photo by kris krug

photo by kris krug

If you’d met me two years ago and mentioned the words “signature talk”, I would’ve cocked my head to the side and said “what’s that?”

That’s because in my corporate and agency days, my world was filled with proposals, pitches and presentations. We’d gather up the team in a conference room or on a conference call to discuss an opportunity and put a game plan together.

  • What would our theme be?
  • What approach would we take?
  • Who would produce what?
  • What deadlines did we need to hit?
  • How would we present the total package?

This is how we were marketing and selling our services. It’s fine to go about it this way, but I can tell you that it took lots of hours, lots of human resources and we were producing something different every time.

Sure, we recycled certain things, but as a marketing and sales tactic, it’s wasn’t the most efficient or cost-effective.

So when I discovered the concept of creating a signature talk, I was pretty excited.

What is a signature talk?

A signature talk is NOT a speech or sales presentation. It’s a business tool to attract clients. Your signature talk is your key business presentation that incorporates your core brand message, brand themes, point of view and story. It’s what you want to be known for, it’s a way to position yourself as an expert and it’s a method for selling your products and services. This a go-to tool in my own marketing toolbox that I use for building my list, launching programs and enrolling new clients.

You may tweak your talk slightly for a specific audience or occasion, but the idea is to create an on-brand talk that you can use over and over so you don’t have to create new content every time you speak. That’s what makes it “signature”.

How does a signature talk set you up for success?

When you have a signature talk, you’re positioned as the expert on that topic. You literally stand out in the room. People remember you. Having a signature talk:

  • Gives you more visibility
  • Grows your list
  • Gets your message out to more people
  • Provides an opportunity to introduce people to your products and services

And all these things will allow you to make more money in your business.

Having a talk will open up other opportunities for you too. I’ve had clients who were asked to be interviewed and invited to speak at other events after they gave their talks. A signature talk streamlines your marketing. You can use it in many different ways – from live events, teleclasses and telesummits to interviews and more.

What are the basic elements of a magnetic signature talk?

When it comes to crafting your talk, it’s not enough to just throw a bunch of words on a page. A successful signature talk, one that gets people lining up to speak with you and jumping out of their seats to get on your list or buy your products and programs, must include these key elements [Tweet This!]:

Your core beliefs – Why are you in business? Why do you care about sharing your message and your work?

Your expertise – Who are you? Who do you help? What results do you get? What makes you different from others in your field?

Your audience – Why should they care about your talk? What’s in it for them?

Your story – What was your journey? What personal transformation have you experienced and how can they get the same transformation without the same risk?

Valuable content – What 3-5 solutions can you give them that they can use right away to help them along their own journey?

ONE offer – What’s one thing they can do to get bigger and better results by working with you? Is it a free consultation? A product? A program? Pick one and use an incentive or limiter so people will be more likely to act in the moment.

Gratitude – Always thank and reward your audience for the time they’ve invested in listening to you! Bonuses, gifts and simply sticking around for questions after your talk goes a long way when it comes to building deeper rapport with your audience.

What about you? Do you have a signature talk bringing in clients and opportunities? And if you don’t have a talk yet, what’s stopping you?

 

 

9 Comments

  1. Jeannie Spiro on April 24, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    Gayle,
    Great overview and summary of crafting the Signature Talk. The beautiful thing is once you know how to craft one you can deliver it live or online and if you’re a natural speaker this is a no-brainer approach to marketing your business.

    • storystylist on April 25, 2014 at 12:01 am

      Thanks for the comment and more importantly thank you for introducing me to the concept of signature talks.

  2. Tanya on June 23, 2014 at 4:16 am

    Is it okay if I have 2 signature talks? I show filmmakers how to master the BUSINESS of successful moviemaking. My signature talks are (1) Master the Business of Successful Movie Making: Convert Your Passion into Profits and (2) Reel Money to Fund Your Film: Create a Money Magnet Film Package That Has Investors Saying YES! Thank you.

    • storystylist on June 23, 2014 at 5:18 pm

      Hi Tanya,
      Thanks for the question and I say ABSOLUTELY. While these two talks may target one specific audience, I can see that within that audience, these topics could target people in different stages. Your titles are juicy too! I can see you switching these up depending on your goals & what the specific audience is looking for. Are you doing these talks in person and as webinars/teleseminars?

      • Jayne on May 9, 2017 at 8:05 am

        If your arceltis are always this helpful, “I’ll be back.”

  3. Deborah Senorat on August 1, 2019 at 1:59 pm

    Thank you so much for this article this is truly valuable my question is how long should a signature story be is there a time frame

    • storystylist on August 1, 2019 at 2:17 pm

      Hi Debbie,
      I’m so happy that this is helpful to you and thank you for your question. The length of your story can vary. The total amount of time that you have to speak, the type of “talk” you are giving and the purpose of that talk play a significant factor. Here are some guidelines:

      If you’re presenting a seminar and the purpose of that talk is to educate your audience and you only have 40-60 minutes to speak, I’d recommend keeping your story to about 5-10 minutes. If you’re giving a 60-90 minute keynote and the purpose is to motivate and inspire, the whole talk could be your story.

      If you’re doing a 10-minute presentation at a networking group, try to devote 1-2 minutes to your story. You can even weave in a piece of your story into your 60-second intro. This would be more like a headline the describes how you changed.

      All that being said, when you sit down to pull your story together, do not put any length restrictions on it. It’s always easier to “go long” and edit down to the most concise, compelling message in whatever format you’re sharing your story.

      I hope this is helpful Debbie and do reach out if you’d like specific support on your story :).

  4. Pamela George on October 14, 2019 at 1:07 pm

    This was very helpful, thank you!

    • storystylist on October 14, 2019 at 5:33 pm

      You’re welcome Pamela. I’m glad to help. Let me know if you have any questions.

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