Brad Hauck: 0:09

Welcome to episode 33 of the profitable speaking podcast, where we provide practical tips and insights to help you succeed as a public speaker. In today's episode, we're going to look at managing your time and energy as a professional speaker. As a speaker, your schedule is often filled with numerous commitments, ranging from preparing, engaging in presentations to networking with fellow professionals, and it can be challenging to balance these responsibilities while also taking care of your own well-being. Effective time and energy management is not only essential for delivering your best performance on stage, but also for maintaining your overall productivity and avoiding burnout. Whether you're a seasoned conference speaker or just starting your journey, the insights that I'm going to share with you in this episode will provide you with valuable guidance to excel in your speaking engagements while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. So let's look at setting priorities. As a professional speaker, your time and energy are valuable commodities that need to be managed wisely. Setting priorities is the key to ensuring that you allocate your resources effectively and focus on the most impactful tasks. I'm going to explore the essential areas to demand your attention the most, from a thorough preparation and research for your presentations to networking and building connections with fellow professionals, as well as taking care of your own well-being. There are multiple aspects to consider. By understanding how to identify and prioritise these important tasks, you can optimise your performance, deliver exceptional presentations and build a thriving career as a professional speaker. So identifying the key priorities for your speaking Number one, preparation and research for presentations. Delivering impactful presentations requires a thorough preparation and extensive research. This involves studying the conference theme, understanding the target audience, creating compelling content, designing visuals, rehearsing the delivery, etc. However, dedicating sufficient time and energy to preparation can be challenging when other priorities can compete for your attention. So let's have a look at some of these things. Understanding your audience is very important. There's no point in delivering a speech to an audience that has no understanding of the point of view they're putting forward. So understanding that you're talking to business owners or employees or middle management or CEOs all affects the level at which you present, and it also makes a major difference to the language you use, as well as, maybe, the illustrations and stories that you include. So you need to understand who you're going to be talking to before you actually hit the stage Super, super important.

Brad Hauck: 2:52

Second, let's look at the goals of the speech. Have you been brought in to teach something? Have you been brought in to set up a situation, such as preparing people for change that they don't know is coming yet. Have a look at what the goals are. Those goals can be found by talking to the conference organisers, talking to the people who have hired the conference organisers to get you in, etc. Etc, etc. So I suppose the key phrase is talking to stakeholders. Okay, it's important you understand why you're there. This is something that I probably didn't do when I first started out, but I've learned that that's really important.

Brad Hauck: 3:29

You must plan your speech out. Okay, don't just wing it. Never wing a speech, even if it's partially winged one, that's okay. But you must have a plan that you can follow, and then you can add bits and on the fly, depending on how your audience is or how you're feeling on that day. I suppose that brings up the aspect of customisation, and that's where we adjust the speech to fit our audience, our goals, etc. Etc, etc. No two speeches should be identical, and yet I know in some countries there's the opportunity to say the same speech to a thousand audiences, whereas where I am, the chances of saying the same speech over and over again is highly unlikely because of the small nature of the country. We don't have enough people, so therefore you need to be producing new sort of ideas and content. But you can have a base speech from which you pull aspects, or have little sections that you break off into, depending on what people need specifically covered.

Brad Hauck: 4:28

Slide design and layout are important as well. When you're doing your preparation and research for your presentations, you want your slides to be impactful. One of the things that breaks my heart is when I see 1980s power points go up. Really, in this day and age, when there's AI built into PowerPoint, you don't even need to think about it. Just load your speech in and press the generate design ideas and it'll come up with new ideas for you. They look really nice and professional. Please just take five extra minutes to let the AI do some work. You might not have any design skills, but it certainly does. So let it do its thing and you'll get a much better presentation, because it knows what size the font should be for the clarity that you need, etc.

Brad Hauck: 5:11

Using video and audio in a presentation. Of course, you do need to prepare all that stuff beforehand. You need to make sure it's embedded properly or it's going to work, and it's a major hassle. I've mentioned it before in the podcast, but I don't trust video and audio in presentations, but I want to start using more, so I'm looking at other alternatives. Could it be an animated GIF? They don't have to be 10 seconds long. They can be 30, 40, 50 seconds, so maybe the animation is actually video animation, so to speak. You must practice when you're preparing for your presentations. You cannot go in cold, no way. You need to think about your calls to actions that you're going to put into your speech, where you're going to build them in, how you're going to build them in, and also you need to be thinking about what you're going to do after you leave the stage, and we'll talk about that a little bit later.

