298: A Signature Talk as the #1 Growth Tool

You have a signature talk, which is awesome, or you're thinking about it, but you're like, how do you use a signature talk to grow? Because once I have it, what do I do with it? Let's imagine your future together. Are you ready? Let's dive in. Hey, Movers! It's Sally Z with Be Moved. Let's go create some talks that will move this world. We're going to talk with amazing speakers, share tips, tricks, resources. And we are going to be moved so that our audience can be moved. This moved me. What is moving you? Hey everybody, welcome back to This Moved Me. My name is Sally Koering Zimney, your speaker coach, and I empower big-hearted entrepreneurs like you to leverage the power of speaking on behalf of their business or their idea so they can grow their impact, their authority, and their revenue and leave the burnout and self-doubt and frustration and time suck of under-recognition behind. Together, we are gonna talk today about my favorite things, as you know, which is signature talks. I think they're incredibly powerful. You've heard me talk about them a million times, and there's a reason for that, and that is because they are so, so powerful. But sometimes I get the question, How to use one piece of content for all kinds of other things. How do I use it to grow, Sally? Because that's what I really want to do. I want to use speaking to grow my business. I want to use it to grow my authority. I want to use it to make more money. How do I do that? Well, it's a fair question. So I want to, together in this short and sweet episode, give you a sense of all the potential that you can have and that is at your fingertips once you have a signature talk. So importantly, before we dive into more of the episode, I want to make sure if you haven't yet to go check out this right here, the video series, bemoved.com/videos. The name of this series is How to Double Your Business Without Doubling Your Workload with Speaking. All right, this is what we are talking about, and it really lays the foundation for this really powerful tool of a signature talk. You want to come join it because tomorrow— if this is coming out on October 6th, so you might have missed it, which would be sad for you— but if you haven't yet, on October 7th, we are going live to do the 4th video together. And in that, I'm gonna show you how to create a signature talk that can do these things that we were talking about today in the episode. Because not just any talk can do that. You have to create it with this in mind. I know how to do that. We're doing that inside the Signature Talk Studio, but let's start here because it's going to walk you through some really important foundational pieces. Let's dive in. Your first step, which is not a surprise, is to create a signature talk. That is the tool that we need in order to use it to grow. So this signature talk, you know, you've got it when it's a message that you trust and that it is aligned with your business. It serves your audience. So when we create our signature talks, we are future pacing for ourselves. Like, how can I create a message that is going to do several things? It's going to represent me authentically. It's going to feel very true in terms of how I can best show up in the world. It's going to represent you because the truth is I don't want you to give a talk just like somebody else. Your signature talk should have your signature on it. So it really needs to feel very you. It really needs to address a need of your audience. It's gotta serve them and love them up really well, otherwise it's not gonna fly. And then it also has to be aligned with your business. It has to be put intentionally with your business in mind. Otherwise, we're definitely not gonna grow with your signature talk. So it really has to be all of those things. If you create that talk intentionally with these things in mind, then it becomes an incredibly powerful tool that you get to play with that you will use in hundreds of different ways. You will be eager to use it and share it. And what's cool about a signature talk is you can trust it because you'll know it really, really well instead of throwing something together and doing what we talked about last week, which is the Create For method, where it's just like, ah, I was like, oh yeah, I can do that. I got to talk and you throw something together, you throw it out there and you're just hoping that it helps you in the long run. Your business versus this create from method where you are pulling from this powerful signature talk. It's awesome. So we have been talking for the last several weeks about what a powerful workhorse a talk is. A signature talk is an incredibly versatile asset in your business. It is an asset. It is worth money. So I want you to remember that it takes some investment of time and energy Maybe some financial resources if you hire a coach or do a program like an STS to do that. But once you have it, it makes money for you. So it is purely and truly an asset for you in your business. We know it's a workhorse. How do we put that workhorse to work? I want you to think about it in 4 different buckets. And because I love alliteration, we're going to put it in D's. The first thing is that you want to determine for yourself if you need your talk to be a lead generator right now or a revenue generator for you right now, or maybe you want it to do both. What is the biggest need for you in your business right now? Because lead generation speaking tends to be a little bit different than revenue generating speaking. Now we want the core message to be the same either way, but things might move around a little bit if you are doing lead generation speaking versus revenue generation speaking. Oftentimes that depends on really where your business is at and how much you might need one thing more than the other. Now, really importantly, whatever you decide, you want to put your talk into what I call a speaking funnel. Your signature talk as a lead generator is gonna move people somewhere closer to you. Where are they moving to and how can you lead them there with your talk? And on the other end, if it's revenue generation speaking and you don't really care what happens after you speak to your audience and it's really focused on, listen, I just want to get paid the big bucks and then we move on from there, then you're really focused on how can I create a premium experience and sell that right there. That is the first D you're going to determine. Now, the second thing that we need to do if you're really going to leverage this tool is you need to declare that you are a speaker. You've got to declare to the world. They need to know that you have this tool, that you're ready to use this tool. They need to know what you're all about and that this is what you do, not what you hope to do, but this is who you are. You are a speaker. For years, I kind of sat in this mode where I was like, I work with people who aren't speakers but who speak. And then I was like, I'm not helping them by allowing them to stay in that space because they were not going for those next bigger opportunities. They weren't really stepping into what was possible with speaking. Now I'm like, uh-uh, declare to the world that you are a speaker. If you don't start telling people that you have a talk, that you speak about these things, how are they supposed to know? Most people are like, who would do that? And you're like, I would. I am. I will. So you've got to let people know, declare to the world that you are a speaker. Some of the easy ways