711 November 2016 - Behind the Podium

VOL 7, ISSUE 11 • NOVEMBER 2016

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STEPS TO WRITING EFFECTIVE JOB APPLICATIONS Page 4

RUNNING FROM SAFETY Page 6

UPCOMING TELESEMINAR: MASTERING MINDFULNESS Page 8

HOW I BOOKED OVER $250K IN SPEAKERMATCH BOOKINGS Page 10

THIS MONTH FEATURES Behind the Podium (ISSN 1949-5544) is published 12 times a year as a resource for emerging professional speakers, business leaders, technical gurus, educators, and other subject-matter experts.

Editor Bryan Caplovitz welcomes your input (editor@behindthepodium.com) .

Behind the Podium publishes the opinions of experts and authorities from many fields; however, the use of those opinions is no substitute for accounting, legal, investment, or other professional services. Material may not be reproduced in part or in whole in any form whatsoever without the written permission of SpeakerMatch. SpeakerMatch is the world’s largest source for speaking opportunities.

Behind the Podium is published monthly, by SpeakerMatch, 4807 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 1120, Austin, TX 78759-7944. $24/year, $4.95/issue (US funds). Periodicals postage paid at Austin, TX. Behind the Podium is a trademark of Simply Speaking, Inc. Copyright © 2016 by Simply Speaking, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SpeakerMatch Subscription Department, 4807 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 1120, Austin, TX 78759-7944.

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04 3 Steps To Writing An Effective Speaker Job Application Understand the meeting planner mindset and strengthen your position.

06 Running From Safety Sometimes the right decision is to face your fears.

08 Mastering Mindfulness Gain mastery over your thoughts and feelings to be a better speaker.

12 Have You Heard Of Microlearning?

Providing five-minute courses could boost your speaking business!

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS ISSUE! USE HASHTAG (#BTP) ONLINE AT: Facebook.com/speakermatch @speakermatch SpeakerMatch Group feedback@behindthepodium.com

YOU HAVE TO HEAR THIS BOOK! The eyes don't have it this year, according to publishing statistics.

Digital audio books are the rage in the book game with sales rising 35 percent in the first quarter of 2016. Meanwhile, sales of ebooks fell by 21.8 percent, according to the New York Times.

This is ideal territory for speakers, who tend to be great storytellers. If you have a book, this trending method for reaching new audiences may provide just the boost your speaking business needs.

While it’s impossible to predict the trendline of any fad with total accuracy, creating an ebook is a very low cost form of marketing. Low cost in terms of dollars and time investment.

My personal take is that this trend is worth looking into to see if you can generate some publicity as one of the early adopters. The PR angle (how this is a perfect fit for you as a speaker) can give you access to media attention that other authors might not get so easily.

- BC

EDITOR’S NOTE

DON’T SLOW DOWN. This is the time of year when others begin to slow down for the holidays.

It’s a good time to get to work.

Chances are good that your time on stage slows down at this time of year. As the holiday season kicks in, it’s less likely that meeting planners will be reviewing speaker materials and sending out requests. And you’ll have the temptation to relax.

This month we’ve got a selection of articles to help get you in the right state of mind for this holiday season.

For example, Paull Ellul, our Vice President of Operations, has a great article on the next page which addresses one of our most I’m not suggesting you don’t relax and enjoy the holidays. You common questions, “What makes a great will, however, have some more quiet time to reflect, read, plan, speaker application?” He’s got some great and create systems. You will have time to get your office in insights based on his review of hundreds order. And you’ll have time to write and create. During crunch of speaker applications. time, these items tend to fall to the wayside. Now is a great time to make sure you take the opportunity to use some down If there’s ever anything in particular you’d like to see covered in these pages, time productively. please let me know!

The goal is to begin the new year ready to go. Refreshed, Bryan Caplovitz energized, and motivated. The more you can do to get ready for Founder, SpeakerMatch January the better.

