Vickie Sullivan is internationally recognized as a top market strategist for experts. Specializing in branding for high-fee professional speaker markets, she has launched thousands of thought leaders since 1987. Vickie’s groundbreaking work has earned her an appointment on the Women’s Leadership Board for the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. In that capacity, she presented three times to the Harvard student body on personal branding and prominence.

On Saturday she presented to a somewhat less august institution than Harvard. She rocked the house at the meeting of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association. Her presentation, Brand It And They Will Come: Build a High-Fee Brand When You Are Not Famous, was short on fluff and long on street-wise detail to help the average $1,000 - $5,000 speaker in the audience stand out from the crowd.

An era of practicality

With meeting expenditure down, even as the number of meetings are trending higher, clients are doing more with less. Unlike the go-go days of the boom period, we are now living in an era of practicality. Executives are micromanaging meetings down to the level of choosing the theme and seating arrangements. They are sending interns to do first-round interviews with prospective speakers. Many speakers are not only competing with each other for gigs, they are competing with the authors, bloggers and social media mavens who will speak for free in order to pimp their books and consulting programs.

So what’s a novice speaker to do?

First, lose the obsession with presentation skills. Being able to present well is table stakes. Next, realize meeting organizers divide the world into speakers who are nice to have and those they gotta have. In order to fall into the latter camp the information you offer has to overlap with the buyers perceived needs and beat out the other options being considered for the meeting agenda. You have to stand out from the crowd by uniquely branding yourself. Getting hired requires you create a vivid picture in the client’s mind of what they will get when you speak at their event. Craft your brand in a way that appeals to the buyers emotions and creates an image of you in a category of one. Vicki goes into more detail on the importance of differentiation in this Special Report on her website:

If branding is the promise you make to the market, then differentiation is the stage you use to deliver on your promise.

The Three Keys to a High-Fee Brand

One: A Successful Story

Your compelling story is only useful to the extent it teaches others. Sports hero’s have a problem on the speaking circuit if their motivational stories don’t connect with the couch potatoes in the audience. We can connect with the audience by telling stories that break with the expected and bring opposites into play, compare unexpected things or roles or reveal a Eureka moment. Vickie’s website has an article on writing Stories That Create The Emotional Drive To Buy.

Two: A Point of View

Build a point of view around hot issues. Focus on a Big Idea. Make the invisible visible. Tell people things they’ve not heard before. Three options that help build a unique point of view:

1. Predict the Future - what can we expect that will impact the audience’s world in unexpected ways? In my world, I’m seeing a growing backchannel of communication using PDA’s and social media to converse about the speaker while they are still onstage.
2. Sound the Alarm - what does the audience need to know that will save their skins? Again, in my own world, too much information is being crammed into presentations by subject matter experts. Someone else in the audience today shared how middle managers in Silicon Valley technology companies are addicted to the corporate crack of repeatedly launching projects to boost their career without realizing they are burning everyone out with their 7×24 demands. She realized she could develop a compelling point of view by sounding the alarm about this destructive behavior.
3. Call The Game - what are people doing that’s having an impact they don’t understand? In the corporate world it’s often the belief that 33 PowerPoint slides are needed where three would be more effective at getting the message across. I can call the game by showing presenters how they can speak less and say more.

Three: Compelling Content

Vickie writes that compelling content creates constant curiosity:

Curiosity is our radar system. It gives us early warning to change and opens the door for innovation. All of us use this emotion to be inventive and fulfilled. The media and the marketplace use curiosity to search for the latest thinking, a fresh perspective that jumpstarts conversations and originality. Help your market get what they don’t have, and watch buyers run to you to learn more.

Softly Softly

As dynamic and challenging as we need to be to brand ourselves, Vickie warns against alienating clients. Before you hit them upside the head with frightening predictions or ring the alarm bells, she advises that you start by stating something everyone can agree with. Then focus in and add a unique twist before explaining why you are proposing a credible alternative to the status quo.

Vickie Unplugged

After the event ended, I wanted to hear more from Vickie, so I asked her to explain how the era of practicality impacts speakers and why she believes it’s important that we keep an air of mystery about what we do. To hear what she told me, click on the podcast icon below.

 

 Interview: Vickie Sullivan [8:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here’s a speech I gave at the Speakers Forum - an advanced Toastmasters Club that meets on the 4th Saturday of each month at the Concord Police Station, Concord, California.

In this 5-7 minute presentation I discuss the differences in pronunciation and meaning between English and American uses of the same language.

