Wednesday, April 6

How Not to Give Away Too Much During Your Signature Speech

How Not to Give Away Too Much During Your Pro-Bono “Signature Speech” by

Public speaking is well-known as a powerful tool to market your small or home-based business.  When you put together what I call a Signature Speech, you’ll deliver valuable information for free to groups of people who fit your ideal client profile. But the question often comes up:

“How can I deliver a powerful Signature Speech and provide good information that my audience can use without giving away too much?” I get it. You don’t want to give away the shop and then make your service or product unnecessary. In fact, many experts will caution you not to say “too much.” I’ve commonly seen advice that says, “Tell people the what and the why, but not the how.” I respectfully, and adamantly, disagree.

Your Signature Speech is typically delivered during an hour-long meeting of a group who has invited you to join them as their special guest. As the featured speaker, you may have the floor for anywhere between 25-50 minutes. Unless it’s possible to tell an audience everything you know in less than an hour’s time, you can relax.

Realistically speaking, you didn’t get to be an expert by only knowing 25-50 minutes’ worth of material, did you? Of course not, or you wouldn’t be an expert in business for yourself!  That being the case, you can rest assured. There’s no need to worry about “saying too much” or “giving away the shop.” Consider the following:
  1. It’s likely impossible for you to tell any audience all there is to know even about one aspect of your small business during a speech in less than an hour’s time. Think about how long it took you to learn what you know. Weeks? Months? Probably more like years.

  2. Most people suffer from information overload on a regular basis. To even attempt to give an audience everything during your Signature Speech delivered in such a short time would only confuse and overwhelm them. So don’t even try.

  3. In your Signature Speech, you will give a few vital facts. Most people need to hear or see information more than once and in multiple formats before they will fully understand and be able to effectively implement what they have learned. You can offer to follow up your speech with an e-book, e-course, special report or sell something immediately following your speech to help enhance the message you presented.

  4. Give a good overview of what people can do right away to get started with what you suggest. In my own Signature Speech on how to increase business by communicating your credibility, I give my audiences specific steps they can immediately use to boost their credibility and therefore make more money.

  5. Focus on the basics. You can easily lay out an entire system in a few minutes without giving too many details. Those who want to know more and get your expert advice on implementing your suggestions, steps, tools, and techniques will be those who become customers. Everyone else will be thankful for your information and may become referral sources.

  6. As you can see, there really is nothing to worry about when it comes to giving away too much information when you deliver a speech to market your business. By giving away a few juicy tidbits, people will wonder what wonderful information can be to come after your Signature Speech.

    If you’d like to learn more about using public speaking to market your business, visit http://www.CashInOnSpeaking.com You’ll learn everything you need to know from how to choose a topic, how to best organize your speech to get instant results, and where to go to get booked to speak.


    Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a communication consultant, speaker & coach specializing in training small and home-based business owners effective communication skills so they can see more cash flow now.


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