Iced Tea and Hot Marketing Tips from Bob The Teacher and Felicia Slattery
Earlier this week I mentioned that my friend, Bob The Teacher Jenkins was in town staying at my home for what turned out to be a 3-day VIP mutual intensive work session with some fun and family games thrown in the middle. Bob even taught my 5th grader, Gracie, all about binary and hexidecimal numbers. Yep, it’s what we do for fun 
In my previous post, I asked for questions for Bob & I and today I’m sharing with you the answers to those questions. We made a video that turned out to be almost an hour long with some in-depth tips that answered questions like:
- What are the dos and don’ts of using props in a speech?
- What are some effective ways to use humor in a speech?
- How do I promote my book when I’m just starting out and don’t have any following yet?
- How can I get my first joint venture partner?
- What was the turning point when your business began to soar?
Have a look and I’d love to see your answers to some of the questions or your thoughts on our answers in the comments below! Oh- and be sure to watch the outtakes at the end – we had A LOT of fun and laughs doing this!!
While we were making this video, more questions came streaming in, so Bob and I talked about it and we’ve decided we have to figure out a way to do this again. Stay tuned for more details as they become available. Got a question of your own? Go ahead and share it in the comments below.
Improve Your Speaking Skills – 5 Tips to Stop Saying Um and Ah When Speaking on a Teleseminar, Webinar, or In Person
Today’s blog post comes thanks to a question on Facebook that one of my online friends, Sharon McPherson, saw, tagged me, and recommended me to help with. So thanks Sharon!
Here’s that question as it appeared on Facebook:
As I read this post, I realized I get this question A LOT and have for years. In fact I even wrote an article about it – I knew I did, I just had to find it. It’s on Ezine Articles here. Apparently I never put that article on my own blog (oh if I had a nickel for every time I knew better, but didn’t do something I’d have a second home on the beach already!). I’m fixing that today, and updating it just a bit.
You see, many business professionals think they sound OK when presenting their content on teleseminars, webinars, or even in person. But it’s when they listen to themselves on the recording later or are confronted with a set of transcripts that they realize they have a few issues to improve. The good news is we all can improve when we take that first step: realizing we need help.
One of those problems is ums and uhs; also “like,” “you know,” and other verbal crutches show up a lot in too many presentations. If you want to cut those out, here are my top 5 suggestions for the most effective ways to get past the ums so your message comes through loud and clear:
- Be Aware
This is the important first step. Many people simply have no idea they rely on verbal pauses or disfluencies until they hear themselves on a recording. The first step in overcoming any addition is to recognize and acknowledge that you have one. And truly, people who say um and uh too much are addicted to their crutch words. Having an awareness that you make this mistake will get you that much closer to stopping it. - Practice Out Loud
If you have a tendency to um and uh, the reason is often because you have an idea of what you want to say next, but you’re not totally certain. So you insert a verbal filler to fill the space while you figure out the next word. Practicing out loud will get you to the point where you are completely comfortable with what you’re saying, and therefore not have the need to um or uh (or at least greatly reduce it). If you plan on delivering the same material multiple times, you’ll have to practice much less often as you gain more experience. If you can, record yourself while practicing so you can hear where you tend to um and uh the most. - Work From Detailed Notes and Not a Script
You’d think a word-for-word script would make it easier to stop the ums… and it can. But only if you have experience making a script sound natural. Otherwise you’ll sound like you’re reading. That’s the opposite extreme of um and uh and sounds just as bad. Use detailed notes and be sure of the points you want to make. - Focus During Your Presentation
Listen to yourself as you present your speech or teleseminar. Do not think about anything else other than what you are saying, how you are saying it and your audience: IN THAT MOMENT. People will um and uh when they are distracted from their planned comments. For example, while on a teleseminar, shut down your email, Facebook, and other instant message features so you won’t be visually interrupted (sometimes just the sound of those things can distract you enough to trigger an um.) Don’t try to multi-task while leading a call or doing any type of presentation. Focus and pay attention to the moment. - Connect with Your Audience
Here’s a fun test to do the next time you’re practicing with a friend: try to say um while making direct eye contact. It’s nearly impossible. Why? Because you’re having a conversation and um isn’t a word. Um doesn’t fit and doesn’t make sense. While you’re having a 1:1 conversation, you would likely avoid um and uh. Make your presentations much more conversational and your um and uh will disappear. On a webinar or teleseminar where you can’t see your audience members, you could post a photograph of your ideal client or audience member where you can see it to remind yourself you’re talking to actual human beings and not just to your computer screen.
Is it crucial to get rid of all the ums and uhs? Experts disagree, but in my decades of experience as a speaker, audience member, and instructor, I haven’t thought less of a speaker who had outstanding content with an occasional um or uh. You don’t have to eliminate every um and uh when the rest of your message is solid. The time to get concerned is when your audience is listening for your next um instead of paying attention to your message. So fix what you can, give yourself a break, and um, keep on public speaking.
As to the reply that Contentrix doesn’t know what I offer – for someone who has verbal fluency issues, I offer several personal services. I will watch a video or listen to a recording and analyze the challenges in both content and delivery, which is delivered as a written report; then I’ll work with and coach the speaker via phone or Skype video chat to improve during a series of private sessions. And I guarantee that anyone who works with me in this intense kind of way WILL improve dramatically.
So now you know!
What kinds of challenges do you recognize in yourself as you speak? And what has worked to help you improve? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below.
[Creating Connections] Are You An Author, A Speaker, or An Expert?
