Your talk structure has a lot to do with your results.
So before you deliver your next talk, be sure to watch for these three common missteps when it comes to crafting a talk that will convert into happy leads and paying clients.
They are easy to make, and the good news, pretty easy to fix too!
There’s The Winger, The Teacher, and The Polisher.
You’re a Winger if…
You’re confident and comfortable on stage…which is great. The downside is that confidence sometimes tells you that you don’t need to plan. So you’re up there winging it.
Problem #1 for Wingers
Your content and the order that you say things in… its all inconsistent. So you’re closing ratio, the number of clients you attract, will also be inconsistent… and accordingly so will your audiences experience. And we most def don’t want your talk to damage your reputation.
Problem #2 for Wingers
Hard to Follow… without any structure to your talk it much more likely to confuse or overwhelm your audience. and the bad news here is that we know a confused mind says NO.
Problem #3 for Wingers
You tend to go OVER your TIME.
It has been tested and proven that a talk that goes over its allotted time will generate less business. So the less organized your are with your content, the more apt you are to tell long and winding stories… go over time… and BLAM-O you’re losing sales.
You’re a Teacher if…
Meaning… You love to teach and serve and you want everyone to learn a lot at your talk. And that’s great.
Problem #1 for Teachers is
You want to GIVE so much that you overwhelm yourself just while trying to craft the talk, and you overwhelm your audience when delivering it.
Because you teach and you teach, and then… you guessed it you teach a little more.
Problem #2 for Teachers is
Another challenge with teaching too much content is that you can accidentally leave people with the impression that you just taught them everything they needed to know. Whoopsie!
If you are often getting a lot of polite compliments “nice talk” but no new clients to speak of, then this is likely something we’d want to look at.
The big problem here is that you and I both know there is much more to your topic & to your clients’ success than you could ever teach in an hour talk.
So your job is NOT just to fill them with content, but show them what’s possible and activate people in taking the next step.
Lest you think I have always given high converting talks…
Over-teaching was def the way I gave talks in the beginning.
I’d leave with compliments at the end of my talk… but no clients or cash to speak of.
And I realized over time, that I wasn’t really helping people.
Giving free talks is a nice gesture but I want to have a GREATER IMPACT than entertaining people for an hour.
Once I realized this I made the proper mental shift that allowed me to follow a better strategy.
I learned that I could serve the audience AND also allowed them to see the path ahead, and where they might want to go next in working with me.
It was THEN that my talks generated real clients, and real paydays.
And then I had the chance to help people craft their rockin talks, and then THEY got clients that they got to serve. And thats when it all clicked. Attracting 10, 20 30, or 40 new clients from each talk… this means more impact & more income at the same time.
And I want THAT transformation for people, much more than I want compliments. And I’m guessing that’s really what you want too.
And last, but not least.
You’re a Polisher if…
This is you, you’ll be tempted to keep putting off giving your talk….because you will want your talk to be perfect.
If you’ve been “working on your talk” for longer than 30-60 days, you’re not preparing anymore, you’re avoiding.
And I’m going to be bold here in an effort to serve you…
YOUR TALK WILL NEVER BE PERFECT. It will perfectly imperfect just as it should be. Meaning it will be GREAT. It will impact lives, and it doesn’t need to be perfect to do that. And striving for that will keep you stuck in your office, and will keep the people who need your help the most, it will keep them waiting and in the dark.
So please please let go of the idea of perfection, and know that it is NOT required to rock your talk.
Want some help outlining your talk in the proper structure? Start here!
You can get our dry erase ready Rockin Talk Structure & Talk Promotional One Sheet for free!
