New technology creates opportunities for professional speakers to engage with prospects and audiences. Today, you no longer even need to be in the same room as your audience.
Once you find the best tech tools, they help you grow your business and engage with your audience — whether they’re sitting next to you or watching from another state (or country!)
Expert speakers spend a considerable amount of time creating value for prospects and audiences. Then, they use tech tools to capitalize on that value. Here’s a closer look at how it’s done.
They’re mindful about integrating new tech.
While it’s tempting to try every tech tool that comes your way, savvy speakers are selective. They use their strategic goals to guide their tool selection.
“Before you invest in lots of random tech,” says Wittenstein, “figure out the experience your clients, colleagues, partners and contractors, and audience members (paying or not, live or not) want to have.”
As you learn about new tools, thoroughly review and test a new tech tool before using it in your business. And definitely test it before hitting the stage. Before signing up for a new tool, consider these questions:
- “Will this tool help me reach my business goals?”
- “Will this tool help me build the speaking business I want?”
- “Will this tool help me connect with audience members or prospects in a way they want?”
If you answer yes to at least one, try the tool out to see how it works for your business.
They use new tech tools to expand their reach.
Professional speakers are in the business of making big ideas tangible for their audience. Today, there are countless apps and tools to help do just that.
For example, professional speaker, Doug Devitre, relies on conversations to convert leads and deepen relationships with clients. When he wants to be “face-to-face” but can’t join his contacts in-person, he uses Zoom, a virtual conference app. When he wants to reach a bigger audience, he uses Facebook Live. “It’s good to be flexible enough to go live,” says Devitre, “but also have the skills to guide someone more effectively in a private environment.”
Shep Hyken uses GenieCast, a two-way video cast app, to collaborate and engage with audiences around the world. “One morning, I did a speech in Chicago from a hotel in Dallas, where I was giving a speech after lunch the same day.” He gave his presentation “live” from Texas and interacted with people in the audience in Illinois.
They harness the power of CRM.
When you aren’t on the stage, you’re growing your professional speaking business. To engage potential and current customers, professional speakers highly recommend customer relationship management (CRM).
CRM is a tool to help you get more gigs. It simplifies the sales process from lead to close and automatically tracks interactions with prospects and customers.
Mike Wittenstein from Storyminers doesn’t do anything without his CRM. “With web traffic (down to the page level) tied to our CRM,” he explains, “we can track interactions, get in touch with people when their interest is high, know who’s interested in what, and tailor some of our online and follow-up phone messages according to their interests.”
It’s good information to have because people want personalized content. Why? The more you personalize content for your prospects and customers, the more your audience enjoys their experience with your brand.
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What are some of the tech tools you use in your speaking business? How do they make a difference in your business or customer/audience engagement? Drop us a note in the comments.
If you want to learn more about professional speaking hacks, read our interview series.
