Public speaking

Today I am going to change gears and talk about how I prepare for webinars and public speaking gigs.

Because here’s the thing…

I have literally lost count the number of times the promoter phoned or emailed me afterwards and said…

“Wow, Alexi, people can’t stop talking about you.”

Or…

“Wow, you really made an impact.”

There’s a reason that I keep getting such positive feedback from my talks.

And it’s because I prepare like an animal!

To prepare I do the following:

I ask the promoter about his or her attendees.
I request survey results; FAQs; examples of an email or ad that’s crushing it (so I can identify hot buttons); which podcast had the most downloads; I study their YouTube channel and sort by “most viewed”.
Then I immerse myself in that information.

I want to know what keeps a particular audience up at night.

Honestly: my goal is to know this audience better than they know themselves!

That’s the bar that I set during my entire copywriting career. And it’s the bar I set when I do speeches.

I give myself time to prepare, too.

Weeks, if I can.

That way my subconscious can work on it.

Sure, I have standard talks that I give. But what I’ll do is retool a particular talk for a specific audience.

Often that includes changing the titles and the first key slides. It also includes finding better examples and stories that are even more relevant to my audience.

My goal is to BLOW people away.

And that’s what else I do…

I consciously picture in my mind people being blown away with the content. I imagine the promoter profusely thanking me for doing such a great job.

I direct my intent consciously, is what I am saying.

It works 🙂