Public Speaking and Presentation Skills - Tips and Techniques That Really Work

Upcoming Teleseminar:

I'll be sending out an email shortly to all my subscribers about my upcoming ASA Roundtable Teleseminar.

The Teleseminar will be no charge to you, unless your phone company charges you for a long distance call (inside U.S.).

I'll post the details here soon, as well as sending out via email - we're going to kick off the new year the right way!

Dedicated to your seminar and speaking success!

David

Labels: Upcoming Teleseminar

Seminar Success and Why You MUST Have a Product:

I just finished coaching a financial advisor - I wish you could have been in on the coaching call because the light bulb went on over her head so bright I'm sure it light up the whole room she was in at the time.

At first she couldn't *get* why a product would help her seminar success, much less her business - and while I can't recreate the entire call here, here's the bottom line:

You MUST have a product that promotes your business. You can raffle it off in your seminars, or you can give it out like candy. An audio interview of you where you reveal secrets or mistakes is perfect.

A product establishes you as the expert and also gives you additional revenue, but more importantly, people will make copies for their friends to listen to as well, which further promotes your business.

I could fill an entire book about this, but for this short blog post, the big takeaway is that you can easily, quickly and inexpensively (about $200) create a product that sets you apart, makes you extra money, and promotes you 24/7!

See you tomorrow,
David
PS: look at some of the products I've created as an example to get you going - just click here.

Labels: Seminar Success and Why You MUST Have a Product

Seminar & Speaking Success: Don't Give Away The House!

Many beginning seminar speakers do too much at their seminars.

In their eagerness to be liked and gain new clients, they give away the house. In other words, they give away their services that they usually charge for. That's a big mistake!

For example, a financial advisor does a complete consultation and "financial makeover" hoping that person will become a client. Usually that person does not become a client, they're just pumping you for free info.

Yes, you want to (and should) demonstrate your expertise at your seminar, but don't become over-eager and give away the valuable services you usually charge for.

Don't give away the house!

See you tomorrow,
David
PS: would you like to have individual coaching and consulting for your seminar and speaking success with the president of the American Seminar Academy, David Portney? Click right here for more info or email David at David@SeminarAcademy.com

Labels: Seminar and Speaking Success: Don't Give Away The House

Seminar Success and your USP:

After choosing your niche market, what's your USP?

USP stands for "unique selling proposition" - remember yesterday you made you life easy by choosing markets that already exist for what you sell, instead of doing it backwards like so many people do (read yesterday's post if you haven't already...)

Once you identify those hungry market niches, you only need to present your sales message - BUT! why should they buy from you instead of others that offer what you offer. After you ID those hungry niches, you're going to have lots of potential buyers, but you have to let them know what's special and different about your product or service so they'll want to buy from you, not someone else.

More tomorrow, see you then.
David
PS: want to shortcut your seminar success?-click here

Labels: Seminar Success and your USP

Seminars, Speaking, and Making Riches in Niches:

The first and most important step in choosing a niche market is... do they want to buy what you're offering?

Most people come at this bass ackwards - completely from the wrong direction. They come up with their product or service, and then go out looking for buyers.

This is a very bad idea, and is a major reason businesses fail. That means you're trying to convince people they need your product or service. You've got an uphill struggle on your hands.

But, by choosing niche markets that already have lots of people eager to buy what you're offering, all you have to do is make them aware of your offer, and your USP.

What's a USP? Glad you asked, we'll talk about that more tomorrow.

See you then!
David

Labels: and Making Riches in Niches, Seminars, Speaking

Making Money Doing Speaking and Seminars:

If you want to make money doing speaking and seminars, there's one very important word you need to write in large letters and post on your bathroom mirror so you see it every day.

No, that word is not "money" and it has nothing to do with visualizing your success.

The word is "niche".

If you want to bring in boat loads of cash into your business, you're going to have to carefully choose your niche market or markets.

Tomorrow I'm going to talk about how to choose your niche markets - you don't want to miss this!

See you then,
David
PS: Selling out fast is "The Quick Start Seminar Success System" plus special bonuses - click here to get yours before they're all gone.

