How to Get Started Early With Talks & Presentations

[ThatPsyGuy]

I want to start early in developing professionally, getting my name thrown out into the community, and making some extra cash while in grad school. Figured I'd take what I'm learning and put it into immediate use.

I've heard that some Grad students have gone about doing presentations or workshops regarding coping, workplace stress reduction, mindfulness, etc, etc. I've also heard about consulting opportunities that students have made for themselves (The word "consulting" is thrown around so much, that I don't even think I know what it is anymore).

I would like to get started with this as well. While I am still early in my Ph.D. program, I come from a Vocational/Workplace focused background that I feel I can leverage into a specialty, and I am provisionally licensed. I think I have a nice web of networking connections that I can ask around for opportunities/help as well.

Now, where the hell do you even start in this process? I figured I'd check out some other workshops, presentations, etc going on around me, but the majority of the people leading these events don't even have a background in the mental health field (alarming). As for consulting, I have no clue. I imagine that it's hard to find any work regarding this without graduating first. I'm leaning more toward the talks and presentations side. I also feel that alongside publications, it may look good on my CV.

Has anyone done anything similar before?

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[Dazen]

I'm also a grad student and have found a few of these opportunities. My program has a robust student-run outreach division that sets up talks and workshops within the university and in the greater community (firefighters, local school districts, assisted living centers). Maybe see if your program has something similar, or if anyone is interested in helping to start one up? It's nice to have say in what types of opportunities are most interesting. I'd also let professors in the department know that it's something you'd be interested in. They're often asked to do more presentations than they have time and interest for, so if it's in an area that you have expertise in, they might be willing to recommend you instead. I recently got connected with a military organization to talk about risk and mental health by my PI because I have related research interests.

 

[foreverbull]

This is largely volunteer experience in grad school, so unpaid, from my experience. It isn’t that hard to get in the door offering free outreach—I remember offering free presentations in different settings such as my practica, etc. it looks good on your CV, especially if you end up teaching later.

The harder part is making money from it, even when licensed. A ton of people out there offer these trainings for very little money (or for free) who are not in the field of psychology at all. RNs get paid good money, in fact, to do similar trainings as a fulltime job as “health educators” while psychologists aren’t considered for such positions because part of it is teaching about nutrition, general health, etc. Organizations also hire within to do their own trainings on basic mental health or just make it part of the HR person’s job, corporate trainer’s job, etc.The best paid consultants have some level of fame from book sales, research, etc.

I just saw a fulltime job teaching mindfulness presentations in schools and it only required a bachelor’s degree and paid $22/hr. Why pay top dollar for a psychologist to present when you could just underpay someone else to do a basic stress management presentation, is the gist of the mindset, in my experience.

That said, networking is critical in this area for those who get paid doing this. There are also a few niche companies that specialize in corporate mental health training and charge a lot—might be a place to start reaching out once licensed, but I’m not sure how much they skim off the top of psychologists’ pay. Another option is to offer trainings for CEUs for psychologists, but those will be directed towards those with a mental health background usually and will need to be specialized knowledge.

Not impossible, but speaking from experience trying to find these opportunities, it is an undervalued and underpaid area. Use your network as best you can and see what happens.

 

[Ollie123]

Personal opinion, but if you start out trying to make a living giving talks you are doing it wrong and in for a rough go of things. No one is going to pay some random person a sizable sum of money to give a talk/run a training just because they have a doctorate. This is something you do to increase your profile, build your reputation, build your referral base (if clinical), etc. This scaffolds to more opportunities, more talks, a further expansion of your profile/reputation and then you get there. Its an iterative process. Expect to volunteer a fair bit first or do things that is less than your hourly rate seeing patients. Contact your local AHEC office about opportunities - I'm sure they will offer some opportunities though it may not start until after graduate school. Your best opportunities may come from pairing with other faculty, supervisors, etc. as this is how most people I know got started.

The only people I know who were able to leap straight into reasonably well-paid speaking gigs were folks who made groundbreaking research discoveries (invented a new treatment, etc.).

 

[WisNeuro]

I'll echo others, at least in most clinical and forensic realms, it's more personal connections and networking. Public talks and such are generally low yield. They take a good deal of time, and pay little, if anything. It's a good way to give back, as in a donated talk for a CE for your state association, or giving back to your community by presenting about your area of expertise, but it won't open many doors in most cases.

 

[ThatPsyGuy]

Personal opinion, but if you start out trying to make a living giving talks you are doing it wrong and in for a rough go of things. No one is going to pay some random person a sizable sum of money to give a talk/run a training just because they have a doctorate. This is something you do to increase your profile, build your reputation, build your referral base (if clinical), etc. This scaffolds to more opportunities, more talks, a further expansion of your profile/reputation and then you get there. Its an iterative process. Expect to volunteer a fair bit first or do things that is less than your hourly rate seeing patients. Contact your local AHEC office about opportunities - I'm sure they will offer some opportunities though it may not start until after graduate school. Your best opportunities may come from pairing with other faculty, supervisors, etc. as this is how most people I know got started.

The only people I know who were able to leap straight into reasonably well-paid speaking gigs were folks who made groundbreaking research discoveries (invented a new treatment, etc.).

Ha, not necessarily a living. Mainly just to pad my CV and get my foot into the door for future opportunities. The closest thing to giving talks for a living is going to be teaching.

What's an AHEC though?

 

[Ollie123]

Area Health Education Center

https://www.nationalahec.org/