BEHIND THE PODIUM NOVEMBER 2016 | 3

MEMBER TIPS

3 STEPS TO WRITING AN EFFECTIVE SPEAKER JOB APPLICATION Understand the meeting planner mindset and strengthen your position.

O

 ne of the most common questions we get asked is, “What makes a winning proposal?”

I’ve reviewed hundreds of SpeakerMatch proposals over more than a decade, and it's clear that there is no one approach which will work every time — but I do have some tips that can give you a leg up over your competition.

1. Make sure the meeting planner knows what you bring to the table.



  

 Perhaps the biggest mistake we see in applications is a failure of the speaker to  communicate why they are a good fit for a particular opportunity. Vagueness like this  is rampant in declined applications:

Please other committee members, their immediate boss, and/or supervisors Match physical characteristics of the speaker to their particular audience (i.e., youth speaker, disability speaker, female speaker, African American speaker, etc.)

Just looking to find the least costly speaker within established criteria Find the one speaker with the best credentials Select a speaker with great stage presence and energy Make a decision in the shortest possible time Find a speaker who will truly connect with their audience Find a true professional

Each approach can affect the hiring  “With 12 years of experience working decision in a different way, and it’s with organizations like yours, I believe important you look out for these clues in I would be a great fit.” the full listing. You should never respond based solely on the short summary  “My 60-minute talk is motivational and inspirational that resonates with provided in the email alerts or the Member Center job board. any audience.”

Make sure your application has some concrete examples. Clearly communicate the how, what, and why you’re the perfect candidate.

2. Understand the planner’s mindset.

with a brief summary, a full letter of application, and video/audio. These tools help you provide the planner with information to address what they’re looking for.

Consider including these six (6) pieces of information in each application submission: 1. Personalization (i.e. Hi Jane!, your managers, etc.)

2. Location (Are you nearby? Location is just as much about travel expenses.)

3. Demo video or audio clip (Let them hear you do what you do.)

4. Speaking fees (Provide a quote or ask the questions needed to do so.)

5. Suggested program (This is an opportunity to show you understand their needs.)

6. Credentials (Only include relevant credentials.)

Including this information will ensure you have done all that you can to convey your Paying attention to subtle details in the value and professionalism to the decision full listing can provide you with maker. To be fair, in some cases like information that ultimately saves you time gender or ethnicity preferences, there’s and helps you avoid setting yourself up for not much you can do. However, there are disappointment. ways you can counter even these 3. Address as many concerns as possible. seemingly impossible requirements.

Not every planner is the same, but the What follows are some examples and typical speaker-seeker is looking to do one The SpeakerMatch application system allows you to address the meeting planner ideas for responding to meeting planners or more of the following: designed to generate interest.

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PUBLICITY

Q.

“What if there is gender or ethnicity bias (or the like) where I clearly do not fit in, but have a relevant program?”

A.

If you earnestly believe your program can benefit the group, leverage your unique personality and confront the issue head on. Humor is a great tool. Use it!

For example, open your letter with something like this: “I understand your audience is female and you’re trying to figure out how this Steve guy could possibly fit in with your women’s leadership luncheon. Let me tell you first that both my daughter and wife play leadership roles in organizations they are involved with.

Who do you think they come home to and complain about all the issues...that’s right: This guy GETS WOMEN’S ISSUES (daily). Take a moment to look over my talking points and check out my credentials (please).

I think you’ll find that I’m a really good match here, and I’d hate for your ladies to miss out.”

"application summary" to the planner.

This is the planner's first introduction to who you are, so make it count!

If your teaser/headline does not grab the planner’s attention in a meaningful way, he/she may not open your full letter of application.

PART 2: LETTER OF APPLICATION There is no set way to submit an application that always works, but there’s one item you should always consider:

Once a draft application is saved, the option to record a personalized audio message is displayed. Use this feature to provide a genuine greeting to the planner and let them know what you have in mind in an unrehearsed and straightforward manner. While this is a great way for you to introduce yourself and say “hello,” the planner is also able to experience your stage voice and personality through an audio only format. This tool is especially useful if you do not yet have a demo video available.

