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Want to be a successful professional speaker?

Pro Speaker YOU will guide you in moving from free to fee,
and help you make your dreams come true!

Here's how....

shopping bag with Free Stuff written on it

Pro Speaker YOU's Free Stuff is a wealth of resources designed to help you decide if a career as a professional speaker is right for you. (And yes, it's all free!) Check out PSY's Free Stuff!

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Pro Speaker YOU's Journey from Free to Fee is the detailed guidance you need to move from free speaking to "fee speaking". Check out your Journey From Free to Fee!

Four people clustered around two laptops, collaborating

Our members-only OMGs (Online Mentoring Groups) give you the opportunity to collaborate with your fellow Journeyers and help each other succeed as pro speakers. Learn more about OMGs!

Jim resting on TEDx sign

Want personalized guidance? Zooming with Jim (private mentoring with Jim Barber) is available to anyone, but Pro Speaker YOU members can Zoom with Jim at a steeply discounted rate. Learn more about career mentoring from Jim!

Ready to Join the Journey?
Become a Pro Speaker YOU member!

FAQs

What will Pro Speaker YOU do for me?

PSY logoPro Speaker YOU is dedicated to professional speaking. But more than that, it’s created especially for beginning and aspiring pro speakers.

So if you’re a beginning pro speaker – or you’ve ever wondered if you could get paid to speak – then Pro Speaker YOU is here to help!

What is PS-YOU's “Free Stuff”? Is it any good? Is it really free?

Pro Speaker YOU’s Free Stuff is an eclectic collection of resources – including lists, checklists, quizzes, assessments, articles and more – all with the common goal of supporting aspiring or beginning pro speakers.

And I’m not foolin’ — PS-YOU’s Free Stuff is free! There’s no charge or even a registration requirement. Anyone can access the material in Free Stuff, at no cost or obligation.

But there’s no structure to Free Stuff. For those people who are really serious about becoming a speaking professional, there’s the Journey from Free to Fee. The Journey explores the road you need to travel so that you can move from speaking for free to speaking for fee!

Get paid to speak your mind! Check out the Journey today!

Just what is the "Journey from Free to Fee"?

Pro Speaker YOU’s Journey from Free to Fee is a 16-focus strategic program which guides you in launching a successful career as a professional speaker. Each focus (“Quest”) is devoted to one specific topic and consists of about a dozen short (5 – 10 minutes each) videos, where each video explores one specific aspect of that topic in depth. You can explore all 16 Quests in more detail here.

someone signing a contractEach Quest provides you with whatever support material is appropriate to the Quest’s topic. (For example, the Get it in Writing… or Get it Wrong Quest also comes with several speaker’s contracts which you can customize to meet your own needs.)

How do I use the "Journey from Free to Fee"?

game piece on square one of boardAs a Pro Speaker YOU member, you get access to 2 Quests each week, so the entire 16-Quest program (obviously) lasts for 8 weeks. (When you join, you immediately get access to the first Quest, Starting Your Pro Speaker’s Business. No waiting around for class to begin.)

Each Quest consists of about a dozen short videos, each focusing on a particular topic. You can watch each video whenever you want, and review it as frequently as you want, as many times as you want.

In short, there’s no schedule for you to follow, or homework for you to turn in for grading, or exams to pass – you’re an adult, and Pro Speaker YOU treats you like one. This is self-learning, pure and simple. You focus on the topics that are important to you. You progress as fast as it’s comfortable for you.

What are OMGs? How can I get one?

OMGs are Online Mentoring Groups and OMGs are a valuable part of Pro Speaker YOU! As the name implies, OMG is an online meeting in which PS-YOU members can ask questions about the material in the Journey from Free to Fee.

OMGs (typically an hour in length) are held at various times to try to accommodate the schedules of all PS-YOU members. And OMGs are recorded and archived so that you can catch any OMGs that you’re unable to attend live.

Basically, the Journey provides you with the bulk of the guidance you need; OMGs answer any remaining questions you may have.

What does Pro Speaker YOU cost?

Good question.

Becoming a member of Pro Speaker YOU costs just $150 for the full 8-week, 16-Quest Journey from Free to Fee program (over 20 hours of video guidance), all support resources (like sample contracts and checklists), and admittance to all OMGs (Online Mentoring Groups) where you can ask questions and receive guidance with other PS-YOU members (and you get access to all archived OMGs).

Important note — $150 is the regular fee, but you might have a discount in effect at this time. Check the “Not-so-frequently Asked Questions”.)

What if I can't complete the program in 8 weeks?

Not a problem! Once you’ve completed the 8-week program, you can extend your membership – giving you full access to all the videos in all 16 Quests, plus all the support material, plus access to all OMGs, plus access to any new material which is added to any of the Quests in the program – for $9 a month for as long as you want.

Of course, extending your membership is completely optional, and you can stop your membership whenever you want.

So... joining Pro Speaker YOU is all I need to do to become a successful pro speaker, right?

Are you kidding me?

You can’t become a lawyer, or a surgeon, or any other highly-paid skilled professional for a little over a hundred bucks and a few hours of your time. It just isn’t possible. And a professional speaker is a skilled professional too. It typically takes months or years and a lot of hard work to build a successful career as a pro speaker. So, no, Pro Speaker YOU alone simply cannot turn you into a professional speaker.

