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I Speak…

sleepI would like to talk today about structuring a speech. It’s important to put together the right speech, in the right way. In this blog article, I describe five structures. I hope you take them and run with them. These five structures should cover most of the situations in which you find yourself speaking.  Each of these structures can be built to fit your purpose. Let’s look at them.

Problem-Solution Works In Your Favor

Persuasion. That’s why you are giving a speech. Begin by framing the problem. Then go as deeply as you dare into the problem, making both intellectual and emotional arguments for the severity of the problem.  Then go for it! Give the people your solution!

Going Through the Motions

If the subject has strong arguments on all sides of the issue, you may want to use this technique. Explain the problem, and then go through the possible solutions and thoughts of others. Try to give people as much information as you can and then go through all the arguments for solutions as carefully as you can. Give credit, show that you take all sides of the problem and all solutions seriously, then give people your own solution. This will give you credibility and people will listen to your argument with more care.

Tell the Story…

Yes, we are all interested in your new idea and your new product. But why don’t you tell us about it in an interesting way? Try to begin by describing the basic situation, giving only the relevant detail. Introduce a problem. A rival business? A problem in your sector? Then give people the resolution they truly want. Resolve the crisis and become the hero.

Stay in Order

Some hate chronological, some love it. But I think it’s best to start at the end of something. The result. Did you sell 8 million dollars’ worth of product? How did that feel? It must have felt good. Then go to the beginning and explain the situation you were in to start with. Then tell the story in order and bring people back to the success you ended with. This way you have “WOWED” your audience and showed them your path. It’s a winning speech strategy.

Demonstrate Like a Pro

Some businesspeople can do this better than anyone else. It’s salesmanship. Start with the reason. Why is this product or idea important? Why do people need it? What does it solve? Demo the idea and give people a reason to really root for it. Is it cool? Is it something that will save lives? Hint at the future and leave people wanting more.

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I Write…

once uponWriting content is a little bit like being a sales person. You must think strategically. What does your target audience want? Why are they surfing the internet? What are they searching for? Do you have the right product and/or idea for these people? What is the decision breaker? Who is the decision maker? There’s a lot of thinking that goes into putting together the right content, for the right audience, for the right company. Let’s take a look at some of the initial steps.

Relax…

The brainstorming process is not the time to be in a hurry. Grab a journal and a pen and go on a walk. Watch the wind. Give yourself permission to be a little lazy. Creativity requires relaxation. When you relax, your mind can wander, to jump around to lots of different ideas, to make strange, serendipitous connections. Take the pressure off yourself to come up with the perfect idea.

Come Up with a Lot of Ideas

Choosing the next project is a negotiation between your skills, your ambition, your audience, and your soul.

What can you write?

What content would help me if I were my customer?

What does my audience want to read?

What do I need to achieve from this content??

Surprise yourself. Don’t censor your ideas! Write your ideas on a piece of paper.

Kill the Wrong Ideas, But Do Not Say They Are Bad!

This is the most important step. Kill the ideas that aren’t as relevant as others to your main theme and continue to think up new ones as you go.

Ask Your Audience

It’s easier to finish your content writing project if you believe a greater awareness wants you to write it. As I consider my list of ideas, I always go to my audience and ask them questions. “Should I write about this?” If my audience says, “No,” I don’t write about it. Sooner or later, I stumble on an idea my audience says “yes” to. This sounds strange, but asking others is the key to success. Learn!

Second Guess Yourself

If you’ve gone through all the steps above, it’s okay to get started now. Do a little research. Start writing an article. But while still in the initial stages, before you fully commit to an idea, second guess yourself. Is this really the content I should be working on? Is there a better idea lurking within this one? If I’m going to abandon my project, I’d rather do it at the beginning, before I’ve invested a lot of time.

And Once You’ve Chosen…

Before you can say “yes” to one idea, you have to say “no” to a lot of ideas. Most of this process is about saying “no” to ideas. However, once you’ve chosen, you have to commit. There will be times when finishing your blog seems stupid, painful, and not worth your time. This whole process is about developing the faith in your idea that you will need to get through the doubt that will come in the middle.

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I Teach…

once uponYou’ve gained clients and you have a full meeting book, but you find that your clients are too on edge to be comfortable and allow themselves to develop. This blog post is all about building a relationship with your client and getting them to open to you. If you can’t connect with your client, you won’t be able to do your job. So when you meet a client and start a meeting, why don’t you try some of these top tips…

Gentle Sounds

Music can help your clients feel relaxed. Try slow, relaxing, gentle music and allow the mood to do its job. If your client is relaxed, you will have them talking about the real issues in no time at all. The right music puts people into a great mood—and that’s your first goal.

Be the Host with the Most

Offer your client a coffee or a soft beverage. Nothing alcoholic. You’ll find that the client will feel more important and will start to work with you. Be a good host to get the most from your clientele!

