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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While the rest of America celebrated the end of summer with the traditional Labor Day Holiday, Jim Carrillo and I spent a fun morning creating some ‘teaser’ videos on YouTube to showcase our Practical Social Networking webinar series.

Each video offers a brief introduction to the full one-hour free webinar.

This Wednesday we’ll be giving practical advice on the best ways to start using LinkedIn and Facebook — the gold standard of Social Networking. These offer the most effective vehicles to build your online network of business contacts and personal relationships. In the second part in the series of five webinars on Practical Social Networking, we’ll give a condensed, practical introduction to these two websites.

Here are just some of the things you will learn in the webinar:

– When you should to use LinkedIn or Facebook
– A precise strategy to become known as an expert online
– A step-by-step guide to starting your own Group
– LinkedIn and Facebook power user tips
– Much, much more

Check out the video to find out more details. Click here to register for this free webinar.

If you are interested, we created the video with the following tools:

• GoToMeeting – to coordinate the slides and provide dial-in for us to participate from remote locations.
• ReplayRadio – to record the audio.
• PowerPoint – to create the slides which were then saved as .jpg files.
• Audacity – to edit the sound file.
• Windows Movie Maker – to create the finished video.

It’s unlikely that White House Speechwiter Jon Favreau is looking for work. President Obama’s schedule keeps him fully occupied, and being at the top of his game at the tender age of 28 where else would he look for work?

However, there might be someone his staff willing to entertain job offers. At least, if the results of a search on LinkedIn is to be believed:

However, my suspicion is that, with only 3 connections, this guy (or gal) might be a Bush-era veteran who has forgotten to update their profile. Obama’s team would likely be far more plugged in to Social Networks!

Jim Carrillo and Ian Griffin take a practical look at Social Networking that will help you understand how to apply the basics to your business. The biggest challenge in Social Networking is knowing where to start. Which sites should you be on? How do you begin? And once you’re there, what do you say and do?

Social networking helps businesses and individuals build trust, credibility and influence – and it offers powerful new ways to promote yourself as a job candidate, employee or business person. But the trick is getting up to speed quickly and understanding where to best spend your time for the biggest payoff.

This webinar introduces a series of five sessions being held each and every Wednesday in September at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

In this webinar series you’ll learn the practical steps you need to take to get involved in Social Media:

* Effortless ways to grow your online network
* When you should to use LinkedIn vs. Facebook
* Which social network is the most popular, and why
* How to launch a blog
* Why you’ll benefit from YouTube videos
* A step-by-step guide to podcasting
* What you need to do to get started on Twitter
* And much, much more …

Sept 2: Introduction – What is Social Media?
Sept 9: Facebook and LinkedIn
Sept 16: Websites and Blogs
Sept 23: YouTube and Podcasting
Sept 30: Twitter and Integrating Social Media

Attend one webinar or all five at no charge.

Techniques for handling interruptions to your speech

There’s a long tradition of heckling at political events in the U.K. and in many other countries where deliberately interrupting public speakers is seen as a legitimate form of protest.

In the 1960s, of course, America saw a number of heated interruptions in courtrooms and conventions to protest the Vietnam War, and this summer we’ve seen the well publicized brouhaha at Democrats’ town hall meetings on health care reform. But disruptions of this kind are rare in the United States, and we’re surprised when they happen.

In corporate settings, too, disruption during executive speeches is an uncommon occurrence. Sure, CEOs presenting at company town hall meetings might have to deal with a few aggressive questions or mutterings of discontent; and yes, unruly crowds occasionally interrupt shareholder meetings or protest outside plant gates. But overall, employees are pretty well behaved, and executives rarely have to worry about heckling and harassment.

But what happens when corporate audiences aren’t well behaved? What should executives do when their listeners speak up and speak out, and the flow of their carefully scripted speeches becomes a backdrop for somebody else’s agenda? The answer is that they should expect the unexpected and be prepared to handle feisty audiences.

You not only need to know what to say in a speech, you need to understand how it will be received by the audience. So what can you do to find this out?

Why presentations go awry

The Greek philosopher Aristotle listed three forms of persuasion available to a speaker: Logos, Pathos and Ethos. A speaker’s failure to connect on any one of these levels, Aristotle said, undermines his or her effectiveness. Faults in logic (Logos) give rise to doubt in the audience’s mind and might lead to pointed questions and requests for clarification. More significant, failing to win the sympathy of the audience (Pathos) or a lack of credibility on the part of the speaker (Ethos) is likely to lead to spontaneous, or staged, interruptions from the floor.

When audience members erupt in an angry outburst, it’s rarely because they find fault with the logic of your argument. It’s more often because of their underlying emotional issues with your message, or because they arrived at the event lacking any respect for you.

