Here’s an edited audio track from the second of the five webinars on Practical Social Networking that Jim Carrillo and I hosted in September. This webinar was first broadcast on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.

Audio will not give the full webinar experience – we often refer to information shown onscreen, such as website pages from LinkedIn, Facebook and so on. However, the recorded audio contains useful information.

A full set of webinar recordings which include all the information shown onscreen is available from the Practical Social Networking website.

You can hear the audio by clicking on the podcast icon below, or, since the recording takes over 50 minutes, choose the download option and store it on your PC or sync to your iPod.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:23 — 25.8MB)

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Here’s an edited audio track from the first of the five webinars on Practical Social Networking that Jim Carrillo and I hosted in September. This webinar was first broadcast on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.

Audio will not give the full webinar experience – we often refer to information shown onscreen, such as website pages from LinkedIn, Facebook and so on. However, the recorded audio contains useful information.

A full set of webinar recordings which include all the information shown onscreen is available from the Practical Social Networking website.

You can hear the audio by clicking on the podcast icon below, or, since the recording takes over 50 minutes, choose the download option and store it on your PC or sync to your iPod.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:49 — 24.6MB)

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NSA/NC September Meeting

September marks the start a new year of meetings for the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA/NC). It kicked off with a “Wealthy Speaker Seminar” conducted by Jane Atkinson, who promised to share a “Proven Formula for Catapulting You To The Top 3%” of the speaking business. Jane reported that top speakers earn over $1 million annually.

Jane has been helping speakers grow their businesses for more than 18 years. As an agent for speakers, she has represented speaking super stars Vince Poscente, Joe Calloway and Peter Legge as well as best-selling authors and celebrities. A former vice president of International Speakers Bureau, Jane has seen the industry from many angles.

The Wealthy Speaker

Jane’s new book, The Wealthy Speaker: The Proven Formula for Building Your Successful Speaking Business details many of the tools she shared in the morning seminar.

These include:

Ready, Aim, Fire: first, get crystal-clear about what your expertise is; then roll out marketing materials that enable customers to find you; finally deliver your expertise to audiences from the podium.

Focus on your speech: “No fancy brochure or website can overcome a mediocre speech.” Tips for creating a powerful speech include:

1. Use humor – once the endorphins kick in, the audience is more receptive to your message.
2. Be real, open and authentic.
3. Be congruent with your message, both on and off the platform.
4. Deliver a focused message with one main idea and three points.
5. Tell great stories – especially ones that are about the audience, not you.

Outline your speech: Pick one theme and a through-line. Would the message of the speech look good printed on a T-shirt? Does it have three main points and a hook to hang it on?

Ask, “Who do I need to become to take my speech to new heights?” It’s all about positioning: become an expert first, a speaker second.

“Clients no longer want to hire speakers. They want to hire smart people who happen to speak.”

Expertise – Topics – Revenue

Jane recommends that we each become an expert in one area we are are passionate about. This is the “lane” we travel in. Don’t get stuck doing things we are merely good at. Find an area of expertise people will pay for. Choose this one area and develop a number of topics around it.

Ask “What do I need to become, to be the expert?” It might be focusing on a topic. It might be standing tall and stepping fully into the knowledge you already have.

In my case, my expertise is helping executives communicate effectively. The topics I’ve developed center on my services as a speechwriter. These services include writing one-time speeches for CEOs as well as company overview or Vision Pitch presentations delivered multiple times in the Executive Briefing Centers of major Silicon Valley companies. More recently, I’ve added topics involving Social Media and re-purposing a speech with podcasting. This allows asychronous communication of the speech outside the room in which it is delivered.

Jane suggests that we build revenue streams which flow from each of our topics. In my case, I have my consulting fees and more recently the recorded webinars, workbooks and clinics ranging in price from $39 – $499 available on Practical Social Networking.

Websites

Jane reminds us that a good website is a key requirement for a successful speaker. One-sheets are so last century. A good website clearly positions you and shares a promise (or brand) that will make the prospect curious about what it is that you offer. She recommended Rene Godefroy’s and Keith Harrell’s as great examples.

Podcast Interview

After the program ended I sat down with Jane and asked her what was the one piece of advice she would share with someone who wanted to become a wealthy speaker and make it into the top 3% of those in the business who make over $1 million a year. To hear what she told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:05 — 968.6KB)

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Keynote Speaker, Author, and Singer

Diedra has made the incredible journey from orphan and “lost cause” to an honor-roll student and college graduate. Her journey of survival –through the adversity of growing up in an addiction-driven household, to the loss of her parents during high school — has enabled her to be a living example that no young person has to be a victim of their circumstances.

Diedra has been speaking professionally since the age of 15. She has been recognized as a Global Young Leader by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, and served as Miss Yuba-Sutter as well as Miss California-State.

Diedra is well known for her presentations to youth regarding “The Power of Choice” but also speaks for educators on a broad range of topics including a powerful collaborative keynote with award winning educator Dr. Arlene Kaiser. Kaiser and Wallis’ keynote gives an informative and meaningful look at the classroom from both a student and teacher’s perspective. Diedra also shares her personal journey of tragedy and triumph in an inspirational and unforgettable Christian program entitled “Faith Through Adversity.”

