How to Deliver a Compelling Message

People have told you that you are a good speaker. You enjoy being in front of an audience. You have an engaging style and stage presence. And you can influence people's thinking and move them emotionally. Just to test out how it sounds, when people ask what you do for a living, you tell them you're a speaker. And inevitably the first question they ask is, "What do you speak about?"

You may be tempted to answer, "I can talk about anything." Here's my advice: Don't do it! You'll only expose yourself to people who know the profession of speaking as an amateur. To succeed as a professional speaker, you have to be a good presenter. But you need something more: you need a compelling message. People won't pay to listen to you simply because you speak well. They'll pay you because you have something to say, something they want to hear about. Stop thinking of yourself as a speaker. Call yourself, instead, an expert who gets paid for speaking about your expertise.

A compelling message is a lesson life has taught you that you want to share with others because you know it will benefit them. A more technical definition of a compelling message is:

  1. Your claim about a subject;

  2. Something you know and care about; and

  3. Something your audience wants to hear about and will find beneficial.

Dr. Christopher Witt, - NSA, speaker, author of three books,
CoachCentral expert on Delivering a Compelling Message wittcom.com.

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"Written by Coach Sandra Schrift - a career telecoach to emerging and experienced speakers who want to get to the next level in their profession. Visit her on the web at: schrift.com to learn more about her Speakers University teleclasses. And, be sure to sign up for her great newsletter - Monday Morning Mindfulness! Phone: 619-688-9467 or email Sandra@schrift.com"