Speaking from the Catbird Seat

Speaking in front of the right group of people can do wonders for your future speaking engagements and for your career in general period.

It seems not to matter much which civic or fraternal organization you choose to speak to. These groups are starved for interesting speakers who enjoy sharing with them at such events. Too many speakers find it to be a task to be in front of a group instead of treating it as a pleasure. Which camp do you fall into?

Speaking for myself, I would almost pay for the privilege to deliver a few words to a captive audience. Unless I am just outrageously adamant about a topic the group finds deplorable to discuss in the first place, I am welcomed with open arms and grateful enthusiasm.

It doesn't take an audience long to discover the energy level of a speaker. Usually in the opening sentence many hints are dropped has to how these next 15 minutes are going to unwind. I love to joke about whatever particular group happens to be in any given audience. In fact, the less I know about a group's livelihood or type of expertise they possess the more time I put into researching who they are.

Discovering facts that I wouldn't have learned in just casual association, I am able to have a group laughing at itself as early as possible in the opening minutes of my speech. There is no better way to grab the attention of your audience then to immediately have them become aware of the fact that you have done your homework about who they are. I'm telling you the physical temperature will rise in the room when they recognize you are just one of them. They literally warm up to you, ready and willing to hear what you have to say.

At this point I am able to zip right into the subject of the reason I have been asked to speak at this gathering in the first place.  Now that may be a bit of a misnomer. Actually I may have solicited this organization because I want them to hear what I have to say. It may be days, months or even years before I hear any  feedback from the day's events. Though it is not always measurable, it happens in the background anyway.

Those minutes in time when you stand in front of any group, you are the expert on whatever topic you are speaking about. If you are the author of a book, you would do well to have it available at the beginning and end of your talk. Your audience wants to be part of your interesting slant on whatever it is you are speaking about. They will pass on your book to any number of future clients for you. Is there a better way to be the expert on any subject than to hand whoever you are speaking to, a copy of your book?

I think not. If there was any doubt as to your expert knowledge on your subject, those doubts have disappeared completely.

Want to be considered one of the top experts in your field of Grant Writing? You can be a local hero or possibly even a National one if you have the desire to see it through completion. We'll talk about this in the near future. Can you imagine how many doors this would open for you?

Have a great weekend.

Be a Prospect Research Rock Star

"Which prospects have the highest propensity to give?" Wealth Engine is responsible for both the title of this blog entry as well as the quote above. I was looking at their ad moments ago from yesterday's issue of Philanthropy Today.

I visited their site and spent most of my time trying to find out what the costs are to tap into this Wealth Engine. I was unsuccessful as a casual clickster. If I laid out a considerable amount of personal and/or business related information I could receive a trial demo without cost.

One of the questions asked was donation level of my company, under 3.5 Million on up to 35 million and above. Wealth Engine's P2G program looks to be a real plus for high roller giver seeking.

The site states you can use Wealth Engine's program to identify the following information and I quote:

How can you use P2G?

• Identify individuals for upgrade to higher giving level
• Identify target gift ranges for upgrading current donors
• Identify qualified prospects with highest likelihood to give
• Develop segmentation strategy based on estimated giving capacity

"Unquote"

This looks really interesting to me. You of course can do your own investigation of their site as I have done here. Now I have no tie to these folks what-so-ever other than their ad in my daily blog from Philanthropy-Today.

Being the age I am, the opportunity or even a small chance to become any type of a Rock Star much less a Prospect Research Rock Star instantly had me clicking the gorgeous ad. I am here to say that it is one effective little bit of ad space. It has me thinking about the power expressed in that iddy bit of landscape.

If prospect research is the Keyword for Wealth Engine's SEO, I'd call this a home-run for them, certainly in the placement of this little ad.

In my own little business I cultivate my clients as to their Mission and what match-making can I do in order to find the entity that wants to scratch their itch. I have no precise formula or secret code I am able to fill in the blanks with to achieve an instant match. Maybe Wealth Engine has it?

Is P2G the answer? Numbers of successful users, fans and followers will tell the story soon.

When it comes to pairing a nonprofit with the perfect funder aren't we all Rock Stars even if just for a moment?
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