Delivering speeches, seminars, and webinars (online seminars) is 
a terrific way to generate large quantities of quality sales 
leads. Why is public speaking such an effective lead-generating 
vehicle? Here are a few reasons:

 * Speaking allows you to deliver your message to MULTIPLE 
   POTENTIAL PROSPECTS AT ONCE.

 * A well-constructed speech, seminar, or webinar can establish 
   you as an EXPERT in your field and increase your CREDIBILITY 
   with prospects. 

 * Every speech has the potential to REACH FAR BEYOND THE 
   ORIGINAL AUDIENCE. If you deliver a compelling message, 
   there is no telling how many times it will be repeated to 
   others by your audience members.

What should you speak about?

Look for topics that are of particular interest to your target 
prospects. You can offer new approaches for solving especially 
troubling business problems. You can educate your prospects on 
compelling new technologies, or other concepts that will help 
them professionally or personally. You can discuss real-life case 
studies and share stories about how you (or your company) helped 
specific customers improve their businesses. Whatever topic you 
choose must RELEVANT and IMPORTANT to your target audience.

How should you construct your speech?

Constructing an effective lead-generating speech requires walking 
a fine line. You want to provide your audience with TRULY 
VALUABLE INFORMATION. However, you also want to MOTIVATE THEM TO 
CONTACT YOU for additional information. As a result, you have to 
make sure you don't provide so much information that your 
audience can solve their problems all by themselves.

This is not a big issue if you are speaking to generate leads for 
a product, as the audience members will likely need to purchase 
the product to completely solve the problems you discuss. Where 
giving away too much information becomes a real issue is when you 
sell services. If you share all of your knowledge about how to 
solve specific problems, why will your audience members need to 
come back to you?

To avoid this undesirable outcome, follow these seven steps to 
constructing an effective lead-generating speech: 

1. Open with an "attention grabber". This can be a truly 
   startling fact or an emotionally compelling story that 
   relates to one or more of the key points that you will 
   address in your speech.

2. Give the audience a brief outline of the key points you will 
   be covering in your speech.

3. Describe the problem or problems your speech is intended to 
   help your audience solve.

4. Describe the impact of each problem as graphically as you 
   can. Engage your audience's emotions by asking them to 
   describe how a problem has affected them personally or 
   professionally. Another alternative is for you to tell 
   compelling, real-life "problem impact" stories that describe 
   how (current and past) customers were affected by specific 
   problems.

5. Relieve the tension you have built up in the audience by 
   letting them know the problems can be solved. However, DON'T 
   tell them EVERYTHING they need to know to solve them! Provide 
   a brief outline of the solution. That way the audience will 
   need to come to you for more details.

6. Use glowing word pictures to help the audience visualize how 
   wonderful their lives will be when the problems have been 
   eliminated.

7. Close by revisiting the key points from your presentation 
   and giving the audience a "call to action".

IMPORTANT NOTE: Be very careful about SELLING from the stage. 
Audiences become annoyed very quickly if they feel a speech is 
nothing more than a thinly disguised sales pitch. You must 
deliver truly valuable insights and information to your audiences 
to reward them for taking time out of their busy schedules to 
attend your speeches.

What "call to action" should you deliver at the end of your 
speech?

It is perfectly appropriate to include a gentle "call to action" 
at the end of your speech. Consider closing with a statement such 
as:

"If you would like to explore the possibility of applying the 
concepts that were discussed during today's presentation in your 
company, please give me your business card before you leave."

Here are some other effective calls to action:

 * Include a "please contact me" checkbox on a presentation 
   evaluation form that you give to each audience member.

 * Give them a form they can use to request a free special 
   report and/or subscribe to a free newsletter.

 * Invite the audience to visit your company's website to 
   download a free special report and/or subscribe to a free 
   newsletter. NOTE: Make sure you require them to provide 
   their name and e-mail address in order to receive the free 
   value-added information!

How should you prepare for your speech?

Preparing for seminars and speeches is a lot of work. Here are 
some of the key steps:

 * Prepare your presentation materials, write scripts, and 
   practice them to the point where you can deliver your 
   presentation smoothly and convincingly without having to 
   rely on your notes too much. If you don't have much speaking 
   experience, you may want to join a local Toastmasters chapter.
   They do a good job of teaching platform and presentation 
   skills.

 * Secure a facility for your speech and make arrangements for 
   any necessary audio/visual equipment.

 * If you are going to serve refreshments, make arrangements 
   for the refreshments.

 * Develop and implement a plan for attracting an audience. This 
   might include sending direct mail or e-mails, making phone 
   calls, and contacting trade, professional and social 
   associations and organizations.

What can you do to maximize your return on investment?

If you are going to invest the time and effort required to 
deliver a first-class speech, you should also develop a plan for 
maximizing your return on your investment. This could include the 
following activities:

 * Give each audience member an evaluation form they can use to 
   provide feedback and request additional information.

 * Provide handouts that include presentation highlights and 
   your contact information.

 * Hold a drawing for some type of small prize (books, sample 
   products, etc.) to encourage attendees to give you business 
   cards and/or hand in completed evaluation forms.

 * Block time during the day or two following your presentation 
   to make phone calls to audience members. When you make the 
   calls, ask for feedback and offer an opportunity to ask 
   questions that might not have been answered during the event. 
   Also ask for referrals to people they know who might be 
   interested in your presentation topic. These referrals may 
   become immediate prospects. At minimum they should be added 
   to your invitation list for future events.

Delivering properly designed speeches, seminars, and webinars 
(online seminars) is a terrific way to generate large quantities 
of quality sales leads. If you follow the instructions provided 
in this article, you should see a satisfying increase in the 
number, size, and quality of leads in your sales opportunity 
pipeline! 

Sales performance expert Alan Rigg is the author of How to Beat 
the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most Salespeople Don't Perform 
and What to Do About It. His company, 80/20 Sales Performance, 
helps business owners, executives, and managers DOUBLE sales by 
implementing The Right Formula™ for building top-performing 
sales teams. For more information and more FREE sales and sales 
management tips, visit http://www.8020salesperformance.com.