While the skill of hospitality is not essential for public speakers and entrepreneurs, those who master basic hospitable characteristics shine above their peers, get referrals, and collect invitations for future gigs.

A few simple details in behavior and presence help them “make it look easy,” as they prepare for a crowd ready to receive their message.

Think of the last time you had a wonderful meal at the home of a friend or a really good restaurant. Ever notice how a gracious host makes you feel welcome, pampered, and special? A meal at the home of a talented host or hostess, or a 5-star restaurateur, is one of the most memorable and pleasant experiences one can enjoy.

Those who do it well make it seem like an innate gift, but in fact hospitality can be learned with practice.

Hospitality sets the table for a great speech.

According to NYC restaurateur and author Danny Meyer, providing and receiving hospitality is one of the most intense human drives. In his wonderful book, Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, her writes:

Within moments of being born, most babies find themselves receiving the first four gifts of life: eye contact, a smile, a hug, and some food. ~ Danny Meyer

Now if that doesn’t make your heart skip a beat, you’re probably not cut out for the restaurant business. However, if you are an entrepreneur — even if your business isn’t food related — the business angel tapped you on the shoulder for one reason or another, so this sentence should strike a chord with you, too.

Your customers pay your for your services and products. If you’re also a public speaker (and we all are on some level) your audience also appreciates a memorable experience. Their encounter with you is transformed by your hospitality toward them: before the event, while you’re on stage or presenting at a meeting, and after your speech.

Infuse hospitality into your speech and your business. Your audience’s experience will be transformed.

Much of hospitality centers on presentation and service. I’ll bet you can vividly remember a meal that was so unpleasant you couldn’t wait to get out of there. Whether it was at a restaurant, a picnic, or a person’s home, if your experience was inhospitable then you felt like someone was doing something to you instead of doing something for you. The worst!

Your presentation is “felt” in everything you do. In business and on stage, serving clients, customers, vendors, and especially your audience: requires hospitable manners.

That may not mean white glove service (especially in the BBQ business!) but it does have those four elements Meyer mentions:

Eye contact: Your connection depends on it. Have you ever sat in a presentation where the speaker never bothered to make that connection? Even in the smallest room, the eye contact helps the audience follow your message and creates a dynamic and powerful link. The hands may move, the speaker may walk around, but unless she’s making eye contact, the speech falls flat on its face.

A Smile: If you’re nervous or worried, or if you think you’re just a smidgen better or smarter than your audience, it shows. A smile is the great equalizer, the universal sign of goodwill. One of my favorite personalities, author and speaker Guy Kawasaki, in his book Enchantment, says to smile so your crows feet dig in. Smile so your eyes close, smile like you really mean it. A smile works wonders to dazzle your audience before you even get to the actual content!

A Hug: OK, even if you wanted to, and even if it were required; it’s not possible to actually hug everyone. What IS necessary, though, is to embrace people with your message.

Even if they don’t have the slightest interest in what you’re presenting, your audience will be more receptive to your speech if you roll out that personal touch. Good speakers are prepared. They know ten times more than they actually tell. They spare you from boredom by incorporating stories, specific details, and enthusiasm for their subject.

That’s the speaker’s equivalent of a hug. The audience is practically enveloped in the aura of the speaker’s knowledge and passion.

Some Great Food (aka “Content”): The content you deliver will be remembered better if you practice the above three habits. So make it good! This is what people came for, after all. Unless you’re already that famous that people just come to see you, and even if that’s the case, your content should still be original and full of good, entertaining stories and information.

By the way, have you ever noticed how words and speeches are often perceived in distinctly food-related terms?

You want your listeners to digest what you’re saying.
They showed interest by consuming all of your content.
Your delivery was fresh.
He had a crisp tone of voice.
They roasted the guest last week.
Her words were tough to swallow.
Chew on this advice.
Break your speech down down into bite-sized portions.
He poured on the intensity.
She has a spicy style.
His words were raw but effective.

If you spend weeks and months working on your craft, you know that your word choices matter. A hospitable speech is memorable and well prepared, just like the most fabulous dining experience or exquisitely planned event.

Incorporate juicy words and phrases that connect with your audience’s senses. Over time your unique flavor and style will become second nature. (See what I did there?)

Take heart if you are new at this. With every stage appearance, your natural voice emerges, and you will find a cadence and delivery that just feels right.

Every time you speak you get closer to your true element. When you are “on your dime,” (a term used a lot by Speak-to-Sell Mentor Lisa Sasevich) your speech will be fun to give and receive, just like that human desire for hospitality.

Prepare to get out there and wow them!

Your presentation begins long before you step up to the podium. Just like your actual speech, your marketing materials also reflect your style and your professionalism. Copywriting plays a part in your hospitality quotient, too! as Michael (the “Prepaholic) Hyatt cautions, it pays to do this background work. Getting gigs will depend on that same compelling “voice” which will be hinted at in your speech title and speech descriptions.

You’re probably going to deliver these materials long before your speech, by directing the organizer to your online bio page, complete with your background and speech topics. Remember that every web page your publish, every email you write, your hand-written correspondence, your bio/about page, and all your web content is fair game for the planner to make a decision about hiring you.

Your copy reflects the caliber of content you’ll be presenting, and it also shows how prepared you are as a speaker. Get them in ship shape so you’re ready when opportunity strikes.

Follow Through Graciously.

After you speech, your personal, hospitable touch is again necessary. Now the tables are turned. While you owe it to your audience to be hospitable throughout your delivery, now you owe it to your host to thank them and ask for feedback. Top speakers and even 5-star restaurants do this to keep honing their craft and delight future audiences.

Send a thank you note, inquire about how your speech was received, and ask for recommendations about other speaking opportunities.