Brad Hauck: 6:00

So the second key priority is the back end of business stuff. Okay, as a speaker, you're not just responsible for delivering presentations, but you're also responsible for managing the administration aspects of your speaking engagements. This includes contracts, logistics, invoicing and maintaining professional online presence. Balancing these back end tasks, along with other priorities, can be overwhelming, especially when you've got deadlines coming up. If you're the only person doing all the work, it can be very difficult. So, understanding the business side of things like keeping up with connections to other people. You've got your connections with people in the room connections with other speakers, connections with bookers and making sure you stay connected to people is a very difficult thing. As the world becomes more digitally connected but less personally connected, it's harder to get with people to talk. But you need to work out where the best use of your time is, and sometimes it might just be having coffee with everybody regularly. It's up to you, but I found, depending on your business, that sometimes it's about just catching up with people And that leads to referrals or more business, etc.

Brad Hauck: 7:14

You need to make sure you get paid. Okay, get 50% upfront, 50% on delivery. Never go and speak and expect to be paid afterwards. That's a guaranteed way to find out that you're not going to get paid. Okay, if you only get paid 50% upfront, make sure that 50% covers your costs So if anything goes wrong, at least during the clear, you're not left in a hole. This is really important. Too many people get ripped off because they don't get the money upfront. You've got to get paid. Doesn't matter what they think they wouldn't do it for free. And if you're not doing it for free, if it's a paid engagement, then you make sure that they understand. There's a requirement to pay a booking fee 50% upfront or more, depending on what you want before you leave home.

Brad Hauck: 8:02

Don't forget, you're going to need to organize travel Now. Sometimes that'll be done through the person who books you, or if you're speaking at a conference that you've been invited to to speak for free, etc. You'll need to organize your travel yourself. If you're smart, you'll use flight points. So I'm a big Virgin flyer, a flying Virgin. My flight points will give me free flights but also get the lounge and different other things. And if you book through the same flight company, most of the time you know what your service is going to be like. You know about your reliability, but also all your bonus points build up and then you get the extra bonuses for some friends that fly Qantas everywhere and they have the Platinum lounge, etc. These things are worth working on. It makes life so much easier when you can go to an airport check in priority check in go through the lounge and have something to drink and eat while you're there and do some work for a while before you get on a plane, rather than sitting with the general public. Okay, it's a much better atmosphere for you when you're traveling a lot, i'll say you can have a shower and there's toilets, etc. Etc.

Brad Hauck: 9:03

You're going to have time away from other stuff. You're going to need to prioritize that. Okay, if you've got a podcast episode, it may be that week that gets missed out, sadly, and you pick it up the next week. Or maybe you've got a deadline due and you've got to have some work done because you'll be on stage the day that it's supposed to be released. It's important that you know that for that week you may not be able to do anything, could be caught up, focused on the conference, and sometimes that's where you really need to be because your future bookings may come from that. And, of course, there's the family side of things. Don't forget about family. It's very important. It's all very well to be a speaker and travel the world and do all these great things, but if it costs you a family, was it really worth it? And my personal opinion is no. It's not. Nothing's worth losing all that. You're never going to get your kids' lives back and you're certainly never going to build a relationship with your partner as effectively once you've damaged it.

Brad Hauck: 11:09

Number three content creation and streamlining. High quality content is crucial for engaging and inspiring your audience. This includes continuously developing fresh ideas, crafting persuasive narratives and adapting your materials to different events and audiences. However, finding time to generate new content while simultaneously streamlining existing material can be a big challenge. There's a whole pile of content needs to be developed as a speaker, just around a gig, there's a pile. So first of all, you got the before speech promo video. Most people would like a little video from you talking about what you're going to do. Then you got posts talking about where you're going to be speaking, so you let the audience know you're going to be at this event. They might like to get a ticket. It'll be very interesting. There's lots of other great speakers, et cetera. You've got email capture to set up, so if you have an offer where you're on stage or people want to download your presentation slides or something, you could have an email capture so you can send it to them.

