Public Speaking – How It Can Win You Work

Whatever industry you’re in, you or your company will be doing some kind of marketing to raise awareness of your service or product as part of your business growth strategy. That’s just it though – raising awareness alone doesn’t necessarily convert to sales. Why would a prospective customer buy from you when another company down the road offers the same at a better price?

Advertising, SEO or social media activity can’t demonstrate your passion or enthusiasm for why you do what you do and how your product/service will improve the lives of your customers in the way that engaging with a group through public speaking or presentations can.

That’s right – public speaking! The thought of this may fill you with dread… or you might be wondering if presentations are even relevant for your business?

Public Speaking Gives You Leverage

Imagine for a moment you’re speaking to a room of 50 people. Out of those 50 you’d like to have a 1-2-1 follow up coffee with 20 of them. Say you spend 1 hour with each person and allow 1 hour for travel each time – a rough and ready calculation equals 40 hours. That‘s a whole week out of your business not to mention the calls or emails involved in setting up the meetings. Right now though, you have all those people in the room listening to you for an hour. Is that motivation enough?

When you take opportunities to speak, people feel your enthusiasm and see what it would be like to work with you – what makes you the right choice for them.

You can begin to build rapport through your presentation in a way that cold calling or a few snatched minutes at a networking event just can’t. People will come up to you afterwards and want to talk to you – giving you a better opportunity to find out how you can help them.

How To Incorporate Presentations Into Your Business Strategy

A great way to approach public speaking and presentations is to share something of value to your customers. Rather than just talking about what you do, pick a topic that is related to your industry – give your audience something of value they can utilise right away. This way you’ll increase brand awareness and start making connections.

Here are some examples:

1. Health & Fitness Sector – a talk about easy ways to clean up your diet

2. Property Sector – impact of any changes in the law, interest rates etc. following the election

3. HR/Employee Services – case studies setting out why having the right policies in place can minimise employment claims

Where To Find Speaking Slots

Obviously you can host your own seminars but think about collaborating with complimentary businesses and hosting joint seminars or conferences. This is a great way to provide more value to potential clients and reach a wider network via someone else’s database.

Other ways to find speaking slots are to approach local rotary clubs, business centres or networking groups. People are always looking for guest speakers. You will probably be speaking for free but remember the potential of a captive audience?

Business Growth Partner Jay Surti is a Speaker, Author of Authentic Business Presenter and an NLP Trainer who works with Business Leaders helping them improve their presentation and speaking skills. Connect with Jay: @authenticspeak @Advantage_BP