Public speaking
Have you ever arranged for one of your firm’s members to give a presentation at a conference, but it seemed to be a dud from a business-development perspective?
So you’ve arranged a presentation for one of your firm’s leading lights – we’ll call her “Janet” – and you wished her well when she left the office. Now, she’s back, and you’re asking her about what she got from it. The response you get is a sort of shrug – “I did the presentation and then I left.” No follow-up, no business cards collected, no subscriptions to the firm’s blog or social media.
One of the challenges I’ve had in getting speaking gigs to the people I most want as clients is one that you may be facing as well – what you want to talk about is not always what they want to hear.
Where do you want to be, professionally, a few years from now? Do you want to –
• Meet the needs of an industry different from the one you serve now, maybe one that has always fascinated you?
• Get bigger clients, which are less likely to have a problem with the fees your work is worth?
• Become an advisor to your clients, offering strategic advice rather than a transactional service?
Well … get out your suitcase, we’re going traveling.
• Meet the needs of an industry different from the one you serve now, maybe one that has always fascinated you?
• Get bigger clients, which are less likely to have a problem with the fees your work is worth?
• Become an advisor to your clients, offering strategic advice rather than a transactional service?
Well … get out your suitcase, we’re going traveling.
Should you be putting more work into getting speaking engagements to build your personal profile as an expert in your field? Just maybe. Consider:
• Potential clients get to see what you’re like as a person
• You can interact with people from the stage, building a relationship with them
• People at the event have more respect for what you say even in ordinary conversations, because you’re wearing that “Speaker” badge (It works! Really!!)
• It looks good on social media, on your CV and on your LinkedIn profile
• Potential clients get to see what you’re like as a person
• You can interact with people from the stage, building a relationship with them
• People at the event have more respect for what you say even in ordinary conversations, because you’re wearing that “Speaker” badge (It works! Really!!)
• It looks good on social media, on your CV and on your LinkedIn profile
