“In” Speech Marketing – Handouts That Make Money

You know the drill. Reproduce a bunch of sheets on a black and white copy machine, staple the upper-left corner of the pile, call the whole thing a handout – and wonder why half of them are still on the tables and chairs when your speech is over.

You might as well call your handout a “leave behind” or a “throw-away” because that’s what happens to them.

Don’t feel bad. Most handouts are done this way. I did mine this way for years until I got sick of seeing all that paper left in the room instead of going home with my audience.

For handouts to be “keepers” they need:

·       Substance – material worth keeping

-         forms that involve some action by the audience members

-         information they don’t get in your speech

·       Value – information the audience can’t easily get anywhere else and whose possession of it is worth something (a coupon or gift certificate helps)

·       Appearance – If it looks cheap it will be valued accordingly. If it looks expensive, it will be treasured.