MICHELLE MAZUR, ph.D

GUEST WRITER

Founder of Communication Rebel

Michelle Mazur, Ph.D. is the host of the Rebel Speaker Podcast & the CEO of Communication Rebel where she helps speakers get paid to speak by crafting a message that matters to audiences and to the people who hire speakers. After working with her clients have gone on to book $10,000 speaking gigs, become international speakers (even speaking in front of First Ladies!), and negotiated their highest speaking fees!  Be the next speaker to get big results by going to drmichellemazur.com/result

Speak-to-Sell is the most talked about system to get clients and customers through speaking. They promise big-time results (5-figure even 6-figures) from just one speech.

But here’s the rebel truth: most speakers don’t enjoy selling from the stage. It doesn’t feel good or natural. It feels like you’re an old-timey snake oil salesman.

The double rebel truth: Audiences HATE being sold to.

Think about the last time you felt like you were being sold to – it felt gross – like the salesperson didn’t give a crap about you and only cared about your money. Euw!

Speak-to-sell is no fun for you and it’s no fun for the audience, but isn’t it the only way to get clients with speaking?

Heck no! There’s a better way with a speech that converts!

Here’s what to focus on to start creating a speech that converts with zero selling from the stage.

Get Clear On What You Are Offering

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Even though you won’t be pitching your wares during your speech, it’s important to start with the end in mind (Man, Stephen Covey was a smart man). – @drmichellemazur” quote=”Even though you won’t be pitching your wares during your speech, it’s important to start with the end in mind (Man, Stephen Covey was a smart man).” theme=”style3″]

Too many speakers don’t have a clear idea what they want the audience to buy from them. After all, you’ve got so many different products or services, doesn’t it just make sense to grow your brand awareness and then “customize” the offer to each person.

No. Growing your brand awareness through speaking is the fast track to not getting paid for speaking.

You can’t convert an audience into clients if you’ve got a whole variety of products in mind while you write your speech.

Pick one of your products or services (hopefully one you’ve sold before) and then that is the end of your speech. Get clear on what you’re selling then the process of creating that speech that leads to the sale is a whole lot easier.

Action: Pick one product or service that you want to market with your speaking before you start

Meet Your Audience Where They Are

Now that you have the end in mind, you need to figure out where the audience is beginning with your area of expertise.

One of the biggest reasons a speech does not convert is that speakers don’t meet the audience exactly where they are. Instead, the speaker starts with the solution that they offer.

An audience doesn’t want to hear about your solution until they know that you understand the problem they have.

I’ve seen social media managers give the how-to’s of social media when the audience is terrified of being SEEN anywhere.

I’ve seen a life coach overwhelm already overwhelmed high-performing women with information that they were never going to use.

I’ve seen business coaches go into excruciating detail about every aspect of running a business when the audience didn’t know what they were selling.

When you don’t meet the audience at the starting point of their journey, they are not going to follow because they feel like you don’t understand what they need.

Action: Figure out what problem you’re actually solving for the audience and start there.

Give The Audience a Real Result During Your Speech

A presentation that doesn't seek to make change is a waste of time and energy. ~Seth Godin

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Seth is 100% correct. I’d say a speech that converts audiences into clients always seeks to make a change. Whether the audience buys from you or not, you want to transform them in a meaningful way. – @drmichellemazur” quote=”Seth is 100% correct. I’d say a speech that converts audiences into clients always seeks to make a change. Whether the audience buys from you or not, you want to transform them in a meaningful way.” theme=”style3″]

Whether you give them an “I never thought about it that way before” moment or give them a new behavior  (think Mel Robbins 5 Second Rule), you want to make an impact.

When you give the audience the exact transformation they need, they’ll be curious about the work you do and what else you can do for them.

Action: Create a result for the audience during your talk and that will leave them wanting more

Take them Deeper with One Call to Action

The best part of the speech that converts process is that your call to action is 100% aligned with your existing sales process.

Look at your current sales process. If you kill it on discovery calls, invite them to chat with you. Your funnel works like a charm, give them the lead magnet that kicks it off.

No matter which call-to-action you decided to focus on, make that step an easy yes from the audience.

Action: Look at your existing sales process and pick your call-to-action.

Follow Through and Follow-Up

Business owners, can I be real with you?

I once saw a speaker that I really loved. I said yes to her offer of a free consult and patiently waited for her to email me.

I waited. And I waited. I waited some more.

I’m still freaking waiting because she never sent me what was promised. In fact, I never heard from her again.

Always follow through and send the people who said “heck, yes” to you what you promised.

Once you’ve done that be sure to follow-up. It’s not enough to email them once and if you don’t hear back figure “that is that.”

Instead, have a whole system of follow-up in place.

Action: Decide how to follow-up.

The bottom line is this: you don’t have to sell from the stage to make money with speaking.

Speaking can be one of the most profitable ways to promote your business if you ditch the pitch and focus on meeting your audience where they are, giving them a real result and always following up.

The best part is the audience will LOVE you because they won’t feel sold to.