- Compelling content

- Great stories

- Good stage movements

- Connecting with the audience

You may have even him given 5 stars for a good conclusion, if you were still paying attention. This guy had a voice that was so flat/monotone that heart monitors flat lined when they heard him speak. OK, not that bad.

An otherwise stellar performance was hindered by the fact he talked at the same speed with the same pitch at the same volume for 45 minutes. It is very difficult to pay attention when the speaker has a monotone voice.

How is your voice? Having good vocal variety will help you share your expertise and have people coming back to listen to you. Here are some speech tips to help you have a clear speaking voice.

Recently, I was surfing on another speaker’s site. This speaker is a friend of mine, and quite successful in both his speaking/coaching as well as his product sales. I’ve purchased a couple of his products, and I recommend him (and a few others) on my Talk to the Human blog.

I check his site occasionally to see his blog and to see if he has any new product. One thing I like about him is his method of pricing. He has a standard price on his web site, as well as some bundled specials. Occasionally he may offer a discount for certain reasons, and he alway offers a great price on his individual items and his bundles when you see him speak in person.

On . . . → Read More: Are your offers consistent?]]> Not every customer will notice inconsistencies in your products and pricing, but some will. You don’t want to lose those sales or the subsequent word-of-mouth from the satisfied customer, do you?

Recently, I was surfing on another speaker’s site. This speaker is a friend of mine, and quite successful in both his speaking/coaching as well as his product sales. I’ve purchased a couple of his products, and I recommend him (and a few others) on my Talk to the Human blog.

I check his site occasionally to see his blog and to see if he has any new product. One thing I like about him is his method of pricing. He has a standard price on his web site, as well as some bundled specials. Occasionally he may offer a discount for certain reasons, and he alway offers a great price on his individual items and his bundles when you see him speak in person.

On this occation, things were not as I had expected. His prices on the site looked right to me, but when I clicked on the “buy” button, the price came back lower. I decided to check further, and noticed this was the case on nearly all of his products. When I contacted him to tell him, I learned that he had recently decided to lower his on-line prices for these products. But, because the first price the customer sees was higher, it seemed to me this could cost him some sales. Of course, within a few hours of me mentioning it to him, the prices were corrected.

This is a lesson you’ll hear from almost everyone: Check your own process as if you were a customer. Make sure that prices, links, and purchase processes work like your customer would expect them too.

You would hate to learn that you lost a sale to confusion or inconsistencies in you website, right? Don’t let a small oversight cost you a sale. Check those links and processes monthly, or anytime you change something. Be consistent, and your customers will continue to trust you and buy from you.

Recently, I heard some answers that could have been better. My wife was out for the evening so I was babysitting our 5 month old daughter. I flipped the TV on and America’s Got Talent was having the final Top Ten compete for the last round where the winner receives $1,000,000.

A few of the contestants were asked after their performance, “Why should America vote for you?” Here is their chance to give a 60 second persuasive speech to elicit more votes.

In my opinion their answers were single hits, not home runs. Why?

More in a moment.

You and I may never be asked the question in front of millions of people. However, every day people are mentally asking:

I was in Borders bookstore today, and I selected a couple of books and proceeded to the counter to make my purchase. While ringing up my purchase, the clerk asked if I had a Borders Rewards card to use. I replied “yes,” and proceeded to give her . . . → Read More: Are you ready to sell?]]> There is a lot of advice about how to develop, produce and market your products and services. This is all really improtant to your success, but what sometimes gets lost is the execution process. What I mean by that is how we sometimes think that customers will buy our products or services simply because they are great, and because we know they need them. It is important that we also remember the customer’s point of view. Are we making them work harder to buy from us? To that end, have you ever lost a sale, or given up as a consumer due to poor execution?

I was in Borders bookstore today, and I selected a couple of books and proceeded to the counter to make my purchase. While ringing up my purchase, the clerk asked if I had a Borders Rewards card to use. I replied “yes,” and proceeded to give her my phone number for verification. She then asked, “Would you like to upgrade to our ‘Plus’ rewards card? It includes these additional benefits.” and she showed me how I could save more on other purchases, much like Barnes and Noble’s program. At $20, this was a good choice for me since my family spends money on books nearly every week.

So, after an anti-climatic pause, I said “yes.” As she went to ring up the membership, she realized she had no idea how to transfer a customer from the free program to the new plus program. She asked a coworker who was nearby, and still didn’t have a good answer. After just a minute or two of searching for written instructions (seemed like an hour in “I’m waiting” time), she “tried something ” and managed to get the process to work.

