My phone rang (“waves” of chimes actually). When I answered it, it was a friend who asked me if I could help her come up with her core signature talk. Surprised, I said, “Sure, I would be glad to help you with that.” I knew that my friend had no problem speaking in front of group, but I had no idea that she didn’t know what to talk about.
I began by asking her a series of questions. The first was: “Why do you want to do public speaking?” The answer to this question was going to tell me a lot about how she would deliver her talk but not so much about the topic. Yet, it was the first thing that I needed to know.
She said that she wanted to get clients for her intuitive breakthrough coaching and retreats. Wow, that’s great because being clear about why you want to do public speaking is essential in creating your core talk.
Knowing her why, we were ready to come up with her core talk. Since she wanted to get clients for her coaching and retreats, her talk needed to be informative and educational, providing value for the audience whether or not they signed up for any of her services. The mistake to avoid is worrying that if you give away valuable information, people will have everything and you’ll have nothing left to for people to buy from you. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Because no matter how much information you provide, when it’s valuable, it causes people to feel that they know, like, and trust you. It’s also important for you to be passionate about your knowledge and inspired about what this knowledge can do for people. In my friend’s case, she has knowledge that can help people be free of the constraints of their past thereby opening doors to the things that they want in life.
After your “why” is determined and you have accepted the fact that you need to impart value for your audience and not try to “sell” anything, your next step is to prepare your talk. Create an outline beginning with objectives for you and objectives for your audience.
Your objectives will be to continue a relationship with your audience from connecting with you on social media to buying a service or product from you and everything in between. Meeting those objectives will be as simple as having a feedback form and a speaker or company “one sheet” that they can take with them. Your speaker “one sheet” should be blank on the back so that they can use it to take notes. It should contain at least you’re your social media platforms for connecting with you.
Your objectives could include one or all of these examples: attract clients; sell a coaching session, book, or event; build your mailing list; increase your community of followers; make new partnerships; create your know, like, trust factor; build your brand; build your speaking skills; and get more speaking engagements.
The objectives for your audience will center on what you want them to get out of your talk. The mistake to avoid is to think that the objective for your audience is for them to buy from you – that is your objective not theirs!! In my friend’s example, the objectives for her audience could be for them to have a breakthrough or an “aha” moment about their lives, to be inspired about what’s possible for them by having a breakthrough, or to see where they would like to have a breakthrough in their life.
When preparing your outline, your opening and close will be tied to your objectives and that of your audience. The body of your talk should contain 3 main points and as many sub-points that your allotted time will allow.
Last, but not least, rehearse your talk and give it over and over again so that you know it by heart. But, even after you know it be heart, always prepare and practice it for each new audience.
