14 May 3-Step Guide to Selling After Your Next Speaking Gig

So, you’ve booked a killer speaking gig. One that’s going to put you in front of an entirely new audience. One that could — if done correctly — propel your business and help you generate hundreds (maybe even thousands!) of new leads. There’s just one problem: you have no idea how to sell after you speak!

Speaking gigs are awesome ways to position yourself as a leader in the industry and connect with potential new clients. But navigating the post-speech sales conversation can be a bit of a minefield.

I’ve done my fair share of speaking events, both in-person and virtually, and really there’s only three things you need to do to close a sale after you step off the stage.

#1 Build Trust

The first step, ironically enough, occurs while you’re speaking. People are smart and they don’t want to sit through an hour-long sales pitch. The only way to establish a relationship with a stranger in the audience is to build trust.

Building trust does not mean you talk about your life story or wax poetic about your new course. Building trust means that you honor the fact that they are spending their precious time listening to you by delivering something valuable.

This could be:
Actionable advice, like “5 Ways To Write Copy That Sells”

• A new perspective, like “Why I Stopped Dieting”
• A compelling Story, like “How Being A Single Mom Shaped My Virtual Business”
• Anything else that will leave the audience feeling like they just heard something exclusive and awesome that could really help them solve a major problem in their lives

When determining if your speech content is valuable, just ask yourself how you would feel if you heard it. You could also test it out on former customers or close family and friends.

#2 Give Them a Call-to-Action (CTA)

At the end of every great speech is not a killer closing line, but a killer call to action.

Whether it’s a free E-book or getting on a waitlist for a new program, you want your call to action to involve getting on your email list. This way, you can continue to nurture the relationship by building trust and delivering more and more value.

#3 Follow Up

And finally, you want to follow-up! Ideally within 1–3 days. You don’t want to wait so long that your audience forgets about your awesome speech. Create a follow-up sequence that builds upon what you talked about or the call-to-action offer you presented.

When following this formula correctly, you’ll both grow your audience and increase your chances for new leads — which is a pretty good outcome for a single speaking gig if you ask me.

To Review
If you are using speaking to market your business, having a solid plan to sell, or nurture, your audience after a speaking gig will have the best return on your time. Remember to start by building trust. This can be done through consistently delivering value in their inbox or on their social feed. Next, you want to use a call-to-action to tell your new found followers exactly what you’d like them to do. Finally, follow up with them appropriately — you don’t want to disappear and risk your audience forgetting about you, but you also don’t want to annoy them. When you follow up correctly, your audience will grow and naturally learn to trust you, and eventually buy from you.