Public
Speaking & Handouts: should you use them or
not?
I've
done seminars with no handouts. I've done seminars
giving out detailed handouts.
Over
time I've discovered that one is a bad idea, can
you guess which?
If
you guessed detailed handouts, you're right!
You
may find this hard to believe, but you're better
off not giving out handouts at your seminar!
Now,
actually, that's not true 100% of the time because
there are time when you want to hand things out
to your audience, and I'll tell you how to know
the difference:
First,
if your seminar is designed to sell a product
at the end, do not give out any handouts whatsoever.
The only handout you give them, should be an order
form!
Of
course, you'll want to follow my Seminar Blueprint
called "The Inevitable Conclusion" where
your group will decide in their own mind that
they want to buy what you're selling.
So
the rule of them there is the more you're selling,
the less you give handouts.
On
the other side of the coin, the more you're teaching
the more you should have handouts. In other words,
the more information you expect them to learn,
the more handouts you're going to need to give
them.
That
means that if you're hired to conduct classes
or trainings, give your group handouts because
that will enhance the learning process.
There's
one more possibility, and that's where you're
doing a seminar that is really selling but is
DISGUISED as teaching! I highly recommend you
conduct seminars like this to market and promote
your business because you'll generate and convert
highly qualified prospects and clients.
In
that case, give out handouts that are very "bare-bones"
where your handouts have a bunch of vague titles
and headings where only your explanation will
make the handouts make sense.
You
want to do that because that way the group stays
focused on you, not on the handouts, which is
what you want - you want them paying attention
to you and your message and not sitting there
reading handouts.
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