059: Why You Shouldn't Sell from the Stage - and What to Do Instead with Carol Cox

Episode 59: Have you heard the phrase “sell from the stage”?

The idea is that you pitch your programs and products to the audience at the end of your presentations.

If you’ve been doing speaking engagements, you know it takes time, effort, energy, and sometimes money (especially when travel is involved), so it’s understandable that you want to get a return from it.

However, when preparing your presentations and delivering them to your audience, “selling from the stage” is the wrong approach - and I’m going to explain why in this episode.

Many of my clients tell me that they don’t want to come across as salesy. It can feel especially icky if you’re not comfortable doing it and the audience can tell, so it’s not going to work that well. You’ll end up feeling awkward, your audience will feel awkward, and you’ll lose the opportunity to create a real connection.

On the other end of the spectrum, clients come to me who are scared of selling and end up including nothing in their presentations about what they do and how the audience can work with them, missing out on opportunities to get clients and referrals.

How can you find a happy medium between the awkward pitch and not selling at all?

In this episode, I’m sharing with you 5 things you can and should do in your presentations to get leads, clients, and referrals.

→ Get the free PDF that includes the key points and examples from this episode at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/59.

The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals create their signature talks and gain more visibility to achieve their goals. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power: on stages, in businesses, on boards, in the media, in politics, and in our communities. Check out our coaching programs and workshops at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Highlights:

• What the phrase “sell from the stage” means
• Why I believe it’s the wrong approach - any many event and conference organizers feel the same way
• Finding the happy medium between the awkward pitch and not selling at all in your presentations
• 5 key things you can and should do in your presentations to get leads, clients, and referrals.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/59

Join the free Speaking Your Brand community at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/join/ or text the word SPEAKING to 444-999.

Sign up for a Strategy Session at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/getvisible.

Ready to create your signature talk? Email me at carol@speakingyourbrand.com and we’ll set up a time to chat.

Say hi to me on Twitter @CarolMorganCox

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People and episodes mentioned:

• Episode 57 on How to Use Simple Story Structure to Create Compelling Content
• Diane Diaz of The Brand Teacher was on episode 2
• Natalie Eckdahl of BizChix was on episode 35
• Geraldine Carter of Focused Business Coaching was on episode 36
• Dr. Carmen Landrau was on episode 29
• Pamela Cox of Pamela Cox Wellness

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