Luckily, I’m not an impatient customer, or I might have called off the additional sale, or the whole transaction in frustration. I did glean a couple of messages from this:

1. Know your products – when she was telling me about the program, she neglected to tell me about the fact that the “10% off most everything else” would apply to my current purchases. It did, and I saved $0.70. Not a big deal, but you shouldn’t leave out immediate benefits when making a sale.

2. Know your customer – Don’t be afraid to ask “what do you typically buy?” or the applicable question for your product or service. For me, the answer is magazines, business books, and clearance books. To this, she could have told me, “the 40% Hardcover Bestsellers does include new business books, and the %20 off selected hardcovers would also include business books that are not on the bestseller list.” to make the savings be more relevant to me.

3. Know your processes – If you are going to make a sale, make sure your technology and/or random procedures don’t slow or thwart the sale. This means understand how to handle new customers and ‘upgrades’ as well. Also, if you are using a web-based system and you prefer PayPal, you should have a second option for those customers that don’t use PayPal, or in case that primary system is down. The payment method was not a problem at Borders, but it is worth considering for small business types like you and me.

At the end of the day, Borders did make this sale, and I did save $0.70 on today’s book purchases. Everybody won. Clumsy processes may work for well motivated buyers, but you shouldn’t stake your business on the patience and desire of your customers to sit through your learning curve. Practice how you make the sale and make sure you know your products, your customers and your processes. Now, you are ready to sell!

Why write a book? Here are several reasons:

Step #1: Choose a subject you are an expert in and passionate about

What jobs have you been involved in? . . . → Read More: How to Write a Book in 90 Days]]> Is it possible to write a book in 90 days? Yes. Here is a 7 step plan that will help you get your expertise into book form. I have used it to publish several books on Amazon.

Why write a book? Here are several reasons:

• Credibility. Being the author of a book boosts your credibility and helps you get speaking engagements.
• Earn extra income. I can speak for free at various events and still make a profit due to book sales at the back of the room. Also, ongoing royalties from Amazon is nice.
• Satisfaction. For 15+ years I had a dream of being a published author. This 7 step plan enabled me to accomplish that dream. Do you have a dream?
• Help more people. Putting your message in your book will enable you to help more people.

Step #1: Choose a subject you are an expert in and passionate about

What jobs have you been involved in? What subjects have you spent dozens of hours researching because you are passionate about them?

Write from your experience and passion. If you do this, it will cut down on your research since you already know about the subject.

Step #2: Target your audience

Not everyone will want to read your book. Sorry! Identify your target reader and write to them. When I write I mentally picture that my target reader is sitting across the desk from me.  Then I write like I am talking to them. Try it! You and your reader will see a difference.

Step #3: Outline your book

I’ve wasted several days cranking out a chapter only to realize it did not fit into the theme of my book. Outline your book. Decide on chapter subjects. Then go through and list out 10-20 things you will say about that chapter subject. This will help guide you.

Step #4: Write two pages a day during  your most alert time

Find your time of  day when you are most productive. For me it is morning, the earlier the better. I can get more study/writing done between 6 – 7, than I can between 1 and 4 in the afternoon. Yes, one morning hour is more productive than three afternoon hours. Get up early if you have to. Block out a writing time in the evening. Or maybe take 30 minutes at lunch.

Discipline yourself to write two pages a day. This should take you about 30 minutes and still allow some time for editing previous days work. What if you get writers block? Write anyways. Just write! Consider using the brain dump.

Do this for 90 days and you will have a 180 page book. You will find that someday you will push out 4-5 pages. Others it may be less. Write! If you write two pages a day, it is just a manner of time until your book is written.

Step #5: Improve your writing skills

Writing is an art and a science. It takes practice to become good, but you can shortcut the process by learning several strategies. See the following articles by our friends at Copyblogger:

• 5 Tips for Writing Well
• Brilliant Writing Tips
• Find your Writing Voice

Step #6 Hire several proof readers

You can tap into family, friends, or even local college students. At the minimum you want them to make sure there are zero grammatical and spelling errors. Second, you want them to point out any paragraphs where you are not clear. Third, to really spruce up your writing, ask them for ideas on how to reword to make it more clear.

Step #7: Self Publish or submit to existing publisher

Congratulations. Your book is finished. Now get that baby published and on Amazon. You can try an existing publisher or self publish through a company like Createspace.

