Shutterstock - Recruiting Top Talent by Speaking
One of the most effective ways for companies to stand out, build their brand and attract top talent is to have their employees share their knowledge and speak at conferences.
This was exactly the path that Shutterstock took in order to bolster their recruiting strategy. I recently worked with several of their staff to polish their talks, so they could share their knowledge with confidence and keep their audiences truly engaged.
One of these clients was Kiran Patel, Director of Software Engineering. His biggest challenge was delivery—once he took the stage, his tendency was to speak in a steady, stream-like monotone (a common speaking challenge). His content was full of fascinating insights, but his delivery needed to be more dynamic.
The first thing we focused on was s-l-o-w-i-n-g d-o-w-n (which is a lot harder than you’d think, because the instinct for most people is to speed up when nervous). We worked on breaking up his sentences and inserting pauses, so he could let chunks of thoughts “land” on the audience. Then, we focused on increasing his vocal variety – hitting different “notes,” to add contour, energy and specificity to the words he was speaking.
The difference was night and day. And, his talk was a huge hit! As a result, he was invited back to speak at the conference the next year!
“
I had a really great talk at the conference. They really liked my content and are going to invite me back next year. Wouldn’t be possible without all your hard work!
”