Jack Sramek is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a former Marine Corps Fighter Pilot. He flew 125 combat missions in Vietnam as a member of the famous “Blacksheep Squadron” and served as the personal aide to Lt. General Lewis W. Walt, commander of all Marines in Vietnam. Upon leaving the Marine Corps, he continued flying as a pilot with Trans World Airlines, completing a 30 year career.

In parallel with his position at TWA, he obtained a California Real Estate Broker’s license in 1974. Remembering his parents’ experience as owners of a 50 acre farm near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which they sold at retirement for 100 times more than they had initially paid for it, he began a career in Land Banking. He watched Orange County and the San Jose area go from agricultural land to what they are today, as urban growth multiplied land values. Bob Hope, Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers and others built huge fortunes by buying and holding land in the path of growth.

Strategic land banking has been the best kept secret in the investment community. Few people are aware of how, why and where to take advantage of this simple supply and demand option or the fact that they can use their IRA, 401(k) or other investment funds to acquire pre-development land.

With one out of every eight people in the United States living in California, Jack is on a mission to teach people how to use this vehicle for diversification, college educations, retirement or general wealth accumulation. He frequently speaks professionally on the subject, is honing his skills at Pro-Track and is presently completing a book on how to use land banking to “hatch a million dollar nest egg.”

Jack can be reached at Jack@StirlingSP.com
His website is www.StrategicLandBanking.com.

To hear what he told me about his background and his reasons for enrolling in Pro-Track, click on the podcast icon below.

 

 Interview: Jack Sramek [4:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“I think heckling is something the people of Britain can well be proud of…” - Joseph Strick, documentary film maker, 1966

A BBC documentary film caught priceless moments in the 1966 British election. Politicians mixed it up with vocal members of the electorate who have no compunction about joining in the debate from the audience in the time honored tradition of “heckling”.

There’s a marked contrast with the recent “Tea Party” interruptions in the US. Back in 1966 Britain, the dialog, however robust and vocal, involves a shared understanding of the rules of the game between the speaker, the heckler and the audience. Save for the anarchists, the protesters often relish engaging in dialog. Even when it becomes violent the policemen have smiles on their faces and let the protesters finish their cigarettes before bundling them into the police car. In the US it was mere confrontation, with none of the repartee displayed by heckler and speaker in some of the scenes in this fascinating documentary.

Combining the wit of a stand-up comedian with the vocal variety of a fairground barker, these British politicians show how effective public speakers can deal with interruptions by working the bond with the audience and appealing to their supporters, who intervene on behalf of the speaker to silence dissent.

It’s a long-gone world of duffel coats and briar pipes, when everyone seemed to be having a bad hair day.

Read the BBC blog and watch the fascinating 40 minute video.

Nancy Duarte (whose company designed the slides in “An Inconvenient Truth”) did a riveting analysis of Steve Ballmer’s Windows 7 launch speech transcript.

She color-coded Apple campaign references; unnecessary filler words or phrases; confusing words, phrases or statistics; Ballmer’s references to himself; upgrade fixes problems, and bold statements with no supporting information.

Nancy’s analysis is a useful technique for all professional speakers to critique their own presentations and see where there is room for improvement.

(Thanks to Rebecca Morgan of SpeakerNetNews for flagging this!)

How to augment your live presentation using social media

Effective public speaking is a challenge for many executives. They must prepare interesting content, overcome stage fright and deliver a speech that will hold the audience’s attention. As if that wasn’t difficult enough, they are increasingly likely to find themselves looking out at a sea of faces illuminated by the glow of laptops and PDAs. Social media is invading the auditorium, and rather than tuning out while a speech is delivered, people are turning on laptops and cell phones to send out text messages, broadcasting to the world their opinions of a presentation.

Changing presentations forever

In his new book, The Backchannel: How Audiences are Using Twitter and Social Media and Changing Presentations Forever, Cliff Atkinson explains how these new forms of online communication are shifting the rules of engagement between audiences and presenters. Instead of sitting politely until it’s time for Q & A, people are going online during the address to swap comments and opinions via an electronic backchannel.

At the very least, Atkinson claims, speakers and their communications support staff need to be aware that there is likely to be a backchannel in the room and learn how to monitor it or be left out of the conversation. Beyond this basic awareness, he encourages communicators to take the initiative and employ social media as an integral part of any executive’s presentation.

