Over the last couple of months, I have been on-boarding more and more Public Speaking clients.
Some of them want to work together to build a speaking strategy – for example to get their message into the world, or to step up and be heard at work.
Some want to build their confidence in speaking, as they take on roles that require them to speak on their own more and more on stage in front of in person or online audiences.
And others want to work on specific speeches to get them written and honed down into something really tight and impactful.
But whatever the overall theme of the work together, one of the first things we work on is their goals.
The goals for themselves and their business, the goals for the audience, and the goals for the world as a whole.
The goals of speaking in the first place.
When faced with this question, some clients will jump quickly to the goal of getting more clients, getting a promotion at work, or ticking off the bucket list item of the TED(x) speech.
But when that comes up, I push back.
As Simon Sinek would point out in his thought leadership on “Start with why”, the revenue aspect or the promotion or the tick box exercise is merely the result of speaking.
And I am looking for something else – the purpose and why behind the message and the speaking.
What is the message you want to bring to the world with your speaking and why is it so important to you? What is the impact you want to have on the community and the world? What do you want your audience to do, think or feel as a result of your speaking to them?
Sure, if you get your voice heard you may well get that promotion or get more clients for your business, and the more you speak in front of an audience, the more confident you will feel doing so.
But why do you even care?
Your why is what will get you out of bed and onto that stage, in the moments where you are wracked with nerves and stress. The why will keep you going when it’s all a bit too overwhelming, the fact of needing to prepare for these gigs on top of your day job. And the why will connect you to the audience, because they will see the heart and mind behind what you have to say, and that will resonate with them.
So, what about you – why do you want to speak?
Let me know in the comments why you would like to speak.