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How I made over $1.25 million in my first 12 months
in Professional Speaking with Effective Presentations

Free Presentation Training for Coaches, Consultants,
Speakers and Solo-preneurs

How I shifted from making a good speech to making effective presentations; and took my business from zero to half a million dollars in three short months.

Now I’d love to help you do the same.

 

Whether you are a coach, speaker, consultant or solo-preneur you know that without clients, and without sales you have no business. With no business, you have no lifestyle and no freedom.  But nothing has the power to attract more clients and sales to your business faster than speaking on your topic.

However when most people hear the word “public speaking” they think of “giving a good talk”.  I am here to say that great speakers rarely make great money.  Being able to deliver a good talk, and running a profitable business are two mutually exclusive skills.

So if you are here to learn how to give a wedding speech or deliver a polished talk- you have come to the wrong place.  There are plenty of other websites about that.  This website is dedicated to inspiring action with your presentations, making profits from your passion and making an impact in people’s lives.

At Shift Speaker Training we focus on:

1. Effective Presentations that Inspire ACTION in Your Audience and Make You Big Money
2. Elegant Business Models that mean you continue to Make Big Money even when you are not on stage
3. Speaking Skills that Make You Memorable in Your Market Place

The cornerstone of any coaching, consulting or speaking business is an effective presentation that gets you new customers.  I’ve put this site together to guide you through the secrets I learned and the processes I use take someone from “who the hell are you?” to “I love you, I want what you have, here’s my credit card- sign me up quick!” I’ve included all the steps, resources, hints, tips and insider secrets that I discovered along the way.

Here’s what one of my students had to say after applying the things she learned from me:

 

There are two key ingredients essential to getting these kind of results: the first is your passion for your products and services. The second is your sales presentation.

If you don’t love what you sell, the first thing I suggest is to find something to sell that you love, because otherwise your audience will see straight through you. One of the reasons I sold so much, was because I totally and utterly believed in what I was selling and my passion shone through.

Once you have a product you’re passionate about it’s time to focus on how to present it.

The 7 Key Presentation Elements

There are 7 Key Elements to a Profitable Sales Presentation. These 7 Keys are spelled out here assuming you will make a sale at the end of your presentation. But these same 7 Key Elements are will work even if you are not closing a sale.

It all boils down to influence- and influence is the ability to act upon someone’s character and destiny (preferably for the better!) So you can use these same 7 steps with a little creativity to inspire someone to book in for a free coaching call, to join the local parents and friends or to donate to your cause. All the principles are the same. But right here on the page I focus on using effective presentations to make sales- because once you can do that- you can do anything!

If you are looking for a specific part of the process, then click on the relevant link below and you will be re-directed to that part of the page. Otherwise just continue reading below for all the detail you need.

 The 7 Key Elements to a Profitable Sales Presentation are:

1. Create Connection: Become a welcome guest and inspire trust and responsiveness in your audience.
2. Get Permission To Do Your Thing: Demonstrate credibility and earn the right to be speaking to your audience by illustrating your past results as powerfully as possible.
3. Engage with Your Content: Decide on the action you want the audience to take, and craft the backbone of your presentation with this end in mind.
4. Establish a Need: Create dissatisfaction in your audience by illustrating where they are vs where they want to be.
5. Reveal the Product and Build Tension: Give a benefit driven description of your product.
6. Make a No-Brainer Offer: Package up your product with bonuses, and ensure you create urgency and take away risk
7. Invite Immediate Action: Finish powerfully with a commanding invitation to buy.
   

Would you like some one-on-one handholding from Joanna and the Shift Speaker Training team? Click Here To Find Out More

Step One: Create Connection

If you are serious about inspiring people to buy your product you have to realize that you are not actually selling your product. You are selling yourself.

So from the moment you step on stage your goal should be to create connection or rapport with your audience. You must capture your audience from the second you step on stage. In fact, you should be thinking about the impression you’re making even before you step on stage.

