Get Out of the Audience

Sales Success: Quadruple your leads and double your sales by being the speaker at networking meetings.

In order to sell your product or service, you’ve got to have prospects. For many entrepreneurs, that means becoming a member of various networking organizations and eating lots of chicken wings. But just showing up isn’t enough. You’re there to sell something. One way to accelerate your sales is to get out of the audience and be the speaker.

Mention to the program chair that you’d like to speak and get out your Palm Pilot. Schedule your speech four weeks away to give yourself time to prepare.

Here are nine steps to follow that will make your networking speech a success:

1. SELL IT WITH A STORY. People love listening to stories. You can sell your product or service much better by telling a “success story” than by describing features and benefits. Remember, the magic is in the details. Become a good storyteller and you will find it easy to speak in public.
2. FOCUS ON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS. Think of someone who came to you with a problem. How did your product or service provide them with a solution? Well told stories give prospects an opportunity to “test drive” what you are selling through the characters in your story. Develop a repertoire of seven minute “success stories.”
3. WHAT’S THE POINT? Think strategically. What do you want people to know, to feel, to experience? Choose stories that make the points that you want to make. If a story doesn’t serve a strategically chosen objective, what’s the point? 4
4. USE A PHRASE THAT PAYS. A Phrase That Pays is a short branding statement. It is a call to action that lets your audience members know what you want them to think, feel or do. Examples are: GET CONNECTED, WALK YOUR TALK, JUST DO IT. Choose one Phrase That Pays for your speech and link all three stories back to that one central theme or phrase.
5. THREE’S COMPANY. Don’t try and do too much. Speakers who try to cram copious amounts of content into a speech generally succeed in boring their audience to death. Focus on three main points or lessons that you want your audience to “get.”
6. LOSE THE LECTERN. Lecterns, also known as podiums, are for lecturers. If you’re not a professor, get out from behind the lectern and walk around. Movement relaxes the speaker and engages the audience.
7. BE ENTHUSIASTIC. Infuse your subject with enthusiasm when you speak. Get excited. If you’re not excited about what you’re selling, they probably won’t buy it.
8. WALK AND TALK. Rehearse you speech by walking and talking. The more you prepare, the easier it will be. Rehearse out loud and on your feet.
9. THE MESSENGER IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE MESSAGE. Never hide behind your content. You are the vehicle for the delivery of an important message. You must be authentic and real. First they buy the salesperson and then they buy what the salesperson is selling.

You’ll get more leads and close more sales by being the speaker, as opposed to being an audience member. What are you waiting for? Get out of the audience.

Doug Stevenson is the Guru of Storytelling in Business. He speaks, trains and consults worldwide to corporations and associations who want a competitive presentation edge through storytelling mastery and Emotional Eloquence leadership skills. He works with salespeople, leaders, professional speakers, trainers and fundraisers.

Doug is the author of Doug Stevenson’s "Story Theater Method", creator of Emotional Eloquence® and the author of a home study course on how to create a motivational speech titled: "How To Write and Deliver a Dynamite Speech – 21-Step Dynamite Speech System".

Learn more at www.storytelling-in-business.com or call 1-719-573-6195.

Copyrighted by Doug Stevenson. All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.