Blame It On Rio - Reconsider The Value Of Delivering International Speeches & Seminars

Posted on March 31, 2008

In a prior article, I mentioned it is very costly to deliver a paid, professional speech or seminar at a distant international venue.

You have prep time, visas to apply and wait for, travel to arrange, currency and payment collection issues, language barriers, and days on airplanes en route.

Still, after having recently done a first-class program in Brazil, which I had a chance to videotape for release later as a product, I was pleased and said the experience was well worth it.

But today, a mere eight months later, I might decline the same opportunity.

For one thing, the economics don’t add up. Minimally, it takes a full week, or significantly more, to deliver a keynote speech or a one-day seminar in Rio or Sao Paulo.

If you’re traveling from the West Coast of the U.S., as I am, you’re going to kill a full day flying there. Plus, you absolutely have to factor-in air traffic delays and flight cancellations.

With current labor disputes in Brazil, along with recent air disasters, travel is becoming both inconvenient and more perilous.

Add another day on the ground to recover from your flight. You’ll need one more day to deliver your talk, and probably yet another to return to the States.

We’re up to four days, and when you do arrive home, you’ll require a minimum of a day, but probably more, to recover from jet lag.

That’s five days right there—a full business week, without any prep time for the event, itself.

You simply will not be paid five times what you could earn by delivering a State-side speech.

However, there is one more issue: personal security. Many international venues are crime-ridden and Americans, especially are targets for robbery, violence, and increasingly, for kidnapping.

If you weigh the negatives against the very real and often exciting benefits of adventure and the bragging rights of being an international communicator, you might be wise to consider airing your views closer to home.

Or, if you can, you might use TV and other media as I do, to reach out to a world that’s hungry for knowledge, without risking life or limb to do so.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books and more than a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is quoted in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week. President of Clientrelations.com and Customersatisfaction.com, his seminars and training programs are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities. Dynamic and fun, Gary brings over two decades of management and consulting experience to the table, with the best academic credentials in the speaking and training industry. Holder of a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies and successful family owned and operated firms.

He can be seen on CNBC at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=417455932# and reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

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