Creating Connections Ezine, ©Felicia J. Slattery // ISSN 1939-8646 // Volume 10 – Issue 4
Inside this Edition:
- Note from Felicia
- Feature Article
- Upcoming Events
- Marketplace
Top O’ 
The Mornin’ To You!
Last weekend we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a fantastic feast at my sister’s house. We all dressed up in our green and had a little extra fun, too! I posted another photo on Facebook too, where you can see my Dad and me with the girls. Although everyone’s Irish on St. Paddy’s Day, you see, the Slattery family are descendants of Irish kings in the Heremon line of the Clan O’Slatraigh. The name comes from the Gaelic “slatra” meaning strong. That means, when you put my first name with my last name, it means the Happy Strong one. I’ll take it! LOL
Busy Speaking Week for Me – All About Testimonials
Today is the third day in a row I’m speaking to my coach’s members-only audience on a topic he saw me casually mention on Facebook a few weeks ago. He got so excited about it, he contacted me, asked me to put together a speech and a product … and what a whirlwind couple of weeks came after that! Thanks to Steve Sipress for the idea and the opportunity and to Disk.com for getting the manufacturing and production end of things done, I now have a brand new product called Cash in on Testimonials. Look for more info on that product coming soon. I think you’ll like it; I’ve been averaging 80% close rate in the room, which means the other For now… I have to hurry and get ready for my speaking gig this morning and masterminding after that! Life is good and I am truly blessed!
Looking for Sponsors
Kill The Elevator Speech: Stop Selling, Start Connecting Book
In case you missed it, my next book, which I have been having a fabulous time researching and writing, is one of my hot projects now. I’m using this section of my ezine to keep myself accountable and finally get the manuscript done and to my publisher. My goal is to get to 40,000 words (good ones, not just a bunch of baloney to up the word count). So each edition, in this spot, I’ll tell you where I am with my current word count. You may not even pay attention to it, but I’ll know. This week’s word count: 22,547.
Feature Article: Are You An Author, A Speaker, or An Expert
I train a lot of speakers, authors, and experts. And when I hear these typically brilliant folks introduce themselves to a room full of people at a networking meeting, for example, I hear many of them make a big mistake that could be costing them business and speaking gigs even. Read this edition’s fresh article for exactly what that is and to see if you’re making that error too. Then you’ll see how to introduce yourself more effectively so you don’t miss out on any opportunities!
Enjoy and until next time, happy speaking!
—————————————–
Feature Article: Are You An Author, A Speaker, Or An Expert?
“What do you do?”
Oh the dreaded question! The result of that question tends to lead to a few answers, some of which would include an “elevator speech.” As I’m working on a book called “Kill the Elevator Speech,” you can imagine how I feel about THAT! However what should you say if you are a speaker, an author, and have expertise in a particular area?
As a speaking coach and trainer of fellow professional speakers, a lot of folks I work with identify themselves as professional speakers, as well they should. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes I see is too many smart people who are speakers, keep it to themselves. They don’t broadcast it enough and they don’t share that they are, in fact speakers.
That’s such a shame, because if YOU don’t tell people what you do, they will never guess. And then you will never be invited to speak. So you HAVE to tell people you are a speaker, which is why this article is about to take an interesting turn…
Too often I see brilliant people who have extensive expertise in a particular area introduce themselves at meetings or in groups as a “speaker and author.” If that’s your only chance to share who you are and what you do, using those exact words is a mistake.
You’re not saying enough!
Of course you should say that you are a speaker and author. But if you stop there, the main question of those listening to you in that moment is, “What do you speak and write about?” But if you’re in a room where people aren’t able to stop you to ask and you just continue on, you’re missing a major opportunity to share your main area of expertise.
How to solve this is very simple: after you say, “I’m a speaker and an author,” add, “…author of [your book title] and I teach [or train or consult or coach or whatever you do] people about [your area of expertise.]” After you add that small bit, which by the way is not an elevator speech, but simply a more complete introduction to a group, now you’ve finally added in the information that people need to know about you. You’re giving them the words to remember about you.
Yes speaker and author is good, but you have to be known for your expertise first and then people can know you are also a speaker and author, which only amps up your expertise.
Today’s article is short & sweet. Take action on this and remember — to be successful don’t think in terms of “or” think in terms of AND. So you are an author, a speaker AND an expert and people deserve to know it so you can serve them in the ways only you best can.
——————————————
Upcoming Events:
March 7 & 8, 2013: Signature Speech for Authors. Intensive Virtual All-Day Workshop.
March 18, 19 & 20, 2013: Chicagoland’s Sharpest Entrepreneurs, Featured Speaker: Testimonial Gold: How to Give an Excellent, Impressive, and Useful Testimonials.
April 9 & 11, 2013: Sponsorship for Speakers with Shannon Cherry. Mini Course. More details coming soon.
Macrh-May, 2013: The Get Healthy Summit. Featured Speaker. Virtual training open to the public.
September 11, 2013: Chicagoland Holistic Chamber of Commerce, Featured Speaker: Credibility and Cash Flow.
————————————————————————
Marketplace
If you’re ready to use speaking to market your business, you can be up and speaking in 6 short weeks. Discover how at SignatureSpeech.com.
Build a Beautiful Online Presence – with a Point & Click WordPress Plugin!
I just picked up a very cool plug-in called Instabuilder that works with WordPress and is point-and-click simple. Instabuilder has everything you could need and I was excited at just how affordable it really is (less than $50!). You can quickly build:
- Squeeze pages
- Sales pages
- Facebook and social media-ready pages
- Split testing
- Countdown timer (gets people motivated to take action!)
