Even if you don't want to be a professional public speaker,
why not use speaking to promote your current business?
Become a local celebrity!

Promote Your Business
with Public Speaking

Let's look at how you  can use public speaking as a means of growing your business.

Not all speakers look on speaking as a full time career. With many it is just one stream of income. The really clever ones use speaking to leverage their other businesses.

Let's say you're thinking. "That's OK, but I don't have a topic I'm an expert in and I don't want to spend the time becoming an expert. But I still like the idea of speaking."

Why not put together a talk based on your experiences in your trade or profession. Now let's be honest. This isn't too likely to get you booked at top fees anywhere. But it certainly can get you speaking locally either for free or at lower fees.

The idea here is to Promote Business with Public Speaking

If nothing else it will help make you a mini-celebrity in your area.

At the beginning you want to get as much experience as possible. The best advice when you start off is speak everywhere you can and as often as you can.

The main benefit for you is visibility in the marketplace. If your talk is humorous and contains at least some useful information you will be remembered. When the question of someone looking for your service comes up, you are already in their mind. All other things being equal they are more likely to get someone they already know.

On another page I'll go into the detail of crafting such a talk but in the meantime think back over your career and make a list of all the things that have happened. Make a list of all the problems you've encountered and how you've overcome them. The unexpected interruptions, hassles of travelling, problems with customers, the magazines you read, the people you've met, the trade shows you've attended.

Next you want a title for your talk. This is the hook for your booker so make it a good one. Robert Fulghum has done really well from an essay he wrote which turned into the bestselling book "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten".

A few ideas to get your imagination going:
"Secrets to handling screaming customers who want_____________."
"The Life-Changing Lesson I learned from working with ______________".
"What really happens behind the scenes at _______________________."
"The secret life of people who work in __________________."
"How a _________________ saved a life."

Fill in the blanks to suit your specific industry.

If you read any of those headlines in a newspaper, they would grab your attention and you would read further. That's the kind of title you want for your talk. Next week I'll show you how to craft it.

 Remember even if you think your industry is bland or boring, you will find human interest in the events that happen between people - customers, staff, managers, vendors, cleaners. I have never met a cleaning lady who didn't have a more involved life than any soap opera scenario.

Stories with a human touch are what you're looking for to promote your business when you're speaking in front of a group. Funnily enough, the more personal the story, the deeper the impact and the more universal the underlying truth.

Later people will remember the story and the story will remind them of you, the speaker, and that will remind them of your business!

An Effective Speaking Technique