Your goal is to establish two key elements in terms of connection:

1. Trust: Your audience ought to feel like they know you and could count on you
2. Responsiveness: From the get go you need to be creating an environment, and a state in the audience, whereby they respond to each suggestion that you give. Eg if you ask for hands up, they go up; if you ask that they stand, they stand. Then when you ask them to buy they are more likely to buy.

Therefore the first 2 minutes you spend on stage are crucial. You have to remember that the first thing you say: “your opening”, is like your headline. It must capture your crowd. In this time you must ENGAGE THE WHOLE ROOM. If you lose them at this time you will RARELY re-capture their attention.

There are a number of ways of capturing your crowd during your opening:

• Ask enrolling questions: I like to open by asking questions that I know 100% of the audience will answer “yes” to. For instance if I were to speak to an audience of small business owners, I might ask : “Who here would like to increase their sales, by a show of hands? Who would like to decrease their business headaches?” Everyone who owns a small business would like more sales and less headaches wouldn’t they?

• Engage them in an activity: Once I ask my questions, I will then follow this up by engaging the crowd in some activity, such as turning to the person next to them and saying “you’re in the right place”; or get them up to meet 3 people they haven’t met yet. By doing this you take the pressure off yourself to have to rev them up. What’s more, they usually have a bit of a laugh during the process, which puts them in a nice receptive state for your message.

• Tell a GOOD joke: I have seen people use humor very effectively to capture their crowd. This takes a bit of finesse and a certain personality style, so requires confidence. It’s not for everyone!

• Blow them away with facts and stats: I have seen people start presentations using undeniable facts and stats, followed by a benefit-focused outline of their talk.

For example, here’s one my Dad uses: “Did you know that 3% of the Australian population suffer from a condition known as hyperhidrosis, commonly known as “excessive sweating”. Most people believe that if they have this condition they are destined for a life of embarrassment and low self esteem. My name is Peter Martin and in the last 18 months I have helped 261 people to conquer this condition, and tonight I will reveal a way that you can quickly and easily overcome this condition and live a life of confidence and freedom.”

Of course you can use one of these, or a mix of all. Exactly how you open will be a personal style choice. But ensure you capture everyone in the crowd.

WARNING: If you do not capture an audience member’s attention in the first 30 seconds; you will RARELY If EVER engage them later. Go after 100% involvement.

Would you like some one-on-one handholding from Joanna and the Shift Speaker Training team? Click Here To Find Out More

 

Step Two: Get Permission to do Your Thing

When you start presenting to an audience, it is always best to assume your crowd has NO IDEA who you are, unless you are 100% certain that everyone there has experienced you and your business before.

That said, you must get permission from your audience to speak to them, and ultimately to sell to them too.

There are four key elements to this step:

EXPLAIN YOUR STYLE

It is vital that early on you get permission or at least explain your style. This means if you have anything unusual that people will focus on (such as an accent, or interesting looks) explain them first so they are not distracted through the whole presentation.

This is also useful from the point of view of getting the audience to accept your speaking style:

• If it’s your first time- tell them. They’ll love you for your courage.
  
• If you want audience interaction, tell them- they’ll know what to expect.
• If you are going to go fast to get though content- tell them so they know they’ll never be able to keep up with the notes.
  

For example I always make a point of telling my audience we’ll be having a bit of fun while we learn as I tend to be a bit crazy on stage from time to time!

It doesn’t matter what style you use in your presentation, as long as you outline it up front, tell them why you are that way, and then get on with it!

Confirm Your Position as the Expert

The key here is your credibility statement. Why on earth should these people bother to listen to you? Once you have an answer to this question, you just need to reveal this information to them in a powerful way.

Things to think about as you create a credibility statement:

• What’s your story or hook?

• What specific results have you achieved that prove your credibility?

• Have you got any testimonials that prove your credibility?

• Have you written a book?

WARNING: If you do not establish credibility, members of your audience will spend your entire presentation trying to prove you wrong or pick out flaws and faults in what you do. So make sure you wow them with your credibility so they sit up and take notice.

