Here’s a question : why would you want to speak in public at all?  What’s in it for you?  Public speaking is (apparently) the number one fear that most people have.   This is such a shame as there are so many benefits to becoming a speaker – for your business, your bottom-line AND for your own personal confidence. 

The Top Five Benefits Of Public Speaking

1. Increased Self Confidence

Once you have mastered speaking in front on an audience, whether it be in front of a crowd of ten or a crowd of thousands, your confidence levels will go through the roof.  Do this, and you can do anything.

2. Reach More People

If you have a vision which is close to your heart, a vision which could shape the world, and you want to share this,   does it make more sense to talk to one person at a time, or a roomful of people?  Which method will spread your vision faster?  Remember, a vision flies when you stand on stage.  You give it wings.

3. Make More Sales

Regardless of what you are selling -  your ebook, your 3-day seminar, your coaching or your membership site, you will multiply your sales and in far LESS time when you speak to a hundred people as opposed to  selling one on one. This is a MASSIVE benefit of public speaking – the opportunity to make more sales in one sitting.

4. Build Credibility

When you are on stage you become an authority in your field.  People look up to you.  Their opinion on you changes simply because you are standing on stage.  This credibility will open up more opportunities and earn you more recognition which in turn builds credibility and gets you more opportunities.  It’s a winning cycle.

5. Make Big Money

I saved the best benefit for public speaking for last.  Public speaking is one of the easiest and best ways to make money.  Big money.   I’m not suggesting this will happen the first time round (although it can and it does all the time) but if you have researched your market, determined your niche, sent out a compelling message to this market and added tonnes of value to your product, then why not?

So, now you’ve seen the benefits of public speaking, why not go out there and stretch your comfort zone?  If you’ve never spoken at an event (but always secretly wanted to), is now the time to book your first one? If you’ve only ever spoken to smaller audiences, could now be the time to step up to the next level?  If you’ve spoken to large audiences, what could you do differently that will stretch you?
There’s always another step out there.  Perhaps now is the time to take it.

This is the second part in a series of 3 Behind the Scenes tips on influence. In this tip I talk about the second step to influence – inspiring your audience. This content is taken directly from my Presentation Profits Intensive seminar.

• To inspire – breathe life into the dreams of your audience
• You’re not asking them to believe in you, you’re asking them to believe in themselves
• Get them to take action that will make their lives better
• Paint out a bright picture of their future
• Get them to see their grand vision

Creating emotion has a few key elements that cannot be missed. These are:

1. Awareness
2. Intention
3. Vocal strength and flexibility

1. Awareness

The first key is to recognize the power that the voice has in impacting and creating change in another human and as such, how this can generate more sales.

It has been said that the words that we choose are only 7% of the message that we communicate.  38% of our message is due to our tonality, and 55% of it is due to our physiology, our physical action.

So over a third of your outcome depends on your voice.

Create awareness of your own voice and use it dramatically.

Listen to how you use your voice, listen to the vocal range that you have.

Start to listen to other people’s voices, how they use them, and then start to bring awareness to the extremes that you use in your own voice. Do you have extremes or is it all flat lining? 

You will make more money from stage AND make it easier to listen to you if you can work on your voice variation.

2. Set the intention

These are the intentions you will want to set if you want to make more money from stage:

• That you will start to expand your vocal range
• You will create moods with your voice
• You will carry your confidence in your voice
• And that your voice will take people on an emotional journey.

3. Vocal Strength and Flexibility

If you start to learn how to use your voice in a powerful manner, then you’ll find that it will be more powerful for longer, and you will be able to preserve and conserve your voice.   You want to use your voice in such a way that it touches the hearts and minds of the people in your audience and thus create more sales from speaking.

Don’t Be Just Comfortable, Be Memorable
If you’re committed to becoming, not just a profitable speaker, but also a memorable speaker, then the next step is to get masterful with your voice.

Be the sort of person that when people leave the room they continue to talk about you, not just because of your content, but because of your style, your charisma and your ability to take them on an emotional journey.   And be the sort of speaker that makes massive money from stage!

So, What’s Next?
Well, my suggestion would be to go and see a high drama movie!

Listen to the way these highly trained actors use their voice to create mood.
Notice the high, the loud, the soft, notice the pace changes, notice the volume changes.
So this week I want you to spend the whole time listening to people with a new intention and then see how you can utilize this in your next speaking gig.

And remember, have fun!

Step One : Involve

• Be Authentic.
• Be who you are; be you
• Meet your audience where they’re at and engage them
• Love your audience so much that they feel they can do anything
• When you love your audience, it’s irresistable

Back at the beginning of January I wrote about a whole load of techniques to break the ice with your audience – but I haven’t actually shown you it in action yet. So I thought I’d show you a little sneak preview of breaking the ice IN ACTION at my Presentation Profits Intensive seminar. Remember – there is one coming up in Melbourne 19th-21st March. Click here to find out more:
Presentation Profits Intensive

• The first few moments when you are up on stage are critical to
  how well your audience receives you.
• There can be a lot of pressure on you to make them feel comfortable quickly otherwise they’ll switch off
• You need to Break the Ice and make them connect with each other.
• There are many ways to do this, and a great way is to get people to get up out of their seats and go and greet five people they have never met like long lost friends.
• It’s a lot of fun and it takes the pressure off you, so you can compose yourself ready to be the awesome speaker that you are!

