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How To Grow Your Business Through Speaking

Written by: Dianne Legro

Article Overview: One of the leading entrepreneurs in Los Angeles says, "If you are not getting results by speaking, you need to take responsibility as the marketing director of your business and learn how to do it effectively. The biggest problem I have seen is the resistance business owners have with spending time and money getting the entrepreneurial training needed to increase their results. TOO many business owners think they should intuitively know how to write their marketing materials, AND SPEAK IN PUBLIC. Writing advertising copy and verbal expertise is not a skill we are born with. It is a learned ability. So if you don't know how to get the networking or sales response you need, either hire someone who can do it effectively or learn how from an expert. THE CONTRARY IS COSTING YOU MORE BUSINESS THAN YOU EVEN REALIZE."

How To Grow Your Business Through Speaking

One of the leading entrepreneurs in Los Angeles says, "If you are not getting results by speaking, you need to take responsibility as the marketing director of your business and learn how to do it effectively. The biggest problem I have seen is the resistance business owners have with spending time and money getting the entrepreneurial training needed to increase their results. TOO many business owners think they should intuitively know how to write their marketing materials, AND SPEAK IN PUBLIC. Writing advertising copy and verbal expertise is not a skill we are born with. It is a learned ability. So if you don't know how to get the networking or sales response you need, either hire someone who can do it effectively or learn how from an expert. THE CONTRARY IS COSTING YOU MORE BUSINESS THAN YOU EVEN REALIZE."

Speaking in public is the number one way to grow your business.
It is also the number one fear for many people.

If you already speak in public and want even better results, or you have not started yet, perhaps because of that thing called fear…Let me help you succeed at both.

Here is what you will need to create for phase one improvement:

A sixty second elevator speech. There are six components to a great elevator speech. Get it right, and it brings you an interested prospect every time. I coach people on this every day of the week. That is how important this is. You use it everywhere you go. My friend, Rhonda Scher, author of The 2 Minute Networker, networks very successfully in the grocery checkout line, and everywhere else she goes!

Next, develop different lengths of talks to use in different circumstances:
1. A 10 minute speech. I suggest you also work with a professional coach to create this. There are four different types of listeners and you must speak to engage all or you lose clients. Practice it in front of your friends or family. When you are comfortable, begin speaking it at your networking group. Get out the yellow pages and look for service organizations in your city or town. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, your community is already organized. Go where the organizations are and speak to them about your services. Teach them something new, give them good value, but don’t “give away the store.” When you learn this art, you really begin to prosper.

2. A 25 minute speech. This is for after lunch and dinner club meetings. Here you are charming, insightful, and give lots of helpful information to your audience.

3. A Keynote Speech. One hour of exciting, dynamic information, and stories, that is entertaining and informative for your industry conference.



Capture your audience’s lasting attention:
o Create handouts that are participatory. People will not throw away materials that they wrote their own ideas on.
o Create a website people can go to for more resources, testimonials, and to learn how to hire you.

Make money from talking by:
o Tape your talk. You can transcribe it, reproduce it to CD format, and sell it on your site.
o Learn the art of Networking. There are many good books about this. Also visit my articles section on www.diannelegro.com to see my personal secrets for successful communication.
o VERY important: LEAVE A TRAIL! Every piece of paper about you and your service must include contact information on how to hire you.
o MOST important, tell them you are available for consultations and for talks. Ask for referrals. Don’t leave this out. A simple, “If you know anyone who would benefit from my services, please contact me and I will give them my best care,” will get people’s minds thinking on your behalf.

These steps will help you develop as a speaker and as a marketer. As I mentioned, there are more than 1000 strategies to “make rain” during dry times with imaginative positioning of your talks. You will get better and better as you do all these things first, and opportunities will continue to grow for you as people learn the value of having you come and speak to their group. Remember, you are not the only one talking. At the next meeting they will be discussing YOU! Make sure you give service and value as a speaker, and highlight what makes you unique. If you are good, you will get clients and referrals for many more talks.

Related Articles
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  Want to reach people? Start talking!
  Twelve Strategic "Grow Goals" To Grow Your Business According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  “How to Overcome Public Speaking Fears – Ten Strategic Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
  Best of the Janes: Gaining a Deeper Understanding of Your Ideal Customer

Article Tags: business owners, checkout line, circumstances, contrary, different types of listeners, elevator speech, entrepreneurial training, friend rhonda, marketing materials, minute speech, networker, networking group, phase one, professional coach, resistance, service organization, speaking in public, spending time, time and money, types of listeners
Referred by: http://www.creativityatwork.com



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My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.
Re: My 3 best business books - It seems that Napoleon Hill works help a lot of business men. He had done a really good job. I bought Think and Grow Rich many times.
Re: Good day everyone! New here. - I feel you're on the right track Calflowers, there's a great group here, very helpful and engaging. Speaking of, is there anything we can do to help? What's your business? What are your main desires for it?
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.


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