As a motivational speaker, you want to inspire, educate, and engage your audiences. But how do you keep them interested and connected after your speech is over? How do you measure and improve your impact on their lives and goals? In this article, you'll learn some tips and strategies to maintain relationships with your audiences and grow your influence as a speaker.
Before you craft your message, you need to understand who you're speaking to. What are their needs, challenges, interests, and aspirations? How can you relate to them and offer them value? Research your audience demographics, preferences, and feedback. Use surveys, polls, interviews, or social media to gather insights. Tailor your content, style, and tone to match your audience's expectations and motivations.
I use a pre-program questionnaire to learn about the audience, the client's goals for my presentation, and more. I want to know who is in the audience; age, gender, responsibilities, etc. I am also interested in who they have invited to speak in the past, what they liked about the speaker, and why. All is this helps me understand what it takes to have a successful presentation.
Maintaining relationships with audiences is crucial for a motivational speaker. To achieve this, I prioritize active engagement and authenticity. I consistently tailor my messages to resonate with diverse audience needs and backgrounds. Leveraging various communication platforms, I encourage open dialogue through Q&A sessions and social media interactions. I make an effort to genuinely listen, valuing feedback and adapting my approach accordingly. By nurturing a sense of connection and trust, I aim to inspire long-lasting positive change in the lives of my audience.
During your speech, you want to capture your audience's attention and emotion. Use storytelling, humor, anecdotes, and examples to illustrate your points. Ask questions, invite participation, and encourage interaction. Use body language, eye contact, and vocal variety to convey your passion and confidence. Make your speech relevant, memorable, and actionable. Provide clear takeaways, tips, and resources that your audience can apply to their own situations.
In the professional speaking world, there is a great question: Do I need to be funny? The answer: Only if you want to get paid. This doesn't mean you need to be a standup comedian, but it does mean you have to be somewhat entertaining. A story, good slides, and anything that entertains the audience while you are speaking is "the sugar that makes the medicine go down." For content, I like to divide it into two sections: 1. The setup: Why is this content relevant to the audience? I include the "why" behind what I'm about to share. 2. Takeaways: Often, I share a list, such as "Ten Ways to Create an Amazing CX." These ideas are typically tangible and can be implemented quickly. Audiences love to get content they can use right away.
After your speech, you want to keep the conversation going and build trust and rapport with your audience. Send them a thank-you note, a summary of your key points, or a bonus material that complements your speech. Invite them to join your email list, your social media platforms, or your online community. Share valuable content, updates, and offers that align with your speech topic and your audience's goals. Ask for feedback, testimonials, and referrals to improve your performance and reach new audiences.
To measure and improve your impact as a speaker, you need to track and analyze your audience's behavior and response. Use metrics such as attendance, retention, engagement, satisfaction, and conversion to evaluate your effectiveness and identify areas of improvement. Use tools such as Google Analytics, email marketing software, social media analytics, or CRM systems to collect and organize data. Use dashboards, reports, or visualizations to display and interpret data.
Not all audiences are the same. You may have different types of audiences with different needs, preferences, and levels of engagement. To maintain relationships with your audiences, you need to segment them into groups based on criteria such as demographics, interests, behavior, or goals. Use segmentation to personalize your communication, content, and offers to each group. Use segmentation to target your marketing, outreach, and follow-up strategies to each group.
Maintaining relationships with your audiences is not a one-time event. It's an ongoing process that requires consistent and meaningful interaction. To nurture your audience, you need to provide them with value, support, and recognition. Use email marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, or webinars to deliver value-added content that educates, entertains, or solves problems for your audience. Use chatbots, live chat, phone calls, or online forums to provide support and answer questions for your audience. Use rewards, incentives, gamification, or contests to recognize and appreciate your audience.