• Every seven minutes you need to elicit a state change in your audience
• It can be with a MASSAGE, a HIGH FIVE or a turn to your neighbour to say something complimentary and fun
• In order to know when to do this you can have a reminder on your autocue or just watch your audience’s faces for that glazed look.
• People can only absorb content for so long before they need a shift in state and since you are ‘leading your audience’ it is your job to
  ‘lead their state’ – otherwise they’ll do it themselves!
• Use state changes to keep your audience alert, focussed, and receptive to your content.

Speaking is a key area in almost every business, be it negotiations, promotions and of course, speaking and selling from stage. 
This makes it ALL THE MORE important to know just how powerful your voice can be. 

Your Voice Is Your Money-Making Machinery.

Understanding this will make you a truly exceptional speaker with the power to move roomfuls of people AND make you huge sales from your public speaking.  If you’ve ever watched any great speaker, the people that stand out in your mind well after the story has ended are those who create a mood in the space. They convey emotions so powerfully that it takes you on the journey with them.
Interestingly, sales are about the emotional journey too. A big part of being a speaker and taking people on an emotional journey is the use of your voice.   An even bigger part of being a speaker is to make sales.

How Improving Your Voice Will Make You More Memorable, Captivating and Entertaining As A Speaker

There are many great and profitable speakers out there who have never considered how improving their voice could benefit their sales, so that’s where you already have a leg up on them!

Whilst your voice is not the most important thing that will directly impact your sales from your public speaking on the day, it WILL directly impact how memorable, captivating and entertaining you are as a speaker…so think of those referrals and the long-term goals of your business!

In other words, WHY should you consider becoming a vocal artist?

The benefits of becoming a vocal artist

• If you learn to protect your voice and rehearse effectively you will have a long and profitable career as a speaker
• Great vocal control builds your confidence on and off stage
• Powerful vocal technique gives you flexibility to perform and create whilst on stage

If speaking is a key element of creating your business, be it promotion, sales or communication, your voice becomes your money-making machinery. If your voice is not in shape then essentially you are losing your uniqueness in the marketplace and losing sales from your public speaking.

Remember, your voice is your money-making machinery, so what can you be doing right now to start caring more for your voice?

The venue and environment you select when doing your presentation is as much a vital part of what you do as everything else.

You want to choose somewhere that supports your message and adds to what you want to achieve. For Example: Don’t choose somewhere dark and gloomy if you have a bright and sunny message.

The place you choose to have your presentation will have it’s own story to tell. Make sure you find out what that story is (if it isn’t obvious) and make sure that it is in alignment with what you will be speaking about.

In order to become a speaker that moves hearts and minds and is memorable, you need to use an element to your language that is unforgettable.

Like Shakespeare did in his plays, if you can use verbs in a powerful way in your presentation, you will find it all comes to life.

This is the same trick that copywriters employ – using active verbs in their copy makes it come to life and its the same in your presentation. Using active verbs in your language engages the audience in a more powerful way.

If there’s one thing I love more than public speaking for sales, it’s helping others speak and sell from stage too

Why Do It, Jo?
 
Many sales professionals never consider the opportunity to do workshops, seminars and presentations in front of the public. If you are one of them, then you are missing a golden opportunity.

Public speaking is my number one strategy in capturing sales from my potential clients. Speaking allows me to get in front of prospective clients and to share my passion with them. It allows me to showcase my knowledge and expertise. Many times, I have secured clients, even before I leave the room.

By speaking on a regular basis, this has allowed me to be in front of hundreds of people at any one time.  Let me ask you a question, “What is your time worth hourly? Maybe it’s worth $50 or a $100 or $200-plus an hour. Will you have a better chance accomplishing that one-on-one or in front of a roomful of potential clients and opportunities?

If you have a cause close to your heart, will you have a better chance of accomplishing this cause one-on-one or in a room with 500+ potential followers?

As a sales person, public speaking is the best way to present your products or your services to a wide audience and it’s one of the most lucrative ways to make money.

Showcase Your Knowledge And Shine!

Getting in front of a group of potential clients speaking allows you to showcase your knowledge and it also allows you to showcase your dreams to a far wider audience.

It gives you tremendous visibility and credibility over time. The more you speak, the greater the chances that over time, people will consider how successful you are, and they will look upon you as the authority in your field.   And in turn, the more sales you will make.

So, why not book your first public speaking gig of the year and get out and there and start to sell?  It’s time to showcase your talents to the world and shine!