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.
What you don’t want to talk about (and why powerful speakers do)
The most powerful speakers understand that strength without vulnerability depletes their power. They also get that vulnerability is a strength. So they do what it takes to stay connected with their truth and they speak it. And they keep speaking, holding firm to the message that matters to them, regardless of other people’s opinions, judgements or agendas. Because the message is too important to buy into that. Far out, that message is no less than what gives them their sense of purpose on this planet.
The world needs to hear what you have to say
Most of what I consider my greatest achievements involved walking away. They came with a decision to let go, say goodbye, and walk – sometimes run – in another direction. My greatest achievements have been hard-won. I imagine yours have too. You may not have miraculously recovered from an incurable disease overnight, survived being shot 13 times by a mad man, or climbed Mt Everest. None of that is necessary for being a powerful speaker. You have a message to share and stories filled with wisdom that could make a difference for other people. Your words matter. Your voice matters. Your life, your experiences, and your truth matter.
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 shift from ‘not enough’ to owning it
The most powerful speakers care deeply and want to make a difference. The most powerful speakers know themselves exceptionally well. The most powerful speakers intuitively know how to read a room and own it. To shift from not enough to owning it, you have to flip outdated concepts of power on their head.
From dread to excitement: public speaking made fun and powerful
Call me strange, but I love speaking in front of an audience. I genuinely look forward to it. I can’t wait to get up on that stage. I love it when people are so engaged that they hang off my words. I love making people laugh and then saying something that makes them deadly silent […]
Why most public speaking courses are a waste of time and money
My career has been focused on speaking exceptionally well – as a TV and radio presenter, voice artist, and public speaker – and training others to do the same. As a corporate communications adviser, part of my role was to train leaders to be better presenters and speakers. I used to video tape them, give […]
How to penetrate a lack of attention from your audience
Speaking at a lunch is tricky. With waiters clearing plates and topping up wine glasses, people trying not to speak but whispering anyway because they haven’t finished with their calamari and want to say so before their plate’s whisked away, a guy reaching down to pick up his napkin, and the woman at the end […]
Not everyone will like you. Speak anyway.
Not everyone will like you. You know that. Your mind comprehends it. So why does the fear or rejection stretch all the way to the moon when you have to stand up in front of an audience? A few months back I spoke at a paper bag lunch. I’d been invited by a consultant to […]
Why and how powerful speakers tell people what to do
My daughter doesn’t like being told what to do. In fact, in our household of three rather strong characters, no-one likes being told what to do. My darling girl’s usual response to a directive (more so to one of her dad’s than mine) is: You’re not the boss of me! Just for the record, she […]
