You can become a successful public speaker as a profitable sideline to your present job or business, or you can become a professional public speaker by making public speaking the focus of your career. It is up to you! Professional public speaking is a flexible and lucrative enterprise. Good public speakers make all or most of their money from public speaking, and they earn a very decent living from it. Professional fees for public speaking can range from the low hundreds, for those just starting, all the way up to six figures, for those who have impressive credentials and experience.What are the types of public speaking you should practise? Many public speakers enjoy speaking at workshops, seminars, and conferences. A typical speech could run for a half-hour to one hour, depending on the different factors. Lunch speeches, for example, will be shorter than a keynote address at a banquet. You may be asked to speak to a networking gathering.Seminars and workshops are generally longer than speeches. In workshops, the participants would always get hands-on experience in your area of knowledge. Like workshops, seminars may run for two or more days, but they do not necessarily include a hands-on element. Both workshops and seminars can be presented as a part of a bigger conference.Professional speaking can help you build a successful business. You may choose to add public speaking to your business as a marketing enhancement. There is no better way to become well-known. So many people who promote their businesses through public speaking also offer additional products for sale at the "back-of-the-room". These products can include books, CD's, coaching sessions, and so on. And all of these can bring about more public speaking engagements for you.Success as a public speaker will boost your confidence and self-esteem. Knowing that you can command the attention of an audience of hundreds or thousands give you confidence in almost any situation. The composure that you gain by mastering public speaking will help you in every aspect of the business. Successful professional speakers love what they do. There is nothing compared to the feeling of having a roomful of people applauding you, or maybe on their feet, giving you a standing ovation! This feeling can even become addictive. But do not worry, if the thought of standing before a group of people makes your knees shake, there are techniques you can use to help you become comfortable when standing in front of people to speak.But do not worry, as this is a healthy addiction. As a public speaker, you will be helping people by sharing the knowledge that you, as an expert, have gathered. As a result of this, many people feel called to the profession of a public speaker. To these speakers, sharing their knowledge is as important as the decent fees they earn for their speaking engagements.So, if you have decided to go into the lucrative public speaking business, let us get started by learning more about it. First, we will look at the pros and cons of public speaking as a career.