What’s stopping you?

You have your plan. Take the next 90 days and write your book. Don’t delay. You may be thinking, “I don’t have time.” Wrong answer. We always have time for we think is important. Shut off the Time Vacuum (TV) and write.

Don’t make excuses. Follow this plan and you will write a book in 90 days.

(C) Arlen Busenitz – SpeakingInfo.com

For instance, let’s say you are an expert at decluttering homes. Just like on the reality show when they go in and say “do you need this?”, you are able to help people reduce the clutter and get more space in their homes. You may think, “everyone could use less clutter” and you would be right. But, does everyone need your help (i.e your specific expertise) to do that?

Maybe this is something you do just as a hobby, so your target audience is a bit younger (i.e. in their 20s) and just starting to accumulate that early clutter. Your specialty is to get them back on the right track and using good . . . → Read More: You need a single customer]]> I believe that deciding to focus on a specific customer is the hardest decision you have to make as an entrepreneur. It’s so easy to think that “everybody” will want what you have to offer. After all, you are great, right?

For instance, let’s say you are an expert at decluttering homes. Just like on the reality show when they go in and say “do you need this?”, you are able to help people reduce the clutter and get more space in their homes. You may think, “everyone could use less clutter” and you would be right. But, does everyone need your help (i.e your specific expertise) to do that?

Maybe this is something you do just as a hobby, so your target audience is a bit younger (i.e. in their 20s) and just starting to accumulate that early clutter. Your specialty is to get them back on the right track and using good judgement in the future to avoid becoming “reality-TV worthy.”

Perhaps you’ve been doing this for a while, so you are pretty good at handling 40-something, kids at college, 6-cats and 2-dogs extreme clutter. That is a different audience, and requires different skills and a different marketing plan.

No matter what your specialty, you have a best customer that fits your style and expertise. Take time to think that customer through, so that when you are developing advertising as well as new products or services, you can concentrate your efforts where they will best pay off.

Follow these steps:

1. Name your customer (i.e Patricia)

2. Determine their employment status

3. Decide his/her age range

4. Marital status/children

5. Other attributes relevant to your business

For instance, one of the attributes of our target customer is: has expertise and wants to use if to generate income. That expertise could be the decluttering I mentioned above, the fitness expert we talk about in the e-book, or any other service provider that could benefit from speaking and having an on-line presence. The point is our customers (i.e. you) has something to say and wants to be better/stronger/faster in getting their expertise out in the marketplace.

Don’t worry if you have trouble with this right now. Both Arlen and I did at first too. This is another process that you will see change over time. Also, you may find yourself with two or three perfect customers, each with separate products and services you and your business provide. Until then, take the time to outline that first one, and watch your focus become more clear, and your writing and product creation become easier.

The short answer is very important. Sure you can make a great presentation without it, just as you can have a good tasting Ice Cream Sunday without chocolate. However, your speech will be so much more received if humor is intertwined in it.

When I say humor, I am not talking about throwing in several jokes that made their rounds through email. Nor am I referring to adding a couple Readers Digest stories.

Great speech humor is adding in your personal humorous stories and tweaking your existing content so that it makes the audience laugh.

Here are 5 reasons why humor is important in presentations.

Laughter draws people together. An audience that is laughing is involved. When they are involved in your . . . → Read More: Public Speaking Humor: Is it Important?]]> As an expert, you’ll likely be taking free and paid speaking engagements to spread your message and build up your credibility. How important is public speaking humor?

The short answer is very important. Sure you can make a great presentation without it, just as you can have a good tasting Ice Cream Sunday without chocolate. However, your speech will be so much more received if humor is intertwined in it.

When I say humor, I am not talking about throwing in several jokes that made their rounds through email. Nor am I referring to adding a couple Readers Digest stories.

Great speech humor is adding in your personal humorous stories and tweaking your existing content so that it makes the audience laugh.

Here are 5 reasons why humor is important in presentations.

Reason #1: Humor connects you with the audience

Laughter draws people together. An audience that is laughing is involved. When they are involved in your presenation, you will be able to connect well.

Reason #2: Humor encourages people to refer you

“That speaker was so funny!” When people say this about you (in a good way), they are going to spread the word about you.

Reason #3: Humor holds attention

It happens to every speaker. At some point during the presentation, the minds of the listeners have wandered. You can prevent that and stop the wandering minds. Use humor. Humor keeps the attention and will also bring attention right back.

