Public Speaking

Here’s my deal: I really enjoy public speaking. I’ve been through public speaking training, and I always get good evaluations, but I’m not a professional. Still, over the years, my average speaker evaluation is better than 4 on a 5 point scale. My presentations are customizable, but below you’ll see some stock session titles and descriptions that you or your meeting planner can just insert into promotional materials.

I’m a practicing association professional, so my sweet spot is speaking to association staff and volunteers. But I speak frequently to other business professionals as well. My fees, testimonials, references and headshots are all right here at the bottom of the page. Here are some of the organizations I’ve spoken to over the years:

  • American Institute of CPAs
  • ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership
  • Association Executives of North Carolina
  • Direct Marketing Association of Washington
  • Kansas City Society of Association Executives
  • Ohio Society of Association Executives
  • National Association of Realtors
  • National Association of State Boating Law Administrators
  • National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America
  • National Funeral Directors Association
  • New Jersey Society of CPAs
  • Virginia Association of Realtors
  • Virginia Society of Association Executives
  • Virginia Society of CPAs

Session descriptions:

Social Media: How the Newest Communication Fad… Isn’t (Up to 60 minutes)
According to a recent survey, 93% of Americans want companies to communicate with them on social media sites. You’ve heard the social media buzzwords: blogs, wikis, Facebook, Twitter. But what exactly are these things and how can they be applied to business? Could this just be a fad? Can they really be applied to your business? Hear from the co-author and project leader of the Association Social Technologies survey and long-time blogger, Ben Martin, a social media practitioner and consultant who uses web 2.0 tools to engage customers and advance business goals.

Cool Tools to Help Volunteers Get Things Done (Up to 90 minutes)
Online collaborative technology used to be reserved for those with the highest technical acumen and largest budgets. Not anymore! Today’s Web-based collaborative technologies deliver cutting-edge opportunities to work with volunteers across the globe, at different times, and even all at once. Attend this session to learn about all the best technologies and discover how to choose the most appropriate solution for you.

Association Research Projects: Summarized & Contextualized (Up to 90 minutes)
Don’t have time to keep up with all the research studies? This session is like a Cliff’s Notes version of all of the association industry’s most recent and important research studies. Go on a learning excursion with your peers as you uncover the major findings in Decision to Join and how they relate to previous ASAE & The Center research projects like 7 Measures of Success and Mapping the Future of Your Association. Your discussion leader, a prolific speaker and author on association trends, will help you explore connections between these works that you may have never considered.

Effective Uses of Social Media in Associations (Up to 90 minutes)
You’ve heard the buzz about associations using social media and you’ve decided to give it a try. From blogs, to podcasts, to wikis, to social networking sites and all points in between, you may not be sure where to start. With the rate of change in social media and unwritten rules about how one is supposed to conduct him- or herself on the social web, you need a crash course in what associations have learned in this realm to have any hope of using it effectively. Learn how associations are effectively using social media from an expert and one of the association industry’s original and most widely-read bloggers.

Applying Social Media Principles to Today’s Member Experience (Up to 90 minutes)
Maybe your association’s membership isn’t quite ready to embrace blogging, Facebook, wikis or Twitter. That’s okay. However, there’s much to be learned about effective group organization and cultivation from today’s online communities and gathering places. Learn how the principles of successful social media sites, like the ones listed above, give clues about how you can increase member engagement. By applying the principles of social media with today’s members, you’ll increase their likelihood to renew their membership and tell others about your association.

Towards a More Effective Chapter: N Tips in N Minutes (Up to 60 minutes)
You’ve figured it out: The way your group has always done it won’t cut it for much longer. You recognize it in the lower numbers at meetings. Volunteers are harder to find. The younger members aren’t participating in the same way, if they’re even participating at all. So what can you do about it? Attend this lightning round session to arm yourself with N tips to help your chapter break out of the doldrums.

• Additional Topics Available Upon Request •

Pricing:
$1495 + travel expenses per session
$2495 + travel expenses for any two sessions
* 50% deposit due on acceptance of assignment

Contact:
bkmcae at gmail dot com or (804) 276-8984

Headshots:
Option #1
Option #2

References:

Megan Denhardt (ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership)
Cynthia Edmunds (KC Society of Association Executives)
Laurie Oken (National Association of REALTORS®)
Ron Sarver (National Association of State Boating Law Administrators)
Jim Thompson (Association Executives of North Carolina)
Anne Winter (International Association of Assessing Officers)

Testimonials & evaluation comments:

  • “Best session at AE Institute.”
  • “One of the most informative and entertaining (great idea) sessions in years.”
  • “The entire session was good, but I wanted to thank Ben for his comprehensive and clear descriptions of some of the new technologies. I now have an idea of how I might use some of them!”
  • “Ben Martin is a star.”
  • “Ben Martin brought great value to our symposium. He engaged our members and challenged them to take their thinking to another level. We can’t wait to invite him back.”
  • “As a company who interacts with many associations, it was important for me to find out how blogging is working in conjunction with print and tools as it relates to my primary business of printing. It was very useful for gaining a better understanding of it’s focus and future, to better my clients as well. I don’t beleive it could have been presented any better for what I needed to learn.”