs the audience's attention and gets them wondering where you are heading.

Question -  Open with a question that gets the audience's attention.

Story - no backstory, no set up, you launch directly into the story.   Much like the imagine technique, using story as an opening brings the audience into the story with you.
 
 Below are links to some great openings -- study these and then craft the opening that fits your message and sets  you up for success.

Ric Elias - the Imagine technique

Simon Sinek - opening with a question (actually several questions).

Scott Dinsmore - opening with story

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Join the Facebook group here and connect with speakers just like you! 

Why a one sheet?  Do you really need one?  Is it required?
These are the questions I hear when I talk about a speaker one sheet.
I believe that as a speaker you need a one page document to share with event planners -- it can be a pdf you attach to an email or a page on your website.  Either one works.

Elements of a one sheet. 
Remember first and foremost, the one sheet is about what you bring to the audience.

Picture of you -- the real you.  Now, I'm not saying that you roll out of bed and snap a pic.  We still want to put effort into the photo, but let it showcase you and your personality. 

About you - the biography section. This is where you showcase your skills.  Show the event planner why you are the person to help her audience. 

Topic or topics  - showcase your signature message or messages.  Keep the focus on the audience and the problem your message solves.

Social proof - combination of testimonials from people who can speak to your skills and information on notable places you've spoken.  Do not worry, if you don't have much experience, that just mean you have to be more creative  (not deceptive).  Have you led Bible study?  Ask one of the attendees for a review.   Have you presented in a business setting?  Ask for a statement.

Contact information -  seems obvious, but I do like to state the obvious. 

Your one sheet is your foot in the door -- create it to showcase how you can serve the audience and you'll get noticed. 

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Find all the free resources from Mary R Snyder at Resources

"Be interruptible by God."  These words from Mary DeMuth struck me in the heart.  How often do I get so FOCUSED on the goal that I forget who CALLED me to this service?  Am I making room for the Holy Spirit to move and change my direction?

Along with this nugget of wisdom, Mary shares the one thing she would have done differently as she was starting out was to focus on her niche.  Like so many of us, when Mary began speaking she would build a message from any subject the event planner requested.  Focus. 

Check out all that Mary is doing:

What Mary is looking for as a literary agent.
Mary's Website
Mary's books
Mary's Art

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If you don't let God aim your life, the world will do it for us.
Go aim your life for Him.
What an incredible challenge from Lisa. 

Lisa shares how her speaking career changed when she 'got committed' and figured out my niche.  Lisa did the hard work to determine her God-given message.

 Lisa Allen is the Executive Director of Ministry Training for Proverbs 31 and she's also a seasoned speaker, life coach, certified DISC consultant and a Gallup trained Strengths  Coach.  Lisa is a speaker with a very full calendar.
 
Lisa Allen's website
Proverbs 31 Ministries
Shari Braendal
Katy McCown

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Welcome to Part 2 of Getting Booked as a Speaker.

Join Mary as she walks you through connecting with the event planner, talking about what you have to offer and then creating the email that is your first step in getting booked.

Learn to use voicemail as a tool to help get you booked.
Understand the need to focus on the audience and not on your credentials.

Join Mary's email at her website

Join the Facebook group for a connection and community.

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Where do you want to speak?  I know, it's a question that we, as speakers, often forgot to ask this question. 

We wait until we're asked to speak.

You are a speaker with a God-given message and you have to let the event planners know you are available and ready to share with their audience.

Once you've identified the where you want to speak, it's time to find out who books the speakers.   Put on your detective hat and get to work. It may be as easy and calling up the host church and asking or it may take some research to figure it out.   Google, Facebook events and Instagram are great places to start.  Put in the event name and a year - -like this "Pink Impact 2017."  You can find groups, events and pages -- dive in and see what you can learn.

Once you've identified the where and the who, it's time to connect the dots. 

Do your best to get on the phone with the event planner or an admin for the event or the church.  Ask questions, find out who attends, learn about past speakers, and create a connection.

Next week we go to Part 2 -- Showcasing your talent as a speaker.

Go to my website here  -- and get my freebie - 3 Simple Steps and the Email Template that gets you booked! 

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Join the mailing list HERE -- and get the 5 FIXES for filling your Speaking Calendar & 3 Simple Steps and the Email Template that will Get your booked!

Tammy Whitehurst is a speaker, writer and she  loves people, women who laugh and Jesus!  Ooh, and she LOVES cheetah print (me too!)

Tammy shares her journey from middle school teacher to full time speaker and her first event that she created.

This event was almost taken under by a hurricane when her venue became a Red Cross location for evacuees.  But in true Tammy style, she just leaned in and put on her event for attendees and the evacuees.  Tammy had a small local audience in mind – God had something bigger.

Tammy Whitehurst website
Christian Communicators conference
Marketers on a Mission
Lori Boruff website
Zenni Optical -- GREAT FUN glasses at affordable prices!

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Being a standout virtual speaker doesn’t require high end equipment, but it does require a few good tools, new skills and a lot of practice.

Microphone - a lapel mic will give you the freedom to back away from the computer and use some body language to communicate. 

Boya BY-M1 lapel mic - Affordable, simple to use, 20 ft cord allows you to move around,  and good sound quality for the price.   If you are using this with a cell phone, you will need this adapter
OPSO Lighting to 3.5 Adapter

RODE Wireless Go Wireless -- this is the higher end option


Lighting --  natural light is always the best -- but if you need some additional light (and most of us do) check out these options:
Newer Ring Light with stand and cellphone holder -  great option for virtual speaker
QIYA Ring light - this desktop, smaller version ring light is great for small spaces and comes with a remote.  Fun feature
LituFoto Light -  this is the lighting I use.  I love  using two of these for maximum light.   

Camera - laptop cameras are not known for being outstanding.  Here are a few of the best in various price ranges:

Logitech Brio Ultra HD webcam - a little pricey, but typically considered among the best

Wansview Webcam 1080p-  good camera for a low price.

AverMedia 1080p Webcam - a great mid range webcam

Read the full show notes here

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“You have nothing to prove.” Words of wisdom from Holley Gerth.  As speakers, we often believe that every request to speak should be answered with ‘yes.’  And that's not always the case.  Holley shared wisdom on this topic “I'm not less than when I choose to do less.” 

I know that right now you're saying to me “Mary, I just want to get some offers to speak!”  And I know how that feels – I remember those days of planting the seeds, making the calls and sending out the emails and then the WAITING & WAITING!

As you wait, see where can you serve. Another great idea from Holley, as she suggests that you build a network based on serving.  Is there an event that has a page you can help with?  Is there a fellow speaker who is just a bit farther along the journey and needs some people to help with her book launch? 

Holley's Website
More than Small Talk Podcast
The Powerful Purpose of  Introverts

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