You Don’t Have to Sound “Salesy” When You Speak

There is a subtle, proven way to sell your program or product at live speaking events that doesn’t sound “salesy.” It’s called “Sprinkling the Seeds.” Right from the start of your talk, sprinkle seeds of interest with your audience throughout your talk. By doing this, you don’t have to switch into a “sales mode” when it comes time to present your next program or product offering at the end of your talk. Let them know you have more to give them than you have time for. Let them know you’re going to do your best to cover as much value as you can during the time you’re speaking. Then let them know at the end of your talk you’ll share with them the additional resources you have.

Practice saying your sprinkling the seeds statements until the words easily flow.

The One Thing You Must Say at the End of Your Talk

The one thing you must say at the end of your talk and you’re probably not saying is the “Call to Action.” If you’ve given a great talk with great value, the audience will be interested in what’s next. Your “Call to Action” is what you want your audience to do next. Your “Call to Action” is your Special Offer. Do you want them to sign up for a complimentary session with you, your upcoming workshop, receive your free report? Often speakers end their talk by saying, “If you have any questions, I’ll be here for a while to answer them.” That’s all they say. Then they’re so disappointed when only a few people come to see them. I invite you to set aside time the next time you speak to present your “Call to Action.”

Handling Questions

You’ve given the best talk of your life, but if you’re not in control of handling questions, all credibility is lost! The final impression audience members remember is the way you handle questions.

After you’ve finished your talk, raise your hand and say, “Are there any questions?” When speaking to a large group, repeat or rephrase the question to the audience. The reason you do that in a large group is to make sure everyone in the room has heard the question.

When repeating or rephrasing a question, avoid saying, “The question is,” or “That’s a good question.” If you credit one person with asking a question, you have to credit EVERYONE for asking a question. You don't want people to feel their question was not as important. It’s best to avoid getting yourself into this situation so you don’t sound repetitious.

Finding Places to Speak

Looking for places to speak? If you want to share your message with the masses, you have to get out there and speak. There’s many places to speak. Here are some places where you can find speaking engagements.

Business Networking Groups

There are many business networking groups always looking for speakers. Some well-known groups are Business International Network (BNI), Le Tip and Meetup groups. Also, do an Internet search for “business networking groups” in your city to find when they meet and visit them to see if they bring in speakers.

Local Service Clubs

These service clubs are in every city and meet on a regular basis. They are the Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, Lions Club, and local Chamber of Commerce. The Rotary Club is always looking to fill their meetings with content. This is a great way to get out there and present your message.

Special Interest Groups

There are many different interest groups out there. Whatever your interest is, there’s probably a group for you to speak at. If you go online and check out Meetup.com, you’ll find a variety of special interest groups.

Social Media Groups

Everyone’s on social media these days. Check out Facebook, LinkedIn, and Eventbrite.com for events that are happening. You can search online by topic and geographic location. I suggest you visit these events to see if it’s a good fit for you.

You Gotta Grab Their Attention From The Start

 

Welcome to our March Blog Hop!

This month we want to help you experience success in your business and life, featuring articles, how-to’s and resources for you today that have helped each consultant, blogger and business owner on the hop in their own lives and businesses. Get ready to be inspired for a fabulous year ahead of you as you move along through the blog hop.

You may just be starting the blog hop or may have come from #4 Vicki Heise at Live Your Healthy Life, on Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you make sure to see and learn from all of the articles featured here today.

Today I am going to talk to you about how to grab your audiences attention from the start.

I'm sure you'd agree we are inundated with many e-mails inviting us to sign up for a teleclass, webinar, or workshop. We don't have the time to read all the way through the description. Unless the title grabs our attention in the first few moments, we hit the delete button. The same happens when you give a talk. The audience makes a decision as to whether they're interested in what you have to say within the first three minutes of your talk, so it's important to keep in mind you only have a few moments to grab their attention.
Here are four steps to grab the audience's attention easily and quickly right from the start:

