How to Build Your Business Using Talk Trigger with Jay Baer.

Welcome to Public Speaking with Peter George. I'm Peter George, public speaking trainer, speaker, and award-winning author of The Captivating Public Speaker. My guest today is Jay Baer — one of fewer than 200 living members of the Professional Speakers Hall of Fame, also inducted into the Word of Mouth Marketing Hall of Fame, and an advisor to more than 700 companies, including 34 of the Fortune 500. Jay is the founder of Convince & Convert, host of the Social Pros podcast, and a New York Times bestselling author of six books, including Talk Triggers, co-written with Daniel Lemin. Here's my conversation with Jay Baer.

What Is a Talk Trigger?

Peter: Before we get into your speaking career, can you share the idea behind Talk Triggers?

Jay: A talk trigger is an operational differentiator — a deliberate, consistent choice to do something unexpected that your customers notice and then tell other people about. In any business, the best way to grow is for your customers to grow it for you through word of mouth. But our research shows that fewer than one percent of businesses actually have a word-of-mouth strategy. Everyone assumes their customers will talk about them, but are you giving them a story to tell?

The mistake most businesses make is believing competency creates conversation — that if you just do a great job, people will spread the word. But customers expect you to be good. That's not worth a story. You need to do something beyond competent, something unexpected enough that customers say, "You won't believe what happened." That's a talk trigger.

Competency Doesn't Create Conversation

Peter: That makes perfect sense. If doing excellent work automatically generated referrals, there would be no such thing as advertising.

Jay: Exactly right. And competency is working less than ever as a marketing strategy because customer expectations keep rising. Your competitors aren't advertising that they're mediocre — they're good. If your plan is simply to be better than them, you're on a tough treadmill with no finish line. You need something that makes people tell your story — not because you did your job, but because you did something they didn't see coming.

Jay's Talk Trigger: dressjbaer.com

Peter: You have a talk trigger of your own as a speaker. Tell us about it.

Jay: I always wear crazy plaid suits on stage — I have quite a collection. But my actual talk trigger is the website dressjbaer.com. When meeting planners book me, they get access to the site and can choose which suit I'll wear on stage. It shows up on my calendar, I pack accordingly, and when I arrive, they immediately say, "That's the one I picked!" They love it — and they tell everyone about it. It gives them a story to tell before the program even starts. It's not just about being colorful or different — it's about giving meeting planners a genuine sense of ownership over the event. That's the distinction between being different and having a talk trigger: the difference has to have traction with the people you serve.

From Broadcasting to the Hall of Fame

Peter: How did you get into speaking in the first place?

Jay: I was kind of a speaker long before I knew it was a career. Even in high school, I was always the one who emceed the talent show — never afraid of the microphone. After school, I became a digital marketing consultant very early, when the Internet was just emerging. Because I knew things most people didn't, I started giving presentations at local organizations — Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, that kind of thing. Never thought of it as a profession.

Then a friend, Kelly McDonald, who is a very successful professional speaker, said, "You should think about doing this more — it's actually a job. Here's how it works." She showed me the ropes. Shortly after, I wrote my first book and did a book tour with a lot of presentations. I loved it. People seemed to respond well. One thing led to another. A thousand speeches later, here we are.

The Speaking-Consulting Flywheel

Peter: How does speaking connect to your consulting practice?

Jay: Think of it as a flywheel. The content I create — books, podcasts, social media, articles — generates speaking opportunities. Speaking generates consulting leads. Consulting engagements teach me lessons that feed directly back into my speeches. It's a circle, and if you can figure out your circle, you're in good shape. What I deliver on stage is credible because it's rooted in what I actually do every day with major brands as a consultant. I would never want to be a speaker who only talks about marketing without actively doing that work — the consulting is my lab, and the speaking is where I share what I learn.

The More You Speak, the More You Speak

Peter: If you were starting over, is there anything you'd do differently?

Jay: I'd start earlier. I didn't give my first paid speech until I was 38, which is pretty late for someone making a career of it. I'd get coaching earlier — I still invest significantly in coaching every year, but I'd have started that sooner. And I'd invest in video earlier. I probably cost myself a few years of traction by not getting those things figured out faster.

One of the truest things about this business: the more you speak, the more you speak. It doesn't matter what the audience is or what you're getting paid. Some percentage of every audience will eventually be in a position to hire you. I get calls all the time from people who say, "I saw you speak seven years ago, and I've since been promoted twice — now it's my turn to book speakers, and I want you." That's a seven-year sales cycle I didn't even know was in motion. The speaking business is like the music business: you start playing for free, then for beer money, then for a small crowd, then a bigger one. It takes time, but the runway builds on itself.

Good Speakers Have Nine Topics. Great Speakers Have Two.

Peter: What's the number one piece of advice you'd give someone working to become a more effective speaker?

Jay: Speak about fewer things. Scott McKain — who is in the Hall of Fame and introduced me when I was inducted — told me something I've never forgotten: "Good speakers have nine topics. Great speakers have two."

If you can give a speech about anything, you probably can't give a great speech about anything. Figure out what you're genuinely excellent at, get deeply focused on that one thing, and do it over and over until you're truly exceptional. Meeting planners are sorting through hundreds — sometimes thousands — of speakers. They're looking for someone who has it completely dialed in for a specific need. If your topic is too broad or too general, there's no reason to choose you over anyone else. Ask yourself: what am I the best in the world at? If you don't know the answer to that question, neither do they — and they're not going to infer it from your website.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Public Speaking with Peter George. To explore Talk Triggers and access free resources including videos, infographics, and research, visit talktriggers.com. To learn more about Jay and all that he does, visit jaybaer.com — B-A-E-R. Are you ready to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then visit petergeorgepublicspeaking.com and let's make it happen. I'll see you next time.