Advice For Gaining Credbility as a Speaker

[mark clayson]

Hi all

Any tips on getting credibility as a speaker? I have rad lots of stuff and watched videos etc so I know some of the nuts and so forth.

Here is a potted history of me (it might help I guess):

- nearly 50 years old
- established professional in my field (health)
- UK based
- spoken to many professional audiences

What I know:

- credibility has to be earned
- people will wish to see my "worth" before hiring / JVing with me
- starting small will help

What I envisage (if successful):

- producing unique products (books, CDs, DVDs)
- selling to largish audiences
- sharing profits with event organizers

I have read and heard audio material about event organizers and how the large and successful ones will wish to be assured of large profits before hiring, so I know that is completely out of the question. I have a few contacts in the online world and could approach them but many will not be interested because of possible damage to their own credibility.

All views appreciated

By the woy, my focus is motivation using inspiring stories from the health / illness / disability field.

[C.F. Jackson]

Hi Mark,

You're doing great thus far so it
seems. You've stated that you
have spoken to many professionals
audiences.

You have to take these opportunities
to leverage yourself: Video your events,
request video testimonials, and be sure
collect names & email addresses.

You build up credibility through those who you
have already touched, inspired and educated.

Another key thing to do is to be sure to connect
with those who you have collected their name
& emails from. Continue to educate them and
teach them.

Much success,
CF-

[ianternet]

for me I actually was asked and never thought i would be a speaker... but I think it is all about credibility and what you know... even who you know...

my biggest milestone in my online career is keynoting in september and that is going to be an epic achievement I think.

I think it is about givin yourself full credibility and people backing you up on your experience

[Jeffrey Dean]

You are on the right track Ian.

I just recently went to Expert Academy with Brendon Burchard. Great stuff. He really knows what he's talking about and is encouraging the speaker industry to change its mindset - very outdated ideas such as you need to speak for years before you can charge alot and develop your own event. He said when you do this others will want to join your event.

[Steve Benn]

I'd recommend Dan Kennedy's product (which I can't remember the name of) which is about becoming an effective speaker. He shares an awful lot about how he skipped the whole 'build up' phase most people think they have to go through and 99% of people never seem to actually get through.

[Rob Toth]

As a host, past speaker, often invited speaker etc... let me just throw in a few points.

I think selling yourself to the event host is possibly the easiest part.

THEN providing education, entertainment (and depending on the seminar's business model), a worthwhile sales offer that converts, THOSE are the points that really matter.

I'd personally recommend you focus in on that.

Can you present in an engaging and entertaining way? Or do you just step on stage as the genius, but one who can't teach it to their audience? Does your audience go "wow that guy is smart, the stuff he talked about sounds interesting, but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with that information"? Can you make them laugh? Weave in a story? Entertain them? Create interactivity?

If you can do the above, most hosts would want you back and give you sharp testimonials.

If you're just another "expert" who steps on stage, rambles, throws out big keywords and really leaves no value for the audience then that feedback will work against you real fast.

Tying into that... you either have the "get paid to speak" or "sell from stage" models (generally speaking). I doubt you'd land too many worthwhile "get paid to speak" gigs and I'm not sure if that's really the most profitable way to go either way. Feel free to look into the ins and outs of that model.

However, for the "sell from stage", the host also needs to know that you have a compelling offer, a high value product/offer that you can EFFECTIVELY sell to the audience. So, assuming the host did a good job and planted wide awake, enthusiastic, target prospects in a room for you... you SHOULD be able to build an irresistable offer AND sell it.

So, again, before focusing on things like PR and testimonials and references and marketing yourself to events as a speaker, I'd really recommend you nail down the above 2 points.

If you have THAT on lock down, the rest really becomes easy.

General points though for marketing yourself...
- video clips of you speaking are useful but MAKE SURE they are high quality. Don't post cheesy cell phone camera footage. But 2-3 minute excerpts from a couple of previous talks... it especially helps if we can hear the audience react, laugh, ask questions, applaud or whatever. But a host would want to see that you can be on stage with posture and confidence.
- testimonials from other events (anywhere you've previously spoke at). This is a big one.
- testimonials from audience members (those who have seen you speak)
- bullet point pow-pow-pow of your accomplishments... basically, without exaggeration, but just by pointing the spotlight on the RIGHT parts of your past... make me get a sense that you are a God in your area of expertise.


