Dennis Yu

How to not suck at public speaking

Photo by Tim Ash – Sitetuners.com
I was so afraid of speaking publicly that I hid until I had to come out.
Even a meeting with just 5 people gave me the shivers– I’d freeze up and later kick myself on all the clever things that I should have said then.
Fast forward a few years and what used to be anxiety turns to excitement– even in crowds of a couple thousand. I can’t wait to share the latest tips on how to grow your business on Facebook. I want to help and I have only 50 minutes to cram in as much as I can.

CONFIDENCE COMES FROM COMPETENCE

Are you scared of driving your car to work?
You probably do it mindlessly, though it’s a complex series of coordinated tasks. But you’ve practiced it. There’s no fear.
When you know your topic forwards and backwards, you can spend your time enjoying the audience as opposed to worrying about making key points or hitting slide transitions.
I’ve spoken at least 500 times on Facebook marketing over the last 6 years via webinars, conferences, and live TV interviews. Double that if you include all forms of PPC going back to the year 2000.
It doesn’t mean that I know everything. But I have devoured everything I can get my hands on and talked to everyone else who is in our niche.
Confidence doesn’t come from speaking tricks such as pretending everyone is in their underwear, giving yourself a pep-talk, or telling a funny joke to break the ice. Gimmicks. Talk about something you truly are passionate about– so nuts about the issue that you want to tell everyone about it.
A friend of mine is passionate about blood hemoglobin types and their ability to carry oxygen. He has a doctorate and presents at medical conferences. Yeah, believe it.

YOUR UNEXPECTED FRIENDS

Photo by Tim Ash – Sitetuners.comIn the course of building up your knowledge, you begin to know and be known by everyone in your niche. I like to call out other speakers in my presentation as I notice them– citing their work and expertise.  Sometimes I call them on stage to present with me! This builds your authority, creates interactivity, and makes a receptive crowd.

If this is your first public speaking gig, going off the cuff or doing an hour talk with no slide support might be a reach.  But see if you can talk in 60-second segments.  Got 20 minutes? Budget for 20 slides and 20 tidbits.
Make sure you review who else is speaking. Don’t just read the conference guide, but go deeper. Because you’re a speaker, too, you can connect with them on LinkedIn, ask them for a tidbit to include in your deck (citing them, of course), and hang out in the speakers’ room during the show. You’ll be more comfortable and knowledgeable– and likely be invited to speak at other conferences, if that’s what you like.
The conference scene in your niche is super small. Even folks with horrible presentation skills and outdated knowledge are on the circuit merely because of their friendships.  Most shows do provide speakers with audience feedback– so long as you’re not bottom third, you’re probably okay.

CHICKEN AND EGG

But if you don’t know anyone and need to get your start, make sure you:
  • Know the conference productivity hacks as an attendee first.
  • Know how to prepare during the show.
  • Get with the organizers to be super helpful. You can get anyone’s time with these tricks.
  • Start guest blogging so that these people see your knowledge. Like this.
Takes less time than you think to do this once you get a groove going. This post, for example, took me 12 minutes to write and I referenced other articles I wrote to give them a boost. You can reuse your tidbits for your presentations– recycling is in!
And this reinforces your knowledge, which makes you a better presenter.

NEWBIE MISTAKES

  • Don’t read the slides. Tell stories with your slide imagery backing them up.
  • Never pitch your product or service, even if you’re a vendor that has the hottest thing on the market. If you need to generate leads, invite a customer to talk about how they solved a problem– lightly mentioning your tool but focusing more on the issues your client faced.
  • Don’t be the AH MONSTER. Tape yourself and see how many “umms” and “ahhs” you have. You might be surprised. If you’re under 30, watch for “like” and “you know”. Once you see this, you’ll never be able to un-see it among your friends.  Go to ToastMasters, pause between sentences– do anything except eject verbal diarrhea upon your audience.
  • Bring at least 30 business cards. The instant you’re done speaking, if you’ve done a decent job, expect a queue up front.

Photo by Tim Ash – Sitetuners.com

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations. You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel. You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.
I'm a member of Blitzmetrics Academy and a friend of Dennis to boot. Not only is Dennis highly intelligent and full of great and creative ideas, he's also incredibly generous with both his knowledge and his time. Success couldn't come to a better guy. Thank you for all that you do for the world, Dennis! 🙏

Michael Pacheco

Marketer

Thanks 🙏 for being shining light in this industry. Love what your building for works overseas too network for jobs so innovative. Dennis helped me navigate having bad experiences with marketing agencies and doing dollar a day marketing which has helped my personal brand tremendously. Highly recommend.

Eric Skeldon

Founder at Kingdom Broker

Working with Dennis has been a delightful experience. After meeting him in 2015 I got to collaborate with him on countless occasions. His understanding for state-of-the-art marketing, his implementation, and his leadership put him into the top 0.01% of marketers and mentors.

Jan Koch

Ihr kompetenter Partner für innovative KI-Strategien.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dennis for my podcast in 2021 and since then we have maintained a friendship that grows with each interaction. I have seen Dennis' devotion to his friends and clients firsthand, and our conversations often result in us talking about how we can provide more value to the people around us. He is someone whom I can ask questions on a technical level, and look to on a personal level. If you have any hesitancy about hiring him, get over yourself and do it!

Isaac Mashman

Help scaling personal brands.

Geez, where do I start recommending Dennis? First, he is an absolutely brilliant marketer who understands where marketing is today and where it's going tomorrow. He also has an incredible passion for the International Worker community. The lessons he has taught me from his almost 20 years of experience hiring International Workers have been immense. Most importantly though. Dennis Yu is someone who wants the absolute best for you and is willing to tell you the truth. Dennis sat with me at a point in my business where I was floundering but did not want to admit it. He asked some very straight forward questions to get me to admit my issues, highlighted the issues, and then helped me create a roadmap to success.

Atiba de Souza

International Keynote Speaker | Video Content Superman | Superconnector |

Dennis, which I had the pleasure of working with is one of the most giving, honest and tell you as it is person I ever know. The knowledge this man has is remarkable and he just gives it out freely. He is not pretentious and always entertain anyone big or small in the industry always willing to help. If you ever get a golden opportunity to work with him or mentored by him say YES!. You will notr regret Dennis, which I had the pleasure of working with is one of the most giving, honest and tell you as it is person I ever know. The knowledge this man has is remarkable and he just gives it out freely. He is not pretentious and always entertain anyone big or small in the industry always willing to help. If you ever get a golden opportunity to work with him or mentored by him say YES!. You will not regret

Nixon Lee

The PR Whisperer

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