This training on public speaking shows you how to "get the butts in the seats" the easy way, and answers critical questions about serving food and what people want to hear about:

NO FREE LUNCH?
Should you serve a meal at your seminar? Should you send out seminar invitations that offer a free breakfast, lunch, or dinner? First, never invite the general public to a seminar where you'll serve a meal, or else you'll have a bunch of freeloaders who'll eat for free and never buy what you're selling. If your list is highly qualified - meaning you'll have a room full of good prospects in your target market, then it might make sense, but first do some math: If it costs you $20 per head to serve a meal and you get 40 people, your meal expense alone will be $800. How much of your product or service will you need to sell just to recoup that expense? If you're in a high-commission business such as real estate, insurance, and financial planning - or if just one of your average sales will be enough to cover your meal expense, it may be worth it. Serving a meal at a seminar can be a powerful tool for persuasion - most people are reluctant to say "no" to your offer when they've got a mouth-full of food that you've paid for... there's no free lunch!

SPEAKING AT OTHER PEOPLE'S EVENTS:
A hot topic at my workshops is marketing - put crudely the question is "how do I get butts in seats?" I could write an entire book on this topic. In fact, I have written a book on Seminar Speaking Marketing. In this short space, I'll give you some valuable advice. To start, find someone who's already doing seminars to your target market. Contact them and offer to speak at their seminar. You'll need to "sell" them on how you speaking will provide value to them. By contacting someone who's already got the "butts in seats" and offering value to them in exchange for you speaking at their seminar, you create a true win/win situation!

THE "WHO CARES?" QUESTION:
Always remember this: people don't care about you. I don't mean your family and friends don't have feelings for you. What I mean by this is that your seminar attendees for the most part don't care about your degree, your experience, your accomplishments, or how long you've been doing what you're doing. Sure, you may need to touch on that to establish your credibility, but what people MOST want to know is "what can you do for ME!" People only listen to one radio station: WIIFM - which stands for "What's In It For ME? Focus your Seminar Speaking on what you can do for them, and not how wonderful you are.

More training on public speaking: