How to Get Started with Public Speaking
Posted in Public Speaking
How to Get Started with Public Speaking
Have you ever wondered how to get started with public speaking? It is not written in stone that you must get up in front of a large audience and put on a full, two-hour presentation. There are many ways to get started with public speaking. The trick is to find ways that are within your comfort zone. Then you move yourself slightly out of your comfort zone with each step that you conquer.
Here are a few strategies that you might find helpful to help you get stated with public speaking.
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Get Comfortable Online
Create a Skype or teleconference workshop for people you know well – and who you know would be supportive.
Think about members of any active forum you belong to, your Facebook industry intimates, fellow Facebook Group members, your subscribers or online friends that share the same hobby or career as you.
Make it small and on one topic you have already mastered.
Better yet, make your group teleconference a regular feature, so that you grow comfortable presenting to others.
We have a weekly teleseminar training series that we repurpose into a podcast. It is a wonderful way to get comfortable with public speaking. To find out more about starting your own podcast, check out Podcasting Power.
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Host a Local Workshop
Do you belong to any local business organizations? Then offer to host a local workshop on a topic you know well.
Prepare handouts. For example, you could prepare a tip sheet, or summary of the points you made, or outline of the methods you used. A list of resources is also a popular handout.
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Volunteer to Give a Storytelling Session at a Local School
You may be amazed at how responsive even the most rambunctious audience will be. Children naturally love stories, and if you can successfully tell a story to your own children – or you have just taken a storytelling course – you can do this at a school.
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Give Free Short Mini-Talks at Local Business Meetings
Local business organizations are always looking for guest speakers. Hone your skills by volunteering to give mini-talks on a single topic. Keep them to fifteen minutes or less. That way, you are not responsible for an entire event – just a small segment of it – and you can get your feet wet in comfort.
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Be the Lifesaver
Local business organizations often find that their scheduled speaker is a no-show. The point is, be the one who is heroically ready to fill the gap. Therefore, before every local business meeting, have a short speech totally prepared and practiced on a relevant topic.
The practice will help decrease your nervousness and improve your public speaking skills. You will be ready to save the day and be the lifesaver.
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Create a Paid Product
Pre-record your speech and use it to promote a product. The trick is making sure that the speech itself is as value-rich as your paid product – and that both are unique, original and exactly what your audience needs.
Those are eight ways to dip your foot into the stream of public speaking. Now let us see how we can accelerate your public speaking career by helping your great reputation spread like wildfire.
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Live Public Speaking
Even if you only have a gig or two under your belt, live your dream with passion. If you do – if all your focus for now is on developing your career in public speaking – you will find yourself naturally “talking it up” with genuine enthusiasm.
Let people know why you love giving presentations, what you specialize in, where you have spoken, what you have to offer – and most of all, let them know you are available.
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Carry Business Cards
Make sure you always carry business cards positioning yourself as a public speaker.
Then when you do talk up your public speaking abilities, hand out more than one per person. Ask people to pass your cards on if they know someone who might find hiring you the solution to a problem.
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Specialize
While many entrepreneurs are quite capable of speaking well on a variety of topics to a variety of audiences, your best strategy lies in specializing – becoming known as the expert in one specific area of one niche field.
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Focus on Your Promise
A good speech includes a promise of what people are going to take away if they stay and listen. A great speech delivers on that promise by the end of the speech – and reminds the audience they have done so.
Always spend time on your promise. What is it going to be for this audience? Can you kick it up a notch or two?
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Create Website Presences
You need to be findable online as a public speaker – so make sure you place that information in several different website spots. You can create:
- A speaker profile, cv or bio in your Media Section
- A “Hire [Your Name] to Speak” section
- A contact form for public speaking inquiries
- Another website only for your public speaking, including transcripts or samples of past speeches
12. Attend Conferences and Networking Events
These are fantastic places to make connections in your own niche or industry. Even if you do not find anyone there to hire you, networking strong personal contacts can lead to recommendations from those contacts.
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Volunteer
Offer to speak at your local Chamber of Commerce, civic groups, and other business and service-oriented organizations. Many offer monthly meetings and are always on the hunt for speakers, so it is a wonderful way to build up your speaking chops while helping a worthy cause.
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Join Groups
Join both online and offline groups that include or focus on public speaking. Look beyond your local Toastmasters chapter, to include local business organizations that need and use speakers at every meeting. Also, join focused LinkedIn and Facebook Groups.
These groups can give you plenty of practice – and exposure.
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Just Ask!
Approach organizations you want to speak to. Find out the name of the correct person to contact – and send a query letter and/or your Speaker Profile Sheet.
Outline either one huge benefit to the organization or list three to five strong benefits. Give them the same promise you would include in your speech.
Conclusion/Call to Action
Learning how to get started with public speaking is essential to building your visibility, credibility, and authority status. Remember that you are your business. You must learn to accelerate the spread of your message to help you build and grow your business. By following a few proven- strategies you can be on your way to creating the life of your dreams.
For more information on public speaking check out the following podcasts and blog posts:
How to Quickly Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking
How to Use Public Speaking to Grow Your Business
3 Public Speaking Tips for New Entrepreneurs
At My Biz Dream Team, we show you how to develop an internet lifestyle business that can help you reach your money goals. Check out The Podcasting Power Playbook, to help you increase your visibility, credibility, and authority status. Let us show you how to reach your goal of creating a lifestyle and a business that you love! Act today.
I am Pamela Montgomery, attorney, author, entrepreneur, and speaker, providing results-oriented strategies that help you achieve uncommon results in your business and in your life!
Also published on Medium.
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