Differentiating Your Expertise
Marketing consultants talk about it all the time: differentiate, differentiate, differentiate. Well, it’s no less important for speakers, especially when we use speaking to generate more business. But how do we know if our material is really insightful? If you’re getting "what-a-nice-speech" reactions and no business, perhaps your program did not differentiate your work enough.
According to the Springboard Marketing™ approach, when a speaker provides a.) new information or b.) ways to see known information differently, that speaker sets themselves apart as an expert. Below are three ways to create material that sets your expertise apart.
Go narrow
If the universal truths are already known, then why isn’t everyone implementing them? Maybe because what isn’t discussed are the distinctions, those little nuances that trip us up all the time. Where are those wrong turns located and why do we take them? Speakers that cover those areas are providing new material by delving deeper into the topic.
Key strategy: assume that the audience agrees with your key points. Ask yourself, "What’s keeping people from doing what I’m suggesting here?" Use your answer to develop new material and then spend the most time on that. Better yet, state the universal truth and use a story to illustrate the distinction.
But what does it do?
Great material can be created by using new applications for already known data. New tools that create major benefits will make you rich very quickly.
Example: Harvard Business School professor, Jerry Zaltman has developed a way to use metaphors and pictures in market research to determine the real reason people buy products and services. Companies such as Nestle and Motorola have lined up to use this new process. Are these firms buying the results on how our brains use metaphors or the benefits of the application?
Key strategy: translate your ideas to a process and test the results. In your speeches, report the results and the process, as well as why it works.
From verbal to nonverbal
The biggest way to differentiate your expertise is sometimes what you don’t do. Platitudes and pontificating don’t really show how much you know – audiences stop listening after a while anyway. Using stories, rhetorical questions and other interactive processes will allow others to get your point without you telling them. This environment is also great for setting up new applications for your work.
Key strategy: Separate each point into two sections: "data dumps" and "now what." The "data dumps" should focus on the distinctions, barriers or the "big picture." The "now what" uses exercises or rhetorical questions that makes the audience think how they can use your knowledge.
Bottom line: Take your audience where they haven’t gone before and they will take you to the bank.
Myths & Realities
Have you ever had a belief that something would work out a certain way, and then learn (usually after a lot of time and effort) how wrong you were? I have learned, sometimes the hard way, that reality can be frustrating. Calls coming into my office show that folks have some very "interesting" ideas about this great business of professional speaking. Below are three of my favorites along with the reality.
False comparisons
Myth #1: I’ve spoken publicly for many years, ergo, I’m ready to be a professional speaker. At least half of the people who call tell me this, and who could blame them? Constant high ratings from audiences would seem to indicate that a speaker is good. And they are, but for that audience.
Audiences rate speakers compared to other speakers they have heard, usually other public or "free" speakers. On the pro-speaker side, hiring decisions are made by comparing many other speakers. Competition has increased expectations with lower and lower fee ranges. This logic is comparing apples with oranges.
Also, a speakers’ ratings can shift depending on the access of the audience to master speakers. In other words, if a group has been exposed to many experienced speakers, a program by an aspiring speaker may be rated much lower.
Gotta have a book?
Myth #2: My book will get me all the bookings I want. This is usually the second most common thing I hear from speakers. It appears that folks confuse the exposure gained from best selling books to all books in general.
Yes, writing a book gives you credibility, as most organizations associate authors with a draw. What gets you bookings, though, is the publicity that your book can generate, giving you the credibility of "expert" from outside sources.
Media coverage has a high "wow" factor with decision-makers, as they associate that with outside validation of your work. But no, a book in and of itself will not get you speaking engagements. You still have to market.
True value of media
Myth #3: My appearance on Oprah, Geraldo, etc., will get me all the bookings I want. How many guests are on these shows in a given week? In a month? The number of guests on many shows is why you won’t be remembered for a long time. Great for mentions in your press kit, but the exposure alone won’t get you business.
However, media exposure can help; the key issues here are repetition and demographics. Media appearances are like advertising – the effect is cumulative and once is not enough. Also, where is just as important as how often. Multiple exposures in the national trade press can create more business than one article on page 48D in The Wall Street Journal.
I’m getting plenty of bookings with associations, but my exposure there isn’t getting me more long-term work in the corporate market? Why?
The transition from association to corporate market sounds easy, because so many speakers get corporate business from association meetings. Let’s look a little deeper, though: do they get more speaking engage-ments (i.e. meetings) in corporate or longer term work? This is an issue of positioning - speakers get routed to program planners. Experts who also speak can get both long-term training and consulting work as well as corporate meetings.
How are you being perceived? Check out your promotional material: How many action shots of you speaking do you show? How many short comments about your speaking ability do you have? If there’s a lot, then that’s how you will be percieved, as a speaker.
Idea - Have separate materials for the corporate market. Show your track record and specific value without adding a lot of "fluff." Tone down the layout.
Remember... Long-term corporate work isn’t a series of speaking or training dates — it’s a project that needs your expertise.
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