A.  Relax! No one “needs to speak”.

Speaking to groups of prospects is one path to developing relationships that can lead to business.  We believe it’s a particularly effective way to become known as the expert in your field.

It’s not the only path, of course.  Not every person likes speaking in public.  It would be foolish to try to convince the unwilling to abandon their comfort zone and stand at a podium with a great big Rotary Club emblem on it!

The key to growing your business is meeting new people and building relationships with them.  Joining close-contact networking groups or volunteering for causes that matter to you are some ways to meet people.  Participating on LinkedIn is a fun way to see “who knows who” and to offer advice and answers, showcasing your expertise.

As people get to know you and like you, and understand your business, some will become customers.  Others may become referral sources, even raving fans!

A:  Speaking is marketing.  Speakers are credible experts.  Speakers who are educational, informative and entertaining insure that audience members feel they’ve gained something.

That makes them choose to do business with — or ask for information from — the guest speaker.

Expert speakers “monetize” their time in tactful and graceful ways. From the stage they naturally suggest to listeners:

• visit my blog
• give me your business card
• join my mailing list
• ask for an appointment

They also use “Back of the Room” (aka the book table) techniques to sell physical or information products:

• book
• audio CDs with advanced information
• videos of previous speeches
• audio courses
• memberships
• consultation appointments

Speaking for free enhances one’s credibility as the expert and fills the income-generating pipeline!

A: A speakers bureau is an agency that acts as a broker to match professional (paid) speakers with clients who are looking for particular speaking topics, level of expertise and/or degree of celebrity.

The client (corporate event planners, convention agencies, promoters) typically pays the speakers bureau, which deducts its commission and forwards the balance to the speaker.

HornBlowers works with entrepreneurs and professionals who benefit from unpaid speaking engagements in order to share their expertise and build credibility.

Groups and associations that meet on a regular basis have an ongoing need for quality, captivating after-lunch or after-dinner speakers.

We match the speakers with the right associations, but the associations never pay a fee to HornBlowers or to the speakers.

So when you land a chance to speak before an association full of your prospects, you’ll want to maximize your impact by showing some love to the program chair.

• Send a head shot that they can use to promote you as their next speaker.  Try to have the same hair color or style when you show up to speak.
• Supply them with a written biography to publish in their newsletter or ezine. A biography is meant to be read with the eyes.
• Verify the meeting date, time, place, and even where to park/enter. Confirm DAY and date, just to be safe.
• Tell them that you will bring a written introduction with you, that they can read aloud. So they won’t have to Google your name on the way to the meeting!
• Also provide them with a written Outro. So they can actually relax and enjoy your speech!

When you follow these tips you will have Program Chairs eating out of your hand (or, better yet, telling all their friends-who-are-also-program-chairs that they need to book you stat)!

We are often asked how to get speaking gigs.  Besides the obvious answer (hire us), here are some basic steps to getting placed in unpaid gigs:

• Identify your ideal/target clients (keep in mind that specific is more profitable than general).
• Determine where those people meet regularly (civic clubs, professional associations, church groups, corporate lunch & learns).
• Compile a list of the associations and get the contact info for each program chair (or VP Programming).
• Contact them and tell them what topics you can speak on. (Send them a Speaking Options menu if you have one.)
• Get on the schedule!

If a program chair says they have no openings on the schedule, ask them to keep your info. Tell them you can be available to substitute if other speakers have to cancel. They will love you for that!

Speaking of love, our next post will give you more tips on how to spoil the program chair.  Stay tuned!

Ehh.   It’s to present a verbal curriculum vitae of the speaker.

No, it’s really to show how cool you were in convincing (or hiring) this celebrity to come speak to your group

Folks,  you introduce someone to help the audience get a sneak peek at why they are going to LIKE the speaker!

Check out this video of chiropractor Dr. Nya Jahdai-Brown introducing banker Erik Bryant.  Watch his facial expressions.

He sucks at Taboo.  But I’ll bet he gives a lively talk at 7:30 a.m.