- Simple WYSIWYG visual editor
- And tons more…
Go see this easy-to-use plug-in and make your life easier so you can focus on getting your message out there instead of trying to figure out all the confusing tech stuff. Instanbuilder can be your secret to a beautiful online presence!
Are You Making This Common Communication Mistake on Social Media?
Hello. My name is Felicia Slattery and I’m addicted to Words With Friends. It’s been about 12 hours since my last move.
At any given time I could have 10-15 games going at once. Interestingly, I’ve only met about half the people I play in person. The other half I know from social media. People see I play, and start a game with me. If I recognize the name of the person from my circles of online connections, I accept and it’s game on.
One of those connections is the lovely and strategic WWF player (that’s my abbreviation for “Words With Friends”), Tracey Thorpe Tarrant.
Tracey is a fantastic person. From her Facebook feed, you quickly learn she is beyond your run-of-the-mill animal-lover. She’s such a devoted rescuer of pets from high-kill shelters, she actually formed her own rescue organization, Claws and Paws Animal Rescue, of which she is the CEO. She saves many animals from too-soon deaths and too-sad lives in the Georgia county where she lives.
Yesterday, my friend, Shannon Cherry was commenting on Facebook about how her search for a new Virtual Assistant was yielding some less-than-ideal results, at least with one applicant.
As you can see, that led to a whopping 37+ comments about virtual assistants. A few of those comments were from some who could do the kind of work Shannon needs. And one of those people was my friend Tracey Thorpe Tarrant, the “dog rescue lady!” – and apparently Virtual Assistant and Online Business Manager. Who knew? Not me. And I am her market.
I told her I had no idea that she did customer service work for businesses like Shannon’s and mine. All this time I figured she was living off the dog rescue business (if that’s even possible).
She quickly commented that she should maybe, once in a while, post about her business. I agree!
Then I asked her if it’d be OK for me to write a blog post about this simple mistake so many people make when networking online (or using one of the many games apps to do so as well).
It’s interesting because I see mistakes at both ends of this spectrum. Some people don’t post enough (or at all) anything work-related but others post way too much, and only work-related things – never anything personal.
The trick to social media, and any networking online or offline, is to communicate the whole of who you are as a person. This whole person communication is one of the most beautiful parts of social media, as far as I’m concerned. Because we are in charge of sharing what we choose about our lives, we get to easily build relationships around a number of things we have in common with others, bit business and pleasure.
Choose wisely.
Knowing what to talk about and what to leave out can be a challenge. But think of social media as a platform where people want to get to know you a bit. The WHOLE you – business as well as personal.
There is a similar mistake I see a lot of entrepreneurs and experts making; not necessarily leaving out or not talking about what they do for a living, but that they also do (or want to do) speaking for their ideal audiences. If people don’t know that you offer a particular service like public speaking, how can they hire you for it? So many of my clients come to me asking for help, and that’s one of the places I always start. It’s likely they haven’t even mentioned in their bio or about page or anywhere that they do public speaking on their area of expertise.
Want to be sure you’re not making any more common communication mistakes? Pick up my free report Costly Communication Blunders today.
In the meantime, I’d love to know what kinds of things you like to talk about on social media? Please share in the comments below.
The Basics Still Matter
Bradley Hall, the iconic building of my alma mater, Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois
It was a last minute decision.
My former head coach from the time I competed on the Bradley University Speech Team (happily now known as BUST), asked me a simple question on my Facebook wall, “Are you going to AWW?” (So many acronyms…) I soon learned AWW stands for Alumni Work Weekend, where the not-quite ghosts of speech teams and national championships past are invited to converge on Peoria and coach the current team members in their quest to continue the legacy and win two more national championship titles, from AFA – American Forensics Association and NFA- National Forensics Association.
Early Saturday morning I found myself driving south, following first the Fox River and then the Illinois River all the way to Peoria, where I don’t think I’ve been in about 20 years. It was a beautiful morning, sunny and very little traffic. As I arrived on campus, it looked a lot different than it did when I was last there.
I made my way to the speech office – wow- when I competed for the team we were spread all over Bradley hall with no one home base beyond a hallway where three of the coaches and college professors had their offices. Now there is an entire state-of-the-art BUILDING dedicated to communication, which both warms my heart and makes me just a wee bit jealous at the same time.
The buildings and campus aren’t all that’s changed.
A couple rules, which were hard and fast when I competed, are now long gone. And some events look different too (I’m talking about a program duo… like cutting one play into 10 minutes wasn’t enough…sheesh.). But what struck me most is what remains the same.
Of course there are common perennial themes that college students like to explore such as sexuality, connectedness, and gender equality. But even more so, beyond the common themes, was the recurring challenge of executing the basics well.
As I coached these students, most of whom had far more talent than I and would likely have crushed me in competition, I noticed an effort to get better without completing the firm foundation. Here are a few things I found myself repeating over and again that can help anyone speaking, not just those in the tiny world of collegiate forensics:
- Slow down and enunciate: I must have written and/or spoken this 15 times on Saturday. The students were excited about their messages and clearly wanted to hurry up and get to the “good parts.” But we all have to remember, every single part of a speech is necessary in order to fully communicate the message of the presentation. Even if your introduction is perfectly memorized and you can spout it at 60 miles per hour, doesn’t mean you should. Take your time and make sure your audience can follow the meaning to your message.
