Steal This Tactic to Turbocharge Your ‘Signature Talk’

Ever finished your talk and looked out at a confused audience?Horrible feeling. And you’re not alone.“I used to give talks…on panels, interviews…where I’d talk about strategy….And I noticed a lot of the audience would be sitting there dumbfounded, not in a good way, but basically confused.” That’s Eric Simon, founder of BAM Media.Starting with his Broke Agent following on social media, Eric co-founded BAM, and has grown BAMx into possibly the largest hybrid group coaching/community membership in real estate.Along the way, he and the BAM team have put on physical events both large and small, as well as regular themed virtual events with guest speakers like Alex Hormozi. So Eric is on both sides, speaking and booking speakers. Here are the…Non-Obvious Insights from our Conversation:Marked-Up Screenshots are a Secret WeaponThanks to Sharran Srivatsaa serving on the board of BAM, Eric had an experience that changed how he built his talks. Sharran interviewed him on stage, breaking down Eric’s videos and social posts on screen in front of the audience. The result?“By far the best talk I’ve ever given…because you get the audience reaction from the video itself…Then another thing you want to do is show proof over promise. This is not my idea, this is another Sharran thing. So it’s really just showing what worked, why it worked, and the results.”In Eric’s case, that meant sharing marked up screenshots, including circling the results (like engagement numbers on specific posts), so the audience had visual, concrete proof.It’s easy to forget about this when building slide decks for a talk. Or maybe you disregard screenshots because they don’t look professional, or you’d have to blur out some details, which is extra work.Eric’s point is that all of that…capturing the right screenshot, marking it up, adding it into the slide deck, picking the right spot…it’s all worth it. Because the effect on the audience is SO much greater.Send Your Slide Deck EARLY & Offer to Walk Through It on Zoom“Sometimes [we] do have to just take a flyer though [on a new speaker]…like if we’re filling a full day of content…The due diligence leading up to it, a lot of it is consuming the [speaker’s] content and then actually saying, ‘Hey, what do you want to talk about?’ Zooming with them and going over their presentation.”With some seasoned speakers, Eric said it would be ‘psychotic’ to ask them to go over their presentation in advance. But for everyone else, it’s part of their vetting and preparation.One of the biggest pet peeves of event organizers are speakers sending their slide decks late. Don’t make the event organizer’s life harder. They all talk to each other, so even little mistakes can cost you referrals and repeat gigs.Remove Risk By Publishing Long Form Content“If I hear someone that’s really good on YouTube or a podcast or has their own podcast, I’ve heard them speak long form....That’s probably someone that’s a little bit better and more tuned on stage than someone who maybe had an Instagram post go viral and wants to speak on a social panel.”For many ‘casual speakers,’ you don’t have great footage of you speaking on stage.Tracking down footage from past events is tough, and many speakers end up hiring a videographer just to get good footage. After all, the event videographer is documenting the event, they’re not there to serve your needs.So while speaker reels are critical (and we’ll happily edit yours if you’re a client), without a killer speaker reel, long form content is your best option to remove the risk of booking you. Especially polished, pro-level YouTube videos, 5-10 minutes long, shot in ‘talking head’ style, just you and the camera.That’s enough for event organizers to see your delivery and body language, the type of energy you bring, the topics you cover, and whether you truly have something unique to say. That goes a long way to remove their risk of putting you on stage.‘New Blood’ Matters More Than Big Name“I don’t think [big names] move the needle as much as people think, meaning the speakers don’t actually get people to sign up…In the real estate space, it’s really the brand of the person throwing the event that matters more….Like if you get a Gary Vaynerchuk, Gary is not going to post that he’s going to this thing…We’re always looking for new blood because I kind of feel like the whole real estate space is a little incestuous…where you’ve seen everybody speak so many times. If you’ve been to a REAL conference or a Tom Ferry conference, or hopefully you’ve been to a BAM conference, we’re not trying to repeat the same people over and over again. So we look at our speakers really based on the topics we want to cover.”Eric isn’t the only event organizer who’s told me this. They know that to keep attracting an audience, they need new hooks and new angles to get people to show up.So if you’re a ‘casual speaker’ (speaking a few times a year), “new blood” is a powerful position to claim. Lean into it, pick a topic that’s current without being a potential fad, and play up your fresh perspective.Want to meet in person?I’ll be at the BEATS conference, April 19-22nd in Oklahoma City.Last week’s guest, Craig Grant, puts on this event to connect speakers with the associations and event organizers who book them.I can’t imagine a more straight line to booking more speaking gigs.If you’re attending, or interested in attending, hit me with any questions or let’s connect prior. It would be great to meet in person!Ask This:What examples, screenshots or visual demonstrations can you add to your Signature Talk that would make it more powerful, impactful and concrete to the audience?Quick Links & ResourcesBAM Media WebsiteBAM Virtual Events Page - Check out BAMFest in April and BAM BBQ in JulyBAMx - ‘The #1 Agent Community to Close More Deals’Massive thanks to Eric for being so fun and brutally honest! What he and the BAM team have built is super impressive, and they’re working on bigger things to drive membership growth. I know I’ll be checking in with Eric down the road to see what’s worked and what didn’t.Talk soon,-MattAgency Founder & Author of MicroFamousPS Here’s how we can help…Done-for-You Content Production & Strategy - We turn raw footage into professional YouTube videos, podcasts and email newsletters. All with zero overwhelm, guaranteed.From Michael Maher and Lars Hedenborg to Jeff Cohn and Marki Lemons Ryhal, we’ve been the content team behind many of your fellow real estate coaches, speakers and authors.We start every client engagement by developing your ‘Signature Talk’ - So you have a message you’re excited to take to stages, guest interviews and all your content.Then we launch your flagship video show - supported by audio podcast and email newsletter, delivered with pro-quality and relentless consistency. We promote with short video clips and social posts on any platform where you’re active.Each month we give you research-based video titles and topic ideas, scripts, outlines, even slides. Plus all the support you need to stay consistent, from email updates to strategy calls.So if you’re not putting out the quality of content…consistently…to become the thought leader you’re meant to be, let’s talk. Click here to learn more and schedule a Free Brainstorm Call. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rethoughtleaders.substack.com