There are several passive income and side hustle options that get mentioned over and over. Public speaking is one of those options. It seems like it is a trendy way to earn a little income while building a brand or name recognition. While these side effects are excellent, the revenue side is not what it is often portrayed to be.
Public Speaking Everywhere
One of the challenges with making money as a speaker is the flood of options. While there are more opportunities to speak, there is also a flood of people wanting to do so. The competition is fierce at the high end, and the dollars available are sparse until you can reach those upper levels. It takes a lot of work and investing in yourself to get to the point where you can sort of coast through speaking engagements.
Storytelling
Public speaking as a path to revenue is not available to everyone. I think that there are several skills that can be learned. However, at the core, a good speaker must be a good storyteller. If you are not generally charismatic or able to entertain those around you with stories, then do not expect to be able to do so with crowds. Even then, it often takes a lot of time, practice, and maybe even unique experiences to hold the attention of an audience.
A Little Help From Your Friends
It is hard to get around how not passive this particular type of income is. Nevertheless, there are ways to keep public speaking from becoming just another way to trade time for money. When you become comfortable enough with a topic to handle Q&A sessions, then you will be able to piggy-back off of the feedback from others. This not only is a way to spin a short presentation into a longer one (and better rate), it is also an option if you want to go into an engagement cold. Of course, you have to be solid in your knowledge to go into a sort of town hall approach to presenting your story or topic. That means you will have a lot of up-front work required to achieve this type of passive income.