1. Create a catchy title that addresses their pain. With all the information we receive, people may not read further than your title, so make the title of your talk quickly grab their attention. As you think about what to say in your title, think about what matters most to your audience. What's their pain? What will they gain from your talk? Be clear and descriptive in your title. Instead of "Learn How to Become a Speaker," a more exciting title would be "The 9 Best-Kept Secrets to Exploding Your Business as a Speaker."
2. Tell your personal story. Begin your talk by telling your personal story of how you got to be who you are today. The fastest way to draw the audience to you is being authentic. When you share something personal about yourself, the audience feels more connected to you. They can relate to you more through your story and that will draw them to you. The speakers who leave the strongest impression on you are the ones who share something personal about themselves. We quickly get engaged when a person shares their humanity as we can all relate to that.
3. Describe your story vividly and specifically. As you tell your story, speak in the present tense. Share your story as if it's happening right now and describe it with excitement and energy. I remember seeing Suze Orman, the financial expert, speak at a conference. As soon as she walked on stage, she connected with everyone in the audience. She was down to earth, funny, and knowledgeable. She shared how she had grown up on the poor side of Chicago, working as a waitress, making only a few hundred dollars a month. She had her ups and downs just like us but because she shared authentically from her heart, she had us all sitting on the edge of our seats listening to every word she said.
4. Other ways to start off your talk. The point is you're engaging the audience right from the start. Some other ways to quickly grab the audience's attention is by sharing a story about a client, or asking a question to engage the audience, or sharing some current news story, or some startling statistic that relates to your talk. I've started off a talk about speaking by saying, "Did you know most people would rather be the person being eulogized than the person giving the eulogy?" I always hear a few chuckles and people nodding their heads in agreement. These short factual statements quickly grab the audience's attention.

The next stop is my good friend, #6 Robin Hardy on Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop! Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again next month!

1. Natalie Bradley a Natalie Bradley Consulting
2. Debra Burdick at The Brain Lady
3. Deb Brown at Touch Your Client’s Heart
4. Vicki Heise at Live Your Healthy Life 
5. Rochelle Togo-Figa at Speaking Breakthrough Strategist <<– you are here!
6. Robin Hardy at Integrity Virtual Services
7. Chérie Ronning at Chérie Ronning, Consultant-Mentor-Speaker
8. Kim McDaniels at iBiz Design Duchess

Here’s to your breakthroughs…

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Create a Step-By-Step Plan for Speaking

If you want to be a speaker and you’ve never spoken in front of an audience before, you need to create a step-by-step plan to get you there. Here are some steps to take.

1. Create your signature talk: This is your main talk that represents who you are and you can give over and over again.
2. Be trained: If you’ve never spoken in front of an audience before, you want to be trained to powerfully deliver your message.
3. Your audience: You need to know who your ideal audience is. You want to be speaking to this group. These are the people you want to work with.
4. Places to speak: Find networking groups, organizations, associations, and events where your ideal client attends. Introduce yourself to the person who hires speakers and ask to speak to their group!
5. Speaker Sheet: Create a Speaker Sheet. This sheet describes your background, the topics you speak about, where you’ve spoken, and testimonials.

It’s Okay to Speak for Free

I want to share with you what authors Dottie and Lilly Walters, authors of Speak and Grow Rich, say about speaking for free.

“There is no reason to make a ‘free’ presentation. There are many good reasons to present for “no fee.” The majority of speeches in the world are done for no fee. Obviously, there are many benefits of speaking for no-fee, or so many people wouldn’t be doing it!”

Here are some benefits of speaking for “no fee”:

• Correct Performance Problems: A way to sharpen your speaking skills for the world of paid bookings is to practice before live audiences.
• Educate the Public: Most companies realize the tremendous marketing and benefits available to them by sending presenters into the public to teach them about their product and industry.
• Obtain Prospective Clients: Speaking for no fee is one of the best ways of obtaining prospective clients.

Meet with the Audience Before You Speak

Many new speakers feel nervous at the beginning of their talk. The main reason this happens is they don’t know the people in the audience. This may bring up the fear of being judged and not being good enough. I have found the easiest way to break the ice with the audience is to arrive and mingle before you give your talk. When you do this, you’ll get to know the people you’ll be delivering your talk to and this will put you at ease.

When I spoke at a conference, I stood outside as people signed in and introduced myself to them. They loved having the opportunity to meet me. And for me, connecting with them early on helped me to relax before I got up to speak.

Fear of Failing Keeping You from Becoming a Speaker?