So what will Pro Speaker YOU do for you?

  1. If you’re not 100% sure that a career as a professional speaker is right for you, Pro Speaker YOU allows you to “test the waters” without making a major commitment in money and time. Don’t spend a lot of money on becoming a pro speaker until you’re absolutely sure that it’s the career for you!
  2. And when you are sure that you want to be a pro speaker, Pro Speaker YOU will –
    • give you a head start on your new career – quickly, conveniently, and without busting your budget!
    • help you build a solid foundation for a successful speaking career.
    • shave months off your learning curve, and so give you an advantage over those aspiring speakers who are learning how to do it at the School of Hard Knocks.
    • help you to avoid some costly, possibly career-ending, blunders.

So to be clear, Pro Speaker YOU will not, by itself, turn you into a platform professional. (But it will get you off to a good start, quickly and inexpensively.)

When can I join Pro Speaker YOU?

I’m putting the finishing touches on Pro Speaker YOU, and the Grand Opening will happen soon. Until then, feel free to look around. (And you can start browsing through Pro Speaker YOU’s Free Stuff now.)

And then once we formally open….

Since the Journey from Free to Fee operates on your schedule, you don’t have to wait for class to begin. It’s easy to get started – just create your membership (it takes less than a minute), and you get full access to all the videos in the first Quest, Starting Your Pro Speaker’s Business, immediately!

Think about it! You’re only 1 minute away from making your dream come true! Isn’t it time to turn the question “Pro speaker? You?” into the declaration “Pro Speaker YOU!!!“?

Don’t delay. Join today!

 

NSFAQs
(Not So Frequently Asked Questions)

I want extra help. Can I get it?

The Journey From Free to Fee is designed to get you started on your speaking career, without busting your budget. And our live Online Mentoring Groups (OMGs) give you the opportunity to ask questions.

But if you want personal and private career enrichment consultation, Pro Speaker YOU members can get coaching with Jim Barber at a steep (60% off!) discount. (Of course, career enrichment mentoring is available to non-members too, but at Jim’s full fee.)

This personal attention is completely optional, and if you don’t want it, that’s fine. But if you do want to receive mentoring from Jim privately, this is a dirt-cheap way to do it! Find more details at Zooming with Jim.

Are there any alternatives to Pro Speaker YOU?

You bet!

For one, there’s the traditional School of Hard Knocks (also known as learning-by-making-mistakes). It doesn’t cost anything up-front, but in the long run it’s expensive, time-consuming, and very rough on the ego. But it’s also effective… if you survive until graduation.

Another option is the Bill Gove Speaker Academy. They’ve been around for years and have an impressive list of successful graduates. (Transparency statement: I am an affiliate of the Bill Gove Speaker Academy, but that’s not why I’m recommending them. I’m recommending them because they’re really good.) It’s rather expensive and usually requires travel to Atlanta, but in my opinion Bill Gove was one of the greatest professional speakers that ever lived and the Academy is well worth the money. Check it out!

Yet another option is the Conni Gordon Speaker Academy offered by the Florida Speakers Association, a chapter of the National Speakers Association. I’ve taught at FSA’s Speaker Academy for a number of years and if you reside in South Florida, I recommend it highly.

I’ll add other options here as I find them. But here’s the bottom line….

I’m not afraid of comparisons with Pro Speaker YOU. Look around and if you find a better or more cost-effective program, I suggest you grab it!

I'm already making money by speaking. Do I need Pro Speaker YOU?

That depends on how successful your speaking business is.

If you’ve already got all the clients you can handle and you’re meeting your financial needs, good for you! You certainly don’t need Pro Speaker YOU.

(However, most professional speakers recognize the importance of continually relearning their craft, and Pro Speaker YOU is an inexpensive way to, as the late great Zig Ziglar described, “sharpen your saw.”)

But if you’re not operating at the level of success that you want to, then there’s a good chance that you’re doing something wrong. (Or maybe you’re not doing something that you should be doing.) In that case, Pro Speaker YOU just might help you raise your business to new levels of profitability.

(One last note: if you are already operating a highly-successful speaking business, then I recommend you become a member of the International Personal Development Association and amplify the difference you’re making in the world.)

Do you offer a guarantee?

If you’re asking if PS-YOU guarantees that you’ll be a successful professional speaker, I’m sorry but the answer is “no”.

In the entrepreneurial world, there are no guarantees. Not with speaking, not with anything else. Whether or not you succeed as a professional speaker is largely up to you… how hard you work, how long you work, but mostly how smart you work.

But if you’re asking if Pro Speaker YOU guarantees your satisfaction with your program, the answer is “yes”. Give Pro Speaker YOU a try for 2 weeks – that’ll give you full access to the first 4 Quests – and if you decide that it’s not for you, just cancel your membership and we’ll refund your fee in full, no questions asked.

Do you offer any sort of discount?

Everyone likes to save money, and Pro Speaker YOU does offer special deals from time to time. Check here for our Special Offers. Who knows? Maybe this is your lucky day!

I'm curious. Just who is Jim Barber?

Jim resting on TEDx signJim is the creator of Pro Speaker YOU and is your main guide on your Journey from Free to Fee (although you’ll also have guest guides from time to time along the way).

You’re going to see a lot of him in the coming weeks, but here’s some more information about Jim if you just can’t wait.