Jon Block: How to Craft your Signature Talk

Through his training and networking organization, Speaker Venture, since 2011 Jon Block has personally mentored over 500 entrepreneurs to use public speaking to dramatically increase their revenue and social impact. Jon has spoken on 100+ stages, sharing the stage with the biggest leaders in the entrepreneur and human potential movement. Jon was named 1 of the Top 20 Conscious Entrepreneurs of 2013. What a signature talk is A signature talk is a system for public speaking that results in your audience moving forward to the next purchasing step. Is a signature talk only for professional speakers? It’s hard for Jon to think of anyone who would not benefit with having a signature talk. At first, Jon had aversion to the concept, especially because one of his core values is authenticity. He thought that just being authentic with the audience would connect with them and lead them to the buying decision. It proved to be immensely more effective to have a structured signature talk. Steps how to craft your signature talk There are three key parts: (1) your personal story, (2) your content, and (3) your offer. * Your personal story is designed to position you as an expert, to create your credibility for your audience, and to provide a human connection. Create a hero’s journey structure and show that you have been there. An example is Tony Robbins who tells his story how he was broke and overweight before. The missing part for many speakers is picking the right personal story. * Your content is the information part. It’s the reason why someone would come and hear you speak. It’s the wisdom, knowledge, the value piece. No matter what they decide to do at the end of your talk, they leave feeling that they really got some value. * Your offer is a compelling, irresistible call to action. The worst thing is not to make an offer at all. Jon’s case: after showing all the benefits of the offer he would say, “to see if this is a fit for you, what I offer is a free, one-to-one speaker breakthrough session that has a value of 500 USD, in which we’ll look to your signature talk inside and out and discover your business model that will allow you to generate 10,000 USD every single time you speak. But because you have come here today, as my complimentary gift it’s absolutely free when you book today.” Related: 3 Innovative Ways Speakers Can Make a Living in the New Economy