Labels: Making Money Doing Speaking and Seminars

A question you should definitely ask yourself, is this: is becoming a great speaker a complete waste of your time?

The answer is definitely maybe.

The simple reality is this: becoming a great speaker will not guarantee you'll make money as a seminar speaker. Period. That is a fact.

So, how can you make money as a speaker and doing seminars? I'll talk about that tomorrow, but today you need to also know that being a great speaker will HELP you to make money, once you know how to do so properly. There are a several different approaches to successfully making money doing seminar speaking, but being a "great" speaker is NOT one of them.

So, be 100% clear about this right now: being a great speaker can help you to make money doing seminars and speaking, but is not THE way you will make money. Reread that sentence several times until it really sinks in, it's that important.

Being a great speaker will get you pats on the back and accolades, but that won't pay your bills!

See you tomorrow,
David
PS: I only have a few sets left of "The Quick Start Seminar Success System" plus special valuable bonuses you can't get anywhere else, so hurry and get yours while you can at http://www.seminaracademy.com/quickstart

Labels: Is Becoming a Great Speaker a Waste of Time?

Part VII: Different Paths, Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success:

The "path of the great speaker" won't make you rich. It won't even put food on your table. And, it's certainly not going to pay your mortgage.

This is going to ruffle the feathers of many speakers out there, especially the speakers that belong to organizations that teach them that being a great speaker is the path to success.

But, it's not! Sucks, doesn't it? I know, I know - it seems like a logical path... be a great speaker, people rave about you, they buy your stuff, you get a lot of bookings and speaking fees, right?

Wrong, wrong, WRONG!!

To ultra-briefly paraphrase a story that you simply must 'get' - there were 2 Greek speakers, and after one spoke people clapped and said "what a great speech!", but after the other speaker spoke, people said "let's march!!".

You, my friend, want to be the latter speaker. You're just plain dead wrong if you think that being a great speaker is going to earn you any money. It's not. When you come to my Seminar Speaking Success Training (coming up early next year in Los Angeles) you'll discover what you absolutely must know if you expect to use seminar speaking (or any kind of speaking) to generate income. If not, you'll be stumbling along for years without making any real money.

More tomorrow, see you then!
David
PS: Stay tuned - my new book for speakers is being processed by my publisher, and will be published early next year!

Labels: Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success, Part VII: Different Paths

Part VI: Different Paths, Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success:

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being a great speaker. I never get tired of hearing that from people at the end of my presentation. Who wouldn't mind hearing enthusiastic praise about their speaking?

But yesterday, I said I'd pull back the curtain and reveal the problem with "the path of the great speaker", and here it is.

Being a great speaker does not translate to making sales, gaining new clients, converting prospects, and putting more money into your bank account.

If you are involved in organizations that help you to be a better speaker, what I just said may be very hard for you to accept, but it's 100% true. I know from my own experience, and the experience of many who belong to those well-known organizations that hand out awards and designations for becoming an accomplished public speaker.

I know quite a number of great speakers that are broke and can't get their business off the ground. All the accolades and applause in the world is not going to put food on your table.

Tomorrow I'm going to tell you why, see you then.
David

Labels: Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success, Part VI: Different Paths

Part V: Different Paths, Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success:

This *third* path we're discussing is not limited to business owners. If you expect to make more money in your career, the fastest way to advance is by being able to make "oral presentations" to groups.

If you work for an attorney firm, a CPA firm, or in escrow, insurance, banking, and dozens of other industries, as you move up the food chain you will be required to speak to groups of prospects and clients, or even the board of directors if you move into executive positions.

As you move up, you will have to speak to groups. And, I've taught many a workshop where a large number of people sheepishly admit they've been passed over by promotions because they harbored fear about speaking in front of groups.

It's a terrible shame to have your career or business - and income - stall just because of stage fright, which is so easily and quickly conquered using my techniques.

So whether you're in business for yourself or working for someone else, the fastest and easiest way to increase your income is through "the path of the speaker that gets results".