Staged interruptions, such as those planned in advance to protest the health care town halls, are extreme examples of a lack of respect.

In any case, it’s important to realize that responding to challenges to your credibility with a logical argument alone will not work. The emotional impact of your message is a far more potent response. To paraphrase a well-known saying, when you have them by their hearts, their minds will follow.

Preparation

Prepare by researching the audience’s concerns and hot buttons. Check into local issues. Did your plant manager in Oshkosh just fire the local scoutmaster? People in Wisconsin might not be willing to listen to your presentation — no matter how well scripted.

If your research suggests controversy is likely, build in feedback circuits ahead of time by providing an e-mail address or Web site where people can send in comments and questions in advance.
Practice delivering the speech under hostile circumstances. While rehearsing, have someone distract you. Learn how to not get thrown off balance by ringing cell phones, loud noises off stage or loss of power to your microphone. Professional speakers have ready responses to each of these events.

Delivery

If someone in the audience does interrupt you, don’t just ignore them. Simply acknowledging that they exist will give them a sense of belonging. Once you have responded, quickly move on. You want to avoid getting into a one-on-one discussion.

Stand-up comedians relish their ability to make it painful for hecklers – they can chop people off at the knees. Don’t do this. The sympathies of the audience might well be with the person who spoke out (remember that scoutmaster). If you are too unsympathetic or sarcastic, you risk winning the battle but losing the war.

Appeal to the wider interests of the audience while acknowledging the issue. When a heckler interrupted Obama’s speech on abortion at Notre Dame in May 2009, the president immediately responded: “It’s all right. We’re fine, everybody… We’re not going to shy away from things that are uncomfortable…”

Personal safety

However, if things do get out of hand, remember that discretion is the better part of valor. A lone speaker exposed on stage does not stand a chance against a hostile crowd if things get physical. So get out of there. A graceful exit will serve you better than getting into a screaming match.

[This article was originally published on ragan.com]

Some people say they can’t see the point of Twitter. Why bother?

Here’s some reasons to use Twitter.

(Image generated by http://www.wordle.net/)

At the recent National Speakers Association (NSA) Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, I had the opportunity to see Deanna Turner, CSP give a talk on the best practices of top sales performers.

In her presentation “Anatomy of a Sales Call,” she discusses a number of concrete steps to manage the sales cycle and ensure you close sales sooner with greater ease and more frequency. Her advice includes:

• Techniques to research prospects and conduct pre call planning.
• Securing more appointments with effective e-mails, voicemail and phone calls.
• Respecting the customer’s time by opening calls in an organized way.
• Developing customer focused probing skills to uncover opportunities and needs.
• Differentiating yourself from the competition with clear benefits and value.
• Learning the best way to present your products/services.
• Closing with an action commitment from the customer.

An audio recording of the complete presentation can be ordered from the Softconference website.

Edited highlights of Deanna’s presentation are featured in the video I posted on YouTube (with her express permission).

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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Thanks to Patrick Schwerdtfeger’s Saturday seminar on Social Media, I was alerted to a startling viral video on YouTube. United Breaks Guitars was written and performed by Canadian C&W singer Dave Carroll in response to an unfortunate mishap at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. The story goes like this:

How the Guitar was broken

In the spring of 2008, Dave was on tour with his band, the Sons of Maxwell. They were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and his beloved Taylor guitar was seen by other passengers being thrown around by United Airlines baggage handlers on the tarmac in Chicago. He discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. United didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various customer service representatives he communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate him for his loss.

YouTube speaks louder than words

Dave promised to the last person at United to finally say no to compensation (a hapless Ms. Irlweg) that he would write and produce three songs about his experience with United Airlines and post videos online to be viewed by anyone in the world who might consider flying the friendly skies. This is the first video – it was posted on July 6 2009 and in six weeks nearly five million people have viewed it.

As Joel Postman writes in SocialCorp:

“Negative buzz about your company is not something to be squelched but rather an opportunity to regain control of the agenda.”

United Airlines Responds

Within a day or so of the video being posted, the United Airlines Twitter feed reported that they were in contact with Dave. They issued a sincere apology, sprinkled in some humor, and even said they plan to use the video for training purposes:

The next day, Dave posted a video update on YouTube. This has only been seen by 200,000 viewers. So, as Marketing 101 tells us, less than 5% of customers hear good news about your product or service to those who will hear bad news. In this video, he graciously accepts United’s belated apology and requests they donate the money for the damaged guitar to charity.

The moral of the story is that it is possible to rescue a damaged corporate reputation, but only if the company engages with Social Media as a form of response. To United’s credit their Twitter feed allowed them to do this.

Meanwhile, you don’t want to search YouTube for “Hitler Finds Out United Breaks Guitars”. Trust me. Only fans of Monty Python will find that video of the slightest interest.

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.