Have you ever been asked to speak at a chamber or maybe a luncheon for Kiwanis or Rotary and you weren’t sure what to talk about? I’m going to tell you how to fix that in this month’s Soar to Success article.
Many times, if not every time, the reason why you were hesitant if someone asked you to speak at an event, be it Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, or some other type of event is because you weren’t really sure what to say. It’s because you didn’t have a signature talk. You didn’t have a talk that defines what you do and how you help your clients.
You see, people don’t buy what we sell and the certainly don’t buy the features, heck most times they don’t even buy what they need. You might be asking, “Well then Jack, why on earth do they buy?” They buy what makes them feel like they’re going to reach their goals. When we are giving our signature talk, we need to structure it in such a way that it identifies for your ideal client how you can make a difference for them and describe it in a way, so they’ll buy.
There is a proven way to structure your talk that really resonates with the audience in a way to influence them. Here’s how to do that. Sometime during the first third of the talk you tease or seed that there is a way to get more of what you’ll be talking about and you’ll share that with them later in the talk. Then during the first 2/3 of the talk, you provide really good content, which I know you can do. Right at the end of that first two-thirds of the talk, you have an “ask”, be it an ask to sign up to your mailing list, schedule a consultation, or perhaps hire you for an event. Then and this is important, you give your best nugget of information, your best chunk of information. Here’s a bonus tip, at the end, never, ever say, “Are there any questions?”
If you structure the talks that you give in this way, you can give a 20-minute talk, a 30-minute talk, or even a two-hour talk, but it will all do the same thing. Sell what you want to sell and what your audience wants to buy. And when someone asks you to speak, you are ready.
When I speak in front of groups, I routinely capture at least eighty percent of the audience’s contact information and they want to stay in touch with me by getting my weekly email. When I say capture, I also capture their needs, the things they want, I capture their U.S. Mail address, I capture their e-mail address and I have a process to follow up with them and get them into my pipeline to build a relationship with them and to eventually provide them with what they want to buy!