I was the only patient each time. Doctor T would wash his hands with Neutrogena soap, fix my braces, wash his hands again, then open his appointment book to schedule my next appointment. I think my Mom mailed him payments because I never had to bring a check.

Doctor T probably made enough money to support his family, since he and Mrs. T had seven children and he drove a nice Volvo. But he did it one patient at a time.

My thirteen-year-old saw his orthodontist this morning. A call from the automatic reminder system last night helped ensure his attendance. Friendly dental assistants performed all of the snipping, clipping, stretching, and tightening that was required. The doctor came in to ensure that all was performed properly, then he walked on to the next four patients for similar reviews. Since automatic bank drafts are required, all the receptionist had to do was hand us a computerized appointment slip as we departed.

This is outsourcing. (You may have noticed that “outsourcing” is the Word of the Year for 2010 in the internet marketing world). It is not limited to low-wage workers churning out t-shirts or trinkets or websites on foreign soil.

Could our doctor make the reminder phone calls himself? Could he tighten and adjust my kid’s braces each month? Could he collect payments and schedule appointments? Sure. He is a smart man (for goodness sakes, he graduated from orthodontist school).

Here is the beauty of outsourcing: allowing competent people to handle the tasks that don’t require your own technical or creative expertise, so you may do more of (and earn more from) the work you enjoy.

(I’ve seen this guy’s car. It ain’t your father’s Volvo!)

At HornBlowers, we toot your horn! We put together a Program Options Menu – a one page sheet that lists four to seven speaking topics. The headlines are creative, sometimes even sexy. One or two sentences describe the content for each topic. The program chair can look at this page and say “I want THIS person to talk about THIS topic!”

If you would like to see an example of a Program Options Menu for one of our clients, please ask and we will send you a .pdf copy.

A well-planned introduction considers what your audience wants to get out of the experience, be it musical, technical or educational.

Which guitarist would you rather listen to at a conference banquet?

A. Abel: “Abel graduated from the Chicago Music Conservatory with a bachelor’s degree in Music Theory and Composition. He won the prestigious Gold Award from the Guitar Institute of America in 1997. He has performed for major corporations and colleges in thirty-two states, and played twice at the White House.”

B. Baker: “Baker always wanted to be a pitcher for the New York Mets. But at age eleven, the same year he caught his Mom kissing Santa Claus, he was cut from his Little League team. He eventually found solace in a six-string Gibson as he discovered a talent for playing the blues. He’s never looked back.”

If I’m at the closing banquet after three days of technical papers and lectures, I’m ready for a good time, and I want to hear Baker.

On the other hand, if my banquet is for a professional music educators’ association, I might favor Abel.

And guess what? Abel and Baker could very well be the same person! He’s going to play whatever music he’s already decided upon, but the words used to introduce him can set the mood and expectation for the performance.

(Just like the choice of smoked salmon canapes or pigs-in-blankets can for the dinner.)

But a minute is all it should take. Think of an appetizer – just a taste before the main course!

Well-meaning and/or ill-prepared introducers often feel the need to catalog and report on every aspect of a speaker’s life and career:

“. . . and when Gerry was in sixth grade . . . “

They either don’t take the time or they don’t have the discernment to focus on the main points that can relate to the speaking topic at hand. This can result in inadvertently contrasting the speaker’s life with their own:

” . . . Frank was probably a better student than I was, heh-heh-heh. While I was playing football at State he was probably . . .”

Intros should be sixty seconds long, for the sake of :

* the audience  members, who don’t need to hear their program chair talk about how clever he was in choosing this speaker;  and

*the individual who is nervously awaiting a turn at the microphone, wondering when the moment will arrive!

Our clients are accomplished professionals who love to share their expertise with groups at lunchtime meetings. But we know that stomach butterflies often wake up right before it’s time to speak!

We send our speaking clients with powerful one minute introductions. These are typed out for the program chair to read aloud, without having to do any research.

Because our client has approved the intro, and she knows exactly how long it will take to be read aloud, she can relax and focus on her timing (and breathing!).

Bye, bye, butterflies.