How to Use Speaking to Promote Your Business
by Steve Kaye
Here's how to use speaking to promote your business.
1) Choose a change oriented goal for your presentation. Most likely this will be to have people do something, such as make changes in their lifestyle, buying habits, or diet. It may also be to buy your products or services.
2) Find three main points that support your goal.
3) Find evidence such as stories (best and most memorable), examples, statistics, and quotes that support each of these points. Note: this means you will NOT prepare a tedious bullet point lecture containing the 687 reasons that prove why you know the truth.
4) Prepare an introduction to your presentation that starts with the audience’s agenda.
For example, if you sell organic foods, begin with health. Talk about how the foods we eat affect our health. Then show how organic foods are the wisest choice by talking through your three points.
5) If you are just starting, prepare a presentation that lasts about 20 to 25 minutes. At a normal speaking rate of about 120 words/minute, this will be 2,400 to 3,000 words long. Write a script if you must. At least write an outline.
6) Practice giving this presentation. Talk while you jog, walk, shower, clean, cook, and so on. Tell parts of your presentation in conversations with friends, children, colleagues, and so on. The key is to become so familiar with your presentation that you can deliver it conversationally.
7) Rehearse the presentation with a clock to make sure that it fits within 20 to 25 minutes. Of course, you may develop presentations that last longer or shorter. For example, I once spoke at a chamber of commerce meeting for eight minutes.
8) Contact local service clubs (such as Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Elk, Exchange, etc.), chambers of commerce, and professional associations. Ask if they would like to schedule your presentation at one of their meetings. Be prepared to explain why your presentation would be valuable to the members of that organization.
9) Arrive an hour before the meeting starts. Use this time to become familiar with the room, set up your projector (if you plan to show slides), and greet people as they arrive.
10) Allow about five minutes for questions and comments at the end of your scheduled time window. Often, this part of your presentation can be more important to the audience than your actual presentation.
Note: prepare for questions by: a) Making a list of questions that people might ask, and then b) Writing out answers for them. Make sure that all of your answers are friendly and positive.
Expect that if you are speaking on a controversal topic, or if your topic contains new ideas, some members of the audience may ask odd questions. They may even ask angry questions.
It is critically important that you appear friendly regardless how members of the audience behave. You always want to act like a strong mature person who is above any hostility, mistakes, or nonsense expressed by the audience.
11) Bring a simple flyer that describes your offering, samples of what you sell (if appropriate), and a comment page.
Use the comment page to ask two questions: 1) What part of this presentation did you find useful? and 2) How will you use the ideas in this presentation? Then ask for their address info. If you have a newsletter, invite them to subscribe by offering a free report (or article) in exchange for their e-mail address. (See my comment page.)
12) Send the program chair (and anyone else who helped you) a handwritten thank you note. Do this within a day after your speak.
13) Compile a list of the best (most positive) comments collected on the comment pages. Use these as testimonials to promote future presentations. Use these comments in your promotional materials to get future engagements. Visit my web site for examples. I obtained all of the testimonials by using a comment page.
14) Contact the people who liked your talk to thank them. Use these conversations to build relationships. If appropriate, invite them to visit your store or try your products. Or, ask them if they know anyone who would be interested in your goods/services.
Assorted other notes:
1) Bring an introduction that tells: a) Why this topic, b) Why now, and c) Why this speaker in less than 120 words. Print it with a large point size font so that it fills one page.
2) Always begin by talking about your audience. Thus, never begin by talking about yourself. The worst opening word is “I” as in “I am glad to be here.” (No one cares.)
3) Be honest. That means use your material, your stories, your slides.
Do not tell another speaker's stories. Do not use cartoons from the newspaper. Do not use commercial music. And so on. Unlicensed use of other people's intellectual property is stealing. And stealing will always ruin the impression that you wanted to make.
Of course, you can obtain licenses to use these things. But you will make a better impression if you use your material. After all, they asked you to speak, not someone else (e.g., the other speaker, author, cartoonist).
4) If you use slides put no more then a title and six lines of text on them. Use a 48 point sans serif font (Like Arial Bold) for the title and a 32 point font (Like Arial Bold) for the text. In general, your slides should support your presentation by displaying only key words.
5) If the host organization gives speakers a gift (such as a mug, paperweight, or plaque) ask them (when you're confirming the engagement) to use the money to make a donation toward an organization that, for example, is planting trees in the Amazon Rain Forest.
If you do receive another plaque, be grateful. Do not mention that you already have 87 plaques like it at home on the garage.
6) They may ask you to join their group. Join if it makes sense to do so, recognizing that after a while you could end up belonging to dozens of organizations. So, plan a gracious response before you arrive.
7) Never (as in NEVER) insult anyone in the audience, even if they seem to be asking for it. Some people attend these meetings so that they can heckle the speaker. Just let them have fun. (I spoke for one group that put all of the hecklers at the "Rowdy Table.") So, smile at the interruption and continue with your presentation as if nothing happened.
8) You may be able to stop hecklers by asking for their cooperation. It might sound like, "Hey, that's really funny. And I need your help. Could you let me finish my talk. I have some ideas that will help everyone here." Then smile warmly and say, "Thank you."
9) Recognize that being prepared is the key to feeling confident before you speak.
10) Recognize that everyone feels some anxiety before a presentation. It means that you care about doing your best. At least I still do, and I’ve been speaking professionally since 1992.
Wish you the best of success,
Steve Kaye
Speaker, Author, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator
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