Even if you are a professional public speaker with many appearances in your history returning to basics is a great place to catch a fresh breath.  If you are new to public speaking these eight items should be at the top of your to-do list!

#1  Prepare.  I think the most important part of being a speaker is you have to look comfortable.  Granted,  I, as an audience member, don’t really care if you are but you need to looklike you are.  Being comfortable means being yourself.  If you aren’t acting yourself you’ll appear to be stiff and controlled rather than relaxed and casual.  The quickest way to get to relaxed is know your stuff!  When you aren’t worried about remembering your next point you’ll have more time to appear yourself.

#2  Check the digs.  Is the projector working?  What about the mic?  How do you get on stage?  The two people who can make or break your performance are the person doing your intro and the AV person.  Make sure you know them both on a first name basis.

#3  Be an early bird.  Don’t hide outside the venue.  Get in there!  Meet some people and become familiar with the room.  If you wander while you talk then you’ll want to find a path which is comfortable and you’ve moved through before.

#4  Respect = Nervous = Normal.  When you aren’tnervous you should worry.  You’ve reached a comfort zone and you aren’t pushing your inner excelerant any longer.  Nervous is good.  Don’t try to dull it with food, beverage or other chemicals.  Specifically caffeine or alcohol.  For a T on the MBTI I’m pushing it here so bear with me…just be in the emotion and enjoy it.  You heard me.  Enjoy it and be appreciative of the fact you are a challenged professionally and care about what you do.

#5  Plan B is just as good as Plan A.  Do you know why?  Because there simply is a Plan B.  Ask any speaker who didn’t have a Plan B (and ended up needing one) how good it would have been and the answer will always be great!  Think of anything and everything that can go wrong and have a plan for it.  Easy ones like your presentation time being cut in half.  And even the harder ones like the bulb in the projector goes out.

#6  Cut your stuff in half.  I’m not talking about your words.  I’m talking about your handouts and your presentation.  PowerPoint can be a slave driver so learn your presentation without it and realize everything you say doesn’t need to be on the screen.  I’m more a fan of transitions and time to absorb a thought than paper and pictures!  Besides, the planet would love less handouts.

#7  Start and end together.  Who likes to lose audience members as you go along?  I thought not.  Start slowly with simple points, build through the middle and wrap up with a crescendo.  If you begin with your heavy thoughts you might lose half your audience.  At the end they’ll be looking at each other for the finale!

#8  Snub your unwanted self-talk.  Look for a good time to be had by all.  You set your self up for failure when you expect p.e.r.f.e.c.t.i.o.n.  Your audience doesn’t expect that.  You forget your second point and your notes suddenly flutter to the floor – the back door to the room opens and in walks your self-talk.  I’m not talking about the one with the halo.  I’m talking about the dude with the pitch fork.  The audience wants to be engaged, entertained and taught.  Now that…THAT you can do!

Nibbling away -

Sundi

Check out part 1 and part 2 if you missed them!

Back in part 1 when I mentioned people who would lead to other prospects I promised more help.  You have officially arrived at that special place.

I was trying to think of a way to make this referral harvesting thing more real for you and I’m going with the first thing that popped into my head…

The last time someone said, “What do you want for dinner?” did you have an answer?  Chances are slim that you said, “I want pork tenderloin, steamed green beans and new potatoes with sour dough bread.” and everything for that specific meal was on hand.  However, if the conversation had started like this, “What sounds good for dinner? Mexican or Italian?” there was most likely a dialogue which generated the desired end result – dinner in your belly!

If you apply that same theory to your referral hunting activities then it only makes sense when you start a conversation like, “So, do you know anyone who needs me?” it doesn’t go very far!  Keep in mind that people know the names and can visualize an average of 300 people off the top of their head.  (There has been military research into this so if you don’t believe me then by all means feel free to google it!)  You just asked someone to scan all 300 people they know in an instant!

Wouldn’t it be more productive if you said, “Hey, Susan, are you still part of that tennis group that gets together every week?”  Immediately you’ve narrowed Susan’s search from 300 to say, 20.  Not bad, huh?  Not only have you narrowed the field you’ve got her to concentrate on those specific 20 people.

“Are any of those ladies [insert pain point here]?”  Pick any point from your niche like “not really happy in their jobs?”.  If you’re a career coach you’ve just set out a hunk of bait that is bound to work if there really is someone in the group who could use your services!