Tomorrow, I'm going to (somewhat reluctantly) pull back the curtain and reveal the huge problems with "the path of the great speaker" - there are huge numbers of people marching down this path, and they will not become successful!

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success, Part V: Different Paths

Part IV: Different Paths, Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success:

The third path I want to talk about is the path where business owners use seminars and "public speaking" to generate and convert highly qualified leads into happy, paying customers and clients.

If we wanted to be technical, this *third* patch is actually under the category of "the speaker that gets measurable results" and is not a third category of seminar speaking at all. But that's just if we wanted to be technical about how we are categorizing things...

Anyway, this path is a terrifically useful path for any business owner, and this is an area where I shine and specialize. I've helped many a business owner including chiropractors, insurance agents, financial planners, real estate professionals, contractors - even sex-toy shop owners!

This path is woefully under-utilized by business owners. Seriously, tragically under-utilized. This path can create a stampede of new business for you and flood of new revenues and income for you. Sadly, many business owners rule out using seminars and "public speaking" for a myriad of reasons.

What about you? Are you not doing seminar speaking for some reason? Post your reasons right her on my blog, you can post anonymously if you want - and tomorrow we'll continue with more on the paths to seminar speaking success.

See you then!
David

Labels: Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success, Part IV: Different Paths

Part III: Different Paths, Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success:

"The path of the speaker that gets measurable results" is very different than "the path of the great speaker".

Remember yesterday I said that the path of the great speaker boils down to speakers that expect to be paid for showing up and speaking. This is the path that is most well-known.

The lesser-known path, the path of the speaker that gets measurable results, is the path where the speaker will show up and generate sales. This speaker generally does not ask for a speaking fee, and in fact when you think about it, this speaker pays to speak because they split their sales with the seminar promoter.

These are two distinct paths, and it does boil down to which direction the money is flowing.

Now, are these two paths the only paths that exist? Absolutely not!

Tomorrow I'm going to talk about a third path that is also not well known, is dimly suspected by some, is very well-known by others - and is very under-utilized!

You will want to know about this path!

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success, Part III: Different Paths

Part II: Different Paths, Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success:

The "path of the great speaker" is the path that is most commonly taken.

It's the path that you will most likely be steered down if you join organizations that are comprised of budding professional speakers, experienced pros, or even a mix both. To generalize, the path of the great speaker will emphasize the "do's and don'ts" of being up in front of people.

There will be a lot of emphasis on how you structure your presentation and how you deliver it, with a lot of time spent on your speaking style, your image, and a few gimmicks to make you more memorable.

The path of the great speaker, to summarize this path, is the path of the paid speaker; the speaker that expects to be paid a speaking fee. This path is a viable path, and it is the more well-worn path.

Tomorrow I'll outline the other path - which for wont of a more clever and descriptive name, I've settled on the name "the path of the speaker that gets measurable results" (I know, not a scintillating name, but what the heck!) - and over the next few days, I'll outline the benefits and detriments to each path - this will be a real eye-opener!

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success, Part II: Different Paths

Different Paths, Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success:

It turns out that in reality, there are different paths out there when it comes to seminar speaking success, or any kind of "public speaking" no matter whether you call it lectures, speeches, classes, trainings, boot camps, seminars, workshops - whatever.

And, I'll admit that although I've been doing classes, seminars (etc. etc. etc.) for a loooooong time, only in the last few years have I become acutely and keenly aware of the different paths. Well, I won't be too hard on myself - I once heard someone say "if wisdom comes to you late, no regrets - just be glad it came to you at all!"

It's very easy to mix up the paths and confuse them. I know I did. That confusion can cause a lot of mixed successes, or even "stumbling around" wondering why results are not exactly as you would hope.

So, I'll call one path "the path of the great speaker" and the other, "the path of the speaker that gets measurable results".

Admittedly, those terms are not scintillating and descriptively brilliant, but they do make the point - which we'll continue with tomorrow.

See you then!
David

Labels: Different Kinds of Seminar Speaking Success, Different Paths

What About Toastmasters and Seminar Success?

