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How Public Speaking Can Help You Dramatically Increase Your Business
Copyright 2005 Donna Gunter
There's an often-quoted statistic that the fear of public
speaking is right up there with the fear of death as the two
events people most fear in their lives. However, as a business
owner, I can guarantee you that public speaking is a phenomenal
way to grow your business, so if it's an activity that scares
you, you need to take the bull by the horns and start working
past that fear. As an introvert, public speaking isn't something
that comes naturally to me, although I'm told I'm good at it.
It's been quite a learning process, and I've had as many
failures as successes. My best learning experiences have come
through the process of finding the courage to just do it and
learn along the way.
If you're a self-employed service professional, you work in a
time-based economy. You have only so many hours in the day to
work directly with your clients. Speaking to groups gives you
the opportunity to reach out and touch and impact others who
might otherwise never cross your path and for you to get them
into your marketing funnel so that they can begin to get to
know, like and respect you. Once they're in your marketing
funnel, and if you provide a solution that solves a problem that
they have, they'll ultimately hire you.
Here are ten steps I recommend to get you into action to use
public speaking to fill your professional practice:
1. Pick 3 topics on which you can present a 20 minute - 60
minute speech. These should be topics on which you love to speak
and will readily showcase your expertise to your audience. The
topics also need to be ones that speak to your target market's
pain and provides a solution for a problem that they're having.
If you want to purchase some ready-made presentations, or have
some you'd like to sell, check out
http://www.turnkeyworkshopsforcoaches.com.
2. For each presentation, write a 2 - 3 sentence description of
that provides a brief overview of your content. To add some meat
to the description, create a benefits statement for each
presentation and what they'll learn or get out of your talk.
Remember, your audience will always be asking the same question,
"WIIFM", or "What's In It For Me?", so make your description so
compelling that they think, "Hey, I've got to hear that!"
3. Have a professional photo made, and create a 3-6 sentence
introductory bio of yourself. Many bios sound the same and are
pretty boring, so on my website, I decided to tell something of
a story about myself to make my bio a bit different,
http://www.onlinebizcoachingcompany.com/aboutdonna.htm. Let your
personality shine in your bio.
4. With your topics, bio, and photo in hand, you can now put
together in MS Word a simple speaker one-sheet that tells a
prospective association program chair everything s/he would need
to know about you. If you have a list of audiences to whom
you've spoken previously, you will want to list some of those
under the heading "Satisfied Clients", and spread 2 - 3
testimonials from other speaking gigs throughout the sheet. In
order to get ideas for layouts of the one sheet, visit the
National Speakers Association, www.nsapseaker.org, and view the
speaker one sheets of other speakers to jumpstart your
creativity.
5. Create a speaking link on your website and have the
presentations you've outlined available on your site, as well as
your speaker one sheet, and a separate link with your photo and
bio. Many association program chairs will want to "check you
out" online, even though you're offering to speak to them free
of charge,
so give them the opportunity to read all about your
speaking topics on your website.
6. Now you need to find audiences filled with your target
market. To start locally, approach the program chairs of
professional associations to which you already belong and see if
you can get on their speaking schedule. Your local library or
Chamber of Commerce may have a current list of professional
associations in your area which you can also approach. Other
sources for finding speaking gigs include the American Society
of Association Executives, http://www.asaenet.org. On the
website, click Directories on the left hand links column, and
then Associations, and then select Gateway to Associations. Once
you're in the Gateway, you can look up associations by keyword
or by location. A second place to locate associations is Gale's
Encyclopedia of Associations. This multi-volume encyclopedia is
present in the reference section of all major libraries.
7. You (or your Virtual Assistant) will then need to call these
associations and get the name and contact info of the program
chair. Some program chairs will want to talk to you right away
regarding your speaking topics, so be prepared to have that
conversation on the fly. Being able to send them to your website
to read more about the topics is also helpful. Others will want
you to send information, so you'll need to draft an introductory
letter that you can snail mail or email along with your speaker
one-sheet.
8. Once you've got a speaking engagement, ask the program chair
some questions about the audience so that you can better tailor
the speech to fit their needs. I learn best through hearing
stories, so as I'm asking questions about the audience, I'm
going through my own list of illustrative stories I've told to
see which ones might best match my audience's needs. Remember
that your audience wants a full experience of you as well as the
information that you're providing, so be sure and inject alot of
your personality and wit and humor into your speech.
9. Before your speech, determine how you want to get audience
members into your marketing funnel. Do you want them to sign up
for a complimentary consultation on the spot? If so, bring your
calendar or a sign-up sheet. Do you want to get them on your
mailing list? Give away something at the end of your
presentation that is compelling enough for them to part with a
business card or to write down their contact info to enter the
drawing. If your goal is to get them on your email newsletter
list, be sure and get their email address. If you use direct
mail, you'll want to get their physical mailing address.
