Tools of the Trade: Public Speaking and Sales

This article was written by LifeAdmin, on August 8, 2018

Learn how to apply public speaking success to sales!

As final expense insurance agents and preneed salespeople, we can learn a lot from successful public speakers and the tools of the trade they have to master.

Using public speaking strategies to refine your sales practice will help you gain more experience, perfect your content, drive more traffic to your online presence, and help you adapt to different audiences! Here are five tools that public speakers use to help them “sell” their brand.

#1. Enlighten and educate your audience.

For a public speaker, the objective of any speaking session is primarily to educate the people in your audience. By giving information that is sought after in an interesting and new way, speakers get the attention of an audience who came to be enlightened. Public speakers seek to give value to their listeners without pushing an alternative agenda.

#2. Connect with your audience and build trust.

In general, clients are not willing to trust presenters until there is a relationship between them. Public speakers often begin their sessions by sharing some experience that they have had. Think of how comedians use moments from their own lives to make us laugh! No matter the topic of your presentation, personal connection is possible, and it’s where you should start.

#3. Pose questions for your audience to think over.

A good speech doesn’t tell the listeners what to think, nor does it give all the answers explicitly. If you can get your audience to think and answer questions, they will naturally be applying your information to their own lives.

#4. Prepare and practice before you speak to your audience.

Public speakers spend days drafting their presentations, editing and perfecting their written speech, and then practicing their delivery and flow. They ask friends and family to listen to their product and they take their feedback gratefully. An effective speech includes more than a laundry list of information: add in a personal anecdote, a joke or funny story, and use metaphors and object examples to really drive your point home.

#5. Consider how your audience will experience your brand.

When a presentation also has a sales motivation, most likely there will be multiple interactions with the audience before they commit to any type of investment. Many public speakers create content that they share before the event either through social media, email, or over the phone. Then during their presentation they will have visual aids like slideshows, videos, and graphs. Once the event has passed, those visuals can be sent out for additional review by the audience. In one speaking session, you’ve made three contacts with potential clients who are thinking about your brand and your value to them.

These five public speaking tools are easily translated to the selling you do every day. How can you use these tools to build a better brand for yourself and your business? How is preneed insurance sales similar to public speaking, from your perspective? What aspects of your job include speaking in public, even if your audience is one or two people?

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