E855 | The Secret To Getting More Patients From Workshops

How Workshops Win: Emotion-First Public Speaking for Cash-Based PT Lead Gen

In this episode, Doc Danny Matta shows how you can reliably fill your schedule without relying on physician referrals. Instead, he explains why workshops, small group talks, and educational events—both in person and online—are the fastest way to build trust and book patients. The key: connect emotionally first, then guide people logically into taking action.

Quick Ask

Help PT Biz hit its mission of adding $1B in cash-based services to physical therapy. Share this episode with a clinician friend or post it on your IG stories and tag Danny—he’ll reshare it.

Episode Summary

• Direct-response over referrals: Cash practices grow faster by going straight to the people, not waiting on doctors.

• Workshops work: Education events build credibility and lead to predictable patient flow.

• Feelings before facts: Start with frustration, fear, and hope—their story—then bring in the plan.

• Imagine if scenarios: Paint the picture of what life could look like if their problem was solved.

• Stories sell: Personal experiences (like ACL rehab or chronic pain) create instant credibility.

• Make them care: They must express what’s at stake in their own words before they’ll commit.

The Emotional Connection Framework

1. Appeal to feelings first. Use frustration-based questions like: “Isn’t it frustrating when…”

2. Use “Imagine if…” Paint a positive, possibility-driven future they can visualize.

3. Share something personal. Brief stories of your own injury or rehab create credibility.

4. Make them feel the problem. Less science lecture, more real-life consequences.

5. Elicit their why. When they say it themselves, commitment follows.

Field Notes & Examples

• Workshops that convert: Gyms, CrossFit boxes, run clubs, golf leagues, parent groups, and private Facebook groups.

• The “gruff granddad” story: A patient’s embarrassment at Disney was the turning point that fueled his commitment to change.

• Military + CrossFit teaching reps: Constant feedback and repetition sharpened Danny’s public speaking and workshop delivery.

Pro Tips You Can Use Today

• Book two talks this month. One local, one online.

• Script your opener. 90 seconds: frustration → “imagine if” → your story.

• Keep the plan simple. No more than 3 clear action steps.

• One call-to-action. Free consult, QR code, or signup link.

• Debrief after. Track what landed, what questions came up, and iterate.

Notable Quotes

• “If you want action, connect emotionally first. Feelings open the door; logic walks them through it.”

• “I’d rather pull people toward the future they want than push them with fear. ‘Imagine if…’ changes the room.”

• “When they say what hurts and what they want back, commitment follows.”

Action Items

• Write a one-page workshop outline: opener, 3 teaching points, 1 CTA.

• Make a list of 10 local or digital groups and pitch your talk.

• Create a QR code that links to your consult page.

• Track the funnel: attendees → consults → plans of care.

Programs Mentioned

• Clinical Rainmaker: Coaching + plan to get you full-time in your clinic.

• Mastermind: Scale beyond yourself into space, team, and systems.

• PT Biz Part-Time to Full-Time 5-Day Challenge (Free): Get clear on expenses, visit targets, pricing, and a one-page plan.

Resources & Links

• PT Biz Website 

• Free 5-Day PT Biz Challenge 

About Danny:
Danny Matta has over 15 years of experience as a staff PT, military officer, and cash-practice founder. Today, through PT Biz, he’s helped 1,000+ clinicians start, grow, and scale their own cash-based practices.

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Ready to elevate your practice? Book a call at the link below with one of our expert consultants today and start your journey to delivering unparalleled physical therapy.

Podcast Transcript

Danny: [00:00:00] Hey, Danny Matta here with PT Biz and I have generated literally thousands of new patients through workshops face to face for [00:00:10] the cash based clinic. I started in Atlanta, and I'm gonna talk to you about how you can connect with people emotionally and get them to drive to taking action to solving a problem.[00:00:20]

So one of the things that we. Have seen a lot of success with when it comes to cash-based clinics is the fact that you can go [00:00:30] out in the world, go out in your community and find your people, right. Historically with in-network clinics, they're built [00:00:40] off of referrals from hospitals and from surgeons and physicians.

And what they do is they market to these referral sources, which, you know, makes a lot of sense. That's, that's a logical thing to [00:00:50] do if that's where you're getting a lot of your referrals Now, for a cash based clinic. A physician referral, it's not as common, right? It's, it's, uh, it's, it's harder to [00:01:00] develop.

There's less, uh, physicians that are interested in referring to that type of a clinic. Um, you know, and those exist for sure, but it's not as, uh, tried and true [00:01:10] as going out and actually marketing directly to your target audience. This is called direct response marketing. So one of the ways in which you can do this is.