- Move with purpose: This one slays me. Back in my day, walking during an interp piece was taboo. You *might* be able to get away with taking a step to one side or the other, but much like a basketball player has to pivot, there was no leaving your initial spot. So I had to quickly get used to seeing the students move all over the place, books in hand. (If you’re not familiar with the interpretation of literature in competition, competitors choose a piece of literature, poem, or a play, depending on the event; they make a script from a small section of it by cutting the story into an 8-10-minute presentation; they place the story into a small, black, 3-ring binder, and turn the pages as they present the story, bringing the story to life.) Once I got used to the idea of competitors walking around, I could appreciate how it could add to the communication of the message. But then, sometimes, a student would walk or move, just to move. It had no rhyme or reason. When you speak, pacing the stage like a cat on the prowl is distracting, no matter what you’re talking about. Walking is good; it just has to be done with a purpose: advancing the message and continuing to engage your audience.
- Gestures matter: These students, the best speakers in the country, know how to control their bodies and faces to communicate a specific emotion. Yet even the best of them needed an occasional reminder that they have to pay attention to the smallest things. One student told a story where the main character made a phone call, but then the pantomime phone suddenly disappeared into thin air, rather than completing the pantomime gesture of returning the phone to a back pocket or a table. Another student was holding a pantomime gun, but instead of having fingers and hand wrapped around the pistol as if he was really holding it, he pointed his fingers as if they were the gun. These may seem like tiny, picky little things, because they are, but its this attention to detail that will make a difference in getting into a final round at nationals or not. When you speak, be deliberate about your gestures and think about what the audience is seeing.
- One word can make all the difference: In every speech I listened to, there was often one word, one moment that represented a missed opportunity to allow the audience to experience another level of a story’s impact. Just like in real life, those tiny moments and single words can add up and make all the difference between a memorable speech that impacts the audience and one that leaves the audience a little flat. Don’t let the tiniest of moments pass by without giving thought to how you’ll present them and the power of a single word.
Going back to Bradley and working with these student was an honor and a privilege. Just as I feel when I work with my clients today, I can see those students continuing to do great things as they deliver their speeches.
[Creating Connections] To Inspire or to Motivate, That is the Question
Creating Connections Ezine, ©Felicia J. Slattery // ISSN 1939-8646 // Volume 10 – Issue 1
Inside this Edition:
- Note from Felicia
- Speakers Spotlight
- Feature Article
- Upcoming Events
- Marketplace
————————————————————-
Personal Note
Hello Dear Reader!
Survey results for how subscribers want to consume content
This is my first official ezine since I’ve been back!
It’s also my first ezine in its new blog post format. Based on last month’s survey I conducted of my readers and community of subscribers, blog posts came out #1 for how people like to consume content. Beyond that, the responses showed that my community members prefer shorter email messages with a link to something longer.
While I seriously considered saying goodbye to my 6-year old ezine, because so many people said they read it regularly – a full 82% said most of the time or always – I just couldn’t let it go. Add that to the fact that at one point I went through the process of registering this ezine in the Library of Congress, it felt “official” and it kind of hurt to let it go entirely. So here it is, in it’s new format and delivery system. I hope you like it!
In personal news, of course I’ve been focused A LOT on my health. You may know I’ve been into cooking for quite some time
Vitamix green smoothie
if we’re connected on any social media. One of my “secret crushes” of food tools has been the Vitamix “blender.” I have to put that into quotation marks because it’s far more than a blender. In fact, I’m so excited about it, I decided to check another item off my bucket list and become a food blogger. I popped it up and added my first post today right here. I’m calling it Speaking of Food: Felicia’s Delicias (so it sort of rhymes). Woo-hoo!
21 Ways to Make Money Speaking Action Group
Yesterday I’m pleased to announce I started my first program after returning back to work. In previous years it’s sold out, but for this group there is ONE SEAT LEFT! If you want to make money with your speaking, over the next 6 weeks, I’ll get you doing exactly that. Grab that last spot today and get caught up listening to the recording right away.
Back to Speaking
Last week I appeared live on local stages twice and my calendar is filling up quickly. I feel so lucky to be able to jump right back in where I left off last fall. Next week I’m being interviewed on Valentine’s Day by the lovely and talented Ms. Sheila Galliagn for her free membership series. I’m also lining up a number of folks I’ll be interviewing for you, as well. Stay tuned to your email for details!
Article: Are You Inspiring or Motivating? Know the Difference to Get Booked on Stage!
In this edition’s fresh new article I address a common mistake I see emerging professional speakers make when they describe their speeches and how they impact their audiences while on stage.
Enjoy and until next time, happy speaking!
—————————————–
Speakers Spotlight: Too Sexy for this Title? [Free Webinar Replay]
Photo Credit: Nighthawk101Stock
Remember that 1992 song, “Too Sexy For My Shirt?” Right before last week’s free webinar where I hosted Jeff Herring about writing titles, I started thinking, is your content too sexy for your titles?
You know that people do judge books by their covers and how important it is to have what I call a “sexy title” for your speeches, books, articles, blog posts, classes, and even emails. And no, we’re not talking about something lewd that belongs in the “adults only” category. This is about being appealing to your market in a way they are excited by what’s behind that sexy title and can’t wait to rip into your content!
Think about it… What makes you open an email? Pick up a book? Attend a speech?
Is it the great content you anticipate?
What was it that grabbed your attention the first time?
Think about your favorite book, song or movie.
Chances are all 3 of these have titles that grabbed your attention and you almost immediately fell in love with it.
And that’s exactly what a great title does, it immediately draws the attention of any audience you want, no matter the market!
If you missed out on this fabulous webinar, it’s not too late. You can watch and listen (and CREATE!) Jeff Herring’s presentation:
If you haven’t heard of Jeff before he’s been featured on the CBS Morning News, The Miami Herald and Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Ezine.
