Posted on

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.

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here

Posted on

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.

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here

Posted on

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.

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here

Posted on

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!

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here

Posted on

I Write…

once uponWriting content sounds very easy. It’s just a case of sitting down and pouring forth ideas, right? Well… it’s not really that easy. It has to be structured. You have to know what you are going to write, how you’re going to write it, and how the reader will react to it. You have to understand that the reader can click off your website at any moment. You want to keep them there, but you don’t know how. Why don’t you follow the rules of writing content? Let’s take a look at them.

What Do You Want to Achieve?

One major reason for taking your time when writing content is to decide what it is you want to say. What are you hoping your content will accomplish? Is the purpose of your article to explain how something works, put a customer on a determined conversion path, build brand trust? Whatever goal you’ve decided on, have it in mind before you start writing.

And Your Point Is…

Every piece of content you write should have a pretty big hook built into it. Whether it’s a current event, a problem, a joke or an educational piece, you want to decide how you’re going to draw people in. Keeping the hook in mind will help you frame your article and organize it in your head. It will also determine the writing style that you use. Give it a try.

Walk Like a Panther… Think Like Your Reader

Before you put your fingers to the keyboard, get into the heads of your audience because your content is for them. If you’re attempting to explain something, talk about it from their point of view. How deeply would they need something broken down? Which terms would they use? Where might they get confused? Put yourself in the place of your customers and write like they would.

Read Your Content Out Loud and Proud

If you want to improve your content, read it to yourself before you publish it. If you find yourself stumbling over something or think you’re being bland, it may turn your reader off. I never publish or commit to any piece of writing before I’ve read it aloud to myself several times. If you try this technique, you will find yourself writing much better content.

And Then Root Out the Typos

Everyone falls victim to typos. Be careful and re-read your work. Even the biggest books from the biggest publishers have a typo hiding in their best selling books. Take your time, root them out and then publish when you know you’ve done your best.

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here

Posted on

I Teach…

sleepThis week, we are going to look at coaching and beginning a career in coaching. You’re now in a position to be a coach, and you’re ready to begin… but where do you start? How do you get those crucial first clients? How do you know how much to charge? What do you do? What have others done? This article is all about the first crucial steps towards success as a coach. Let’s take a look…

A Clear Path to Success

One of the most useful pieces of advice is to have a plan and see how you will fulfil your goals. In the meantime, have smaller, doable goals, so you know you’re on track. Each time you achieve one of the smaller goals, you will find yourself closer to success with the bigger goals. You should always be looking at the bigger picture—where are you and where do you want to be?

Keep It Simple

Nobody in the world can do it all. That being said, you should plan on putting in lots of hours and energy into your business, at least for the first year or two until you have a good clientele base with a waiting list, and you have a reliable marketing engine. Later, however, you will want to learn the power of saying “no.” Nobody needs to work 100 hours a week.

Family Support

Your loved ones can also assist you in your endeavors and make it easier. Rather than feel bad that you’re not doing as much for everyone else, use your coaching skills to fully communicate what you’re really up to. When you share your inspiration and how much this means to you, the people who care most about you will whole-heartedly join your team, and they may even help you find clients.

Look After the Money

When you know you have enough money coming in already, you can afford to trust the process of attracting clients. Starting a business is not like starting a new job. You won’t get a reliable paycheck every two weeks. But your time investment up front will pay off handsomely if you go the distance. Reduce debts by negotiating for lower interest rates. Stop paying for things you aren’t using. Be careful with your money, and you’ll go far.

Promote, Promote, Shout

In your first year of coaching, even if your coaching skills aren’t fully honed yet, share your excitement and inspiration about coaching with pretty much everybody. Don’t be attached to getting them to understand coaching the way you do. They probably won’t. But do share your energy.

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here

Posted on

I Speak…

writingA huge part of public speaking is knowing about your audience, and knowing how you are going to approach that audience. This week’s public speaking article is all about your relationship with your audience. How do you capture their interest, and how do you know what their interest is? How do you turn a mundane subject into something people will want to listen to? Well, buckle up, and let’s take a look at some of the steps!

Research and Understand Your Audience

When you are in front of a business audience, it is important to know their background. Are they colleagues, middle managers or trainees? Finding out about their business experience and their companies will be very important. Armed with this information, you can make a passing reference to their company’s history or profile, which they can relate to. You can tie your information to the subject that matters to them.

Go Beyond Your Words…

You are communicating a message or information, or entertaining. Or it may be a combination of all three. The words you are using are merely a vehicle for conveying your ideas. They are not sufficient on their own. You must feel what you are saying.

Don’t JUST Read Your Speech

There are several reasons why this could be disastrous. If you just stand in front of the audience and read, you will be in danger of boring your listeners. Remember that really dull college professor who droned on for hours on end? That would be you. The more you read, the more you will chance mumbling and failing to make eye contact. Improvise, and feel your way towards a great speech.

Practice, Practice, Practice

You need to get really familiar with the contents of your speech. If you lack confidence, the best way to do this is to try and memorize the main points, and you can use a list of notes for this. You have to go over and over it again, timing yourself so that you do not go over the time allocated. If you prefer, you can also use cards with the main points on them, just in case you forget. A good idea is to number the cards, just in case you drop them! Give it a try—it’ll work like a charm.

Become Personal

No, don’t take this the wrong way. Nobody wants to hear the ins and outs of your divorce. But people still love stories. An anecdote or two can work wonders. Tell them about your personal involvement in a project and what went right or wrong. Jokes are great, too, although these should be kept to a minimum. All these things are important for bonding with your audience.

