Public Speaking – What Works? And What Doesn’t? (Don’t Waste Your Time!)

‘Tis the season…. for planning your speaking engagements!

I know, I know…. you may be quaking in your boots. Some of you just hate the thought of standing in front of a crowd. And this is not the blog post for trying to change your mind. 

Even if public speaking isn’t your thing – read on! Because we’re going to look at what works – and what works is actually the core concept for all your marketing.

And – I see too many TOO MANY advocates who choose something that doesn’t work!

Core Concept? 

Yes – a core, universal concept, meaning, no matter what kind of marketing you’ve chosen to do, these are among the most important determinations you need to make.

Begin with two questions:

Who am I talking to? and
What can I say that will interest them?

Most advocates do a good job assessing who they are talking to. Such as:

• People at a Senior Center
• A group of church goers
• Civic Organizations like the PTA or the Rotary or others
• A cancer support group

…. or any other group whose speaker manager has found and engaged them. (Or any group YOU find who wishes to engage you.)

It’s the second question where most advocates fail. 

And, unfortunately, without answering it right and well, you WILL FAIL at being hired to do public speaking. Period.

So – what CAN you talk about that will interest them?

The problem is most easily illustrated with an example. Let’s say you’re a member of the PTA, and you are trying to decide whether or not to go to this month’s meeting. So you pull up the meeting information online and find out that the topic is:

What is a teacher? And how can a teacher help you?

What’s your reaction to that? Are you willing to spend 30 or more minutes of your precious evening time listening to someone answer that question? No. Of course not. You’ve already been around the block with your kids’ teachers. you know what they do and how (if at all) they can help! So you decide to skip the speaker part of the meeting as a waste of your time.

Having read that example, I hope you won’t be surprised to hear that NO ONE (and I mean) NO ONE cares to hear about “What is a patient advocate?” or “How can a patient advocate help me?”

[I’ll wait while some of you, surprised as all heck, fall of your chairs, and then pick yourself back up to read the rest of this post.]

It’s true. To the part of the world that isn’t YOU – none of them want, or, more like, THINK they will ever need to know the answers to those questions! Now – if an older loved one just fell and broke her hip last night – maybe. But that’s a big exception to the rule.

It’s true. 99% of the world does not think they will ever need a patient advocate – until they do. So they have no interest in learning about advocates at the moment you plan to talk about advocacy.

So what sort of topic IS a good choice?

The Right Choices Require Two Things

1. A topic of interest to anyone who has ever needed help themselves, or who has been a caregiver for someone who needed health or medical care.
2. A topic of interest that is useful, contains some surprises, and is actionable, that allows you to weave advocacy, benefits, and YOU into it – but where advocacy is a side mention and not the core topic.

Those two descriptions are absolutely intertwined, and the chances are excellent you have illustrations you can use to tell your story. Here are some examples:

For a Senior Center audience*:  How to prepare for your doctor visit. (While weaving the many ways an advocate can make that easier.)

For a Cancer Support Group audience:  How to do useful online, CREDIBLE online research, while dodging the pharmaceutical companies’ “recommendations.” (While weaving the many ways an advocate can make that easier.)

For the Rotary (or other civic organizations): Supporting aging parents without infantilizing them. (While weaving the many ways an advocate can make that easier.)

In each of these examples you’ve met both your goals of keeping your audience interested (after piquing their interest to begin with), plus the many ways YOU, as a patient advocate, can help.

Time to Review Your Speaking Plans

I encourage you to take a look at your speaking topics and tweak them to pair topics that will be interesting to your audiences, with the right audiences. You’ll find your efforts will become far more fruitful!

Do you have examples to share that have worked for you? 

Please share them in the comments below.

By the way: if you would like more great advice and action steps to set yourself up to be an in-demand speaker, there’s much more good information found in the Health Advocate’s Advanced Marketing Handbook.

And… by the way… if you get the Smart Practice! newsletter,
there is a coupon for a discount on the Marketing Handbook
 – good through February 28, 2026!

*A word about speaking at Senior Centers:  Long time advocates have found that – surprisingly – Senior Centers are not a great place to showcase your public speaking abilities because the people who spend time at senior centers often do not have the means to hire an advocate to help them. There is one exception: If you are just getting started with your public speaking and want a great place to practice, Senior Centers are a good place to start and certainly those who attend your talk will appreciate your ideas and insight.