Being one of the top conference speakers in South Africa is tricky, and sometimes even great professional speakers make mistakes. However, this topical nugget is designed to help you change some important things in order to prevent you from making those mistakes in the first place, or making them again - that is of course if you have a desire to become a conference speaker locally. Your goal is to get that email saying thanks for your services - when can we have you back? The ultimate professional compliment!

Believing You Don't Know Your Stuff

The worst mistake hopeful conference speakers in South Africa and other workshop leaders make is thinking they don't have enough knowledge. Think about the woman that wrote a book about child birth and never had a child of her own. They believe they lack the training to reach their audience. If you find your goals thwarted by the ordinary idea that you have to have a formal education or a Master's degree to know anything and be taken seriously, think again. You don't have to have three degrees to succeed as a top conference speaker. In fact, all it takes is some knowledge, and the ability to gain more. Learning is constant. In other words, you may not know everything about communication or how to give a motivational speech, but you are definitely intelligent enough to research the subject and come up with some answers for yourself.

Being Afraid to Speak

Another big mistake that holds people back from a career as superb conference speakers is allowing stage fright to get to them.