We CAN! promote our books

Speaking Engagements - Selecting A Topic

Hi.  Winnie Griggs here again with the next installment on my posts about speaking engagements.  So far we've covered why you might want to book speaking engagements and dealing with those butterflies.  Today we're going to focus on selecting a topic, in other words, what do you talk about.

For those just testing the waters of speaking engagements, I would suggest you take stock of your personal skills and interests, and choose something you feel comfortable discussing.

Speaking Engagements - Butterflies Anyone?

Hi,

Winnie Griggs here again, back with the next post on speaking engagements.  As promised in my last post, today I’m going to talk about working through the fear.

 In my last post I mentioned that fear of public speaking is very real and very prevalent.   Mark Twain said it best, "There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars".  While that may be a bit of an exaggeration, it’s probably not too far off the mark.

 

Speaking Engagements - Why Bother?

Hi.  Winnie Griggs here.

Over the next several months I’m going to be posting about speaking engagements - why seek them out, how to get booked, what to speak about, etc.  Since my personal experience with this subject is in speaking to groups of writers, that’s going to be my main focus.  However, much of this will translate to other type speaking engagements as well.

Speaking Engagements ~ The Little Engine that Could

Greetings from contemporary fiction author, Deborah Vogts. We all know the story of the little engine who didn't think he could make it up the giant hill. That's sometimes how I felt this past year when I considered everything involved in marketing my debut book release with Zondervan.

This month I want to visit with you about speaking engagements. Do you tremble at the thought of having to speak to a group of people? If so, you're not alone. But if you can overcome your fear of doing so, speaking engagements are a wonderful way to win new readers and spread the word about your books.

Platform Girl - How to Get Your Endorsements

 

  Kathi Lipp here -sharing all the not-so-secret tips to building your platform through speaking. 

 

This article is taken from my booklet 5 Simple Steps to Kick Start Your Speaking Career.

 The very first thing you need to do as a speaker is get a list of references together. You need to prove you’ve got some street cred. No one wants to hire a speaker that no one else will endorse. Event planners need to know that you have spoken before and that you didn’t pass out while doing it.

 

These endorsements will be used over and over again—on your website, promotional postcards, speaker packets and on other speaker websites that you will eventually become a part of.

 

If you are just getting started in speaking, you may be wondering who will endorse you.

 

Step #1

 

This is the time to start getting creative.

 

1. Brainstorm the times you have been in front of a group.

 

If you are pursuing a career in public speaking, chances are you have done some presentations, somewhere.

 

Maybe it was teaching a Bible study at church, or a talk you did for coworkers. Have you ever worked with a youth group, or been in a Toastmasters group? Those are all people who have heard you speak and can write an endorsement for you.

 

2. Offer to speak to a group, free of charge.

 

Many of my clients have started out by speaking for a group for free, just to get their foot in the door and to get their first endorsements rolling

 

 

 

in. Look for civic groups, mothers or MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers) groups. Most of these would welcome the chance for you to speak on a topic that is tailored to their audience.

 

Let them know that you will be happy to do the presentation for no charge as long as the leader of that group would write you a recommendation (if they felt that you were recommendation-worthy!) It is a win-win—they get a fabulous speaker that they may not otherwise be able to afford, and you get that oh-so-valuable endorsement.

 

 

3. Make it easy for the event planner

 

Experience has shown me that it is very hard for people to write recommendations. It is not that the event planner didn’t love you—quite the opposite. She knows that she is not able to express her feelings well enough to do you justice. Everything she writes sounds dull and flat to her ear.

 

 

I strongly encourage you to give her an example of a great endorsement—that way she will know what you are looking for, but can write the endorsement in her own words to best reflect you.

 

If there are key words that reflect who you are, let her know that those are areas that you would love for her to highlight if she felt comfortable. Again, you are not writing the endorsement for her (everyone can see

through those kind of endorsements…) but giving her a framework to work within that will make the task easier for her and more useable for you.

 

 

 

From Written Word to Spoken Word

From author and speaker Cheri Cowell

One of the most frequent questions asked of me at writer's conferences is "If I speak on my book and tell them everything that is in there, why would they then buy the book?" When I first began writing and speaking, I was fearful of the same thing. However, I quickly learned three valuable lessons.

1. Lesson One: Don't Speak on Your Book- Speak on a Topic for Your Target Audience

You've seen it on television, the "expert" author who's every other word is, "In my book..." Even worse, they tease the audience, only giving two of six tips "available in their book." These self-promotional gimmicks rarely cause someone to run out and buy the promoted book, and often has the opposite effect, causing resentment not future readers. The solution is to not speak directly on the information covered in your book, but instead look through your book for jumping off topics.

Tips from the Pros: Cheri Cowell + Creating Book Tours/Data bases

Aloha from Karen,
   
    I'm interviewing Cheri Cowell, a dear friend and someone who worked hard to           create great sales for her first book. She planned her own               tri-state book tour and build an incrdible database of churches.

    Welcome Cheri. Let's find out more about you and what you did     to market your books.

Steppin' Up to the Mic on Thursdays!

Hey, friends! Jennifer Devlin here, welcoming you to speaking tips Thursday!

Thursdays will feature blogs about how to build a speaking platform, how to work with women's ministry leaders and event planners, and how to incorporate our books into our speaking presentations. We will hear from a variety of CAN members, including Susie Larson, Cheri Cowell, Gail Gaymer Martin and many others. Please welcome them to the blog, and take time to comment on their posts in upcoming weeks!

 

I'm passionate about helping writers improve their speaking platform for a very basic reason: I started out in ministry as a speaker and women's ministry leader. When God called me to write, it took a while for me to get used to the idea of the two modes of communication working in tandem. In fact, at first I almost thought I was moving away from my calling as a speaker because I was working on a book idea. Little did I know then that God had been preparing me, step by step, for His big picture for my life.

Excited but Tired

Jeanne Dennis here. I just returned home from my first CLASS seminar. And I am so excited to go back to my speaking and writing and apply all the new insights I have gained.

Letting MOPS and MOMS Groups Know You're Alive

Kathi Lipp delivering on her promise - 5 steps to let MOPS and MOM's groups know that you are ready and willing to speak:

1. Create a postcard
When it was time to start drumming up more gigs, I found that, besides word of mouth, postcards were my best option. Instead of telling you everything to include on your own speaker post card, I am going to make this real easy on you. Just drop me a note at kathi@kathilipp.com and I will send you a sample of a postcard that I created. No muss, no fuss.

In addition to creating your own card, you can go to a discount printer such as VistaPrints.com for a more professional look. I have used these as well with excellent results.