Are You Creating Followers?

The Original Facebook.

Over the past five years I've watched Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter take over the world with a simple formula: let people talk to each other. This written form of communication offers valuable insight into the speaking world, as well.

Typically, we start out with a small group of people we communicate with - our friends and family. Some never move beyond that point. Others start to expand outside their immediate circle of influence, to people in their industry. Most of my friends on Facebook are fellow speakers I've never met. Beyond that, you can grow your network to thousands of people, many who may care what you say, others who just treat you as a statistic. Without becoming a tutorial on using social media, let me just say this - however you choose to use it, use it in the way it best serves your goals - and get your goals clear before you get to far.

The communication I see on these platforms usually falls into five categories:


1. Open, authentic comments about what we're doing, how we're feeling, and what we plan to do

2. Pithy Quotes, Off-the-Wall Jokes, and lately, images combined with both.

3. Hardcore Marketing filled with links to blogs, sales pages, etc.

4. Links to news stories, blogs, or videos

5. Actual valuable and useful information

All distilled to 140 or so characters apiece, with the percentage of one over the other either serving or betraying the communicator's purposes, just as your content as a speaker will betray or serve your audience.

What type of information are your giving to your audiences when you speak? Does your desire to market overwhelm your audience? Do you focus on sharing others wisdom without being authentic with your own life experiences? How does everything tie together?

Most important, when you finish speaking, have you built new followers, new friends? Have you shared yourself and delivered your message with passion and integrity? Have you communicated with the audience, or just talked at them, throwing out one impersonal statistic, quote and cliche after another?

Successful Social Media users understand it takes a balance of all five types of messages to build friends and following. As speakers, we are given the luxury of more than 30 words or so, but the goal is the same - find the balance of content to build friendships, and trust, from the stage. Whether we're talking to friends and family, your circle of influence, or your entire industry, remember to talk to and with them, vs. at or for them.

Once your balance is achieved, you'll know you're able to Speak...and Deliver.


*editor's note: This post originally appeared in 2009. It has been edited for content and modified to fit your screen.

200 Bricks.

Will Smith tells a story about his father tearing down a wall in front of his business, and telling his two young boys they had to rebuild it. The young kids thought it was an impossible task, but in about a year and a half, they succeeded. The former Fresh Prince said the key was focusing not on the wall they had to build, but laying the perfect brick, one brick at a time.

When I set out to start Speak & Deliver, I had this simple goal in mind, as seen in my first post, Sept. 15, 2009:

"Speak & Deliver will cover both sides of the issue, as we strive to marry the best of Method and Message in order to create the best possible speakers for today's audiences."

Have I succeeded?

Speak & Deliver has certainly been built slowly over the last 28 months, though 2011 was a bit of a breakout year as I dedicated more and more time to posting. I'm honored by the many follows I can see on the right side of this blog, the RSS followers, and those that help me average 300 or so views a day. It either means I'm writing what you want to read, or I'm using enough Glee images that people are hitting my blog just to grab the graphics. Probably some combination of both!

What can I do to make the next 200 posts useful to you? To push you along your speaking journey, one post at a time? Tell me in the comments below, facebook me, or email me with your thoughts. This blog, after all, is for the "Speaking Public", not me.

Thank you for reading Speak & Deliver. Now go out and give a speech. Every speech is a brick. Your wall of success is waiting to be built!

Speaking of Testimonials

It's one thing when you spend your life writing marketing copy designed to tell people how brilliant you are as a speaker. It's another when you can get someone else to say it, too!

Testimonials rank high when it comes to credibility for a buyer, whether you're selling dishwashers, toothpaste, or keynote speeches. They come in many shapes, sizes, and levels of effectiveness, but most testimonials will still outweigh anything we write about ourselves.

Testimonial Types:

A. First Name Only. These are the lowest form of testimonial. A written sentence or two, no matter how glowing, loses steam when followed by "- Anthony H." No accountability there, for the recommender or the speaker. Whose to say it isn't all made up?

B. First & Last. Finding out Anthony H. is really Anthony Hopkins can be priceless!

C. First, Last, & Position. Finding out it's the Anthony Hopkins that is the CEO of SomeBigComputer Company who hired you? Even better.


[Rich is] "a speaker with strong themes and an entertaining style... Any audience could benefit from his experiences, ideas and enthusiasm."
                                                                                    Barb Bunkers 
                                                                                    Human Resources
                                                                                    Principal Financial Group

D. Add a photo. Seeing it's a real person adds weight and added verifiability to the quote.

E. Audio. These were more popular 10 years ago, when digital recorders first hit the scene. A voice is more convincing than disembodied words on a page. But, if you can do Audio, you can just as easily do...

F. Video. These are today's gold standard, especially if you are able to get them at the event itself. The enthusiasm is high, the atmosphere of the convention center floor adds impact, even the crowd noise screams legitimacy. With today's digital HD cameras at an all time low, and software free or virtually free (I used a $50 copy of Corel VideoPro), it's easier than ever.



The best testimonials don't just talk about how well you did, they talk about what the person got out of what you said, or what the company took home from the event. Ask people to speak about something specific in your presentation, and they'll usually be able to write or say something more specific than "I really enjoyed hearing you speak."

