When You Talk About Your Business, It’s All About THEM

by Jezra on February 2, 2012

You’d think that, when you’re pitching your business, it would be about you — what you offer, how you operate, etc., etc.

Turns out that, as with most public speaking, a successful pitch isn’t about you at all.  It’s all about your audience: Their wants, their needs, their expectations.

In this clip from a workshop at In Good Company Workplaces, I discuss that principle with event and fine arts photographer Alice Garik.

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Public Speaking Mistakes: Don’t Try This at Home, Kids!

January 31, 2012
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In Bill Cunningham New York, a documentary about the great street fashion photographer, someone notes that Bill never took a mean photo in his life. So with Bill in mind, I’m launching a hopefully not-too-mean blog category on Public Speaking Mistakes.  I’m doing this not to ridicule mistake makers (I’ve made some beauts myself!), but [...]

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For Great Public Speaking: Have a Key Message

January 26, 2012
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Ah, the key message! For public speakers, it’s like the holy grail:  A mythic object with magical powers. When you have the right key message, you can easily: Adapt your speech for any audience Find three persuasive points to illustrate and support it Respond to questions (even tricky or negative ones) So What is This [...]

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The Public Speaking Team of 3: Prepare, Practice, and Present

January 24, 2012
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I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions.  So this year, I took a page from social media superstar Chris Brogan’s book, and picked three words to describe my hopes for 2012: serenity — productivity — joy Yes, it’s another example of The Rule of 3!  And when it comes to public speaking success, [...]

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Public Speaking the TEDx Way: It’s Child’s Play

January 17, 2012
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I’ve written about Daniel Kraft’s bar-setting TED speech, and about how my three (to date) TEDx speaking clients prepared in totally different ways.  But there’s something else happening at TEDx, the independently-produced TED spin-offs taking place around the world: Kids are getting into the act. Take this performance by then-12-year-old Adora Svitak, who’s been writing [...]

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