Calling all professional speakers, trainers and consultants in Colorado and Wyoming. National Speakers Association-Colorado Chapter is having our monthly meeting April 12th, 2008 from 8:30 am -12:30- p.m.
As the incoming President of our Colorado Chapter I want to extend a personal invitation to all of (Read on …)
My friend, Sarah Michel, is one of the most sought after Networking Conference Speakers. Sarah is a professional speaker and her networking skills are phenomenal. As a past President of National Speakers Association, Colorado Chapter-Sarah has generously shared her networking prowess with us.
Sarah is a master at communicating with complete strangers and showing them how to build (Read on …)
Phil Rosenthal was a writer and producer for “Everybody Loves Raymond’ for its entire nine-year run. He has a new book out called “You’re Lucky You’re Funny”. I read the review on the book and liked what I read about how he incorporates humor into his show. His secret is specificity. When your are speaking to an audience there are specific pieces of humor that may only be known to that organization or association. If you do your homework and discover what humor is specific to them you are going to be there hero and remembered long after the event.
He mentions that one of the reasons we see so many failed comedies today is that writers keep looking to get the next laugh instead of trying to “tell a great story’. The same is true for you. Many executives are initially reluctant to share a personal story with their employees, I think this is a mistake. If the story has relevance to your current situation and it makes a powerful point-I would encourage you to use it in your presentation! By taking advantage of telling a great story that is personal to you-your audience will have a strong emotional bond with you and your message. don’t miss out on this opportunity! Via: New York Times.
Steve Mertz
Humor Sells Messages!
Technorati Tags: Public Speaking, Presentations, Phil Rosenthal, New York Times
With the ever increasing global economy-many of us have been exposed to international opportunities. The opportunities can be very rewarding but Dr. Gary Goodman gives us some timely advice on the hidden costs of delivering an international speech. Read his full article here.
Steve Mertz
International Opportunities
Andy Beal is an expert on Search Engine Optimization and he has a post about one of his biggest beefs when it comes to experts speaking at conferences: “They Turn Speaking Engagements Into “Sales Pitches”.
“It’s a sad fact that most “expert speakers” don’t understand what their audience wants to hear from them. I’ve seen too many speakers stand-up and provide the audience with high-level theories and concepts. They then hit their audience with a double-whammy of atrocity. First, they never actually provide solutions to the problems they’re discussing – fearful that they’ll give away too much information. Second, they compound this by turning the presentation into a sales-pitch for the company they represent. Arrgh!Want to know which speakers end-up getting a fistful of business cards at the end of their talk? It’s the ones who’ve shared so much great advice and information with the audience that the attendees think to themselves…
“Wow, that’s really going to help our company, but it sounds so complex and time consuming. I know what, that guy seems to know his stuff. If he shared that amount of information in a 20 minute presentation, imagine the amount of info I’ll get if I hire his search marketing firm.”
I always encourage financial advisors, executives and small business owners to speak at conferences to gain exposure and establish themselves as experts. This is an excellent way to gain credibility quickly but as the above comment points out it can be disastrous if you abuse your invitation. Here are some tips on maximizing your speaking presentation at conferences.
1. Have a very clear understanding of your topic and stick to it.
2. Ask the meeting planner if you can give a handout or include a link to your website.
3. Don’t be afraid to share your “best” information-it will only enhance your expertise.
4. Be respectful of your allotted time-do not go over your time slot.
5. Have your presentation in modules so if you are given less or more time you can make it happen without stressing out!
6. Remember to incorporate some humor that is specific to the conference attendees.
7. Ask permission to interview 3-5 members who will be attending to gain inside insights to their specific problems or concerns.
8. Make your slides available to the audiences. Simply have the attendees write “slides” on their business cards and you can email them the slides.
9. Be available to the audience after your presentation.
10. Thank the organizers. It’s a small world and a small thing like a thank you will buy you a lot of good will!
11. Have fun
Steve Mertz
Break a Leg!
Technorati Tags: Public Speaking, Sales Presentations Training, Search Engine Optimization, Andy Beal, Sales Pitches
Someone wrote me an email and asked why we chose to give away an Apple video iPod as a gift. There actually is a good reason-one that I took from baseball! Several teams are now downloading a pitchers best performance or a hitters great game and having the players review them on their iPod’s. I think this is a great idea and one that we want to encourage presenters to use.
We believe in reinforcing what is working well in your sales presentations and being able to see and hear your best performances is a great way to ensure continued success-wouldn’t you agree? Consider this: Alex Rodriguez is the third baseman for the New York Yankees. Last year he was voted the most valuable player in baseball. This year he is struggling and for the last week or so is going 2 for 20 with 14 strikeouts! He is in a major slump and is really beating himself up mentally. What is his solution for trying to break out of this slump? He watched one of his worst performance for hours. In this game he struck out 4 times and committed an error! I would offer this up as proof that when you want to take your presentation skills to the next level watch your best performance, not one that you will mentally beat yourself up.
Steve Mertz
Reinforce Your Great Public Presentations!