Right up front, I'll say that Toastmasters is a fine organization. Like any organization, you'd want to explore what they do well, and if that suits your needs.

There are a few different paths in what I call the seminar speaking business. And, there are a number of different levels you want to think about when it comes to doing seminar speaking - the first level is, exactly what are you trying to accomplish?

Toastmasters is good for learning how to wean the "umms" and "uhhs" from your delivery, and also to get some decent feedback from others. And, you can get some experience getting up in front of people in a *safe* environment where people will be supportive and offer constructive criticism. Not bad overall, but in my opinion, that's pretty much it - and if you want more than that, you're not going to find it there.

Again, let me repeat - they are a fine organization for what they do. If you want to learn more about how to really use seminar speaking in order to increase your business, how to handle all the logistics of seminars, how to become a polished speaker in no-time-flat, and how to create group events that get your message out and get people to want to do business with you, you're not going to find it at Toastmasters.

Tomorrow I'll talk about this a bit more, and give you some more insight into the different levels and paths of the seminar speaking business so that you can make sure you take the path and go to the level that will get you the results you really want. That way you won't waste a lot of time and energy "barking up the wrong tree".

See you tomorrow!
David

Labels: What About Toastmasters and Seminar Success?

Seminar Speaking Success and Your Mental State:

We've all heard the expression "it's all in your head".

It may not all be in your head, because some of "it" might be in your heart and your gut. However, the old saying is correct: your mental state determines what you'll do. What you do determines what you achieve.

When it comes to seminar speaking success, your mental state is absolutely key. People will pick up on the minute aspects of your voice tone and facial expressions. People respond to those non-verbal communications in an automatic fashion - literally. It happens below the level of conscious awareness.

When it comes to delivering your seminars, ostensibly this is key, but your mental state is also vital to your day-to-day actions. Think of it like the tides - they rise and fall. You can't be "up" all the time, forget about trying to be so - ride the tide, go with the flow, but don't let your mental state be out of your control either.

More tomorrow, see you then!
David

Labels: Seminar Speaking Success and Your Mental State

Seminar Speaking Success Tips: A Fun Experiment -

Yesterday I was saying that I can't think of a single business that can't benefit from doing seminars and public speaking.

Here's a fun experiment to get your creative juices flowing: the question you're going to answer is -

Imagine you're consulting for someone who owns a hot dog stand - they sell hot dogs there.

What kind of seminars should the owner of a hot dog stand do? What would be the hot topics he'd talk about? What would be some juicy, interest-creating seminar titles he could promote?

Give that some thought, then post your answers here. This "thought experiment" will flex your mental muscles and give you more insight into how any business (especially yours!) can benefit from doing seminars.

See you tomorrow!
David

Labels: Seminar Speaking Success Tips: A Fun Experiment

Businesses That CAN'T Benefit From Seminar Speaking:

There are so many businesses that are not using seminar speaking for lead generation and conversion. And they should be!

But, which business can't benefit from doing seminars and public speaking?

Frankly, I can't think of a single one that can't. I've taught so many business owners how to do seminars and public speaking - sure, the ones you'd think are "naturals" like real estate agents, chiropractors, insurance brokers, financial planners and so forth, but I've even had business owners like pet shops and sex toy shops come to my seminars and workshops.

It's time for you to "stump the seminar expert" and tell me what kind of business you think can't benefit from doing seminars! Have you been thinking that your business is one of them?Let me hear your opinion!

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Businesses That CAN'T Benefit From Seminar Speaking

Seminar Success - Turning Passion Into Profit:

In business terms, seminars are a terrific method for lead generation and lead conversion. In fact, seminars (and any kind of public speaking) is the absolute best method for lead generation and conversion and beats any other form of marketing.

Just so we're clear on our definitions here: A "lead" is someone who is or might be interested in your product or service. Generating leads means finding new people to market to. Converting leads means getting the sale.

When you demonstrate passion for your product or service in your seminar, that gets people's attention. If you don't believe in what you're selling, you need to find a new line of business. Passion = enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is highly contagious. Highly contagious.