Final Thoughts

Put yourself in the planner’s shoes.

If you are new to the process of Ask yourself, “Would I want to read what I submitting applications, don’t stress out. am about to send?” Is your message This is like any other professional compelling, relevant, and persuasive? development skill where the more time you put into it, the easier and better you PART 3 (optional): get. In fact, I would encourage you to VIDEO CONTENT approach each application with the intent of creating a template you can reuse each Include the most relevant/effective video time. You’ll want to repurpose it, of you have available. Your video should course, but this will expedite the process demonstrate good communication skills for future submissions. and stage presence.

Lastly, I would be remiss not to suggest The length is not as relevant–the planner avoiding information overload. Use can press stop whenever he/she pleases. discretion in how much information you ”How do you recommend I Ensure you have good audio (i.e., volume are providing and how you are presenting incorporate these suggestions?” not too low, no wind blowing into the mic, it. Resist the temptation to tell the planner lighting is such that it enhances the everything, break up your information into picture quality, etc.). This may take some easy-to-digest paragraphs, use proper The SpeakerMatch online time to set up initially, but make notes of grammar, and check for spelling errors. application system has up to what works and it will only get easier from four parts, depending on your there on out.

Understand that there are many membership level. Here are some items to variables that play a role in the decisionconsider when addressing the 6 points PART 4 (optional): making process. All you can do is give it above in your application.

Audio Application your best. If you’re not selected, learn (also known as Embedded Voicemail) from the experience and move on to the A full sample application is on page 7.

Platinum members have the ability to add next one.

Q.

A.

PART 1: APPLICATION TEASER/HEADLINE

an audio message to each application. If See an example application on page 7. recorded, the planner can listen to PAUL ELLUL has been with SpeakerMatch since 2004 When a planner logs in to view all your personal and is our Vice President of Operations. His primary received applications, our system message in role is to work with speakers and meeting planners automatically includes your name, your brief to ensure both audiences find value in our services. headshot, location you travel from, and Paul has conducted hundreds of profile reviews with whether you have included video or audio summary and the full letter speakers. He has worked directly with thousands of in your application. Next to this of application. event and meeting planners to find speakers. information is a space for your teaser/ headline, which we present as an BEHIND THE PODIUM NOVEMBER 2016 | 5

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

RUNNING FROM SAFETY Sometimes the right decision is to face your fears.

Here’s what I’m usually not doing on a Saturday night: Sitting in a car for 90 minutes in a rundown section of an unfamiliar city, across the street from a seedy-looking bar. But that’s precisely what my wife Linda and I were up to this past weekend.

Here’s how it happened…

Over the past few years, my 16-yearold son, Jon, has learned to sing and play the guitar. He’s done a lot of high school-related shows, but in recent months, and as a way to gain more experience, he’s been doing his best to expand to other venues.

The people inside were even nicer.

There were only about 25 yet at 10 p.m., but they cheered and clapped each time Jon finished a song. The older man next to me at the bar introduced himself (Samuel) and told us the history of the building. When Jon was done and it was time to settle up and leave, the bartender/ owner, realizing we were Jon’s parents, gave us our drinks for free, “Since you guys had to drive all this way.”

Here’s the thing. If you had given me even half a chance to call the entire thing off while we were waiting outside in the car, I would have. But Jon had promised he’d play. And we’d already driven 40 minutes to get there. And it was too late to do anything else that night. So we went ahead with it.

