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How Good Speakers Customize or Tailor their Speech to the Audience | Episode 24
Description
Tailor, Don’t Customize: How to Adapt Your Signature Talk for Any Client
Host Jenn explains how speakers can tailor a signature talk to each client without creating entirely custom content. She distinguishes customizing (exclusive new material that can be time-consuming and risky) from tailoring (tweaking specific elements while keeping the core speech consistent), recommending an 80/20 approach: memorize and keep consistent the opening, closing, and “call to adventure”/signature bit, while tailoring stories, examples, case studies, and audience-specific language.
She outlines how to tailor through pre-event calls or research by learning audience needs, venue and seating considerations, event themes, key attendees’ perspectives, timing/seasonality, local references, and sensitive circumstances.
Day-of tailoring includes understanding agenda placement, calling back to other speakers, managing tech checks and timing, and doing meet-and-greets to boost interaction and relevance.
Resources Mentioned:
Speaking Opportunities beyond the Keynote Speech https://www.buzzsprout.com/2593278/episodes/19632806
Jim Cathcart on the Payoffs of Speech Customization https://nsaspeaker.org/the-payoffs-of-speech-customization/
Jon Acuff posts regular helpful content on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonacuff/
02:23 Why Custom Hurts
03:13 Core Speech Framework
04:23 Signature Bit Example
05:43 80 20 Reliability
07:32 Pre Event Tailoring
10:18 Tailor Time Place
14:20 Sensitive Topics Boundaries
15:34 Tailoring Day Of
18:12 Wrap Up And Subscribe
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