FreeSpeakers.org Celebrates First Year In Phoenix

The pro bono speaker’s bureau in Phoenix - FreeSpeakers.org - proves there is such a thing as a free lunch. The bureau is celebrating one year since the launch in Phoenix. Today, there are 60 speakers offering more than 100 topics and there have been more than 220 requests made through the bureau.

“We launched the bureau in August of 2017 with 20 speakers,” said Ginny Richardson, founder or FreeSpeakers.org. "It's been tremendous to observe the Phoenix bureau expanding, both with the number of speakers and the local groups and organizations requesting topics.”

Richardson said she is impressed with the generous speakers in and around Phoenix and also impressed with the groups who use the bureau.

“It’s win-win-win all around,” she said.

Requests for speakers come from Phoenix area groups such as: chambers of commerce, libraries, Rotary and Kiwanis groups, church groups, retirement communities, women's clubs, men's clubs, etc.

A complete list of speakers can be found at: https://phoenix.freespeakers.org/speaker-list/.

The bureau is a community service project that is 100 percent free to groups that have limited (or no) budgets. There is no charge to any group. Ever. Not from the speaker and not from the bureau. What’s in it for the speakers? They are motivated by the opportunity to teach, hone speaking skills, make contacts, convey a message, give back to the community and frequently, all the above.

“Many people don’t understand why we would spend time on a community service project that doesn’t make money,” Richardson said, “but we are rewarded with loads of contacts, friendships and goodwill. It's more than enough."

Both new speakers and organizations are welcome to visit the website at: https://phoenix.freespeakers.org. To become a speaker, visit: https://phoenix.freespeakers.org/become-a-speaker/.

FreeSpeakers.org history

Ginny Richardson is owner and president of Ginny Richardson Public Relations (GR-PR), a Chicago-based PR firm specializing in social media and traditional media relations in the fields of business, healthcare, not-for-profit and arts and entertainment.

FreeSpeakers.org is an outgrowth of this PR business, although the two are entirely separate.

In 1996, Ginny received a phone call from a client who asked if she knew anyone who could give a talk at a Rotary meeting. She recommended four people - a friend with an fitness business (“Fifty Ways to Lose Your Blubber”), a banker with a terrific sense of humor, a motivational speaker she knew, and a camera buff whose talk was titled “How to Take Better Pictures.”

Later, Ginny had lunch with a reporter from the Chicago Tribune, and she mentioned her “just-for-fun” speaker’s bureau. The reporter found it fascinating that no money changed hands.

The reporter wrote a four paragraph story - "Cheap talk for area groups" - that ended up on the front page of a Tribune section. The day the story came out, her phone rang non-stop. Ginny typed the growing list of names with short descriptions of each person's topic. This list was snail-mailed, at her own expense, to clubs and organizations in Chicago and its suburbs.

Today, Andy Richardson, Ginny’s partner (and son) runs FreeSpeakers.org entirely online and with a much, much longer list of speakers. The response from the groups and the speakers has been tremendous.

“Many people don’t understand why we, as a PR company, would spend time on a project that doesn’t make money,” Ginny said, “but we are rewarded with loads of contacts and maybe most important – proof that some things in life are free.”