It’s a tough time for most professional speakers. The recession has wiped out speakers with a weak value proposition. The same thing happened after 9/11. The most telling sign is the National Speakers Association convention, which is being held in Orlando next week.  Just over 1,000 speakers are registered. When I joined in 1997, it was almost double that number. NSA is holding a special one-day session for all speakers earning at least a million dollars a year, and out the 1,000 speakers registered, only 24 of us have qualified.