How to Become a 6 Figure Speaker: Turning Passion Into Profit..
Hello, future property investors, Samuel Leeds here with my good friend Alasdair Cunningham. Alasdair is one of our lead trainers at the academy, which he also went through a few years back. He has since been quite successful in property, but today we'll be discussing his other passion, which is public speaking.
What Inspired Alasdair to Become a Public Speaker?
Alasdair explained that venturing into property saw him become financially free, and soon after, he was making a lot of money. So in his mission to give back, he joined me for a trip to Uganda three years ago, where we did some charity work and held a business workshop. But while there, I broke my kneecap in a water-rafting accident.
I knew the mission had to go on regardless of my accident, so I asked Alasdair to step up and deliver the workshop in my place. Mind you, before then, he hardly did any public speaking, and here he was getting “thrown in the deep end.” “Obviously, I was nervous,” Alisdair said, but he knew that to grow, one has to step out of their comfort zone.
And with the help of Russell and other members of the team, Alasdair successfully delivered the seminar. He remembers anxiously waiting in a conference room in Jinja, where about 200 people were to attend. And when, one by one, they began showing up, he put his nerves aside, went on stage, and delivered an impactful and engaging presentation.
About 100 to 150 people attended the workshop, where he taught the basics of business. And as Alasdair shared, it moved him to see the audience experience light-bulb moments from such basic training. “So that's when you first developed the love of education, of speaking?” I asked. “That spiraled it,” he answered.
Now back home, and about a month after the trip to Africa, Alasdair revealed that he began getting thank you messages from people who attended the event. They were saying how they had learned a lot from him. “And it was just so nice that something I'd said and done has inspired people from a completely different world to do something with their life,” Alasdair remarked. So he thought to himself, “I can do this with property.”
So I encouraged him to do some more advanced training and to start teaching at our property events. And before you know it, his public speaking career took off. And today, he gets booked to speak all over the world, including India and Las Vegas. “Again, I never intended to be a speaker. Very much accidental,” Alasdair pointed out.
What Does He Teach Beside Property?
Alasdair explained that he firmly believes that “if you've got something inside of you that you believe somebody else can benefit from, you need to share that message.” For instance, if you were overweight or obese and managed to lose a ton of weight and you feel you can help others do the same, “share your message.”
He then gave a more specific example of a student he's currently working with, David Smith. David did three tours in Afghanistan and, after coming back, he had chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the point of contemplating suicide multiple times. Alasdair urged him to speak about his PTSD on social media, encouraging other former military personnel battling with the disorder that they can still have a life worth living.
And on the day David posted his first video on TikTok, one of his mates from the military reached out to him. The friend disclosed that he was on the verge of taking his own life by taking loads of pills when he saw the video. David's post sent the message that it's okay to ask for help, which saved his life. “And that's why I do what I do,” Alasdair declared.
So, in a nutshell, Alasdair teaches people how to share their stories. And there's a great demand for public speaking training. People who want to be trainers and motivational speakers come to me all the time, but I don't have the time, energy, or inclination to teach how to become professional speakers. “Whereas, you have,” I said to Alasdair.
“I have,” he agreed, saying while he still does property deals, he can make time to teach others how to share their message because it's his mission. “I understand that you need to get that message out there in order to impact and help other people,” Alasdair continued. “And that's why I came to you,” he said, recounting how in late 2020, he talked to me about wanting to help people become speakers, trainers, and leaders.
“And you, as a leader, said what do you need from me?” Alasdair continued to narrate, “You said I'm busy. What do you need from me to make this happen?” After our conversation, I assured him that as long as he did his part, he had my 100% support. “And now you're running your first publicized speaker training day,” I responded. “Six-Figure Speaker Summit,” Alasdair replied.
Six-Figure Speaker Summit and New Book
“Why did you call it the Six-Figure Speaker Summit?” I asked him. “When you share your passion with such conviction, you get paid an awful lot of money,” Alasdair explained, “I accidentally became a speaker, and as a result of me sharing my message, I started getting paid all this money.” So he named his training course Six-Figure Speaker Summit because you can make a lucrative career out of public speaking.
I'm also a speaker, but I don't make much money, if any, from training or motivational speaking. But for Alasdair, he gets paid good money for his speaking gigs. “Yeah,” he agreed, “I'm not ashamed to admit that because I deliver very well what I do. And I know my mission is helping and serving people.”
So I asked him whether he believes he can teach others public speaking skills to the extent they successfully make it a career and potentially earn six figures. “One thousand percent,” Alasdair answered, saying he's trained various individuals that have already started getting speaking engagements. These include David Smith, Hilary Calderwood, and Ricci Mandal.
To reach more people who want to deliver their message and positively impact the lives of others and also make a six-figure income, he held a 2-day event in Central London. The Six-Figure Speaker Summit event took place on 31t July and 1st August. If you missed it and want to learn how to be a public speaker, a better communicator, and a leader, grab his new book 6 Figure Speaker: Turning Passion Into Profit.
How Much Does Alasdair Earn as a Public Speaker?
Alasdair disclosed that he makes anywhere from a couple of thousand pounds up to twenty-five grand plus for a single speaking engagement. And he also speaks for free as part of his mission to give back. “But there's nothing wrong with getting paid for what you do,” Alasdair emphasized.
Parting Shot
Throughout our interview, Alasdair maintained the importance of sharing your message to inspire the world. “Share it with the masses and get it out there,” he said. And if you don't know where to start and want to learn the skills you need to become a well-paid public speaker, read Alasdair's new book and stay tuned to more of his events.
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