Other points...
Create a speaker@______.com or speakerinvites@_____.com email address and forward it to your assistant or create a Gmail account that it forwards to and create a "fake assistant" name.

As a host, lie to me, make me feel like you're so well accomplished that you MUST have an assistant. If your emails are coming from randomguy@hotmail.com and it's just me and you talking, that's fine, the JV might still move forward.. but it plants the image that you're still not as accomplished as you could be.

So dress it up. It's about marketing. Women wear high heels and push up bras to, uhhmm, highlight their features. But it's really a lie (they're not that tall or "well endowed"). Same thing here. Lie to me. Make me, as the host, feel like you're quite busy and accomplished.


Then marketing...

You SHOULD do a few practice runs. Contact your Chamber of Commerces or local Meetup.com organizers or other Associations... do a couple of free (or low paid, or whatever) practice talks. In your case, it sounds like you've already got that.

I have one speaker this year (at my CanadaMarketingSummit.ca coming up in September, [end shameless plug]) who is a GENIUS in his own rights and I KNOW he can teach and I KNOW he can sell. However, he has a new topic that I'm more than excited to have him talk about. But since this particular presentation is new, I suggested that he create the powerpoint presentation and run a few webinars (to his list, with some JVs). I told him this will bring in some cash for him either way but mostly, it gives him practice before he stands in front of my 200+ audience.

Once you have the practice talks done... then build a database of all the associations, chambers, meetups, tradeshows, seminars, workshops, bootcamps (keyword search each of these) in your area. Find organizers, event planners and other circles of influence. Ask for referrals. Send small thank you gifts for those referrals.

Oh, and get professional photos done.

One of my past clients has a team of 3 guys that runs 3-day workshops each month. Great content at the workshop but they had a cheesy 1990s website and terrible photos. Professional headshots and $100 revamp of their site added a massive leap in their credibilty and professinalism.


anyways, I'm jabbering now. Hope some of that helps.

[Rob Toth]

ps. If you want do dive into that course by Dan Kennedy that Steve mentioned above, get in touch privately and I'll set you up with a discounted copy.

That being said, there's an entire (and great) section on speaking, how to market yourself as a speaker etc in the Back-end Marketing and Joint Ventures course that Dan did... it's currently the upsell to the same offer Jason Moffatt talks about here: http://www.jasonmoffatt.com/internet-marketing/winners-and-losers.html

Though I'm obviously biased, Dan's materials really are worth studying. But, again, first you might just want to make sure you lock down an EFFECTIVE presentation and have a product/offer that is high value, high conversions that you can sell.

OH, and if you REALLY want to play the speaker circuit game, eventually I'd recommend you release a book. Which really is no big deal these days. It's like a long ebook, that you then give to some outsourced labour, they format it and proof-read it and get it in published book format. You buy a ISBN number and get it onto Amazon.com . Voila! Now you're a published author.

But to most people, a physical book means you're a big deal. The credibility points you score from that will land you more speaking gigs but even at the seminars, you'll close more sales because the audience too will view you as a high authority.

[mark clayson]

I must apologise to you all - I didn't say "thank you" for the great support and replies. For some reason I didn't get notification.

Such great help - thank you. Especially to Rob - you have given it all great thought and spent much more of your time than you should have.

One day I WILL speak for you!

Thank you all.

[tblrg]

Mark,

Suggest you attend National Speakers Association events, especially their annual event. You will get to interact with some of the top speakers and learn quite a bit. Though restricted to professional memberships who get paid speaking engagements, others can also join.

I joined NSA in 1999 and since then been giving 40+ speeches annually. For a short period served the board of northern california chapter. Lot of credit goes to NSA and its members for my speaking success.

Glad to share more info if you need.

-Raj