Why Public Speaking is Good for Lead Generation (And How to Do It Well)

Public speaking: the term alone can spark a mix of emotions. For some, it’s excitement🙋🏻‍♀️ For others, it’s anxiety or even sheer panic. But regardless of where you fall on this spectrum, public speaking is a powerful tool for all business owners to incorporate into their marketing playbooks.

While you hopefully know it’s good from a PR perspective, I want to dive deeper today and make the case for how public speaking can significantly boost your lead generation efforts.

PLUS, I’ll share a few tactics for how to overcome those “Oh sh*t everyone is staring at me!” jitters to become a confident and compelling speaker.

5 Ways Public Speaking Can Be Beneficial for Lead Generation

1. Reach Your Target Audience Efficiently

Building an audience, whether online or offline, is no small feat. You can spend endless hours trying to grow your community, or you can take a shortcut by speaking at events where your target audience already gathers.

These are the perfect events to pitch yourself as a speaker. Going to where the community is, true to our DCM core values: efficient AND effective!

Why build Rome 2.0 if someone already built it and could invite you to visit?!? No brainer!

2. Position Yourself as a Thought Leader

Do you have expertise to share with the world? Public speaking is your gateway to establishing yourself as a thought leader.

When you’re chosen to speak at an event, it sends a powerful, subliminal message to the audience: you’re an expert on that topic. The endorsement from the hosting organization reinforces your authority and credibility in your field. This leads directly to…

3. Boost Your Brand Awareness

Every speaking engagement is a PR win. The host organization’s endorsement signals your expertise and trustworthiness to their audience. Plus, the photos, videos, and promotional materials generated from your speaking events are invaluable assets for your future content marketing.

4. Demonstrate Your Expertise to Garner Qualified Leads

Let’s be clear:

Your speech should never be a direct sales pitch.

However, that doesn’t mean it can’t benefit your sales goals.

Use the opportunity to show your expertise. This stems from a lesson my aunt taught me about writing college admissions essays back in the day: “Show. Don’t tell.”

In public speaking, this means demonstrating your skills and knowledge rather than telling people you have a lot of skills and knowledge.

A great way to do this is through case studies and practical examples. Present a problem a client came to you with, the strategy you developed to fix it, and the results you achieved. As they say, “The proof is in the pudding.”

This showcases your capabilities far more effectively than simply stating them, which is also off putting to any audience.

5. Marketing Efficiency

You are given two options for how to spend your next hour:

A) You can meet with 1 person 1-1
B) You can speak to a group of 10-10,000

Which one is going to be a more effective use of your time to generate qualified leads?

Clearly the answer is B. (Yes, I’m giving you credit that your speech showcases the baller you are.)

Speaking to large groups of people at once, all while showcasing your expertise and the value of your business is far more efficient than individual conversations for lead generation. Public speaking allows you to reach a large audience simultaneously, demonstrating your knowledge and skills in real-time.

The 1-1 conversations can come as the next step in the funnel to further qualify them, but before you can get to that step, you need to capture the lead to begin with.

Now that you’re sold on the benefits of public speaking, let’s talk about ways to get past those jitters.

How To Be A Confident Public Speaker

1. Practice, Practice, Practice.

Audiences can always tell who’s well-prepared and who’s winging it. The more you practice, the more familiar you become with your material and the smoother your delivery will be. Comfort with your presentation leads to confidence on stage.

2. Review, Iterate, Practice More.

Record your practice sessions and watch them back. Note where you lose your own attention or where the presentation lags. If watching yourself makes you cringe, show the video to a trusted friend, advisor, or coach (🙋🏻‍♀️) and ask for their constructive feedback.

Focus on areas where you can improve, like timing, engagement, and clarity. Then, practice again with these adjustments in mind.

3. Stick to What You Know.

It’s natural to feel nervous speaking in front of a group, but those fears diminish when you’re discussing a subject you know inside out. Think about it like this:

Do you get nervous when a friend asks you how you decided to start your own business?

No. Because you know what happened. You lived it and it’s your story to tell.

Same principle applies to speaking to groups of people. Stick to topics where you have deep expertise and the confidence will flow.

Comfortable subject + repeated practice = confidence on stage 💪