Author: Jessica Fernandez

Whether you are interested in strengthening your network, furthering your career or maybe just in need of a few more friends, professional networking organizations can be a great option for you. In addition to providing information about your chosen field, professional organizations can enhance your personal and professional development and provide endless networking opportunities. Look around your community—there are bound to be a plethora of organizations (from small local start-ups to national chapters) for you to join. Here are the top 10 reasons for joining a professional networking organization:

1. Broaden your knowledge: Professional organizations sometimes offer courses, seminars and/or lectures to keep themselves and their members up to date on the latest industry innovations, research, and trends. Staying informed on your industry’s trends will only help you in the long run and will put you one step ahead of the competition!

2. Take charge of your career: Take advantage of career resources. Associations often have job listings online or in print available only to their members. This is a great way to find targeted job postings for your area of interest.

3. Build a better resume: Many organizations have career resources available such as tips on effective resumes or cover letter writing. Listing your association membership on your resume is impressive to current or future employers as it shows that you are dedicated to staying connected in your profession.

4. Enhance your network: We all know that networking is key for the movers and shakers of the community! Making connections is critical, and joining associations give countless opportunities to connect on a local and sometimes even global level. For most people, creating professional relationships is important, and joining a group allows you to have a sense of security and trust. From this, you are able to support and help one another in reaching your professional goals.

5. Be a Leader: Professional associations give you an opportunity to develop your skills as a leader, and this is important not only for your personal growth but for your growth in your firm.

6. Become a mentor: Giving back can be the greatest reward and benefit. Participating in forums, chat groups or discussion boards sponsored by an association is also a great way to grow your network. This allows you to use your peers as sounding boards and often make some great friends with the same interests as you.

7. Make a new friend: Once we graduate from school, we all know how hard it is to get out and meet new people and make a new friend! Use professional networking groups as an opportunity to escape the norm and meet new people that may give you a reason to come out of your shell a bit more and have fun.

8. Give back to the community: There are plenty of organizations that coordinate socially conscious initiatives to support community efforts. Whether it is a nearby animal shelter or a food drive for a local charity, there are sure to be plenty of options for you to choose for if you are looking to give back.

9. Strength in Numbers: We live in a day and age where establishing a presence in any given career field often demands working long hours in the office and bringing work home when the doors close. At the end of the day, you may have ideas for cultivating partnerships, yet not feel up to shouldering all the responsibility to organize them. In a community organization, you have access to an established support system of experienced people who are motivated to get things done. The battle is half won!

10. Stay Inspired and Stay Motivated: Learn to love what you do! You may not even know that you love something, but it’s important to be proactive about things you discover on the journey. Join a professional organization and discover something new TODAY!

Join today NSA GLAC

Dear Members and Guests,

As the President of our National Speaker’s Association, Greater Los Angeles Chapter, (GLAC), I’m delighted to be not only leading our exceptional board but also an impressive group of committee members and volunteers. They are all working together to make your experience and growth as a speaker the very best it can be.

Our leadership is vital in making our GLAC vibrant, rich and energetic. As a member of GLAC you will receive valuable input for developing and measuring your speaking business. Beyond that, as a National Member of NSA, you have the opportunity to tap into the vast resources that our National Organization of 3,400+ members has to offer. Founded in 1973 by Cavett Robert, NSA has the comprehensive resources, cutting-edge tools, insightful education and productive events that speakers need to develop their brands and grow their business.

Here are my goals and mission statements for this coming year for GLAC, 2018-2019:

• Focus and strengthen committees through strong accountability and involvement as they pursue clearly defined goals.
• Implement an on-boarding process to effectively insure new members can clearly grasp how to best secure value for their business from involvement in GLAC and, consequently, steadily grow solid membership.
• Creatively Fundraise to give back to our members(for Nat’l Events) with additional professional workshops, book launches, continued flash reports and auctions.
• Deepen the weekend GLAC “Meeting Experience” with location and speakers that will help members grow in business, sales and technical expertise.
• Strengthen and Empower Leadership for future years of continued growth. (focusing on individual leadership strengths)

6 Continue to expand the impact of our Speaker’s Academy to be one of the top NSA

           Academies in the Nation, not only with numbers of attendees, but with successful

           outcomes and content.

