Marketing to your Audience

A couple months ago I attended a presentation given by a local business person in our community.  I wanted to learn about her topic and also to support her efforts.

When I arrived, she was at the front of the room and she did acknowledge my entrance with a "hello" but she went back to being seated at a table working on her computer, with her back to the audience.  And that is the way she stayed until the beginning of her formal presentation.  Since this was a free presentation, it was a marketing effort on her behalf.

Here's my take on the marketing that happened.

The presentation was very good, this woman knows her stuff.  But, I'm not sure she realized her networking goals.  You see, connection to the audience members is so important for the marketing to succeed.

For those giving these types of talks where you are trying to gain prospects, know that your presentation begins the moment the first member of your audience walks into the room.  Be ready to greet them and then to also to carry on a conversation.  It can be small talk, "How were your roads this morning?"  Or you could ask each person if there is one thing they want to get out of the presentation.  Research has also shown that if you touch people they are more likely to connect with you.  The touch can be very fleeting, just a brush as you hand then a sheet of paper (handouts) or pen.  Or course, you can shake hands.  They won't even know it happened.


Doing the above will probably push many people out of their comfort zone, but you'll find that as you do more of it that your zone borders will enlarge!

So, what have you seen speakers do that really helped them to connect with their audience?

Broken Intro

In BNI each week, one member gets to give a 8-10 minute presentation so the rest of the members get to know the featured member better.  It is one more brick in the strong BNI relationship wall.  In the past, it was the job of the Secretary/Treasurer to introduce this member before they began.  Nowadays many chapters allow the speaker to ask another member to make the intro. It is an honor to be asked. 

Many years ago (at least ten) I was at a BNI meeting when the presenting member asked someone from outside the chapter membership to give his intro.  Because of time efficiencies, the intro should normally only last about 1 minute at the most.  In this instance, it went on for at least five minutes, but it felt like an hour.  All of us were uncomfortable with this turn of events but at that point I would not have been able to say why.

Now I can!

There were really two issues.  Because the member asked someone (let's call her Connie) from outside the membership, he delivered a message that he didn't have a strong enough relationships with any members to perform this very important task.  Looking back now, I think I felt sort of kicked to the curb. The second issue was the the rules were broken.  BNI has a very structured format, (because it works!) and when Connie didn't bother to find out what those rules were (1 minute intro) she made all of us squirm a little. I think probably I was embarrassed for her and for our member.

What can we learn from this?  When asked to speak, find out who will be introducing you.  Try to spend a little time with that person to allow them to get to know you.  Additionally, ask what is expected for the intro or even take it a step farther and ask for a copy of one that has been successfully used in the past. The introduction can either be a springboard to a wonderful presentation or a ditch, that you spend way too much time trying to climb out of to get to a good starting point.  It's your choice!

Do you have any thoughts about this?

Know the Rules!

As we grow in our careers, many times we become known as experts in our field.  As a result we are asked to present at various meetings.  While we may be the expert in our work, sometimes we don't come across to our audience in that way.  Why?  For the very reason that we are not experts at presenting.

I was at a Chamber meeting last month when a couple rules were broken that took away from the speakers' credibility.

Rule #1, If you've forgotten your notes, don't announce it.  The audience doesn't know and if you are an expert, you should know what you're talking about anyway. So what if it's not exactly as you wanted it to be as long as you deliver the info.

Rule #2, This is one that drives me crazy.  DON'T LEAVE THE SPEAKER'S LECTERN EMPTY.  EVER!  Correct speaking etiquette calls for the emcee to introduce you, stay behind the lectern to welcome you to the stage.  Then at the end of your talk, please wait for that person to return to relieve you of your duties at the lectern.  Never, ever, should the audience be sitting there looking at space.  This rule is broken all the time.  You can watch for it now.

Are there any other miss-steps that you have seen speakers make?

Speakease

Yesterday, I gave a very short talk about the new book, Masters of Networking, to the lunch time Women's Entrepreneurial Network group. Because of the book just being published, I had been asked to give a five minute "business education" talk about it.

This book is chock full of short stories and articles by over eighty different authors.

The challenge was where to start and what could I say in five minutes that would even be memorable?

I choose to talk about just one story and I explained why the article had spoken to me.

After the event, as I was walking out, a person who had also been at the lunch complimented me on the talk wishing that she could be so relaxed in the way she presents.

I thought about it later.

All I did was share what was important to me at that moment. It was just like a conversation with one person. It was if that person had asked me, "What do you like about that book?"

For those who want to become better known by speaking before audiences, my recommendation (for all it's worth) is to ask yourself, "what would I say if I was just speaking to one of these people in the audience?"

What tricks do you have up your sleeve when you are thinking about perfecting your presentation?

Speaking

I have been speaking for many years. I have also been a Toastmaster for over a decade. But Guy Kawasaki's post today is enlightening. His friend, Doug Lawrence, wrote fifteen absolute necessities for speaking. Number 4 is amazing. I can't wait to try it.

Doug says to bite your tongue if your mouth gets dry.

As I get older, I do tend to get dry mouth when speaking. I'm sure others get it from nervousness. I cannot wait to try this technique. Just sitting here typing I tried it and it does seem that my mouth got more moisture as I gently bit my tongue.

Thanks, Guy, for bringing Doug to us.