The Power of Public Speaking - from "The Gorillas Want Bananas" - A Lean Marketing (TM) Handbook By Julie Gregory co-author of The Gorillas Want Bananas, released September 2003

Being the focus of attention is EFFICIENT
If you're at an event where potentially everyone there could buy what you sell then you're very unlikely to get them all by walking from one person to the next and talking. Get up on stage and you have an audience - this means you only have to say your message once and many people get to see how good you are!

If you use your talk to demonstrate your skills (e.g. as a trainer) then you're also moving the audience through your pipeline to the 'sampled your work' stage. So, being the focus of attention is good, but in order to get the maximum number of new leads into your pipeline you'll need to set up a process for getting them queuing up to give you their business cards at the end.

You can actually GET PAID to look good and sell

If you're good enough and you've got an interesting message, then some people will pay to have you appear at their events. Getting paid for speaking in public means that this lead generator is also a source of income - now that's lean! There's a bit more to getting paid for speaking than just having the right raw materials though...

We recommend the following:

~ Confidence and Capability ~
Some people believe that getting up to speak in public is more widely feared than death itself! This is crazy but it can be overcome. If you're the type of person who dreads getting up in front of people then get some training, join a Toast Masters International chapter or find a course. We recommend BassClusker's Presenting Workshop which can be booked online from our site.

Our experience is that once you've got the capability, the confidence will follow...

~ Speaker Profile ~
You're going to have to look out for suitable events and opportunities at first (use the Internet for this) but once you make the approach (by email/phone) to the event organisers, they'll usually ask for some more information on the speaker. Having a speaker profile prepared in advance will ensure that the next step is easy. A well presented document (that can be emailed) will make you look more professional too.
Visit www.debbiejenkins.com to download Debbie Jenkins' profile for ideas.

~ An Agent ~
Many agents will feature and promote you for free until they get you a booking and then they'll take a commission. This is fantastic because you only pay for results - and all you need to do is set your fees at the right level and you both win. Others may charge a small up-front admin fee and then a commission per booking - in our experience these people can get faster and more consistent results than doing it yourself - so if you're any good and speaking is going to be a big part of your sales pipeline then they're worth the investment.

Remember: if you're unwilling to stand up and talk to win new business, there'll be plenty of competitors who'll be happy to take your place and your potential customers.