It is the perfect opportunity to show your audience how much you know about the industry, and also a way to let them find out a bit about you through the examples you give, experiences you share and the jokes you tell.

Think about the speakers who appeal to you, and why, when working out how you will approach your speaking engagement. Do they move around a lot, do they stand still, do they make you laugh, do they have you holding your breath?

Here are some tips to wow your audience with your knowledge:

• Be confident – keep in mind you know more about your topic than the people in the audience, so forget about those nerves

• Make great eye contact – this shows your connection with the audience, but can also help to ground you when you need a boost

• Avoid acronyms – yes, you are the expert, but the audience wants to know more, so you won’t make any friends by speaking in letters they don’t yet understand

• Wear comfortable clothes – don’t distract the audience from what you are saying by fidgeting with what you are wearing

• Be entertaining – keep your audience interested and attentive with case studies, questions and smiles

• Use real examples – show you know your stuff with the right evidence. Talk about how you solved a problem or a win in your business

• Invite questions – the final piece in the jigsaw in establishing your credibility and trustworthiness is getting the audience to ask you questions and then answering openly and honestly.

While a speaking engagement is a good time to speak about your business and/or products and services you offer, don’t make that the main focus. Mention your experience at the beginning to show your credentials and then speak about any relevant products and services at the end, if appropriate.

The key is to leave your audience inspired and wanting to know more.

The best way to do this is through the media – print, TV and radio – because it reaches many people and is not viewed as advertising. But to get the media interested you must have a hook – or a story. This could be something as simple as a new product launch or new employee or something much bigger like a new business or branding.

Here is a bit more detail about how public relations (PR) can help your business:

• PR introduces your business to a wider audience which can then lead to new customers, staff or clients,
• It doesn’t cost as much as advertising, but can reap far more benefits,• Regular PR over time will help build brand recognition,
• It also helps build your business credibility and status as an expert in your industry.

There are downsides to PR as well:

• Unlike advertising, you are never guaranteed coverage and cannot control what is printed or broadcast,
• The wrong media coverage can be disastrous for your business so be careful about your message,
• Media always likes to cover both sides of a story so you might share space with competitors.

There are two ways to do PR for your business – hire a PR consultant or do it yourself. There are pros and cons to both methods and you need to consider how much money you can devote to PR from your marketing budget, how much time you would have to do the PR yourself, how you will contact the media and what you want to say.

Tips for in-house PR:

• Start with a great story,
• Research the type and sector of media you are interested in, ie parenting magazines or local newspapers,
• Have an interesting pitch for the phone and email,
• Include a high resolution photo, at least 200dpi,
• Include all your contact details so the journalist can get hold of you whenever they need to,
• Be willing to follow up by phone or email to find out if the journalist is interested.