In every business (especially start-ups), its survival is usually dependent on two factors: competitve advantage and point of differentiation. This principle is also extremely applicable to speakers. With so many speaking resources available (books, workshops, coaches etc), how can an individual stand out from the rest? I believe the answer lies in finding his or her unfair advantage.

Knowing that you have to find your unfair advantage is the easy part. The hard part is finding it! However I would like to suggest a few things you can do to get started in finding your own unfair advantage over the rest of the speakers.

1. Pay attention to the feedback the audience give to you

Very often, we are too critical over ourselves. As such it would be more accurate (and more encouraging too) if you get feedback from your audience, albeit its subjectivty. Ask them what they think are your strengths. Note: there is no right and wrong. Your strengths are subjective. Some may see your energy as a good trait, some may find it too overpowering. Hence for clarity sake, you will also want to ask them how your strength help create an impact. You may also want to ask your audience how you are different from the rest of the speakers. Jot all their feedback down. It is like a survey. The more detailed the better. Once you have a list of feedback, start finding similarities.

In my case, I notice some common strengths. For example, my charisma on stage or my connection with the audience. Due to humility reasons, I shall not elaborate. (grins) But you get my point.

2. Videotaped yourself

This is a little more hardcore though videotaping would give you an even clearer picture of how you impact the audience. If possible, have two cameras. One facing the audience and the other facing you. In that way, you will know what you did that cause a certain kind of reaction from the audience. For me, I audio-taped my speech and evaluate my effectiveness with the applause and even laughter from the audience.

3.Two critical questions to ask

If you have figured it by now, you will realize that point 1 and 2 serve as data collection. To successfully identify potential “unfair advantages”, you must first get as much info as you can about your strengths and techniques that work. Once that is done, you proceed by asking yourself the following two questions:

(i) How can I recreate my strength?

Knowing your strengths is not good enough. You got to be able to recreate it every single time. Here’s an analogy to further illustrate the point. You know that you have this really super duper powerful gun that can shoot at 100 miles range, with 120% accuracy. And you have done it once. The question then is are you able to make it do that again when you meet your worst enemy? Similarly, are you able to recreate your strength (say charisma) at your next speech?

In my case, I started to explore how my charisma manifested itself. Upon enquiring and observing myself, I realized that my charisma was built on my excitement and sincerity of my message. I believe in my message and I want to share it with everyone (like how I do with my friends). As such, when I am up on stage, the audience feel like they are my friends, which they explain as charisma.

(ii) How can I get even better?

Every strength has a scale. Two speakers can be charismatic (in their own ways). But if you measure them on a scale, one of them would be much more charismatic! So not only do you need to recreate your strength, you got to increase your proficiency. Your charisma presently make the audience like you. But how about playing a bigger game. Raise your charisma such that the audience will adore you and even ask for your autograph at the end of your speech!

4. Take risks and try something new

Some companies I met have inherent competitive advantages. It can lie in its innovation or nature of the product. The above three points help bring them out. Fortunately a company can also create their own competitve advantage. Take Harrah (casino) for example. In the early 90s, the company found itself losing its ground with the emergence of much larger casinos like MGM and Mirage. These casinos innovate by building themed environments to attract tourists to visit. However Harrah decided not to follow suit and chose to stand out by focusing on customer loyalty as their core competency. In the end, they become recognized for that.

As a speaker, you can also create your own unfair advantages. However to even begin doing so, you need to experiment! You have to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. Once, I met this trainer who uses magic tricks to teach. You should see the awe in the audience. No guess how the workshop turned out at the end. There was another speaker whom I know to be very good with accents. He can imitate over 20 accents and this skill became a very effective humor tool in his speeches. So my advice to you is to try new ways of giving a speech. Sure, it can be very scary. But what better way to discover new advantages you have over other speakers.

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what your unfair advantage is. You have to explore and hone it… which by the way, is where all the fun is!

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Tags: ups, sake, audience, principle, survival, clarity, speakers, start ups, laughter, charisma, differentiation, humility, applause, jot, unfair advantage, cameras