CHAPTER 11

Using Your Career to Travel the World

If you were to ask us to name one of the greatest benefits we receive from being a professional speaker and trainer, it is the opportunity to travel the world for free.

Although we often travel solo, many times we are able to take our spouses on trips with us. Anne once spoke in Marbella, Spain, and her client provided her and husband a trilevel condo that overlooked the Mediterranean. Similarly, Sardék and his wife had a wonderful time during a multicity speaking event in India. Talk about great environments in which to work: From staying at the Ritz-Carlton in Abu Dhabi to other four-, five-, and higher-star locations worldwide, speaking and training globally has some amazing perks.

You will also meet and become lifelong friends with incredible people all over the world. Social media enables us to stay connected and maintain relationships, some decades-long. And when you visit other countries, you’ll often find that people proudly show you around, giving you an inside tour that most tourists would never get or must pay top dollar to experience.

In this chapter, we’ll share various proven tips to ensure your safety while having fun and getting paid to speak internationally.

Finding International Gigs

The number 1 question speakers ask us is, “How do I find international speaking opportunities?” This is not as hard as you may think! There are five primary ways to get booked abroad.

Professional Associations

Professional associations that have a global presence are fantastic sources for speaking opportunities. Sardék built his credibility as an international speaker by speaking at conferences for the Association for Talent Development (ATD). His first international gig for ATD was in Saudi Arabia, and from there they invited him to speak in India, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, and Brazil. Anne has spoken for The Conference Board Europe, its HR Council, the Polish Marketing Council, and the Polish Human Resources Council of Warsaw. Target the associations where your ideal customers hold memberships, and you will find many opportunities to speak.

Speakers’ Bureaus

We covered this topic in much greater detail in the previous chapter, but know that speakers’ bureaus are another great source of speaking engagements for the established speaker. In fact, the more demonstrated experience you have speaking on global stages, the more likely a speakers’ bureau will want to work with you.

Publishing

It is critical to publish one or more books to establish you as an authority on your subject. We also encourage you to write for high-visibility, widely distributed publications in your areas of expertise. For example, if you speak on management or finance topics, publishing articles in Harvard Business Review, Forbes magazine, and similar periodicals will help establish you as an in-demand expert. We covered publishing in greater detail in chapter 9.

Corporate Events

Many speakers overlook their existing client base. If you work with a corporate client that has international locations, you already have a warm lead for new speaking engagements. In addition to working with AstraZeneca in the United States, Sardék has also spoken for the company in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and France. Anne has spoken in London, Amsterdam, and Rome, and then for the White House, the Pentagon, and at NASA in Houston—all these leads were connected. One January, she even flew from a Maui retreat she facilitated in 85-degree weather to New Jersey in 18-degree weather—all with the same carry-on bag. The New Jersey gig was a referral through a leadership student she met in Amsterdam. As Anne writes in her life-coaching book, Discover True North, we are one people, one humanity. Take advantage of using referrals to create new opportunities.

Marketing Outreach

As part of your business development process, you should be using a customer relationship management tool to manage your prospecting process. But you can also use various prospecting techniques to add to your pool of possible international gigs, including:

• using Google searches to identify international conferences and events.

• reviewing the websites and LinkedIn profiles of speakers in your niche to see where they are speaking. They’ll usually get testimonials from the event planner—providing you with a person to contact.

• reviewing websites of major international conference and convention centers. Abu Dhabi, London, Kuwait, Paris, Geneva, and many more have huge convention centers from which you can gather a lot of business development leads.

Smart Contracts: How to Make the Most of Your International Trip

As a result of speaking at a conference in Saudi Arabia, Sardék got another gig later that year, at a brand-new conference. He was still relatively inexperienced with speaking internationally, so while the conference organizers seemed a little disorganized, everything appeared to be great. What unfolded remains one of his most painful lessons learned about the value of having a solid contract and sticking to it.

The organizers not only required Sardék to fly economy class, they filmed and took photos of his keynote without giving him copies, contrary to what he’d agreed upon in his contract. It also took months for him to get paid. Not surprisingly, the conference went out of business after one event.

In this section, we will stress the importance of contract basics so that you have fun and don’t experience a similar nightmare when working overseas. In general, long-running conferences and events that have a history of booking high-caliber speakers are much easier to work with. They will have the budgets and the savvy to take care of speakers. However, you can use the following criteria to help you evaluate newer or lesser-known events, and to make the most of your international trips.