Practical advice

Atkinson’s book covers a lot of ground, from how to open a Twitter account to advice on expanding the conversation with the audience. He details how social media can transform a presentation from a one-off information dump into a longer-term relationship—one that starts before you step onto the podium. His advice includes:

• Breaking a speech into “Twitter-sized chunks” to make it easier for people to post 140-character sound bites. One measure of success then becomes how many of these summary statements are posted and reposted online.
• Using Twitter as a vehicle to extend your ideas to people outside the room, giving them a “virtual stage pass” to the event.
• Creating instant polls using tools, such as Twtpoll and Poll Everywhere, to involve the audience.
• Publishing a Presentation Home Page using wiki software. For example, I was inspired by Atkinson’s book to create http://execcomms.wikispaces.com/ listing my past and future talks. A Presentation Home Page is a convenient archive for reference material; blog postings; a Twitter feed; bio and contact information and more. This shifts the burden from overly busy PowerPoint slides as the sole way to communicate information. Also, by implementing a page like this prior to an event you initiate a backchannel that involves the audience, letting you gather comments and suggestions before you deliver the talk. After the event, the page becomes a repository for evaluation responses, blog postings, reference material and a transcript.

Double-edged sword

Atkinson acknowledges there are both risks and rewards involved in the backchannel. It enables people to connect online and become part of a shared community, but at the risk of leaving out those who are unaware of what is happening. It gives the speaker a way to reach a wider audience, but at the risk of distracting the smooth delivery of material. It provides an archive for comments and opinions, but a series of 140-character notes can lack context. And there’s the very real risk that the comments people make on Twitter might lack civility and shock presenters with their sometimes brutal honesty.

A two-way conversation

Though this approach is not for everyone, Atkinson describes a potent way in which social media allows a (frightening?) new level of transparency that speakers can use to transform a one-way stream of communication into a dialogue with the audience—before, during and after the speech.

The Backchannel might not bring welcome news to presenters who are wedded to the old school ways of controlling audience response and involvement, but is clearly shows how you can magnify the impact of a speech using social media.

So, in the spirit of the book, what do you think are the risks and rewards of a social media backchannel? Leave your comments below or tweet them with the hashtag #backchannelbook.

This review was originally published in ragan.com.

In order to gain a competitive edge it is essential for professionals to strive for both professional and personal excellence. Frauke Schorr’s work focuses on professionals who struggle and need outside expertise to bring their careers, businesses, and teams to the next level.

As part of her PhD in Organizational Psychology Frauke interviewed highly accomplished entrepreneurs and leaders on their experience of becoming successful. She found that the most successful leaders hold the mindset of a Centered Leader™ - They had a continuous curiosity to learn something new, challenge themselves, and stretch their boundaries while being grounded in a frame that was uniquely build on their personal values, beliefs, and passions. They also had the distinct ability to translate this frame into a company culture. They were, as Frauke describes it, leading from the inside-out.

Frauke uses this framework in her company, Centered Leadership™, a corporate training and executive coaching firm dedicated to developing business leaders on all levels of the corporation. It supports clients in defining and developing their careers and business, making successful career transitions, and becoming visionary leaders who engage and motivate others to achieve desired results.

Frauke can be reached at (650) 539-5553 or via email at frauke@centered-leadership.com.

Pro-Track Profile

I met with Frauke at the kick-off meeting of the 2010 National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter year0long Pro-Track class. She told me something about her business and why she was investing Pro-Track training. To hear what she told me, click on the podcast icon below.

 

 Interview: Frauke Schoor [3:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I need your help.

On Friday February 12th I’m presenting at the Ragan Speechwriters Conference in Washington, DC. The title my talk is Beyond the Auditorium: Magnifying the Impact of a Speech with Social Media. While I hope some readers of Professionally Speaking will be at the event, I’d like to hear from anyone who has an opinion to share.

My talk will cover three main areas:

1. Using LinkedIn Groups & Polls to research topics before you start writing a speech.
2. Using Twitter to open up a backchannel for discussion during a speech.
3. Using Podcasts and videos to reach people after a speech is delivered.

If you’d like to know more, you can see my draft slides, read an outline of the talk and even watch a preview video on this presentation home page.

I’d like to hear what’s on your mind and suggestions you might have that would improve my presentation.

• What would you like to hear covered in a session like this?
• What questions come to mind that you would want answered?
• How can I make sure that the people who come to my presentation in DC walk away satisfied?

Share you opinions in the comments area below or by logging in to the presentation home page.

Thanks!

