How to Give a Talk at a Conference

Conferences and trade shows are one of the best ways to build leads for your business. But they can also be a massive waste of time if you don’t approach them correctly. Sure, you might build up a handsome collection of promotional stationery and USB sticks, but that’s hardly a good return on the time and money you’ve put into going. Public speaking can give you the edge over the competition, and this article is a gameplan about how to go about giving a talk at a conference.

Choose the right conferences.

“Fish where the fish are, not where the fishermen are.”

There are thousands of conferences every year, and some are very expensive. It’s also time that you could have spent working, so don’t waste any resources going to the wrong events. Before you book your ticket, ask yourself:

1. Is this conference relevant to your sector?
2. Are any of your leads going?
3. What kind of job titles will people there have?

The people and their responsibilities are most important here. You need to be around the kind of people who could end up as clients in the future, not a load of your competitors. 

Carefully selecting conferences also positions you better: if you will be the only expert in your field there, and that’s a topic relevant to the attendees, then the organisers will do everything they can to get you a spot on stage. 

If you need to spend money on a slot, again make sure the conference can answer those three questions. Rather than simply talking at one of the stages and paying a huge premium, it might also be worth booking your own event beforehand at a small restaurant/ bar with an event space, and invite potential leads to that. 

What should I speak about?

There’s one big rule here. 

DON’T SELL!

If you go in there like Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glenross, then people will be immediately turned off. What value does this provide them? Absolutely none. It also means that you will have negated the possibility of doing business with these leads in the future.

Play the long game. The first stage in your customer’s journey is awareness, so if you can open their eyes to your topic and the issues around it, that’s a step in the right direction. 

Create a presentation that raises awareness, that is simple to understand, and which finishes with a call-to-action that opens the conversation with you. You could get people to text their emails to a phone number in exchange for a PDF, you could ask them to visit your stand for a free consultation, you could give them your business card. 

Don’t take questions if you can avoid it. Get people to contact you individually so you can a) now have a relationship with them and b) not jeopardise the impact of your presentation. 

On The Day of the Conference

The cub scout motto is “be prepared.”

Get there early, befriend the technicians and get them to check your mic, check how the powerpoint looks, work out how and when you will come on stage, and if you can practice on the stage too. This might seem like overkill, but it will ensure that your presentation runs smoothly and make you feel more comfortable and at ease, so you can focus on giving the best performance. 

After the Conference

Before you even start writing your presentation, you need to work out what you will do with the leads you generate. Have a process to maximise the benefits of the presentation you have given.

It’s unlikely that you will be able to handle all of this on your own, so make sure that you’re team is equipped to answer questions and standing at the stand the moment the auditorium doors open. Have a team trained and ready to follow up leads as quickly as possible. 

Your clients will probably have had 3-4 days of meeting people and seeing speeches. Even if you deliver a fantastic presentation, it’s unlikely they’ll remember you from that one point-of-contact, so get in touch quickly. 

Conclusion

Do all this, and you’ll be ready to make the most of the conference season. Giving a talk at a conference can seem like a daunting task, and it can be a waste of a huge amount of effort if you don’t approach it correctly. With this video though, you’ll be ready to make the most of conference season and come away with some invaluable leads. 

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