Be Modern, Be Comfortable

A fan may help relax a client and help to keep them cool and calm.  Make sure the room is warm first.  The most important thing you can do is keep your client comfortable. If they are too hot, their mind won’t be on the task at hand; same if they’re cold.

Keep the Conversation Going 

Chat about your client – the upcoming wedding, the kids, the job. People tend to ease up when the conversation is about them. Make everything about your client.

Reassure

You will do well to reassure your clients that they are doing a great job during the entire coaching session. You want to make sure you are reassuring them as much as possible towards the start when they will be the most nervous.

Fake It ’Til You Make It

If you’re fairly new at coaching and you’re scared of appearing unprofessional—just fake it. The more comfortable you are, the more at ease your clients will be. Never give the impression that you don’t know what you are doing.

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I Speak…

coachWe have been talking about public speaking over the last few weeks. We have discussed how to learn about your audience, how to create a rapport—but this week, I’d like to mention a few things that you should try to avoid. If you are planning to make a public speech, try to avoid falling into these tar pits.

“Can everyone hear me out there?”

Inexperienced speakers often make one big mistake. They walk out in front of their audience, tap their microphone and shout into it and ask if the people in the back of the room can hear them. If you’re speaking at a larger conference, there’s a good chance that someone has already checked the audio. It’s always a good idea to check it before you go on stage.

“Are you there? I can’t see you….”

When you’re on stage, the lights can be nearly blinding. But no one needs to know you can’t see anyone in the audience. Simply speak into the dark and give the best presentation you can. In fact, it might be better for you to forget that anyone is out there. Just try to give the audience the impression of your interest—look at them directly and… smile!

“Let me read my presentation to you!”

A presentation full of words is BORING. Use pictures, short phrases and bullet points. Try not to read your slides to the audience. That’s what their eyes are for. Everyone came to see you speak, to share your ideas, not read aloud. Any visuals or props you choose to bring along should only serve to enhance your speech. You’re the speaker—speak. Don’t read!

“I’m sorry… I didn’t prepare…”

Try not to start your presentation with an excuse like this. The people listening to your presentation are expecting you to do your best, regardless of how you feel or how much time you’ve had to prepare. If you don’t have a lot of time to practice, choose a topic that’s familiar to you. If you don’t feel well, keep calm and stay hydrated. Just get out there and entertain, educate and be a public speaker.

“Ermmmmmm…”

Try to avoid conversation breakers such as “um,” “erm,” “uh,” “you know,” and “like.” Using these words too often takes away from the effectiveness of your presentation. They are also distracting and make you sound unsure about what you’re going to say next. Try pausing if you must think of the right word. Just be calm, collected and don’t rush it. Rushing will cause you to have to use filler.

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I Write…

writingMaking the most of your content is important. Each article you write, or have written, should be promoted as a separate product. Promoting your content is almost as important as having content. This article will be about ways to make your great content even greater. We will look at how to maximize what you have.

Make Navigation Easier

Content that is difficult to find, read and enjoy – is a problem. Content that is difficult to navigate will often cause a potential client to leave your website. But using tags and categories is SO easy! Make it easier to find your content, make it easy to move onto more content, and make it easy for customers to get in touch with you. More than three clicks? Forget it. Try to keep it to just a couple of clicks.

Promote Your Content Inside Content

It’s great to have your ideal clients find and read your posts, but take it one step further … always include a next step, like reading a similar article or signing up for more information. Keep in mind you want them to stay on your site – reading your content – as long as humanly possible. Don’t make the mistake of thinking great content alone will make your customer stick around.

Keywords, SEO, Keywords, SEO

Your SEO and keywords make a big impact on potential clients finding your content – or not. Search engines help people find relative content. Their goal is to enhance user experience by helping them find what they’re looking for. When you use your keywords in an organic way, Google rewards you by increasing your search engine rank. Play the system, and the system will help you.

Share MY Content…

The most effective content is ’shareable‘ content. But what makes content shareable? It all comes down to social currency. In other words: What will the reader gain from sharing your content? Think about the types of comments, posts, and articles that you share online. What do they actually do? They often back up your position on a topic, feature something you care about, or make you look smarter or more important. Don’t dismiss shareable content.

Go Ahead and Share My Content…

The main point of creating content is to get your message in front of the right readers. When you have the right reader, consider that they probably have a lot of friends who fit the same profile. Encouraging them to share through social media gets your content in front of even more potential customers. Help yourself by helping your audience to learn from you. That’s all it is. You are helping others learn, and those people are helping you spread your word.

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I Teach…

once uponFor those of us who are new to coaching, this blog article is all about connecting with your customer. Sometimes it’s easy to build a relationship, sometimes it’s hard— but it is a crucial part of your work. You must be able to connect with the people who hire you. Let’s look at some steps that will help you build up your clients. It’s not as hard as you may think.

