Crucial Distinctions Between an Amateur Speaker VS A Professional Speaker.

Today I want to talk to you about what I believe one of the crucial distinctions between an amateur speaker and a professional speaker.

Amateur Speaker VS Professional Speaker

Amateur Speaker VS Professional Speaker

Hi, James Taylor here, keynote speaker and founder of SpeakersU Sometimes have asked this question, what’s the difference between an amateur speaker and a professional speaker? Now, some people say, well, a professional speaker, someone earns their income through speaking on stages. That’s kind of true. So one way you can look at it is just income, how much money do they are they getting paid for it? Are they not getting paid for it. However, that’s not the entire truth. Because what I also see is you’ll go to events sometimes, and someone may be speaking just before me at the event. And they are so good. Even though they don’t get paid to speak on that stage, I would class them as professional speakers, they might not even think of themselves as professional speaker. But I can look at that person and say, that person’s a pro, by the way, that they deliver their presentation the way they act around them. But I’ve seen some people get paid as speakers, and I still consider them amateur or amateurish in what they’re doing. 

Commitment To Practice To Their Craft

So I think one of the useful distinctions between the amateur and the pro speaker is the commitment to practice and to their craft. So with an amateur speaker, they must have practiced to the extent that their best performance is good enough for an amateur, they’ve kind of got to practice their presentation, their speech they are giving, so that even if they absolutely land, it is absolutely for them. It is still only good enough. And that’s fine for an amateur. 

Professional Speaker

However, a professional, they have to have rehearsed, and practiced, and got their skills to a level where their worst performance is good enough. their worst performance is good enough. 

Let me give you an example here. I know the number of speakers I’ve spoken to professional speakers, really great speakers, who I know may have spoken before me. The innovator asked me before them backstage, I’m having a conversation with them. And they’re really sick, they’ve got the flu, or they’ve they’re there, they’re just not well, or they’re really, really jet-lagged and tired, and they’re exhausted, but they still have to go on. And this is where, you earn your money as a speaker. And you really notice the difference between the amateur and the Pro. Because I know that a great professional speaker can go up there. And her or his absolute what they consider to be their worst performance because they’re not on it. They’re not on their game and are actually still good enough. And the audience still thinks it’s great now for them internally that I really didn’t feel I did a particularly good job there. They recognize themselves. That was not their best performance. It was perhaps their worst form. But even for the audience, it is still good enough. 

Amateur Speaker

Now for the amateur. They just they’re that their best performance may just be good enough. So this is something to see. And I think you see this in lots of professions, whether it’s in the arts, the in any type of performance, is getting your practice, your skill, your craft up to a level that even on a really bad day. 

When you’re feeling like you don’t want to get out there on stage, you can still absolutely do an amazing job and inspire entertainment and educate that audience. For me. That’s the sign of a professional. That’s the sign of a pro. 

So let me know what you think. What do you think are the things that differentiate someone being an amateur versus someone being a professional speaker 

My name is James Taylor. Thanks for watching.