GET BUY-IN FOR WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO TEACH

It makes good teaching sense to give your audience an overview of the steps of formula you are going to teach.

Your aim with this step is to have them desperate to know what you know. You want them to agree that they NEED to know what you are about to share.

Ask Permission for the sale

WARNING: This DOES NOT MEAN saying “So is it OK if I tell you why I’m so great and then sell you a $3000 product”. It needs a little finesse!

It is vital to get permission. Think about it. If a friend asks you “can I talk to you about something?” What do you usually say and do? Most of us (at least the polite ones) say “sure”, and then sit down with the friend and give them our undivided attention.

The same goes with your presentation. If you ask permission, your audience will unconsciously respond like a friend, and sit up and take notice. What’s more, they will respect how polite you are, which will endear you to them.

If I know that at the end of my presentation I will be making an offer on one of my products, I also like to covertly get permission for the sales pitch up front.

I have done this many ways, but it might sound something like this. After my credibility statement I might say:

“So is it OK if over the next 90 minutes I tell you exactly how I created these sorts of results and give you the opportunity to do the same in your own business?”
Notice that I’m not saying: “… how I created these sorts of results and then make you an offer you can’t refuse?”

I prefer to get permission to “give them an opportunity” or “show them how to do something”, knowing that when push comes to shove, the “how to” is best achieved by buying whatever product I’m offering.

Would you like some one-on-one handholding from Joanna and the Shift Speaker Training team? Click Here To Find Out More

 

Step Three: Engage With Your Content

This is the part of the presentation when you should teach something.  Deliver value.  There is no such thing as too much content, only a too complicated delivery.  So when designing the backbone of your presentation there are some key things to remember.

Who Are You Speaking to?

Who are your audience and what level of expertise do they have in your field? For example if you are an accountant speaking to a group of solo-preneurs with limited accounting knowledge, don’t teach them about “Advanced Tax Planning Strategies for Medium Size Businesses.” Ask yourself the following questions and design your backbone to deliver what they want:

• Who are your audience?
• What level of experience do they have?
• What are their needs, wants, fears and frustrations?
• What are they desperate to know?
  
• What’s their biggest problem?
• What’s their greatest dream?

Create the Content so that IT SELLS YOUR PRODUCT

For example, if you are a chiropractor and you’re doing an evening seminar for a group of prospects where you plan to sell your “12 Weeks to Incredible Back Health” Program; don’t deliver a presentation on the application of chiropractic in pregnancy.

I know it seems straightforward; but I have see people deliver a presentation with great information, and then try and sell a totally unrelated product; and it just doesn’t work as effectively.

Think about Timing

How much time do you have? Create the backbone so that it fits easily into your time restrictions. Things to think about:

• Your opening will take 5-10 minutes to establish the responsiveness and trust that you need.
• Your offer will likely take 10-15 minutes to make at the end.
• You should spend no more than 8 minutes per point (it has been shown that people’s attention span switches off after this time).
• I advise that you stick to 5 points in total for a 60-90 minute presentation. More than that can get overwhelming

What’s your style?

When it comes to creating your backbone there are two schools of thought.

EDUCATION: Some speakers will load on the content and high value information, lavishing their audience with all the details of what they need to do and how to do it. These types of speakers operate with the belief that their audience will respond: “Wow! If they give me this much information for free, imagine what great quality their product/service will be if I buy it.” This type of speaker works under the principle of “The Law of Reciprocity”

ENTERTAINMENT: Other speakers may seem to say an awful lot, but actually don’t teach very much. They are often quite fast paced and entertaining in their delivery. They might tell you a lot of what to do, but very little, if any, how-to information. Their assumption is that by not giving content their audience will have to buy the product to get the assistance they really need.

Both schools of thought are right, and both work. And generally there is a spectrum between 100% education and 100% entertainment. Being a spectrum, any mix can work, and I believe it’s a matter of making a decision about what feels comfortable for you.

