Boost Your Publishing Business by Becoming a Speaker

Congratulations on blogging a book or even considering writing and publishing a book. You gain a lot of credibility as a published author. But now the real hard work begins. Unless you are a celebrity with a large publicity and marketing staff—and a huge following of fans, the burden will be mostly on you to get the word out about your book. Most publishers will announce your book to the world and then move onto other projects. If you self-publish, you don’t even get help with that initial launch

The burden of marketing always settles onto the author. Book signings are a great way to reach out to the public, but people want to actually hear what you have to say. Enter the world of public speaking. Verbal communication is what sets us apart in the animal world, and writing and speaking are the longest arrows in your quiver. I often tell youngsters that regardless of what they major in at college, if they can speak and write competently they will be far ahead in the business world. Most universities offer many writing classes, but when have you heard of “Speaking” being an elective course?

Many people are born communicators. I grew up in an American German-Italian heritage household. With four siblings, if I were not vocal I was left behind. Some of us are hams and thrive in situations where we can speak and perform. Others need some help to become proficient speakers. I’ve even kissed the Blarney Stone; the Irish legend has it that if you visit the Blarney Castle and kiss a certain stone in the structure you will be endowed with the “gift of gab.”

Since your new nonfiction book offers written testimony that you are an expert in your field. Now you need to build the confidence to let others hear similar verbal confirmation. We’ve all heard of the classic “elevator speech,” where in  three minutes you need to tell the essence of your passion, product or service. Can you talk for an hour to relate the thrust of your book?

If you don’t feel comfortable speaking in public, no worries. Speaking in public can be learned.

• Many corporations offer public speaking classes for their employees.Take advantage of them.
• If you are a true entrepreneur without access to corporate resources, try the Toastmasters organization. It has made a nice business out of teaching people how to speak in public.
• The Dale Carnegie Program is another program I recommend.
• Practice makes perfect.

We all need to remember that public speaking is NOT about you – it’s about the audience. Here are some thing to remember when developing a speech to go with your blogged book:

• While you may walk on water, but they will soon tire listening to you boast. Keep in mind that it’s not about you.
• You are the band-aid for their pain. Give them solutions for their problems, answers to their questions.
• They are trying to find ways your topic can benefit them. Offer added value.
• Your mission is to do one of three things: inform them, persuade them or entertain them.
• Establish yourself as the expert and the most qualified person to be speaking – then you relate your ideas in ways that apply to them. For example, climbing Mt Everest is an exciting story. The key is to relate how this experience taught you teamwork, responsibility, goal setting etc. and how the audience can apply the same principles.
• Ever since Neanderthals huddled around a campfire, humans have loved to hear stories. Nothing has changed. If you can develop stories that create visual images in the minds of the audience, they will remember them way more than just facts.

I hope you can see that public speaking is a big subject, worthy of your study. We haven’t even talked about delivery techniques, eye contact, body movement, PowerPoint, and many other topics for successful speaking. Our current president is a master speaker. He can inform, persuade and entertain all in one forceful talk. You can, too.

Most of my training was received in the Air Force, Company programs, classes from the Mandel Communications Company, and Dale Carnegie. I have written two books on Yosemite National Park and managed to sell 10,000 copies. To support this, I write a daily blog and give close to 50 talks a year. I am a member of the National Speakers Association and get paid for my expertise. I also lecture on cruise ships – free cruises for my wife and me. You can, too. On May 19 at the Expert Platform Building 101 program, I will be providing the tools to begin the speaking facet of your book business – an important platform building and promotional tool for all authors. Speaking is fun and it can be profitable. Click here, if you’d like to find out more and register.

About the Author

Rick Deutsch, San Jose, is a veteran of the Cold War and of Intel and Sun Microsystems. He lives the Carpe Diem Lifestyle – Seize the Day. As an author, speaker and adventurer, he has visited every inhabited continent. He’s become “Mr. Half Dome,” having written the only hiking guide to the signature landmark of Yosemite and has done this extremely strenuous hike 31 times. He speaks at museums, outfitters, companies, civic groups and on cruise ships. He’s also a certified Nordic Walking instructor and introduced this fitness program onboard Crystal Cruise lines.  His extroverted style displays his subject expertise while delivering a highly entertaining presentation. MrHalfDome@gmail.com

 Join Nina Amir and Rick Deutsch at
Expert Platform Building 101 + Entrepreneurial Fundamentals 102
on May 19-20 in San Jose, CA. Get the details here.