To educate people [00:01:20] and to do, whether it be, you know, workshops or talks for different groups, uh, education events, even, uh, digitally, right? You can, you can do education [00:01:30] events for groups of parents, for youth athletes on their, you know, soccer clubs, Facebook group page or whatever it might be. It doesn't really matter.

It's all [00:01:40] about how can you convey your message. To other people in a way that is clear and drives action. And that's a, a really, really important thing to, [00:01:50] to learn how to do. And I can tell you, for me, I had very little public training, uh, public speaking training. Um, you know, [00:02:00] coming out of the military I had a little bit, and it had more to do with how you're presenting yourself in front of, uh, soldiers in leadership environments.

One of the jobs I had was with the [00:02:10] brigade, and it was, it was very much, um. Kind of a fish out of water place for a physical therapist because this is a group of nothing but like basically infantry [00:02:20] soldiers. And, uh, you know, there's a only, I can count on one hand how many medical providers are attached to upper gate.

So understanding how to carry yourself and how to interact with people in [00:02:30] meetings and how to present information was something that I had to go through, but it is quite different then. How you're gonna talk to somebody about their back pain. You know, like it's a very different situation. But, but some of [00:02:40] the, some of the variables that we talked about, some of, some of the things that we went over, they do carry over.

But when you're talking to a group of people locally about becoming [00:02:50] patient of yours, which is primarily what I'm talking about, you could apply this to pretty much whatever you want. There's an emotional connection there that's really important because the injury somebody has. Uh, especially if it's [00:03:00] been more of a chronic problem, um, it's created a lot of stress in their life, you know, and if you can, if you can relate to that in a way through [00:03:10] words, right?

And, and through connecting with them. With some of the things I'm gonna talk about, it's a, it's one of the best ways to get them to take the next step, which is logically to then in show interest in [00:03:20] how they may be able to work with you and how you may be able to help them and have a conversation about that.

Right. So that's the intention of this, uh, the, the public speaking training that I did get. Post-military that was [00:03:30] actually fantastic was through the group that I, uh, taught for through mobility wide, the Tourettes Group. And even through CrossFit, I had, uh, some feedback that basically [00:03:40] mystery shoppers, if you were, would show up and audit, uh, presentations or these, these courses that we were teaching, they were one or two days and then they, they wouldn't tell you that they were [00:03:50] there working for.

You know, for the organization. And then they would take you out to dinner afterward and give you feedback on what you could do better, which was really helpful actually. So a lot of this is, for me, I learned [00:04:00] through that and I learned through just doing a massive amount of presentations and workshops at this point.

But if you wanna engage the people, you really have to do it emotionally to drive action. So number one, [00:04:10] you have to appeal to feelings before logic, right? So frustration is a big one for a lot of people that have injuries. You know, isn't it [00:04:20] frustrating? When you aren't sure whether you can pick up X, Y, and Z without hurting your back again, isn't it frustrating that you're not sure you can go play golf [00:04:30] with your friends because you don't know if you're gonna tweak your back?

On the eighth hole and you're not gonna be able to finish it out. You're gonna be sitting in there in the golf cart, embarrassed that you can't, like, [00:04:40] you have to be able to relate to whatever it is the audience you're talking to is. The nice thing with physical therapists is we can relate, because oftentimes we've had injuries ourself, and we've also worked with a ton of people that have [00:04:50] injuries.

So being able to relate emotionally is something we can do really well, but we shy away from it usually because it makes us feel a little bit uncomfortable. There's a difference between. Us being able to talk about something and then [00:05:00] us deeply feeling that thing, right? It's not you that's feeling that.

But as you talk about it, sometimes you get wrapped up in it and it can make you feel that way, [00:05:10] and that is something that you have to be able to separate in order to be able to talk about things emotionally, right? So it's what's happening to somebody else. It's not what's happening to you. Isn't it frustrating [00:05:20] when X, Y, and Z?

I can relate. I work with people like this all the time. I can relate. I've been there as well. Right? Like these are things you can say to really be able to relate to people [00:05:30] emotionally before they make a logical decision. So yes, it is frustrating logically. Would you like to fix that so that you can keep playing golf?

Yes, I would. Right? You have to tap into that first before they [00:05:40] can make a logical decision after the fact. One of the best things you can do is use what we call imagine if scenarios, and I love these. This is actually my favorite way of. [00:05:50] Of relating to people because I prefer, and this may be not the most effective way, but I prefer to actually drive towards positivity, so.[00:06:00]

And you may notice this with my content, very, very rarely am I going to go down the rabbit hole of something negative. Uh, fear scare [00:06:10] tactics. I would probably have far more downloads if I just did fear. Fear, fear, fear, fear. Because as human nature is for us to pay more attention. And to be more locked in [00:06:20] to fear because of threats and how that, you know, developmentally has kept us safe.

