The best-known speakers have usually put in many years of public speaking before being acclaimed as the hot new thing (not to mention spending years as practitioners in their specialties). Expect to work very hard and be patient a long time before you achieve celebrity status. If you have selected the right topics, honed your presentation based on audience feedback, worked the local paid circuit, and cultivated a referral network, you are ready to move up to the national — even international — stage.