Brad Hauck: 12:03

Setting up upsells from stage. Developing free content that people can download once they've seen you speak that continues to build your brand. You've got to develop your branded workbooks so that when you're on stage, there's things you can give people that they can do while you're speaking. That has your branding, so that you've got all your details in front of them. That could lead to lead capture, et cetera. You got catch-ups to organize, which is part of that kind of content creation. So I was setting up calendars and booking scripts and things, collecting cards And remember part of the content creation is pushing forward, that you're always looking for that next gig and book me now, sort of stuff. There's a lot to be done there and streamlining it Realistically, it's worth hiring someone to help you. I've used, for example, ai to help me. There's a lot you can do there if you do it properly, but in the end, you still only want a pair of hands.

Brad Hauck: 12:59

Number four networking building and building connections. So networking and building connections Networking plays a vital role in expanding your professional reach as a speaker. Building connections with event organizers, fellow speakers and attendees can lead to new speaking opportunities, collaborations and valuable industry insights. However, attending networking events, following up with contacts and nurturing relationships require a dedicated time and effort, which may compete with other priorities. So what can we do to make this work for us? First of all, i'd say you need your elevator speech. That is what you talk on So quick, less than one minute. This is what I do and this is who I am. That is memorable. That makes you that guy or that girl. Okay, as I've said on the past, when I had the SEO company as I make you number one for what you do or sell on Google.

Brad Hauck: 13:49

Very simple, isn't it? And straight away, people know what I do As a speaker. You need the same thing When you're making contacts. You're probably going to need to make lots and lots of contacts, but very few are going to be really good contacts. So have a look at the conversations you're having and work out which ones are really important that you need to connect with and build on, because you need to make sure your time is focused where it needs to be. That doesn't mean you ignore other conversations with people. If you like that person, then spend time with them, but remember you're looking for those really special connections, that with people that you get along with. That not just using them for leverage, of course, just because you enjoy them and because you share common bonds.

Brad Hauck: 14:34

Okay, don't try to meet everybody. You just you can't do it. Okay, it's just not possible. Take your time, go back regularly if you're going to networking events and get to know everybody there. Make sure you've got some way of sharing your information. So business cards are always simple. They might be old fashioned but quite frankly they work. You can use a tapped or something like that where you've got a QR code or a NFT module in a card, where you just tap it on someone's phone and transfer the information. But business cards get carried and put down and left on desks and people see them for months afterwards. For example, i literally got one in front of me from Singapore, from the photographer who did all the photos, and this is sitting in front of me here And every time I look at it I think I should put that away. I see Ken's card here and there it is. If it was digital I wouldn't see it. And don't forget when you're networking book a chat right there. Open your calendars. Everyone's got a phone calendar these days. So open your calendars and book a chat. Don't wait to contact later. Don't add in an extra step. Make that step then.

Brad Hauck: 15:38

Number five self-care and maintaining personal wellbeing. In the midst of a busy conference schedule, it's crucial not to neglect your own wellbeing. Taking care of your physical, mental and emotional health ensures that you can perform at your best. However, finding time for self-care activities such as exercise, relaxation and personal time can be challenging when there's a constant demand on your schedule. We're going to look a little bit further into this, but there's a couple of things Naps I like my nap of an afternoon if I can get it in 30 minutes or meditation, depending on what I'm doing. Make sure you get a good sleep. Did your exercising? If you can't exercise walk, you can walk the hallways.

Brad Hauck: 16:17

Eating right is hard when you're speaking. Often the conference food is not the sort of food you would normally eat, especially when you're in another country. So make sure that you are getting the right food for your body, and that's really important. I know it's an issue that Western speakers have when they go to non-Western countries If they're not used to eating exotic foods or spicy foods or something like that. Make sure you take things like food bars and that with you So you've got something at least that you can put in your stomach with the solid.

Brad Hauck: 16:45

Don't forget to pack medications. Okay, a lot of people have medications these days and you won't be able to get them easily there, so make sure you pack them, also preventative medications such as panadol and caudal, because inevitably if you're going to fly places on the plane. You're going to catch stuff. It's that simple. And you can't just fly all the way to the other side of the world to turn around and go I'm too sick. Even when you're really sick, you can do a 45 minute session if you've practiced. Okay, i can remember at least one presentation where I don't remember a thing. I remember going into the room. I remember coming out and people telling me the next day it was awesome. I don't remember being on stage, but the cauldron got me through it. Haircuts Now get a haircut before you go so you're nice and tidy and cut your nails and things like that. Okay, self-care is really important and it also makes you feel professional because you know you look right.

