[Van Richman:] Hi there, I'm Van Richman.
I'm a professional speaker and
currently, I'm the president-elect
for the National Speaker's
Association, Tennessee Chapter.
>> Van, can you bring us
into that job a little bit?
What does that job actually entail?
[Van Richman:] As a professional speaker,
you have the opportunity to work with groups,
whether after dinner speech, lunch presentation,
perhaps even a full day training, sharing tools
and insights that can help individuals
or organizations totally change direction
or for a person, change their life.
>> How about the schedule?
Is it, I'm guessing it's probably
not a typical 9 to 5 type of day.
What is your day like?
What is your week like based on the
appointments and stuff like that?
[Van Richman:] That can vary.
I've had some schedules where I would be out
the entire week, get home on Friday night,
turn around and leave again on Sunday
for another five days on the road.
Other weeks you may have
simply one or two engagements.
You may fly out in the morning
and do a presentation the next morning,
be back home in time for dinner.
>> Van, for young folks out there
thinking, "Hey, maybe I'd like to do this,
maybe it's something I think I can do," any
advice for them in terms of maybe how to prepare
for a job like this or what sort of personality
and skills do you think would
be a good fit for this job?
[Van Richman:] I would suggest
that someone who is outgoing.
If you love to work with people, then you're
going to have an opportunity to interact with,
meet a tremendous number of just wonderful
folks and share some tools and ideas.
I do know some people who are very successful
professional speakers who are more introverted,
but when they step on the platform,
the lights come on and they come on.
But when the step back off, the lights go off.
So you can be any number of
personalities and be successful in this.
>> I know they have, I've heard of, I don't know
if it's Toastmasters, or they have you know,
public speaking types of courses.
Do you find that those would be helpful?
Have you had any experience
with any of that sort of stuff?
[Van Richman:] Toastmasters is an
organization that I highly recommend for people
who perhaps aspire to improve
their speaking skills.
The National Speakers Association
differs in that we don't really focus
on the skill development as much as we
do on the business development side.
Because there are a lot of people
who use speaking as a hobby.
We want to help them develop a speaking
career where they can actually have this
as their sole source of income
for themself or for their family.
>> And you mentioned the income.
How does that work?
I guess, is it based on, you know, if you
get hired then you get paid for that job?
How does the compensation
work if this is your career?
[Van Richman:] Compensation is
something that's just negotiated
between each speaker and
their individual client.
You'll have some people that are rather
well known, you may have for example,
General Norman Schwarzkopf or Zig Zigler.
They may get paid $50,000 to
do a 15 minute engagement.
I'm probably not going to get
$50,000 to do a 15 minute engagement
because I don't have that name recognition.
And yet, I can still make a
comfortable living doing what I do.
It will vary based upon your skill set,
it will based upon your individual
experience or expertise.
Some speakers only have one
presentation they do.
Maybe they were an Olympic skier, so
they're only talking about, you know,
"How do you overcome the tumbles in life?"
and that's the only presentation
they will ever do for any audience.
Others, like myself, are a little more well
rounded and speak on leadership, coaching,
communication, team building,
sort of a broader array of topics
which makes me attractive to a broader audience.
>> Going off of that a little
bit, Van, who is your audience?
Can you give an example of maybe some of the
types of organizations that you would work with?
[Van Richman:] I've worked with JP Morgan,
Chase Bank, New York City Police Department,
for the CSI types, the California
Association of Criminalists.
I've worked with the military, with
the US Army Corps of Engineers.
So it can be any realm.
I work with non-profits, small
mom and pop, homegrown companies
as well as the larger Fortune 500 types.
>> And the focus is leadership?
[Van Richman:] Leadership and communication.
Those go hand in hand.
You can't be a good leader if you
aren't an effective communicator
and without the communication
skills so many things suffer.
The personal relationships and
the ability to influence others.
>> Van, if you would maybe touch
on the challenges of the job.
I know every job has some challenges,
maybe the challenges and then finish
up with what you really love
about it and why you do it.
[Van Richman:] Some of the challenges
are is you're going to have to travel
and anytime you go to the
airport, you don't know what delays
or what cancellations will face you.
The room that you're going to be
speaking in isn't quite what you expected.
The audience doesn't respond
the way that you hoped.
So you can have some challenges.
Our economy right now has
seen a bit of a downturn
in the speaking industry just
based upon sheer numbers.
So we see that it's like
others, it can be affected.
The greatest thing about it is
that I get to do what I love to do.
And I've had many people, through the years,
who shared that for their training program
or maybe just a one day session, they
said, "What you did changed my life."
And I can find no greater reward.
It doesn't come in the form of a paycheck.
>> That's got to be a great feeling.
Maybe close out with any final thoughts
or pieces of advice for a young person
that may be considering this as a job.
[Van Richman:] Always look at every job in
our entire life and phrase that I've shared
with audiences for many years, "We
live forever through the things we do,
the lives we touch, and what we leave behind."
Whether it's you want to be a professional
speaker, a doctor, an airline pilot,
you have the opportunity to touch lives.
To ensure it's doing something
that you truly want to do.
Not something your parents want you to do or
your friends, or it's the current "hot trend."
For example, the CSI television programs
have sparked a tremendous increase
in students attending college
into those sciences.
A lot of them get out there and
discover this isn't really what they want
to do with their life.
So if you can, determine that first.
>> Great advice.
Van, thank you so much for talking to us.
[Van Richman:] Thank you.