The First Thing To Consider As A Speaker [An Introduction to Speaking360º]

One Mistake Many Speakers Make...

We've worked with tens of thousands of people from all over the world, and the same issues come up over and over again. There is one particular mistake – an error of perspective if you like – that if you can get right from the very beginning, then a lot of the other problems don't even appear at all!

The great news? It's relatively easy to fix! Most people are scared of speaking... or they don't want to start... or they don't know where to start... they don't know what to do for the best and that is because they are thinking about themselves. Whether it's consciously or unconsciously, they are putting themselves right at the center of their communication efforts.

The Thought Process You Want To Avoid

Maybe you are thinking:

What do I want as a speaker? I want to make lots of money, I want standing ovations, I want lots of applause. I want people to hear my story.

Which leads to: What am I going to sell them? You think about programs and products you can sell in order to make lots of money / get the standing ovation etc etc

Only then do you say:

Who am I going to sell it to?

And so, the potential customer or the audience comes right at the end of our thinking.

It's All About The Audience!

This is completely upside-down, and completely inside-out! You may be doing the speaking, you may be doing the communicating, but it's really not about you. So, who's it about then? Of course, it's about the audience!

It's always, always about the audience.

The Speaking360º concept is an audience centric model. It is about providing value to the audience – considering their needs first.

Questions To Ask Yourself As You Prepare

Rather than asking 'what do I want?' we ask 'what is it that they want?'

Rather than asking 'what will they think of me?' we ask 'how am I going to connect with them?'

Rather than asking 'what can I sell them?' we ask 'how am I going to help them?'

Once you answer these questions, then (and only then) can you provide a solution that is relevant to them. You can only do that if you start with the audience.

Your Audience Deserve To Be Your Priority

The Speaking360º philosophy is all about helping you keep the audience at the center of the plate. Not just because that's how naturally you're going to best serve them, but also because that's where they deserve to be. We honor the people listening to us by considering them first.

If you can get this one thing right in your communicating, everything else is going to take care of itself. When it ceases to be about me, and it's about you... that perspective changes everything.

To watch the accompanying video for this article click here