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| Speaking to muskie fishermen and women is a tough gig no matter what. Not because the speaker doesn't know what he or she is talking about but because the crowd is so diverse. A lot of times there are people in the crowd that have caught hundreds of muskies sitting right next to a guy that has never caught one before. Even the best speakers get nervous at some seminars. Sometimes you knock em' dead and other times you feel you just didn't connect the way you wanted to. It's not easy to come up with new things at every seminar either. Kind of like writing.
I'm not writing this to defend or justify anything, just give another perspective.
Ty
www.tysennett.com |
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Posts: 929
Location: Rhinelander. | I'm like worrall and old school,no powerpoint for me either. more lecture then pictures. You've all seen enough musky photos. Not done any in some time, would have to actually look for my slides. Really use to enjoy the one I did on jigging.
I know about the prices to as I was president of a club for several years.
Pfeiff |
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| This is all tremendous information! While I'm no where near the top of anyone's list, I do seminars at a growing number of shows but mostly in-stores, schools and some clubs. Using my 25+ years of broadcast experience helps tremendously and yes, I do have a multi-media presentation built around PowerPoint. This is my 31st year of muskie fishing and I've learned some things worth sharing along the way. I've also shared the boat with some great anglers over those years and can lift from those experiences.
To any aspiring to hit the lecture circuit, read this stuff because it's just like fishing. You never stop learning something new.
Mike Michalak
The 60-Second Angler |
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| esoxaddict - 11/17/2006 3:04 PM
What are some things that speakers have done that you really liked?
What are some specific things that really turned you off?
Good/Bad/Ugly let's hear it.
A few years ago I went to a show at Arlington Park race track where a big name in muskie fishing was the speaker. His format was unlike no other I have encountered and I commend him for coming up with something original and giving up some very valuable information that he didn't have to. His topic was a very specific section of LOTW. He opened his session with a question, who doesn't have a map of the area with them? He said he wanted to take a 10 minute break and told everyone what booth's had maps for sale and anyone that wanted to go get one should do it right away. After everyone returned with their map he fired up a PC projector with a map of the area and a grid overlay. He focused in a a few squares of the grid one at a time. For each square he would ask the auidence which spots they thought were best and why and mark each one on the map. Then he would turn on his hottest spots and explain why they were best and under what conditions they were best. It was a great way to engage the crowd and I'm sure even a very good angler learned somthing that day.
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| I would have to agree with Ty and what others have said about the audience at M.I. meetings being everything from the newbies to seasoned veterans so you aren't going to please everyone in the audience. Just because you are at a M.I. meeting doesn't mean you know about long rods, no stretch line etc...we have some new members at our meetings who join that nite that haven't caught a musky so don't generalize the audience as all being veterans of the sport. With the mix of people it will be hard to not talk about some stuff that some dont have a clue about and some that would think it is basic info...Most speakers the Cap City club in Madison have had have been great. It's not easy getting up in front of 50 to 200 people so cut them a little slack. I do agree having an outline and staying on topic is a good thing. A good question/answer session at the end is also beneficial.
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Posts: 32950
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I ALWAYS ask about the audience, and specifically tailor the direction of my presentation to the varying skill levels in the group. Good point, Ty. |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | Lots of good info here. As a chapter president I think that the speakers you have is one of the biggest things that determine whether people attend a meeting. Having quality speakers really can bolster a chapters membership retention just as poor speakers can chip away at that same membership over the long term.
I have a speech minor and basically went from being terrified of speaking and being an "ummmmm'er" to being confident and comfortable speaking in front of any size of group. I think that the biggest thing that speakers need to do is be prepared. With preperation comes confidence. Confidence is the #1 quality that good speakers have.
Here's some preperations that speakers should do before speaking in a public setting.
-Have notes or an outline of what topics you want to cover. Don't write out what you're going to say, have bullitpoints. You also don't necessarily have to have them present or use them. Just the act of writing down your thoughts dramatically helps you organize your thoughts and improve your message.
-Ideally you should run though your presentation in front of a person or the mirror, but even if you can just go through what you're going to say in your mind you can often times smooth it out.
-Give a basic run-down of your presentation to a friend. That way you can get a 2nd party perspective if your content is thought out well and relavent.
-Identify who/ you're targeting in your presentation. If you're going for a beginners talk gear it (and tell the chapter ahead of time) that way. Same goes if you're going to talk about a lake, specific presentation or what not. It's not a crime to go on a tangent, but this way people know approximately what they can expect.
In the last year we've had our best speaker IMOP in Larry Dahlberg (sp?). When Larry came in he had some film, but he narrated the film and made it relevent to the discussion. He knew exactly what he was going to talk about during his presentation. He was also a great speaker in that he projected and would look at individual members when he spoke. Larry is a very entertaining person to begin with, but he presented his information in a way that kept people interested.
