Can you guess which questions I’m most frequently asked through social media and after giving keynotes, seminars, and online training?

1. How did you become a professional speaker?

2. How did you get your books published?

3. Are you always this positive?

Here are the answers to those three FAQs:

1. How did you become a professional speaker?

The entire story about how I became a professional speaker is interesting and funny, but it’s long, so I’ll save the full answer for a future blog post. In the meantime, here’s the short version.

Answer:

I’ve had a passion for speaking since I was a little girl. I won several public speaking awards and speech competitions by the time I was 12 years old.

When I was in my 20’s, I attended a seminar and realized the woman delivering the seminar was getting paid to speak! That’s when I figured out I could actually make a living doing what I love! I asked her, “What first steps could I take to become a professional speaker?” She suggested I join Toastmasters. So, that’s what I did.

If you’re thinking about becoming a professional speaker or even if you simply want to improve your speaking skills, I highly recommend joining Toastmasters. Here’s the link to the Toastmasters website so you can get more information and find a club near you. (Many clubs are meeting virtually during the pandemic.)

2. How did you get your books published?

Getting my first book published involved about two-three years of rejection letters and a lot of creativity. I’ll write a separate blog post on this down the road because, while that story is inspiring, it’s also a little long, and I’m keeping the answers to these FAQs as short and sweet as possible. Here’s the short answer about one of the steps I took.

Answer:

When I was looking to get my first book published I bought the following two books:

1. Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents

This book provides the names and contact information of literary agents and publishers, in United States and Canada, along with which genres they represent. When I was ready to start approaching literary agents, I circled every contact listed in the book as being interested in my genre, and I began sending out my book proposal.

That brings me to the second book I purchased:

2. Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 That Sold and Why

I used this book to help me craft my first book proposal. After two years of rejection letters, I was published by one of the largest publishers of self-help books in North America.

If you’re looking to get published and you believe in your writing—keep moving forward!

3. Are you always this positive?

Answer:

Yes. I have always been more of an optimistic, look-on-the-bright-side, kind of person. My mom told me I was born smiling. My blood type is actually B+ (“be positive.”) Corny but true!

There you have it! The answers to the three questions I’m most often asked. I hope these answers appeased your curiosity and/or helped you with direction on your next step of becoming a professional speaker or published author.