Episode 08
Paul ter Wal
Increasing effectiveness by improving engagement and accountability
Being a speaker without the hard sell – Public Speaker World
Learn about Paul / Contact /About the episode
Why you should listen to this episode
If you want to be a speaker and the idea of sending cold emails to people and pressure selling fills you with the shivers then this episode is for you.
Paul ter Wal has built a career as a global public speaker without any of that.
As he says, you won’t find his email address and social media links plastered all over his last “slide” and you won’t hear him talking about how his latest special offer that will end in 15 minutes.
In this episode, Paul tells us how he does it. He explains how he turned his career as a lawyer into being a speaker on business productivity and happiness.
For event bookers, this episode will show you that perhaps the people who don’t hard sell are actually the better speakers.
For speakers, Paul shares some of his more “relationship lead” techniques for building speaking opportunities.
About Paul ter Wal as a speaker
Twenty five years ago Paul was a lawyer who was giving talks to companies. But he began to find that instead of just giving legal advice he started talking about the psychology of the problems. The audience were enthralled.
It might seem obvious to us today to talk about happiness and the workplace but Paul’s legal background has allowed him to position himself differently from many other “happiness” experts.
As a lawyer he instinctively wants to know that he can do to back up the points he makes with evidence. To do that, he researches the science behind what he says.
He may be speaking to audiences instead of a judge, but his approach has seen him speak around the world.
Paul is also a great believer that connecting is the best form of sales.
Paul ter Wal’s Speeches
- Make your choice: More profitability with more engagement
- MAKE YOUR CHOICE: Knowing your non-negotiables will keep you employable!
- Make your choice: Increasing PROFITABILITY by decreasing ABSENTEEISM.
Contact Paul
Paul’s lessons for speakers
- Just like in Pauls’ talks, Paul urges you to make a decision and act on it.
- You don’t have to follow the crowd. Just as Paul found a way to sell without pressure sales, choose your own path that works for you.
- Paul was a lawyer who spoke about happiness. The legal side gave him credibility. What is it about your past that could help you position your expertise differently?
- Don’t let being an introvert put you off speaking. Being on stage can help some people feel they are playing a role of confident person.
- Use every opportunity to speak. If you are at an event where you are not a speaker, could you make an opportunity? Paul did this by connecting with business groups. How about at the side of the communal area turning a conversation with a few people into an adhoc presentation.
- Remember to diversify your business. For Paul 40% is speaking, 60% is training.
- You do not need to pressure sell yourself as a speaker. If people want to find you, they’ll find you he says.
- Be ready to adapt when the technology fails. Turn a talk into a Q&A. It’s not a question of if the technology will fail but when.
