Maximizing your exposure


Speeches are assets. Leveraged imaginatively, they can extend your reach well beyond their podium debut.

Cover all media

It is common practice among some of my clients to forward abridged versions of important speeches to the most influential reporters on their media list. They also archive press clippings and reprint favorable reviews.

If the event was taped, video news releases are another way of maximizing exposure. This assumes, of course, that the speech is newsworthy. DVDs and web streaming are also effective.

And don't forget about placements in op-eds, trade journals, company newsletters, as well as any publications that the event organizers produce.

Target Internet audiences

Posting current speeches to a website gets your word out to the world fast. And tracking your readership is simple.

Before publishing to the Internet, add links to other site information: product sheets, promotion rules, investment news.

Incidentally, I see very little value in adding a speech to your website if it is just lifted straight from a PowerPoint deck. Post the full delivered text.

Stretch your mileage

Accurately positioning your organization, and then getting everybody to sign off on your particular spin, is hard work. A well thought-out speech is a major collective effort. So when new speaking situations arise, why reinvent the wheel?

Very often, remarks from existing speeches can be adapted for delivery by other employees to other audiences. This gives willing spokespeople at all levels of the organization the confidence to step up to new communications opportunities.

Stretch your mileage. The greatest speeches don't end in applause.

Speaker’s Notebook: A Guide to Savvy Speechwriting