Sell from the stage without being 'salesy'.

How spiritual speakers can deliver an electrifying talk their audiences will love. Technique 4 of 5.

Money is the lifeblood of your spiritual business. And the art of exchange, in one way or another, is the lifeblood of our society.

If you have read this far in this series of articles about speaking as a spiritual teacher, then you probably have - or would like to have - a spiritual business.

You may think, ‘I’m an author, I don’t have a business.’ Or, ‘I’m just starting out, I don’t have a business.’

If you have spent resources on increasing your skills as a spiritual practitioner, a writer, or a speaker, then you are at the precipice of having a spiritual business.

If people are so thrilled with your work that they’re trying to pay you, then you are at the precipice of having a spiritual business.

You can either take the leap, or stick with an expensive hobby where you invest, but don’t receive.

Speaking works best when it is couched in a spiritual business. Seminars, stages, and podcasts are most effective when they are part of a clear marketing plan. And you seem like more of a professional speaker when you have something to sell, and your audience have some further way to work with you.

If you are passionate about speaking, and skilled at what you do, I definitely recommend you commit to the business of speaking. And accept the lifeblood of money and resources into your endeavours, in exchange for the value you offer.

The question of your relationship to money is a matter for another article series, but it’s worth noting if you feel yourself split in two about receiving money for your spiritual services, including speaking. Are you half excited about it, and want to make a career of this? And half worried and afraid of receiving money for speaking about spirituality?

I am going to appeal to your confident and optimistic half. In the rest of this article, I will show you how and why you should sell something at the end of your talk, and how to do so without coming across as ‘salesy’.

Sales But Not Salesy Step One: Shift your Mindset

You may feel awkward, embarrassed, or downright uncomfortable at the thought of promoting your products and services at the end of your talk.

Usually speakers feel this way because they worry that making an offer will annoy their audience, and ruin a perfectly good talk.

While it's true that no one likes to be sold to, it's also true that (almost) everyone loves to buy something they really, really want!

Shift your mindset. If you have followed the techniques in this series, then you have given a great talk that has truly helped your audience and made it worth their time listening to you.

Believe it or not - they actually want to buy from you!

If you have understood and addressed your audience's needs well, they will not want your time together to end. They will be wondering:

How can I work with you?

What can I buy to learn more?

What's the next step if I want more support from you?

If you DON'T take the opportunity to offer them a way to continue with you then you are leaving them hangin'!

Selling only feels salesy if it is poorly targeted, and unearned. You have targeted your talk to meet your audience's needs, and you have given generously of yourself and your knowledge in your talk. So you will not come across as salesy when you introduce an offer.

Sales But Not Salesy Step Two: Ask Permission

My Speaker Superstar coachees often ask me, 'how do I segue from my talk into my offer? I feel comfortable teaching and telling stories but as soon as I know the sales bit is coming up, I freeze, and I don't know how to transition into it.'

If you can relate to this, I have a simple and super-effective technique for you.

End the teaching / story portion of your talk with a powerful testimonial from someone who has benefitted from your work.

Then say, 'If it's alright with you, I'd like to show you how Sally and I accomplished these results together. Is that ok?'

Ask the audience's permission to introduce your offer.

Most of them will nod enthusiastically and say 'yes'. Not only is this respectful to your audience, but this technique offers a smooth and natural transition into your offer.

Sales But Not Salesy Step Three: Focus on Benefits NOT Features

It goes without saying that your offer should be a natural follow-on from your talk, and a good fit for your audience.

For your audience to make a purchase, they need an answer to the question, 'how will this product/service benefit me?'

Too often, when describing our products and services, we focus on the features rather than the benefits. We say:

'You get an hour-long group coaching call every week for six weeks. You also get a workbook, and audio recordings of the calls.'

Unfortunately, no one really cares about the nuts and bolts of your product. They care about the transformation on offer.

Take my book The Medium in Manolos. When I offer it for sale at a speaking event, I say:

'Within the book, there is a free audio meditation so that you can reconnect with your loved-ones who have passed and see for yourself that they are safe and well in the spirit world.

You will also receive a second meditation designed to help you strengthen your gift of mediumship so you can deliver names, dates, addresses and other details, along with loving messages from spirit, with consistent accuracy and clarity.'

Notice how I focus on the ways my book benefits the reader, rather than the features of the book itself.

This takes thought and practice. How does your product or service benefit the lives of your audience? Make a list of all the ways you can think of.

Now choose 3 or 4 of the most compelling and concrete benefits, and use those to describe your product or service.

Sales But Not Salesy Step Four: Make a Special Event-only Offer

When people come to hear you speak, and you deliver a talk that was rewarding for them, they are in a peak state of wanting to work with you further.

It doesn't matter how great a talk is, the magic wears off the further we drift from the moment.

When your audience goes home, back to their daily lives, making dinners, scrubbing toilets, attending PTA meetings, the potency of the offer fades into the background. Even if it would've truly helped them.

That's why it's so important to make the most of having them in the room with you, and make them an offer they can't refuse!

Offering a discount is one way, but also think about how you could add special limited-time value to your offer that would elevate it even further for your audience.

Make it such that the bonus goes away at the end of the live event, so that if someone is going to buy, it's worth them making the decision now.

What did you think of the tips in this article? I’d love to know your thoughts!

Ps. Want a free Speaker Superstar coaching session to help you launch or elevate your speaking career? Apply here ($300 value - spots are almost full!)

Pps. At 7.30pm BST TONIGHT I’m giving a Tuesday Talk for the Arthur Conan Doyle Centre. I will be discussing the question of how resilient mental mediumship readings are to criticisms and alternative explanations. It’s happening online, so you can attend wherever in the world you are. Tickets are available here: