How to Build Recognition in Your Niche (through speaking!)

Before you can truly start impacting your audience, you need to have these crystal clear in your mind. Let's dive in. Hey movers, it's Sally Koering Zimney 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 This can be moved. This moved me. What is moving you? Hey everybody, welcome back to This Moved Me. I'm Sally Zimney, your virtual speaker coach, and I empower purpose-driven entrepreneurs, coaches, and changemakers like you to leverage the power of speaking on behalf of your business or your idea. So that you can finally have the impact that you have always dreamed of, because speaking can do that. It is that powerful. So welcome back. I'm so glad that you're here. And today on the show, we are going to be talking about the before of creating a talk. So what you have to have clear on in your mind with your intention so that you aren't just out there talking about whatever to whomever and not having the kind of impact that you would like to have. This is important. And if you don't get clear on this, which a lot of people aren't clear on this, they just create out of demand. They, they create out of desperation and it's not intentional in the way that they can see better rewards from and better ROI from. So if you feel like you've been getting stuck a lot, if you start creating and then have to circle back, cause you kind of just feel like you're not hitting on it, this exercise will really help you, because the truth is you cannot speak well without this kind of clarity on these particular things that we're going to be talking about. All right, now before we dive in, I want to make sure that you have accessed the Signature Talk Jumpstart Kit. What we're talking about today, this exercise that I'm going to walk you through today, is one exercise in this Jumpstart Kit. The whole kit is meant to help you baby step your way to prepared and ready to create your signature talk. So it gives you a really important jumpstart rather than just diving in and then halfway through being like, I'm not sure if this is where I want to be going. Like, oh, I have seen that happen too many times. No, no, no, no, no. We're gonna be intentional from the outset, do some really important pre-work so that you can really make good on creating that signature talk that will cut through the noise and help you become known around that particular idea and topic that you wanna be known for. And part of what's cool about this jumpstart kit is you can also join us in the Move Your Audience Facebook group. This is a private group where we are talking about how exactly to do this and giving lots of training and opportunities for you to really leverage your voice and your story. And we're gonna help you create that signature talk. So grab the jumpstart kit right there. There it is. This is so hard to do. I'm gonna master this. I'm gonna do it. Oh my God, I'm so dumb. Okay, now for those of you who are just listening to this right now, hello my podcast people, and not watching the video, I want you to imagine in your head a Venn diagram with 3 circles. Okay, do you have it in your head? It's beautiful. Man, I love Venn diagrams. I always have. I find them so powerful and useful in my coaching because these ideas don't often exist as one thing. There are connections and layers in these ideas, and we are so very rarely one thing, right? And so are our audiences, and so is everything that we're talking about. So I really love to think about how things connect and where things connect That is magic. That's what we're going for. So as we are stepping out front, it's truly the coming together of 3 key ideas that we wanna get clearer on for you. This exercise is truly the basis of your authority and your influence and what will help you become known for a thing in the way that you wanna be known for it with the people you wanna be known 2, 4. Yeah. You know what I mean? And knowing these things, having clarity around this is like knowing a super powerful little secret, right? It, it's like seeing things a little bit differently and it just helps give you confidence in your approach. And sometimes that's all we need to do the work in front of us, to be more visible, to step out front and to take the space that is waiting for us. They're waiting for you. Your audience is waiting for you. They don't know it, and maybe you haven't put it together yet, but we're gonna try and connect those pieces today. So let's bring up our Venn diagram. Now I'm going to start with one circle here, and here's this first circle. It's you. You are the first circle. We always start here with you because, of course, authenticity is the name of the game in speaking. It's not a game, it's really probably a simplifying of your approach, but authenticity is a reminder for us that you don't have to do it like anybody else. You get to show up as you, but we do have to know what that means for us. We've got to get clear on our particular, your particular point of view, your approach, your style, your personality, what I call your speaking superpower. In fact, I will link in the description or in the show notes some other episodes and videos for you to watch that will help you get really specific about your speaking superpower. If you don't know what it is yet, those are really good, worth checking out for sure. But it all comes together, all of the information and probably the branding work that you've done in your business and some of the deep dives that you may have done in your marketing as you've been thinking about this. I want you to bring that to this moment as well because it really matters. I want you thinking about really what makes you, you. So in your Venn diagram, we start with this U circle and put it all in there. Okay? Don't worry so much about like, oh my gosh, how do I make this perfect? And how do I get it down to one idea? Don't worry about that right now. I just want you to get it all in there so that, uh, we've got a place to start from. And like I said, this exercise is also over in the Jumpstart Kit. So definitely go check this out because it's got a little more of a walkthrough handhold through this exercise. But if you're wondering like, what's the big question? How can I really get at this, Sally? Then answer this question, which is, what is my particular gift? My particular voice? And I like that word particular, okay, because it's not like unique and special, it's like let's get particular about it, okay? What makes you you? Like, For me, the more I am out and meeting other speaker coaches, I am probably a lot less serious than a lot of those other speaker coaches. I like to think of it as joyful, right? Playful. That's important to me. I think it's important to audiences. So I'm gonna bring that into what I do because I want my speakers to embrace more of that too. So the speakers who are willing to step into that space space are going to find me and say, "Mm, I like her spirit. All right, I'm feeling a connection here." And that's part of what we are doing, right? We are being clear about who we are so that our people can say yes or no. But here's the deal. We cannot just stop there, of course, because just being clear about who you are is only doing half of the job in terms of us making sure that what we're doing is serving the people that we are talking to, which of course is when we bring in the audience. Here it is. Aww. Hello, audience. Now, when we bring in the audience circle, we are thinking about their particular needs, okay? As speakers, we are talking to someone, of course. Of course, otherwise, I don't know what we're doing. We are monologuing. We are doing a journal for someone. I don't know, right? The audience matters. Who we are talking to matters. So before you get too attached to anything in your you circle, right, we've got to really layer on this audience piece— who you are talking to, and not just who they are, but what they need. And not just what they need, but then we've got to go back to the first circle and say, how can what you do in particular, your particular voice, meet a particular need that they have. And that's that magical place in the middle, right, that says, this particular moment right here requires me to speak into this idea. It helps filter out all of that stuff that we put in there, because once we find that connection point, that is the magic, baby. That's what we gotta focus on. Now, sometimes people say to me, Sally, I am not sure who my ideal audience is. I get requests around this topic and this audience a lot, so should I just make content for that since that's where a lot of my requests are? And I would say, well, obviously there's a need there and it's worth developing some content there. But as we are stepping towards a signature talk, what I want you to think about is instead I want you to think about your ideal audience. Your ideal scenario. Who are the people who you would really love to talk to? What you in particular have of service that can benefit this group, this audience in this particular need, in this particular way. And the reason that I do that is because when we focus on that ideal audience, who you wanna be speaking more to, it really helps you develop content for for the future, and it helps you pitch yourself and that content so that you can do more of that speaking, right? So any effort in that direction is going to help you create more of that, which will bring more of that to you. When you bring these two circles together, what you're really asking yourself is, what can I in particular offer this particular audience to help them with a particular problem? A lot of particulars, my friends, a lot of particulars. We are— we're getting specific. So you're not just a coach who speaks to entrepreneurs, okay? That's generic, too generic to be helpful, right? But maybe you're a coach who brings a particular joy in what you do when you help your audience of entrepreneurs take more action and shift out of imposter syndrome thinking. Okay. You see how much more particular that is? Okay. Or, um, you're not just a consultant who speaks with teams about leadership. Too generic, my friends. Too generic. No, no, no. But maybe you're a consultant who brings a depth of facilitation, which helps those teams get clarity