Speaking and promoting your business from the stage is one of the most important skills you’ll ever need to take your business to the next level.
As a public speaker, I’ve used the stage to reach out to many people who are out in the market searching for solutions.
As a business owner, I’ve used the stage to reach out to and promote by business, products and services to others.
It’s a natural extension of what I do for a living (teaching & training), yes. More importantly, to promote my business from the stage is also about the Two “Es” – Effectiveness and Efficiency.
REASONS TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS FROM THE STAGE:
Effectiveness from the Stage – Amplified Authority
As a speaker – your perceived credibility is enhanced when you’re on stage sharing about your insights and experiences.
The fact that everybody wants the exposure to promote what they do, with only a limited amount of stage space and stage time available suggests that to be on stage is a privilege that’s not afforded to anybody and everybody.
That you’re able to take the stage and talk about what you do probably suggests that you’ve some clout or authority that the audience should pay attention to.
This is something which I call Amplified Authority – whereby your perceived authority on the subject is amplified for greater effect.
Naturally, there are certain challenges and limitations to this, which I’ll address later.
Efficiency from the Stage
Imagine speaking to 10 different prospects, of which it takes a minimum of an hour each to speak to just to see if they’re keen to engage your business.
This would translate into 10 hrs spent on speaking to your prospect.
Assuming that you’ve a conversion rate of 10% – that means you’ve spent 10hrs to close 1 prospect.
Now, let’s imagine that you’re speaking to 10 prospects at the same time, for 1 hr, and you’ve a closing rate of 10% – you’ve saved 9 hrs or 90% of your time trying to close your customers.
Imagine that you’ve 20 members in your audience in a one-hour talk; you’d have saved 19 hrs of your time engaging with your prospects.
Think about what you would do with all that time saved!
And that’s what I call, efficiency from the stage.
CHALLENGES
I would love to end the article now and say that everything is nice and dandy… but that would be a lie.
I know that being on stage can be a double-edge sword, and it can also be a really uncomfortable experience – largely because of stage fright and the fear of failure, judgement & embarrassment.
I know it because I’ve gone through that journey.
Experiences of Failure
I’d originally wanted to be a teacher, but a failed relationship highlighted how inept I was at connecting with people – which led me to joining a Public Speaking Society.
There, I experimented and practiced speaking to various audience types. I did my research and honed my skills – and got a firmer grasp of what worked and what didn’t.
Path to Success
I shared what I learned with the people I met, and through the Grace of God, I found that they worked for others too.
By learning and practicing what worked, I was encouraged by the results others were receiving in their own journeys.
I began sharing these to more people, and eventually adapted the skills for business and entrepreneurs – and the results have been nothing short of amazing!
I’ve tailored the skills and applied them in two of my signature programmes and I’ve been really heartened by their glowing reviews and compliments.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Build Confidence – Through Competence
A big lesson I give my audience and students… is that confidence comes from competence.
The old adage that practice makes perfect doesn’t work. It’s a myth. And it’s stupid.
I say that it’s stupid, because if you keep practicing the wrong things, you’ll become perfectly wrong.
You’ll fail – and you’ll become even more terrified of public speaking.
There are plenty of tips and resources on public speaking available – and it’ll impossible to cover all of them here.
Still, if you’d like to get more insights into the subject of influential public speaking – you’re invited to join my exclusive Public Speaking & Influence Development Group on Facebook.
Focus on What Matters
Focus on solving your audience’s problems. (I can’t be more direct than that).
Too many of us are focused on how we’ll look to the audience, and worry about what would happen if we fail.
The answer to overcoming that worry, is simply to focus more on:
- Finding out about your audience’s struggles
- Knowing what they want
- Knowing what they struggle with
- Finding solutions that match what they need
- Focus on helping them overcome their struggles
When we spend our time thinking about how we can help our audience, we free ourselves up from worrying about ourselves.
What is Your Call for Action?
Selling is part of the process of speaking on stage. It’s an art to be able to influence as it is to inform others.
Too many people are either too focused on one or the other.
The result is often where the audience is either informed, but takes no further action towards a transaction, or that they’re turned off from all the sales talk that they don’t want to engage with us further.
That’s one of the reasons why I’ve pioneered the High Performance Sales System (HPSS) for Sales and Small Business owners – to help them sell well without selling hard.
The HPSS was based on the sales process I undertook when I was a corporate trainer at an American MNC.
It was a simple, structured and practical process to help the salesperson (yes, that includes entrepreneurs. If you’re in business, you need are sales person) navigate the sales process… to engage with prospects and navigate the journey towards closing a sale.
Towards the end of it, there is the need for a call for action to get your audience to move and respond to you.
Whilst it is important for us to note that there will never be a 100% closing rate, the failure to have a proper call for action greatly reduces your closing rates!
Tip 1: One good tip and strategy I received from fellow speakers and entrepreneurs who sell from the stage, involves throwing in a deal or promotional price for a product/service I’m offering to the people who are interested in what I have to offer.
Tip 2: Another tip that works well for me, is inviting interested parties to come speak to me after the event to tell me more about their business – and the areas they’d like to grow in.
Moving the audience to take action is the first step in the journey towards moving them to close a sale.
The rest of the journey can be a sophisticated one that requires subsequent follow ups.
At least, however, with greater effectiveness and efficiency, you’ll be spending time with real qualified customers, instead of shooting a shotgun off blindly in the dark.
To learn more about:
Overcoming Your Fears of Public Speaking – Download Free Report (Coming Soon!)
Promoting Your Business From the Stage – Download Free Report (Coming Soon!)
Enhancing Your Sales Performance with the High Performance Sales System (Read More!)
The Art of Influence: How to Attract and Get More Customers to Say Yes to You (Read More & Sign Up!)
Contact Gary: learn@catalyst-empowerment.com