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I. What Is A Dynamite Topic?

A. One that people remember

B. Gets you booked

C. Not the same as a hot or trendy topic

II. Hot Topics

A. These are the same as they’ve always been

Motivation

Sales

Team building

The future

B. The problem with hot topics

Too much competition

III. Trendy Topics

A. Hot for a short time

I’m an expert on sales & marketing

A lot of people speak on these topics

B. The danger with trendy topics is that they die out

IV. Why you want a dynamite topic

A. Reduces the competition

Think of how many motivational speakers there are

B. Makes it easier to sell

You don’t have t time or money to market to everyone

Narrows your audience

Think about marketing a motivational keynote

Maybe you could narrow it down to sales motivation

Next make it selling services

How about selling real estate services

C. Makes you more memorable

There are plenty of people who speak on negotiations

V. The Importance of Passion

A. The importance of passion

Why you need passion

You will spend a lot of time on t subject

Researching

Could be hours

Writing books

Could be hundreds of hours

Speaking

Could be days

B. Finding your passion

What books interest you?

Where do you automatically go in a bookstore?

What’s on your bookshelf at home?

What do you read about?

(Write them down)

What television programs do you watch?

What television programs do you watch?

(Write them down)

Is there a topic that people keep asking you for?

That’s one you should concentrate on

VI. There Are Riches In Niches

A. Why you need a niche

There’s way too much competition in hot topics

Most of us will never be famous enough to own a hot topic

It’s best if you can develop your own niche

C. What do you know that no one else knows?

The market wants experts who speak, not speaker who are experts

They want information they can use in their work or lives now

Complaint about “all fluff & no stuff”

You can become an expert at almost anything w/1 hr of study a day

B. Can you provide a unique perspective on an old topic?

7 Habits of Highly Successful People is not new

It is a unique perspective

C. What do you know that no one else knows?

Experiences

Knowledge

Combination

D. What makes you unique?

You need to know if you will be able to own the niche

Do you have credibility in a specific topic?

Degrees, designations, books, articles

Experiences

What have you learned?

E. What challenges have you overcome that others have not?

Our great speaker W. Mitchell was horribly crippled in a motorcycle accident

Then he was disfigured in a plane crash

His story of survival is awe inspiring

F. What unique perspective do you have on your subject?

Experiences, challenges

Be controversial – if you can

(Write down your experiences)

G. A niche is a group of people, not a subject

Who would pay to hear your subject?

VII. Audience Analysis

A. Ask yourself “What is the audience for this topic?”

Managers

Salespeople

Couples

B. It must be large enough to support you

Some audiences may not be big enough

If so, you are too tightly niched

Doesn’t have to be t biggest market

I make a great living speaking to home builders on how to sell to diverse cults

I even have a book just for them (show book)

C. Will they pay?

Some audiences will not pay to hear your topic

Will they pay to hear your solution to their problems?

D. What will they pay?

VIII. Developing A Niche

A. What do you know that’s unique

B. Do you have credibility?

You may have studied a very specific subject very intensely

People w/doctorate degrees are very broad

It’s harder to become an expert than simply expanding your expertise

You are already an expert in something

Finding what it is can be a challenge

C. Do you have unique perspectives

Rush Limbaugh has unique perspectives

D. What problem needs solving?

What keeps your audiences up at night?

This should be the focus of your topic

IX. Niche Your Niche

A. This is the key to memorability

B. It’s much easier to own the niche

You can become a celebrity in a small much quicker than large market

C. Makes it much easier to market

X. Other sources of ideas for topics

A. Industry magazines

The articles generally deal with the issues & problems of readers

What topics are hot?

What issues keep coming up over & over?

(Scan)

B. Get on conference mailing lists

These are seminar topics that are hot now

Can you provide a unique perspective?

C. Go to industry trade shows

Talk to people

Look at booths

D. Call trade associations & talk to them

Talk to experts

E. Be controversial if you can

People like contrarian views

XI. Hot Titles

A. Must have a hot title otherwise no one will remember it

1. Brief

3-5 words is best

2. Catchy

3. Descriptive

4.Unique

5. Memorable

6. Ask a provocative question

(Determine your highest priority & develop a good title)

7. Answer a tough question

Secrets

8. Solve a difficult problem

XII. Testing Your Topic

Once you have a topic you must carefully analyze it

After all, this is a business

C. Do audiences ask for more?

Do people ask you to expand on it

Do people ask you to present it in different industries

Do people offer to pay you for it?

XIII. Honing Your Topic

A. Present it in low-risk forums

Animal circuit if a business topic

Moose, Elks, Lions, Rotary Clubs, Chambers of Commerce

Churches & other groups if not a business topic

B. Add New Material

What questions does the audience ask?

Find the answer and add it in

Eventually I had a book

Expand what works

C. Delete the superfluous

Get rid of the fluff

Drop what doesn’t work

Change it to meet t need of your audience

Your audience will tell you what they want to hear

What questions do they ask?

Find the answers & incorporate it into your program

XIV. Own Your Niche

A. Write articles

Great free marketing tool

I have a publicist who place my articles

B. Write books

Nothing more than an expensive business card

They will usually not throw it away

C. Appear on TV & radio

If your topic is unique enough

You can become a celebrity in a niche

D. Develop products for your niche

Gen-X tapes

Manuals

Booklets

People want to take you home

XV. Determining Your Fees

A. Charge more than you think you are worth

Remember, you are unique

B. Never be fully booked

If you are your fee is too low

C. What clients should never say OK

D. Keep raising your fees

Having a unique topic will earn you top $

Courtesy Michael Lee

Popularity: 51% [?]

Posted on May 26th, 2008 by Scott Hammond
Filed under: Scott Hammond, Speaking