10. The day of your presentation, just relax and have fun! This
may be the hardest of any of the steps outlined here, but being
authentic and being yourself will get you in the good graces of
most of your audience, despite what you might say (or forget to
say!). Think of your presentation as the beginning of a great
relationship that you're establishing, and leave your audience
feeling good about themselves and about you.
Try and book 2-3 speaking engagements per month, and soon you'll
become the "go-to" expert in your industry!
About the author:
Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps self-employed
professionals make more profit in less time online. To sign up
for more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE ebook,
TurboCharge Your Productivity: 50 + Tools To Help You Automate
Your Business and Make More Profit in Less Time Online!, visit
her site at http://www.OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com .
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| How To Conquer Public Speaking Fear |
| A report that covers the common causes of public speaking fear and tips to overcome it. Book available. |
| www.stresscure.com |
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| Allyn and Bacon Public Speaking Website |
| A five-step guide to preparing and delivering effective speeches. |
| wps.ablongman.com |
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| Public Speaking & Speech Writing |
| A free guide to speech writing and delivery for every occasion. From best man speeches to eulogies. |
| www.speechtips.com |
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| Presentation Tips for Public Speaking |
| Art of Public Speaking. Hints and tips on public speaking, ... On the Job: Public Speaking Tips - Twelve Steps to Great Presentations by Elise Bauer. ... |
| www.aresearchguide.com |
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| 10 Tips for Successful Public Speaking - Toastmasters International |
| 10 Tips For Successful Public Speaking. Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and healthy. It shows you care about doing well. ... |
| www.toastmasters.org |
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| Welcome to Toastmasters International where we are"Making ... |
| Non-profit organization developing public speaking and leadership skills through practice and feedback in local clubs since 1924. Members learn how to lead ... |
| www.toastmasters.org |
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| Strategies to Succeed in Public Speaking - School for Champions |
| Contents of online lessons to succeed in public speaking from the School for Champions. |
| www.school-for-champions.com |
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| Public Speaking Home Page |
| Humor and quotes to help your speech - or just for your own enjoyment. History / Careers The history of public speaking and potential career options for you ... |
| www.mhhe.com |
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| Public speaking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Public speaking is speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to ... Public speaking is almost as ancient as speech itself. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT MARTIN COUNSELING AND CAREER SERVICES |
| Public speaking anxiety is very common among both college students and the general ... The most common form of Social Phobia is public speaking anxiety. ... |
| www.utm.edu |
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| Painless Public Speaking |
| At Painless Public Speaking we keep you up to date with what's new in the world of ... Painless Public Speaking is not about the theory but the "how-to" ... |
| www.publicspeaking.com.au |
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| Public Speaking from Uncommon Knowledge |
| Public speaking couldn’t be further from your mind and your manager tells you have to do a presentation to fifty colleagues next week. What’s your response? ... |
| www.uncommon-knowledge.co.uk |
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| Public Speaking Tips by Uncommon Knowledge |
| It’s possible for public speaking to be fun and hugely satisfying. Once you’ve enjoyed a presentation, or even part of it, your self confidence will get a ... |
| www.uncommon-knowledge.co.uk |
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| Public Speaking Skills from Mind Tools - Speaking Tips & Techniques |
| Learn to speak and present clearly and effectively. Improve your speaking skills with this Mind Tools guide to speaking effectively in public. |
| www.mindtools.com |
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| Public Speaking Information |
| Advanced Public Speaking Institute- -More than 120 mini articles on professional level ... Click here for additional articles on Public Speaking Information ... |
| www.selfgrowth.com |
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| Basic Public Speaking, 2nd Edition - The Teachers and Students ... |
| New public speaking text for middle and high school Language Arts, ESL teachers and students. Written by a trained counselor and experienced teacher. |
| www.capital.net |
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| public speaking tips - presentation skills tips, public speaking tips |
| presentation skills & public speaking monthly tips by Lenny Laskowski, Professional Speaker. |
| www.ljlseminars.com |
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| Public Speaking - The Art of Speech Making |
| Public Speaking - Hints and tips on Public Speaking Skills, dealing with public speaking nerves and anxiety, public speaking skills and public speaking ... |
| www.impactfactory.com |
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| Advanced Public Speaking Institute |
| Public speaking articles, seminars, and educational materials. |
| www.public-speaking.org |
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| Public Speaking Training-Presentation Skills & Public Speaking courses |
| Public speaking training - Overcome your fear of public speaking with our presentation skills classes. We offer presentation skills training seminars, ... |
| www.publicspeakingskills.com |
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