Brad Hauck: 17:37

The challenge lies in finding the right balance amongst these five priorities. Okay, each one is essential for success as a conference speaker, and neglecting any of them can have detrimental effects. However, it's important to recognize that time and energy are finite resources. By employing effective time management techniques, setting clear boundaries and prioritizing tasks based on their impact and urgencies, you can strive to build a harmonious balance and ensure that all these crucial areas receive the attention that they deserve. So let's have a look at some energy management techniques. Let's have a look at recognizing and understanding energy levels and patterns. Now, this might sound a little bit weird. Energy is an important part of being a speaker. Energy levels fluctuate throughout the day and being aware of your own energy pattern is crucial for optimizing productivity and performance. However, when you're juggling multiple responsibilities, it can be challenging to recognize when your energy is at its peak or when you may need to conserve energy for crucial tasks.

Brad Hauck: 18:40

So, for example, i am best in the mornings. If I get up early and do writing or go and do anything, i'm always better in the mornings. I like to exercise anytime in the morning, from early to midday, but my afternoons are good for busy work. Okay, they might not be great for creative work, but they're definitely good for busy work where I've just got to sit down and nut through and do the hard stuff. I like my own company. So when I'm speaking, i like to leave breaks in what I'm doing. That might mean I miss a session or something like that, but I always have to have breaks or I can be by myself, away from the crowds. That's just a personal thing.

Brad Hauck: 19:16

Sometimes it gets a bit peoply for me If you're at a conference. I like to go outside and get some sun. If I'm being shut inside under the artificial light for some reason does not agree with me, and I like to get outside and feel a bit of sun on my skin, not get burned or anything like that, but just to get that fresh outdoor air and that feeling, that openness. So I always try and go for a walk regularly, just go outside for five minutes and come back in and keep going. And also, when you're in the rooms, make sure you stay warm or cool. Sometimes you get a room that's freezing and that can be terrible. I've had days where I cannot get warm And then about other days where the room's too hot and you're like, oh, this is terrible, it's stifling. You never know. With conferences, big rooms, it's quite a balance, getting things right.

Brad Hauck: 20:03

B we need to practice self care and maintaining physical and mental well-being. We talked a little bit about this, but taking care of your physical and mental well-being is vital for sustaining high energy and avoiding burnout. This includes getting enough sleep, nutritious meals, exercising regularly. Engaging activities promote relaxation and mental rejuvenation. However, finding time for self care when you're speaking, that means that amidst a demanding conference schedule can be a constant challenge.

Brad Hauck: 20:30

So one thing you do is meditate And I'm not one for woo-woo, but I do believe in meditation And it doesn't have to be sitting down and trying to clear your head. Okay, i cannot shut the voices up inside my head, it just doesn't work that way. But I've learned that if I breathe for two minutes and I in my head say breathe in as I breathe in, and then hold my breath and then breathe out and say breathe out in my head, i can't think or talk to myself at the same time. Now, it's a good sign that I'm not much of a multitasker, but it's a simple technique And once you start being able to do it for two minutes, you can stretch it out. But just saying, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, actually quite the voices, and that is the same as sitting in silence. Okay, but you need to find out what works for you. I'll use the calm app, as I've mentioned before.

Brad Hauck: 21:27

I mentioned using proper food previously. That's important. Okay, have breakfast. If you normally have breakfast, don't skip breakfast when you go to a conference. If normally you have breakfast, your body will react to it. You'll get lightheaded or something, and you do not want that happening. When you're on stage. You need your energy. You need that energy to be up. So don't play with your routine. Make your routine work for where you're at And probably lastly in this one, drink plenty of water, not coffee.

Brad Hauck: 21:58

Okay, i love my triple shop coffee of the morning, but when I'm going on stage that can actually have quite a drying effect on one of the side effects of that with my body. It is actually my ears block up and then I can hear myself talking, which is very disconcerting when you're on the stage Talking no microphone. So the best thing I can do on a day when I'm speaking is not drink coffee until after I've spoken and drink lots and lots of water, because water keeps you hydrated and when you're hydrated you're much more your brain and everything works better. Just a tip, as I said, that's how my body reacts. Other days I can have it and it does not do that to me, but for some reason when I'm about to go on stage maybe it's just because the stress levels are high or something That's the side effect I get and it is a pain I can tell you See, incorporating regular breaks and rest periods.