I had the opportunity to be a speaker for our chapter a few years ago and to be honest I was terrified. I only had a weeks notice, but I took time over the prior week and put my thought in order, marked some maps, brought some baits that I like to use and so forth. I was pretty nervious when I saw people like "Wayne from Blaine" and other local "big sticks". I just went back to my notes before I spoke and went from there. I don't know if anyone got anything from the talk, but I'd like to think they did.
As the boyscouts say "be prepared". |
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Location: oswego, il | Guest, I remember that seminar at arlington. Yep, you can certainly say that nobody would ever do a seminar like that! If I remember, he never got through all the spots because he had so much to share. That seminar was point and cast! |
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Posts: 136
| This is a great topic. Its honestly hard to find great speakers. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes its a bust/ Most of time, we pick off of name recognition. Ive been the program director for the KY Chapter for the past 4 years.
I try to avoid the following:
Large Egos
Guides who want to spend 1/2 of their time promoting sponsors and themselves(they can wait until there seminar is over)
Guides who do nothing but show pictures of fish on powerpoint instead of teaching
Visuals are good, but not always necessary. We have had Dick Pearson and Steve down, and both did excellent jobs without powerpoints.
Being in KY, we have heard all our southern guides numerous times over the past 15 years, so I try to bring different perspectives to our chapter. I have brought speakers down from Ottawa River to Minnesota.
One thing speakers must remember is most chapters dont have big bank accounts, so its not feasible to ask for lots of cash. We had one guy ask for $1500 plus airfare and car rental for a 45 minute seminar, we had to pass. We budget to get people in around 200-400, maybe a few more dollars for the CAbin Fever Challunge and our annual awards banquet.
Right now, Im having the fun of getting a schedule for 2007. |
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| Maybe too much emphasis is placed on getting the "big names"...
There are lots of of relatively unknown guides and anglers out there who have been chasing muskies for 40 years or more. I would imagine they have tons of wisdom to share without the ego, without the sponsors, without the need to promote themselves, and would probably be honored to be asked to share some of their knowledge.
Nothing against the young guys or the big names, but I'd rather listen to an old-timer. They know as much, perhaps more, they have more experience, and they don't need to prove anything to anyone.
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| If I covered up all the details to each musky show ad this year location.month,vendors 'except" the list of speakers,,,would you be able to tell one show from the other??? same guys speaking at every one,,,hail the promoter who injects new blood |
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Posts: 8848
| Ok so who haven't we all seen before?
Here's a list of who I can remember seeing:
Joe Bucher
Dick Pearson
Tony Grant
Mike Hulbert
Chad Cain
Travis Richardson
Jim Saric
Gregg Thomas
Laura Morrison
Ty Sennett
Lee Tauchen
Steve Jonesi
Sean Birmingham
Scott Birmingham
Donnie Hunt
Steve Herbeck
Dennis Radloff
Chae Dolson
If you look at the average age of these folks I'd suspect that it's probably around 40.
Why aren't the older folks doing seminars? Is it just that nobody is asking them?
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | I love the old school guys like Smitty, Herbie, Johnson and Schumway, I could listen for hours about the "old days"....history is what makes this type of fishing so much more colorful than others.
also, I'd like to hear more lure makers like Roger Waters, Joe Herbert, Bill Schwartz and Baldy speak and show images/presentations of their craft. Painters as well.
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| I am available!!! |
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Location: minocqua, wi. | how can you go to a show when the trails are open?! |
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Location: oswego, il | Tanner, I think I will be plugging you into my 08 scedule. If you have not heard Tanner do a seminar, no joke, you would think he had been doing them for along time. Very well done. The one I seen him do was as close to point and cast as you can get. |
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Posts: 136
| Tanner, I havent forgot about you either. Shoot me a email, we need to do a make up date for last year. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Tanner has the perfect personality for an energetic and informative talk, and he knows his Muskies. |
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| Yeap he covered the Mighty Chip for us last year and is a bundle of laughs as well as provider of good information 
FRV will be glad to have you back!  |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | If anyone needs a seminar on shore fishing....I'm your guy! LOL! That is a topic I bet hasnt had too much coverage.
Mike Bolinski
Future Shore Fishing for Muskies speaker |
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| All GREAT posts!!
I have done many speaking engagements...one of the best tools is the power-point presentation format....with video embedded into the different slides. I feel that most the members have enjoyed these seminars, and I feel they've learned alot from the presentations I've done. And, I do talk about the figure 8....sorry! It, to me, is the most important piece of adding muskies to your numbers for the year...so, for whatever that's worth, sorry if I bored some of you talking about Figure 8's at the FRV chapter meeting. (GREAT group of guys by the way)
I measure success in a seminar/meeting in two ways....1.) Number of people nodding off & 2.) Number of questions asked! This last meeting I was at, there were around 50-60 people, depending on how many were IN the meeting. I was asked 31 questions. This was awesome...I felt like the interaction was impressive, and they really wanted to learn something...not just "be there." As well, no one fell asleep...except for me when I had to drive 244 miles home after the meeting that night.
