Cheryl Baumgartner   Medical...
Public speaking engagements are a good way to market yourself and present yourself as the "expert".  You have the opportunity to present to a large audience. Public speaking events can be through seminars, luncheons, association meetings and more.This allows you to build credibility and visibility.  The more people know about you and what you do the more exposure you have.  More exposure leads to more prospects and more clients.  However many people are intimidated by the thought of speaking in front of a crowd, so here are some tips:1. Take time to prepare. Do an outline of the major points you want to address.   Make sure that your thoughts follow a logical and smooth progression.2. Use index cards to prompt you. It's easy to forget your train of thought, index cards will keep you on track.  The last thing you want to do is "bounce around", It makes it seem as if you don't know what you are talking about.3. Practice beforehand. Have your spouse or friends listen to your speech and give you feedback.  This can help you hone your presentation and make it seem more polished.4. Get plenty of rest the night before. Proper rest reduces stress.  You will also be more alert and on your toes.5. Start small. Don't try to give a speech to a group of hundreds the first time out. Start off with a group of 10-20. Increase the size of your audience as you become more confident.6. Yes the old picture them naked trick works.  Just don't pick the shriveled old man or the hottie.   The last thing you want to do is burst out laughing or drool all over yourself7. Be alive! Don't just stand in one place and drone on. Move around as you speak and make eye contact with different people.   Aslo watch the inflection of your voice.  A steady drone will put your audience to sleep but an animated voice will keep their attention.8. Get the audience involved. Ask questions they can respond to by raising their hands. As you get better pick people in the audience to specifically ask questions and get an answer. Make sure it is a question that is leading to a certain answer.   This way you can lead the group to the conclusion your want them to reach.9. Put something in their hands. Have a brochure about you or your business with your contact information. Rather than pass it out, if possible have it already in place at their seats. This can give them a bit of an idea of what is coming and keep them occupied until it's time to start.10. Use a critique form on yourself. Figure out your strong points and where you need work.   You can also put together a critique form for your audience to see how they felt about the length of your presentation and the information you provided.  This also gives you a method to get names and numbers for follow up later.These are just a few tips.  If you are going to ask for names and numbers make sure that the audience is not mislead as to why you want it.  Don't let them believe it is just a requirement.  Let them know you would like to be able to follow up with them later if new information becomes available.
Oct 17th 2010 09:11