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John DeMato Blog

Welcome to the Deliver Magic blog, where experts who speak, coach, train, consult, and write books will find actionable insights to elevate their personal brands through visual storytelling. From strategy tips and branding photography to live event coverage and storytelling techniques, discover step-by-step guides designed to help you align what you say with how you show up in photos. Get ready to unlock the magic behind creating a cohesive visual identity that drives engagement, builds credibility, and inspires your audience. #DeliverMagic

What else blows wind up your skirt?

 

What are your interests outside of your speaker business?

 
 

Reflect them in your branded lifestyle portraits.

 

One of the best ways to create an emotional connection with your audience is to give them a clear sense of who you are, who you serve and why you do what you do through your image content.

As they glance at these photos, it immediately introduces yourself and presents an invitation for them to engage you based on this new sense of familiarity.

Now, many speakers believe that their portraits are the only way in which to create this level of rapport with their audiences.

While it’s at the top of the list, your image content needs don’t end there.

Aside from the fact that you don’t want to bore the hell out of your audience with photos of your face day-after-day on your social accounts, it’s also important to show other sides of your business and life.

With other types of image content, you paint a broader picture of your personality, giving your audience a chance to get to know you better on multiple levels.

So, what types of image content am I talking about?

Let’s take a look at a recent session as an example. 

During my pre-session strategy call with speaker, author and artsy magician, Denise, I immediately knew that we were going to add some fun wrinkles to her branded lifestyle portrait session. 

In addition to her speaker business, she is also a makes soap from scratch and has a deep love for earrings - both creating her own and wearing others. 

Since these passions fall directly in line with her speaker topic of creativity, we created an opportunity to capture some candid lifestyle portraits that illustrated these interests. 

I shot her session mostly in her house, so I was able to not only have access to the soap and earrings themselves, but also where she creates these magical works of art. 

Photos of the space create even more familiarity with her audience, which draws them closer in to hear more about her and how she can help them get past what’s holding them back.

It’s the details that draw people in. It’s images like this that add a well-saturated layer of texture for your audience to consume as they determine whether or not you’re the type of person they can trust to help them get past what’s holding them back. 

Of course, photos of your face also help in this process, as well :)

And in Denise’s case, we shot plenty of those, too! 

Wanna take a look at them? You can do so here.


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