What career paths is there for people wanting to become speakers?

Emma Ross: What career paths is there for people wanting to become speakers?
I have a few career paths I am considering, and the one I can find out least about is becoming a speaker. When I say speaker I mean someone who is given a topic to speak about and then draws up a talk about that topic, or something similar as I am not entirely certain what the main requirements are of speakers and what sort of companies want them to speak about. Could someone please inform me on the varying types of ‘speakers’ out there, and what their qualifications (if they need any) would be? Also a rough outline of what they might be asked to speak about? Thank you!

Answers and Views:

Answer by jeligula
The most “speechifying” gets done by politicians. Run for Congress. I’ll vote for you.

Answer by Steve D
Speaker in and of itself is not a profession. People that are paid to speak generally are experts in a specific topic. For example, a motivational speaker may have performed a job that in part was successful because he/she was able to lead a group of people to success (think someone like John Madden). Or a speaker like Tom Peters who speaks on organizational re-design is in demand because he is a good speaker and an expert on the subject. No one gets paid to take a topic and speak (except maybe the President and/or Congress or the ‘talking heads’ on the Sunday news programs [but they have their own area of specialty]). After all, if I wanted a speaker on say the physics involved in jet flight, I would not hire just anyone, tell them to learn about the subject and give a speech, I would find either an aeronautic engineer or professor who has done work in the area (preferably one with good speaking skills) and hire them.