Your brand is the way you communicate your identity, values, and expertise as a speaker. It helps you stand out from the crowd and connect with your audience. But your brand is not fixed or static. You need to adjust it for different speaking situations, depending on your goals, your audience, and your context. Here are some tips on how to do that effectively.
Before you speak, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Do you want to inform, persuade, inspire, entertain, or educate your audience? Do you want to sell a product, service, or idea? Do you want to build trust, credibility, or rapport? Your purpose will guide your choice of topics, tone, style, and structure for your speech. It will also help you align your brand with your message and your audience's needs.
As a salesperson, I always strived to develop trust and build the relationship upfront before attempting to sell. Entering the keynote phase of my career, the advice was to ask a compelling question of the audience upfront, encouraging keen interest. 'What if you unexpectedly have a split second to decide your fate ~ Which way will you turn?' Example: Before surgery, I had a near-death experience on a stretcher and instantly agreed to work for the greater good. Outcome: After the operation, the medical staff deemed me as 'The Walking Miracle!' Motto: 'Believe, Become, Empower.' Believe you can, Become that person, and Empower others. Giving examples of adhering to the motto and inspiring the audience further earned thunderous applause!
Your brand is not about you, it's about how you relate to your audience. You need to know who they are, what they care about, what they expect from you, and what they can learn from you. You need to tailor your brand to fit their interests, preferences, and level of knowledge. You need to use language, examples, stories, and humor that resonate with them. You need to show them that you understand their problems, challenges, and goals, and that you can offer solutions, insights, or inspiration.
Your brand is also influenced by the context of your speaking situation. You need to consider the format, duration, location, and occasion of your speech. You need to adapt your brand to suit the formal or informal, professional or personal, online or offline environment. You need to respect the norms, rules, and expectations of the event, the organization, or the culture. You need to use appropriate visual aids, props, or gestures to enhance your brand and your message.
While you need to adjust your brand for different speaking situations, you also need to maintain some consistency. You need to have a core brand identity that reflects your values, vision, and voice as a speaker. You need to have a unique selling proposition that differentiates you from other speakers. You need to have a signature style that showcases your personality, skills, and strengths. You need to have a memorable brand name, logo, slogan, or tagline that represents you and your message.
The most important tip for adjusting your brand for different speaking situations is to be authentic. You need to be yourself, not someone else. You need to be honest, not deceptive. You need to be passionate, not indifferent. You need to be confident, not arrogant. You need to be humble, not self-deprecating. You need to be respectful, not condescending. You need to be genuine, not fake. Your brand is not a mask or a costume, it's an extension of who you are as a speaker and as a person.
I wouldn't. Adjust my brand, that is. I wouldn't adjust my brand to "match" my audience or speaking environment. I might adjust my presentation style, my tone, or my level of personal interaction to create a comfortable rapport with my audience, but I would never adjust my brand. And why should I? My brand is what differentiates me from other facilitators. It comprises my interactive style of facilitation, the humor I inject, my relationship-building approach, and my commitment to skills application. My brand and I are a team. Hire one, and you get the other at no additional cost!