As you know, it’s a rare speaker who makes his bread and butter through speaking alone. In a lot of cases, the speaking engagement smooths the way for a future sale, if not an actual close at the end of the talk.

Hopefully at some point during your presentation, you’ve given your audience an easy way to get more information or to connect with you in the future. This doesn’t mean just posting your website or email address on your last slide!

Go the extra mile and offer a download of your deck, next steps, or a free ebook, etc. You can even have people text their email addresses or a special code to a designated number so that you can reach out to them again. (This is one time you’ve be glad to see members of your audience playing with their phones!)

Remember that your demeanor and tone, warmth and authority, all set the table for a scrumptious presentation.

Words are the compelling, meaty, content-part in the event organizer’s eyes; but your hospitality skills ensure that your speech makes a favorable, long-lasting impression. Pull out the stops for your next speaking engagement and reap the rewards and appreciation enjoyed by a generous host.

My Team Connects serves small businesses, entrepreneurs, and public speakers with online and direct response copywriting that inspire customers, agents, organizers and audiences. I am delighted to help promote individuals and companies with copywriting as fresh and as passionate as you are!

You can learn a lot about persuasive writing from everyday life. I recently spotted some copywriting gems in a phone message. What do you see in this example of effective call-to-action word crafting?

“Hungry? I’m on my way home with something yummy — not pizza this time. Preheat the oven to 425 and I’ll be home in 10 minutes.”

Why is it perfect? Because it satisfies the four U’s of copywriting… Unique, Urgent, Useful, and Ultra specific.

As I was replaying this quick phone message to my son the other day, I thought. “Hmm, that would make a good tweet. With some fleshing out it would be a lovely blog post or email. Now why is that?

I was right, by the way, about the tweet. It comes in at 133 characters — just enough room for an @XXXXXX. And the promise of food always ranks high among MY favorite personal tweets. (Wait, I’ve never received the promise of food in a tweet. Maybe someday.)

So where’s the earth shaking copywriting lesson this message?

First, the speaker knew her audience. I could picture his face. I knew he was hungry and waiting for me to get home. I knew what he was wearing and where he was going later and the homework assignment that he wasn’t thinking about. And that he probably missed this message because he was bouncing on the trampoline or playing Minecraft upstairs. I knew who I was talking to. My 11 year old son.

That’s what made it perfect. That — and it was short. Gotta love short. Short blog posts, short emails, short videos, tweets and Facebook updates. When it comes to copy small quantities are good.

Finally, the call to action was a no-brainer. I knew he wouldn’t have to think twice to go to the oven and set the heat.

Funny thing is this message also satisfies the Four U’s of Copywriting rule: Unique, Urgent, Useful and Ultra specific.

There’s been much ado about these four U’s lately because they’re like delicious peas in a pod. Crack open an email with these plump babies inside and you’ll be so moved you might not even notice that the Four U’s haver been “used” on YOU (‘scuze the pun).

Same with your audience. So you should know what they are.

Urgent: You need to know this now.

(As it applies to the phone message) You want it hot? and ASAP? Get moving now and set the oven.

Unique: You haven’t seen this one before…this is “NEW” — another wonderful word that works in copy.

It’s not pizza; aren’t you curious now?

Useful: You need this. It solves a problem you have.

A growing guy’s gotta eat. Dinner is one of the most useful inventions on the planet, particularly when it’s been six hours since lunch.

Ultra specific: Here’s exactly what I’m asking you to do. In specific terms.

Ten minutes from now (a specific time) you will see what I brought you to eat. The oven needs to be at 425 degrees (a specific temperature) by then.

**The 4 U’sof copywriting plus a short length, plus the delivery to specific targeted audience equal key elements to an email or sales letter that pulls**.

As you practice writing your own copy for your own business, keep your eyes and ears sharp for words that follow this formula.

Once you start to notice that this 4U recipe is everywhere, you’ll see it’s unusually prevalent in almost all of the most casual conversations that stir people to take action.

Like the chicken and the egg conundrum, it’s hard to say if people respond because we say all these things, or if we say all these things because people react the way we wish when we do. Probably both.

People naturally possess a deeply ingrained human response to the four U’s in everyday conversation.

Now go use them in your copy and you’ll make genuine, intimate and heartfelt connections with your audience.

How To Dazzle Your Audience With Tips From Top Restaurants

Hospitality sets the table for a great speech.

Within moments of being born, most babies find themselves receiving the first four gifts of life: eye contact, a smile, a hug, and some food. ~ Danny Meyer

Infuse hospitality into your speech and your business. Your audience’s experience will be transformed.

Prepare to get out there and wow them!

Follow Through Graciously.

The Four U’s Of Copywriting PLUS 2 More Call To Action Elements

Funny thing is this message also satisfies the Four U’s of Copywriting rule: Unique, Urgent, Useful and Ultra specific.

**The 4 U’sof copywriting plus a short length, plus the delivery to specific targeted audience equal key elements to an email or sales letter that pulls**.

Hospitality sets the table for a great speech.

Within moments of being born, most babies find themselves receiving the first four gifts of life: eye contact, a smile, a hug, and some food. ~ Danny Meyer

Infuse hospitality into your speech and your business. Your audience’s experience will be transformed.

Prepare to get out there and wow them!

Follow Through Graciously.

Funny thing is this message also satisfies the Four U’s of Copywriting rule: Unique, Urgent, Useful and Ultra specific.

The 4 U’sof copywriting plus a short length, plus the delivery to specific targeted audience equal key elements to an email or sales letter that pulls.

**The 4 U’sof copywriting plus a short length, plus the delivery to specific targeted audience equal key elements to an email or sales letter that pulls**.