Of course, you can over-do it. You can come across like an overly-friendly used-car salesman, and that turns people off. Yin and yang operate together, balance is always key. But when you do your seminar speaking, let your passion shine and don't worry about over-doing it. Let your natural enthusiasm flow right out - people are attracted to people who are enthusiastic.

To your seminar success!
See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Seminar Success - Turning Passion Into Profit

Star Power and Seminar Success:

When you do seminars, people see you as the expert.

They look up to you because you are the one on stage, you're the one up there dispensing your wisdom and information.

You may say "aw, shucks, I'm not an expert - there are people much smarter than I am..." and you may not see your star power.

But others do. You should come to terms with that, accept it, and moreover - use it!

Go ahead - let your star shine!

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Star Power and Seminar Success

Successful Seminar Speaking and Star Power:

Everyone knows that if you're on TV or in movies, you have star power. People see you differently when you're on TV. Did you know that Seminar Speaking can also give you Star Power?

It's true. People see you differently when you're "on stage". First, most people really are scared to get up and do what you do, so to them you have a magical power. How are you able do that? They can't figure it out.

On top of that, you get up and your energy, your passion, your enthusiasm is contagious! You move people. So, not only do you have this magical power of being able to get "on stage" which they can't do, but you also create a moving experience for them.

Now, if you're like me and you've done thousands of workshops, classes, seminars, speeches, etc., it doesn't seem so magical. It's just "what I do". No big deal - but to others, it is a big deal!

Never underestimate the Star Power you have when you do seminar speaking. Star Power separates you out from your competition, makes your message stand out, and makes people want to follow you and do business with you.

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Successful Seminar Speaking and Star Power

Seminar Success and Confidence Building:

It's no mystery that people tend to get a little freaked out about getting up in front of a group of people and speaking.

Although talking to one person is different than talking to a group, did you know that one-on-one interaction can actually build up your confidence? Your increased level of confidence can translate to seminar speaking situations and give you better confidence in that situation too.

So, what's a good way to "tune up" your every-day confidence?-make it a habit to talk to strangers. When you're out at the grocery store, or the mall, or in a coffee shop, you can strike up casual conversation with someone. You can chat about the weather, the crazy holiday shopping season, or offer them a compliment, or ask them a question like where they got their shoes.

Lot's of people have anxiety about striking up conversations with strangers. By doing exactly that when you're out and about, you also build up your confidence for successful seminars and public speaking situations.

Here's the key: have absolutely no "investment" in the results of your interactions. You should not care one bit if the person is friendly or not. Don't judge your "performance", just have an interaction - and like anything, this gets easier the more you do it.

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Seminar Success and Confidence Building

Seminar Success Blueprints' Hardest Step, Cont'd:

Another major reason step number 5 is the hardest is because for those who do manage to move past procrastination and analysis paralysis, they lose momentum after they get started.

A lot of times people get "fired up" and excited about something new and the prospect of more - more success, more income, more adulation (that's a by-product of being a seminar speaker / presenter, which I'll touch on more later).

But, the day-in day-out "same-old same-old" comes creeping in. Some people hire coaches in order to stay motivated, and that's one of the reasons I offer coaching. Sometimes we just need a kick in the butt, or someone to hold us accountable, or some words of encouragement to keep us on track, and focused (if you haven't read my previous posts about what focus really is, you need to read those).

Edison said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Success is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration" meaning that to achieve your goal of seminar success, it's all about follow-through.

Any comments? Questions? Editorials? Rants? Opinions? Otherwise?

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Cont'd, Seminar Success Blueprints' Hardest Step

The Hardest Step of the Seminar Success Goal Achievement Blueprint:

"...and the winner is..." (do we need a drum roll for dramatic effect?)

STEP NUMBER 5!

That's right, it's follow-through on your plan and strategy - that is the hardest step for people. There's 2 major reasons for this:

One is simple procrastination. It's getting going in the first place. Some people find ways to avoid getting started by allowing distractions to preoccupy their time... suddenly, all kinds of little things "just pop up" that require immediate attention.

