Many folks know they’d be much more successful in their business if they could get up in front of the room to promote it. Yet when it comes to actually talking to a roomful of strangers, whether around a table at a networking meeting, on their feet at a mixer or as the guest speaker at an industry function, they absolutely refuse. Why is that?
For these people (and you know if you’re one of them), speaking is scary. It means stepping out of your comfort zone, doing things differently than you’ve always done them, having a different outcome than you’re used to and, yes, definitely, running the risk of changing your life. For the better!
What would your life be like if you could get up and speak to a roomful of strangers about how good your business is and how much they’ll benefit from working with you? What would your bottom line look like if whoever heard you speak understood that you can give them what they need to move forward and make their lives better? How would you feel about yourself if you actually achieved your goals, professionally, financially and personally? What if getting up to speak to a roomful of strangers really could change your life for the better?
When he was appointed V.P. of Sales at his company, Michael was terrified of speaking to his sales team whenever the President of the company walked into the room. He’d immediately break into a sweat, trip over his tongue, confuse his team and be mortified by his own incompetence. His fear was literally destroying his ability to do his job. He sought help from a speaker’s coach and changed his life. He learned where his fear came from, conquered it, discovered that he wanted to be his own boss, and went on to be the Chief Executive of his own company.
Walter was a partner in a small accounting firm who wanted to grow his company into a large accounting firm. However, making sales presentations to potential clients made his brain freeze over. He’d forget key points of the proposal he’d spent so many hard hours preparing and lost client after client. He knew that discovering the source of his fear and conquering it literally meant the difference between staying where he was and becoming CEO of the powerful firm he wanted to head. He worked with a speaker’s coach and now his company has five offices in three states, and his life is richer and much more satisfying.
Linda wanted to be a financial adviser but hated having to go out and network to meet and attract clients. She was knowledgeable and proficient, and when people were referred to her, they were delighted at the results. But she couldn’t rely only on referrals to achieve the level of success she wanted. She found a speaker’s coach who helped her discover the source of her difficulty meeting new people and promoting herself. Her networking abilities improved immediately and her business is thriving.
If you’re not getting up in front of the crowd to let them know how good you and your business are, what’s stopping you? Are you worried that you won’t say it right, whatever ‘it’ is? That you’ll forget something important and feel ridiculous? Maybe someone will laugh at you? Do you think you’ve never been good at public speaking and never will be? You can’t speak as well as (name a famous speaker), so you’d rather not try? You never learned how and are too (old, tired, busy, etc.) to start now? It’s your bad luck that you weren’t ‘born with the public speaking gene’, and there’s nothing you can do about it? Are you afraid to take the chance of trying and failing?
Do yourself a huge favor. Get over it! Give yourself the chance to become the successful businessperson you’d really like to be. The one who is confident about the value of what you have to offer and how many benefits you can provide to the people who are smart enough to work with you. Public speaking is a skill you can learn. All it takes is the desire and a good coach. If you want to be a confident speaker, you can be.
Get the help you need to become the unique & sexy speaker you know is in you. You’ll be amazed how much your life will change for the better!