Use Your Words: What Should I Charge for Speaking?

photo © 2008 Tyler | more info (via: Wylio) What are the going Christian speaker fees? What do Christian speakers charge? And how in the world do I ask for it? That’s the most common question I get from people–how do I figure out what to charge for speaking? What do other people charge? And [...]

How to Write a Newsletter People Will Read

What builds a speaking ministry (or any business, for that matter)? Word of mouth! And what builds word of mouth? The ability to keep yourself at the top of people’s consciousness. I’ve been blogging and writing and teaching for a few years now on the importance of word of mouth in building a speaking ministry. [...]

Answering Your Questions

Yesterday on my Use Your Words BlogTalkRadio show I answered a bunch of questions that you all had put up on the wall of our Facebook group! Do listen in and get answers to questions like: How do I decide what to speak on? Do I need more than one talk? How do I branch [...]

Accepting Where You are in Your Ministry

This morning, for my mom blog, I wrote a post about accepting where you are, and not berating yourself for not reaching goals. I thought it was a message we speakers needed to hear, too. Many years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I made some career goals for myself. One in particular I [...]

When You Feel Like an Impostor

I smiled, hugged, and waved at the women who organized the women’s day as I opened the trunk to deposit my props and books inside. Clicking the unlock button, I climbed in the driver’s side, and turned the car keys as I rolled the window down. One more wave, I thought, as the smile was [...]

Redesigning my Speaker Training

Hello fellow speakers! It’s been almost a year and a half since I launched this blog, and exactly a year ago since I started doing tele seminars and e-courses online. I’ve loved connecting with so many of you and I’ve been honored that you have appreciated the words and experience that I’ve had to share [...]

The Ten Qualities of a Gifted Women’s Speaker

If you’re wondering whether or not God has called you to speaking, here are the ten qualities that I think best define a gifted women’s speaker. I should note that several of these I struggle with–finding time for prayer, for instance. But making this list encourages me to aim higher and rely on God more, [...]

Use Your Words: Making a Living from Speaking

Today’s Use Your Words BlogTalkRadio program addressed the question, “Can I really make a living speaking”? If you didn’t get a chance to listen live, listen in now right here! If that question is nagging at you, though, here are my thoughts. First, of course it’s a tension between income and ministry. We think that [...]

Gaining Confidence to Speak

I have just loved getting to know so many of you through my BlogTalkRadio show and networking with you in the Facebook group, as well as talking to you all in teleseminars! There’s a wealth of information out there about speaking, and I’ve asked you to send me guest posts, which I’ll run when I [...]

Generating Word of Mouth for Your Ministry

A few weeks ago we had a wonderful guest post from my friend Heidi McLaughlin, writing about how her ministry got started and began to fluorish. Here’s something she said: A few years ago I was in Atlanta, Georgia; surrounded with famous speakers and authors who had agents and were walking around with their leather [...]