Suffice it to say the guy knows a thing or two about coming up with great titles and content.
Here is some of what you’ll discover in this replay…
- How to Create Profit Pulling Titles – you’ll do this right on the webinar
- His Winning Title Formula
- 3 Major Profit Killing Title Mistakes
- The Mindset you Must Have to Create These Titles Every Time
Because if your content is way “hotter” than you title, folks will never get to experience the brilliance that is you.
Go Here for the Webinar Replay ==> http://ProfitableContentSpecial.com/felicia
And you, too will be quickly see how it’s easy to come up with titles better than “Dude, Where’s My Car?”
—————————————————————–
Feature Article: Speaking to Inspire or Speaking to Motivate: Know the Difference When Marketing Your Speaking Services
While I was recovering from open lung surgery to remove a lung cancer last fall, something made me even more uncomfortable than all the wires, tubes, and healing scars. Because so many friends and colleagues wanted to know the details of what was going on with me, I started a Facebook group to update people. In that group, and even now, since coming back to work and beginning to speak again, I’ve heard the words over and over: “You’re such an inspiration.”
Really?
I’ll tell you, I don’t feel very inspiring. I just did what I had to do to get past a terrifying and painful experience. Like I do with most things, I laughed my way through a lot, because really, if you’re not laughing, you’re left with crying, fear, or being angry, none of which is very fun or appealing. Then THAT humor also made people tell me more how much I inspired them.
It felt like a lot of pressure to keep “being inspiring.”
Since I don’t know how to do that, I’ll just keep on dealing with the punches that life throws at all of us with humor and decisiveness. I might even write a speech about it. And if I do, I’ll be moving into the world of “inspirational speakers.”
One of the most frequent mistakes I see being made by emerging professional speakers is that because they seek to inspire people with their words and presentations, they begin using the term “inspirational speaker” to define what they do. If that’s you, you might require a slight change in your language usage when describing what kind of speeches you give. Here’s why.
You see, an “inspirational” speech is one of overcoming life’s difficulties and is typically given by a person who has overcome great odds – think about the hiker who cut off his own arm, the wheelchair para-Olympic athlete, the beautiful model who had both legs amputated, a blind musician — and maybe a professional speaker who overcame lung cancer 
. Less obvious forms of life’s difficulties can be inspirational speeches too, such as a war veteran who overcame post-traumatic stress disorder (I had that too), or a young adult who overcame ADD or a learning disability, or even the Mom of a pair of autistic twins. These people have all had to deal with some of the biggest curve balls life threw their way and as a speaker, may inspire their audiences to do get past their life’s difficulties and challenges.
Right now you might be thinking, but as a speaker I want to inspire people to get past life’s difficulties and challenges. And you can! But unless you’ve got a personal story that goes beyond “I have stress in my life,” you’re not an inspirational speaker. In the world of professional speaking, you’re a motivational speaker. Yay you!
When you’re selling your speaking services, you need to know the difference between inspiration and motivation, because meeting planners are looking for something specific when they see “inspirational.” If you want to help people change their lives for the better, then you’d probably be a better fit in the “motivational speaking” category.
Here’s the difference in a nutshell:
Inspirational Speakers:
- Have overcome a major physical or other out-of-the-ordinary personal hurdle in their lives.
- Tell their story in great detail of what happened, making up the bulk of the speech.
- Don’t usually share any actionable “content” beyond their inspiring message, “you can be a survivor too!”
- Entertain from a dramatic point of view (humor and wit can be present).
Motivational Speakers:
- Share various stories from personal experience that many or most audience members can relate to (having kids, being married, being divorced, losing a job, etc.).
- Keep stories short with the main emphasis of the speech being that they…
- …Share actionable content of some kind, motivating people to do something differently or new in their lives.
- Entertain from a humorous point of view (drama can be present).
When you market your speaking services, be sure to know which type of speech you give so you don’t confuse a meeting planner or waste anyone’s time (including yours) in a conversation about a type of speech you don’t do.
—————————————————————-
Upcoming Events:
February 14, 2013: Sheila Galligan’s interview series. Featured interviewee.
March 8 & 9, 2013, Signature Speech for Authors. Intensive Virtual All-Day Workshop.
April 9 & 11, 2013: Sponsorship for Speakers with Shannon Cherry. Mini Course.
—————————————————
Marketplace
This post could not have been possible today without the personal help of Word Press Genius Paul Taubman of I Need Help With WordPress.com saving my techno-challenged self from total blog destruction. Also special thanks to Marcy Coate, Daniel Brenton, and Dan Nickerson who all jumped in to save my behind and provided personal help when I put out the 911 call on Facebook.
Now accepting sponsors to be featured in this place (a juicy spot just above the comments!) every other Wednesday. Email me for details Felicia {at} FeliciaSlattery {dot} com.
Redeeming Myself After a Year
Just before taking the stage in my costume. (The hat and raincoat came off after my attention-getter!)
Almost exactly a year ago I wrote a post confessing about how I had a really off day while keynoting at an event. Lots of kind people came to my defense and many audience members who had never seen me speak before did not even notice it. However I can count on my good friends to be honest (painfully so, sometimes!), and they agreed it wasn’t my best performance.
Well, last Saturday on the same Atlanta stage at David Perdew’s Niche Affiliate Marketing System 8 (NAMS) Event, I redeemed myself!
Last year I listed the things I did wrong and what I could do to improve.
I thought this year I’d share what I remembered to do right so my performance could be greatly improved — even with another brand new speech!
