Since 1983, speakers at Services Cooperative
Association have presented a variety of educational topics of interest to emerging
business owners. They are recognized as some of Houston's best
public speakers. Your participation is appreciated. Whether you're a beginner or a pro,
here are some suggestions for your presentation:
Attend a Business Building Breakfast Meeting prior
to your speaking date to become familiar with the location, facilities and format of the
meeting. Plan to arrive about 15 minutes before the meeting starts so that you
may make your first appearance to the group in a poised, professional manner. Wear normal
professional attire (coat and tie for men) and bring business
cards. Your speaking date will be established after you have attended a first
meeting.
In selecting a title, use as few
words as possible and see if you can make your title attention getting,
catchy or appealing. Your name, company and presentation topic will generally be
publicized, including media, starting about six weeks before your speaking date, with a
link to your web site from the SCA
Upcoming Speakers web page.
Should something occur that will prevent your
presentation on your scheduled speaking date, please arrange for your own replacement
on the topic you selected. We do not accept this responsibility. You have it totally when
you commit to the date and topic.
On the week of your presentation, call in your reservation to
(713) 932-7495 x 48 before noon on Monday as confirmation that you are the featured
speaker for that week.
On the day of your presentation, arrive about
30 minutes before the meeting starts to give yourself time to interact with the people
present, many of whom will be attending just to hear your topic. Bring a bio or whatever
you wish said for an introduction by the program chairman. Since the time allocated for
your presentation includes the reading of your bio you may want to keep it
brief.
When you have handouts (strongly
encouraged) give them to the program chairman who will arrange one at each
place-setting. Of course your handout will have complete contact information, including
your name, your name, telephone number, email and web address and will represent you and
your organization in the most professional manner.
You will register at the front table in the
normal manner, with one exception; there will be a "Speaker" ribbon for you to
wear during the meeting. You will sit at the head table at the
end position with the Texas flag behind you and the lectern to your right.
You will have 10 minutes
for your presentation, including your bio which will be read by
the program chairman as you are introduced. Should you have a lengthy bio, you may want to
include it as part of your handout to minimize loss of presentation time.
Timing cards will be at the back table, positioned directly in your line of sight from the
lectern. The program chairman will count down your time from 10 to 1, flipping a card
after each minute has passed. When you see that you have one minute
remaining, you should be in the closing section of your presentation. Shortly before the
last minute has elapsed, the program chairman will return to the front of the room in
preparation for leading the applause at the conclusion of your presentation.
When you have completed your presentation, remain
at the lectern where the program chairman will present you with a framed
"Certificate of Appreciation" on behalf of SCA.
Your presentation is to be of a non-commercial,
informational, educational nature. Should you wish to present a commercial
message, you may do so by informing the program chairman in advance and paying a $100.00
commercial message fee.You will have given a commercial message in the event that you make
any reference to your company or what your company does.
Should you wish to further commercialize your
presentation, you may choose to sponsor the weekly SCA faxes and emails of the SCA
newsletter EntrepreNEWS,
which are sent the week prior to your presentation, for an additional $100.00. These reach
approximately 5,000 people each week and are considered by many to be an excellent
method of promotion. You may also be the "Business Showcase Company"
for an additional $100.00. If you wish to do all three (commercial message, fax/emails and
business showcase) you may have the package price of only $250.00.
While SCA by-laws require speakers or
their representative to attend a meeting prior to being scheduled as the
speaker and to pay meeting costs, the by-laws do not require speakers to advertise via fax
or pay a commercial message fee unless giving a commercial message. Once again, you will
have been deemed to have given a commercial message in the event that you make any
reference to what you or your company does. Should you do, even
inadvertently, during your presentation and not have made prior arrangement with the
program chairman and already paid the commercial message fee, the program chairman will
request the commercial message fee at the close of the meeting.
Not-for-profit organizations and SCA
associates are exempted from commercial message fees.
Audio-visual equipment is available from the
host establishment at a nominal charge if you wish to incur this
fee.
You may obtain a video of your 10 minute presentation for only
$49.99. You can use this video to assess the quality of your presentation or send it to
groups interested in booking you as a speaker. To obtain the video, you must purchase the
option prior to your presentation. To purchase, go to the SCA
button and enter "Record presentation video." Click here to purchase.