Warn Them, Inform Them… Let Them Know What to Expect

When you meet with a client for the first time, it would be advisable to explain to them what they’re expected to be able to do. Give them some notice. You can turn an advance warning into a relationship-building opportunity. Ask them about things they’ve wanted to do, what they’ve been trying to achieve, and actually show interest in your clients.

Take Responsibility

You’ve made an error? Turned up late to a meeting? Accepting full responsibility, while recognizing the consequences of the error, shows that you’re prepared to take it like a grown-up. People respect that.

Tone Down Your Voice When Giving Bad News

Literally. Lower the tone of your voice and your rate of speaking. Generally, when people get excited or emotional about ideas they tend to raise their voice pitch and pace. When you’re giving bad news or feedback that could be construed negatively or critically, you want to give the impression that you are thinking clearly, logically and reasonably – not emotionally – and certainly not irrationally.

ALWAYS Begin with the Good News

When you have both good news and bad, start with the good. When people hear bad news, they have an internal stress reaction that causes them to tune-out other information. Try to ensure that the client fully comprehends and appreciates the entire message by making sure you give the good news first. Always give them something to feel good about.

Express Those Negatives as Positives

Rather than saying, “We can’t meet until Tuesday,” instead try, “We can meet up as soon as Tuesday.” It’s the same information, but wording it positively enhances your message. It makes the client feel important.

Try to Remind Them of the Bigger Picture

Sometimes clients don’t realize that the ‘bad news’ is in their own best interest. Try to always frame things inside the bigger picture. Yes, this is negative today—but how does it change the plan positively? Don’t let them go away feeling as though they failed.

Follow-up! Always Follow-up!

With some clients, a well-timed phone call after bad news goes a long way in proving to the client that you’ve gone the extra mile. “I just wanted to check with you to see how things are going with that discussion we had…” That raises the perceived value of your service without spending more money. Try it. People like to feel important.

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I Speak…

sleepThis week, we are going to look at preparation for a public speech. We are going to look at how we get to know our audience. One of the first things you will want to do is research the people you will be talking to. How do you get to know them? Well, let’s learn…

Challenge Everything!

When stepping up to learn about an audience, you should keep one thing in mind. Don’t assume anything! Let’s say you’ve decided your audience is middle-aged men. Why? You are speaking to a group of car salesmen. Surely, they are middle-aged men? Wrong. Don’t take anything for granted. Unless you know for sure, keep an open mind.

Read Research from Different Sources

This is entry-level market research at its finest. Read up on some case studies, examples and psychological analyses by speakers who have gone before you. Sources include industry reporters, general market researchers and, in some cases, sociologists. Make sure you are researching your audience from all angles, and make sure your sources are credible.

Be Frankenstein! Create Your Customer

Once you’ve learned about your audience and you have a grasp of who they are, start putting together a fictional customer. Who is he? What does he want? What traits does he have? What kind of income? What kind of background? What music does he listen to? What does he drive? Try to understand your audience on all levels. You can’t connect unless you have the information to allow the connection. What do you have in common with your audience?

Surveys… Use Surveys

Whenever you are looking to talk to an audience, try to get a survey to them before you meet them. Start on a large scale and try to cover the widest cross section you possibly can. Give your customers multiple choice questions—and ask relevant questions.

Look, Listen and Learn From others

Your competitors may have already spoken to this audience, and may already have the data you need. If you are targeting the same audience, you can observe their talk and follow their footsteps. This is a good way of learning from an older, wiser competitor. Listen, learn and follow their path to success. If they failed—try to work out WHY they failed.

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I Write…

coachWhen it comes to writing content, there are hundreds of avenues you can take. From lists to articles about news events; from current issues to product reviews, the world is your oyster. But whatever you do, you would be well advised to follow some of the rules of content writing. Let’s take a look at this list and see what you can do with your content.

Make Your Content Valuable and Relevant

When internet users type a topic into a search box on any search engine, they expect the search engine results to provide information relevant to their search. If they click on your site and find irrelevant or outdated information, they will bounce from your site to the next result to find what they need.

Keep Your Content Concise

There is no need to belabor your point. Website visitors are skimmers and prefer to quickly review information. Don’t tie them down with reels and reels of information.

Keep on the Right Track

Visitors usually search very specifically and become frustrated if forced to work through a lot of information to find what they are looking for. If you have a very broad topic, consider breaking your content down and introducing one topic per paragraph so your readers can find specific information easily. You can also add links within your page content to related topics on other pages of your site rather than trying to include all your information on a single page. This will make your website infinitely more user-friendly.

Check and Recheck for Grammar and Spelling Errors

Nothing says unprofessional like a website full of spelling or grammatical errors. After you are finished copywriting, walk away from the content and come back later with fresh eyes. You may notice errors that might have otherwise been overlooked.

