Karen Jacobsen: The GPS Girl

Karen JacobsenNo member of the National Speakers Association speaks to as many people on a daily basis as does Karen Jacobsen. Her voice is one of the options on over 100 million GPS systems and 300 million smartphones. She’s the one we hear when lose our way and the GPS tells us it is ‘recalculating’.

On Saturday she spoke to members of the NSA Northern California Chapter.

Oh Say Can You See?

Karen, a professional singer-songwriter raised in Australia and now a native of New York, began her presentation with a stunning rendition of the American national anthem — she’s sung The Star Spangled Banner in baseball stadiums across the country. She then gave the motivational speech she delivers to corporate clients, listing five ‘GPS Girl’ life-lessons, interspersed with her own songs:

  • Is your inner GPS telling you that you are off your route?
  • Are you willing to change direction?
  • Have you clarified your destination?
  • Are you ready to embrace the steering wheel?
  • Accelerate!

Her speaker demo reel shows some of what we enjoyed:

Directions for Speaker Success

Following this showcase presentation, Karen shifted gears (so to speak) and shared her insights into success in the speaking business. She helped us navigate a list of 44 directions for speaker success in business, well-being, speech delivery and quality of life. They included recommendations on everything from being sure to stay hydrated (crucial for all speakers, not just singers), eating a diet of living foods, avoiding toxins, daily meditation practice and exercise to keeping an uncluttered office, participating in a mastermind group and working with a business coach. She emphasized these are a destination to aim for, not something we achieve immediately.

Taking Care of Business

Here’s the GPS Girl’s list of business goals:

  1. I can describe the outcomes for my clients in one sentence.
  2. I have a three minute Speaker Video I am proud of.
  3. My website is updated regularly and clearly represents my brand.
  4. I am using professional photographs taken in the past 12 months.
  5. My business cards are on excellent high quality stock.
  6. My social media strategy works for me and my online and offline presence are consistent.
  7. I use Quickbooks (or an equivalent), my accounting is up-to-date and taxes are paid.
  8. I know I look well-groomed and feel confident walking into any room.
  9. I make daily phone calls as part of my marketing strategy.
  10. I save at least 10% of my income.
  11. I am earning my target revenue.

These are valuable goals for any freelancer, entrepreneur or small business owner, not just those in the speaking profession.

To hear a short extract from Karen’s presentation, discussing the first two of these business goals, click on the podcast icon below.

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Thanks for your awesome post. I want to improve my voice. So i am really fan of your site.



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