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

Controlling The Audience:

When doing public speaking to an audience larger than 40 people or so, you'll probably need to use a microphone. I've personally delivered seminars to rooms with more than 100 people and not used a microphone and been heard just fine, but then I've been *blessed* with a loud voice.

When you take questions from the audience, you may have a second mic so that when you take questions, the rest of the group can hear the question. Never just hand someone the mic to ask questions, have an assistant hold the mic for the person asking the question.

Instruct your assistant ahead of time to move away after the person poses their question. Otherwise, this person may be on the mic forever - or at least a lot longer than you wanted. And, if you just hand the mic over to someone in the audience to ask questions, you may never get it back.

Alternately, you can set up a mic on a stand, and have people line up to ask one question at a time, and you can announce that the limit is one question per person. This is especially useful if you're filming the event, because that way you can point one camera at the mic stand and capture all questions easily.

Don't hand the microphone over to your audience, you may never see it again!

Dedicated to helping you increase your income and success with seminars and public speaking -

David Portney, President of the American Seminar Academy

How to "Wow" Any Audience:

Charisma when doing public speaking - some people "just have it" don't they? - or, is it something that can be learned?

Politics aside, you can't help but notice that Presidential hopeful Barack Obama is "wowing" people when he speaks... have you stopped to try to figure out how?

One thing I will grant is that he seems to be like "plain folk" instead of just vomiting up "politician-speak" like other candidates for office - when asked if he's done drugs, he didn't reply with "I never inhaled" he just said "sure, who hasn't tried drugs at least once in their lives?".

But beyond that, what exactly about his presentation style and delivery is so appealing to people?

When it comes to public speaking or "orating", here's a big hint: it's now what you say, but how you say it... find out more in this article.

David
The American Seminar Academy

More On Public Speaking and Seminars as Marketing Tool:

Most public speakers are glad to be able to speak - anywhere!

I think this is a terrible idea.

But, you probably knew I'd say that, right?

Here's something that may sound obvious (or it might be a real eye-opener depending on your perspective) but you really need to be clearer about who your target market is and define it very tightly.

Keep in mind you can have more than one tightly niched target market, but define one clearly first - here's an example:

There was a lovely, energetic, clearly charismatic lady that came to one of my "how to do seminars like a pro" workshops where I teach seminar logistics, presentation skills, getting over stage fright - that kind of thing - and her business was all about specialized hair care products.

When I asked her who her target market is, her reply was "everyone with hair!" and of course we all laughed, but she was dead serious: in her mind, she wanted the whole world to know about her products and services, so of course she was looking to speak anywhere to anyone who would listen.

Again - bad idea.

Better idea: find people who are already interested in hearing about what she has to say.

Even better idea: find people who have demonstrated past history of purchasing products and services just like hers.

Best idea: find people who may have already purchase similar products, but are in pain and badly need the solution she can provide to their pressing problem.

Niching down makes selling yourself as a public speaker much easier - "everyone" is just not a good demographic to market to!

David
The American Seminar Academy - the place for the best seminar strategies, presentation skills, and conquering stage fright forever.

Public Speaking As Marketing Tool For Small Business:

Setting aside the issue of stage fright and fear of public speaking for the moment (which is the biggest barrier people face in getting started in doing seminars or public speaking) let's open up the floor to the topic of using public speaking engagements as a marketing tool.

Sure, I "beat the drum" about public speaking as a super-effective marketing tool because, after all, my area of expertise is in how to do seminars, preparing effective presentations & talks, how to have stellar presentation skills, the logistics and mechanics of the details of doing public speaking and seminars, and of course, getting rid of barriers to doing public speaking such as stage fright and public speaking fear...

...to be fair and balanced, I do see public speaking and seminars as part of a larger marketing and promotion plan for small business owners - I'm partial to public speaking and seminars just because it's fast, it's easy, it's inexpensive (and even free), it's fun, and it's highly effective.

