TAKING A RISK!

I was in San Francisco for a week of meetings with my business coach and master mind group. We were all given an assignment - and were told to come prepared to present to the whole group. I had a different task in that I am working on a new strategy/presentation style when it comes to public speaking and sales.

If any of you have ever had the experience of doing a role-play in front of your peers, you can well imagine how I was feeling about this situation. It is not always the easiest assignment! Not only was the presentation in a different format and a condensed format - but it was to be given in front of my ‘very-successful-high-level-fellow-entrepreneur' master mind members. Normally, this type of challenge doesn't bother me as I have been speaking in public for over 20 years.

Well, not this time! I really felt out of my element and, quite honestly, the presentation was a total and absolute flop. Here is what I learned, both from the experience and from the feedback I received - take some of this and apply it to your own professional development when it comes to growing and stretching in your business.

1. Be Yourself!
2. Quit trying to do/deliver too much.
3. Nothing is random in a sales presentation.
4. Pause, breathe, and look around at your audience.
5. Connect with the audience emotionally.
6. Ensure you use language that the audience understands.
This may all sound very basic to you - and it is. The real point I want to make is that in order to grow your business, you need to grow yourself. It is critical that you seize learning opportunities in which you take risks - and become vulnerable. Many of us get too comfortable doing what we're doing - and end up with the same results all the time.

One of the reasons I wanted to share this with all of you is because we, as entrepreneurs, also make assumptions about our professional colleagues. I know that my clients make assumptions about me and my abilities - and then make comparisons. I believe it's important to recognize that we are all human beings and that we are all learning - all of the time. For me, this experience was hard, humbling, emotional, challenging, risky and.........rewarding.

I am always telling my clients to get comfortable being uncomfortable. I, personally, have not had that type of experience in a very long time - and it was about time. In the words of my coach, ‘Your clients get better when YOU get better!"

Conclusion:

I learned a lot this week and am returning to my business with a better understanding of some powerful techniques when it comes to public speaking and sales. A few things for which I am extremely grateful are:

1. Having such a brilliant coach, who stretches me, encourages me and teaches me.
2. Being part of a high-level master mind group that supports me - and makes it ‘safe' for me to share and to try new things.
3. Being committed to the process of learning, risk-taking and being the best that I can possibly be.
4. For the techniques that I have learned which, in turn, will be passed on to my own clients - so they, too, can grow their business and succeed in a safe and strategic way.

And, in the words of Maya Angelou - ‘When you know better, you do better!"