Being Prepared: The Backdoor Method to Impromptu Presentations

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:00:00]:

Have you ever attended an in person or virtual meeting and the host or the president of the association gets up to say, sorry, our speaker couldn't make it. It happens all the time and a lot more than you actually think. You could be the person who saves the day for the meeting planner and the attendees. So stick around because we're going to talk more about that. Welcome back everybody. Can you believe this is episode 199? I can't believe it. 3 and a half years later, went by like in a snap since I started this podcast. And episode 200 is next week and I am going to be having some giveaways, some prizes, some very

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:00:42]:

special things are going to be happening. And all you have to do is listen to the podcast episode and share it on social media and like a little hashtag or tag me in that, especially over on Instagram or over on Facebook. And you will be entered to win some fun prizes. Anyways, let's get on to what we're gonna talk about. I'll talk more about episode 200 a little bit, but I just joined this membership and I was on my very first group meeting. And the host came on to say, well, the person that was supposed to speak couldn't make it because everybody

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:01:21]:

in their household is sick. And, you know, he turned it around and he was just like, Hey, we're just gonna do like a Q and A session. So like, what are some of your big questions today? So we really had the post. We had his undivided attention, but this really happened all the time, more than you realize. And this really does put the host in an uncomfortable position. I mean, in this particular case, like, you know, it's a sick household. She probably had some small children who are very ill, or maybe she has some parents that

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:01:50]:

she had to take care of, but it happens. But as the host, you might not have had like a backup plan. If you were running a meeting and you are like the president or you're the meeting planner, like you're not a speaker. You're the one who finds the speakers. But if you were ready to speak, ready to go, this is where the get ready to be ready

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:02:16]:

for that time when a friend or the vice president of the association that you're a member on that you belong to calls you and asks you to fill in because they already knew like the day before that, you know, their speaker wasn't going to be able to make it. This happened to me. This happened to me. Like one day, somebody called me who was from the leadership of an organization that I was a member of. And it was just like, hey, Laurieanne. And we just had a lovely conversation. She said, you know, we've got a speaker tomorrow. Could you fill in while I'm a speaker? The answer was yes. And she was like, oh, thank you. Like, she was genuinely relieved.

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:02:56]:

And so apparently she called the president afterwards and said, I got us a speaker, Lori Anne's gonna come and speak. And I guess like the president, like, hearsay, it was, oh my God, how did you get her to say yes? She's like, well, all I did was ask her. And it was true. I can impromptu speak, you know, they could have asked me when I walked in and I would have been able to put something together pretty quickly for this group of people. And these are my friends. These are people that like, I know them. They're like colleagues. So the big point is you want to get ready to be ready.

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:03:32]:

Do you have a presentation that you can pull out of your back pocket? And whether it's a 60 minute presentation, 45 minute presentation, a 30 minute presentation, like you just need a presentation that you can basically do anything from 15 minutes to 60 minutes. You know, 60 minutes being, you know, that might be a little bit more time, but one of the things that I teach my clients and my students inside in demand signature speech is I help them craft their speech

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:04:02]:

in a way that's like building blocks. So literally, if a meeting planner came up to you because it happens all the time, the person that was speaking before you just went 15 minutes over. Can you cut your speech down to 45 minutes? And my students are always like, oh, yeah, sure. No problem. Because what they're doing is they're just taking out a block that they were going to speak on. And if they had slides, they just go in and they just delete those slides. No big deal. They make the meeting planner look like a rock star.

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:04:35]:

But this is also a great strategy to use when getting booked. As a matter of fact, I was just talking to a woman. She lives outside of New York City. We just did an informational session where she was allowed to pick my brain. And I shared with her like, you're in a big city. One of the ways that you can get on more stages is by contacting conference organizers, meeting planners, and like, hey, I see that you have a conference that's coming up, a meeting that's coming up. You know, I'm just curious if you have all of your speakers slots filled yet.

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:05:12]:

You're just asking a question. You're opening the door to the conversation. They might say, yes, we're already we have all of our speakers. Fantastic. I just want you to know that I'm a local speaker. And if you find yourself in a bind, feel free to reach out to me.

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:05:30]:

A lot of times, meeting planners are gonna be very open and receptive to that and be like, Oh, okay. Like I live north of Boston. There's a lot of the conference organizers and even convention centers that are right here in Boston. And I've done this before. I will let people know I am available that day. If you

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:05:50]:

find yourself in need and they are very receptive and what I'll do after that. And this is what I suggested to this woman, is I sent them. I will send you some links so that you can see like the person, just in case you need to call me. You don't wanna call some newbie, but I want you to feel comfortable knowing that I can fill in. And I have done this and I've gotten booked. I have been that substitute speaker, so to speak. And I've also gotten future bookings from that as well because they knew that, Oh, she's able to fill in.

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:06:29]:

And then they're looking at some of my links. So they're seeing me speak so that the next time they're actually putting a meeting together or a conference together, it's like, oh, how about that woman who speaks on this particular topic? So this is also like just a great strategy. It's almost like a backdoor strategy. And it's not a right here, right now strategy, but it is kind of a long game because you also don't know what the theme of their meeting is that they are currently planning.

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:06:59]:

So make sure you send them some links for them to review, whether it's audio like a podcast or whether it's some video or even some live stream, just let them get a feel for your personality, your content, and your style. And you just never know. Substitute speaking might be the best thing for you. Yeah. It's a little bit of impromptu. It's a backdoor method and it helps you build that reputation with meeting planners because they're going to be like, my God, this person wore like a red cape, saved my job. And they're going to remember that. And then you get to start building that relationship with them and having beautiful conversations, whether it's before or after you speak, or even before or after their conference.

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:07:48]:

So definitely use this method. So get ready to be ready is the moral of this story. And number 200. My 200th episode is next week. I'm going to be having some giveaways. So all you have to do is listen to the episode, share it on social media, because what I'm trying to do is I want to celebrate with as many people as possible. I want as many people listening to my 200th episode as possible because I've got giveaways. So being able to share this on social media, whether it's Facebook or threads or LinkedIn or Instagram, but just if you would tag me and I'll be able to find that I'll, And I'm going to, what I'm going to do is I'm going to enter your name as many times as you share on social media, whether you're sharing on your Instagram feed, your stories over on Facebook, etcetera, etcetera. You're going to get your name entered into a hat and I'm going to be pulling them with some prizes. I've got some ideas on some prizes. So it's not just going to be like, Hey, here's this Starbucks gift card, but I actually might have some swag that I'm actually going to be sharing with people also. There's going to be a new graphic coming next week. I'm very excited about this.

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:09:09]:

It's very beautiful, but still very familiar. You're going to still recognize it. And there'll be some other fun things that are coming next week as well. So I don't want to give too much away because the 200th episode, I'm really going to just be reflecting and also sharing with you some of the new exciting changes that are coming to the Be In Demand podcast and how you, you, yes, you can actually be a guest on the show. That's right. I'm gonna have some great,

Laurie-Ann Murabito [00:09:40]:

I don't wanna give it all away, but I just want you to know that there's going to be some opportunities for you who's in the audience to come onto the show. So let's end it there. Okay. But there's going to be some fun things that are happening next week. So I hope that you'll join me, but until then, I want you to be in demand.