Setting Fees

There is a bit of debate in the speaking industry regarding how much to charge when speaking and training internationally. Experienced and high-demand speakers can charge a premium for international events above what they charge for domestic events. It may be a little more difficult for the new and emerging speaker to do so, and that is why you should talk to other speakers who have experience working in the region of the world that has your interest.

Payment

It is a speaking-industry custom to pay speakers 50 percent down and pay the balance the day of the event. Any organization that refuses to follow this industry practice is potentially a high-risk organization to work with. You should also include cancellation penalties in your (always written!) agreement so that everyone is aware of the consequences for both the speaker and the event should the agreement not be honored.

Payment should always be made in your country’s currency and not the host country’s currency. When the funds are transferred, there will typically be fees associated with the international fund transfer process. It is important that your agreement explicitly notes that those fees will not be deducted from your speaker fees.

Travel and Expenses

Covering travel and expenses is the biggest challenge most professional speakers and trainers experience, both domestically and internationally. We recommend you create a travel-planning guide that clearly states your expectations and place it on your website. Here are a few important agreements you should not waive:

• The client should book and pay for all transportation and lodging on behalf of the speaker.

• Require business class travel. Any organization or event that is unwilling to pay for business class for international travel may not value the speaker’s safety and comfort.

• We recommend charging a per diem to cover costs such as meals, phone usage abroad, and tips. These little expenses can add up quite quickly, so don’t overlook them.

Turn Your Engagement Into a Vacation as Often as You Can

Well-traveled speakers and trainers learn how to negotiate extra time and benefits during these kinds of trips. When negotiating a contract, we frequently ask clients to provide tours of the city or extra benefits such as spa days in exotic locations. Sardék and his wife were given a full weekend in Costa Rica, during which they spent a day visiting one of the country’s famous volcanoes and a spa nearby. Anne turned a six-week European assignment into a working holiday for her and her husband (although her husband paid his own expenses, as should all companions). Clients will often happily agree because they want to show off their country.

Be a Savvy Marketer—Capture Your Experience With Video

As we mentioned earlier, during a newly organized conference, organizers filmed and took photos of Sardek’s keynote without giving him copies, even though his contract stated he should receive them. Be sure to add into your contract that you’ll receive copies of videos and photographs of you in action so you can use them on your website and in your marketing.

You’ll also want to include casual images of your international travel in your marketing. We strongly recommend taking lots of pictures and video because you can use them to not only promote your international speaking engagement, but also show the human side of you. Sharing on social media is a great way to demonstrate appreciation to your client while serving as an ambassador for your home country. Event planners and speakers’ bureaus also love to see evidence of your personality on display.

Traveling Abroad Safely

Leaving the comfort of home for the first time can be extremely unsettling; a very small percentage of Americans travel outside the United States. What to do, how to do it, and with whom to do it are all critical questions to ask, and many first-time travelers don’t know where to start. Fortunately, the U.S. Department of State, and many of its international counterparts, has a website that provides a checklist of all the main considerations you must be aware of before you travel. Even non-Americans can benefit from the general information they provide. We will cover a few here.

Health and Safety

The State Department website contains a wealth of information for Americans who plan to travel abroad. A traveler’s checklist should include:

• destination information

• safety and security information

• crisis planning and health precautions

• how to handle money overseas

• documentation requirements for entry and exit

• important points about health insurance while traveling abroad.

Additionally, we strongly advise that you check for any travel warnings for your international destination. If you don’t have an American passport, research the entry requirements for your nationality.

Staying Connected

If you use open, unsecured networks, you put yourself at risk for cybercrime—and this is especially true when traveling abroad. That’s why whenever we travel globally, we use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to protect our digital tools, such as computers, smartphones, and other Internet-connected devices. You should always be fully aware of the costs you may incur by using your phone and data packages abroad, however. Many cellular providers offer reasonably priced international phone and data packages that allow you to stay connected without paying an enormous amount of money to do so.

Arrival and Departure Dates and Times

Someone traveling internationally to places like Southeast Asia can encounter time differences of more than 12 hours, which can take some getting used to upon arrival. Experienced speakers and trainers follow the standard practice of arriving at least two days in advance of the event date. This allows for the speaker to get adjusted to the time zone, which can be a little tricky because of jet lag. It is also important to note that flights going west typically depart late at night, so be careful not to check out of your hotel more than three hours prior to your departure time. You don’t need to be sitting in the hotel lobby or at an unfamiliar airport for hours waiting to check in for your flight. Often you cannot check in for your flight or go through security more than three hours before departure, which prevents you from accessing the business class lounges. Just be aware so that you don’t find yourself sitting uncomfortably or sleeping on a bench in a Burger King at the Beijing airport like Sardék once had to do.

