According to Mark Sanborn, a successful speaker for over 25 years, all speakers must answer the key question "What am I selling?". Sanborn believes that speakers need to provide value to their audiences by addressing problems or providing solutions. As a young speaker, Sanborn was driven by a fear of failure that led him to become an expert who could provide audiences with more knowledge than they expected. He also learned that success requires not just speaking skills but also dedicating effort to business tasks like marketing in order to continue getting speaking opportunities. Sanborn advises speakers to focus on metrics like booking numbers and take action if those metrics decline in order to sustain a speaking business over the long term.

1. BY TI M HY L A N D
EVERY SPEAKER
IS DIFFERENT. BUT,
ACCORDING TO MARK
SANBORN, CSP, CPAE,
ALL SUCCESSFUL
SPEAKERS SHARE
ONE KEY TRAIT:
THEY KNOW WHY THEIR
MESSAGE MATTERS,
AND THEY KNOW HOW
TO MAKE IT MATTER
TO OTHERS.
10 | SPEAKER | January/February 2012

2. rom a strictly business per- And yes, even for those who have a
spective, it is perhaps the single true passion for being on the podium,
most important question faced speaking is a business—and so, it must
by anyone hoping for a career in be treated as such.
the speaking business: What, exactly, “I don’t know why anyone would
are they selling? think that starting a speaking business is
Are they selling a product? any different than starting any other
Are they selling a message? business,” Sanborn says.
Are they selling a service? For Sanborn, a longtime
Entertainment? Knowledge? speaking circuit veteran
Or are they selling something else and renowned expert in
entirely—perhaps even an amalgama- business leadership, that
tion of all of the above? key question—“What
It’s a difficult question to answer, of am I selling?”—was
course, and in the ever-complex, ever- answered in the earliest
diverse speaking industry—an industry days of his career, back
populated by speakers from myriad when he came to realize
backgrounds, telling myriad stories, that, for his speaking
sharing myriad messages—there really career and for the audi-
is no one, universal answer. ences he wanted to serve,
Even still, says Mark Sanborn, he was selling solutions,
much is clear: All speakers must ulti- ideas, and problem-
mately ask themselves, and answer, solving. Or, as he puts
that oh-so-important question. it, he was selling “an
Because until a speaker knows what actionable narrative”—
he or she is selling, says Sanborn, they storytelling that leads
don’t have a business. to actionable ideas.
January/February 2012 | SPEAKER | 11

3. Sanborn has been delivering that Only 27 at the time, Sanborn says
THE
actionable narrative for 25 years, and he understood on a very fundamental
it has served him extremely well. His level that, because of his relative youth,
VALUE
list of more than 1,500 clients includes his business-world audiences—men
such titans as FedEx, Harley Davidson, and women with years of managerial
OF NOW
KPMG and the U.S. Postal Service, experience—were going to question
among many others. He is the author his credentials. Indeed, Sanborn recalls
of seven books and a member of the feeling that sense of “doubt” hanging
National Speakers Association’s CPAE over the room in those early days, with
This is hardly news to anyone: The Speaker of Hall of Fame®. grizzled old vets thinking to themselves,
economy is stuck in neutral. Now, it may not be entirely true to “What can this kid tell me?”
The world has yet to recover from say that Sanborn has succeeded only “When I went full time, most of
the global economic collapse of 2008, because he knows who he is, and what my audiences were older than me,” he
and as a result, the speaking industry he’s selling. And it may not be entirely recalls. “The average age of a manager
is enduring some hard times as well. true that Sanborn’s career has endured has come down over the years, but
Mark Sanborn knows this. He knows for the past two decades only because he back then, they were all a bit older, and
the industry has changed, and he knew the answer to those key questions I always had this fear that somebody
knows that more turmoil may yet be almost as soon as he hit the podium. would just stand up in the middle of
ahead. But, Sanborn is not going to But that knowledge certainly hasn’t my presentation and say, ‘This is B.S.!
waste much time thinking about that hurt, he says. He’s 27, I’m 52, and let’s be frank, he
potential turmoil, or even trying to Speakers who seek similar success doesn’t have a clue!’”
make proactive plans for what might would be wise to follow his lead. It was, quite justifiably, Sanborn’s
be,in another two or three or five years. “In the world of speaking, we need biggest fear at the time—the thing that
Instead, he’ll spend his time worry- to provide cherry flavor in the cough kept him awake at night and kept the but-
ing about what he can control—how syrup,” he says. “You don’t buy cherry- terflies churning right up until show time.
he performs in the present. And he sug- flavored cough syrup because you like But in the end, it was a fear that
gests other speakers follow his lead.
the taste of cherries. You buy it because served him well. Sanborn anticipated
“I looked at the front page of The
you have a cough. The flavor just helps questions he might be asked so that he
Wall Street Journal today, and you know
the medicine go down. So for me, had solid answers, and he aimed to turn
what? I didn’t see any story there that I
I’ve always tried to make sure that my himself into a true encyclopedia on the
had any control over,” he jokes.“I saw a
speeches are not about what I did or topic of business management.
lot of things that may have an impact
what I learned, but what my audiences His goal, he says, was to make sure
on my life and on my investments. But
can learn and what they can do to be that every time he took to the podium,
I’m not going to worry about it.”
more successful. That’s the information he was giving his audience something
In the end, Sanborn says, each of
the audiences really want to know.” they wanted to know. Sometimes, he
us can only really control what we do,
jokes, he probably gave them more than
and how we perform. So those are the
FUELED BY FEAR they wanted to know.
things we should worry about.
To hear Sanborn tell it, getting to the “I had a fear that drove me like a
“I’m not a futurist,” he says. “I’m a
heart of what his audiences “want” to crazy person,” he recalls. “If anything,
presentologist. I try to focus on what
I know for sure is happening. I’m not
know has been at the very center of his I probably overwhelmed people with
speaking against the idea of looking speaking from the very start. good ideas. I wanted to make sure that
ahead. I’m just saying it’s awfully hard Sanborn had been making seminar nobody left that room and said, ‘You
to predict the future. “ presentations for years before he know, I sat through three hours and I
He adds: “What do I know for sure? decided to make speaking his career— didn’t get much out of this.’ I would
I know for sure that people will have he made his first speech, at the age of rather hear them say, ‘I got too much—
always have difficulties and challenges 10 during a 4-H contest—but even my head is spinning.”
and will always need solutions. I know though he was an experienced pre- As a young speaker, Sanborn says he
that people will aspire to be better. If senter by the time he went pro, he was acutely aware that his career was
I can help them solve their problems, was most definitely not an experi- on the line each time he took to the
then I figure I’ll be fine.” enced businessman. podium. He knew he had to deliver,
12 | SPEAKER | January/February 2012

