Yervant loves to get his audience involved in his programs as he did in this shot from Skip’s Summer School 2010. It’s a sure fire way to make the presentation more fun and at the same time demonstrate a point. Photograph by Kenny Kim

Okay, we’re down to the wire and it’s time to wrap up the topic, but not without one last round. It seems fitting to wrap up with a list of things to be cautious about when you finally do get that opportunity to present a program at a convention!

• Keep your bio short! Until you become a true rockstar and get down to standing room only, nobody cares how you got started. So often speakers feel the need to spend half an hour talking about themselves. People have come to hear you speak because there was something in the description of your program they believed will help them in their business. Don’t disappoint them.

• Make sure your program matches the description. In an effort to spice things up many speakers will stray from their original topic, so much so that the presentation no longer is representative of what they said they’d be talking about. Stay with your topic – that’s the only thing people who don’t know you have to go on when they sit down to listen to your presentation.

• Jokes are fine, but – a few laughs are fine, but people want material and ideas they can apply to their businesses. They’re there to learn. There’s nothing wrong with a few laughs, just pay attention to your content. And, if you’re going to cross the line into off-color humor, be careful. There’s a very fine line between a little acceptable smut here and there and comments that are offensive.

• Don’t sell from the stage. There’s nothing wrong in having material you sell, but don’t pitch it from the podium! Stay soft sell and you’ll always do better than a hard-sell-tonight-only message.

• Keep a bottle of water close by and drink it whether your throat is getting dry or not. Your voice will sound better.

• Giveaways are always fun, but don’t spend a lot of time giving things away. Personally I’ve always liked a few business cards taped to the bottom of a chair or two for finding the winner.

• Remember your sponsors. So often I’ve seen other manufacturers hanging around speakers like vultures just before a program starts. At the last minute they’ll hand a speaker samples of their product and ask them to give them away during their program. The speaker, often relatively new, thinks it’s a great idea, after all, it’s not competitive with their sponsor’s products or services. The truth is, it’s simply inappropriate and disrespectful to your sponsors who have paid to be there.

• Meet and greet your attendees. This is one that Bambi Cantrell does better than any speaker I’ve ever known. At every program she’s there early and meeting people as they come in. This is not as easy as it sounds and for years I was uncomfortable doing it myself. The nice thing is, once you’ve met a few people in the audience, your presentation actually goes smoother. You’ll find it really nice to have a few familiar faces in the crowd who you can pull into your comments or questions now and then.

• Stay within your time frame! There’s nothing worse than a speaker who runs late and starts a log jam that affects everybody. If you run late on your program then the next person in the room after you starts late. By the end of the day at a national convention you could easily have programs running up to half an hour late getting started.

• Have a back up of your presentation. You’ve got to live by Murphy’s law and assume something is going to crash. Always have a back up presentation on a disk or jump drive.

• Get yourself a wireless remote to change your slides. Most of the time the AV department for the convention will have one, but just to be on the safe side it’s nice to have one with you. A wireless remote gives you freedom to move around the room a little instead of standing in one place for the whole presentation. And have extra batteries with you as I was reminded at my own presentation at the Kentucky PPA Convention last February! (Thanks Dan Dobbins for bailing me out!)

• Give people a way to contact you after your program. It’s nothing more than your email address if they have questions. For questions immediately following your presentation I love it when a speaker announces they’ll be in their sponsor’s booth. It’s a great way to show respect and support for a sponsor and drive traffic to their booth.

Most speakers have a love/hate relationship with teaching. It’s exciting, fun and really teaches you a lot about yourself. It helps build your network, but it takes time away from your family, your business and often your friends. Spending too much time on the speaking circuit, while it might seem glamorous, definitely falls into the “be careful what you wish for” category.

Your value as a speaker, especially in photography is dependent on always bringing something exciting and new to the party. Too often speakers have become so obsessed with speaking engagements they lose sight of their business. Once you become a full time speaker and are no longer able to walk the talk of managing your business, your credibility sooner or later will start to drop.

Great speakers are really hard to find. So, just like your photography, if speaking is on your wish list then work to make your presentation the very best, your material cutting edge and your images breath-taking! There is no room for compromise when it comes to making a presentation.

There’s a great line I heard once, if you screw up a portrait shoot you can always re-shoot it, but if you screw up a wedding you need to leave town! Speaking at a convention is pretty much the same. People won’t forget a bad presentation or a speaker who just wasn’t prepared.  In the “old days” it at least took a week or two for the stories about a bad speaker to make the rounds, but today with social media people will be tweeting about how bad you were before you’ve shown your next slide!

There is no substitute for practicing your presentation and really knowing your subject matter. There is no substitute for quality in your work. There is not substitute for sharing great information. If you want to be a speaker in today’s market then make sure you have the dedication it takes to teach, not just the techniques to be a great photographer!

Kevin Kubota is a prime example of a photographer with incredible skills with or without a camera in his hands. He’s an outstanding teacher, speaker and writer as well. Photo by Kenny Kim.

