EP 234

234: Taking Your Talk Virtual

Hey, Movers!

Hey everybody! I’m so excited to be with you today, mid-way through my Signature Talk Studio launch… The cart closes on Thursday so I wanted to address one of the big needs and questions I’m getting about the course…
 
Like – In the time when so much of our work is done virtually…why would I invest in creating a signature talk? What’s the value of a signature talk when we can’t be live with people for awhile?
 
Well – besides the fact that event planners are now booking speakers for 2021 (so now is actually the PERFECT time to work on your signature talk, cause when the opportunity knocks you want to be ready!). 
But there will also be lots of opportunities to share that talk virtually, before 2021 – and after.
 
According to an April 2020 survey of 1,776 PCMA event planners, 66% have postponed their events – and 7 out of 10 respondents have moved a face-to-face event partially or fully to a virtual platform.
And your signature talk is the core of ALL of your messages that you share – whatever the context. So – having a signature talk prepares you for the eventual live talk as much as it does the virtual one.
 
But of course – taking your talk virtual does require a little intention.
 
So I want to share with you some key concepts you need to embrace in order to take your talk virtual.
 
Here are some of the basic things you need to think about:
 
 
#1 – ADJUSTING CONTENT

If you’re shifting your talk to virtual, that means you have to think about what content is NEEDED and what WORKS virtually. Those are two different filters, but you need both in order for your content to work virtually.

For instance – let’s say you’re a Coach, and work with leaders to help them execute on their goals.
 
Your audience might really NEED for you to talk about the nitty-gritty details of what a good plan and what execution details look like.

But what WORKS in a virtual setting might be something more like the going over the FRAMEWORK before diving in. You might be able to get into more details in a live workshop or keynote setting – but when you’re virtual, you want to use an even higher bar for what you share.

Now – 80% of the time – what you are sharing in a LIVE keynote will work in a VIRTUAL setting. But I really want you to ask yourself – what is NEEDED and what will WORK, virtually? 
 
 
 
#2 – ADJUSTING CONTEXT
 
So this is where you want to think about how you can adjust your space – and create the context through which you are still curating an EXPERIENCE for your audience!
 
A little intention here goes a long way. 

Making sure you can be SEEN, HEARD… and UNDERSTOOD. That your lighting is coming AT you (not from behind you), that you can be heard without too much distraction and that you are making sense and are understood by your audience.

As with a live experience – DISTRACTION is still the bar!
 
But here’s the real deal…Vs. the content area, we have to use a really HIGH bar for what makes it into a virtual presentation – in adjusting your context, distraction is a much LOWER bar in a virtual setting. In other words – it’s so easy to get distracted in a virtual setting. To get distracted by how your own face looks in Zoom, or what that one sign says over your shoulder, or the bing of a new email coming in, or that an instagram like or the children coming in the room, or …
 
OMG.
 
So the more we can do to FOCUS our people’s attention where we want it to go – the better.
 
We cannot CONTROL their attention – but we can do what we can to FOCUS it.
 
Try things like
  • keeping your background and what you’re wearing simple, so it doesn’t invite in questions or thoughts that take your audience somewhere else… unless, of course, that’s where you want them to go!
  • Testing your tech and equipment so that doesn’t take the focus away
  • And being really intuitional about where you want your audience to be looking – and direct their attention there.
 
 
#3 – ADJUSTING CONNECTION
 
The third part in creating connection with your audience is in ADJUSTING CONNECTION. 
 
There are two ways I want you to think about this:
  • In CREATING connection, based on how you deliver your talk. With content that resonates…. stories that deliver powerful ideas and really potent insights that your audience NEEDS. That does a lot of work for you in terms of connection!
    • We also CREATE connection by how we approach with our mindset…by imagining a friendly face beyond the camera, and even if you’re speaking to an empty auditiorium or room, remembering that there are real people watching you right now…you are not just talking to yourself.
    • It’s up to the speaker to reach out beyond the camera to make that connection…
  • But the other piece is in ASKING FOR connection from your audience. And that is using the tools at your disposal that are particular to virtual engagements!
    • It’s about using the chat features, polls, CTA buttons
    • It’s about making your face visible as much as possible, and not hiding behind your slides and screen
    • It’s about utilizing the parallel ways to communicate! And this opens up all kinds of possibilities!
Turns out – when you’re speaking virtually, your emails before the event are the equivalent to the first moment you step out on stage in a live event…the experience has just expanded outside ‘the moment in the room’. It’s now about your materials and your communication outside the event even more so!
 
The bottom line is this: The heart and core of your signature talk helps you step into these moments having 75% of your work done…
THEN – you have to sort through these filters…
  1. How can I adjust my content for this moment?
  2. How can I adjust the context, and set up my audience for the kind of experience I want them to have?
  3. How can I adjust my strategies for connection – so that my audience can feel my intent, care and purpose?
 
I have to say…I cannot wait for the crackle and joy and thrill of live events again…but in the meantime, I’m enjoying all of the ways in which we are creatively bringing our voices to our audience in these new ways. It’s beautiful, inspiring – and most importantly – impactful.
 
Highlights
  • If you’re shifting your talk to virtual, that means you have to think about what content is needed and what works virtually
  • The more we can do to focus our people’s attention where we want it to go – the better
  • When you’re speaking virtually, your emails before the event are the equivalent to the first moment you step out on stage in a live event
Links & Resources

 

 

The heart and core of your signature talk helps you step into these moments having 75% of your work done

ep 234 #3
EP 234 #2
Ep 234 #4
_EP 234 #5
EP 234 #1 INSTA

BIG HUGS, 

Sally Z

 

We create connection by how we approach with our mindset

Join us for the Ted-Worthy Talk Map Masterclass!

Let's Go!
Signature Talk Studio course closes THURSDAY! What are you waiting for? Come join me!
 
If you’re someone who wants to step into these signature talk moments – live or virtual – but you need to create that content! – I’d love for you to join me for the Signature Talk Studio course that closes THURSDAY! Just a few days left to enroll, and I’d of course love for you to come be a part of it.
 
Really quickly – let me highlight what’s going to be so awesome about this course…because by the end of it, you’ll have a signature talk you can pull out of your back pocket to use in nearly ever context…
Here’s how we’ll get you there:
  1. It’s a step-by-step process from beginning to end… helping you move through creative blocks, stay accountable to a timeline, and also make room for the creative genius to come and find you when she’s ready (and keep showing up, even when she doesn’t)…
  2. 3x we’ll get together for a half-day “studio salon” where we’ll workshop your content and delivery, you’ll get expert feedback from me – and connect with your peers
  3. The course will live on Movers-U this amazing platform where the community ALSO lives… and I have to say? That community in there fills me up each day – with their support, questions, and all the ways in which they’re sharing their voices and making a difference in the world…
 
I know that most of the people who come to me don’t want to be full-time professional speakers…they want to utilize speaking as the power-house approach to make a bigger impact, and to make their mark. To influence, engage, and be recognized as the thought leader they are.
 
If that’s you – I’d love for you to come join me! You can learn more at bemoved.com/jointhestudio
 
Alright, my friends! Next week I’m sharing an AWESOME interview with David Scott who’s a phenomenal speaker and truly knows how to bring the WOW in his delivery! He is a marketing expert and author – and has spoken all over the world from Tony Robbins’ stage to Asia and back again. I loved this conversation, and cannot wait to share it!
 
Until then – head on over to bemoved.com/jointhestudio to join me in this epic experience!
This moved me.. what’s moving you!?!?