So when it comes to actually getting out there and doing it, there's a ton of issues involved, and you might not be surprised to hear that I get a huge number of questions about the marketing aspect such as: how do I get booked? Is the fact that no one has ever heard of me going to stop me from getting speaking gigs? How much should I charge? Who should I contact?

And so on.

Do you have questions about marketing yourself as a speaker?

I've got a lot to say on the subject based on my long-time experience, mistakes I've made, successes I've had, and some mind-set changes I've had to make in order to further my speaking and seminar success.

Let's open the floor to discussion on this topic right here, right now.

What are your questions?

I'll offer my best insights based on my experience - and let's all jump in because we'll all benefit from the exchange - and yes, I will even welcome opposing viewpoints!

Remember, I want this "forum" to be about you and your needs and wants, so if this topic is of interest to you, I welcome your questions as well as hearing about what's working or not working when it comes to using public speaking and seminars as a marketing tool.

Let the discussion begin!

David
PS: You betcha that I'm dedicated and passionate about your seminar speaking success!
The American Seminar Academy

Labels: Public Speaking - Marketing - Small Business

Public Speaking - Your Worst Nightmare May Be Your Dream Come True...

Ah yes - public speaking - just the thought of it can send a lightning bolt of fear down your spine and a cold sweat to break out on your forehead (or other places...).

You'll do almost anything to avoid all forms of public speaking, right? Well, not all of you - there are some you have to pull from the stage with a hook, but in the general populace would rather walk on hot coals than speak in front of people.

And, I know that first hand. For many, many years now I've been teaching public and private classes and workshops on how to get rid of stage fright and fear of public speaking. I love to ask people, would you rather speak in front of 100 people, or walk barefoot across hot coals - most choose the hot coals.

But if you work for a company, your future raises and promotions may depend on your willingness to speak to groups - again in my workshops, I like to ask people to raise their hand if they ever let a promotion and raise go to someone else because the new position would require them to do some form of public speaking.

The other major group in my workshops were authors, coaches and business people with every kind of business you can imagine who came in to learn how to do seminars of their own. These sharp entrepreneurs knew that they'd HAVE TO conquer their stage fright in order to more effectively promote their product or service.

So whether you work for someone else or work for yourself, the reality is that your "worst nightmare" is actually a dream come true because by conquering stage fright and fear of public speaking CAN make your dreams of more money come true... and in the immortal words of the American Philosopher Stephen Colbert: "money can't buy happiness, but it can buy stuff that will make you happy".

By being willing to conquer stage fright and actually do some public speaking, you really do get a leg up on your competition too - and that's true whether you're your own boss or an employee because think about this: if YOU'RE willing to do what other people won't (public speaking) you'll be rewarded where the others won't, you'll move up and ahead and leave your competition behind!

Have YOU let a promotion pass you by because of public speaking fear? Or, have you GOTTEN the raise and the promotion because you faced your fear?

Jump into the conversation right here and make your voice heard, I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences, so go ahead and post your feedback right here on the Seminar Speaking Success blog.

David, here at the American Seminar Academy in Redondo Beach, California
PS: Yes, I am passionately dedicated to helping you to maximize your income and success.

Labels: conquering stage fright, fear of public speaking, Seminar Speaking Success

Learning From Others' Speaking & Seminar Successes:

One of the things I love hearing is my students' success stories, and it recently occurred to me that that could actually be valuable to YOU even more than to me.

Let's face it - it's encouraging when we hear that someone else is succeeding at something we want to be able to do, it makes us think "hey, if they can succeed at public speaking / seminars, then I can too!"

So I want to encourage all of you to begin to post on this blog what's working for you and what's not working for you in seminars and public speaking so that other people can benefit and learn from that.

What are your successes, your frustrations? What do you wish you could know more about or do better? Post your questions, your concerns, your fears, your achievements, your successes, your strategies... everyone here will benefit and we can all help each other.

Naturally, I'll be glad to offer my 2 cents along the way and I'll endeavor to be as helpful as possible.

Dedicated to your seminar and public speaking success -
David
The American Seminar Academy

Labels: public speaking - money making seminars - presentation skills - seminar success - seminar training - speaking skills