Susan just might say, “Well, you know Donna was telling me about something that happened with one of her co-workers the other day.  She didn’t say she was unhappy but I would be unhappy if it happened to me.”

Of course the next question you ask is, “Do you think you could introduce us by email?  Maybe I could help her.”

Fast forward two weeks later…

Susan pulls an envelop out of her mailbox containing a gift certificate for a message as a reward for the new coaching agreement you have with Donna!  Now, isn’t everybody happy?

Nibbling away -

Sundi

PS – now don’t go thinking just a couple of questions will lead to a referral.  You might have to lead Susan through a few segments of her life before you get exactly what you’re hunting!

Have you seen part 1 of this series?  It isn’t necessary but it would help you get rid of all those business cards you collected at your last conference…I’m just sayin’.

Disclaimer:  The images of my cards aren’t the best, I know.  If you are interested in what the back of my card says you can see my list of services.  Please don’t strain your eyes trying to read it below!

Does your business card suck?

Does your business card pop?

Does it make you tingle when you hand it to another person?

I’m typically a modest person but I must tell you I love. love. love. my business card!  I designed it myself and I get great satisfaction when I pass them out because the reactions I get are amazing.  I wish I had a hundred cards for ever time someone says they thought I had handed them one that was torn!

Here is the front of my card:

Here is the back of my card:

Unfortunately you can’t see what my favorite part is because I do them ALL by hand and this is a picture of my cards pre-print.  Notice the blank spots in the top left corner of the front and the top right corner of the back.  That is very intentional!  I take this handy-dandy craft punch ($12 at your local craft store) and recreate the bite from my logo on my card.  Simple – SO simple.  But you should see the reactions I get from people.

So, do your business cards suck?  If they do what are you planning to do about it?  If not then tell me why they are great!

Nibbling away -

Sundi

When was the last time you returned from a conference and wondered what the heck you were going to do with all those business cards you’d collected?  The event could be as simple as a Chamber meeting or as complex as a week long conference.  Either way, you have loose ends to tie up and for many of us it is the downer of a very inspirational event.

Relax!  Your collection doesn’t have to look like this.

Here are some very simple steps to take as soon as you gather all the cards which are probably strewn hither and yon!  Depending on the number of cards you have this could take you as little as 20 minutes so just settle in and get it done already.

Sort:  Create three piles:

• Potential Clients
• Useful Networking
• Other

Sort:  From the Potential Clients pile create three more piles:

• Hot – They acted interested in your services
• Warm – During the conversation they mentioned a goal or problem your service could address
• Cold – Someone you met who isn’t a great fit

Action:  Take the hot and warm piles and immediately follow-up.  Call or email to set up an appointment to meet.  Then mark your calendar for your next followup step so you actually do it!  Enter these folks in your CRM.

Sort:  From the Useful Networking pile into:

• Those who would lead to other prospects. (Help with this coming later in the series!)
• Those who would lead to other networking events.

Action:  Take the other prospects pile and followup requesting referrals.  Enter the contact information of anyone who expresses interest in connecting you with potential clients.

Action:  For the three remaining piles (Other, Cold and Leads to other networking events) it might be worth your time to send a “nice to meet you” note if you have the time.  If not, these cards could simply be relocated to the trash.  If your intuition tells you it is a waste of your time then let it go!

Hint:  If you don’t take these simple steps all the time you spent on the event could be a waste!

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Sundi

Feel free to assume I’m still on my mini-vacation.

No, I didn’t take this picture.  I do have a new camera I can’t wait to try out this year for the fireworks though.

That is the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri.  It is a pretty cool place if you are war history buff.

I’ll be back on Tuesday so have a great 4th!

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Sundi

Feel free to assume I’m on a mini-vacation.  Enjoy some humor in my absence.

The Fourth of July weekend was approaching, and Miss Pelham, the nursery school teacher, took the opportunity to tell her class about patriotism.  “We live in a great country,” she announced. “One of the things we should be happy about is that, in this country, we are all free.”

Trevor, who was a little boy in her class, came walking up to her from the back of the room.  He stood with his hands on his hips and said loudly, “I’m not free. I’m four.”

Happy fireworks for you!

Nibbling away -

Sundi