How to use your talks to get more clients (and not feel like vomiting)
This is NOT a video about how much money you’re leaving on the table (yucky marketing talk) if you don’t use your talks to sell. This IS a video about how many more people you can help with all the goodness you have to offer, if you can find a way to speak that feels natural and comfortable for you and your audiences. This applies to EVERYONE who speaks, by the way, even if you think you’re not trying to sell anything (you’re wrong). Oh, and this is also a video about one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made that guarantees I lose power and connection with my audiences. I bet you do this too.
30 things nobody tells you about powerful speaking
There’s all sorts of advice in books, online, and being espoused in public speaking courses everywhere about what you absolutely must know to stand up on a stage and own it. I’ve been speaking publicly since I first sat behind the microphone at 5AD, the radio station that offered me my first journalist and newsreader gig at the ripe old age of 20. I want to share with you what I’ve learned during my 25 years in the game so you can focus on what’s genuinely necessary to become a truly powerful speaker, and ditch everything else.
They’re clapping for you! Feel the love
In my powerful speaking programs, something happens every single time that causes me to raise my voice and say, “No, no, no!” And then, “Go back and do it again!” It’s this: After delivering a brilliant talk, directly and powerfully straight from the heart, that leaves audience members marvelling and longing to clap loudly to show their appreciation, each woman walks away. I’m calling this for the big pile of poo it is. You diminish your power and presence when you do that. Stop.
How to have a powerful presence
Let’s set something straight. Being confident, which is often seen as the holy grail of having a powerful presence, is over-rated. Yes, I really did say that. Everyone wants to appear confident. Yet, confidence takes so many different forms. Whenever people tell me they want to be perceived as confident, and I ask them what […]
How to connect to make a difference
Once upon a time there was a world where people weren’t inspired by their leaders. Conversations about what was really happening were rare. Boring presentations fell on deaf ears. Little changed. Differences weren’t made. And people longed, deep down, to be inspired, engaged and be part of something that truly mattered. In that world, no-one […]
The David Principle
I want to tell you about David. We met over the phone. Our encounter has stuck with me and inspired me to share some of our conversations with you. When I phoned David, he was expecting my call. His business partner had asked me to call him. Our conversation went something like this: Me: “Hi […]
What to do when the unexpected happens: mastering business presentations
Like it or not, every time you stand up to speak to a group, you carry the weight of expectation of every single person in the room. As a leader (you’re a leader, regardless of your role, when you present), it’s your job to claim your ground, own the room, and inspire followership. If you […]
One simple way to improve productivity
My eight year-old daughter tells me that at least half the boys in her class have a crush on her. Recently, that was evidenced by five of them piling on top of her, sitting in a chair, and trying to kiss her. One of those boys wrote a note to her, a little while ago, […]
How to move people from compliance to commitment
I, along with 10-million other people around the world, bought a copy of Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Eat Pray Love. Her writing was irresistible to me. I felt pretty sure that, if I ever met Elizabeth Gilbert in real life, she’d be exactly the way I experienced her through her words: smart, funny, self-deprecating (but not […]
Don’t feed us more junk food
Loaves and Fishes This is not the age of information. This is not the age of information. Forget the news, and the radio, and the blurred screen. This is the time of loaves and fishes. People are hungry, and one good word is bread for a thousand. ~ David Whyte Society is fed a steady […]
