Archive for the Mistakes Category
4 Common Myths Around Speaking From Stage
Wowsers. I just realised this morning that I’ve been speaking from stage for around 10 years now!
Apart from making me feel quite old it also reinforces just how much experience I’ve had on the speaking circuit . . . I’ve spoken on other people’s stages, I’ve run my own highly successful events, I’ve even put on my own multi-speaker event . . . and during this time I’ve seen a lot of strange things.
But the strangest thing of all is not what actually happens on stage . . . it’s the myths and perceptions that everyone else has about public speakers!
Today, I’m going to dive into them and dismantle them one by one!
Here are four common, and untrue myths.
Myth #1: You have to be educated to become a public speaker
Although education is a great asset, it is not a requirement if you want to start speaking from stage. Yes, a high educational qualification may appeal to some audiences but it all depends on your niche. If your market is academic, then a good educational background can pull interest from buyers.
But the truth is most of the market does NOT demand a highly educated speaker. A lot of public speakers don’t have college degrees and yet still make large amounts of money selling from stage. . .
In some niches, blue collar speakers with little or even no education may possess more mass appeal because the audiences can more easily relate to them.
Tip: As a speaker, remember you must inspire and motivate your audience to take action with you. If you have a lack of higher education and yet have achieved professional and financial success – then this is a very inspiring premise indeed.
Myth #2: You have to possess the gift of speaking in order to stand up in front of people to speak
Public speaking is a skill and just like any skill, it can be developed and practiced. There are formulas that anyone can use to create great speeches . . . all you need is a message and the willingness to deliver that message to your audience. . . .
. . . Then after a few tweaks, revisions, and rehearsals; you can present a knockout speech even without the possessing the “gift of speech”.
Tip: Technique and practice are the key factors in improving public speaking skills. Dedicate yourself to the art of practice . . . and greatness awaits you.
Myth #3: You have to be different or change who you are to speak
Many people will often say that a career in public speaking will make you fake, somewhat pretentious and change your personality.
If this is the case, public speaking seems like very hard work but in reality, you do not have to change in order to become a speaker!
Great speakers are individuals who stay true to their characters, including their weaknesses and idiosyncrasies. It makes them human.
Tip: Always be authentic when you are speaking from stage. Audiences are far more perceptive than you realise and will soon pick up if you are putting on an act. Just be yourself, that’s all you need to do and you’ll be surprised at how quickly people warm to you.
Myth #4: You have to work hard to be a public speaker
This can be rather subjective. Yes, it can be hard work if your heart is not into it. Any endeavour without passion is not an easy task. However, if you are really committed to the career and loving it, it won’t matter, will it?
Moreover, once you get the hang of it public speaking will come naturally to you.
Tip: If you love speaking or you’re passionate about your topic, then speaking from stage will be like a hobby for which you’re getting paid!
So this week, I suggest you sit down and make a list of all the myths or fears you have around public speaking or selling from stage . . . take the time to really get them off your chest. When your fears are on paper they won’t seem as scary any more and you’ll see them for the myths they really are! Remember, you don’t get anywhere in life without taking action so why not get out there and get yourself on a stage or a webinar soon!
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Public Speakers Make . . . And How YOU Can Avoid Them!
Mistake # 1 – Not Selling
Your message alone is not enough to inspire people to buy your products and services. Not giving a sales pitch to your audience is doing them a disservice. In order to make a real difference in someone’s life, you must give them the opportunity for an ongoing education. If they don’t buy from you, they’ll buy from someone else.
Mistake # 2 – Poor Organisation
This will only cause you stress and confusion but what’s ten times worse, it leaves money on the table. That’s because if you confuse them, you lose them.
There are 3 key ways that poor organisation shows up:
a) A confusing offer. The Solution – spend time crafting a clear offer for your product
b) Confusion about how to pay for the offer. The solution – Be 100% clear on the system you are using to take the money and implement this system at your event.
c) Lack of support staff. The solution – Make sure you have at least one sales member to field questions and help close sales.
Mistake # 3 – A Rushed Offer
If you don’t give yourself enough time to make your offer at the end of your presentation, you will miss key points and this will cost you money. Make sure you hit every point of your sales presentation.
Mistake # 4 – Answering Questions With Your Offer
I have seen countless presenters come unstuck by allowing their flow to be interrupted after making their offer. Take questions and accept interruptions at other times during your presentation, just NOT at the crucial closing time. Don’t even take testimonials.
Mistake # 5 – No ‘Stick’ Campaign
A ‘stick’ campaign is where you write a sequence of emails which are normally automated and which you send to someone immediately after they have bought your product or service to ‘stick’ the sale. Basically take some action to reassure the people who spent money with you that they did the right thing . . . you do not want them to be suffering from buyer’s remorse the minute they leave the seminar room! If they take products home with them, you might want to send them an email immediately and offer them a bonus gift of an audio interview as your thanks for your business.
