The Ups and Downs of Speaking

Each day we read about bailouts for the banking and automotive industry. However, there are other industries that need help. The speaking industry is down and it's affecting thousands of professionals.

We've asked some of the top speakers in the U.S. to share their thoughts.

1. Recruit Talent Now.

Most employers have reduced, and in some cases eliminated, their recruitment departments. But it was just a few years ago when we were all fighting the "War For Talent" -- our biggest challenge was not access to financial capital; it was access to the best and brightest human capital. Now that unemployment numbers are significantly higher, smart organizations should develop a strategy to now go recruit the "stars" they couldn't get just two years ago and have these people fully trained and ready to go when the economy rebounds. Having this workforce in place, will really prove beneficial to businesses that invest now.

2. Make Infrastructure Investments Now.

Again, most organizations are doing everything they can to cut costs and postpone all non-essential expenditures. Frankly, this "down time" created by the weakened economy actually presents an opportunity for businesses to undertake those major infrastructure projects they simply couldn't make time for not that long ago. Companies would be wise to undertake major infrastructure projects now because (a) it's likely going to be cheaper now as firms are much more willing to negotiate their prices in this highly-competitive marketplace, and (b) they will have the time to devote full-time resources to staff these projects.

3. Conduct a Comprehensive Leadership Assessment.

Although unemployment rates are double what they were a couple of years ago, the reality is that the US will soon still have to deal with a leadership vacuum created by mass retirement of the baby boomers. Smart-thinking organizations will conduct a thorough review of their management and senior executive ranks to ensure they have the right leaders in place to usher the company into the next decade. First, they should identify their organization's needs for the next 5-10 years. Next, they should consider their expected management and executive needs for that same period. Finally, they should develop development plans for current employees and talent acquisition strategies to fill the gaps so that the business will be ready to succeed when the market turns.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.

Fortunately what I’ve found in my seven years as a professional speaker is that most people are hungry for knowledge, and if you package it well they’ll stayed glued to their seats. Whether it’s 500 Arab salesmen in Dubai, a group of London CEO’s or a thousand rural shop keepers in Natal, people want the same things, they want to laugh, they want to be moved and they want a message that is going to improve their lives and businesses. Give that to them and you’ve got a long, rewarding career ahead of you. To see peoples faces sparkle with new insight or when they come up to you years after a presentation that you’ve long forgotten and tell you that something you said changed their life, that is a deep, deep privilege.

The other great thing is that companies just don’t choose to have conferences in ugly places. Last week in the space of four days I went from a coastal game lodge outside PE to a golf resort in the Magaliesburg mountains to a hotel on Cape Town’s Atlantic seaboard. Tough job - apparently to some people worse than death - but someone’s got to do it.

If you work three times a week that’s pretty good going. Of course that doesn’t mean we’re sitting on our butts the rest of the time. There is research, writing that next book, briefing meetings and marketing but if you’re passionate about your message in the words of Noel Coward: ‘Work is more fun than fun.’ They don’t call it the ‘privilege of the platform’ for nothing.

Justin Cohen www.justinpresents.com

C.A.R.E is Courage to take Action Relevant to Everyone.

3 tips I can expand on:

1. Sunset your personal agenda and ego in the workplace.

2. Don't lead with confidence, or is it arrogance? Or ignorance?

3. C.A.R.E must be your only motive. When C.A.R.E is the common motive; teamwork and leadership are one and the same.

Our companies need us now more than ever!

Charlie Lobosco www.charliespeaking.com

Here are my 3 tips on how organization can improve their businesses:

1. Acknowledge people more often for the things that they do right in front of others and/or give them a gift certificate to dinner, etc., declaring a "job well done."

2. Have 30 minute meeting weekly with an agenda sent by e-mail prior to any meetings, so everyone can get prepared and get right down to business, and start right on time.

3. Have an "Open Door" policy where people can write their comments on a half sheet of paper and drop them into a box with or without their names, so management can look at to see what concerns employee have, how morale can be improved, and perhaps they may even see great ideas for improvements, as well as cost effective tips.

Evelyn Gray www.evelyngray.com

For starters, build competent leadership into your organization. Make this mindset a priority and a way of life. A recent new study by the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and U.S. News & World Report (September 2006) reports that 70% of folks in the U.S believe there is a leadership crisis in America. So do I! A New York Times study in 2001 revealed 25% of employees reported being driven to tears in the workplace. 50% of workers are calling their place of work a place of “verbal abuse” and “yell¬ing”. 30% of workers believe they are regularly given unrealistic deadlines and half of them report that they have to work 12 hour days to get the work done. The Harvard Business Review estimates that ‘presenteeism’ (workers who come to work but aren’t productive at all) costs in America to be at $150 billion annually. The Gallup Organiza¬tion studies say that as much as 30% of the average workforce is “actively disengaged”! There is BIG work to be done in this area.

Secondly, develop a strategy and detailed game plan for identifying the ‘skills gap’ in your organization and eradicate it. Why? In the last decade, 1/3 of Fortune 500 CEOs lasted fewer than three years and that failure rate is accelerating. According to the annual “MetLife Employee Benefits Trend Study” a few years ago, since year 2000 almost half of the Fortune 1000 CEOs were new to their jobs. Top talent failure rates are estimated to be from 30% to as high as 75 percent and a McKinsey study found that only 3% of companies believe they “develop people well”. Skills and competencies make a difference but this is the first thing to get cut in times of hardship.

Finally, be authentic and communicate, communicate, communicate. Let ALL employees know what you are trying to do and why. Enlist their support by helping them see how they can contribute to the bottom line in an individual and personal way. Make sure they understand how the organization’s vision needs to have alignment all the way to the lowest of levels. Hold regular follow up sessions or ‘fireside chats’ with employees to keep them abreast of what’s going on…the good and the bad. Invite them to own the business and watch what happens!

Douglas R. Bender, Sr. www.onyxglobalhr.com