Via the Law Consulting Blog, here’s a great template letter for finding speaking opportunities.
Speaking can help make you look credible to an audience. You can also tell potential clients that you’ve made presentations to people in Industry X or from Trade Association Y. It helps you build your brand.
I’ve done a lot of public speaking over the years — everything from appearing for Careers Day at a high school to lecturing at university.
Do you speak in public?
I speak on occasion at my church but not often enough. My goal is to become a motivational speaker to the youth in public schools.
About Me:
I have done well at mastering the fear of public speaking and stage fright in general.
I am hungry for more opportunities and love challenges and not afraid to roll up my sleeves so-to-speak.
I have been through preacher training three times, had a public speaking course, was a member of a Toastmasters group for about three months. I read books and watch videos on public speaking as well.
My Topics of Interest:
The subject matter I want to speak about to the youth to begin with are the following: Facing Your Fears, Accepting Adversity and Following Your Dreams.
My Questions:
1. How do I get an opportunity to speak in a public school and should that be my first option to speak publicly?
2. Should my speech be completely memorized in order to be motivational and convincing to an audience or can I use 3×5 cards with key words?
3. Do I need to get some training from a professional coach? If so, I do not know how I could possibly afford such training.
I’d start with making presentations to your church youth group, then other youth groups and then see if you can get introduced to someone at a school. You’ll have built up a lot of trust by then and your references should help you get the right opportunity – and I don’t think it’s a long path to the school.