Another way people procrastinate is "analysis paralysis" - they get too caught up reviewing their plan, rather than getting going with the plan. It's as if they want to wait for all the traffic signals on the road to be green before they'll get in the car and start driving. Closely related to this is the "my plan needs to be perfect before I start" group - they love to take no action with the excuse that the plan is flawed. This is just highly rationalized procrastination, and nothing more.

We'll talk about the other major reason tomorrow, but in the meantime, feel free to weigh-in right her on my blog about what you find to be the toughest or most intimidating part of the seminar success blueprint.

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: The Hardest Step of the Seminar Success Goal Achievement Blueprint:

Seminar Success Goal Achievement Blueprint: Some Additional Thoughts:

In the last 5 posts, we covered my blueprint for your seminar success, and here's some additional thoughts:

First, it's too easy to read the steps and just discount them, or say to yourself "I already know that". For every 100 "I-already-know-that" statements there are 99 people who are not actually taking action. Knowing something and doing something are miles apart. Most people know plenty that they don't take action on. For example, how many people know they should eat better and exercise more, but don't do anything about it?

Also, it's too easy too easy to read those steps and say to yourself "hey, that's great - I'm going to do that... someday". And the big "P" word procrastination comes crashing in. You save the goal achievement blueprint steps to a computer file somewhere and it's pretty much gone forever.

Now, I realize that it's possible that for some people they may not be ready to take action yet for whatever legitimate reason(s) they may have - and certainly we shouldn't pluck an unripe apple from the tree.

But what I'm saying is that it's nice to know this kind of thing, but better to take action on it. If you feel resistance, take action in spite of that resistance and you'll be glad you did.

Now, what are your thoughts and feelings? Feel free to post them right here on my blog.

See you tomorrow,
David

Labels: Seminar Success Goal Achievement Blueprint: Some Additional Thoughts

Seminar Success Goal Achievement Blueprint: Step 5

Here's the last step in our goal achievement blueprint.

Yesterday in step 4 you carefully reviewed the specificity of your goal in step 1, re-evaluated step 2 where you "got real" about the sacrifices and prices you'll have to pay, and reviewed step 3 where you determined your strategy - step 4 was your careful evaluation and polishing of the first 3 steps.

Now you're ready for step 5.

Step 5 is alarmingly simple, yet surprisingly difficult: step 5 is, begin implementation of your strategy, and do not stop until you reach your goal.

Remember, you're going to sacrifice along the way to get what you want. You might have to sacrifice more than you expected. Do it.

You might have to adjust your strategy along the way. Do it.

Along the way you might lose sight of why you are making all these sacrifices and working so hard - review your purpose you wrote down in step 1.

Keep going until you reach your goal. You will want to give up at some point. Do not give up. You will be tempted to spend time on things that take you away from achieving your goal. Do not be distracted. Re-read my previous posts about Michelangelo and what focus really is, and stay focused on your goal!

Tomorrow we'll mop up and wrap up - see you then!
David

Labels: Seminar Success Goal Achievement Blueprint: Step 5

Seminar Success Goal Achievement Blueprint: Step 4

Let's recap briefly:

In step 1 you clearly defined your goal.
In step 2 you got real about the price(s) you'll have to pay to achieve your goal and the sacrifice(s) you'll inevitably have to make.
In step 3 you figured out whether you'll have to use trial and error as a strategy, or if you can find others who've already achieved the same thing you want to achieve.

Now, in step 4, you're doing a final review: look over your goal in writing - is it well defined in terms of what exactly, when specifically, and your purpose (the "why" of your goal)?

Now review what you wrote in step 2: are you sure that this is all you'll have to sacrifice? Be realistic about the price you'll have to pay, don't underestimate the costs in terms of money, energy, relationships, and time.

Finally, review your strategy: have you determined precisely what are the first and last steps of your plan, and all the steps in between?

Do your final review, and we'll get to step 5 - the last part of the blueprint - tomorrow.

See you then!
David

Labels: Seminar Success Goal Achievement Blueprint: Step 4