that you can do this is by changing your titles on your social media, by adding a speaker page on your website, creating a one-pager, having descriptions and pricing, gathering testimonials, sharing those on social. There's a million different ways that you can do that. Some are Some are more subtle than others, but declare to the world that you are a speaker. The next thing you've got to do is set yourself a deadline. Give yourself goals and set out those deadlines because without them, we will avoid the growth and the challenge of growing our speaking business. You've got your talk. We're future pacing. Imagine for yourself, you've got your signature talk. What are you gonna do? Well, it's not just done after you get your talk is what I'm trying to tell you. You then have to really put some things in place, create some deadlines, create some systems. Let's get those goals going. Own your destiny in this area. Do not wait around. Set the deadline and make it happen. Now, what's cool about this world of virtual speaking that is never going away is that you can set your own deadline and kind of launch yourself. As a speaker, you can let the world know, hey, I'm talking about these ideas. I'd love for you to come join me. There's all kinds of free resources out there. You can go live in your Facebook group. You can do an Eventbrite. You can do it live and in person if that's a safe thing to do in your area and you are all about it. Like, I say go for it. The final D in our little alliteration series is determine. You gotta get determined. There are, as I like to say, no special unicorns in speaking. Everybody works to get there, and then kind of this flywheel kicks in, and the more you speak, the more you speak. But you've got to be determined along the way. You've got to get scrappy, get visible, get connected, reach out to people. It's really about relationships way more than you would expect. Just like in all things, your network and the energy that you put out around these things will come back to you. I feel like it's kind of a theme in all of this is you can't wait. As you dream about what is possible with a signature talk, know that this is part of it. You have the tool, but then you need to use the tool. Your event planners that are looking to book you, they are first going to connect in with people that they know, and they're going to say, who do you know who speaks about this? Who do you trust? Who's really great? And if your name comes to mind, that's an in. Before they go to some bureau or a random list or respond to a cold pitch that they get, they're going to first go to the people that they know and the people who know the people that they know. So in the process of growing and leveraging a signature talk, you've got to get determined. Let's review our 4 Ds. We are going to determine what role it's going to play in our business. We are going to declare to the world that we're a speaker. We're going to set deadlines and goals, and then we're going to get determined about those deadlines and goals and get scrappy and get visible and get out there and make it happen. We're not going to wait. We're not going to just cross our fingers and hope that the special unicorn status will come to us because there are no special unicorns in speaking. We're just going to get determined and we're going to go for it. Let's be really, really clear, because if you are just waiting for that one special gig, like, oh, I just really want that, like, big keynote moment, and I'm— I would love to speak at that one conference, and you're trying, but it's not happening yet, and you feel like, well, now this asset is just sitting here. Well, you are underutilizing it in the everyday. And that's one of the really cool things about a signature talk. It is not just for those big lead-generating moments, those big revenue-generating moments. You can use it in the everyday to help build up your authority, your recognition, your message consistency. All of these things help serve your audience in the meantime as well. If you have an opportunity to speak at something or show up as a guest on a podcast or do a live and you're wondering like, what should I talk about right now? You can lean on one line in your talk and you've got something to say. If you're short on stories to share, your talk has 3 to 5 go-to stories in the moment that you can lean on and share that might benefit your audience. If you find yourself in a Q&A moment and you're feeling a little lost and unsure of yourself, well, you know where to turn to. For some of those key points and powerful lines and moments and stories. Don't wait for that big event, just go for it. Maybe you want to take one of the stories in your talk and share it in a contextually appropriate way, of course, on a Facebook Live or an Instagram Live or a LinkedIn Live, right? These are assets now that you can use. Maybe you want to turn it into a workshop and charge some money for it. Ah, yes, you can do that. Go ahead. This is your content. Use it how you want to. Take one of the content pillars that exists in your talk. Write a blog post about it, but just one, and don't share all of it. Don't do it word for word, but introduce that idea to your audience and then leverage that blog post in 100 different ways. Maybe you want to take one of your points and pitch it as a topic in a relevant podcast and show up with that insightful, vetted content that you have already created. When you're out there speaking for free, I don't want you to share your whole talk. I don't want you to share all the bits and pieces that you have lovingly created unless you have shared it to just purely be a lead generator and you want to share it for free. If that's how you want to do it, then I bless that. Awesome. But if you are also hoping to get paid for that same talk, then you're gonna have to pilfer some pieces out to share in your lead-generating speaking opportunities so that the people who paid for it get special things, right? So something we have to think about, like who gets what content where, and that's important to think about. The key is that you're being intentional. You're, you're going to change the dynamic from create for to create from, just like we talked about last week. That saves you time and it helps you make more money because you can show up with message consistency, brand consistency, and bring people intentionally into your business with you. Bam! Signature talks, so incredibly powerful. If you are catching this right as this episode comes out, it's not too late for you to come check out this video series. Go to bemoove.com/videos. It's going to walk you through the foundations of creating this asset so that it can double your business without doubling your workload. Join us here for the, for the video series. And know that tomorrow marks also the opening of the limited time enrollment for Signature Talk Studio. So if you want, and you've been thinking about, yes, I want to create create an intentional talk that I can really leverage in my business. Well, it might be time for you to join STS. So you can come learn more about it here. Come join us live on the 7th and know that the cart is open. It is so great to have you here. We have just a few episodes left before we hit 300, 300 episodes. That is mind-boggling to me. And I'm so grateful to those of you who have come along with me this whole long road. It's been many years. I've loved it. And, um, grateful for you. This moved me this week. What is moving you? See you over in the video series. Have a great one.