Canadian' the New Word in Public Speaking
The Toronto Star (November 27, 1995)
By Oscar Rojo
The Canadian professional speaker is taking centre stage on the
corporate front.
"In the high power arena of professional speaking, the
Canadian voice is now being heard," proclaims Farah Perelmuter,
president of Speakers' Spotlight, an agency representing Canadian
professional speakers.
It used to be that Canadian companies and organizations,
in planning their meetings, preferred foreign speakers to provide
motivation, education or entertainment.
"Now Canadian meeting planners are beginning to realize
that there exists our own highly talented pool of professional speakers," Perelmuter says. Canadian speakers have become world-class professionals
who are in demand around the world.
Speakers' Spotlight, based in Toronto, is the latest to
be launched among about 10 speakers' bureaus operating across Canada.
The new agency pools the knowledge of two dozen speakers to provide
corporate and other services.
Companies and associations hire professional speakers for
keynote presentations, seminars and training sessions, luncheons
and dinners, as well as masters of ceremony.
In general, the business is broken down into three groups:
celebrity speakers, whose high profiles are crowd drawers; technical
speakers, who have detailed knowledge of specific fields; and professional
speakers, who have developed certain expertise.
Words of Mouth, a Canadian keynote speakers' publication
issued from Georgetown, says the National Speakers Association in
Phoenix, Arizona, has about 3,500 members.
The association awards the highest designation of Certified
Speaking Professional, or CSP, and there are about 200 CSPs around
the world. Nine Canadians have earned the CSP designation: The best
known among them is thought to be comedian and raconteur Dave Broadfoot.
"Lots of very good speakers do not have their CSP designation,
but a CSP does let you know this speaker is not a neophyte, and
has made a serious commitment to the business of professional speaking,"
Words of Mouth says in an article adapted from the Meetings & Incentive
Travel magazine.
Fees for professional speakers vary widely. The rates are
reported to be from $1,000 to $25,000, with most speakers charging
$2,500 to $8,000.
Perelmuter notes a major difference between the American
and Canadian professional speaking forums.
"American audiences tend to succumb more readily to the
razzle-dazzle and hype while Canadian audiences tend to be more
pragmatic, wanting real, down-to-earth answers and solutions to
today's challenges."
After corporate downsizing and restructuring, companies
often rely on outside expertise to help them regroup, motivate and
increase productivity.
So the topics chosen by companies reflect
the rapid changes in society and the scramble by organizations to
forge ahead, Perelmuter says. These include leadership and teambuilding,
future trends, change and conflict management, change and technology,
and stress management. One theme stands out, she observes.
"I find it interesting that one other hot topic is spirituality
in the workplace. It appears that organizers understand that their
employees are dealing with so much change today, that it's possible
to lose sight as to what really is important.
Perelmuter, 26, who studied business and psychology at
the University of Western Ontario and creative advertising at Seneca
College, says she undertook a year's research before launching Speakers'
Spotlight.
Compared with their foreign counterparts, Canadian speakers
provide an extra dimension to the corporate scene.
"They understand the Canadian institutions, the governmental
policies and the nuances of Canadian cultures," Perelmuter says.
"There is no longer the need to spend tens of thousands
of dollars to import the 'perfect' speaker because that 'perfect'
speaker is here."
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The Toronto Star (November 27, 1995)
"'Canadian' the New Word in Public Speaking",
by Oscar Rojo
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