WARNING: If you are not naturally dynamic and entertaining I would advise you to tend toward a content- or education-driven presentation. Let your content sell you if you are not that confident in selling yourself.

 

 

Would you like some one-on-one handholding from Joanna and the Shift Speaker Training team? Click Here To Find Out More

 

Step Four: Establish Need

The next phase of your presentation should establish a need for change in your audience. As you get more proficient, you can make this phase happen covertly during the “backbone” part of your presentation. But to begin with you can think about it as a separate part of the presentation if it makes it easier.

Ultimately your goal in this part is TO CREATE TENSION BETWEEN WHERE THEY ARE AND WHERE THEY WANT TO BE.

Once again there are two ways to make this work.

Pain motivated

Using this strategy you identify your audience’s pain, aggravate it, rub some salt in the wound, and then demonstrate how your product will take their pain away.

This is moving them from “pain” to “no problems”.

Inspiration motivated

Using this strategy you paint a bright, inspiring vision of the future, and point out all of the wonderful things that would be possible for them in this new future. You then demonstrate how far from this “ideal” they are currently.

This is moving them from “no problems” to “inspiration”.

I used to believe the only way to get people motivated was to get them feeling their pain and solve their problem for them. However recently I saw one of the most graceful sales processes, selling over USD$240,000 that was entirely inspiration motivated.

Again there is a gradient.

 

 

So the key here is to establish a need for your product by creating tension between where they are now and where they could be in the future with your product or service.

Use Testimonials

Overlay the backbone of your presentation with testimonials.

One of my favorite things to do to add impact to a presentation is to use testimonials. Testimonials are a great way to demonstrate the value of a certain skill I am teaching. During the backbone I use testimonials to prove that the point I’m making is true. Testimonials serve a second purpose as well. They pre-prove that the product I will sell them at the end works.

Would you like some one-on-one handholding from Joanna and the Shift Speaker Training team? Click Here To Find Out More

 

Step Five: Reveal the Product and Further Build Tension

Before your presentation you should have thought long and hard about your product and how you will package it to create an offer that is so compelling for your audience that it becomes a “no-brainer”.

Things to think about when designing your offer:

• Who is your audience and what is it they want from you?
  
• What price point is reasonable based on what you know of your audience?
  
• What is the central product: is it CDs, DVDs, books, consumer products, seminars, consulting, other services, or a mix?
  
• What bonuses could you add to build the value to an extreme level? Always be thinking about bonuses which are high perceived value to the customer, but low cost for you to deliver. I endeavor to come up with enough good quality bonuses that the value of the bonuses exceeds the value of the actual product.
  
• Could you make a two-tiered product offering, perhaps a basic version of your pack and a deluxe version with an extra special bonus or two? Now your audience should not be thinking “do I buy or not?”, they should be thinking “which package do I buy?”

WHEN REVEALING THE PRODUCT CONTINUE TO BUILD TENSION

By this stage in your presentation your audience should be feeling a little uncomfortable, and that’s good. They will be aware of the fact that they are not getting the results they deserve.

Imagine you have a rubber band. From this point until you solve their problem by making your compelling offer on your product, your job is to stretch that band further and further, and increase the tension more and more. The tension is the difference between where they see themselves now and where they would like to be at some point in the future.

This segment is the beginning of the close. During this segment you can introduce:

• Why you created your product (briefly, what problem does it solve).

• What your product is called.

• Who it’s for.

• Who it’s not for (“takeaway selling”).

• A benefit-focused description of what it does AND WHAT IT INCLUDES.

• Proof of what you say is true with further testimonials if needed.

  WARNING: I see seasoned professionals who are gifted entertainers turn into stilted robots when it comes to introducing the product. It is ESSENTIAL that you deliver this part of the presentation with just as much emotion and passion as you did the backbone. Although you are revealing information about the product, your focus should be on BUILDING TENSION.

