You hear spending 45 minutes in front of a hungry group of prospects will keep your sales pipeline filled into perpetuity. But what do you talk about?
Before pitching yourself as a speaker to any group, you need to develop
a unique, non-sales oriented, generally educational message. By
positioning yourself as an expert on a topic your target needs or wants
to know about, you’ll not only guarantee yourself a spot in front of
that audience, but will gain the kind of credibility that grows
business. When you walk off the podium, people will be waiting to shake
your hand and ask questions…an opportunity waiting to happen.
Developing
your topic will take a little research. I generally go to the web sites
of the groups I’m targeting and see what events might be open for
speakers. If the title or description of the event doesn’t reveal their
hot buttons, articles or current newsletters posted on the web site
might. My next stop is online editions of industry publications which
will give a good indication of trends and issues.
When I
finally make my phone call to pitch a speaker, I usually arm myself
with three topics that should be of interest to the group. I make it
clear that these are just ideas and that the speaker would be happy to
develop a program that specifically addresses their needs. I always
have an email deliverable on hand that gives a brief outline of the
topics that I can shoot out to the prospect on the fly.
Don’t
be discouraged by having to customize your talk every time you’re asked
to speak. Most presentations can be recycled in some way for different
groups or industries. It may be as simple as changing the word “you” to
“your client” or giving a conservative topic a little flash.
One
important comment: NEVER try to sell when you present. The goal of
public speaking is to educate the audience and gain credibility for the
speaker which will ultimately lead to sales. If you try to push your
product or service, you’ll come off like a shyster and kill any
opportunity you may have had to sell to members of the audience.
Most
event organizers are somewhat hesitant to try a speaker that has
prospected them directly, but you’ve got to start somewhere so be
persistent. By impressing the organizer and their audience with a well
targeted, credible presentation, you’ll be asked back and referred on
others. Of course, make sure you have plenty of business cards and
brochures…you’ll need to hand them out to all of the future customers
that stop by to shake your hand after your talk.
About the Author
Leslie Guria,
http://www.footinthedoormarketing.com, is a freelance PR/marketing consultant based outside Atlanta, GA. With over 18 years of sales and marketing experience, Leslie is an expert at getting her clients “foot in the door” of their next new customer through public speaking, press release writing and submittal, and telephone lead generation.