But we were already there. So Jon grabbed his guitar, got out of the car and And so a few weeks ago, after doing some walked towards the front door, past a online research and exchanging e-mails bunch of people hanging out along the with the owner of a place in nearby sidewalk. Linda and I, meanwhile, stayed Worcester, Massachusetts, Jon managed in the car, painfully aware that as a to get himself booked as the warm-up act musician arriving at a gig, the only thing for a heavy metal band called less cool than having your parents drop I can’t tell you how glad I am that we “Aftermath.” (I suggested to Jon that you off in a minivan, is for them to actually didn’t figure out a way to leave and go maybe he could introduce himself that walk you in the door. safely back home. Because if we had, we night as the band, “Math,” making the would have missed one of the most main act’s name the punch line to his own An hour and a half after they told Jon he unusual, enjoyable, fun evenings I can performance. He said that was dumb.) would be playing (I don’t know why I remember. assumed that rundown and seedy would Anyway, when Saturday night rolled somehow correlate with punctual), Jon Running your own business is a lot like around, and since I’d never actually seen texted us that he was ready to start. We that. It’s scary. It’s filled with people you Jon perform in public, Linda and I decided said a final farewell to our hubcaps, locked don’t know and situations you’ve never to go along and cheer him on. the doors, paid the five dollar cover encountered. charge and walked in.

All was going well … until we pulled up And there are plenty of days – I’ve lost outside and got a look at the bar. Yikes. If Big surprise. It was bigger and nicer inside count at this point – where you think the Cheers bar is the place “where than we expected. A couple of pool tables, maybe you should just turn around and everybody knows your name,” this a few couches, a wide dance floor with run back to the perceived safety of a job. establishment looked like the place where lights, and a huge bar that wrapped everybody steals your car. around an entire wall.

Don’t do it.

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First, because it’s a lot less safe over there than it seems… and a lot less dangerous over here than it feels. It’s less predictable out on your own, but no more risky.

Second, because everyone’s scared (even the people who appear to be successful), not just you. Some people are just better at hiding it. Try not to let that stop you.

And finally, because just by being over here, just by trying to figure out what you were meant to do and doing it, you’re

already successful. Any regrets you into that bar, meeting all those people, ultimately have aren’t going to be about and watching Jon play his music. I just failure; they’re going to be about having hope I remember that the next time I have been too afraid to give it a go. “one of those days.” I hope you do too.

Here’s the bottom line. I hate to MICHAEL KATZ is Founder and Chief Penguin of the Blue think how Penguin Development, Inc., a marketing firm that ready I was to specializes in lead generation for professional service leave the firms. other night, and how I To sign up for his free newsletter, could have “The Likeable Expert Gazette”, visit: missed the http://bluepenguindevelopment.com/subscribe/ experience of walking

SAMPLE SPEAKER JOB APPLICATION See related article on page 5.

Sample Teaser: Jane, I would love the opportunity to share my 15 years of Marketing experience with your sales and marketing team. The program I have in mind for your group is entitled, "12 Key Performance Indicators Every Marketer Needs to Master." This is a fun, interactive, and highly educational program that has been provided to a number of other Marketing and Sales teams with proven results (references available). I've included a video for your review.

Sample Letter: Jane, I'm sure you have received a number of great candidates to consider and I appreciate your time in considering what I have to offer. We live in an age of information overload, so it's important you know right off the bat that this program is for marketing and sales professionals with a particular focus on actionable information — ready to be used as soon as your team gets back to the office. I even provide two hours of free consultation time after the event to make sure there are no issues with implementation. I've most recently presented this to the ACME Marketing Agency who expressed this was a home run and just the information they needed to take their organization to the next level.

Here are the takeaways: (1) How to measure and act on your customer's ENGAGEMENT SCORE (2) Best Practices for measuring and responding to your customer's SOCIAL INTERACTIONS (3) Measuring TRAFFIC SOURCES and leveraging appropriate marketing campaigns (4) Measuring COST PER LEAD and finding ways to reduce cost and INCREASE EFFECTIVENESS (5)How to take advantage of these metrics to systematically improve results This program will empower your marketing team to a whole new level. It’s so great that your sales and marketing teams will both be in attendance — communication between the two is critical.

I'm willing to speak at the high end of your listed fee range (which I understand includes travel), but I would require that you purchase a copy of my book for each of your staff in attendance to truly make this a win/win. The discounted amount for each copy is $15.00.