Just because you’re an outstanding photographer and have created award-winning images doesn’t mean you’ve got the ability to hold the attention of a room full of people. So, here are some things to think about:

•    What’s your message? I know it seems basic, but having lots of friends, being likeable and knowing what you’re doing with a camera in your hands isn’t enough. What are you actually going to teach people to do?
•    How’s your message going to be different from other photographers already on the lecture circuit? You need a “hook”, something to get people interested in what you have to say that’s different from other people they’ve heard already. In this economy, whatever your message, make sure it relates to revenue, growth, efficiency or just plain survival.
•    How are you going to get your presentation seasoned? There’s nothing worse than a speaker who “um’s” you to death and is uncomfortable the first few times out. But this is easy to fix – it’s called practice. Start with a small group of friends for your audience and then move up to local guilds or affiliates. Work to get yourself to a comfort level resulting in a presentation that’s smooth, showing no more stress than a conversation over coffee with a friend.
•    You need just the right mix of visuals and speaking time. Think about all the programs you’ve attended. Most of the time, what made them great was the content, the images and what you were able to learn. Remember that as you practice your own presentation.
•    Once you really know your presentation, do it without one single slide. You always have to assume Murphy’s Law, if something can go wrong, it will. If you know your material, you should be able to talk about it with the same enthusiasm with or without slides!
•    Be comfortable sharing your “secrets.” After all that’s why you’re there in the first place. Don’t hold back and definitely don’t pitch books, CD’s, other workshops or DVD’s from the stage. Years ago a speaker was asked a question and answered, “You’ll find that answer on my second video, which my crew has in the back of the room, on sale today only.” That was the last time that speaker spoke for that particular organization.

Once you’ve done the program a few times, assuming you’ve gotten a good response and done all your fine-tuning you’re ready to go after sponsorship and a speaking gig at the next convention and that’s where we’ll start Part II tomorrow.

1)      Relevance: I’ve probably read over a thousand proposals in my career for programs, not just at WPPI, but over twelve years at Hasseblad in the late 80’s and 90’s.  I’d bet that at least a third of them lacked a relevant topic.  Competition for program slots at any convention is brisk – you’ve got to have a relevance to contemporary issues and challenges!  Just being a great photographer doesn’t mean you can teach or speak!

2)      Practice, practice, practice: How’s your presentation style?  I know I’ve written about this before, but you’ve got to be a decent presenter.  You’ve got to know your subject matter cold.

3)      Sponsorship: Landing a sponsor to support you is terrific, but if you don’t stay on top of their products and services the support will disappear.  Make it a point to know their product lines and make it a point to be loyal.   You need to believe in the companies you represent.  You don’t want to get the reputation for just being a mercenary or hired gun!

4)      Sponsorship fees:  Everyone has their own opinion on this one, but I was recently asked for advice from a professional photographer seeking sponsorship.   She really didn’t know what to charge her sponsor, who was new and had contacted her to do a program.   Here’s the challenge: Most companies today have limited budgets and even the big buys have had to cut back.  At least for your first time out try this approach: “I know budgets are tight and I appreciate you considering sponsoring my program.  What do you feel is appropriate?”  Put the responsibility back on them to set the fee.  Also, remember most companies can do a better job if you’re willing to barter for products or services than if you’re insisting on cash compensation.

5)      Walk before you run: If you’ve got no experience, don’t expect the lead off slot at a convention like WPPI.  In fact, don’t even expect to speak at WPPI, if  this is your first time speaking.  Get some practice on the local circuit first.  There are hundreds of local state PPA chapters, regional programs and even community programs you can use to get your feet wet.  And, when all else fails, don’t be afraid to start your own program in the local community.

6)      Build your “portfolio”: Keep track of where and when you’ve spoken and if you can get a short video, it will help your pitch!  You wouldn’t expect a client to hire you without seeing your portfolio or album – so why do photographers expect to be hired without any samples of their past presentations?  The same goes for having a few references from past speaking engagements.

7)      Podcasts and webinars: Thanks to today’s technology, anybody can produce a webinar or podcast.  It’s another great way to gain experience.

8)      Attend every workshop you can and pay attention to the presentations.  One of the very best I’ve ever seen was Arthur Rainville – I saw his presentation on creativity years ago and it was absolutely brilliant.  But at every convention there are dozens of seasoned speakers.  Pay attention to how relaxed they are.  Notice how their presentation matches their slides.  Notice where the jokes are plugged in and their timing.

Most important of all, be careful what you wish for!  Speaking can be incredibly rewarding, but it also takes a lot out of you.  As a professional photographer, when you find yourself speaking more than shooting you start to lose credibility.  You’ve got to find the balance between speaking and shooting and keep the separation between your fans and your clients.

Remember that the best speakers and teachers in our industry have earned their rise to stardom – and so often the bigger they are the more humble!  The bottom line is simple: never believe your own press releases.