PUBLIC SPEAKING: HOW TO DISCOVER YOUR SIGNATURE SPEECH

public speaking publicity tedx visibility Feb 03, 2020

Want to know the way to find your signature speech so you feel more confident submitting?

In this post, I'll share how I discovered mine.

Where I'm able to book speeches very easily because I know exactly what I'm offering as well as exactly what it will give my audience.

Ready?

And to put a cherry on top, you should register for my free masterclass where I'll share my top secret public speaking strategies to help you book TEDx by summer!

1. Find Your Speaking Style.

You are unlike anyone else. I know you've heard this, but you need to really step into it to become a public speaker.

The biggest objection I hear when it comes to getting on stage is, "What can I give that will actually be unique? I'll sound like everyone else!".

It can be really terrifying - especially if you're watching the TEDx channel on YouTube and start getting more and more doubtful of your talents.

Let me help you find your uniqueness.

By identifying your unique speaking style, you can more easily discover what topic you'll be speaking on.

{This is all based on the concepts taught in my Applause Academy Program. Register here.}

Are you funny? Serious? Lighthearted?
Do you like talking to your friends about ideas, events or people?
What do your colleagues come to you about for advice?

These are all discoveries into who you are and what topics people like to hear from you.

And, once you land on this, you can inject that into your speaking style.

For example, I am gifted at explaining big ideas and motivating people to take action.

Do you think I spend most of my time on stage speaking inspiration? Nope.

I hold strong in my zone of genius every time I speak. I lead - because it's my speaking style.

2. Write Out Your Top 3 Stories

It's time to find the personal connection with your audience.

And this is always through story.

A speech is nothing without a story. Comedy is nothing without a story. A movie is nothing without a story.

So, breathe a sigh of relief that sharing one of your stories is nothing new under the sun! And we just need one to get started with.

For some, the year method is most helpful. That literally means to write down the timeline of your life and start identifying key stories by age group.

For others, it's easier to be more technical, so that means the results method. All you need to do is write down the top 3 results you help your clients achieve and backdate to what stories helped you become knowledgeable in that area.

Use whatever works best for you until you can narrow it down to three of your most powerful or transformational stories.

Story 1
Story 2
Story 3

It's amazing the clarity that happens when my students start finding their stories.

They start seeing their uniqueness.

And as I always say - mindset it the #1 way to become {or not become} a public speaker.

3. Decide On One Topic That Has A Key Story.

It's decision time.

I know we've been focusing mainly on story - so now we're ready to get to our signature speech topic.

For me, I tend to gravitate towards two main speeches {both of which have booked me many times}. The first one is all about color psychology and the second about the main blockages behind visibility.

The great news is that you have your stories down.

Now, you can start brainstorming topics.

What can you share that has a unique perspective?

When I have to pull stories out of my PR clients, I always ask them...

What can you teach that no one else can?

This is when they stop liking me. HA! It takes a minute to think about.

If they teach social media marketing, I can't pitch that.

So I ask this:

What type of social media marketing? Let's say they answer Pinterest.
What specific pieces of Pinterest do you teach? Let's say they answer group boards.
What kinds of strategies with group boards? How to get your content seen more using group boards.
What kind of results do they see? Increase in traffic.
What kind of traffic? Opt ins and website visits.
What is the usual increase after 3 months? About 200%.

This helps me narrow it down to pitch them like this:

Janet is a Pinterest Strategist who helps her clients up their opt ins and website traffic by 200% using group board strategies on Pinterest - the #2 search engine in the world.

You can easily adapt this for yourself with speeches.

Ask yourself this:

What are you most talented at teaching? Let's say the answer is health and wellness.
What specific pieces of health and wellness do you teach? Let's say they answer gut health.
What kinds of strategies with gut health? How to digest food more easily based on diet.
What kind of results do they see? Decrease in bloating, easier sleep, more energy.
What kind of diet? Organic foods/non glysophates.

So a great speech topic is "Pesticides in our food are making us tired, bloated and insomniacs" or "Eating organic to save your sleep".

See what I mean?

It's easier than you think.

And you can weave in your story that got you to this conclusion very easily.

To recap, these are my top 3 basic steps to building a successful signature speech that books...starting with your style, stories, and major topic.

If you want to be a TEDx Speaker, I suggest you pin this so you can reference it later, then go register for my free Stage By Summer Masterclass so I can teach you how to book the TEDx stage.

Comment below: What piece of this blog helped you the most? What will your signature speech topic be?

Author

Hey Visionary! I'm Michelle.

Former Hollywood Stand In Turned Empowered Online CEO.

I booked EOFire, TEDx, a magazine cover + a tv appearance in one year after realizing I'd spent way too long giving away the spotlight. I've spent the last decade tackling my demons + re-writing my mind, body + spirit to accepting visibility, hitting seemingly impossible goals + becoming the Visibility Expert I am today. And that's exactly what I help my students do.