Speaking as a Marketing Strategy

September 16, 2022
by Charlie Whyman
Charlie Whyman Marketing Speaker

Do you know how long it takes you to build trust with your audience? 

How many messages go back and forth before you’ve truly built a relationship online? 

I’m guessing the answer is quite some time. 

But imagine if you could stand right in front of your ideal audience for just 1 hour, and build as much trust as you do in months of LinkedIn messages? 

What if you could position yourself as an expert and generate numerous leads all in the space of 1 presentation? 

Speaking with Brett from the Modern-Day Marketer, we unpicked how you can use speaking as a marketing strategy, and here’s the best bits. 

So...How does it work?

Every 12 weeks, you make a plan by following the OTTER framework, which is as follows: 

There's some shocking research that suggests that 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, 30% in their second year, and 50% fail after five years.*  

5 years in, having just had my most successful year yet, I’m sharing some marketing lessons to help you work towards those similar milestones.  

The first might surprise you … 

 

    So, How does it work for speaking?

    When trying out any new marketing strategy, it’s essential that you focus in on why it Is you’re doing it, and what you’re hoping to achieve. 

    Don’t say to yourself: 

    "Okay, cool, I’m going to go from nothing to speaking on a massive stage in front of my perfect audience."

    Instead, think: 

    "Okay, cool, I’m going to go from nothing to speaking on a massive stage in front of my perfect audience."

    Your oTTER may look something like this:

    Objectives Reach out to 10 speaking opportunities each month, Schedule 1 speaking gig a month, present your talk at a networking event to gain feedback

    toolsCanva, PowerPoint, current marketing collateral, sales scripts yourself!

    TrainingTake a look at an introduction to speaking course and go back to the marketing foundations of: Who do you want to speak to? What do you want to say?

    expectationsOf myself: to prepare and deliver a talk on a topic relating to my business. Of others: to give me valuable feedback to work on for next time. To help identify at least 10 speaking opportunities a month.

    ReviewScheduled for the end of each month, and formally at the end of the 12-week sprint.

    But why can’t I just get started? Why bother with the OTTER?

    When you’re trying out something new, you want it to achieve results. 

    In the marketing world we’re overwhelmed with training and things we want to learn – you could end up 12 weeks into training and yet to take even a step closer to where you want to be. 

    When you have clear objectives for what you want to achieve, your training and the time you’re dedicating to learning and development is much more intentional. 

    You can dedicate one 12-week period to working towards a few objectives, rather than trying to tackle it all at once. 

    When I used to train for rowing races, I had to train my strength, fitness, flexibility, mindset and nutrition, but I never did it all at once! 

    It’s the same with your marketing, you can’t tackle all the skillsets at once – mastering TikTok, Facebook, SEO, blogs and speaking is not possible if you’re doing it all on your own. 

    Using the OTTER, you can focus on the right things at the right time, and not be overwhelmed and left exactly where you started. 

    Remember, the best marketing comes from the mouths of your customers.

    As with anything, getting started is the hardest part. With speaking, the first step is to listen. 

    If you don’t listen to your customers, you don’t understand what language they use, the tone of voice that they use, how they’re describing their problems, how they’re talking about the goals and their vision. 

    You’re marketing from a place of assumption, and that’s just too risky. 

    So, start listening, start connecting the dots, and use that as your starting point to say what you want to say, by paying attention to the people you want to speak to.  

    If you’re like me, you can start by finding personal links with people – whether that’s rowing, cycling, the grand prix, or the fact that we wear the same Garmin watch! 

    It’s about focussing on progress, not perfection, and you have to start somewhere. 

    If you want to hear the full story on how I leverage speaking as a marketing superpower – catch the full podcast here. 

      Until Then, Stay Curious 🦦

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