Public speaking has come a looooooong way in a pretty short amount of time. When I started At the Podium, public speaking generally meant standing at the front of a room and talking to an in-person audience of people who all had their eyes on you. Now, we can speak to any number of people from the comfort of our own home, wearing business casual from the waist up, and sometimes, pajama-like from the waist down.
The question is, with so many virtual and social media vehicles for sharing our expertise, does this mean we can skip in-person public speaking altogether? Okay, that’s a rhetorical question. The answer is NO! Don’t do it!
IMO, in-person public speaking should be thought of as a springboard for establishing your foundation as an expert with specific solutions for a specific set of problems. That’s one of the great things about having a signature talk. It gives people first-hand reasons to recognize and remember you and what you do. It helps with referrals too. Here are a few more advantages in-person public speaking has over social media.
There’s no contest between engaging people face to face and online. When you’re speaking to a live audience, you make eye contact, you smile right at someone and they feel it. In other words, you can engage with your audience, in real time, showing up as who you genuinely are. You see how your audience is reacting to you and your talk in real time. Yes, people can react and comment on your social media, but seriously, is it really the same?
The more people experience success as a result of sitting in one of your in-person audiences, the closer you are to establishing yourself as an expert. It’s another touch. One of the reasons it takes so many “touches” on social media to get someone to reach out to learn more about you is because of the “quick hit” nature of social media. Talk about only having a few seconds to make a good impression!
When you’re speaking to an in-person audience, maybe it even goes beyond a touch, because you’re face to face… maybe we call that a hand-hold? You’re there for them, ready to help them solve some aspect of the problem you have a solution for. Your talk’s going to generate an inspiring empowering in-person physical vibe that’s very hard to duplicate online.
The people sitting in your audience when you’re speaking are your target audience. They’re there because they chose to be. They want to hear what you have to say. When someone finds you on social media, they may or may not know anything about you. After someone hears you speak though, if they like what they heard, they’ll be more likely to follow you on social media. And here are 5 ways to take advantage of that using your signature talk(s) as a foundation.
- Identify great quotes from your presentation and turn them into social media posts, blogs, and articles.
- Share informative video snippets from your talks.
- Create posts around the answer to a question someone in your live audience asked.
- Invite your social media followers to participate in polls and surveys you shared with your live audience.
- Share bonus content that expands on something you shared in your talk.
In closing, let me make this clear. I’m not saying you should ignore social media. What I am saying is that social media should be a compliment to your in-person talks. It’s a great way to further expand your reach, and to give your audience more ways to continue learning from and about you. That’s the way to bring the best of both worlds together—while growing your business as a result.