Many business people think that public speaking is only for conferences or large organisations where leaders need to speak to staff or have meetings. The reality is that public speaking is not only an every day skill. It is one of the key ways that businesses – small and large companies – can make money. Public speaking for business – I am talking about the ability to use your spoken word to increase your marketing, help your customers and raise your brand awareness. Let me share with you 6 ways you can make money for your existing business through public speaking.
1. Run a Public Seminar
Anyone can book a room, advertise seats – for free or for a small fee – and present on your topic of expertise or explain what your business does. This will elevate your expertise and your branding and will position you as an expert in that field.
2. Create a Podcast
Podcasting equipment is very affordable these days with a podcasting microphone being as little as $100. You can create a series of short podcasts that inspire people or help people solve a problem. These can be uploaded to programs like iTunes, Buzzsprout or Sound Cloud. You can then market these Podcasts on your Facebook page and to your email list.
3. Create YouTube Videos
You can use your mobile phone to simply make a video on your best tips, advice, recommendations and how to’s. These are uploaded and shared with your clients and followers. The content helps your clients and also helps to position you as an expert in your area. The important thing about video is the quality of sound. So get a good plug in microphone that works with your mobile phone.
4. Run a Webinar
A webinar generally runs from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. They are presented live to anyone in the world who logs in. There are many webinar platforms that you can use including Zoom, GoToWebinar and Cisco Webex. Webinars are a virtual classroom and people can ask you questions as you are presenting. You can also record the webinar and send it out to clients or people who were not able to attend.
5. Produce an online course
We often say “create once, use multiple times”. This is repurposing your content. So think of your blog posts, your tip sheets, your white papers, YouTube videos, podcasts, webinar recordings and any other content that you have created. Can you group a series of theses resources together to create an online course. You might have 5 YouTube videos on a related topic and a blog post. These can be repurposed and uploaded to an online course platform, including commonly known ones such as Udemy and Thinkific.
6. Speak on Radio
Most radio announcers and producers are busy people. They are always looking for content for their show. If they receive a well written sales pitch outlining what you will be talking about and why it is of interest to their listeners and it is a “current interest topic”, you will easily get a radio interview. And it can be any radio station because the interview can be conducted over the telephone. This is your opportunity to highlight a problem, a trend or an issue to the public and you just happen to also have the solution.
As a business owner or expert, you have a great opportunity to grow your business, expand your marketing and increase your brand recognition through using the spoken word. Don’t let fear of public speaking stop you and, in my case, fear of technology stop you.
If you would like to improve your public speaking for business skills and public speaking confidence, then I am running workshops on Winning Presentation Skills and Thinking and Speaking Off the Cuff in Bendigo on 7 and 8 November as well as Difficult Conversations and Presentation Skills for Leaders in Brisbane on 26 and 27 November.