Marketing is anything a company does to acquire customers and maintain relationships with them. As marketers, we develop these relationships by delivering messages to our audiences – whether it’s a television advert, a phone call or even the packaging of a product. Our goal is to connect with people in a strong, meaningful way that differentiates us from the competition. We do this by delivering the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
We turn a cold, faceless business into something with an identity and personality, and even its own values. We do this to connect with our target audiences, by creating something different that appeals to them and their personality. Therefore, marketers must have excellent communication skills. They must be able to grab the attention of their audience – whether it’s in a board meeting, presenting to a client or chatting to an old colleague.
The most feared channel that marketers use is, without doubt, public speaking. This can make most experienced, confident professional break into a nervous sweat. If you understand the keys to success in public speaking, this can provide you with a toolkit that’s applicable across many marketing activities. Using the same concepts from putting together a successful public speaking strategy can dramatically improves one’s marketing campaigns. It all ties into understanding how to deliver a message that has the greatest impact.
Dananjaya J. Hettiarachchi is one of the best public speakers in the world. In 2014, he was named the world champion of public speaking by Toastmasters International. Hettiarachchi lasted seven rounds of competition that took place over a seven-month period, with over 33,000 competitors from all around the world. He is an expert communicator who can grasp the audience’s attention to deliver his message. His communication skills illustrate his understanding of people and he can connect with them in a meaningful way.
Here are some tips which Hettiarachchi believes are vital in improving public speaking and can also be used in marketing to develop and deliver strong meaning campaigns.
Confidence and body language
“You need to sell yourself before you can sell a message,” Hettiarachchi says. A way to do that is to be genuine. That is easier said than done. Hettiarachchi had entered the Toastermasters competition for ten years, but didn’t reach the finals until he stopped behaving like an actor on stage and just behaved like himself. Hettiarachchi believes a speech should be conversational, not theatrical. The same can be said for business, people can always tell when they are being sold to.
That is why today the marketing landscape is evolving to focus on interactive and engaging campaigns. Instead of companies talking AT their audience, they are talking WITH their audience. Digital channels have opened new realms where these conversations can take place. These new channels have also enabled companies to become more transparent or genuine. The lines between marketing and business practice have become blurred, as consumers look to connect with a company for its values and characteristics rather than its advertising efforts.
Gripping message
When creating a speech or marketing campaign, the important thing to remember is the message you’re trying to get across. What do you want your audience to take away from the experience? This is the most important aspect of developing a speech or campaign. After you have that established, you can put together how you are going to convey the message to your audience. It could be repeating a phrase throughout a speech (the marketing equivalent would be a tagline at the end of advert).
During their careers, marketers are constantly delivering messages – whether it is to a client, to a customer, to a creative team or to a consumer. It is vital that they have the ability to identify what important information they need to get across and which is the best way of delivering that message to get the desired response from their audience. They must see themselves as the audience sees them and deliver their message with clarity and creativity.
Questions
Whether it is in a speech or on a social media post, questions are vital in keeping the audience engaged. These calls to action provide cues which the audience can respond to. This is vital for any marketer hoping to acquire and maintain a relationship with their audience. These calls to action provide a platform with encourages interaction and engagement between the marketers, the company and the audience.
The rate of interaction between brands and consumers is at an all-time high. This is solely down to the rapidly growing importance of digital channels. These channels allow consumers to join conversations and engage with a brand or other customers. This process helps increase engagement, but more importantly helps create strong, meaningful relationships. These is why it is so important that marketers aren’t just talking to their audiences, but are also asking questions and listening to the answers. By taking on board audience feedback and other data collected, they can improve their marketing activity and the brand’s relationships.
Storytelling
One of the most powerful elements used when public speaking is story telling. Hettiarachchi uses humour and seriousness to maintain momentum through his speeches. This also helps to keep his audience engaged and interested. Being creative in how you convey your message is so important for breaking through the noise and garnering attention for your brand.
This can be achieved by developing a clear understanding of your audience’s behaviours and preferences. This will help you identify important touch-points with your audiences in an effort to gain a response or action. The story may be an anecdote in a speech or it might be a TV advert. The objective of these stories is to convey a message in the most engaging way possible. This doesn’t mean that marketers have to be great storytellers, but they have to know what their audience’s likes and dislikes. Marketers must be creative in developing content that resonates with their audience.
Use what you’ve learnt
Like anything else in life, the more you practice, the better you will get. Communication skills can be constantly improved. Even though public speaking can make you nervous, the more times you get up and speak the easier it will get. You find out what works, what doesn’t. If you say that, this will happen. All of the variables which you were afraid of at the beginning are a lot more predictable. You will know the responses even before you ask the question. The more you can learn about delivering a speech to an audience, the more capable you’ll be in delivering marketing campaigns and messages.