If you want to get involved or need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or any member of our Board. I look forward to serving you in this amazing organization NSA-GLAC!

Sincerely

Deborah Johnson, M.A.

President, NSA-GLAC

Connect with me:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deborah_johnsonworks/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.johnson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahjjohnson/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DebJohnsonWorks

Here is a cheat sheet that is used by the industry to hiring a professional speaker…Is this you?

Sometimes hiring and securing a professional speaker can feel like navigating a maze.

New jargon, terms, conditions and clauses can be confusing, especially if you only secure speakers once or twice a year. Dealing with a speakers bureau or agent can feel daunting. Few meeting professionals know that it is perfectly acceptable to negotiate.

Here is a cheat sheet to help you with understanding the basics of speaker fees.

Free Speaking For Exposure To The Audience

Many organizations pitch to the speaker bureau or speaker “Our audience is perfect for you as they hire many professional speakers. Most of the speakers that have spoken at our conference get spin-off business from our attendees.”

Do the professional speakers at your event really get paid spin-off business?  Do you have documentation to share with the potential speaker to prove it?

Some organizations feel that because their event is a cause, the speaker would surely want to donate their time and services. The pitch in this case is emotional, trying to move the heartstrings of the potential speaker or entertainer.

One of the things I learned from hiring so many professional speakers is that they get hundreds and sometimes thousands of offers to speak for free. Imagine them sitting down at a dinner table once a month and going through hundreds of requests to speak for free. Your request is in a pile of similar requests and the majority of those requests will be denied.

It’s time for organizations to stop trying to secure free professional speakers and start budgeting for good audience experiences. 

The Speaker’s Investment In Time, Knowledge And Experience

Here is a general rule of thumb when considering how many hours it takes a speaker to prepare a presentation. For new presentations: every one hour of presentation requires a minimum of eight hours of preparation. For topics presented before, one hour of presentation requires three hours of preparation. Webinars typically require double the amount of preparation as speakers will double the number of visuals they will use.

So how much should you pay speakers? How much should you budget to cover speaker fees?

1. Industry Speakers With Free Registration.

Identify the hard costs per person to attend your event. Calculate that amount per industry speaker that receives free registration and include it in your budget. Consider travel, lodging and expenses too.

2. Industry Speakers Known As Experts And Average Presenters

Industry insiders that are considered experts and have presentations that are rough around the edges receive from $250 to $1,000 per day. This is appropriate for people with solid content and average presentation skills. Some organizations offer a stipend to offset expenses including travel and lodging.

3. Industry Speakers Known As Experts And Great Presenters

These industry people are known as specialists and experts, who have strong messages, a well-known name in the community, excellent and fresh content, and fantastic presentation skills. They typically receive from $1,000 to $4,000 a day.

4. Rising Professional Speakers

These people make a living as facilitators, presenters and trainers. They have enough demand that they can charge a higher fee. They usually represent the best new and veteran professional speakers in their field. They often receive from $4,000 to $10,000 a day.

5. Specialty Professional Speakers On The Verge Of Marquee Status

These professional speakers have a specialty niche area or some type of new fame. They may have published several books. These speakers often receive from $10,000-$25,000 a day.

6. Marquee Names

These people are considered superstars. They are household names with some type of fame. They are not typically known for their speaking ability. Actually some of them have poor to average presentation skills but their celebrity status eclipses their inability to present. On the other hand, some of them are fantastic presenters. These speakers (examples include athletes, ex-presidents, Bill Gates, Anthony Robbins, Barbara Walters, etc.) receive from $25,000 to $300,000 to present.

Why should conference organizers at a minimum cover industry speaker registration fees? What do you think about conferences that require speakers to pay to present?

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