If you’re a professional genealogy speaker, or even just thinking about becoming one, you’ve probably wondered what it would be like to have a mentor guiding you through the process. What to teach, how to pitch, and how to grow. That’s exactly what Thomas MacEntee delivers in Speaking Your Roots: How to Build a Professional Genealogy Speaking Career (Onsite, Online, and On-Demand).
As some of you may know, Thomas was my mentor for two years, and reading this book feels very much like sitting down with him for one of our Zoom calls. It’s a straightforward, honest look at what it’s really like to build a speaking career in the genealogy world. It takes hard work, but it is also a great deal of fun. More importantly, he shows that getting started is more accessible than many people think.
The book walks through the full lifecycle of a speaking career. Thomas covers everything from choosing topics and pitching proposals to creating handouts, understanding copyright, and building a sustainable business. One standout feature is the appendix of AI prompts, which is surprisingly practical and useful across multiple aspects of speaking and content creation.
It’s also worth noting what this book is not. This is not a get-rich-quick guide, and Thomas is very clear about that from the beginning. You have to put in the work. It is also not a technical step-by-step manual. You will not find detailed instructions on how to build slides in Canva or run webinar software. Instead, the focus stays where it matters most, which is the strategy, mindset, and real-world experience behind a successful genealogy speaking career.
Where the book truly shines is in the confidence it builds. Thomas does not just teach. He encourages. He addresses impostor syndrome right from the start and continues to reinforce a calm, steady confidence throughout the book. That tone makes it just as valuable for someone starting out as it is for a more experienced speaker looking to grow.
If you have ever considered stepping into genealogy speaking, or taking your current speaking work to the next level, this book is well worth your time.
You can find Speaking Your Roots on Amazon, both in Kindle and print versions. Click here to take a look!
Stephen Morse’s One-Step Webpages
Stephen Morse is one of the legends of modern genealogical research technology. In 1992, years before Ancestry and FamilySearch started their research websites, he created one of the first online research tools around. Starting with a small program to help read Ellis Island records, he gradually added more and more functionality, branching out into other immigration records, census records and translations – three decades before AI was available to the public.
His simple, easy-to-follow website hosts some of first genealogical research tools I’ve ever used. These tools are as relevant today (even in an AI dominated world) as they were back in the beginning. Join me for this month’s Office Hours demo where we take a tour through the One-Step Webpages.