What if it were easy to create and give workshops? What if your everyday coaching processes held the secret to your workshop content? What if organizations exist, in your target audience, that are hungry for speakers and waiting for you?
I discovered this is all true and possible. Workshops are the number one way I get new clients, averaging one client and speaking invitation per workshop. I also reach more people, in less time, and have a greater impact. Consider how easy, natural and possible this experience can be for you!
Content. It is my joy to share two huge discoveries. 1) You have ready-made content from what you already know in your sleep and do with your clients! 2) Creating a workshop is simply taking what you do well one-on-one and doing it in front of an audience.
My first workshop happened by accident. I heard the City of Chicago was seeking speakers and I offered to talk about networking, a generic topic. The organizer immediately named it "How to Love Networking" and a workshop was born. I backed into the title, pulling from the way I coach clients to overcome obstacles by drawing from a past success and transferring the skills and "knowing" to the present. I've now given that workshop some 30 times and have started a series around other obstacles, such as “How to Love Speaking,” “How to Love Selling” and even “How to Love Dating!”
TIP: After you have a great coaching session, immediately outline the process you used and see how it can be done in front of an audience. If you find a core process that benefits many clients, then it's likely you have the seed of a workshop, article or book.
Delivery and Structure. I do my best with an unscripted outline that has room to dance in the moment. It's important to find the structure that works best for you. For my first two workshops, I wrote down actual phrases on flip charts and found it distracting. Today, I use a one-page outline with one line per segment. I include time estimates to tell me where I should be on the clock at major junctures. Leave room in your agenda to make your bottom-line points and coach the audience so they can experience you, taste coaching and learn.
As for the structure, I use a well-worn popular formula. I tell them what I'm going to tell them, then I tell them and then tell them what I told them. I also add a strong mix of CTI-ness: I set expectations, share the defining moments in my life that led me to my chosen niche, target audience and this workshop, and do a grounding exercise to create safety, playfulness and presence. I seat my audiences in a circle of chairs whenever possible to create equality and openness.
And then…it's all content, coaching, passion and magic. I ask for one or two volunteers and coach them in front of the group. I use a written exercise that is woven throughout the workshop. This begins and ends with a self-assessment that measures their shift in perspective, usually moving up at least one point and as many as five points on a 10-point scale.
After the content, before the Q&A, I offer complimentary consultations with a clipboard sign-up that lists only a few specific dates and times. I say these carefully chosen words, "If you are serious about making changes and want to find out how my coaching can help you reach your goals, sign-up." About 95% keep these appointments respectfully and more than half become clients.
TIP: Connect your workshop to a logical offering, whether products, complimentary consultations or a follow-on workshop or teleclass. Reserve time before the end to introduce this offer.
Co-Activity. Throughout my workshop, from the moment I am invited to speak, I seek collaborative decisions on the topic and format, and ask in advance for the group's unique obstacles. I invite a lot of audience participation, acknowledge their input and see myself as facilitating from a unique perspective vs. expertise. I help my audience see how they are already creative, resourceful, whole and talented at the thing they fear doing.
Marketing. How will you find your audiences? Choose a focus and title around a tangible, recognizable outcome that solves one of your target market’s needs. I believe what sells best is a title based on a concrete business-related outcome. In the end, my participants in "How to Love Networking" do learn how to love themselves and others more. I sell them what they ask for and give them what they need.
Most of my speaking opportunities come from subtle marketing efforts. I simply ask my audiences for introductions to contacts who look for speakers. I don't ask for referrals, rather warm, personal introductory emails copying me and the contact. I get invited to speak because I am clear about my target audience—solopreneur women. The majority of my marketing is through networking, naturally!
TIP: Declare a population you serve, go to the library reference section and ask for the Encyclopedia of Associations. Locate your audience, and you'll find places to write and speak. Serve your audience wherever you can; be willing to speak almost anywhere for an amount they can afford.
Consider collaborating with a CTI buddy. My first speaking effort as a coach was as one of six coaches, mostly CTI-trained, at a Borders bookstore, where I delivered five minutes of the hour's content. I was hooked. For my first few solo gigs, I invited a CTI coach to be my "assistant" so I could have support and help getting grounded.
In closing, be a coach and shine as an extension of what you naturally love to do. Workshops are another means for creating and giving.
Repeat after me: “I know enough today to create a workshop that spotlights my existing coaching talents to a room filled with my target audience.” What one easy step will you take after reading this article?
Your audience is waiting.
Gail Sussman Miller founded Inspired Choice to work primarily with women solopreneurs to teach them how to love business obstacles and overcome them with ease. Gail delivers obstacle-busting workshops and teleclasses for groups and individuals like "How to Love Speaking (Networking, Selling)." She calls herself a “mid-life bloomer” Baby Boomer. After years of waiting to feel inspired, confident, ready or good enough, Gail found her true passion in work, marriage, motherhood and life after the age of 44! Now she helps other women to stop waiting by getting really clear about what they truly want, reframing “yes, but” thinking, making choices and taking action. Contact Gail at www.inspiredchoice.com/ or call 773.477.4012.
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