Written testimonials are still a tough animal to corral. People say they'll do them, and forget, or just get too busy. It's not unusual for speakers to write their own testimonials for a meeting planner or company big-wig, and ask that person to sign-off on it, pending their own corrections and additions. Believe it or not, book recommendations are often done in the same way. How else would Jack Canfield have time to endorse every book in the Self-Help section?

Getting those written testimonials on company letterhead is nice, but not as necessary in today's digital world. When you do get them, scan them for posterity, and send them if a meeting planner actually asks. Otherwise, just add them to your website in a short soundbyte. Get permission to use people's company logos, and add it along with a picture of the individual. This can build a nice visual resume of corporate clients, once you begin to pile them up.

Video testimonials are interesting as well, from beginning to end. I knew I wanted to get some at my last big event, but I admit, I was hesitant to ask people. My friend Theresa Frasch had no such hesitation, took my FlipCam and started going around the conference, getting me every testimonial. She definitely saved the day! Getting a third party involved can be very helpful, and you'll know the testimonials are authentic (for your own peace of mind) when you aren't right there pressuring them to be nice.



Finding the time to actually put them together and post 'em on YouTube was another challenge, but it was easier than I expected. Once I had my template together, each one took about 10 minutes, not counting compile and upload time. One's uploading as I type, so multi-tasking is always an option! A quick shout out to Darren LaCroix and his CD program "YouTube It" for being an encouraging and educational nagging voice on my computer.

However you get them, testimonials are a crucial piece of your marketing puzzle. No one else can give your speech, but most everyone who hears it can give a 20-30 second speech about how you've enlightened, educated, and inspired them. Go out today and Speak...and Deliver. Then get someone to tell the world how you did!




Just for Toastmasters: Many clubs record speeches, but how many record testimonials for the speakers after the meeting? This can be good practice for the speakers, and provide some great promo material for members of the club, and even the club itself! Don't force anyone to do it of course, but once they see how much fun it is to get a testimonial from others, they'll be lining up to get on camera.

Speaking Perfection is a Myth

It may be an odd thing to hear coming from a coach dedicated to improving his clients content and delivery, but it is true, nonetheless. Speaking Perfection is overrated. In fact, Speaking Perfection may be the biggest enemy for speakers wanting to get out into the 'real world'.

So many beginning speakers worry that they just aren't good enough yet, even after going to Toastmasters, even after hiring a coach. They won't schedule themselves for even the smallest Rotary group, even if their coach tells them it's time to jump into the deep end.

They want to reach Speaking Perfection before ever going out to speak. Unfortunately, Speaking Perfection is a Myth. An unreachable mountaintop. Even Jesus didn't convert everyone who ever heard his words. Zig Ziglar doesn't convince every audience member to 'Stop their Stinkin' Thinkin''. There's always someone who thinks the Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking should have been someone other than who it was in any given year.

Beyond influence, technical perfection isn't even necessary. We're not doing ballet on stage, folks. In some cases, technically proficient speakers are further away from perfection than those that stutter every now and again, because they are too slick!

Don't fall victim to the Speaking Perfection Myth. You are ready to speak to a live audience if:

A. You have a message they want/need to hear - a message based on your experience and expertise.

B. You have an outline - a real beginning, middle, and end, just like that paper in high school.

C. You have practiced more than once - at minimum in front of your dog.

D. You have spoken previously - in front of live people without fainting, freezing or vomiting. This is a big reason I recommend Toastmasters. Doesn't have to be this speech, though that would certainly be beneficial. Just know you can do it.

E. You have a point - an actionable point to leave your audience with at the close of your presentation. We don't care about your life, about twitter, about global warming, unless we can learn something and do something after hearing about it.

The setting is important, of course. An individual watching you at a breakfast networking group will be far more understanding and open to your imperfect message than the same individual who has paid a ton of money for a conference. That's why most coaches encourage their charges to start with 'free speaking' at service clubs. It gets your feet wet without putting you in front of an audience with incredibly high expectations. If the last person they heard was the average town councilman, or the Rotary President's sister who loves talking about quilting, you're most likely already ahead of the game.

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." - Zig Ziglar

What's important is not how Perfect you are, but that you are able to get through the speech and make an impact. Audiences appreciate authenticity. They'll look past a stutter or stop to look at notes. Real life audience are more forgiving than you might think, as long as you give them something that impacts their heart, mind, or pocketbook.

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe any speaker should stop there. There's plenty more to learn, more ways to improve your level of connection, communication of ideas, and ultimate impact. It is a lifelong process, even for the best of the best. It's always preferable to reach 7 people out of 10 than 3. But 3 is a good start.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to get better, unless getting better gets in the way of getting started.

Don't wait for perfection. Don't wait til you've won enough contests. Don't wait until you're totally sure you're ready. If you haven't started yet, find a Toastmasters club, find a coach, or, at the very least, find your dog, and SPEAK.

Someone out there needs to hear what you have to say.

*after writing this, I realized I'd written something similar last September. I considered not posting this one, or delaying it, but then I thought again. If it's on my mind it may be on some of yours, especially as you look toward Speaking and Delivering in the New Year.