- Planned Ahead: I knew for at least 6 months I’d be back on the NAMS stage. I also knew the reason I was going was to give myself the deadline to write my new keynote speech, Kill the Elevator Speech. I didn’t wait to work on the speech.
- Got Help: Even the best performers need help sometimes, just like the top Olympic athletes need their coaches. I realize that and I reached out to my smart and creative colleagues and friends to help me come up with some ideas about how to present my speech, props I could use, how to start and more. Big thanks especially to my weekly accountability partner, Shannon Cherry who gave me the idea to use the Dragnet Theme — I used it as my attention getter. Also big thanks to my buddy coach, Kamin Bell Samuel, who worked through my entire plan with me and helped me figure out what my “deputy” buttons were going to say (they turned out great, BTW!).
- Had Personal Motivation: I told you this was a new speech. I knew I needed a deadline that was set in stone, what Paul Evans called during his speech an “immoveable deadline” to get the speech done. My new book, Kill the Elevator Speech: Stop Selling, Start Connecting is coming out soon – and this speech motivated me to finish the book, too! In addition, I knew I’d need new marketing materials to promote the upcoming book and keynote speech and that my dear friend and gifted photographer, Tony Laidig would be there willing to record my entire presentation. If the speech sucked, so would my marketing materials and I couldn’t have THAT!
- Went Against the Grain and Stuck to My Guns: Yet again all the other daily opening and closing keynote speakers used PowerPoint presentations. If you’ll recall, last year I felt the pressure to conform and so slapped a PPT together at the last minute. This year, even though I had a brand new speech and honestly could have used a PPT to remind me of what I wanted to say next, I chose to skip it altogether in favor of using props to add a visual element to my speech. As a result, I got to be creative and many audience members commented specifically on the props I used and how much they enjoyed them.
- Practiced: I’ll admit, I did not practice as much as I would normally recommend to my clients, but I did practice important bits of my speech so I’d know how they would sound and feel when I delivered them for reals. I also had a captive audience in my publisher, friend and roomie for the event, Kristen Eckstein who graciously listened to me practice at 1 AM after being out dancing and singing karaoke. (Oh, I don’t actually recommend you go out and party all night when you have an 8:30 AM speech, but I knew I was prepared and I couldn’t resist spending that quality fun time with my good friends! Plus I drank only water and only sang one group song so my voice wouldn’t be shot and I wouldn’t wake up with a screaming headache!)
- Visualized: I knew the layout of the room and I worked on seeing myself walking in, on the stage and knocking it out of the park.
- Prayed: This is how I center myself moments before I go on stage. Whatever you can do to calm down and get grounded, do it: breathe, meditate for a moment, get quiet and get focused.
- Worked From a Full Word-for-Word Script: I know this may come as a surprise because when I teach my Signature Speech (TM) students to prepare their speeches, I recommend using only an outline rather than writing the speech out verbatim. However, there are a number of things different about this. First a keynote, which is a product in an of itself, is drastically different than a Signature Speech (TM), which is marketing tool. Also, to start I’ll be charging $15,000 per speech for my keynote, which I will deliver again and again, likely for years to come. Having a script will allow me to tweak it over time. This speech had props, jokes, and stories I wanted to get right. I put all the stage direction into the script so I would remember my plan. Finally, I printed my script and actually used it as a prop during the speech, so it worked well for a first time (and by the time I deliver it again it will be fully memorized ).
So, that’s what all came together to make this year’s speech go very well. I feel like I can hold my head high with pride now with the NAMS community.
Oh- and if you want to hear my speech, you can access it and all the NAMS8 recordings right here.
Speaking to Serve and Raise Funds – One of the 21 Ways to Make Money Speaking
Looking at the displays in the stores, it’s obviously back to school time!
Soon kids everywhere will be sporting new wardrobes, sharpening new pencils, choosing their favorite folders and heading back to write essays about what they did this summer.
Not long after, we parents will receive the inevitable fundraising package from school where we can have the luxury of buying overpriced wrapping paper and cardboard-like frozen pizzas, while being asked to bug neighbors (who also have kids with the same fundraisers), extended family members, and colleagues at work to also take part in the never-ending quest of raising funds for schools.
But there are better, more creative ways, that are also less offensive to the taste buds and pocketbook.
For example, one interesting and more fun alternative to holding the same old fundraisers I’ve recently heard about is to raise funds through bingo events. My friend Shannon Cherry actually did her own version of bingo at her live event. And that got me to thinking about how you can use your skills to do something community-building and fun to raise funds for your favorite group
In my best-selling book, 21 Ways to Make Money Speaking, Way 6 is Speak to Help a Charity. When school begins this year, you can get in 
touch with the fundraising chairperson – almost always a volunteer eager for ideas and help – and offer your services as a speaker to hold a fundraising event where you either donate your services in full, or, for you to make some money too, split the ticket sales 50/50 with the school. The book has a few more strategies in that Way for you to bring in some additional cash for the school and for you as well.
Then all you need to do is come up with a speech topic that is both relevant to your expertise and relevant to the parents at school (remember – school is about the kids, but fundraisers have to appeal to the parents, who hold the money).
For example, in my business I teach public speaking and communication skills to celebrities, experts, and entrepreneurs. Obviously that’s not going to appeal to all the parents at any given school. But in my days before my business, while teaching public speaking classes at the college level, I also taught interpersonal communication courses and male-female communication courses. I could easily pull together a fun 60-minute program on how parents can better communicate in their marriages and with their children using interactive exercises and more.