Summary
These 5 mistakes are easy to avoid especially now you know about them! Believe me, there’s a lot of speakers out there making these mistakes and worse. So this information alone will set you above your competitors. So, this week why not go over your next presentation with this check-list in mind and see if you can make any tweaks or edits. Perhaps spend time crafting your offer, or thinking through your sales system or just practice your close as calmly and as unrushed as you can. To your speaking success!
Blah, Blah, Blah . . . What’s In YOUR Head When You’re Up On Stage?
What’s in your head when you’re on stage?
Are you focused on connecting with your audience and building rapport . . . or . . . are you so consciously aware of everything you’re doing you have an internal dialogue raging in your right ear?
(blah, blah, blah!)
If you’ve done a number of presentations, you will have had the experience of delivering your well-designed “speech” to a few different crowds.
But one thing I have noticed with speakers time and time again is that when they are actually on stage, sometimes their focus is on the wrong place.
• “I stood still most of the time like you say Jo, but at one point I thought I should move around a bit so I did.”
• “When I was building the need I know I said it all wrong and it threw me for the rest of the close.”
• “I didn’t think I was going to remember the questions, but I asked about 4 questions in first 2 minutes is that enough?
What’s Wrong Here?
On the one hand, it is great that people have awareness about what’s happening on the stage. The problem with these speakers was that with further questioning I discovered that while on stage, MOST OF THE TIME they were thinking about what they were doing, and whether they were doing it right!
While you’re busy focusing on whether you’ve asked enough questions, or changed state enough or built enough need, or been clear enough- you are stuck in your head. While you’re stuck in your head you are not doing the one thing that you should do on stage and that is:
Connect With Your Audience!
That is your single biggest and most important job once you get on stage. All you should be focusing on is connecting with them and taking them on a great journey.
That’s it.
Practice Makes Perfect
This is why practice is so important.
When you repeat things and practice things over and over you’ll get them embodied in your unconscious mind so that by the time you are on stage it is a habit. You should not be consciously thinking “I need to cross my arms now” on stage. If you are, you have forgotten your primary purpose for being on the stage.
So here’s how to prepare for your presentations:
Write out your script. It doesn’t have to be word for word ( I never write word for word scripts) but it should have all of the key points you are going to make.
Then practice it.
In fact don’t just practice it once. Practice it several times focusing on different elements each time:
1. Practice for timing
2. Practice for energy management
3. Practice for stage use
4. Practice for sensory based language
5. Practice by taking everything over the top, much bigger than you imagine it should be.
And then pretend you never did any of that. Because you are already perfect, aren’t you?
So on the day of your actual presentation forget about all your practice, and get yourself in the right mindset to connect with your audience. Remember, it’s all about connection. That’s all.
As soon as you hit that platform, focus on being present and connecting with every person in the crowd, and authentically taking them on a journey. Find the yummy moments!
Blah, Blah, Blah. . . . Now It’s Your Turn!
So, this week, forget about getting it ‘right’ on stage. Focus instead on practicing your presentation and then when you’re up there, forget all of this and instead build your connection. And then write in here and tell me about the results…
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Public Speakers Make . . . And How YOU Can Avoid Them!
Mistake # 1 – Not Selling
Your message alone is not enough to inspire people to buy your products and services. Not giving a sales pitch to your audience is doing them a disservice. In order to make a real difference in someone’s life, you must give them the opportunity for an ongoing education. If they don’t buy from you, they’ll buy from someone else.
Mistake # 2 – Poor Organisation
This will only cause you stress and confusion but what’s ten times worse, it leaves money on the table.
That’s because if you confuse them, you lose them.
There are 3 key ways that poor organisation shows up:
a) A confusing offer. The Solution – spend time crafting a clear offer for your product
b) Confusion about how to pay for the offer. The solution – Be 100% clear on the system you are using to take the money and implement this system at your event.
c) Lack of support staff. The solution – Make sure you have at least one sales member to field questions and help close sales.
Mistake # 3 – A Rushed Offer
If you don’t give yourself enough time to make your offer at the end of your presentation, you will miss key points and this will cost you money. Make sure you hit every point of your sales presentation.
Mistake # 4 – Answering Questions With Your Offer
I have seen countless presenters come unstuck by allowing their flow to be interrupted after making their offer. Take questions and accept interruptions at other times during your presentation, just NOT at the crucial closing time. Don’t even take testimonials.
