How to pivot as a speaker (WHILE BEING STUCK AT HOME)

The word pivot has been all over social media lately and for those of us in business, it makes sense for us to look for ways to pivot; to manage this change and continue to do our businesses successfully, both online and offline. But for those of us who are speakers, how do you pivot and get onto a stage when nobody's getting on the stages these days? Well, I've got you covered. In this next video and blog post we're going to talk about how speakers can pivot even while being stuck at home. 

So 2020 was the year that you told everyone you were going to be a speaker and that you were going to get onto stages and share your story and your message and your mission in the world. You also declared that you were going to use speaking as the vehicle to grow your business, to find your ideal clients and customers in the audience and share with them how you can help them or what your product or services and then sell from the stage. And then the Coronavirus hit and speaking gigs were cancelled. In fact, seven of my speaking gigs have been canceled! But it doesn't mean that there's not a lot of things that you can be doing as a speaker or as someone who'd like to speak on stages. There are things that you can do to pivot while you're at home. So let's talk about those things.

First and foremost, whatever your speaking topic is, whatever your talk is, whatever your signature speech or the information that you share on stage, why not go deeper in it? 

Why not do research and find ways that you can craft a new speech or maybe make the one that you have and shine just that much better. We've got so much time on our hands right now. Get onto the internet, do additional research, find additional support material to support your speaking topic. Find a different way to tell your story. Find different pieces of information that you can use to support your main speaking point. 

If you're an author this could also breed for you a brand new book. Use this time wisely to start doing brain dumps, doing research and writing more often. This is the perfect time for you to utilize the time that we have to pivot as a speaker. 

Second point, be looking for places that you can go and speak when all of this is over.

I've been working with speakers for several years now and I have been speaking for over 20 years. When I have to think about where I want to go to give my talk, I first think about what my talk or my speech is about and who it is in service to.

If you're looking for ways to find more speaking opportunities when this is all over this time, now is the perfect time to start searching for them. I have a full fledged method on how you can find speaking gigs and literally start to do this weekly in order to have a long list of speaking opportunities. I will share some of those secrets and information and what I call an offstage strategy. You can have access to that training and the tools and resources simply by going to www.darieth.com/speakermarketing.

We all know that there will come a day when we're all let outside of our houses and we're all going to be eager to be in community and to be in support of one another and get back to normal, so if you've got extra time on your hands, you want to start looking for certain speaking gigs, right? And you want to be in front of the right people at the right time. So now is your time to do the research. 

Now the third point is to get crystal clear about the elements of your speech. 

When I'm working with a lot of my clients, I tell them in order to have a powerful speech, you must do these four things; that is to make your speech or your talk real, raw, relatable, and make you memorable.

Why not use this time to get clear about how you can develop or pull out of the 99 stories one story that is real, that is highly relatable or at least the theme of it is relatable, right? Not everyone is going to be able to relate to the particular details, but your overall theme may be extremely relatable to a lot of people. The raw part is about you being authentic. You really are letting people sit on the edge of their seat because they're listening to you and they're thinking, “Oh, I really like her. She's authentic. She's not afraid to express her emotions or tell her truth or allow us into this experience.” That's the rawness, the authenticity that you bring and the way you make a speech, a memorable one that people remember is all of the elements that you bring into it. Your style on stage, your delivery. If you're bringing music or slides or audience participation, those are different ways that you can make your speech memorable. Those are things that you can be doing right now to make your speeches real, raw, relatable, and you make memorable. 

The fourth thing is to connect and collaborate with other people. 

In what ways can you begin establishing connections and collaborations that may begin to flourish when we get out of this time? Get in contact with people, see how they're doing, find out if there's any way that you can collaborate or work together on different projects or ideas. How can you be in service to someone else during this time? And so that perhaps later, they're in service to you or in service to your mission. Connection and collaboration is key and something you can be doing right now to pivot as a speaker.

One of the most important things you can be doing as a speaker to pivot during this time is to be establishing what I call your “offstage strategy”.  I tell all of my clients that having an “onstage strategy” is about the way you tell your story, the way you bring in emotion and draw the audience in. Your offstage strategy is what you will do with the people in the audience in the weeks and the months and the years after they've heard you speak. If you’re looking for ways to sell a product or a service to a particular audience, if you don't have a solid offstage strategy, you will be leaving dollars on the table. Literally, there's no way for you to capitalize on them. Establishing a strong offstage strategy right now is key to pivoting as a speaker during this time. 

Finally, to connect with a mentor. 

Connect with someone who is already in this space, who's already doing what it is that you want to be doing. Whether that is hiring a coach or finding a mentor or connecting with a group, you owe it to yourself. If you're just getting started or if you're not sure how to get to the next level find someone who is and work with them. If nothing else, connect with them. Send them an email, get into their Facebook group, buy their book, watch their YouTube videos, sign up for their course. Utilize this time now as a way that you can set the stage for the future. I've produced a lot of free, amazing content and trainings that you can easily sign up for. They're always available on my website and my YouTube channel. 

I've got a full library of different trainings and tools and techniques, as well as interviews with other amazing entrepreneurs who share their hustle and heart and what they're doing to pivot in their business in uncertain times.