We pay more attention to that than we do something positive. Oh, something good has [00:06:30] happened again, cool, whatever. We don't really notice that as much as, oh, there's a grizzly bear, like runaway, right? Like, that's how we're wired. So for you though, if you can [00:06:40] use, imagine if scenarios. You can really tap into helping people visualize what their life could look like if they would stop ignoring something and [00:06:50] actually work on it.

So imagine if you could swing a golf club, you know, with no restrictions, and you could go on those golf [00:07:00] trips with your friends and play 36 holes and not have to worry about your back, you know, breaking down on you during that process because you know it moves well, it's strong, and you feel confident.

[00:07:10] Imagine if that was you. Where would you go? What trips would you take? How much more would you play? How much better do you think you would play the these are what if it works [00:07:20] scenarios. And I like that far better because it puts people in such a more positive place and that's how I wanna work with them.

I don't wanna scare them into working with me. I [00:07:30] want them to want to move towards something that's important to them. So imagine if is that's, that's two words you can use that immediately will increase the likelihood that people connect with [00:07:40] what you're saying, if you can actually help them get that end result right, which.

That's usually not the concern for the people we work with. So third would be share something personal. [00:07:50] So one of the things that I've seen, and I I've seen this now with a handful of providers that are like really good ACL rehab providers. More often than not, they've had an ACL [00:08:00] tear and what's it's, it's interesting that they can relate on such a deep level to going through the same things that the people that [00:08:10] they're working with are now going through as well.

So. If you can share an experience, share something that is a, you know, a, a [00:08:20] consequence of something that happened or, uh, you know, a, a shared frustration and do so in a story that relates to what they're going through. You [00:08:30] know, oh, I remember when I tore my ACL and if somebody's in front of you and they have an A, they have torn their ACL and they are.

Down in the dumps because they know they have this month's worth of [00:08:40] rehab ahead of 'em. They're not sure if they're gonna get back to playing whatever the sport is where they hurt themself. They're nervous that they can't return to sport. They don't want to go through this again. You know, and you can say, when I tore my [00:08:50] ACL, here's how I was feeling.

And if you can say what they're feeling without them having to tell you, you're inherently the solution to their problem. You, I mean, you got 'em [00:09:00] right? Like I've never torn my ACL. I can't relate to people the same way. Now I can. I can say different things about whatever other injuries, but specifically, you know, if [00:09:10] you can, if you can do that, you're going to relate to people really well and go figure.

People that have had those surgeries that are physical therapists, they tend to do a fantastic job with that [00:09:20] audience. They have obviously a personal in interest in it, and they can develop a great niche just doing that. I'm not saying you have to tear ACL to be an ACL rehab specialist, but if you do, you're gonna be able to [00:09:30] relate to people on an emotional level and a shared experience level that.

It's just you can't without that. So number four would be to really make sure your audience feels [00:09:40] the problem. And again, this gets back to the emotional side of things that are going on. As physical therapists, what we typically do is we want to talk about research studies and [00:09:50] data and, you know, progressive overloads and, and all this stuff that's like high level scientific things that, that we've learned.

You know, that is, that is [00:10:00] beneficial to know, but the average person doesn't know what the hell you're talking about. All they know is their back hurts, right? And they don't want it to hurt anymore. So for you, you gotta drop some of the. [00:10:10] The research and if you're gonna, if you're gonna talk about research, you have to sprinkle it in sparingly with things that are going to be, you know, more directed towards what they're going [00:10:20] through and what they're trying to get back to.

Right. It's not that you want to break down a randomized control trial in front of 'em. That's not what you want. This really has to be more about how they feel than anything [00:10:30] else. Okay. The last thing is they have to care. They have to care about what they're trying to change before they'll [00:10:40] commit to changing it.

So this is one of those things where let's say you have a group of people and you have, you're talking about something [00:10:50] back pain related, right? Well, they obviously care somewhat, but maybe it's not bad enough. Before they make a decision to act on fixing that, you know, and resolving [00:11:00] that and, and getting help to not have to avoid the things that they enjoy, but if you can point out the fact that they are missing elements of life [00:11:10] that they want to, that they want to participate in, and how much are they willing to give up.

Or say no to or sit on the sidelines for, while [00:11:20] other people around them are actually living life and doing the things they want. How long are they willing to wait? How bad does it need to get, you know, like these are things that you have to make people like really care [00:11:30] about what they need to do before they'll actually do it.