Brad Hauck: 22:47

Continuous work without breaks can lead to decreased productivity, increased fatigue. It's essential to incorporate regular breaks and rest periods throughout the day to recharge and maintain optimal energy levels. However, in a fast-paced conference environment, finding the right balance between delivering your presentations, networking, listening and watching other speakers and taking breaks can be challenging. So obviously, yes, we've discussed a bit of this earlier but Force yourself to take a quiet moment every now and then, and if you're really stuck and there's nowhere else to go, head to the toilets and shut the toilet door. Okay, at least in there You can get five minutes of relative peace. You can put your headphones on if you have to, and people won't be banging on the doors. So I know sometimes it's just really hard to get away.

Brad Hauck: 23:33

Okay, one of the excuses you can use that I found work sometimes is that I need to go and check on something. Often I'm staying in the hotel where the conference is, so I need to go check on something in my room. So I will go up and check on something and about half an hour later I will have checked on it and I feel much better. Okay, and so you can drop a session as well. There's another way of doing that, but This is. These are things that I do.

Brad Hauck: 23:59

Okay, as I just started say, when you drop a session. Sometimes when you look at the program, there's lots of things on and there might be a session for 45 minutes. We look actually, really, i've heard enough about that topic. I really don't want to know anything more. I've seen the speaker do this speech before, which is the other side to speaking. So Drop the session, just quietly go out as if you go into the toilet or get a coffee or something, and just zip up to your room and have a 30 minute Break. You can meditate or just close your eyes and put the car map on or whatever. Okay, but get those breaks in, because everybody reacts differently.

Brad Hauck: 24:36

Don't Don't force yourself to do stuff that causes your problems long term. It's better to take 30 minutes out and come back refreshed Than it is to be really that by the end of the day. Effective stress management techniques. The life of a speaker can be demanding and stressful, as we know. You got to manage all these different things, but it's crucial that you find out How you best deal with stress. Okay, as I said, i like to take a 30 minute break or do some meditation.

Brad Hauck: 25:07

Some other options might be to go and talk with a friend. If you see some of the conference, you made a new friend. Go outside and have a cup of coffee and talk with them in the hallways For a little break. Okay, go and get a cup of tea or coffee It's up to you and just stop for a few minutes and have that cup of tea. Make sure you're looking friendly and smiling and people and some probably come over for a chat or something.

Brad Hauck: 25:28

Another thing you can do is to walk around the exhibits. People come to exhibit at conference and often The people at the conference ignore them, depending on the type of conference. So they're sitting there with nothing to do and they really want to sell something or to show you what they do, and they appreciate actually having someone to talk to, because sometimes it could be an hour since someone's talked to them Because everyone's in sessions. So go for a walk around the exhibits and say hello and find out what they do. Sometimes You can make some really good friendships, but also you can find out some really cool stuff That you might find useful in your business.

Brad Hauck: 26:03

Another thing you can do is phone home. Okay, if you've been already for a couple of days it doesn't hurt to phone home and have a talk to someone I know. Look, i don't necessarily need to talk to my family every day, they're all busy as well But it's lovely to be able to call home and talk with my daughter and my son and my wife And just spend five minutes seeing a familiar friend and talking to them. And just spend five minutes seeing a familiar face and asking what they've been doing and just hearing a little bit about what's going on in the real world while i'm in the conference world. And lastly, one of the things I like to do is send memes to people, because memes are my love language. So I send memes and try and get a laugh out of people because I like to make people happy. So these also help me manage stress, because looking at the memes makes me laugh.

Brad Hauck: 26:47

Okay, the challenge in recognizing the importance of managing energy and prioritizing self-care. Amidst the demanding nature of the speaking profession, it requires a proactive approach. Okay, to understand your own energy patterns, incorporating self-care practices in your routine, scheduling regular breaks and developing effective stress management techniques. By acknowledging the significance of energy management and making it a priority, you can sustain your vitality and ensure consistent high performance throughout all your speaking engagements. I hope you found this episode of this podcast really interesting. If you did, i have a challenge for you. Hit that like button, subscribe to the podcast right away And then share this episode with another speaker who could use the tips and strategies that I've shared. Let's help each other, grow our business and make an impact in the speaking world. Together, we can reach even more people and make a bigger difference. So don't wait. Take action now and share the love. Thanks for tuning in and get ready for more exciting business building tips in the next episode.