Mistake # 5 – No ‘Stick’ Campaign
A ‘stick’ campaign is where you take some action to reassure 
the people who spent money with you that they did the right thing . . . you do not want them to be suffering from buyer’s remorse the minute they leave the seminar room! If they take products home with them, you might want to send them an email immediately and offer them a bonus gift of an audio interview as your thanks for your business.
Summary
These 5 mistakes are easy to avoid especially now you know about them! Believe me, there’s a lot of speakers out there making these mistakes and worse. So this information alone will set you above your competitors. 
So, this week why not go over your next presentation with this check-list in mind and see if you can make any tweaks or edits. Perhaps spend time crafting your offer, or thinking through your sales system or just practice your close as calmly and as unrushed as you can. To your speaking success!
4 Common Fears Around Selling From Stage And How To Overcome Them
Many of us have blocks around selling from stage – when this is one of the most sure-fire ways to make money! So let’s look at the 4 common fears around selling from stage:
It’s now time to get honest and discover whether your mindset is set up in the most powerful way for you to succeed at Platform Sales so let’s look at how to overcome these fears to make you as successful and as abundant as you deserve to be: 5 Step Plan For Overcoming Fears
|
Have a look at the following common fears and see if any relate.
Summary
Don’t let your fears be the reason you don’t get out there and give these things a shot. 
You will always have doubts and reservations about things, but let that be the reason to get out there and do it; rather than stopping you. Until you actually start, you will never really learn these tools. You will never do it perfectly, I have never done it perfectly and I doubt I ever will. There’s always more to learn – but the fastest way to learn is to do!!
Presentation Skills: The Art of Public Speaking
Public speaking is full of people making basic mistakes. Luckily, you don’t have to be one of them! Now you’ve successfully ‘opened’ your presentation, here’s how to avoid the 3 biggest mistakes people make when they start getting into public speaking – and selling from stage. This article is a great refresher for both experienced speakers and oh so important for those just starting out.
Presentation Skills = Great Selling
You may or may not have considered this yet. But something you need to get clear in your mind is that if you want to master the art of public speaking and intend to make a real difference in the world, you need to become a great sales person.
I believe great leaders who inspired great change, such as Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, JFK were all amazing sales people. What do I mean by sales? Well, for me sales is when you create an environment of influence where you inspire people to take action in accordance with their vision.
I hold teachers in very high esteem. However many teachers think their job stops after the information is imparted. True leaders, or sales people, know that their job finishes only once someone has taken action toward their dream.
| Most presenters selling from stage will think about their content first and their sales second. I encourage you to reverse this and instead think about what you are selling first, and craft your presentation to suit. |
So I invite you to start to think about yourself as a great leader. I know you have a message that is close to your heart; 
whether you are conscious of it or not is irrelevant. There is something that inspires you. So begin to think about yourself as someone who is destined to change the planet for the better in some way.
Once you see yourself as a great leader then you are ready to start selling from stage. But what you want to do is avoid the following selling traps.
Three Big Mistakes To Avoid When Selling From Stage
Here are some surefire “kisses of death” for selling from stage right up front. I’m putting there here so you can avoid them!
Mistake #1: The speaker thinks a seminar is about imparting information only.
People learn through their emotions. Not their intellect. Emotions are the glue that make learning stick. So when you teach, how are you managing the emotions of your audience?
Mistake #2: Looking like crap on stage.
Honestly, if you are teaching or selling in your presentation, I don’t care who you are, please make yourself look at least half way decent when you’re speaking in public! If you can’t pull it together, get an image coach. Ladies, I’m sorry, this is even more important for you because yes, we do get judged more than men on how we look. It doesn’t take much to get it together with the right contacts.
Mistake #3: Having no integrity or out and out lying from stage.
The sad truth is there are some presenters and companies out there who will tell you one thing and then do another. I have even witnessed speakers lying through their teeth on stage. Please don’t be one of them.
Summary
You are something special. Do you get that? So this week, in fact starting right now, begin to think of yourself as someone special. Someone with a lot to offer and a mission to fulfill. You may already know what this is, or you may not. But commit right now to becoming a great leader. And commit right now to becoming a magnificent salesperson. Not just a conveyor of information, not just a teacher, but someone who sells from stage. In public speaking, the bigger your vision, the easier it is to inspire people to take action.
Stand Still! A Simple and Powerful way to Re-Centre Yourself
- Stand Still
- There is nothing worse than a speaker who dithers and wanders aimlessly about the stage
- Standing still makes you feel more grounded…
- …which gives you more confidence…
- …which helps you to earn more money
- Be Strong, and Calm, and Centered. It makes you audience feel more comfortable with you.
Shift Speaker Training discovers: be careful what you wish for!
You have to be careful what you wish for!
