3 Keys to Building Your Platform

Every presentation is an opportunity for you to educate, motivate, and inspire your audience. As a presenter in a distracted culture, you must work even harder to leave a lasting impact on your audience that will stick with them well after your presentation is over. To build this momentum, ask yourself these questions: What will my audience remember when they leave my presentation? How will they feel afterwards? Did I move them to take a worthwhile action? If you are missing one of these three components, your mission likely won’t leave a lasting impact and your presentation will be forgotten shortly after it’s completed.

A lot goes into creating a lasting impact on presentation day, but we’ve found that a well-developed platform can bolster the impact a presenter has even more. Your platform helps you build credibility from the get-go as well as introduce yourself to your audience before they ever meet you in person. Building a platform can seem like a daunting challenge, but it’s crucial to sustain your mission for the long haul.

Here are 3 keys to build your platform so you can reach your audience both before and after your presentation.

Read
Reading introduces you to new material and new thoughts. By constantly reading, you will become not just an expert in your field but well-rounded and educated in other fields as well. Keep your reading selections varied as you work to build your platform.

Quick Tip: Reading 7 books on a subject can give you enough of a knowledge base to be considered an expert.

Write
In the digital age, you don’t need a publisher to be a writer. If you want to build your platform, sit down and write every chance you get. Start a blog, publish an ebook, or even create a manuscript of a physical book. Simply by engaging in the process of writing, you will begin to hone your message and craft your voice. You will also see your platform build as more people engage with your writings.

Quick Tip: Consider composing one piece of writing each day. Not only will this build your platform, but it will help create a habit of writing.

Show Up
When I was first starting out as a presenter, my mentor told me to “say yes to every opportunity.” This meant I found myself speaking in front of groups I never would have anticipated. But by saying yes and showing up, I not only developed my voice in a more professional manner, I also got more exposure which eventually lead to more relevant opportunities.

Quick Tip: Join a professional group to gain access to a wide variety of audiences.

As a presenter, it is what your audience remembers and does after the presentation ends that matters. The larger your platform, the greater your chance of being remembered, trusted, and sought after. This doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t give up if you don’t see quick progress, and remember that the more time that you put in, the greater your return on investment will be.

Looking to learn more about how to build your platform and impact your audience? Check out the Presentation Mentor online course today!

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