If you like what you are hearing, click the option to "Shortlist" this application and I will follow up with references and a sample article that includes some of the content I plan to share with your staff. I hope to have the opportunity to work with you and your team, Jane. This will be a really fun and educational experience.

BEHIND THE PODIUM NOVEMBER 2016 | 7

BETTER SPEAKING

MASTERING MINDFULNESS

Gain mastery over your thoughts and feelings to be a better speaker.

Several years ago I competed in a Toastmaster’s International Speech contest. To prepare, I had practiced hours and hours. I tweaked each word of the speech. I was feeling confident when I entered the room before the contest began. But it didn’t take long for that confidence to dissipate.

The area governor, who I considered a friend, approached me before I went on stage and asked if she could have a word.

She took me to a corner of the room and proceeded to ream me out regarding something I had said to a contestant at another contest. Caught completely off guard, her words plummeted my spirit. I sat down and tried to maintain composure. But I couldn’t turn off the cacophony in my head.

before I knew about Mindfulness and Mindful Meditation and how, by practicing both, you gain mastery over your thoughts and feelings.

Mindfulness is about connecting to other people and our surroundings. Mindfulness means living in a state of raised consciousness, knowing how our mind has been programmed to work, and then making healthy, long-term decisions about how we choose to conduct our life. This includes mindful eating, mindful relationships, mindful speech, mindful livelihood, etc.

It’s being fully present in life and acknowledging what is, without judgement.

Try going through one full day without How could she do this to me right before a judging anything that happens as good or bad. I’ve tried it, and it is really difficult. speech?

The more I focused on those thoughts, the further it embroiled me. When I was called to speak, her words were buzzing around in my head, like angry gnats. I allowed it to distract me, and I was disqualified for going over time by one second.

This is not a tale of blame. It is a cautionary tale. It really didn’t matter what she said. What mattered is I let it affect me. I allowed my feelings and thoughts to push me around. This was

Back to that speech contest.

If I had taken a few minutes to breathe, acknowledge my feelings and discard judgement regarding what had happened – who knows, I might have won that contest.

and multitasking are the polar opposites of Mindfulness. I am as tempted as anyone to multitask. By doing it, I feel more efficient. But there are times when I find myself juggling too much. And sure enough, I drop a ball.

The other day I sat down with my coffee at 8:30 AM and started looking at email.

There was one from a friend wondering if she would see me at the workshop. What workshop??? I checked my planner. The workshop started at 10 AM and was thirty minutes away! I hurriedly got ready, and as I was rushing out the door, my husband asked what it was about. I said, “I don’t know but it must be something interesting, or I wouldn’t have signed up.”

It was about improving your memory.

I think that sometimes busy-ness gets in the way of us fully experiencing life. We can overwhelm ourselves by our desire to not miss anything. In large doses, overstimulation contributes to stress, operating in crisis mode, always looking for our keys, forgetting you are going to a workshop and possibly... well, you get the idea.

I witnessed evidence of the harried mind at a recent club meeting. One of the speakers stopped after 2½ minutes. He said, “I’m stopping now because I can’t Mindfulness can also help us with our remember what else I wanted to say. I compulsion to multitask. Mind-wandering had a really stressful morning, and I’m I am now a student of Mindfulness. I know that by practicing Mindfulness I can enhance my life and be a better speaker.

8 | BEHIND THE PODIUM NOVEMBER 2016

distracted by all those events.” He wasn’t mindful – he was “mindless.”

