Public Speaking - Inner Firewalking

How To Get Gigs

The following is a transcription taken from Explode Your Practice.

David: Right. Now, do you have a bio as a speaker?

No, not as a speaker.

David: There you go. Se we need a bio, and in there you need some testimonials, well you don’t need it, but it is great to have a one pager that looks good, has your photo on it, says bing, bing, bing, here are the benefits of my speech, here is the title, something punchy, and two or three testimonials with people’s names and the companies. And probably only use the company if you spoke for that company. But their name and their title. Now you’ve already done some speaking. So go back, beat the bushes, get testimonials from people, let them know what kind of testimonial you want, you know, maybe send them a draft and say hey, can you give me something that feels good, and then whack it in. When you’ve got a great bio, and the first speaker seeker you speak to, you can fax them your bio or e-mail, and you’re in. Because you’ve already spoken. How does that sound?

Getting People To Hear You Speak

The following is a transcription taken from Explode Your Practice.

My coach gave me this. What you do before any speech, you see, there’s three ways to sell to people. And only one of them is during the speech.

The first way you do it, is you get an agreement that they will send out an e-mail or a letter to every single member of their organization from you inviting them to come for the talk. Now, they’ll love that because they want everyone to participate. And you write it for them. Then they send it out on an e-mail that probably gives them your website, they can subscribe to your newsletter, all sorts of things.

So instead of getting in front of the 20 people who come to your speech, you get in front of 200. Then they come to your speech, and they’ve already heard from you so, you’ve already built a relationship with them, you talk to them, you get the form, they can fill something in, when you’ve got product, you can sell them that. And then, you offer in the agreement of the company right up front, that you send them a thank you, and maybe a resource. Here are the notes, here are the top ten list from our speech, I encourage you to follow-up on it, enjoy, blah, blah, blah.

If you need further information, here is my website. You can buy this, or if you haven’t already got my newsletter, do this, blah, blah, blah. So it’s really simple for the company. You know, I can do it for 500, and here’s what I suggest how we do it. Then you know, I send the e-mail out first, we do the speech, and you send you send out an e-mail at the end. If they agree to that, that’s worth discounting for.

Public Speaking: At the End — Gather Testimonials

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

Always ask for a letter from each group you speak to; this will build your testimonial file. When you go out to speak for money, these letters will come in handy.

Use a feedback form (see ‘Preparing Your Handouts’ above) to get testimonials from participants, collect their personal information for your newsletter, and to see if they would like a free session. Follow up promptly, or better still, find someone else to input and follow up!

Create Product While Public Speaking

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

Create product

Once you’re out there speaking, you’ll want products to sell. Create a tape series, book or video. Also partner with someone else who has something you don’t sell, so you sell their product and they sell yours. Give away one from the platform as a prize. If you have a speech, you have a tape. Once you get your talk perfect, go into a recording studio and record it, or even better – record it professionally during a live speech. Have it professionally packaged and sell it in the back of the room at all your talks.

Speaking at Events – Constructing Your Offer

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

What can you offer the speaker-seeker? (e.g., free talk, talk with a money back guarantee, talk in exchange for a testimonial, workshop, keynote for conferences?) Most talks in the beginning are free to service groups, associations and such.

Also offer to supply an article or a series of articles, for the organisation or company newsletter. What a great way to consistently get in front of an audience — and for free! It also gives the audience a chance to warm up to you before you speak to them.

Develop a Relationship with a Successful Speaker

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

Ask for referrals of the ones he/she is not willing to do; e.g., they can’t pay enough. Offer to go along and assist at their talks. Many really are open to this kind of help. Or ask them what kind of help they could use. Many new speakers apprentice, and again, a local chapter of the NSA is a great place to find a speaker that one can shadow. Also, the local chapters of NSA have mentoring programs that match up new speakers with experienced ones.