on their challenges. So they can become more cohesive. Oh, like that. That was fun. Good. Or maybe, just maybe, you are an entrepreneur who speaks to whoever is willing to listen. That's too generic, too generic, my friends. No, no, no, no. Let's try this again. Maybe you're an entrepreneur who brings your own journey of overcoming challenges in your particular industry to other industry professionals who are burnt out and giving up. Yep. That's much better. Much, much better. Now these particulars, this kind of intention and specificity, it is the heart of impactful speaking, but we are not done yet. No. A lot of times people stop here because that's pretty powerful to have clarity over who you are and clarity over your audience and how you in particular can help them in this particular moment. That's, that's powerful stuff right there. But I'm gonna add a circle. I'm gonna add a third layer onto this Venn diagram. Okay, here it is. Are you ready? How does your voice and your audience's needs fit into what the world needs right now. This is where your business and you and the world and your audience, they just all come together in this powerful trifecta—ven diagram. If you cannot speak to the sense of urgency of now, and if you cannot place your business in the context of the needs of the world or society or what is happening right now, I'm afraid that what you're talking about is never gonna bust through. It might be interesting, it might be helpful, but it's not going to get to the level of recognition and thought leadership and influence and authority that I know you are capable of. It is truly important for us as speakers and leaders to connect what we are talking about to something higher. I'm not talking about like God here, I'm talking about purpose. I'm talking about what is happening in the world. That perspective is needed and important. And as a bonus, it is a way for your business to benefit from your speaking without you being salesy, sleazy, salesy person. Yes, right? Because when we are talking to a need in the world, we don't have to be talking about our business, right? Our business is attached to that idea now because it's attached to you and it's attached to the needs of the audience and it's attached to the moment of now. So the magic of a persuasive signature talk is It's different than it was 10 years ago. And that's part of this context. I mean, it used to be okay for us to just sell, sell, sell, and, and just solve the problem of your audience and have that be done right there. Okay. And some people still do this. And I think that that's fine for them in certain contexts, but with the advent of the TED Talk and this continued shift towards a more thought leadership approach in our speaking and in our being and in our leadership. Well, our job now is to serve with a sense of purpose. It really is. And that is why I want to invite purpose-driven people into this conversation, because we need you. If your talk smells of promotion and sales, there's going to be some people who don't accept you and don't bring you into their universe. Okay. And I'm not just talking about event planners. I'm talking about people in the audience. But if you can attach yourself to an idea that is needed in a sense of purpose, like here's what the world needs. We add that layer on to who you are, your particular voice and your audience's particular needs that you can attend to. And maybe only you can attend to it in this way, in the needs of now in the world, well, holy cow, right? When we can identify that space, that is incredibly empowering. Now, this information, this Venn diagram, I think this is important for you to keep in front of you all the time, every day, as you step out front and build your authority, build your influence, build your voice, as you build that sense of this is what you're known for, this is who you are, this is what you're all about. It really starts with this piece right here. This is a really powerful, important exercise, my friends. Now let me be really clear on this. As I say, we're going for clarity on this. I think it's important to know that it— this is evolving. And nobody's ever done with this. So you might get to a place where you're like, yeah, I really like this. And come back 2 weeks later and like, hmm, well now I'm kind of using this word and it's evolving this way. And here's some feedback I'm getting. And that's fine. Let this be a working document. This does not have to exist exactly like this forever, but I do want you to spend a little time and get as clear as you can, and then let it be something you reference and evolve and iterate. As you go on. Ah, it's so beautiful, this Venn diagram. I love it. I love it. All right, my movers, thank you so much for joining me on the show this week. If you haven't yet grabbed your Signature Talk Jumpstart Kit, you can do that right here, right here, beemoved.com/jumpstart. It's there for you. I'd love to see you over in the Move Your Audience Facebook group, and we will jumpstart your talk together. I'd love to see you there. All right. Hashtag be visible. Hashtag show up anyway, my friends. I'll see you next week.