Public speaking is a phenomenal way to augment an existing product/ service offering, build marketplace credibility, and give back to your community and the world. These are five strategies that help business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals build a speaking business that can support and undergird their core business.
Let’s do some foundational work first:
* Make a decision to BE a speaker (mindset):
Our brains are incredibly complex. We can sift through billions of bits of data at any given time. And somehow, so we don’t short circuit, we have to organize that information. The Reticular Activating System helps with that.
The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is a bundle of nerves at the base of our brainstem that filters out unnecessary information so the important stuff gets through. Your RAS takes what you focus on and creates a filter for it. It then sifts through the data and presents only the things that are important to you. All of this happens without you noticing, of course. The RAS programs itself to work in your favor without you actively doing anything. Pretty amazing, right?
Have you ever noticed when you buy a new car and drive it off the lot, suddenly you notice every car on the road that is the same make and model as your new car? You never noticed them before, because it was never important to you until then.
In the same way, the RAS looks for information that validates your beliefs and filters the world through the parameters you give it, and your beliefs shape those parameters. If you think you are bad at giving speeches, you probably will be. If you believe you work efficiently, you most likely do. The RAS helps you see what you want to see and in doing so, influences your actions.
Some people suggest that you can train your RAS by taking your subconscious thoughts and marrying them to your conscious thoughts. They call it “setting your intent.” This means that if you focus hard on your goals, your RAS will reveal the people, information and opportunities that help you achieve them.
I am always amazing when I see a new Engaging Speakers Member join our community, and suddenly, they see themselves as a “Speaker”. They see speaking opportunities all around them and begin to build relationships with other speakers to collaborate and create events that they never dreamed possible before. So get your RAS in gear and be a Speaker!
* Blend speaking into your overall Brand Strategy.
It is critical that when you decide to add public speaking to your offering that you blend it into your overall Brand Strategy. Is it consistent with your brand message? Do your topic titles and content coincide with your brand? Will people recognize that this is you and your company? If you do something totally different (different branding colors, logo, content voice…), it will be confusing to your clients. You need to promote a consistent image in the marketplace.
If you are creating a completely new and different brand, then you need to separate it completely with a different website, branding, etc.
*Be Willing to Do the Work
There is a learning curve to putting together a speaking business…new and different skills that may not be in your toolbox now. Believe me, it will all be worth the work when you establish yourself as the authority in your field and gain new confidence in all areas of your life.
In my next blog, we will explore the first 3 Steps to Your Strategy to Grow Your Business Using Public Speaking.
If you’d love to have a community of business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals who are all on the same journey toward learning how to successfully speak their way to more business, then join Engaging Speakers. It makes the journey shorter and much more fun.
Gail Brown, Founder of Engaging Speakers, gail@engagingspeakers.com