Make Marketing Suck Less

5 Ways to Make Your Signature Talk Work Smarter, Not Harder for You

Seriously, can we chat about your signature talk? You do have one, right?

Maybe you have a talk, but you’re not sure if it's a SIGNATURE talk.  Just the other day on a podcast interview I was asked to explain exactly what the heck a signature talk is.

My definition is super clear.  First, think about your written signature. It's probably unreadable, if it's anything like mine.  But whether you have won awards for penmanship or not,  one thing undoubtedly true: your signature is UNIQUE to you.

That's how we define a signature talk. It's your ideas, your stories, your personality all packaged in a way that is compelling to your audience and persuades event organizers to hire you because they must have you.

Once you have a signature talk, you can make that talk WORK for you. The right signature talk helps you work SMARTER not harder on your speaking career.

The important point here is that it must be the RIGHT signature talk.

A talk that is aligned with your business. A speech that gets you known for what you do. It’s the talk that attracts speaking gigs to you instead of you always hustling to find them.

Once you’ve nailed that RIGHT signature talk, there are 5 different ways it will help you work smarter instead of working harder.

1.  It’s easier to strategically pitch your signature talk

When you’re just starting out as a speaker, you’ve got to master the art of the pitch!

You’ve got to be consistently finding and pitching for speaking gigs.

The most important part of mastering the pitch is not being a pitch-hole, that’s a person who sends out blanket templated pitches that don’t demonstrate knowledge of WHO they are pitching and WHY their message is a fit for that organization.

Having a signature talk makes it so much easier to pitch because you walk in having a deep understanding of your audience, the value you provide for the audience, and you’re confident that the product you're delivering (your speech) is going to help them.

You’ll be able to think strategically about how that message fits with the organization and make an argument for why you’re the right speaker for them.

It also ensures that you’re not pitching for speaking gigs where you are NOT a fit. If your message doesn’t fit, your must not pitch.  

Want help mastering your the art of the pitch? Join us for the 5-day challenge to plan & pitch your signature talk.

2. You’re a pro when you have a signature talk

You’ve probably heard that to achieve great success that you should walk the same path that successful people blazed for you. Learn from them. See how they do it.

Do you think professional speakers write a new talk before every speaking gig? Or do they have one or two talks that they give again and again.

If you picked option #2, bonus points to you.

Let’s look at motivational speaker, Les Brown. If you see Les Brown speak twice, what you’ll notice that he gives the EXACT same speech. Same jokes. Same gestures. Same content. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

He’s perfected his talk, knows exactly how to deliver it and that it works. He gets paid very well for it.

What if you want more flexibility? You feel like you’d be bored out of your mind delivering the same talk over and over again.

Sally Hogshead has a signature talk that she changes up in a strategic way. Her core message is always the same, the content is nearly same, but she customizes the talk to her audience by the stories she tells, the case studies she uses, and how she opens and closes the speech.

She knows her talk works and invested time and money perfecting it so she didn’t have to reinvent the wheel every time she speaks.  

3. Your message gains momentum

What do you want to be known for?

Tough question, right?

If you look at some of the most successful speakers around, they are known for a very specific topic.

Sally Hogshead is known for Fascination

Danielle LaPorte is known for Desire

Brene Brown is known for Vulnerability

Amanda Palmer is known for Asking

Simon Sinek is known for Why

Now did they start off by being KNOWN for their thing? Heck no.

They developed the right signature talk for them and their business and started to give that speech again and again.

Repetition of your message is what gives it momentum.

Bonus: When you get known for your topic, you don’t have to pitch yourself and the speaking gigs come to you.

4. Say “YES” at a moment’s notice

Imagine you’re sitting in the audience at an event.

You feel a gentle tap, tap, tap on your shoulder. You turn around and notice a woman with a look of grave concern on her face.

“I heard you were a speaker. We’ve had an emergency and need someone to fill a spot. Can you step in? You’ll be speaking on the main stage in an hour.”

Could you say yes and know that you would do a bang up job? Or would you hesitate and say “no.”

If you have a signature talk, you would knock it out of the park.  

Now, you might be thinking Michelle that never happens! Well over in The Rebel Speaker Facebook group, people have shared multiple stories of it happening to them, and it’s even happened to me!

The pros know that you should always be prepared to speak at a moment’s notice.

[Tweet “Nail that signature talk then work smarter! Get the Speech- Get the Gig: 5 Day Challenge”]

5. Media interviews just got a whole lot easier

Momentum comes from more than just speaking on stage.

I believe that speakers need to get their message out there not just on the stage but in other ways as well.

Podcast interviews. TV appearances. Radio shows. Telesummits.

There’s a whole range of options to get your message to the masses.

I’ve been doing many, many, many podcast interviews lately. I use parts of my own signature talk on those shows. There are points that I make and stories that I tell that are in my signature talk AND being able to use those in the media gives my message traction.

Your signature talk is UNIQUE to you. It’s the message that only you could give, and the right signature talk gets your hired as a speaker.

If you’re ready to work smarter and not harder, join me for this 5-day challenge to plan & pitch your signature talk. Once you’ve got that speech, you’ll find it easier to land the gigs.