How to Position Your Expertise So You Book More Speaking Gigs & Win Clients
Google it.
Every day, I'm Googling to find out who is that actor on Twin Peaks and what have I seen him in before?
Or, I want to find out how to prepare a spicy hot chili for dinner, or even to figure out what that thing is on my arm.
We are always Googling, and information is at our fingertips, which means if you are an expert in your field and you're focused on the how to do something, then Google can easily replace you.
So, what's a speaker to do?
If you're focused too much on the “how to,” you're not positioning your expertise in a way so that people want to hire you after they hear you speak, and if you're getting paid to speak, you want to position your expertise so your audience knows that there is more where that came from.
So, that means you get to have longer and deeper engagements with the organizations who hire you.
At the end of the day, when your audience feels like they can DIY it, you've just talked yourself out of a job, so let's change that.
[Tweet “When your audience feels like they can DIY it, you've just talked yourself out of a job”]
Prefer to listen?
The Tell-Tale Signs of Being a How-to Speaker
One of the things that I'm on a mission to help speakers with is to make sure that they can not be easily replaced by the Google, or easily replaced by another speaker.
Let me ask you this: How much of your speech is a “how to” speech?
Because you can have a tiny bit of the “how to,” to show them there's a lot more where that came from, but if the majority of your speech is a “how to” speech, then you're talking yourself out of a job.
How do you know if you have a “how to” speech?
The first telltale sign is if the title of your speech sounds like a blog post.
- “Five Ways to be More Successful in Business.”
- “Seven Ways to be a More Effective Speakers.”
- “12 Tips to be Better With Money by Next Week.”
All of those are very “how to” based. If your speech title sounds like a blog post, then most likely you have a “how to” speech.
The other giveaway is that if your speech feels like you're giving the audience a to-do list.
I've seen this in speeches with the clients that I work with. Sometimes they have a slide in their presentation that says “to-do.”
When you have a to-do slide or you're giving people a lot of action steps to implement, then you're creating more distance between you and them actually hiring you.
You have made them feel like they have to implement all of that stuff before they can take the next step with you.
How to Reposition Your Speech so You’re THE Expert
You don't have to be a “how to” speaker if you're a subject matter expert. So, how do you reposition your speech?
Start by focusing on the what and why.
Too many speakers gloss over why their topic should be important for the audience, because they think, “Oh, they really want to know how to do something.”
In reality, the audience might not even be clear on the why they should do something!
Let's face it, there's a lot of noise telling us how to do something, but very few people tell us the why or the what of what we should be doing.
This allows you to position your expertise on the cutting edge because you want to be seen as the trendsetter.
You don't want to be seen as a person who just recycles information found somewhere else. I have often referred to this as being a “me too” speaker, instead of a “yes and” speaker.
When you're a trendsetter, you're looking at the information out there, and you're putting it together in a new and interesting way. This differentiates you from the other speakers who are focused more on the hows.
The final way to differentiate yourself is something I've talked about before. Your rants and your raves.
Rant about what really ticks you off about the industry you are in and how you would like to fix it and see it different or rave about what you're totally geeking out on in your industry.
These three things, focusing on the what and the why, being a trendsetter on the cutting edge, and thinking about what makes you rant or rave about your topic – this is what's going to position your expertise. It's important for you to go from “how to,” the Google of speakers, to really establish yourself as a thought leader.
[Tweet “How to go from the Google of speakers to the expert trendsetter with your speech.”]
This is where I can come in and help you establish yourself. If you're wanting to make that transition from being “how to” to being that cutting edge expert, then book a Speak for Impact Strategy session with me.
We'll spend 30 minutes talking about your speaking and creating an action plan for how you can make that transition to better positioning yourself in your field. Then you can book more gigs, and win more clients.
Go to DrMichelleMazur.com/speak, and remember, don't be easily replaced by Google.
Don't let the audience think that they can DIY it without you. Package your expertise so you're seen as the cutting edge thought leader that the audience wants more from. That’s the way to get rehired, book more gigs, and get more clients.