The goal is to notice what we are thinking, acknowledge it and return to focusing on our breath, for example, to harness and Mindlessness is not an empty mind. It’s train our mind. We are trying to be with having a mind that is cluttered and ourselves as we already are, not trying to distracted, which makes it really difficult to change ourselves into some preconceived focus and problem solve. What if the notion of how we ought to be. cruise control in your car took over and began to drive you faster and faster down If I’ve peaked your interest, you can begin the highway? You’re at its mercy, as you with a one-minute meditation. Take the sit in the driver’s seat screaming stop!!! time to focus on one element of an When we are mindless, that is how we experience and stay with it. The goal is to experience life. cultivate awareness. You can focus on something visual, like a tree. Or a sound, As speakers, we are keenly aware of fillers like birds. we use, in mindless moments, when we don’t know what to say or because we are When I began to practice meditation, I was trying to remember what we want to say. I floating in our swimming pool, eyes closed, call these the Duh words, and they get in just listening. I was amazed at how many the way of us being fully present: different bird sounds I heard. When I went Distracted, Disconnected, Disorganized, inside the house and told my husband Distant, and Disinterested. about the experience, he said, “That was probably a mocking bird playing a joke on A study, carried out at Yale University, you.” found that Mindful Meditation decreases DMN activity. Meditators are better than a Mindful Meditation can be a source of way lot of people at snapping themselves back -finding. It can help us navigate that from that mindless state, because of new dissonance in our mind – sometimes connections that form in the brain through clamoring, sometimes calm and always meditation. By practicing meditation, you changing. It can help us figure things out can actually change your brain. when thoughts and emotions become overwhelming. And it can counter our We take Mindfulness a step further with inner critic.

Mindful Meditation, zoning in on whatever phenomenon or phenomena we choose to “Ugh, I’ve messed up again!” zone in on. We consciously focus our “I’m terrible at this.” attention upon designated and specific “I’ll never be as good as . . .” thoughts or sensations that arise in our field of awareness and observe them non- If we begin a speech with an apology or judgmentally - maybe even label them. explanation as to why we are probably Many people have a mistaken idea that becoming blank is the goal of meditation.

Despite the popularity of Zombies, it is NOT about getting ourselves to stop thinking. Getting rid of our thoughts won't work, because our brains need to think.

going to mess up, our inner critic is driving our train of thought and our audience may jump on that train and leave the station.

It’s normal for our minds to drift. As a speaker, it’s unlikely that we will have our (Continued on page 11)

BEHIND THE PODIUM NOVEMBER 2016 | 9

MAINTAINING A SUSTAINABLE SPEAKING BUSINESS

UPCOMING TELESEMINARS The SpeakerMatch teleseminar series offers great tips and business-building advice for speakers. It’s always free to members. Be sure to mark our upcoming teleseminars on your calendar!

November 3: How I Earned $250,000 From SpeakerMatch Bookings (Patrick Snow) December 1: Using Direct Mail to Book Speaking Engagements (Travis Lee) December 8: How to Leverage Podcasting to Land More Gigs (Ben Krueger) January 12: Master Hollywood’s Secrets for Creating Powerful Stories (Michael Hauge) February 9: Spotlight on a Pro (Ford Saeks) March 9: Traveling for 10 Cents on the Dollar (Chris Klesh)

More Information is available at https://www.speakermatch.com/radio

SpeakerMatch Member Benefit Instant Access to Exclusive Interviews!

We Explore Key Areas of Starting and Growing a Speaking Business

www.speakermatch.com/special/bonus 10 | BEHIND THE PODIUM NOVEMBER 2016

BACK OFFICE TIP

BACK UP YOUR WEBSITE

If you have your own website, backups are essential. Yet many website owners don’t think about them until they have a problem.

There are lots of options for making a backup of your site, including some free backup options offered by many hosting companies, and free plugins for WordPress. Beware, however, that if your server goes down or if your website account is compromised, restoring from the backup could be difficult. Restoring from a backup with your primary service provider can also take some time.

We recommend MyRepono (https://www.speakermatch.com/resources/myrepono) as an inexpensive option for making secure backups on a separate server which can be restored, even to a new server, with just a couple of clicks.

MASTERING MINDFULNESS (continued from page 9) audience’s attention every second, but we do have the power to help them to be mindful and in the moment. Why purposely distract them by bringing up all of the reasons why we may not be in best form?

unexpected place with us as their tour guide. Mindfulness will keep us on the itinerary. We can cut through the clutter and noise in the audience’s head and pay attention to what’s going on with them.