Reason #4: Humor causes your message to sink in

A laughing audience is a listening audience. When people laugh they are much more receptive to your message and it helps them remember it.

Reason #5: Humor makes you a likeable person and speaker

Being popular and likable is very helpful. People will ask us back more and be more receptive to what we have to say.

How to add humor:

Humor is a science and an art. There are certain rules, if you learn them you can create humorous lines with ease. Here are a couple resources:

• Check out my cd Make the Audience Laugh
• Read the Blog Humor Power

Last week I suggested that you work on developing content about your area of expertise each day. That doesn’t mean you have to post it to a blog every day, but you should create and/or edit content each day to keep your mind working.

Throughout the day, you want to be wary of the 37-second rule. What is that rule? Simply put, based on the way the human brain is wired you only have 37 seconds to capture an idea before it’s lost…possibly forever. If you don’t capture that thought on . . . → Read More: Developing Blog Content]]> When I started my first blog, I decided that I would write and post a blog entry every day for a month. Then, as I moved through that month, I decided to add a month to that. I was able to go 80 days with a post each day until I just felt like I had emptied my brain into that blog.

Last week I suggested that you work on developing content about your area of expertise each day. That doesn’t mean you have to post it to a blog every day, but you should create and/or edit content each day to keep your mind working.

Throughout the day, you want to be wary of the 37-second rule. What is that rule? Simply put, based on the way the human brain is wired you only have 37 seconds to capture an idea before it’s lost…possibly forever. If you don’t capture that thought on a note pad or something quickly, you may not stumble back onto it for a long time (if ever).

My point? When I started writing more often I noticed more ideas come to my mind throughout the day. This will happen to you, so keep a small notepad with you all the time. You may not use all of the ideas you have, but you’ll use none of the ideas you lose.

When you get home and sit down to do your daily writing, take those notes down and write something about each one. Try to choose an amount of time you can stick to, like 10 minutes, or maybe a word-count goal, like 300 words per day. Write about your passion, about what you know and about what you’ve learned. Make sure to do these things:

1. Categorize it. Just like our blog has categories, do the same for your content. You can add more categories later, but pick ones that your target audience would likely search on.

2. Speak to one customer. Write your content as if your one perfect customer is the one person who will read it.

3. Wait 24 hours to edit it. Get the thoughts down on paper first, then look at it tomorrow to polish it up.

Write every day, and you’ll soon develop content you can use, reuse and repackage for your business. Content you will use to help your customers and build your credibility. Be consistent – Pick a time, a place, and a computer and sit down and get those thoughts out of your head and into a place you won’t lose them. Hurry up, you now have just 37 seconds and the clock is ticking…

I love reading business books, interviewing business owners, and discovering how to grow a business successfully. I’ve discovered there are two pillars that essential for success:

Pillar #1: Deliver Value

Value is what people want and what people need.  People buy our products, read our blog, listen to us speak because we provide value. The moment you and I cut corners on providing value, people may go elsewhere.

The road of life is littered with small-business’s, companies, and individuals who failed to provide quality value to their customers.

Pillar #2: Build Relationships

People like to buy from those they know and trust. There are several blogs I follow daily, not just because they have fresh content, but because the author is building a relationship with the . . . → Read More: Two Pillars of a Successful Business]]> A bridge is only as good as the pillars supporting it. Your business (whether speaking, blogging, coaching, writing, etc) will only be as successful as the pillars it is built on.

I love reading business books, interviewing business owners, and discovering how to grow a business successfully. I’ve discovered there are two pillars that essential for success:

Pillar #1: Deliver Value

Value is what people want and what people need.  People buy our products, read our blog, listen to us speak because we provide value. The moment you and I cut corners on providing value, people may go elsewhere.

The road of life is littered with small-business’s, companies, and individuals who failed to provide quality value to their customers.

Pillar #2: Build Relationships

People like to buy from those they know and trust. There are several blogs I follow daily, not just because they have fresh content, but because the author is building a relationship with the readers.  If it was not for that relationship, I probably would not read it.

Every day I’ll get several promotions to my email for different products. Some from complete strangers, others from marketers who have built a relationship with their list for the past couple years.

I’ll almost never check out offers from strangers, but from those I know.

How do we do this practically:

• With every post or email, seek to build a relationship with your customer. Be open and real. Truly care about your customers.
• Build trust. Deliver what you promise.
• Only sell and promote quality products.

How can you deliver value and build relationships?