Selling Yourself As a Speaker 79
Who’s the audience?
No matter what the subject is, you have to know who the audi-
ence is. If there’s no specified topic, it’s even more important.
The makeup of the audience may inspire a subject.
Do they have a common interest?
Do they represent a single profession?
I often sit through a presentation that precedes one of mine.
One time the presenter was a “motivational” speaker and was
firing up the audience with a “gung-ho—go get ’em” message. Then
he told them their job was to get out there and destroy the compe-
tition. The problem was that his audience was all staff of a public
utility. They had no competition. Once the audience realized they
were listening to a “canned” speech being delivered for the 500th
time and that the speaker didn’t take the trouble to tailor the
message to them, they turned him off.
Make sure your message has something special for this audi-
ence: a new perspective, an innovation—something that adds to
their body of knowledge or understanding—something that gives
them an incentive to listen to you.
How and where do I fit?
Are you the only speaker?
Is there a marching band playing walk-in music and then the
national anthem before you come on?
Are you the third of four speakers?
Will the program chair keep all the speakers on schedule?
Who are the other speakers, and what are their topics?
What’s on the agenda before your talk (a luncheon), during
your talk (will waiters be clearing tables), after your talk (ques-
tions)?
Who’s introducing you?
What kind of introduction will it be?
You may not be able to get all the answers on the first call, but
keep asking. The better your information, the better your chances
of making a strong, relevant, effective presentation.