How To Be Comfortable Promoting Yourself

February 4th, 2010

If you’d rather listen, here’s the audio version. Just turn up your speakers and click the PLAY arrow to hear it, or click the DOWNLOAD link below the bar to save it.


MP3 File

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promote-yourself

Many women are uncomfortable promoting themselves – in writing, and even more in speaking. In business, this is a problem. You need to be able to showcase your skills and talents. People want to know why they should do business with you.

Here are some ways to make this easier for yourself:

Ask Yourself Questions

Set aside any self-blame or criticism about your discomfort. Then gently ask yourself some questions to see what the emotions really are. Just try to be open to any info you get without judgment – it’s just information! Ask yourself:

  1. If I did toot my own horn, what would I be afraid of? Really listen for illogical or childish answers – remember this is right-brain stuff and not logical. Those fears and belief may go back a long ways.
  2. What’s the benefit to staying quiet and in the background? There’s some benefit or you wouldn’t be doing it. Right? Some aspect of you think its gonna be safer to NOT toot your own horn.

Getting The Answers

You can get the answers for yourself in various ways. Try one or more of the following:

  • Journal about the question.
  • Write the question with your dominant hand and the answer with your non-dominant hand. It may be hard to read, but you’ll be amazed at what comes out on the paper!
  • Type the answer with your eyes closed. You’ll access more subconscious information this way.
  • Zero in on where you feel it in your body and ask that body part what it has to tell you.

What To Do With This Info

Many times realizing what’s going on will be enough to let the old story go. That old belief that it’s not good to promote yourself.

Then start practicing speaking up about yourself. And congratulate yourself every step of the way. Keep those positive emotions engaged, and that will help you the next time an opportunity arises to toot your horn.

And if you need some outside help, I offer coaching with a rapid change technique that permanently releases those old inner blocks to speaking up. Just contact me.

Posted in Blog, confidence, relaxed speaking | 2 Comments »

When Speaking Trumps Copywriting

February 2nd, 2010

If you’d rather listen, here’s the audio version. Just turn up your speakers and click the PLAY arrow to hear it, or click the DOWNLOAD link below the bar to save it.


MP3 File


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speaking

When I suggest that speaking is necessary to your business success, one argument I hear is this: “I don’t need to speak. People can read all about what I do on my website or brochure.“

Why You Need More Than Good Copy

Right now, people are super-selective about who they do business with. For one thing, they have more choices than ever before. And through the internet, they have easy access to a gazillion options for just about anything.

And in our current economy, folks are guarding their resources more closely. They’re not taking as many risks with their spending. They want to be sure before they do business with you. They want to feel confident that you’re the right one.

So it’s the know, like and trust factor, right? People want to feel that trusting bond with you to feel secure about their investment in you. You can establish that so much more quickly with speaking than you can with writing.

Scientifically Speaking…

When people hear you talk, they feel more familiar with you. Did you know the brain responds to the human voice in one-fifth of a second? Just hearing your voice connects your client or customer to you much faster than any copy they can read.

Learning research shows that people retain twice as much from listening as from reading. After two weeks, they remember 10% of what they read and 20% of what they heard. The best result is combining the two. They retain 50% of what they hear AND read.

For YOUR Business

Applying that research to what you do translates into combining speaking with written material:

  • speaking engagements with handouts
  • live networking with brochures to hand people
  • delivering online audio products with transcripts
  • using audio and video on your website, along with your web copy.

Your clients and prospective customers click with you more as a person when you speak – not just a business entity. If you add the visual of video or a live appearance, there’s an even deeper dimension of starting a relationship with them.

They’re much more likely to connect with you at the heart when they hear your voice, than they are when they’re reading copy. If you are using different venues of speaking in your business, you have a much better chance of really connecting with people, and creating a business relationship.

When you’re ready to add speaking to your business tools, contact me to help you quickly eliminate your fears about it. It really can be a painless, fun experience!

Posted in Blog, making connection, speaking as marketing | 2 Comments »

Dust Off Your Enthusiasm

January 28th, 2010

If you’d rather listen, here’s the audio version. Just turn up your speakers and click the PLAY arrow to hear it, or click the DOWNLOAD link below the bar to save it.


MP3 File


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Do you cringe when you hear an infomercial guy yelling with rollercoaster inflections in his voice? I know I do. He’s trying so hard to sound enthusiastic, but he just sounds annoying. All that hype-y up and down in his voice comes across as totally phony, doesn’t it?

Enthusiasm Is Not Cool

That 3 AM salesman is contributing to the bad rap given to expressing enthusiasm. Plus, it’s not really cool to sound excited about things. In fact, there’s a current trend in everyday talking (especially for younger women) to speak in a fast kind of monotone.

Regardless of your age or gender, if you’re speaking to clients without enthusiasm, you’re working against yourself in your business. And I know you don’t want to do that. If you don’t sound excited about what you’re doing, how do you expect them to get excited?

You Don’t Have To Fake It

Expressing your excitement about what you’re teaching or offering needs to be genuine. People want to listen to real people speaking in an authentic way. That honesty helps create the relationship essential to doing business with someone. So don’t fake it. That won’t help you either.

You want to activate your own energy and passion when you’re speaking. The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek “en theos” meaning “the god within.” So it’s your highest self, your spirit that generates your own deep enthusiasm about what you do. It’s always there in you – not something you need to manufacture or bring in from an outside source. It just hides from you sometimes.

So Fire It Up

enthusiasm

I know – some days it’s easier than others to ignite your zeal (don’t you love that word?) for what you do. Here are some tips to help with that:

  • Take the time to write down why you’re passionate about what you do and what your vision is for your business. Pull this out and read it to refresh your memory.
  • Keep track of your wins in a journal so you can use them as fuel. Include testimonials, sales you’ve made, new subscribers, new clients – you get the idea. Again, keep this wins journal handy to look at when you want a boost.
  • If nobody’s around, read these things out loud to your imaginary buddy, saying, “listen to this!”
  • Jump up and down. Punch the air. Get your body into the act!
  • Think of something else that gets you really excited and raise your overall level of spirits.
  • Give yourself an old-school pep talk like you’re your own athletic coach.
  • When you’re on the phone, stand up and move around.

People really love enthusiasm, whether it’s trendy or not. It just feels good to be around somebody who’s excited and happy, doesn’t it? And people listen much more deeply to an enthusiastic speaker. They retain more of what they’ve heard because they felt good while they were hearing it. This is a great rapport builder, and raises the know-like-and-trust factor in your listener. So speaking with energy and excitement is a great marketing tool.

Dust off your own enthusiasm when you’re speaking in any business situation. And if you want some outside assitance, I’m here to help you with that. Just contact me.

What are thoughts? What tips do you have? Leave a comment and let us know!

Posted in Blog, making connection, one-on-one, presentations | No Comments »

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