Remember, your goal here is to get paid to speak (so you can add “professional speaker” to your repertoire and bring in some cash) and to help others by serving from the stage at the same time, in this case specifically in raising funds for a school. But you can also have a display set up where you sell your books and offer your business cards, brochures and other marketing to those who attend who might be interested in working with you later, therefore turning the fundraising speaking event into a lead-generation tool for you as well.
So what do you think? Will you give this a try this at school year instead of being forced to buy a bunch of sub-par stuff – and do your part to serve from the stage? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Speakers Beware: Avoid the Scammers, Jerks, and Those Who Would Rip You Off
Felicia Slattery becomes the Mama Bear of the speaking industry to protect speakers from scammers, jerks, and con artists
I’m sick of it.
And I’m about to get all Mama Bear for the speaking industry. (Thanks to Dr. Mollie Marti for the comparison!)
**Fair warning…. I don’t usually use potty words, but the language in this post may end up being rated PG13 or worse. I’m that upset and sometimes “nicer” words simply don’t cut it to describe some people and situations. If you are easily offended by PG13 language, it’s best you stop reading now.**
Too many times this year and at least three times THIS WEEK I’ve heard of scams, jerks, con artists, and rip offs trying to benefit from the hard work and good name of professional speakers by taking advantage of them and trying to trick them, the industry, and the marketplace.
THE MADNESS HAS TO STOP!!!!
Here’s what happened:
First, a long-time client forwarded me an email exchange she had with a supposed event planner in Malaysia. This “event planner” had offered her a speaking gig at a leadership conference for $3,000USD payable AFTER the event. (Something already smells fishy to me.) She had an uneasy feeling about it and contacted me for my opinion. After a quick Google search, I found that the same event and meeting planners with a similar name had at least one other speaker present a weekend training and never paid his fee. I’m going to keep digging for her.
Next, the same client was contacted by another party, with a similar-too-good-to-be-true sounding offer. (More later on why she may be a target for scammers).
Then last night I heard about a shockingly extra scuzzbaggy idiot scammer, who literally STOLE the images of many of my friends in the speaker training industry for his crappy “telesummit,” created fake fan pages using their names and images, and started commenting on other people’s walls, pretending to be them — and blatantly doing it as if they’d never find out. He created a sales page with all their images as if they had agreed to be part of his event he was charging $297 for admission to; when in reality, at least one of them never even spoke to the scammer, let alone agreed to be part of anything. And beyond ALL that– this Scammer McScammy Pants changed his name (and not to Scammer McScammy Pants because that would have been too easy to tell something wasn’t quite right).
These true experts, several of whom are people I have shared meals with, spent time with and consider friends, as well as colleagues, have been marketing using the Internet for many years and (1) know very quickly when their names are being used anywhere online and (2) have massive followings of fans and friends who watch their backs. Why this douchebag of a human being thought he could even get away with using their names and creating fake pages and personas pretending to be them I will never know.
I found out about this scam from a Facebook post by Dave Lakhani, a force to be reckoned with when he’s in a good mood and happy– but piss
Don't let that smile fool you. Dave Lakhani is a force to be reckoned with and stands for the highest ethics in the speaker world.
him off and seriously… watch out. Dave Lakhani has been one of my speaking heroes since I met him in 2008 when I was emcee of an event where he started his speech by saying something like: “If you refuse to turn off your technology while I am speaking, I will physically take it from you and crush it. I will crush your technology. This message is that important and you must give me your full attention.” Guess what? Everyone gave him their full attention.
A few months later he invited me to be his guest at an exclusive weekend speaker training he did for a handful of national celebrities and other professional speakers, where I got to know him up close and personal. And although at an imposing 6’5″ (or more?), with definite strong opinions and a general inherent and amazing personal power, I found Dave Lakhani to be warm, sincere, and inspiring to learn from and watch. Above all, Dave Lakhani does business with the highest ethics and integrity, treats people with respect – including those he disagrees with- and is more than willing to call out crap when he sees it.
What Dave Lakhani did after finding out someone stole his identity to market their illegitimate online event is nothing less than brilliant.
Dave describes what he did next in one of the (to date) 94 comments on the thread:
“This scambag (name withheld here because I don’t want my blog associated with him in any way, but you can see who it is on the Facebook post) created a bunch of fan pages using the names and likeness of a bunch of speakers and then started commenting as those people on other pages as if all of these people were excited about his event for the purpose of getting traffic from people reading the comments and then clicking to the page. Once he heard that I’d threatened his breakfast cereal, he immediately phoned me and left a message saying that he was only trying to honor me and wanted to promote my products on the back end of his seminar (presumably because they are not good enough for the front end). He then left me his phone number and assured me he’d take my call, he of course did not answer the phone when I called back and covered his butt by saying that it was 7:30am in Thailand and he had to get some sleep sometime because he had been up all night with his summit.
“If I were him I’d be more worried about me getting in touch with the CEO of Infusionsoft Clate Mask and letting them know that they are sponsoring the event of an identity thief or at minimum one of the most unethical promoters around. He has mentioned to several people who have reached out to me on his behalf that of course it wasn’t his fault, he had a “team” of people who did it and they “forgot” to let the people know whose identities they hijacked that they were doing it to honor them and to sell their products on the back end.