4. I DON’T CARE HOW MUCH
YOU PRACTICE. YOU GET
GOOD, ULTIMATELY, BY BEING
ON THE PLATFORM.
because with each audience, and each The marketing, sales and network- internal workings of your car. None of
presentation, his name, his brand ing skills may not be the most desirable those dials can be ignored, of course,
and, yes, his business, had a chance to part of the job. Sanborn understands because if they are ignored, the car will
grow—or flop. for some speakers, including those eventually sputter, cough and die.
He was also aware that, in order to who simply love to speak, the behind- It’s the same, he says, with business.
get better as a speaker and make more the-scenes, day-to-day business chores Once you figure out what your
money as a business, he was going to probably aren’t fun at all. But those “dials” are—whether those dials track
have to keep on speaking. And the only things are just as crucial to long-term sales or happy clients or gigs or any-
way to keep on speaking, he said, was success as one’s performance on the thing else—you have no choice but to
to keep getting more gigs. podium. They cannot be ignored. keep tabs on them … and make adjust-
The business of speaking and the “You may not be passionate about ments when things go wrong.
passion for speaking, he knew, were marketing, but you’d better do it if “It’s all about those dials on the
intertwined. you want to be able to continue to be dashboard,” he says. “There are many
“More often than not, the reality passionate about speaking,” he says. different metrics in business—a lot
is that, as a speaker, you’re just going “That’s the business side of it, and it’s of things to measure. But ultimately,
to have to be out there,” he says. “In important. In a way, speaking is an art, you’d better be looking at those dials.
those early years, you need income, and and we all know people who are won- If one of your dials is your number of
you need exposure. It’s through [doing derful artists who simply can’t make a bookings, for instance, you’d better be
more speeches] that you get good at living. Well, there are plenty of people tracking what kind of effort is required
this. I don’t care how much you prac- out there who can make a good speech, to maintain that level of bookings.
tice. You get good, ultimately, by being but they just can’t make a living off it, Maybe the question you need to ask
on the platform.” either.” yourself is, ‘How do I make sure I’m
Of course, the question that many top of mind for people who could hire
WATCH YOUR DASHBOARD speakers struggle with is how much me?’ There are many tools out there for
The economy goes up, and the time they should spend on their people in our business, but I would say
economy goes down. speaking chops, and how much they that one of the tools you should use is
Sometimes, business is strong. should spend on business. As with the idea of the dials on a dashboard.”
Sometimes, it’s awful. that key central question—“What am
Technology changes, and the I selling?”—there is no simple answer,
demands of corporate customers Sanborn says, but over the years he’s
change, and the whims of speaking come up with a handy visual aid to Tim Hyland’s work has
audiences change. help people—both speakers and his appeared in numerous
But, as a 25-year survivor of this audiences—conceptualize that tricky publications, including Fast
business, Sanborn is convinced: Once balance: A car dashboard. Company, Philadelphia City
speakers find their niche and understand On every dashboard, there is a series Paper and Philadelphia Life.
what they’re selling and how to sell it, of dials and indicator lights, each of Hyland lives in Flourtown, Pa., and can be
they can endure pretty much everything. which offers a small window into the reached at timothyhyland@gmail.com.
January/February 2012 | SPEAKER | 13