Unaccustomed to public speaking?

We recently read a great book by Kate Atkin et al called “The Business of Professional Speaking” and wanted to share it on our Frog Blog.

As Blackadder fans may remember, there’s a scene in which Prince George is taught the art of public speaking. “The Stance” and “The Roar” were among the key points as I recall. However, when standing in front of clients “The Stance”, take it from me, clients can find somewhat off-putting.

So, that’s why “The Business of Professional Speaking” makes for a very useful read if you need to speak publicly in your line of work, and covers all aspects from presentations to pitches and speeches. It teaches techniques to help make a living from public speaking, keeping calm and handling stage fright, capturing attention and creating and delivering engaging content. Moreover, it’s a handy confidence builder if you ever need to stand up and say your piece in a non-professional capacity, whether having to make a short speech at a colleague’s leaving do, asking a question at a parents’ meeting, delivering a eulogy or having to deliver a humorous best man’s speech. You never know when you might be called upon to “just stand up and say a few words”.

Right up our street, of course, was the chapter on customer retention and the questions you should be asking of your clients to identify their needs to strengthen the relationship and spot any opportunities for upsell and cross sell. As marketers, this is very important, as customer acquisition campaigns can be very time consuming and cost more than long term customer retention strategies. Once you have your customers, make sure you keep them. The information in this book, helps explain how and the conversations you should be having to keep your customers close and your competitors far away!

Another handy chapter (in a very handy book!) is the one on Powerpoint presentations. This information is not only vital for marketing agency pitches but also any business or school/college presentation that you need to deliver in a professional and engaging manner. It will help avoid “Death by PowerPoint” and glazed expressions staring back at you!

Highly recommended, even if you think you know it all about public speaking we can bet you will pick up a few pointers. “The Business of Professional Speaking” is available from Amazon and www.thebusinessofprofessionalspeaking.com and you can also bid on it in our 5 Star Auction.

For more information “like” Kate Atkin on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/theconfidentmanager or follow Kate on Twitter http://twitter.com/kateatkin