The Dos and Don’ts of Speaking: How to Nail Your Next Talk

As a business owner we are constantly presenting ourselves and for those of us who can take this a step further and become a speaker it can be game changing for your business.  After 10+ years of being a speaker and attending hundreds of events I know a thing or two about speaking.  Thats why in this episode of the Your Dream Business podcast, I dive into how speaking can help you stand out as an expert and grow your business.  I share the key do’s and don’ts I’ve learned along the way. We cover everything from understanding your audience and crafting attention-grabbing titles to using storytelling effectively and turning audience engagement into business opportunities. Whether you're a seasoned speaker wanting to improve or just starting to explore public speaking for your business, this episode is packed with practical tips to help you succeed. I also highlight the power of authenticity and why less is often more when it comes to information overload.  I also share my massive bugbear when it comes to speaking - I hope you don’t do this one!   KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST Public Speaking Builds Authority – Speaking at events positions you as an expert in your field, helping you gain credibility and attract new business opportunities. Engagement Matters More Than Information Overload – It’s not about cramming in as much info as possible; it’s about connecting with your audience through storytelling and delivering value they can actually absorb. A Strong Talk Can Convert Into Business Growth – With the right strategy—like an enticing title, clear messaging, and an engaging delivery—you can turn audience interest into real business opportunities.   If you enjoyed this episode then please feel free to go and share it on your social media or head over to Apple podcasts or Spotify and give me a review, I would be so very grateful.   LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE Connect with Teresa on Website, The Club, Sign up to Teresa's email list,  Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter Transcript THW - Ep 392_Final Being a speaker isn't just about standing on a stage, delivering a talk. It's about positioning yourself as a go to expert and growing your business. It's one of the most effective tools to make you stand out as the expert and to help you get in front of audiences and have audiences find you. And as a speaker for over 10 years, I know this to be true because this is a strategy I use in my business. However, there are some major do's and don'ts that can make or break your talk. From knowing your audience to crafting a title that actually gets people to show up, I am sharing everything I've learned from my very first speaking gigs where I would have my laptop and three people, through to speaking on ginormous stages. So if you've ever wanted to use speaking to grow your business, then make sure you listen to this episode because I'm going to share with you all the things that you do not want to do and all the things that will help you deliver an excellent talk and [00:01:00] convert more people into your audience. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Your Dream Business Podcast. How are you doing today? Firstly, I want to thank you for taking the time to join me. I [00:02:00] know that your time is super, super valuable, and I really appreciate you taking the time to listen. And if you haven't subscribed, because lots of people don't subscribe, it's a really interesting phenomenon if that's That's the right way to say it. If you haven't subscribed, please go ahead and hit subscribe. And if you're feeling particularly generous, I would be so grateful to have you go and give me a lovely review on whatever platform you listen to. I have been getting so much good feedback from the episode I did with Julie Solomon a couple of weeks back. So if you haven't listened to that, then go back and listen. We'll link to it in the show notes. But the reason I bring this up is because my aim is to make this podcast absolutely amazing for you. And my commitment is that I will bring on the best guests and I will have the best solo episodes with great content for you to take away to help you grow your online business. And I really need your help to do that. I need you to share the podcast. I need you to [00:03:00] give me nice reviews of the podcast, and I need you to subscribe. So any of those things that you can do, honestly, I'm so, so very grateful. And then, like I said, my commitment to you is to bring you a, an amazing podcast that helps you grow your business. Okay, on with today's episode. Now, one of my aims this year is to get out to events. Now, you will know I'm a speaker and I speak at different events. However, I am trying to just go to events as well, which you won't believe this is actually really out of my comfort zone. I love it when I'm a speaker at an event because I have a purpose. I know what to do. I know what my reason for being there is. And when I'm not speaking, I actually get really I'm a bit of an introvert. I actually find it really difficult to go and connect with people and have conversations. So I tend to just kind of sit at the side of a room, keep my head down, keep myself in my own lane. And I always worry that this makes me look rude and [00:04:00] I'm really trying not to be rude. That's not my aim. My aim is, like I said, I'm just a bit of an introvert, which is so odd because I am so not an introvert at other points. Anyway. It's my aim to get out to lots of events this year. And it occurred to me that one of the things that I talk about all the time is getting in front of other people's audiences. And one of the ways in which you can do this is speaking at events. And to give you a bit of a background, I started speaking at events. Really early on in my business and I started really small. There's something in the UK called Biz Mums. I don't know if it still exists, but it did when I started the business like 11 years ago. And they used to, there were mums in business who would meet up in a child friendly. like Playbarn or Softplay. Personally, even as a parent, when my daughter was young enough to go to these, I hated them. I didn't like to take her. So as a business owner, going to these places to go and do a talk seemed very wildly out [00:05:00] of what I would want to do. But I knew that getting in front of people, them getting to see who I was and getting to decide whether they liked me and my content was a really good way of growing my business. And what I thought I would do today is talk you through. Some of the do's and don'ts of speaking because unless you have been trained to speak years and years and years ago, when I was employed, like, literally, gosh, I don't even want to think how long ago now, I did do a presentation exercise course, but it was literally like a one day thing and it was for corporate. And I've not really had much official training since then, but I guess the more you do, the more you know and the more comfortable you get. And I thought it'd be useful to go through some of the do's and don'ts of speaking. So if you are thinking about going out there speaking as a method to grow you, your audience, your business, then this is definitely going to be an episode to listen to. But also, even if you're not thinking of speaking, but [00:06:00] you're thinking of going on podcasts, you present for a living, there is definitely going to be some things that you can take from this episode. So if you're thinking, I don't want to stand on a stage, Teresa, that is fine. I still think there's going to be loads of good stuff for you to take from this. So like I said, I started speaking really early on in the business, and this is one of the things I'd recommend before I get into the do's and don'ts. I would recommend personally, starting small and growing because in the early days it's about honing your craft. It's about finding how you best work and as we go through some of the do's and don'ts, you'll see that it's not really based on...