The day all the speakers stopped talking, stayed inside and stared instead.

Answer: Yes. Next question…?

Whaaaaat? That’s it? Seriously (you ask). Well yes. It’s the simple and most direct and honest answer I can find. The days when every corporation across the globe would fork out a large part of their entertainment and marketing budget for the biggest available motivational speaker they could afford is GONE.

Boo hoo.

Yeah.  I know.

Why am I so blasé?

Because I have a question FOR YOU…

If you really ARE a top motivational speaker, a change maker, an inspirational leader and a global thought leader, why don’t you STOP whining and do something about it?

You have peddled your sob story across the world for the last 10 -30 years. Telling everybody how you overcame adversity to become a super successful author and orator and that’s why they have to spend their well-earned cash, buy your course and read your materials.

So here’s your chance to prove that ‘your system’ actually works.

Do it.
Do it now.

Yes, I can see you feel stuck in the mud right now.

But you still have all our attention in between gorging on boxed sets on Netflix, so whilst we are all watching you, why don’t you show us how an overpaid self-proclaimed ‘high achiever’ actually deals with it.

Come on.
Hurry up (we’re waiting for you).

What was it again that you wrote in your international best selling book that you made us all read aloud and shout back at you like naughty kids in a kindergarten detention class?

Well now is YOUR chance to shine and sign us up for another wave of digital courses once we see how your system actually works.

The truth is… it probably doesn’t. It did for you a long long time ago as you probably survived the dinosaurs and got to talk about it on numerous PowerPoint presentations in ballrooms, boardrooms and conference stages. That was fine. We swallowed it hook, line and sinker because we wanted to know that there was something else bigger that us and they could lead us all to the promised land.

So why aren’t you doing it now?

Is it because you were always full of it, got lucky once upon a time and have no idea how to deal with real challenges today?

Well today, Mr Speaker – YOU are the star. We are all watching to see what happens next…
There are no stages.
There are no conferences.
No public meetings.
No autograph signings.
Nothing.
Nobody wants to physically touch a book, collect cash or hug someone who isn’t their immediate family with a traceable history of Coronavirus free living, social distancing and verified mask wearing.

So how do you reach an audience who isn’t there, inspire a scared population who’ve never felt so isolated and make a living doing what you do best and leading the way out of the post-pandemic, potentially apocalyptic nightmare?

Well let’s start with a few smart questions…

• Have the zombies taken over? No, well not really (I’ll give you this one for free).
• Is there still an audience out there?
• What do they want?
• How can we reach them?
• Does it have a business model for this?
• Do we need to reinvent or adapt one?
• How will we get paid?
• What are our options to move forward?
• Who can help us?
• What will I need to invest in time/ money/ resources/ energy to get things moving?
• Which new skills do I need to learn?
• Who can help with all my transitions, upgrading and upsizing to make things happen faster?
• How can I get to them and get this started?

Go on then…
Answer the questions (add some more too), set deadlines (then break them) manoeuvre around a roadmap (watch for dead ends) and begin your new adventures.

Do it publicly and build a following.
Do it privately to add mystique on launch day.
Do nothing if you want to stay exactly where you 
and 95% of the speaker population are right now.

You have to produce a new product and service.
It has to be tough enough to deal with the new landscape and rough terrain.
It has to be sensitive enough to read the signs and navigate safely when things need subtlety.
It has to be self-sufficient, use to traveling in the dark, open to change and 100% convinced that this will all end well.
Regardless of what actually happens.

Know what that new product is called?
YOU.

It’s your new story, course, methodology and tribe building legacy.

So let’s get started. Your next rent cheque is due and the kids aren’t going to feed themselves.

Let me know if you have any questions…

So, who else wants to be an industry icon?

I can help.

P.S: I regularly get asked to write articles on my expertise for online magazines. This is written for the December 2020 issue for Authoritti5.0.