Does the thought of failing keep you from pursuing your dream of becoming a speaker? If the answer is “yes,” you’re not alone. When we hear the word “fail,” we connect it to something negative and bad. For many people, the thought of failing brings up strong feelings and emotions. The feelings are so strong, it’s feels safer not to take on new things.

If you’ve read the bios of most successful people, you’ll see they’ve all failed many times over before they achieved success.

Here are 4 key steps to help you move through the fear and be willing to take that risk.

1. Identify the fear: Write out specifically what the fear is, including all the details. To move through the fear; you first have to clarify exactly what the fear is.
2. Emotions and feelings: Write the feelings you’re experiencing as you think about your fear. Do you feel scared, nervous, frustrated, anxious, angry, or hopeless? The clearer you are about the feelings connected to the fear, the easier it will be to move through it.
3. Identify the fear: Ask yourself, “Is this a real or self-imposed fear? A real fear would be if you were about to be pushed out of an airplane. A self-imposed fear is a fear you’re experiencing that hasn’t happened. Once you identify that it’s a self-imposed fear and your life is not endangered, you now know you’re in charge and can take action.
4. Action steps: A powerful way to move through the fear is taking action. Once you take that first step, you’ll feel freedom and confidence because you’re taking charge of your life and the next steps become easier to take.

They say in life you’re either growing or contracting. The only way to grow is to be willing to not let fear stop you. I invite you to be willing to move the fear and become the speaker you’ve always wanted to be!

Think Outside the Box

When putting on a live event, you have to think outside the box when it comes to filling the seats.

Here are 4 creative ways to fill the seats at your event:

• In addition to doing Internet marketing, also combine it with an offline approach. People are constantly inundated with emails. Do direct mail campaigns and pass out flyers. This will help you to stand out from the crowd.
• Do a teleconference call for your list previewing your event and answering questions.
• Reach out to your colleagues and ask them to do a teleconference call for their list.
• Pick up the phone and personally call people who you think might be interested in attending.

Create a Catchy Title for Your Talk

Like it or not, people often buy books by their covers, or at least they are attracted to take a closer look at the book’s content because the cover has caught their attention. It’s the same with writing the title for your talk. If your title is the typical type of title, it will probably be ignored.

One of the best ways to come up with ideas for a catchy title is to walk through bookstores and peruse the shelves reading the titles of books. Notice the words of titles that quickly grab your attention. Titles are like headlines in newspapers and magazines. You buy the publication because the headline promises you information you need or are interested in.

As you’re creating the title of your talk, you want to think about what matters most to your audience. What’s their pain? What can they gain from my talk? Write a title that points out the problem and implies your material contains the answers the audience is looking for.

For example, “The 9 Best-Kept Secrets to Exploding Your Business as a Speaker”.

When you create a title that talks about the problem your buyers need a solution to, and then deliver the best material to solve that problem, you’ll start attracting your ideal clients!

What to Charge to Attend Your Event

A common question that comes up when planning your event is, “What do I charge to attend my event?”

In the past, many of the well-known people leading events charged a big upfront fee to attend their events. With the shift in the economy, that has changed. They’re now charging a lower upfront fee and delivering a lot of value, such that the attendees want to sign up for their higher end programs.

When deciding on the fee you want to charge to attend your event, check within yourself to make sure you can stand behind the fee you’re charging. You must believe in the value you’re delivering.

Investing in Your Event

There is an initial investment you will make upfront before sales start coming in. It’s important to understand you will be spending money upfront. If you plan wisely, you will make back the money you invested plus more at the end with people signing up and buying programs and products.

Some of the upfront costs are paying for the room, creating the program and product materials, administrative assistance, outsourcing, etc. If you hire an event planner, he or she will be able to provide you with all the costs. If you’re planning your event yourself, look at all the costs involved so you’re completely clear on what your investment is.

Questions for Designing a Powerful Event

As you begin to create your event, there are questions to ask yourself that will help you design a powerful event.

They are…

• What is the topic?
• What is the information you want to teach?
• Who is your target audience? How will you find them?
• Where, when, and how long do you want the event to be?
• How much do you want to charge?
• What special bonuses will you offer?
• What Early Bird Specials will you offer?
• Do you want to have guest speakers?
• Do you have programs and/or products to sell at the event?
• Do you want to hire an event planner?
• Do you need to outsource more of the planning and to whom?