Technorati Tags: Sales Presentations Training, Public Speaking, Apple iPod, New york Yankees, Alex Rodriguez
David Hornick, one of my favorite venture capitalist writers, has a great post on his blog Venture Blog. Hornick was at a conference discussing vertical search. Someone asked if there was anything left in the search engine arena and Hornick replied that he had spent the week searching for information on the best barbecue for Dad’s Day but had come up with little useful information.
Next week an entrepreneur was in front of Hornick to pitch his product. He told Hornick “I understand you are looking for the perfect bar-b-q–We’ll I’ve got it right here.” The brochures were a joke but immediately he had captured Hornick’s attention.
The entrepreneur had done several things right:
1. He had done his homework.
2. He had caught Hornick’s attention
3. He displayed a sense of humor
4. He was able to relate his search product to one of Hornick’s problems
A perfect example of what all good public speakers should include in their sales presentation. It doesn’t matter if we are pitching an venture capitalist or convincing our financial representatives on the benefits of becoming a wealth manager.
Read Hornick’s post here.
Steve Mertz
Barbecues and Search Engines!
Technorati Tags:
Public Speaking, Venture Capitalists, Sales Presentations, David Hornick, Venture Blog
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Last week I was speaking with a potential client who wanted executive speech coaching. He has an important meeting coming up and needs to convey an important shift in corporate culture. He told me: ” I feel I speak pretty well off the cuff.”
Here are some of my top reasons on why you might not want to speak off the cuff when you are delivering a very important public presentation:
1. You will have a tendency to waffle on your opening and not have a killer opening.
2. It’s very easy to forget key points.
3. It’s easy to dilute your message by leaving your key points and speaking completely off topic.
4. You are thinking too much about making your presentation and forget to engage the audience in a meaningful way.
5. By jumping around from point to point without an orderly transition and tie in-your audience becomes confused and then bored!
6. You have a tendency not to anchor key points with memorable stories.
7. You forget the “call to action”
8. You don’t have a strong close for your presentation.
The art of great public speaking is having a fabulous presentation that you have rehearsed until you are blue in the face and having your audience feel that you were speaking “just to me” in a conversational manner!!
Steve Mertz
Public Speaking is an Art!
Tags: Public Speaking, Sales Presentations, Executive Speech Coaching, Speech Coaching.
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The question is: Will the publicity be good or bad for your public speaking career? A few weeks ago I commented that Guy Kawasaki had an excellent presentation but I was distracted by his use of offensive language. Last week, Garr Reynolds over at Presentation Zen was surprised to hear Tony Robbins-yes that Tony, call Al Gore a son-of-a-bitch in a public presentation. Garr opined that maybe he had been living in Japan too long.
Here’s my take away on why good presenters, usually male, swear in public. It’s a guys way of saying I’ve made it and I really don’t need this speaking engagement. I don’t really care what the meeting planner or audience thinks-I’ve earned it, and frankly, I’m pretty darned important in my mind! Just my opinion but feel free to share yours.
Presentation Zen has some excellent clips you may want to review-including the one from bad boy, Tony Robbins. The presenters were given 15 to 20 minutes to present and TED (Technology, Education & Design) was kind enough to make these videos available from their February 2006 sold out event in Montreal. Here is the link: If Your Idea is Worth Spreading, Then Presentation Matters.
Steve Mertz
Should Presenters Cuss in Public?
I frequently see a Google search with the phrase: “elevator speech financial advisor” or “financial advisor elevator speech”. It seems to go in phases, sometimes I get close to one hundred inquires a month so I did a Google search and here are some of the leading thoughts on “The Elevator Speech.” I just grabbed these randomly so there are no specific credits given.
One person says she is an : affluenziologist” who helps people transfer their values as well as their valuables to future generations.
Another quote: “I’m a money doctor. I make sick money well,”
Another: “My friends call me the financial farmer. I help my clients plant the seeds, nurture their crops and harvest the fruits of their labors when the time is right.”
I don’t know that I personally could of used these when I was an investment advisor but the test is this: Do potential clients get an a-ha moment or do they probe and ask more questions that eventually gets you an appointment and ultimately a client?
A real eye opener can be to ask your current clients why they do business with you-it may not be the reason that you think at all. From this information you may be able to construct that witty elevator speech that sets you apart from all others!
I don’t think there is just one answer but as a consumer I would want to hear a statement that was filled with benefits for me-after all, as a consumer, it’s all about me. I’ve told financial advisors before that they could feel free to steal one of my opening questions to audiences. I ask them how much the “average American” spends a year at Starbucks? The answer turns out to be between $1500 and $1800 a year. It’s then fun to ask the audience to envision their current portfolio and ask them if their current portfolio throws off enough in interest and dividends to pay for their Starbucks outing? It gets audiences thinking about their “exit strategy” and how you might help them.
So, if I were a financial advisor crafting an elevator speech I might try to incorporate something along the lines of: I position my clients portfolios to generate enough income to pay for their Starbucks outings as well as the other necessities of life! Food for thought-I hope this information gives you some ideas for crafting those elevator speeches!
Steve Mertz
Elevator Speeches are mini Sales Presentations!
Tags: Sales Presentation Training, Elevator Speech, Google, Public Speaking.