I spend most of my work time researching tips for public speaking and my friends who make their living in public speaking. Until recently I did not buy into the idea of a recession, but with the facts becoming clearer about the changing state of the public speaking business, I wanted to share some speaking tips for the “new” economy that we will experience.

According to a recent survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives meetings held internally, will be cut by as much as 40%.

For those that do alot of talks for associations, it gets worse: 31% expect across-the-board cuts. You should therefore expect less opportunities to travel to conferences and conventions.

To corroborate this news, Meetings and Conventions magazine said that only 41% of companies surveyed expect their budget to remain intact.

Before you decide to polish up your resume,  consider that in any downturn, there ARE opportunities that present themselves. You see, the market for your message remains, even if budgets to pay you to present it live and in person are not. You have a unique God-given message and in every audience there are some who connect with you on a core level. Your job going forward is to build relationships with them.

So here are my top three tips for public speaking success in this “new” economy.

Speaking tip #1

Record every presentation that you do whether it is done live, in a teleseminar, in a webinar or what ever venue or opportunity you get. A $100 investment in a digital recorder combined with a decent lavaliere mike will pay off richly for you in the years to come as you turn your talks into content that audiences can enjoy even if they don’t get to meet you in person.

Speaking tip #2

Find ways to get people who do see you speak live to grant you permission to remain in contact with them by email or even better by US Mail. What ever you have to offer them as an incentive to get their information, DO-IT! The list you will build is far more valuable than the profit you earn on one sale.

Let’s say you have a book that you want to sell. If you sold them the book, you make, say $20 on an item that cost you $5. What if, instead of making the $15 profit now, you invested in a relationship with that person by giving them a free and autographed copy in exchange for their contact info. Which would you prefer? A transaction that pays you $15 in profit now or a long term relationship that produces a lifetime value per person of $100 or more?

Speaking tip #3

Repurpose your products to reach every type of learner there is. I know of at least 50 ways to re-purpose a single product and the reason this is important is because we have visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners who all want their content delivered in the way that they learn best. So give it to them.

I encourage my clients to think in terms of multiple products every time they tell me they are thinking of creating a new product. If you write a book, you must have an “as read by the author” version of the audiobook too. It’s also wise to produce your work in video as often as you can, even if the video is shot at home, edited by you, and distributed by YouTube or on your website as part of a membership model.

These are but a few of the speaking tips I work to implement into my clients businesses. Maybe its time for you to consider working more closely with me to move away from dependance on the corporations, associations and conventions and build a passive income that will sustain you in any economy. Drop me a note if you have questions or think I can help.

Related posts:

1. Public Speaking; It’s a Business, not a Speech
2. A Public Speaking Tip That Pays Dividends
3. The Art of Public Speaking in 2008 and Beyond
4. If Public Speaking Is Dead – How Can My Speaking Business Survive?
5. The “New Rules” of Speaker Training And Speaker Marketing – Part Two

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Filed under: Online Video • Product Development • Speakers Marketing • Speaking Tips

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