The Power of Telling Your Personal Story

When crafting your signature talk, I encourage you to start off by sharing your personal story with the audience. Your personal story is what will have the audience instantly connect with you.

Here are (4) tips to help you craft your personal story:

1. Show Your Vulnerability: Be willing to open your heart to the audience and be authentic. This shows the audience you’re just like them. They will quickly connect to you as they will see themselves in you.
2. Share Your Journey: Let the audience know what it took for you to become the person you are today. Your journey will inspire them to follow their dream.
3. Tell Your Story Vividly: As you share your story, share it with enthusiasm and emotion. Be as specific as you can as you tell your story. Speak as if it’s happening as you speak.
4. Be Present: Look out at the people in the audience as you share your story. Be right there with them in the moment and not in your head.

Are You Filling the Seats?

The biggest undertaking and most critical part to having a successful event, is filling the seats. It takes the most time, so a step-by-step marketing plan is critical. You need to start promoting your event several months in advance, depending on the size and cost. There will be bumps along the way, so don’t expect smooth sailing all the way through. This is where the answer to the question, “How badly do I want this?” comes into play.

The number one key is having a solid blueprint and a multilevel marketing strategy in place. If people hear the same message over and over again, they will stop listening. You have to come up with creative ways to get people interested in your offer.

Many workshops don’t fill up until close to the deadline, so it’s important to come up with creative ways to entice people to sign up.

Do You Know Your Audience?

When you’re creating your presentation, it’s important to know your audience. You want to do as much research as you can on the people who will be attending your presentation in advance, so the presentation addresses their needs. Here are some questions to help you design an effective presentation:

1. What is the profile of the people attending?
2. How many people will be attending?
3. How does their knowledge of your subject matter match yours?
4. How much time do you have? How will you manage the way questions and discussion fit into your time allotment?
5. How might your age, gender, background, appearance, or other factors affect your credibility? What can you do to establish credibility?
6. What are the actions steps you want the audience to take at the end of the presentation?

Create Urgency to Buy NOW

At the end of your talk you have the opportunity to promote your products or services. If you’ve delivered a powerful presentation and given great content, your audience will be interested in what you have to offer.

To create urgency for people to buy your product or service at the end of your talk, have a special offer with a deadline that you can present. The special offer can be a dollar amount savings if they buy now. Make it clear it’s for a limited time only and to take action to buy now.

When people walk out the door, the chances of them buying your product or service drops dramatically. You want them to buy immediately—at the moment when they’re excited about what they’ve just heard.

An example of a special offer with a deadline is “Save $200 (this is the amount they save) if you sign up by February 28th (this is the specific date).”

Finding Places to Speak

One of the most common questions that comes up for new speakers is where can I speak? Here are six steps I recommend to help you find places to speak and get those speaking engagements.

1. Be clear on who your ideal audience is. Ask yourself, “Who are the people that are interested in my topic and where do they hang out?”
2. Research local places and events that may be looking for speakers. Some popular places that look for speakers are rotary clubs, your local chamber of commerce, and Meetup groups.
3. Visit first. Before you ask to speak, visit these places to get a sense of the group size and profile of the members. You want to be speaking to your ideal audience.
4. Introduce yourself to the event coordinator. There is always a person who is in charge of bringing in speakers. When you visit the group, introduce yourself to this person and let them know you’d like to speak and what your topic is.
5. Speaker sheet. Create your own speaker sheet with your background, testimonials, and topics you speak on. Be ready to send or give to the person in charge of bringing in speakers.
6. Follow-up. This is the most important step to do. Often they may not be ready to hire you as a speaker but may be interested in the future. The person who follows up on a regular basis will be the one who gets the speaking gig!

Are You Present When You’re Speaking?

It’s pretty common to be nervous when you’re speaking to a group. Thoughts like, “Am I doing a good job? Do they like me?” are very familiar to many new speakers.

Keep in mind the audience came to hear what you have to say. So when those thoughts come up, remember to focus on being present in the moment. Look out and connect with audience. Be out there with them and not buried in your notes. Remind yourself that you have a valuable message to deliver that will make a difference for those who have come to hear you speak.