Following International Business Etiquette

It’s easy to make a cultural mistake when in a foreign land, so here are a few tips to ensure you get invited back.

Rituals and Customs

Do your research. It is easy to look online for list of cultural faux pas: Don’t forget to budget for prayer times if you’re working in the Middle East. Don’t use the A-OK finger gesture in Brazil. Don’t immediately begin reading a business card that was handed to you if you are in Japan. One of the best articles we’ve seen on the topic of cultural competence is the 2015 Harvard Business Review article “Getting to Si, Ja, Oui, Hai, and Da” by Erin Meyer. The article contains a very useful graph that sorts nationalities according to how confrontational and emotionally expressive they are. This is helpful across a range of interactions, from negotiating contract language to deciding where to eat.

Tipping Policy

Westerners are used to tipping service workers, and it is important to always research the tipping policy for your foreign destination. In some countries, like Japan and South Korea, it can be highly offensive to tip.

Be a Humble Ambassador

One of the wonderful opportunities about working in foreign countries is that we get to be ambassadors for our home country. Pop culture may influence others’ opinions of Americans, but mostly those opinions are formed by you and how you respect and treat others when speaking in a foreign country. Don’t forget the golden rule of travel—treat others as they would like to be treated—wherever you go.

Send an Appropriate Message via Body Language

This can be a subtle thing, but be mindful of your norms and how they may be perceived abroad. Impatience overseas will get you nowhere fast. For example, when dining in Spain, you are expected to take your time and enjoy the meal. Rushing through dinner will be considered offensive in a country where the meal is typically a slow and deliberate affair. Also note that it is inappropriate to show the bottom of your feet in the Middle East. Instead of acting like a bemused observer of other people’s idiosyncrasies, raise your glass and cheer, “Vive la différence!”

Simultaneous Translation

It is common for clients not to want to pay for providing simultaneous translation. Simultaneous translation is when an interpreter translates exactly what you’re saying into the target language while comprehending and listening to the next sentences. If you encounter an organization that wants to use back-and-forth translation, also called consecutive translation, don’t do it. Back-and-forth translation is when in interpreter stops at the end of every paragraph or complete thought and summarizes what was said into the target language. It creates an excruciating experience for you as a speaker and for your audience, because everyone must wait for translations to be made. We decline these types of arrangements.

When working with simultaneous translators, spend time getting to know them and how they work. We have learned through our experience to establish simple cues that ensure we make translating what we say easy, effortless, and enjoyable for our translators. Working with booths, microphones, headsets, and any other equipment is straightforward, but it is always a good idea to establish some norms with respect to using them.

Using Your Digital Footprint to Get More International Gigs

In a digital world, we are publishers who are day trading in attention, so why not take advantage of the various tools we have to create demand for our speaking and training services? We have two simple ways of doing that, and we detail them here.

Your Website

When someone visits your website’s homepage, it should immediately make them want to go deeper into the site. Pictures and video of you in action are a must. Although we address your speaker website in chapter 5, we want to emphasize that for you to be considered top of the line, you should have a page dedicated to meeting and event planners. The easier you can make it for them to find information they need, the more in-demand you will become.

Here are the key elements of a speaker’s kit that all meeting and event planners love:

• a list of keynote presentations

• a full media kit

• a comprehensive speaker bio

• a travel-planning guide

• a speaker introduction script

• testimonials from clients

• a pre-program questionnaire

• a room setup for workshops and seminars

• photos for marketing purposes.

Social Media

In chapter 6, we detailed how to dominate the social media scene. It bears repeating here. Document everything. People want to see the behind-the-scenes aspects of who you are as a professional speaker. Sardék no longer purchases stock photos because he’s constantly taking his own photos, which he can then use to create branded quotes and images for his presentations. Anne does the same, and we both use our smartphones to record and publish short videos, many of which are posted to social media for our followers to view.

Speaking and training internationally is, hands down, one of the best things that can happen to a speaker. By following these simple tips, you’ll have fun while getting paid to travel the world for free!