TIP SHEET: Critical Success Factors for Giving Talks And Getting Clients
Coach Jaz
Giving talks gets clients! But ONLY if you structure it the right way. Here are the top 4 success factors for turning talks into a steady source of business.
Obviously, we can only cover a few of the CSF's in an article. The HTH Virtual U. Manual workbook on Speaking covers more CSFs and other key strategies, but here are four of the top CSF's for you to implement right away:
CSF #1. FOCUS ON YOUR TARGET MARKET
A major, major determinant of your success in securing Intro Sessions through speaking is whether or not the audience is your target market (your WHO). Before you ever open your mouth and start delivering your talk, you can boost results just by picking your speaking gigs carefully.
Your talk needs to be completely relevant to the needs, wants and desires of your audience. Imagine: if you are speaking on work/life balance and only 60% of your audience works full-time, you are 40% in the hole!
We know this is a simplistic example, but it demonstrates an important point. For the best results, you should target professional or community associations that are congruent with your WHO (target market). In addition, the topic of your talk should really resonate with the audience.
In general, groups like Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions Club, etc. or even your local community center or health club are not the audiences that will generate the best results. Of course, speaking at a Rotary meeting is a heck of a lot better than not speaking at all, but to achieve excellent results you want to speak to a more targeted group.
As an example, imagine a chiropractor who specializes in "helping lawyers manage stress and stress-related illnesses that slow their productivity." (Remember, this is his marketing message - he actually helps many other kinds of people.)
Will he get better results speaking to the local BNI chapter (a general business networking group) or speaking at lunchtime in local law firms?
Even though BNI is in the business of trading referrals, they usually only have one of each profession - one lawyer, one accountant, etc. So the law firm is a better bet.
For another example, let's say you're a therapist "who helps single mothers rebuild their life after a divorce" (a great Who/What!) It would be a lot more effective to speak at a "Parents Without Partners" meeting than the local health club, right?
But don't stop there - how about speaking to a group of lawyers... who specialize in divorce!?
In other words, you don't have to speak just to your target market - you can also speak to other professionals who provide services to your target market. Sharing your expertise will help them serve their clients better, and they will refer their clients to you in turn!
We challenge you to reach out to organizations, associations or companies that are congruent with your target market. The HTH Virtual U workbook on Speaking has step by step guidelines on how to approach organizations and get speaking invitations. Our Marketing Toolkit has sample Speaking Inquiry Letters and other templates for you to customize and use - so you can approach your target organizations and get your Speaking engine up and running in no time!
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