Public Speaking to Grow Your Direct Sales Business : Part One

By Caterina Rando, MCC

One of the things that is so great about direct sales is that you can walk out of your front door early in the evening, go do a party and come home at the end of the evening with sales, new customers, new hostesses and maybe even a couple of new consultants.

What if you do not have a show tonight or this week or next week? Is there anything you can do to come home with just as much value? There is, if you are willing to do what most people are not willing to do – and that is stand up in front of an audience and deliver a speech.

Here is the thing about public speaking: when you are the speaker you get the whole room’s attention even if at first they do not think they are much interested in what you are going to talk about.

When you are the speaker you are the one who comes home with the most business, the most new contacts and you have met everyone in the room even if they have not met you.

Pick a Topic
If you are ready to start public speaking as a marketing strategy the first thing you have to do is decide what you are going to talk about. You cannot talk about your products specifically, with the exception of an up to two minute commercial at the end. You have to spin your topic to be of interest to the groups where your ideal customers are gathered and make it a general program.

For example if you sell health and wellness products you could do a talk on 10 Ways to look 10 years younger in 10 minutes a day. If you sell clothes or jewelry you could do a talk on How to Look Like a Million Bucks without Spending a Fortune. If you sell scrapbooking supplies you could do a talk on 7 Ways to Make Memorable Cards in 7 Minutes or Less. Are you getting the idea? The point is that your speech stands alone to deliver value even if someone never spent a dime with you.

Pick Your Audience
Many speakers will tell you to go anywhere, speak to anybody. I totally disagree. I want you to come home with business building results every time. That is why I want you to get clear who you want to talk to and go talk only where your ideal clients are gathered. Look at your team and your customer base. What are the overriding demographics that make up your team and customers. Are they mostly moms? If so, are they young moms or empty nesters? Are they mostly business women?

Find Your Audience
One you have clarity on your ideal team members and customers, ask yourself where they are gathered. Identify the groups that your ideal customers and team members would find themselves. Is it at the PTA meeting, the MOPS meeting, the Chamber of Commerce Women in Business luncheon? If you do not know ask your customers what groups they belong to, do a Google search for groups in your local area, and check the calendar listings in your local paper.

Create Your Criteria
Here is where we separate the dabblers from the pros. You have no time to waste, decide in advance the answer to these questions: How far will you drive? How many people need to be in the audience? How much time do they have to give you to speak to make it all worth it for you? You decide and find out the answer to these questions as you investigate potential speaking opportunities.

Get Yourself Booked
Once you identify the groups that are a good match for you, you have to contact them and tell them your topic would be a great match for their group. Sending them to your replicated company website is not going to get you booked because it does not position you as a speaker. You need a speaker sheet. This is a one-page sheet that you create that talks about you, your topic and the benefits the audience members will get from this topic. That is how you differentiate yourself from every other consultant that says they want to speak. That is the key.

Okay, you have all the info you need to get started. Now go get busy: pick your topic, pick and find your audience, create your criteria and get yourself booked. You will be thrilled you did as your business growth will reflect it.

Caterina Rando, MA, MCC, shows direct sellers how to book, sell, recruit and lead their teams with ease. She is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Coaching Program to accelerate business growth. Visit  http://www.directsalescoaching.com to sign up for Caterina’s free monthly business-building tele-classes, read more articles, listen to podcasts and find out about her coaching programs. Caterina can be reached by email at cat@directsalescoaching.com or by phone at 415-668-4535.