Last week, after an incredibly successful round of Shift presentation Secrets evets (or 1-day Intro events) around Australia- the 3-day intensive training (Presentation PROFITS) Sold Out! That’s right, with 130 people in the room we absolutely could not fit another soul in! Which was great news for me but no so great for the dozens of people waiting on the waiting list to be called in case someone decided to roll over to next year!
Christine really wants to attend Joanna Martin's Shift Presentation Profits!
But the collective prayers of these Aussies seem to have been heard! Much to the upset of my staff. Let me explain…
The venue we had booked for our event, called us up and said “we’ve put you in another room- its about the same size, you won’t mind will you?” Mind?! I think they thought our event was a quiet sit down affair where everyone would squeeze in and not move for the whole day.
They obviously didn’t recognise that a Shift Training is interactive, full of exercises and lots of loud music!
We flew Tam to Melbourne to pore over floor plans and measure chairs, but no matter how we shook it, their change had meant we wouldn’t even fit the 130 people in any more. Grrrrrrrr!
So thankfully the great people at CQ venues in Queen St have come to our rescue- with a lovely big room. Which was lucky realy considering EVERY OTHER VENUE in Melbourne was booked out that weekend! Ahhhh- the joys of running events.
The problem is now 130 people (ourselves included) have to re-organize our selves into a new venue (did I mention Grrr?).
But the good news is for those people who simply couldn’t wait another year- like Christine- they don’t have to. You see the room at QC is bigger – so we could COMFORTABLY fit in another few profit-minded souls.
At today’s count there’s another 11 places still available. So if you’re keen to get to this year’s event check it out here:
Shift Presentation Profits with Dr Joanna Martin
The moral of this story- never underestimate the prayers and affirmations of a few ike-minded individuals to wreak havoc on otherwise perfectly laid plans!
Love Jo!
State Changes – Keeping Your Audiences Engaged
- Every seven minutes you need to elicit a state change in your audience
- It can be with a MASSAGE, a HIGH FIVE or a turn to your neighbour to say something complimentary and fun
- In order to know when to do this you can have a reminder on your autocue or just watch your audience’s faces for that glazed look.
- People can only absorb content for so long before they need a shift in state and since you are ‘leading your audience’ it is your job to
‘lead their state’ – otherwise they’ll do it themselves! - Use state changes to keep your audience alert, focussed, and receptive to your content.
Four Common Myths Around Speaking From Stage
I’ve been speaking from stage for around 8 years now and within that time I’ve seen some very strange myths about speakers.
Today, I’m going to dive into them and dismantle them one by one!
Here are four common, and untrue myths.
Myth #1: You have to be educated to become a public speaker. 
Although education is a great asset, it is not a requirement to start a speaking career. Although a high educational qualification may appeal to some buyers it all depends on your niche. If your market is highly academic and scholarly, then a good educational background can pull interest from buyers.
On the other hand, most of the market does not demand a highly educated speaker. A lot of speakers do not have college degrees but still earn hefty amounts of money from bookings and selling from stage. In some niches, blue collar speakers with little or no education may possess more mass appeal because the audiences can relate to them. It all depends on the topics and the chosen niche.
Sometimes, to motivate people, a speaker must show that they are human and a lack of higher education may do just that. A speaker can show the audience that even though they are not college educated they have achieved professional and financial success. It is an inspiring premise.
Myth #2: You have to possess the gift of speaking in order to stand up in front of people to speak.
Public speaking is a skill and just like any skill, it can be developed and practiced. There are formulas that anyone can use to create great speeches. All you need is a message and the willingness to deliver that message to your audience. After a few tweaks, revisions, and rehearsals; you can present a knockout speech even without the possessing the “gift of speech”.
Technique and practice are the key factors in improving public speaking skills. If someone dedicates himself or herself enough, anybody can be great.
Myth #3: You have to be different or change who you are to speak. 
Many people will often say that a career in public speaking will make you fake, somewhat pretentious and change your personality.
If this is the case, public speaking seems like very hard work but in reality, you do not have to change in order to become a speaker. Great speakers are individuals who stay true to their characters, including their weaknesses and idiosyncrasies. It makes them human.
Myth #4: You have to work hard to be a public speaker.
This can be rather subjective. Yes, it can be hard work if your heart is not into it. Any endeavor without passion is not an easy task. However, if you are really committed to the career and loving it, it won’t matter, will it?
Moreover, once you get the hang of it public speaking will come naturally to you.
I love speaking- and when you love it- it’s easy. I hope I can share that enthusiasm with you!
In the Blueprint Chapter you will discover:
How to create a magnetic and attractive offer that has people leaping out of their seats to buy from you, without ever looking or feeling "sales-y"...
0