Following Up With Your Audience
What happens if you are giving a presentation on sales or you are giving a business presentation when someone asks you a question and you do not know the answer to it? You know you can get the information for them so you will say that you will get that for the asker.
So far so good; there is nothing wrong with that. You do not have to know answers to all those questions that you are asked during your presentation.
But here is the breakdown: I have noticed with many people that they forget to follow up on their promise. If you say that you know the answer is with your accounting department and that you can email it to them by five that day, make sure you actually email it by five to them!
I am constantly amazed by people who pinch me, vendors for every aspect of home repairing or anything else I do, who promise me more information that I asked for and then they just never follow up. So much of giving a great sales presentation and a business presentation has nothing to do with good eye contact, what you do with your hands, or how many ‘ahhs’ and ‘umms’ you have. It is about doing what you say and following up on it. If you say you are going to get information on a particular subject by a certain time, then you have to do it.
Your Biggest Public Speaking Nightmare
What is your biggest public speaking nightmare? For some people, they might have a nightmare where they realise that they are on stage and they are completely naked. That is not my nightmare. My nightmare is that I am just late, I need something to begin, I did not plan properly, I am running around looking at the time.
The thought of being late causes me massive amounts of anxiety. For me, I hate being late. I hate making anyone wait for me and I hate to wait for other people too, frankly. That’s why, I always try to get to the venue at least an hour in advance so I can do a proper technical check: I check on the television, the video camera, and everything else that might be being used for that speech, that presentation, or that training.
Whatever your nightmare is, hey! Bad things can happen in life. But the more you give the thought in advance, the more you give yourself time in advance. Get to the venue, the morning of your presentation an hour or two before or even the night before. Practice, rehearse, do a technical check. Do that, and you could at least eliminate the odds of most nightmares becoming a reality.
Secret to Getting More Speaking Invitations
What is the secret to getting even more speaking invitations? It is pretty simple; do more interesting things on a regular basis, say more interesting things on social media whether it be YouTube videos or Facebook videos, write books, write blog posts, or write on any other medium. Come be a part of other people’s conversation, listen to others’ ideas and then add your own to them.
The people who get the most gigs or are, frankly, the busiest people in the world are so because they do not think of doing so many other things- they do it. Whether they are making actual physical inventions or making new policies if they are politicians, they are a constant world of activity. If you are sitting back thinking, “how do I get invited to give a speech next week at such and such place to pay rent last month”, you are going about it the wrong way.
Think about what ideas you have to share with the world- what unique ideas and creative ideas you have and then share those. Broadcast them as a guest on your own show, videos, or text blogging. Putting your ideas out in the world translates into you building an audience. Build the following and the invitations will follow.