“We must always remember that the act of speaking professionally is only a part of our individual journeys. It is not a destination.”
- Phillip Van Hooser

The Evolution of a Professional Speaking Career

Since 1988, NSA President Phillip Van Hooser, CSP, CPAE, has spoken, written, coached and consulted on leadership and service professionalism issues with groups and organizations around the globe.

On Saturday January 9, 2009, he presented at the NSA Northern California Chapter meeting. His talk, Uncommon Business Practices That Will Help You Re-Think, Re-Position and Re-Tool Your Way to Speaking Success, reviewed the evolution of his own speaking career and the lessons this holds for other professional speakers.

Van Hooser stated that there are five distinct stages in a typical speaking career:

1. The dream is born

Some fall into a speaking career by chance. But Phil has dreamed of being a professional speaker since he was very young. His grandmother was an early influence who told the eight-year-old he would become a Baptist preacher. That didn’t happen, but he did became enamored with natural orators: the preachers, teachers and politicians of his Kentucky childhood.

2. The journey begins

By age 15 he had started keeping a notebook on public speaking. He recorded what the speakers he heard said, then progressed to noticing how they said what they said — the ways in which they delivered their material.

3. A business materializes

Every speaker must choose a moment to declare themselves a professional. For Van Hooser, that moment was the afternoon of April 7, 1988 when he quit his corporate job. With the “confidence born of ignorance” he started his business with no prospects or speaking material. He did, however, enjoy the support of his wife Susan who has been his business partner for the past 20 years. Now — 2,800 paid presentations later — Phil’s advice to others considering a career as a speaker is not to quit the day job until you have material developed and clients lined up.

4. The work expands

Speakers need to stay current. Changes in technology and the economy mean that what worked at the start of our careers will not continue to work. We need to evolve personally and professionally. The secret, Phil says, is to listen to the audience. As speakers we might think we know what people like, but the audience will let us know what they actually benefit from.

5. Reflection is inevitable

Many older people, looking back at their lives, wish they had taken more risks. They also wish they had taken time out to reflect, slowing down the weeks and months that otherwise pass by in a blur. Many wish they had contributed something to the world that would outlast their own lifespan.

As speakers, we must take the risk of stepping outside our safety zone and learn from our mistakes. We must invest ourselves in the people in our audience, and reflect on the unique opportunity we have to make a difference to thousands of people. Finally, when we speak with passion and conviction, we’ll see the light bulb go off in people’s eyes and know that we have connected with them. We never know when something we say in a presentation will change someone’s life. It’s this possibility, Van Hooser says, that makes the hard work of being a professional speaker worthwhile.

Grandmother Van Hooser clearly saw something in young Phillip that has now benefited tens of thousands of people.

Podcast Interview

To hear what Phil told me about his role as President of the National Speakers Association, how American speakers are perceived internationally and why professional speaking is the hardest job he’s ever had, click on the podcast icon below.

Phil can be contacted at phil@vanhooser.com.

 

 Interview: Phillip Van Hooser [6:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Janet Hebert has been a ranch hand (her parents raised prunes on over 100 acres in the Coyote Valley), an elementary school teacher, a full time single mom for her two children Katie and Jeff, and a caregiver for her own mother.

Janet has been speaking for the past 15 years. She has been a frequent competitor in Toastmasters District 4 – progressing to the Division and District contests several times, and all the way to the Regional level in the International Speech Contest in 2000. It was in the process of attending the Toastmasters contests that she met her husband Paul, also a winner at the District level.

Janet is a 16-year breast cancer survivor. For the past 15 years she has been speaking to audiences large and small on behalf of the American Cancer Society, helping raise awareness and inspire action for individuals and groups. While listening to Janet, audiences learn about cancer in general, how to detect it early, and what help is available when cancer is discovered. Listeners learn not only the facts - they learn about the compassion and human warmth behind the work of the American Cancer Society. Her engaging style, candor and deep commitment to helping others - as she herself was helped - make her a preferred presenter for ACS. She enjoys the opportunity to share information and her story, believing with each talk that she may be helping to save someone’s life.

Pro-Track Profile

The 2010 Pro-Track program kicks off on Saturday January 23 at the Burlingame, CA, Hilton Hotel.

Janet is excited to be a part of Pro-Track. She is pursuing her dream of becoming a professional speaker and impacting many more lives with both her unique perspectives and heartfelt good will.

I talked with Janet on the phone about the origins of her interest professional speaking and what she is looking for in the Pro-Track program. To hear what she told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Janet can be reached at (408) 226-8283 or by email at janet@costaclan.com.

 

 Interview: Janet Hebert [6:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download