Click here to find out more about the Paid to Speak Accelerator Community (aka Mastermind Community) and to put your name on our Waiting List.

In the previous episodes of this series, I mentioned that if you want to serve your audience well, it's best to create a speech that is both enjoyable and educational.

Yet the truth is that the vast majority of speakers today focus almost exclusively on delivering content. They might throw in a joke or two and maybe even share a short illustration, but most of the time, it's content, content, content.

Have you ever sat through a 60 or 90-minute presentation that is all content? By the end, you probably feel like you've been sprayed with a firehose. What's worse is that you don't walk away remembering anything specific because anything worth remembering was crowded out by the rest of the content. It's just too much!

So how can you avoid overwhelming your audience with straight content?

Create an experience!

If you want to become a better speaker, you need to realize that less in more when it comes to presenting. So instead of cramming more content into their presentations, they look for ways to make their content sticky (aka so memorable that it sticks with audiences after the presentation).

In fact, instead of outlining their speech in the same way they would outline a research paper, they develop their speech like a scriptwriter storyboarding a movie. They ask themselves questions like:

• What is the one big idea that I want my audience to understand?
• How can I make that idea relevant? How can I make it come alive?
• Can I take the audience on a journey where they discover this idea for themselves?
• How can I create an experience that allows my audience to laugh or feel emotions along the way?

Here's the bottom line...

Don't just deliver content.

Create an experience that is enjoyable, educational, and best of all, sticky.

• 9 Ways to Get Paid as a Speaker (FREE Resource)
• 5 Keys to Create a Speech That Pays (FREE Resource)
• Got questions? Submit them here

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review on iTunes. Also, share it by using the social media buttons at the top or bottom of this post.

Until next time, continue to move from #DREAMtoDO as a speaker.

Click here to find out more about the Paid to Speak Accelerator Community (aka Mastermind Community) and to put your name on our Waiting List.

Speaking is not a transactional business. It's a relational business.

Want proof?

Most decision-makers won't hire you until they know, like, and trust you.

Audiences won't listen to you unless you build some level of rapport and trust with them.

And nothing will destroy your speaking career quicker than breaking trust with decision-makers and/or audiences.

So, if you want to become a better speaker, how do you build great relationships with decision-makers and audiences?

Focus on serving!

For decision-makers, be an easy speaker to work with. Make them look like a hero for hiring you. Deliver on your promises.

And for audiences, create an experience that is both enjoyable and educational. You want them to walk away from your presentation feeling better than when they walked in.

• 9 Ways to Get Paid as a Speaker (FREE Resource)
• 5 Keys to Create a Speech That Pays (FREE Resource)
• Got questions? Submit them here

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review on iTunes. Also, share it by using the social media buttons at the top or bottom of this post.

Until next time, continue to move from #DREAMtoDO as a speaker.

Click here to find out more about the Paid to Speak Accelerator Community (aka Mastermind Community) and to put your name on our Waiting List.

Practice starts with developing great content. Work hard on putting together a great presentation.

Then, once you feel like your content is solid, practice the mechanics of how to deliver a great presentation.

You can practice in front of the mirror or make a video recording of yourself...whatever works best for you.

But here's something you won't hear from most speaking coaches or trainers...

If you want to become a better speaker, do NOT practice to become more polished. Audiences can spot a fake a mile away.

Instead, practice to become a better communicator who authentically cares about what you are presenting.

You've been working hard to grow, learn, and develop as a Thought Leader in your area of expertise. So when you get the opportunity to speak to an audience, you don't want to come across as a fake, overly-polished presenter. Instead, you want to be a real person who is seen as passionate about the thoughts and ideas you are sharing.

Or, to put it another way, you want to speak from the head and the heart.

Believe it or not, this takes practice. Lots of practice.

So while you never want to wing your presentation, you also don't want to be over-polished either. It takes practice to truly be yourself as a speaker.

• 9 Ways to Get Paid as a Speaker (FREE Resource)
• 5 Keys to Create a Speech That Pays (FREE Resource)
• Got questions? Submit them here

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review on iTunes. Also, share it by using the social media buttons at the top or bottom of this post.

Until next time, continue to move from #DREAMtoDO as a speaker.