Are your travel presentations boring your audience to death?

Eva Daniel knows how to help. A former speechwriter and founder of The Speak Shop, Eva is on a mission to help people around the country add sparkle to their speeches. She joins this episode of the podcast to share insights on the public speaking mistakes you’re probably making and give some great tips about crafting travel presentations that get results.

Eva explains how to integrate stories and humor into your presentations, whether you’re talking to a group on a motorcoach, giving a travel presentation or speaking at a tourism conference. Plus, we have news about a proposed rule about hotels and homelessness in Los Angeles; a Road Tip about traveling with business cards; and a Hot Minute about how the travel industry should address societal problems.

On the importance of rehearsing your presentations:

“Have you practiced that content in front of a real person before delivering it? It’s very helpful to pull somebody in a room and run it through. It gets you through those nerves and gets you through that first rep.”

On giving travel presentations that get the sale:

“No one likes to be pitched-slapped…. Nobody likes that instant pitch. A great way around that is to make sure that the rest of your content has given them value and provided something meaningful for their lives, regardless of whether they buy whatever it is you’re selling.

“You are selling the value of the experience. You don’t want to get them bogged down in the costs or the logistics. You want them to know what it’s going to feel like.”

On integrating Q&A into your talks:

“Don’t end your talk on a Q&A. Save 3-5 minutes to come back with at the very end. Because your open and your closing are the most important moments of your entire presentation. You want to own that ending so that everyone’s impression of you is great.”

On using media in your presentations:

“You, not your slide deck, are the presentation. You want to give the audience you.

“Ask yourself: ‘If all of my media crashed, could I still give the presentation?’ You should still be able to give a compelling presentation whether you have media or not…. A good rule of thumb is to keep it simple. The goal of media is to enhance what you’re saying and to bring life to your words.”

Learn more about Eva Daniel and The Speak Shop at thespeakshop.com.

Follow Eva Daniel on LinkedIn.

Apply to join our OnSite FAM in Lafayette, Louisiana here.

See our list of upcoming FAMs and join our FAM Announcement List here.

1:51 — Travel News: Forcing hotels to house the homeless?

3:15 — Road Tip: A better approach to business cards

8:18 — Join us for a familiarization tour in Lafayette, Louisiana

13:37 — How Eva Daniel fell in love with public speaking

16:18 — The biggest public speaking mistakes you’re probably making

21:23 — Delivering presentations that sell trips

26:20 — Don’t end your presentation on a Q&A

36:19 — How to use photos, videos and slides in your travel presentations

39:14 — Making a splash with sponsorship messages

50:33 — Hot Minute: How should the tourism industry address societal problems?

Gather and Go with Brian Jewell is a tourism podcast that helps group travel leaders plan, promote and lead better trips. Each episode reaches thousands of professional tour operators, travel agents and the volunteer group leaders they serve. The audience also includes destination marketers, museum leaders, church travel leaders and other tourism enthusiasts around the world. Each show includes a featured conversation with a smart and influential travel leader. You’ll also hear travel news, road tips and more. New episodes are released about twice monthly.

You can find Gather and Go wherever your listen to podcasts or subscribe by email.

Have questions, comments or ideas for the show? Send them to us at podcast@grouptravelleader.com.

Thanks for listening!