Would you like some one-on-one handholding from Joanna and the Shift Speaker Training team? Click Here To Find Out More

 

Step Six: Make Your No-Brainer Offer

Your audience should be almost agitated and wanting to jump out of their seat by now. Your next job is to give them a reason to buy NOW.

REASON WHY

A good “reason why means you can’t just say “there’s only 10 spots so hurry now”. You must say something like: “Because we only have room for 9 more clients on our books, I am going to make an offer, which will be available for the first 9 of you who choose to take action immediately.

LAW OF SCARCITY

How can you employ the Law of Scarcity? If something is perceived as scarce the value goes up. People want what they can’t have. So when designing your offer think about what “limiter” you can put on it. I’m a great believer in TELLING THE TRUTH. So… make sure you always endorse this with…

GUARANTEE

What guarantee can you make on your product or service that removes all risk for the customer? The bigger and bolder the guarantee the more you will sell.

WARNING: When delivering your offer DON’T WIMP OUT!! Your delivery must be punchy and roll off the tongue with confidence and certainty. Don’t apologize!

Would you like some one-on-one handholding from Joanna and the Shift Speaker Training team? Click Here To Find Out More

 

Step Seven: Invite Immediate Action

Once you’ve outlined and inspired people with your offer you have to tell them exactly what to do. The reason for this is that if you’ve done a good job with the connection step, they might not want to be rude and break the connection to go and buy what you’re offering.

Therefore you must invite them to buy. I like to use “embedded commands” in this step. An embedded command is a three step command where the first two steps tell you how to do it, and the last step tells you what to do.

For example:

“I invite you right now to close your notebook, run to the back and register for this seminar.”

Warning: I have seen countless presentations come unstuck at this point. Once you have delivered your invitation to action: SHUT UP AND GET OFF STAGE! Do not take questions. Do not ask anyone else to speak. Just thank them for their time, tell them where you’ll be and close the session.

The easy way to do it

If all of the above seems just too hard, or too much to digest at once or if you’d like some on-going support as you apply these steps to your own money-making stage presentation, then I can help.

For a tiny fee per month you get access to my silver mentoring program to guide you in detail every step of the way.

I’ll show you how to create your very own money-making presentation in your niche, as well as systems and strategies for creating an “Elegant Business Model” in your business. Your business that will give you your time back and makes you money while you sleep.

One of the biggest traps for speakers is they become very good at what they do, and then only know how to make money on stage. On this page we have covered just one of the core principles we outlined above- the “effective presentation”. In our program we go through the 3 core principles so that you can build up your business to 6 or even 7 figures through speaking!

1. Effective Presentations that Inspire ACTION in Your Audience and Make You Big Money
   
2. Elegant Business Models that mean you continue to Make Big Money even when you are not on stage
   
3. Speaking Skills that Make You Memorable in Your Market Place
   

Plus you get access to the Shift Speaker Training Team via email and phone to answer your questions, make suggestions, and point you in the right direction.

To find out more about what the mentoring program covers, and to see FREE previews of the classes you will receive please click here.

You owe it to yourself!

Would you like some one-on-one handholding from Joanna and the Shift Speaker Training team? Click Here To Find Out More

If you’ve found yourself here, and have digested all this information I’d be willing to bet that you have a message you want to get out into the world. You have products and services you’re passionate about. You want to contribute and you want to be rewarded for that. You absolutely deserve this and our mission is to help people like you to create the lifestyle you deserve by sharing your passion with the world. So right now, make a commitment to yourself that you will take some action.

 

Next steps

The next step for you is to write a killer presentation and practice, practice, practice! Also get yourself a mentor who’s “been there and done it”, so you have someone you can rely on for advice and support.

Would you like some one-on-one handholding from Joanna and the Shift Speaker Training team? Click Here To Find Out More

 

Good luck!

While I’m happy to receive email queries, we don't guarantee that we will get back to you immediately. We have an FAQ page with answers to the most common queries, so please check the FAQ page at this site to see if your question’s answered there.

Meanwhile, get out there and start sharing your passion!

Cheers,