Lately, if you’re looking for me at lunchtime on Saturday, your best bet is Godfather’s Pizza. My sweet hubby and I have settled into a little habit over the winter months of hitting the pizza buffet on Saturdays.
We start off all healthy by eating a salad first, then maybe a piece of pizza or two. Finally, the REAL reason we’re there. The cherry dessert pizza. If you haven’t tried it, you’re missing out. If there’s a Godfather’s in your town, stop reading and go now. You’ll thank me.
Here’s the deal about the pizza buffet, it’s all yummy pizza. You get to have a little of this, a little of that…and a lot of the cherry! I like thin crust; Scott likes thick. Some days are pepperoni days; others are all about barbeque chicken. Everyone gets what they want. Win-win.
They call it a “buffet,” but it’s not like one of those full-on buffet restaurants. You know the kind I’m talking about. They have EVERYTHING. Want a salad? Got it! Some chicken strips and fries? Yep. Craving Chinese? Got that, too. How about a little soft serve to finish your meal? Step right over here and help yourself.
Those types of buffets are a little like a Swiss army knife. Sure you can saw a tree, catch a fish, sew your sweater and file your nails. But is it really the tool you want for any of those things??
A buffet is like that. If you’re in the mood for a delicious cheeseburger, are you headed to Big Bob’s Everything Buffet? Or to the best burger joint in town? When you want the yummiest stirfry, Big Bob’s isn’t going to cut it. And don’t even talk to me about the pizza at a place like that.
If you try to speak to everyone, you’ll speak to no one.
The same is true for speakers. It can be tempting to think speaking about loads of topics for all the people is the way to go. Look at the options! You could speak anywhere! Everyone will want to hire you!
But that’s never the case.
When you try to speak to everyone, you end up speaking to no one.
Imagine an event planner who needs someone to speak about creating the best benefits package for your company. Do you think she’s looking for someone who has a talk on company benefits along with a menu of a dozen talks on all different topics?
Or is she looking for someone who specializes in helping companies attract the best employees with strong benefits packages? Of course, she is.
One of the first things every speaker must do is determine your core message and who it’s for.
Niche down. Get as specific as possible.
Then, craft the very best message you have on that topic for those people. Share that talk as much as you can. And get really, really awesome at it. Only then can you look at possibly broadening as your expertise grows and the opportunities in front of you grow along with it.
When you look at some of the speaker masters, the most well-known speakers in their categories, you may see them speaking on a variety of topics and killing it on any stage. But they didn’t start there. Most all of them started with one message, one story that they shared over and over and over. And they got so good at sharing that message, connecting with audiences and creating results that they were asked to share other things in other places.
Start where you are. Start with the core message of your heart. Start by sharing that message with the people it can help most.
Don’t be a buffet. Be the best steak–or cherry pizza!–in town.
[…] BUFFETS ARE GOOD FOR PIZZA, NOT FOR SPEAKERS […]