About Jim

Jim BarberJim Barber, Pro Speaker U’s CEO (Career Enrichment Officer), is celebrating his 31st year as a professional speaker / trainer / consultant / entrepreneur.

Jim started “Barberian Enterprises” in 1979 to provide programming and operations training for users of the SEL line of real-time minicomputers. And in one form or another, he’s been in the business of “making complicated stuff understandable” ever since.

For example, Jim…

  • has written 18 published books and manuals, including “The Professional Speaker’s Complete Office Kit”, which long-time professional speaker and former president of the National Speakers Association Glenna Salsbury called “the single best investment you can make in your speaking career”;
  • spoken to hundreds of organizations in 7 countries, including Saab Scania AB, and Linköpings Universitet (Sweden); the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Systems Engineering Laboratories, and the Mapping and Charting Establishment (England); the European Space Operations Center, and W.T.D. (Germany); Ontario Hydroelectric (Canada); RCA / AUTEC, and GE (the Bahamas); and scores of places in the United States, ranging – geographically – from the Miami Parking System to San Diego Power and Gas.
  • served as president of the Florida Speakers Association twice and as liaison to the state of Florida for the National Speakers Association;
  • received the Sam Edwards Award, the Bill Gove Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Chapter Leadership Award… all from the Florida Speakers Association;
  • placed 1st runner-up in Toastmasters‘ Region VIII International Speech Contest held in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1991.
  • created his first web site in 1995, and in 2000, PC World magazine declared his web site, The Barber Shop, to be a “top ten” web site for professional speakers.
  • developed dozens of training courses, both for his own clients and for International Software Corporation (Golden, Colorado), Gould Electronics (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), and the American Public Speaking Institute of West Palm Beach (Florida).

Jim’s current projects include Pro Speaker U (offering career development services to aspiring and established professional speakers) and the Up Your Fee Speaker Enrichment Center (the association dedicated to advancing the careers of pro speakers), as well as researching material for his 19th book. Jim lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA), and you can follow his activities on Facebook (facebook.com/jimbarber), LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/bigjimbarber), and Twitter (twitter.com/barberjim).