Businesses- particularly SMEs- can struggle to be heard among all the noise nowadays. Those who have a strong social media presence can carve out a spot for themselves. If the business doesn’t have the time or expertise to run their own social media campaign, they can hire someone to do it for them. But people buy from people. Therefore, face-to-face communication is crucial, and no-one else can do that for you.

Make Your Business Voice Stand Out and Be Heard

There are many ways in which you can make your business voice stand out and be heard. It could be your 60 second networking pitch, pitching to a prospective client or delivering a signature talk. Regardless of format, there are some key points that you need to consider.

Identify, Communicate and Present.

Firstly, the speaker needs to identify their message clearly. They must then communicate that message in a way that is relevant, so that the audience understands and remembers it. Finally, they need to present that message competently and confidently.

3 Ways to get Heard:

60 Second Networking Pitch

In most cases, you are informing the listeners about what you do in a general way, rather than pitching for business.

• 60 seconds is a short period of time- definitely not enough to explain all that your business entails- so don’t include too much information.

• Begin with an attention-grabbing opening. It could be a question, or a relevant statistic- something that makes the listener sit up and take notice, and listen out for who you are.

• State your name and business name clearly.

• Outline one aspect of your business, linking it back to your opening. It could be an explanation of what you do, or a short client story.

• Show how your business solves the client’s problem.

• Repeat your name and business name clearly

• Don’t try to pack too much in- 150/180 words is plenty.

• Check my website for details of upcoming Masterclasses

Creating a Signature Talk

Preparation is key to an effective signature talk. This is where you can expand on your business story and go into more detail about the products or services you offer

Your first task is to identify the audience, their level of knowledge and interest in your topic

• Identify the purpose of your talk: are you going to inform the audience? Persuade them? Is there a call to action?

• Brainstorm all of the information on the topic, and then remove anything that isn’t appropriate for this particular audience or purpose.

• Decide on your structure. Is it chronological? Cause and effect? Topical?

• Try to group the body of the speech using the rule of three, as it’s easier for the audience to remember. If there’s one main point, have three subpoints. If there’s more than one point- have three. They can also be sub-divided if needed.

• Decide on your opening. Plan this carefully, as you only have 30 seconds to get the audience’s attention. You could use a story, a question, a quote, a statistic, an image.

• Have a memorable ending. You could summarise key points and have a strong call to action. There might be an opportunity to refer back to your opening statement, which creates a memorable conclusion.

• If slides are relevant to your presentation, prepare those after you have prepared your speech.

• Slides are useful if they help the audience understand your message, or if it makes it more memorable for them. Slides are not a crutch for the speaker to remember what they want to say! Images are always more effective than text, which should be kept to a minimum.

• When everything is prepared- practice! Practice your content and your timing. Be prepared for things going wrong on the day- distractions; your speech being cut short; technology not working.

• Focus on the audience, rather than on any nervousness you might be feeling.

Using storytelling in presentations

We love stories. They are a very effective way of communicating our message- when they are relevant and told well. They need a clear structure to make it easy for the audience to follow. The story can demonstrate very clearly the value of your product or service.

• Begin by setting the context and introducing the character. Outline their problem. It should be something with which the audience can identify.

• Highlight the pain caused by the problem.

• Explain your role and how your product or service provided a solution for the problem, and the result for the client.

• Make sure there is a clear link between what your product or service offers and the solution to the client’s problem.

• If you are telling your own story, keep the audience in mind. It’s your story, but they have to be able to relate to it, or they won’t care about it.

If you would like to find out more about how I can help you develop your business voice, email maureen@softskillsuccess.ie