“I don’t know if I want to spend the money to prepare for this presentation,” the prospective client said during a complementary consultation via Zoom.
She would be speaking at an online conference in two weeks, to an audience of 300 people, and was nervous because she had little public speaking experience. She was hesitant to pay my fee, and to take the time for coaching, presentation development, and practice because she was speaking for free on behalf of a non-profit. I can understand her hesitation, and maybe you can, too.
Have you ever wondered if you should spend some of your hard-earned money on presentation/communication coaching? And, how you would even choose a presentation coach?
Here are 9 questions to ask before hiring a presentation coach:
- How important is being a better public speaker to you? What are the stakes? Can you see the benefit to your business or career if you delivered your message better? And, what might be the downside if you don’t improve your skills? (OK, that’s 4 related questions in one point).
- Do you want to add value rather than waste people’s time? Speaking isn’t all about you. It should be about the audience. If you are giving a 10-minute speech to 300 people, that’s 3000 minutes or 50 person-hours. You don’t want to waste their time or your opportunity to present your message. If you have ever sat through a presentation and thought, I’m never going to get that time back, you know how it feels to have a speaker waste your time through poorly constructed content or bad delivery.
- What are you willing to spend? Can you consider coaching as an investment? Could your investment now have a positive effect on the future, boosting your career? You may even get your company to reimburse you for professional development (I’ve suggested that for corporate clients, and many have had their organizations reimburse them)
- Do you have a specific presentation to prepare for, or do you want to improve public speaking skills in general? The coach and the program you choose may vary. Many people hire me when they have an important presentation looming in the near future. These people are highly motivated (usually by a bit of fear!). Other people want an incremental public speaking development program. Even though I have some free online speaking courses, most people need the guidance, accountability, and feedback that a coach provides to walk them through a program. Other options for developing public speaking skills in general include the low-cost Toastmasters program, which is great for continuous development.
- Does the coach have expertise in your specific public speaking issues? Most people contact me for coaching on creating and delivering presentations in general, and sometimes with specific needs such as reducing ums. I do all that. But sometimes people contact me with concerns about their speaking voice. I’m not a voice coach. So for those people, I refer them to Jim Emery, The Vocal Jim. Or some people want more help in developing a speaking business, and while I can offer some significant insights, that’s not the focus of my coaching, so I will refer them to Vitalia Bryn-Pundyk, Speaker Biz Institute (which has a 6-week virtual boot camp starting 1/6!)
- Does the coach have industry-specific knowledge, if such knowledge is critical to the presentation? In most instances, industry-specific knowledge is not critical, especially if you will be speaking to a diverse audience. I have had clients in technical fields, social sciences, academia, and business, and have found that my clients value my “big picture” approach to help them from falling into the trap of getting too far in the weeds of a topic.
- Will the coach give you a complimentary session for you to “test-drive” the coaching relationship? This is critical. You want to know how well they listen and observe, and if they can make a few actionable recommendations. I offer prospective clients a 30-minute complimentary consultation via Zoom, and they always leave with a plan for moving forward, with or without me.
- What is the coaching process? Is there flexibility? Ask the coach to walk you through his or her coaching process. My process depends on what the client needs, although my preference is to first work on content, then on delivery. How are sessions scheduled? Is there flexibility? I have found that sending people a scheduling link to pick their time from my available time is easy and efficient. Click here to see Diane’s coaching programs.
- Does the coach have references? You can easily check out testimonials on the coach’s website or look at LinkedIn recommendations). Example: A few testimonials on Diane’s website + Diane’s LinkedIn Profile–scroll down for recommendations.