And one of the more important things, and this actually relates to also in office, is [00:11:40] if someone. Expresses their frustration to you. It's far, far more compelling than you expressing it to them. For [00:11:50] instance, I had a, I had a patient that came in and this was just kind of out of the ordinary for me. An older guy, very deconditioned, [00:12:00] uh, had been referred by a long-term client of mine, and this guy was coming from like an hour away.

Very, um. What's where, I don't know [00:12:10] the best way to describe it. He, he was a very, sort of like outwardly, uh, gruff individual. He was, um, you know, old school [00:12:20] entrepreneur, had owned a bunch of pizza huts, stuff like that. And uh, you know, he just, he was a hard person to work with, hard person to break through on.

And [00:12:30] I remember he'd seen lots of other people. And, but dude, you drove an hour to come see me. You know, I mean, I remember having a conversation with him and I, and he's giving me the, [00:12:40] the run around, and he's just acting like nothing's wrong. You know, old school, kinda like, like my dad's generation, like, they're not gonna tell you something's wrong with them or whatever [00:12:50] they're not supposed to, right?

And finally I say, look, man, you drove an hour to come down here, like, why are you here? W what? What [00:13:00] are we working on? Like what is it important that it's important for you to work on and get back to? And as soon as I asked him this question, I don't know [00:13:10] if anybody had been this direct with him or maybe asked this in this way.

He instantly started to break down, like, uh, completely called me off guard, [00:13:20] you know? And I was not expecting that. And you know, as he sort of got to the point where he could talk again, he told me. That [00:13:30] he was really concerned about his health. You know, he'd spent his entire career working really hard and he'd been very successful as an entrepreneur.[00:13:40]

But his health was awful, just really, really bad. And he had taken his grandkids down to Disney and his, his [00:13:50] ankle was bugging him a lot, right? So like he couldn't walk around very well because he had a lot of pain in his ankle. So he had to at, at Disney, get a power wheelchair, uh, to [00:14:00] ride around and like a little scooter to ride around in.

And that, if that wasn't embarrassing enough, he got on a roller coaster with his grandson and he was so overweight [00:14:10] that they had to stop the ride to get a, uh, seat belt extension for him because the, um. The safety bar wouldn't fit on him. And that was it. That [00:14:20] was the, uh, last straw for him after decades.

Decades of not taking care of himself. So if I said something to him like, are you just gonna keep treating [00:14:30] yourself bad like this or whatever, like, that's not as powerful as him telling me this story. That obviously was quite upsetting to him. Uh, about how he wasn't able [00:14:40] to live the life that he wanted with his grandkids, who it was getting very hard for him to keep up with.

Right. And now that I knew what [00:14:50] he wanted and that he had expressed it to me, he knew that I could help him get what he was trying to, or where he was trying to go. I mean, I saw that guy until. [00:15:00] The, the very last day that I, uh, that, that I saw patients, you know, he's one of the very last people that I saw, and, and it's, it's cool to be able to work with people [00:15:10] like that to help them change their life, right?

But what I'm getting at is to be able to emotionally tap in with people. It's something that historically as physical therapists we're pretty [00:15:20] damn good at. Some people are better than others. Depends on your emotional intelligence generally. But to understand these variables both from. In particular, a public [00:15:30] speaking standpoint where you can be in front of people and you can talk to a group of people and you can emotionally connect with them, that will change your business.

I, I, I'll [00:15:40] tell you this much, if you learn the skill of how to engage with people from a one to 10, one to 20, one to a hundred, one to five, [00:15:50] whatever, it doesn't matter the size of the group, but to talk to a group of people and be able to emotionally connect with them. To then show them what action they need to take to [00:16:00] then help them take that action to get the result that they want.

That is how you build a bulletproof brand reputation and lead generation that's very [00:16:10] predictable from in-person events that you can set up and you can do in many, many, many different ways. So this is something that's been a core tenet of a lot of, uh, the people that we work with, of the [00:16:20] businesses that I've helped build.

I mean, shit I'm doing right now, I'm just talking to you. About tapping into these things in a one to many [00:16:30] platform, through a podcast, and through a YouTube video. So if you learn these and you start working on these and apply these, you're gonna get a heck of a lot more people that are gonna come and [00:16:40] work with you because they trust you.

They believe you're the right person to help them with their injury, with their whatever frustration they're dealing with. And in the office, if [00:16:50] you do the same thing. And you help 'em get the outcome they want, they're going to be way more likely to refer their friends and family, and that snowball is what builds these businesses.

[00:17:00] So as always, I hope this helps. I hope this helps improve your presentations and your workshops and your public speaking. I think it's a skill that we have to continue to work on. We didn't learn this stuff in school. That's [00:17:10] okay. These are some of the variables that help me a lot. I hope to help you and as always, thank you so much for watching and for listening, and I'll catch you on the next [00:17:20] one.