Creating amazing experiences for your speaking clients starts long before you step on stage and continues long after you leave the stage. In this episode I discuss how to do this with my guest, Jeannie Walters.
For more than 20 years, Jeannie has been dedicated to creating meaningful moments and real results.
She is a TEDx speaker, a founding member of CXPA, an author, a Certified Speaking Professional, host of the top-rated Experience Action podcast, and a six-time LinkedIn Learning instructor whose courses have been watched by more than 500,000 online learners.
Jeannie believes that creating amazing experiences for the people you serve is one of the most meaningful things you can do in life. The mission of her company, Experience Investigators, is to create fewer ruined days for customers. She applies that to her audiences, too. Because if you are creating an experience that is meaningful, that will help the audience take action after your talk and do something to achieve a goal or feel a certain way.
We dive into topics including:
- Why creating an amazing event experience starts long before you take the stage
- Why your job as a speaker doesn’t end when you leave the stage.
- Examples of excellent follow up you can do on site immediately after you leave the stage.
- More examples of excellent follow-up you can do after the event.
- Why you should give your audience a clear call to action at the end of your talk.
- How to make sure your relationship with the meeting planner doesn’t wither on the vine after you leave.
- The one thing, above all else, that you need to do to create an amazing event experience for the audience, meeting planner, and the stakeholders.
…and other golden nuggets of advice!
Creating an Amazing Speaking Experience Starts Long Before You Step onto the Stage
As speakers we have to remember that our audiences might not know who we are. Or they might have been following us for a long time. For either of those scenarios, we must think first about how they become aware of us. That’s important because when we think about any customer journey, every single step is either building or eroding trust and building or hurting your personal brand.
Because of that everything we do with the content we create, the way we introduce ourselves, how we work with the meeting planners and the clients who hire us, and how we show up to those prep meetings and make sure that we’re customizing content, all of that is building trust with the audience. The journey starts way before we get on stage.
When we get on stage, we must also know who we are and why we’re there. That’s why it’s crucially important to not just give the same speech every time. We must make sure that we’re are telling them “I understand your challenges and your problems, and we’re here together to help solve them.”
How to Customize Your Talks to Your Audiences’ Needs
Jeannie believes one of the big things we can do is to use the audience’s language thoughtfully. That means understanding their industry terms and jargon. One of Jeannie’s examples is when she had an audience that were all scientists. If she stepped on stage and tried to be a scientist, that wouldn’t work, right? What she did was speak with many of them before her speech.
Jeannie asked them, “What’s the most common industry terms that you use?” They told her a few of them. Then she asked, “Should I know what those are?” One scientist told responded that he didn’t even know what they stand for. So, Jeannie was able to weave those in and kind of make a joke out of using some acronyms that everybody knew she didn’t really know what they were. But she was able to make the point that she was there for them, and she wasn’t presenting just another generic keynote.
Jeannie also asked questions such as “What are some of the biggest challenges that you’re facing day-to-day”? She discovered many of them felt pressure when it came so doing sales. She realized that everybody knows about feeling pressure at times; we’ve all had that feeling. So, she made it a point to integrate the topic of sales into her talk.
The takeaway for you from that experience? Weaving in your audiences’ jargon and day-to-day challenges is important.
Extra Value-Added Things You Can Do Before and After Your Talk
In any customer experience one of the best things we can do is provide reassurance as to your professionalism as a speaker. That means thinking about and answering questions about things such as if I’m the meeting planner, what am I going to be anxious about? Did you land on time? Did you show up on time? Are you really getting this content? Are you really going to deliver for me?
Jeannie spends a lot of time discovering where those points of proactive reassurance are that we can give our clients and meeting planners. That means letting them know exactly when you’ll be there and then texting them when you’re on the ground, heading to the hotel, and so on.
If you can make it to a networking event in advance, always make it a point to go up and introduce yourself in person. You can bring them a gift so they know that you are grateful for the opportunity. That tells them that you know that they had different choices and they opted for you; and that’s no small thing. You want to show them that you’re grateful and that you’re there for them. Then it’s time to deliver on your promises to them and when the audience has that great experience, that reflects really well on the meeting planner who hired you.
You also want to be aware of great about follow-up too and ask if they’ve heard any additional feedback. You want to be very open to feedback. Jeannie says there were time when the meeting planner responded with something like “Wow, a lot of people never ask for feedback”.
That’s an initial overview of how to create an amazing customer experience for everyone involved.
Watch the interview for all the other golden nuggets of advice!
About My Guest
Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP, is an award-winning certified customer experience expert, author, CEO, and international keynote speaker who does more than cite examples, she shows you how to implement strategies for real results.
As the Founder of Experience Investigators, Jeannie and her team bring more than 20 years of experience making a lasting impact across a broad set of industries—from healthcare and highly regulated financial and insurance environments, to higher education, software, and hospitality. She has led transformative efforts for a diverse roster of brands, including JPMorgan Chase, SAP, BASF, PG&E, Orangetheory Fitness, Comcast, and more.
Jeannie reveals how any leader can win with her proven method to drive performance, retention, and revenue by making customer experience their greatest competitive advantage in her upcoming book, Experience Is Everything: Making Every Moment Count in the Age of Customer Expectations.
Jeannie is recognized as one of the most influential voices in the industry by sources such as LinkedIn. More than half a million learners have taken her LinkedIn Learning courses, and in 2023 she launched CXI Membership™ to provide overwhelmed leaders with guided support and practical tools that drive real progress.
Jeannie’s insights—featured in Forbes, NPR, The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and more—highlight her passion for demystifying customer experience and helping organizations make every moment count.
Check out The Experience Investigators Website!
