The 5 Steps I Followed to Become a Paid Speaker

The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.

is a great platform to build your personal brand. It builds, allows you to gain visibility and gives you content that can be reused for your platforms. Most people I meet have inspiring stories to share and very valuable lessons to teach, yet most are hesitant to go public.

There is no doubt that public speaking is intimidating and tops the list of most people's biggest fears. And I can understand: My own journey to building my personal brand through paid public speaking hasn't followed a linear upward trend. After one of my first interviews, a fellow business owner even told me that public speaking wasn't my thing and to give it up.

Well, I didn't give up, and while I still have a lot to learn and improve, I want to share with you my biggest learnings along the way. These come after giving lectures to the public in , , and . Here are the five steps I took to become a paid public speaker:

Related: 5 Steps to Landing Your First Paid Speaker Engagement

1. Meet successful speakers and learn about their backgrounds

Great speakers make it sound easy. They get on stage and just seem to be talking freely, which leads us to conclude that some people just have that natural talent and ability while others don't. It was only after meeting world-class speakers and asking them questions that I learned how much work they put into their craft and how much preparation goes into every talk. I recommend reaching out to speakers who impress you when attending in-person or virtual events, and asking them for their top tips for improving your public speaking skills.

2. Approached public speaking as a real profession and worked tirelessly at it

Now that you know that even the highest-paid speakers don't just rely on their natural talent, but instead devote time and effort to improving their public speaking skills, you should do the same. There are incredible resources out there: books, videos, and people to follow on social media. Consume all the tips and apply them relentlessly as you practice. I consumed large amounts of content when I started, and continue the journey to this day, with no intention of stopping.

3. Convenient!

I cringe when I think back to some of my early lectures and when I see my first slides. Chances are I feel the same way when I think back to my presentations and slides today once I revisit them in the future. Such is the nature of progress. This is bad/good news. The bad news is that you can't shorten this. As much as you practice at home or in the office in front of a camera or a mirror, everything is completely different when you deliver a lecture in front of a live group. Mock practices don't prepare us for everything that can happen live.

Over the years, I've been completely disconnected from technology and had to keep talking. I saw that business owner I told you about (the one who recommended I never talk again) walk into another one of my conversations a year later. I had a disrupter who interrupted me in the middle of the presentation to ask me how I wasn't tired of talking so much and when I would be done. I gave speeches at luncheons, vying for the audience's attention with waiters clarifying whether white or red was going to be the drink of choice. I've had some strange experiences that have taught me invaluable lessons, and I know many more are to come.

The good news is that practice makes progress, and feeling better with each speech you give is extremely encouraging and rewarding. Each time something goes wrong, you become more prepared, not only for a similar situation in the future, but for a myriad of other unexpected events.

Related: 7 Powerful Public Speaking Tips From One of TED's Most-Watched Speakers

4. Filmed my interventions and viewed the recordings

It's arguably one of the most uncomfortable things to do — ever. And yet, it is also really useful. A hack I discovered...