Public Speaking – What Exactly are you Marketing?

By Jean McIntyre

(Marketing Angels) 

Whether you are a business owner, a politician, a community leader or just giving a speech at a birthday party – you need to pay attention to how you present to make sure you give the right messages about your personal brand.

We’ve seen Brian Miller talk in previous posts about how important it is that you present the right visual image and that this needs to be consistent in all forums where you present your business.  The same goes for your personal brand – it’s vital that when people see you speak it is consistent with all your other branding.

I’ve been to lots of events lately (who’d have thought there would be so many in the dead of Canberra winter).  I’ve been consistently disappointed with the quality of the speakers I’ve seen and when they don’t speak well – I start to wonder about their ability in other areas.

Politicians Failing to Impress

I have to say that some of the worst offenders are ACT politicians.

I won’t name names but I’ve been to a few events where one of two things happen.  Our local politicians stand up and say whatever pops into their heads or they read a prepared speech in a deadpan voice and bore everyone witless.

What a lost opportunity!

I know that politicians are called on to preside at many events in the community but that’s no excuse for not trying to give the best speech they can at every turn.  Our Federal leaders do it really well (generally) and there’s no excuse for the local politicians not to be just as good.  They should be inspiring, intelligent and interesting.

I know, I’m picking on the politicians because they are an easy target.  The same can usually be said for business people I see.

How To Present Right

Here are the 6 things you need to do to ensure that the next time you are asked to speak you give a great impression to your audience and for your brand:

1. Preparation – too many times I see business people asked to sit on a panel or stand up at a networking event and they just haven’t thought about what they want to say – they usually end up saying little of value.

   You should take a few minutes before an event to think about the audience, what things do you think they are interested in that you can talk confidently about and what sorts of questions might they ask.

   Write a few notes (or prepare a speech) to give you some prompts.  Having a 60 second ‘lift speech’ that you’ve prepared and practiced can help you when someone asks you to stand up and talk about what you do without notice. 

   Above all PRACTICE. PRACTICE. PRACTICE. PRACTICE! to make sure it’s right

2. Time it right – this goes to point 1. Ettiquette is just as important in business as in the social sphere.

   Some business people will just stand up and talk until they can’t think of anything else to say or someone shuts them up.  Most people have some tolerance but it evaporates pretty quickly .

   You should get clear instructions on how much time you are expected to speak and PRACTICE.  Buy a little timer and time yourself.

   Make sure you allow time for people to ask you questions – it’s always good to give the audience a chance to speak (and a break from your voice).  It’s also an opportunity to reinforce your key messages in a meaninful and practical way.

3. Have Faith in Yourself – This seems odd but so many business people will get up in front of an audience and behave as if they don’t deserve to be there. 

   If someone has asked you to speak – you belong up there.Think to yourself “I’m an expert and people will want to hear from me”.  A little secret – there’s nothing wrong with being nervous and people rarely see your nervousness when you speak confidently.

4. Be Interesting – A lot of business people give the impression that they think no-one will be interested in them.

   Even if you are delivering a prepared speech – it is important to look around the room as you speak and where possible make eye contact with people.

   Practice using varing vocal tones and facial expressions – humans respond to visual and aural variation.

   Think of your presentation as having a chat with the audience.  Tell them your stories (but don’t make them too long).

   It’s OK to ask them questions and to have a joke with them.  It’s about being human – and people like that.

5. Use good visual aids – Powerpoint can be a great tool but if all you are going to do is present slides filled with boring text – you might as well not bother.

   We’ve all done it (shown boring slides) but it’s amazing what just adding humour, a nice picture or colour to your slides can do to lift the audience.

   Think about preparing a little video to show to break things up a bit.  Handouts are useful as well.

6. Change is good – Perhaps in other cities you can get away with preparing one presentation and delivering it a hundred times over – not in Canberra!

   It’s very likely that many of the same people will be at your presentations in different arenas.  If you use the same speech or talk – put in some new examples or stories to contextualise it so they get something different each time.

Public Speaking is a great marketing tool

Public speaking is a a great marketing tool to get your messages out to a target audience.  The more you do it the better you’ll get at it – if you take a learning approach and improve each time you speak.

Make sure that the person the audience sees delivers the best possible image for your business brand and a great first impression.

I’d be interested to hear about your public speaking adventures and any tips YOU have for making great presentations. Make a comment below.

Jean Mc

PS:  If you’d like to find out more about how to include public presentation in your marketing plan – register for a Marketing Angels DIY Marketing Plan workshop.