Spreading the word about your business and brand can be accomplished in many ways.  One surefire way to let a multitude of people know about your organization is to be booked for speaking engagements where you as the business owner can share your knowledge and expertise with the audience.  Public speaking can be a viable way to brand yourself as a subject matter expert and solidify your branding message.

In order to empower entrepreneurs to speak out on behalf of their brands, we enlisted the assistance of the legendary Wayne Box Miller.  Wayne Box Miller has an extensive background in communications and public speaking, he is an award winning media professional, anengaging motivational speaker and a published author.   Miller graduated from Woodward High school, he went on to receive his Bachelors of Arts in Communications from Morehead State University, where he was later inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame.

Wayne Box Miller began his career in radio as the host of the “Midnight Happy Hour” on WCIN.  He continued his career in radio on WIZF and ultimately the driving force, host and producer of the “Prime Time Sports Show”, the first African American daily sports talk show in Greater Cincinnati.  The show was recognized as one of the best urban sports talk shows in the country during its eight years on the air.

When asked how he began his career in radio, Miller expounded “My education in communications was the start, but the true driving force was my love for broadcasting.” Miller takes great pride in his ability to spread information to the general public, his radio platform was simply the beginning.

Miller contributes his success as a public speaker to his extensive network and ability to communicate.  He encourages other entrepreneurs to make the most of networking opportunities and to sharpen their ability to communicate across multiple platforms. “Your network allows you to be sought after; networking is the key”.  Upon meeting an individual, Miller uses his listening skills to strategize how he can make a relevant connection.  He relies upon his iPhone, which he calls “the best and most inexpensive assistance”, to schedule touch points with individuals to ensure timely follow ups.  Miller believes a person who is looking to be booked as a subject matter expert needs to have the humility to learn from each encounter while merging their expertise.  “This gives you a large breadth of knowledge to be able to speak in diverse settings regarding your topics.” advised Miller.

He provided the following words of wisdom for individuals who are booked as a speaker:

“Before you connect with the audience you must first connect with the key contact person to ensure that you are delivering the message they’re looking for.  The audience is the payoff, but the investment is with the person that hires you.  You must really understand what they want and ensure them that you hear them.” He then added, “Be punctual, communicative and reinforce to them that you are the right person for job.”

Wayne Box Miller encourages individuals who are working to establish their speaking career to embrace opportunities including speaking for free.  According to Miller, this achieves two core objectives: First, it gives you an opportunity to perfect your delivery, as there is less pressure, for a non-paid speaking engagement; Secondly, it helps you begin to build a following as audience members can become advocates for you and let their circles know about your speaking abilities.

Although, Miller is associated with a few speakers’ bureaus, he reiterated that “I still think the greatest assets that exist across all platforms is word of mouth and networking”.  Although public speaking may be intimidating for some, Miller seems to have a sense of calm and confidence when ask to deliver his thought provoking messages. His formula?  Before each speaking engagement he prepares, prays, does his best and let’s God do the rest.