10 steps to becoming a motivational speaker Pt 8
10 steps to becoming a motivational speaker – Part 8 
By Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC
author, speaker and personal transformation coach
Drum roll!! It’s time for the best of all! Part 8…
STEP 8: The big night. This event is not just about your speaking. It is about the entire impression you leave behind. Believe me, sometimes I have not given the proper care and attention to a particular gig, and frankly I was received with the corresponding lack of care and attention. Remember that, yes, people will be listening to what you say, but the truth is they will already start to decide what they think about your talk the minute they walk in the door (and before!). It is highly important that you bond with your audience in whatever way is your style. It is also extremely important to plan and oversee the flow of the event so that it ensures you will have an audience for another one in the future. Here are some suggestions.
I highly suggest that you create a mailing list template for the event so you can take people’s names and emails (or addresses/phone, if you prefer). This will be at the door as people come in. Don’t just LEAVE it on a table. Have someone (not you) is at the door collecting the entry charge (if any) AND people’s names and emails for you. This is extremely important. If you omit this step in your planning, your event will not give you the desired result because you have no way to follow up with your potential audience. Of course, if someone else has planned the event for you and the guest are members of their list, you would have to ask their permission to do this. Be sure that you have tick boxes on the opt-in sheet that asks if people would like to subscribe to yours newsletter or hear about upcoming talks, etc., according to you situation.
Another thing I highly recommend is to prepare a short 1-page article with you photo and contact info on it, and have the entry person hand it to people as they come in the door (or you could put them on the chairs in the audience so they are there before they sit down). The article should be in some way related to your talk, and have a short “call to action” at the end where you briefly let people know how to contact your about your services, your book or your availability for talks. The power of putting an article in the hands of your audience (as opposed to just a business card) is immense. It already establishes you as an expert AND people will come up to you and want to speak with you even before you begin your talk. The last time I used this strategy I got a new client and two paid speaking engagements. Use this tip. It works.
The night/day of the talk, show up an hour early to the venue. Bring a few people along to help you prepare the space nicely and make it welcoming. As mentioned before, thing aesthetically. The space is just as important as you are.
Here is the MOST important thing. Don’t sit in the wings waiting to “go on stage”. Use the first half-hour to socialise with your guests. When the doors open, greet your guests at the door personally. Shake their hands and get to know their names. Use the time to feel relaxed. Believe me, you DON’T need to go over your notes one more time. You already know your topic. Too much rehearsal will make you MORE nervous, not less.
Then give your talk! Make sure it is lively, interactive and interesting. Hold the room by establishing eye contact with different people at different times in the talk. Don’t stare out into space. If you get “stuck”, don’t ever apologise to the audience. Don’t say, “I’m really nervous.” You don’t want the audience to take care of you. You want to lead them. Remember: they have bothered to make the time to come here to hear what you have to say, so they are already open and willing to hear you. You don’t have to work as hard as you might think.
Never EVER read from a book and never use a script (unless you are doing a book reading, and then you really should practice on your “performance” to make if full of life)! The best talks are those when the audience is engaged, and when they go away with a new skill or outlook. If you simply talk “to” them, they will switch off. Think of ice breakers. Think of things you can get them to do in pairs. Engage them in dialogue as you are talking (if the group is small enough). They will feel connected to you. They will want to come back the next month.
Did I say “next month”? YES… make sure you have a follow up date set up, and be sure you tell them about your next event before the end of the meeting. We’ll talk more about that in the next tip…
Step 9 follows tomorrow… 
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Want to take this dream further?
I teach all these techniques and more in my course “Light Your Fire Without Burning Out”, where you learn how to set up your own social and business networks that can also help position you as an expert in your field. This course will be running again sometime in the spring of 2009. If you wish to receive a calendar announcement for when this (and other) courses are running, just set your RSS feed to receive this blog or sign up in the box at the left of this page.
You can find more information about my courses on my Create-a-Life website.
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January 27th, 2009 at 23:24
Great! Thank you very much!
I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog?
Of course, I will add backlink?
Sincerely, Timur I. Alhimenkov