Use the Tried and Tested Method

Many bloggers and content writers swear by using the same technique. Put your conclusions at the beginning of your page content and work backwards from there. This puts your most important information front and center.

Write for Your Audience

You have probably heard of the importance of making your website content search engine friendly by using keywords, links, and other SEO techniques. This is important, but so is making your content readable and engaging for the humans visiting your site. After all, your goal is to convert visitors into customers. Use a conversational tone to connect with your audience, and avoid using too much fluff and marketing language.

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I Teach…

once uponSeeing several clients each day can sometimes spin your head and make you lose focus. This week, I’d like to talk about a checklist I keep with me each time I talk to coaching clients. This list helps me to keep focused and allows me to understand what I need to do to help my clients. I think this list could be useful for you, too. Print it off—and use it daily. It will really help you get down to the nitty-gritty of what is important.

Build a Relationship of Mutual Trust

The foundation of any coaching relationship is rooted in your day-to-day relationship with your client. Without some degree of trust, conducting an effective coaching meeting is impossible. Try to make sure the relationship is one of working together, rather than working apart.

Open the Meeting and Take Control

In opening a coaching meeting, it’s important for you to clarify, in a nonevaluative, non-accusatory way, the specific reason the meeting was arranged. The key to this step is to restate — in a friendly, non-judgmental manner — the meeting purpose that was first set when the appointment was scheduled.

Find Common Ground and Agreement

Probably the most critical step in the coaching meeting process is getting your client to agree verbally that a performance issue exists. Overlooking or avoiding the performance issue because you assume the person understands its significance is a typical mistake of coaches. To persuade a client that a performance issue exists, a coach must be able to define the nature of the issue and get the client to recognize the consequences of not changing his or her behavior. To do this, you must specify the behavior and clarify the consequences.

Explore All the Alternatives

Try to explore ways the issue can be improved or corrected by encouraging the client to identify alternative solutions. Avoid jumping in with your own alternatives, unless the client is unable to think of any. Push for specific alternatives and not generalizations. Your goal in this step is not to choose an alternative, which is the next step, but to maximize the number of choices for the client to consider and to discuss their advantages and disadvantages.

Look for Commitment and Action

The next step is to help the client choose an alternative. Don’t make the choice for the client. To accomplish this step, the coach must be sure to get a verbal commitment from the client regarding what action will be taken and when it will be taken. Be sure to support the client’s choice and always offer praise.

Make Sure You Handle Those Ever-Present Excuses

Client excuses may occur at any point during the coaching meeting. To handle excuses, rephrase the point by taking a comment or statement that was perceived by the client to be blaming or accusatory and recast it as an encouragement for the client to examine his or her behavior. Respond empathically to show support for the clients’ situation and communicate an understanding of both the content and feeling of the client’s comment.

Provide Crucial Feedback

Effective coaches understand the value and importance of giving continual performance feedback to their people, both positive and corrective.

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I Speak…

coachGetting to actually know your audience is a crucial part of giving a presentation. This blog article is all about actually knowing the audience you are going to talk to. Sincerity is one of your biggest selling tools. Being sincere will go a long way towards warming your audience to your presentation. But how can you be sincere if you don’t know your audience? Why don’t we find out?

Ask, Ask and Ask Again

The more you know about your audience, the better your presentation will be. A good public speaker will ask questions. Before you even get on the stage, you should meet with your demographic and find out about them. What would you like to know? How would you like to hear it? What would be crucial to you? Then you need to actually research the presentation area itself. How big is the room? How is it laid out? You need intel, and that should be your first priority. Know, ask and find out everything you can before you set up a presentation.

Let’s Get Personal, Personal!

If you can, you should try meeting your audience before the presentation. Who put the event together? Who is the boss? Who is the chairman? Find out and befriend these people. Once you have these people on side, the others will be a piece of cake. If you can connect with the decision makers, they will give you legitimacy and will help you create a relationship with the group as a whole.

Engage!

From the start, you should be looking to engage with your audience. Some audiences might enjoy plays on words, topical humor, political nuances, even raunchiness. A series of great questions may be the way to engage your audience. You need to be ready to actually get your hands dirty and engage with those people waiting to hear you talk.

Know, Know, Know Your Audience and What They Know

You are the expert on your subject. But how much does your audience know? This is a critical question that can make or break a presentation. No matter how slick and together you are, if you talk over everyone’s head, they’ll be baffled, not enthralled. On the other hand, if the audience is up to speed, they may find that your presentation is less than engaging.

Say “NO” to Being a Diva

No one likes a selfish speaker, and nothing derails a good presentation faster than a presenter who is more interested in presenting themselves than their subject. You must be authoritative and confident when you step in front of a group of peers, but you must never be cocky or over-confident. Focus on the material, not yourself, and you’ll go far!

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