Diedra is currently a full time student at California State University East Bay where she is a psychology major pursuing her life’s calling to be a drug counselor.

Pro-Track Profile

Diedra is also a participant in Northern California National Speakers Association 2009 Pro-Track class, where she says she has enjoyed taking her speaking career to the next level and has learned to think-outside-the box as a presenter. Diedra’ presentations have been described as vibrant and gritty. Her goal as a speaker is to combine real life experiences with practical tools that will leave you informed, affirmed, and strengthened. Diedra’s teachings are effective when applied in schools, work environments, service, and faith-based organizations.

For more information, please visit www.diedrawallis.com

To hear what Diedra had to tell me about her background, including her memories of the very first time she spoke to groups at an early age, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:44 — 1.1MB)

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Dentists and Social Media

I recently attended a full day seminar on social media presented by Patrick Schwerdtfeger, the author of Webify Your Business who I profiled on this blog back in July.

After the event, I caught up with Sheila Dobee, DDS who is based in Fremont, CA and asked her how dentists might use Social Media like Facebook and blogs.

To hear what Dr. Dobee told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Donald R. Hunter has been totally blind since seven due to a medication reaction to sulfa drugs. He has been a CEO, consultant, product marketing manager, software developer, public speaker, and financial planner during the past two decades of his corporate and entrepreneurial career.

Donald has a burning passion for helping business owners get control over financial matters in their firms so that he can help them grow their business through financing and raising capital from investors.

People who hear him speak from the platform often say that Donald is the “professor of finance” because his speaking style is more from the college lecture genre. Donald is currently a certified financial planner and the CEO of his commercial finance company – Donald Hunter Financial. He has a masters of business administration from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Donald speaks to chamber groups and financial planning and real estate associations, and helps real estate and other financial professionals understand how commercial finance guidelines and programs work for their clients.

You can contact Donald via email at info@donaldhunterfinancial.com or by calling 877-905-0258.

To hear a podcast interview with Donald, click on the icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:47 — 1.3MB)

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Continuing my investigation of the NSA Vendor fair I talked with Tracy Penwell who sells handbags under the name Dressed Up Cat.

Her one-of-a-kind bags are created from “found” bags & objects. The bags are all made from recycled components, Penwell says, and in 2008, she was a finalist for “Best Green Handbag” in the Independent Handbag Designers Awards. She was also a 2008 nominee for the People’s Choice Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

To hear what she had to tell me about her bags, and why professional speakers are a good market for her, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:12 — 2.0MB)

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NSA Exhibit Area

As with many large conventions, the National Speakers Association gathering has an exhibit area where vendors sell everything from self-publishing solutions to, well, handbags and jewelry.

Speakers have to look good on stage and off.

I took the opportunity to ask a couple of the vendors about the goods they sell and why they come to exhibit at NSA.

Illusion Jewlry

Patricia Carbeery has been working with glass for over 25 years.

She finds working with hot glass is very direct and immediate—the ever changing rainbow of color and light while working with dichroic, metals, powders, as well as the glass, continues to fascinate.

She creates her own beads using the ancient technique of lampworking. To make each bead, she melts glass in an oxygen propane flame at temperatures in exces of 2000° F. She then anneal the beads in a kiln for five hours or more. All her designs are unique—incorporting her handmade lampworked beads, Swarovski crystals, silver from Bali, and freshwater pearls.

Her work can be found at The Phoenix Art Museum and The Bead Museum in Glendale, as well as several fine stores.

To hear what Patricia told me about her jewelry, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:54 — 1.7MB)

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Speaking to Reach Your Audience is a reciprocal interview by Pat Lynch of Women’s Radio who I podcast on June 15th. Pat asked me about the history of speechwriting in politics and the corporate world and how someone could become a speechwriter.

I addressed the issue of how a speechwriter like Ted Sorensen can write in the ‘voice’ of the person they are writing for.

We also discussed the use of podcasting to repurpose speeches where many times the number of people can be reached once the podcast takes the speech outside the walls of the room. Speeches now live on the internet far beyond the limited moment in time in which they were delivered.

Pat’s Audio Acrobat solution brings podcasting within everyone’s reach.

Ellen Taliaferro, MD (aka Dr T) is a recovering emergency physician now serving as the Medical Director of the San Mateo Medical Center Keller Center for Family Violence Intervention in San Mateo, CA.

Using her background in emergency medicine, stress management, and writing, she has created a program called Healing the Wound Within with a personal Writing Practice Prescription.

In addition, she continues to speak on Domestic Violence As A Health Issue and The Medical Aspects Of Manual Strangulation As A Form Domestic Violence Assault.

Dr T grew up in Will Rogers country and loves country humor. She sees herself as a true Okie: “Sooner born, Sooner bred, and when I die I’m California dead.” Of note, she finished her clinical career at UTSW medical school and Parkland Hospital. While there, the Dallas Morning News named her as one of the 100 most influential Texas women — an amazing feat for an Okie.

Pro-Track Profile

Dr. T. is a professional member of the National Speakers Association. She’s also a Board Member of the Northern California Chapter. Ellen is one of a growing number of established members who have enrolled in the 2009 Pro-Track class in order to take their career to the next level.

To hear what Dr. T has to say about professional speaking, well writing and Pro-Track, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:09 — 1.9MB)

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