Now say, “I feel cheerful and connected.”

With Toastmasters, speaking can be a race to finish in time. That can get in the way of our desire to connect. So take some time to prepare mind and body. Before speaking, sit quietly for some minutes and focus. Do a three-minute body scan, noticing any tension from head to toe.

Breathe deeply, in and out. It will help to become peaceful and composed.

Mindfulness and Mindful Meditation will endow us with more connection, inspiration and peace. They will not only make us better speakers, but offer a way of living day-to-day consciously and mindfully, so we can make healthy longterm, loving, peaceful, compassionate choices.

Doing something like this sends a signal to your mind that you are energized, confident and in charge.

Some members of our audience will mentally leave the room to ponder those reasons. Which is exactly what happened at our meeting the other day. When that speaker started his speech, his body language told me that he was somewhere else, so I mentally left along with him.

Because we were in a small room, he said We cannot stop the waves, but with the that he noticed he lost me for a minute. If Now that your mind is ready, psyche your power of Mindfulness and Mindful we stay mindful and in the moment, we Meditation, we can learn when to remain spirit. How we hold our body have the best chance of keeping our on shore, when to wade in, how deep to communicates an abundance of audience there as well. information, both to ourselves and to our go, and how to surf.

When we speak mindfully, we let go of audience. You might want to go to the And we’ll be present every moment we’re our inner clamor. We speak our hearts. restroom for this. in the water, just in case there are sharks.

To do that, we need a mind that is quiet, Stand upright, open, fresh, calm, alert, attentive and LINDA MCKENNEY is semi-retired, working part-time as a breath in and receptive. When we are in that best Personal Life Coach, specializing in Food Addiction and be open Emotional and Mindful Eating. She is also a Humorous frame of mind to speak, we can turn our with your and Motivational Speaker. attention to engaging and inspiring our arms audience. uplifted at Speaking is an opportunity to open people your side, head up to a broader view and take them to an forward, smile.

BEHIND THE PODIUM NOVEMBER 2016 | 11

TIMELY PUBLICATION / PLEASE RUSH

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HAVE YOU HEARD OF MICROLEARNING? Providing five-minute courses could boost your speaking business!

Thanks to smartphones, on-demand entertainment and social media, the average attention span in North America dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2015, according to a 2015 Microsoft study. Attention span is the time a person can stay focused on a single task and filter out distractions.

So, large employers are using microlearning apps and websites to deliver training in short lessons. The practice is becoming favored because workers who want the training take less time out of their work day to get it.

Some that develop the programs are LinkedIn, Lynda.com, Grovo, and Duolingo.

They include a mix of video and interactive lessons that take under five minutes and include a quiz. Companies make the lessons available to users whenever they want to access them online or with their smartphones.

For example, Duolingo is used by Uber Technologies in Mexico and other South American countries. Uber offers it to drivers who want to brush up on their English so they can attract more fares.

Microlearning encourages workers through spaced repetition, which is more effective than cramming a lot of content into a long in-person seminar.

As a speaker, you’ve undoubtedly got content; as a businessperson, you know that providing the same content in multiple formats generally leads to greater profitability. If you haven’t yet considered offering microlearning content to companies, the time seems right. If you’ve tried this in the past with poor results, it may be time to look into this distribution channel again.

MEMBER FEEDBACK

A SpeakerMatch member shares their experience.

“

SpeakerMatch is the best. I've been a member for over 5 years. Before I started getting paid opportunities, I learned so much from the many e-learning and other resources you have available. Now I'm getting paid to speak.

Double "BOOM" was the call within a week to be the lunch keynote at the Georgia Healthcare Financial Management Fall Institute GHFM. I believe hard work pays off.

Speakermatch is helping me monetize what I love to do. Right On!

It feels good to tell you that I was the lunch keynote for the National Association P.S. A third opportunity came the same month. Freeman Poole Senior Lunch of Healthcare Transport Managers Gala!!!

NAHTM.

Anne Taylor annetheattitudeadjuster.com