If you are like most professionals, educators or subject matter experts you have spent your life building your expertise. You may even be the best in the world.

But that may not be enough.

If you don’t effectively deliver your message to the people or organizations that can benefit from what you offer, then you are a best kept secret.

Being a best kept secret means you are laboring in obscurity, having little influence and depending on others to take the credit. You are playing small.

And you are probably not earning your worth. Not a great place to be.

To fulfill your mission you know you need to communicate.

And today, that means being online.

Capable of appearing in webinars and interviews and being the expert others look to for your special take on your world.

Or delivering lectures, talks and presentations online for organizations and associations.

You must look professional, knowledgeable and comfortable. You must deliver your wisdom effectively and powerfully. So that it changes things.

Don’t be the best kept secret in your field. Being an expert is not enough.

It’s time to get good online.

To your success,
Tom

P.S. All that blah, blah above is meant to convince you that you can turn your expertise into brilliant online presentations. And I can help. With focused one-on-one coaching we can develop your strengths, build on your weaknesses, fine-tune your message and supercharge your delivery skills.

Be the expert you have worked so hard to become — book a discovery call here. https://calendly.com/ready2speak

Our mothers always reminded us. Stand up straight and smile.

She knew the value of this simplest of facial expressions. How a smile can immediately warm up the connection between people — even strangers. As community-based animals, it is our most powerful tool.

Yet, it is often lost and we often forget to use it. Especially online.

Online is where we need it most. When we present through a camera we lose so much of the small connections we have when we are in front of live prospects or peers or any audience. We cannot afford to lose our smile.

I envy those of us who have that wonderful, engaging natural smile. It is always there. They have a special advantage in the connection arena. The rest of us miserable people have to remind ourselves to put on that happy face — when appropriate.

So when you practice (you do practice, right?) and then review, make sure you look for as natural a smile as you can muster. Try it out. Get used to it. It is a critical connection tool.

Now, go make your mama proud. (and make sure you send her flowers for Mother’s Day)

Be well my friends,
Tom

PS… Wanna chat about delivering powerful presentations online? Presentations that can help you sell more and influence more? Your survival as a communicator and business person will depend on it.

Book a 45 min. discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/ready2speak

The world needs you. Get going!

T

I am attaching a great little video my good friend and superstar speaker buddy Jennifer Kahnweiler shot a few months back where she and I discuss why introverts should push themselves a bit to become good, confident presenters at work or wherever.

She just reminded me of it and I realized it is more relevant than ever with our crazy world getting totally reorganized because of this virus thing.

If you are an introvert (and many of us are at least partly that way), then you are looking a primo opportunity right in the eyeballs. Everybody just got thrown into the deep end of the icy pool in terms of communicating online. Almost no one is good at it. (Just check out your latest team meeting on Zoom).

The bar is set super low. To stand out you just have to look a little bit more professional and a little more confident than your peers or competition and you will be the star.

You don’t have to jump around the front of the room and be Mr. Energize Guy. You can be your calm, collected, thoughtful self. Just push your comfort zone a bit, don’t wear your Superman PJs, organize your thoughts and you will blow past everyone else.

Here’s a secret — many of the world’s greatest professional speakers are actually quite introverted. They have learned to use their particular skills to become superstars.

You can do this.

Don’t let this opportunity slip away…

How Introverts Can Become GREAT public speakers

Be well my friends,
Tom

PS… Let’s talk about you and where you want to shine in this new world we are inventing. Book a 45 min. discovery call with me:  https://calendly.com/ready2speak

The world needs you. Get going!

T

One of the big-time benefits of my career is that I get to see clients I have worked with succeed and grow. I would like to take credit for much of this, but I think I have been very fortunate to coach some highly gifted and motivated individuals.

This leads me to my win-win-win story.

Win #1 for you, gentle reader…

I coached Hanni Berger a few months back. Hanni speaks about how to manage stress in today’s crazy-modern world. She was to prepare a presentation for an elite women’s business forum. We redid a lot of the visuals and I helped her tweak the stories, structure, interaction and humor of her talk. She was already a very strong and confident presenter. My job was more, as I said, to help her fine-tune the details for maximum effect.

During the debrief call she reported she felt it went exceptionally well and there was a lot to learn from the experience.

She has now created a 30-day series on YouTube to help all of us house-bound folks manage and reduce stress. Short, easy-to-apply concepts to help you get through all of this.

I would highly recommend if you are feeling just a bit nuts these days. Go watch and be sure to subscribe.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9yZCc2VP21YlnYKnvgxd0Q

Win #2 for my client…

Her videos are casual, conversational and real. Her skills at connecting and motivating are likewise substantial. Again, I would like to take credit, but this is all her.

I am sure her confidence, on-camera manner and ability to deliver an effective message will continue to grow. This will serve her well both online and, when the world reopens, on stage.

Win #3 for me…

I get to subtly showcase a success story about one of my clients and deliver this shameless pitch: If you are motivated to deliver your message to the world, online or in-person, I can help. Let’s talk. Book a 45 min. discovery call with me:  https://calendly.com/ready2speak

We can discuss where you are and where you want to be when we put the afterburners on again.

The world is waiting for your brilliance. I would love to help you deliver it.

Peace and love. Be well,
Tom

P.S. Here is that link for your discovery call again:  https://calendly.com/ready2speak

Someone famous once said: Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Oh yeah, it was that Einstein guy.

I think he was onto something. Have you ever noticed that most business folks and subject matter experts get too close to their work and have some serious trouble condensing their thoughts down to a concise, clear message?

This is probably the most common problem I see when I coach people with their online or in-person presentations.

True experts seem to have the most difficulty. Too much information swirling around in their brilliant brains. They have spent decades figuring out the inner celestial plains of the distant Crawfish Nebula. They have spent zero time figuring out how to tell the world about it.

Perfectly understandable.

But the world won’t know about your amazing work unless you can make it simple and clear.

Maybe a single sentence clear.

Maybe written so-a-5^th-grader-could-get-it clear.

That’s the genius of Einstein’s quote above.

A big part of my job, as I see it, is to help you get to that simple core message that the world will understand and act on. Whether you are presenting in a live, in-person presentation or online pitching your product or service to your clients.

Then they just might listen to you. And “get” it.

Wouldn’t that be nice? Nice and simple.

It’s not always easy. But it is worth it. Because simple and clear is how you get clients to buy.

If the above simple message appeals to you and how you want to do business, we should talk.

Book a one-hour call and we will discuss where you are and where you want to be message-wise and if I might be of some assistance. No pressure. I promise.

Just click here. https://calendly.com/ready2speak

How simple is that?

Stay safe and happy today,
Tom