Remember that required public speaking course in college, when you wobbled up to the front of the class, turned to face the audience (only 40 students, but might as well have been 40,000), meekly cleared your throat, and began to utter incoherent words, progressing through the speech like a fawn attempting to walk for the first time?
Probably not, because if you’re anything like me, you forgot all you possibly could about public speaking, and chalked it up to just not being your “cup of tea.”
At the time, public speaking class just seemed like room for the extroverts to laugh at the introverts, with no real application unless you decided to be an actor or politician…however, speaking in public is almost unavoidable for small business owners as well.
You only need to look at successful small businesses to see the critical role public speaking plays in their success. Speaking not only provides exposure of your company, but can result in marketing leads that will pay off down the road. If done well, public speaking can be the best marketing tool to target specific audiences and ensure customers that you are a confident expert in your field, while giving them a chance to engage in questions at the same time.
The catch? It must be done well.
Luckily, despite what you remember from college, public speaking doesn’t have to be so bad.
Here are some tips to ease into public speaking and make it not so bad, after all:
- Start with an interview. While speaking in front of crowds can be nerve-racking, being interviewed is a much less threatening way to ease into speaking. For example, try video interviewing with a blogger to get the ball rolling on speaking like an expert in your field.
- Try a virtual conference. Like the video blog, you don’t have to speak to physical audiences quite yet, but by creating a virtual conference or webinar you can expand your immediate audience a little, and you can do it from the comfort of your office. Baby steps. Google+ Hangout is a good program to use for this.
- Sit on a panel. As an expert in your field, sitting on a panel will provide you the chance to showcase your expertise, and see what your customer base is interested in. Pay attention to the needs and questions of the consumers, so that you will know how to connect with your audience when you speak down the road.
- Find local events. Now that you have had some minor experience, and understand what the consumers want, find a local event for your industry and send out an application to speak as an expert. This is a big step, but much easier when you’ve had some prior speaking practice. Just think of this as a slightly bigger virtual conference, but without having to worry about the slow internet connection.
- Go big. After you’ve done a few local speaking engagements, find a big conference within your industry and give it a whirl. Speaking at these events is not only good practice, but good for marketing, and thus good for business.
So don’t be so scared of public speaking, and don’t underestimate the importance it plays on small business marketing. By taking these small steps, your can gradually turn your clumsy walk into a full-speed sprint, and set you apart from the competition.
Check out our Knowledge Center and other resources for more tips on incorporating your small business and making it successful.