It is important to use speaking as a way to spread the word about your business. This is especially true for companies that provide services. Public speaking is a great way to share your knowledge, build credibility, and connect with your audience. This can lead to a growth in your business.
Many would-be speakers struggle to find speaking opportunities. Here are five tips to help you get speaking engagements for your business.
How to become a better speaker
You will have more speaking opportunities if you become a better speaker. You can ask those who have invited you to give a speech for testimonials. These testimonials are very valuable to other people who are searching for speakers.
How can you improve your speaking skills? The best way to become a better speaker is to record each presentation, watch it later, and take notes on what you would like to improve the next time. In my early days as a public speaker, I recorded myself giving mock speeches in front of the mirror at home so that I could review them and improve.
I spoke with David Meerman-Scott earlier this year. He told me that he worked on his speaking for years. He told me that he focused on something different each time he talked–how he stood up, where he placed his hands, and how he modulated his voice. Over time, this helped him become the exceptional speaker he is now.
Know your material
It may seem obvious, but knowing the material well will help you to be a better public speaker. You should first know your speech and have it practiced many times. You will feel more confident when you know your address well. Larry Wiget is another well-known author and speaker who told me once that the best way to deal with nerves was by being well-prepared. Mitch Joel said the same.
Knowing your speech by heart is not enough. It is important to be an expert on your topic. You’ll feel more confident answering questions from your audience if you are an expert.
The most important thing about your presentation is that it’s not a pitch. Do not try to sell something. Give your audience actionable steps and takeaways that they can use. You want to help.
Create a page for your website that speaks
Add a page on your website to promote yourself as a public speaker. This is one of the most effective ways to secure speaking engagements. Post a demo reel – perhaps a few clips of previous speaking engagements you have posted on YouTube – as well as your biography, topics that you can speak about, and titles of signature speeches you are ready to deliver.
Meeting planners and other people who hire speakers can see your presentation and learn more about you by adding a page to your website. They want to know that you can actually engage an audience.
Relationship building is important
Most entrepreneurs believe that they must speak at large events or to large corporations in order to market their business effectively. It’s not true. Many smaller groups want to listen to what you say. It’s important to have a target audience and to speak in the places where they will be.
Say, for instance, that you provide a service to doctors. You can either try to speak at large medical conferences – and good luck with that – or you can contact local medical practices that have multiple doctors to begin building relationships.
Ask them which topics they want to learn about. Send them a “one sheet,” a one-page document that contains the most important details about you as an expert speaker, and let them know when you are available to speak. Send an email inviting your local contacts to attend a public speaking engagement. Send a link to your website when you post a video from one of your public speaking engagements. Include a brief note about the topic and video.
You’ll eventually get a chance to speak with someone you have been cultivating relationships with. You’ve been persistent, and they will think of you.
Free speech
You should give your first speech for free. When I asked “everywhere” speaker Gary Vaynerchuk for his best speaking tip, he replied that he spoke for free. He claimed he gave free speeches for many years before landing his first paid speaking gig.
We all began by speaking for free. This has given us the expertise we need to charge for our services and speak in larger and larger venues.
Even if you are able to charge a fee for speaking, there are still good reasons to keep on giving free speeches. When I don’t plan to travel for a few months, I send an email to all my contacts in the area to let them know that I am in town.
As much as I love traveling to speak with different audiences, it is hard to leave my family. So, for local gigs, I will either lower my rate or offer to talk for free. This is especially true if the group in question falls into my target market, and I can expect to walk away from that event with new business.