I am NOT cheap...not because I think I'm some hot fishing stud...because we all know I'm not. For me, the reason for some of the higher pricing is simply due to travel. I live Grand Rapids, MI. and it takes alot of time to get from point A to point B, and back again. But, in return for the fee I charge, I am a hard charger, full of energy, and give 110% of myself in the presentation. Is everyone happy ALL of the time? NO! Is everyone hearing some good stuff? MAYBE! But most important, the club gets an action packed, bang up show!
With all of this said, I can only say this...look for some of the youngbloods who are doing some awesome things...catching some big fish, putting large numbers in the boat, etc. See if they want to come and speak...they will start getting the hang of it, and start doing VERY well for your clubs. As of right now, I've only spoken to 9 different M.I. chapters. Why? Because I think some might feel I'm too far away. See if you have local talent that wants to share with you their techniques. There are lots of these young fellas out there who are very good at what they are doing. Will they ALL be good speakers? NO! Will they give of themselves? YES!! Keep in mind what Worrall said, "Not all great muskie fisherman are great speakers." That is a very true statement, and if you're the one spending your clubs hard earned cash, insure the speaker validates his fees.
I hope I am not in the 50% who are "terrible." I will continue to speak, and be cogniscent of everything written in THIS post these past couple of days. Great discussion, and if anyone has some constructive comments, always share them...it can only make us better as speakers!!
Sincerely,
Donnie
Edited by Donnie3737 11/22/2006 8:21 AM
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| Donnie, for what's it's worth I thought your FRV presentation was great -- a good mix of information and entertainment, you managed to keep everyone engaged, and judging by the variety of questions that were aksed and answered I don't think you intimidated anyone!
And I think even the guys who don't fish Eagle were able to get something out of it that they can take to their home waters. |
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| EA,
Thank you....it was fun and I enjoyed your club alot!!
Donnie |
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Location: oswego, il | Donnie, one thing I see in a really good fisherman is mastering the little details. Not only did you point a few out but when being questioned you answered some of those little details point blank matter of fact. You impressed our crowd big time and people are still talking about some of your tips to this very day that some very well respected fisherman were unaware of. Well worth our money spent. |
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Location: Rhinelander. | Its been awhile since I have done som seminars at shows or clubs but I know one thing yet< travel time is costly, gas,sometimes a room for the night and plus sometimes I needed to take off work early. I always gave something back to the club to seell,raffle or give away. As past president of a club I know its uncommon to pay $450.00 for a speaker for the night. I don't think thats too bad at all. Yes its a good some of money but if your speaker entertains you and give you information most of your members can use its worth it. I think clubs will just have to start to charge members an extra $5.oo a night that they have a speaker. The fees always cannot come of the membership dues alone.
Pfeiff
Edited by Don Pfeiffer 11/23/2006 9:38 PM
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Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | The only seminars I have attended are those who the speaker says "oh, here is my favorite spot". DO NOT INSULT my intellegence. K-bob, knows where some of my favorite spots. Muskymaj knows where some of my favorite spots. Lori (Lolleitta) knows almost all of my favorite spots. Would anyone who attended one of my speaking engagements expect to know exactly where they are? Heck no. I'll tell them what to look for and what colors/ baits if they ask me about certian lakes, but everyone needs to do their homework like everyone else. |
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| Thanks for the kind words....I do agree, travel time does cut into any kind of fees I receive. I am very glad that the FRV guys got something out of my seminar....and I do alot of promoting of Eagle Lake. I think, as of this year, I'd taken people out to their PB's 67 times in the last 6 years, since having sold AML. I never counted when I was part owner, simply because it happened alot being on the water every day. These past 6 years have meant alot....watching my boys grow as awesome muskie fisherman has been a treat!
Am I going to get rich in the muskie world? NO! Is it my goal? NO! Do I charge a little more than average? YES! Is this bad? For some YES! The reason I charge a fee, is to enable ME to do the speaking....I love sharing of my time and knowlegde, although there are people that sit in my audiences that know a HELLUVA lot more than me.(Herbie listened to me one night, and I was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs!) I don't get big endorsements from lure, line, rod, & reel manufacturers, so I am on my own. Tuffy has done a nice job of getting me set up with a nice rig. (Of which I did pay for...LOL!)
So, if anyone wants to help the Weston, Hallie, and Colton fishing fund, just call me and book a speaking engagement....if not, feel free to e-mail me or PM me with any question about Eagle or muskies in general. If I like you, I'll respond, if not, oh well....LOL...just kidding, and remember, there is no stupid question...just stupid people calling the questions stupid! 20 years ago....right about now, I'd been muskie fishing for about a year...man have I learned alot. How? By asking questions, questions, and more questions!!
Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
Donnie ;-) |
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