“The problem with this is the problem with much of Internet Marketing and Biz Op generally. The lack of morals and ethics is astounding. It is why I’ve quit speaking on those stages and why I’m more focused on building brick and mortar businesses and just writing and selling books. The only goal of too many of these promoters is simply to separate people from their money regardless of how well the information works. I’ve always threatened to write a book about all the conversations I had with drunk speakers and promoters who could only talk about how they systematically sucked money out of people’s pockets and how stupid people were and how easy they made it. Then, the next day before they speak they have prayer circles with the attendees asking God to bless their talk so that they can really reach people. Things like this make me really reconsider that book idea. There are good speakers and good promoters out there but they often get overshadowed by the idiots like this guy. And, virtually all of the bad ones say they are the only ones doing it right and ethically.
“So, what am I doing next? Well, first I’m waiting for (the guy) to call me back and see what he has to say for himself when we speak in person, that will be fun and I will likely record it. Second, I’ll be reporting him to Facebook, The FTC, and the Attorney General’s Office. I’ve also called all the speakers I know personally who are on the platform to back out. I’m glad to hear that JP Maroney, Bill Walsh and Stephanie Frank have already made the decision to pull out, I expect to see more pull out as well.”
Then I replied:
“Whew… This is just so terribly upsetting! … I think what happened to you & others we know in this situation sucks big time AND I worry about more eager and less savvy/experienced speakers who can easily be taken advantage of. Mollie Marti is right– I feel very Mama Bear about those people who really do want to speak & share their messages and make an honest living doing it like we have.
For me, my whole life has revolved around teaching and coaching speech. It was my profession as a college prof for more than a decade & I LOVE it. Plus doing the info marketing thing keeps me with my family to raise my girls in person instead of having to be on the road 100+ days a year on stages. Someday I’ll do that when they’re in college & grown up.
Anyway I think we seriously need to put our heads together and create something for our industry that seeks to protect them. You are right… There are far too many jerks teaching speaking & marketing. I bet Joel Comm might be on board to add a guest post (we could probably ask his permission to grab a post he’s already written… I know I’ve read a couple scathing posts from him about the underbelly of IM).
I am doing this protecting speakers blog series. Anyone who wants to contribute with a guest post is welcome. I’m not selling anything attached to it. It’ll be a week-long or month-long PSA for the speaking community.
Who’s in?”
I already have at least one commitment from Thom Scott who replied almost immediately. Thom Scott will write a guest post on contract structures and material rights. I know as I reach out personally I’ll have more guests willing to share their stories, experiences and best tips on how speakers can avoid scams in the speaking industry. I plan to invite Christian speaker Leesa Barnes, who earlier this year was almost scammed out of thousands of dollars by a group pretending to be with a church in England (and who I hope forgives me for the PG13 language in this post!). I also plan to invite Tom Antion, who called out a very famous speaker trainer who he knew to be telling lies and taking people’s money. My friend and accountability partner Shannon Cherry might have a thing or two to share since she regularly posts Cherry Bombs on her blog calling out unethical business marketing practices and advocating for her readers. Friends like New York Times best-selling author Joel Comm might want to weigh in, as he has effectually left the Internet Marketing space because he was so disheartened by the lying, manipulation, and regurgitating of ideas being sold as new innovations.
All of these people and more are advocates for entrepreneurs and business owners. I am standing up today to be counted as the Mama Bear of professional speakers and emerging speakers.
Overall, I won’t be naming names of the unethical ones here on this blog because I don’t want to have my name or blog associated with them. Plus, really, it’s not about the scam artists. It’s about YOU, my dear readers and speakers everywhere who need to know what kinds of scams are out there and best practices on how to avoid them. And you should learn how the industry really does work for insiders who work in meetings all the time.
Why are emerging speakers like my client a ripe target for scammers? Because they are so eager and excited to get their messages out to the world they want to believe there are people who will pay them to do that. And there are plenty of legitimate event planners around the world who are willing to do just that. But those meeting planners, many of whom are members of the prestigious Meeting Planners International and others as members of the American Society of Training and Development who all work in an entirely different way than the scammers do. Yet sadly, because of their inexperience with ethical meeting planners for real meetings that do need excellent, well-qualified, trained speakers, new and emerging professional speakers can easily become a target. And as we saw with my friend Dave Lakhani, even those who are well-respected in the industry can become targets of unethical business practices as well.
The aim of this Public Service Announcement Series for Speakers is to help arm you with the tools you need to recognize scams and give you the tools you need to build a successful, income-generating speaking business (Hint: no it won’t be overnight. Yes, it takes work. And, sorry, but no, international groups are NOT going to contact you out of the blue, not tell you how they heard of you, never have even one phone conversation with you, and offer to hire you via email or Facebook private message sight unseen).
Stay tuned and come back for more very soon. In the meantime, do you have any scams that should be exposed? Ideas or thoughts on the issue? Please share in the comments below.
Public Speaking on Video: NOT Talking Heads
1980s Icon Max Headroom
When you create an online course, your purpose is to get people interested enough to sign up, right? Well… here’s a lesson I learned about that just last week that I thought I’d share with you.
It seems the language I was using for my upcoming Speaking on Video Boot Camp 2.0 program was actually turning prospective buyers off!! Who knew?
Boy was I ever wrong about that! LOL
My mastermind group was the first to point it out to me that they didn’t like the term “talking head” videos. So I went to the marketplace and asked there. And they told me in no uncertain terms it reminded them of the 1980s TV character “Max Headroom” or had other generally negative impressions.
Oh and no matter what you call them, videos where you speak directly to the camera build trust, create intimacy, and can transform your business in a way no other form of marketing other than face-to-face marketing can. See how to get started adding these videos to your business now and feel confident doing it!
Ok– so go see what I’m calling the “not talking head videos” now and let me know in the comments if you like the new term or if you have a better suggestion I’d love to hear it!!
Connect with Felicia
 |
 |
 |
 |