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here

Posted on

I Write…

writingAs we’ve been talking about content over the last few weeks, I’d like to discuss creating good content this week. The kind of content people will actually want to read. The fact is that you can hire a great content writer, but you still have to understand the rules of content—you have to get the basic marketing facts. And some of them can be found below!

YOU Not Me

People love themselves. It didn’t take the advent of the selfie for that to be evident. So, create content that is customized to your audience. Use their names, their faces – anything that makes the content about them. Make everything about the people you want to sell to.

Everyone IS Listening…

One of the most overlooked sources of content is your customers. They ask questions about your brand everywhere. The content might not go viral, but your customers will appreciate being heard and responded to, and it will lessen the burden on your content writer. Plus, the feel-good factor will really please your customers. A company that actually listens to people? Who’d have thunk it?

We’re Only Human

Try to capitalize on the human side of your brand by being human in your content. And remember, just like humans, brands are not perfect. They make mistakes, and they can laugh at themselves. It’s okay to make fun of yourself—seriously!

Content Is FREE

Creating content that is free does not mean endless self-serving, evergreen articles replete with shameless plugs and links to your product pages. It means investing the time to create something of value to people. It can be as simple as one piece of useful, well-designed content, like a cooking cheat sheet or in-depth, brand-free buying guide. Become a trusted resource for valuable information first. For example, look at the toys McDonalds gives away—those are useful gestures that bring kids back again, and again, and again. Think of your content in the same way.

Cute Is GOOD

It is never more evident that we are sold by sentimental content than when the ads with cute turtles, kittens, or doggies come onto your TV. Cute means sales.

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here

Posted on

I Teach…

fear11Many life coaches themselves fail, and that failure can be caused by a multitude of problems they personally have not dealt with. These can range from not understanding the amount of energy and time required, not having a motivational touch, or simply life coaching only for money. To succeed in anything, you have to have a love for it—not just a desire to cash in. Let’s take a look at five reasons why coaching businesses fail.

You Aren’t Living It!

Why on Earth would you coach someone on something you don’t—or wouldn’t—do yourself? People can smell a lie a long way. If you want to be the best life coach in the industry, you need to do more than just learn and give your knowledge. You need to start living it! Walk the walk, and lead by example—don’t just lead with words.

You Just Haven’t Mastered It

There are coaches who are pretty good at a lot of different things and are so excited to share their knowledge with their clients, yet fail miserably to differentiate themselves because they are, frankly, a dime a dozen. The best thing you could do as a coach, for your coaching business and your clients, is to pick a maximum of 3 very specific topics to coach on. If you’re a life coach, which specific parts of life will you focus on? The more targeted and focused you are, the more focused your clients will be, and the better results both you and your clients will see. If you’re an expert—be an expert!

It’s Not You… It’s Me

Just because you are able to get people revved up, doesn’t mean you’re bound to be a great coach. In fact, the definition of motivate is to give someone a motive to do something. That does not mean they’ll actually do it. Most coaches can give great strategies. The difference in going from good to great in coaching is getting your clients to actually take action.

Your Own Motives Have Priority

As a business or life coach, it is imperative that you focus on what your coaching clients want and need, NOT what you personally want. Your motives should be their motives. The second you prioritize what you think is important versus what your coaching client thinks is important, you have failed.

A Single Approach Is the Wrong Approach

If you’re not getting through to your coaching clients, it’s not them, it’s you. When you have only one approach, your level of influence will suffer tremendously, and neither you, nor your clients, will see results. Having only one approach is like driving down a dead-end road; it’s unlikely you’ll ever reach your destination. Just because one approach or strategy worked for you before, it does not mean it’ll work every time.

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here

Posted on

I Speak…

sleepSo, we’ve spoken at length about public speaking and ways to excel as a public speaker—but we haven’t spoken about actually getting work as a public speaker. This blog is all about ways to find work. It’s not easy to convince someone to pay you to speak—sometimes it will seem impossible—but if you truly want to be a paid public speaker, you should be exploring these avenues.

Universities, Colleges and Schools

Look around you. Chances are, you live close to a university, college, state school, technical school, or some other educational institution. Team up with a professor or department head to hold a forum a subject relevant to you and the educator’s interest group. Invite people from the community to attend, as well.

Network in Your Business Groups

These lead exchange or facilitated networking groups are designed to be a tightly knit group of individuals from diverse businesses who meet regularly for the purpose of bringing business opportunities to the other members. Popular groups are Le Tip, Business Networking International (BNI), and Local Business Network (LBN). Join your preferred group and let the members know that you’re interested in speaking opportunities.

Clubs and Special Interest Groups

Music fanatic? Mother of a child? Coder with mad skills? No matter what your interest or circumstance, there’s a group for it. And if you can share information on a topic that’s relevant to its members, they’ll welcome you as a speaker.

Local Publications

Most areas have a magazine or newspaper devoted to area business news. Check out the periodical’s Events page (in print or online), then contact the organizations who have listed presentations and pitch them for speaking.

Your Clients

No need to get all fancy and overlook one of your most highly qualified sources! Ask your clients which groups they belong to and whether they accept outside speakers.

Other Professionals Who Speak Professionally

Look around at your colleagues, competitors, and other professionals who target the same audience you do. Check their websites and LinkedIn profiles to see where they’ve spoken. You can follow in their footsteps.

YOUR VISION TORCH Series
Achieve Your Dreams, Ignite Your Vision, & Re-engineer Your Life Purpose

AVAILABLE: amazonbarnes and noble   

Vision Torch Banner1

More blog articles at www.yourinneryou.com
Dear Princess Column at: www.sentimentalnursewriter.com

Download your free sample here