Painfully blunt is the way my hubs describes me.

Not gonna mince words here.

If you’re pitching yourself to event organizers who hire speakers….and all you get are crickets and maybe a gig for “volunteer speakers” …you’re wasting your time and energy.

You DON’T need to:

😢Create a slick Speaker 1-sheet with new branded photos

😢Pay for a goofball “speaker reel” video that's staged with “real people”

😢Join Toastmasters or spend big bucks on a voice coach

😢Waste a ton of time, money, and energy writing a book

Here’s what you DO need to do:

🎯Connect your topic to the theme of an event so that decision-makers know you "get" their audience

🎯Have a 1-minute video clip from a real talk that showcases your personality and expertise

🎯Work on your internal voice first so that you quiet self-doubt (and get contracts, not crickets!)

🎯Fine-tune your topic and description so organizers see you're a polished pro (and they can easily copy + paste it right into their marketing material)

Her...

There’s long been hype about thinking big and dreaming big.

You know the adage, shoot for the moon. If you miss, you’ll hit the stars.

That’s lovely and inspiring.

But, it doesn't work for entrepreneurs who want more visibility and clients.

Here’s why.

People don't care much about the “big” events in our lives.

The graduations, certifications, weddings, or other "moon and stars" milestones.

Formal events tend to feel staged and predictable.

They're boring.

Same for our introductions, stories, and "About Me" pages.

If they are filled with milestones, people lose interest.

Look, prospects will get to your qualifications.

First, though, you've gotta show up real and relatable.

Like a human being who is easy to connect with.

That's why successful speakers and entrepreneurs pay close attention to ordinary (smaller) moments.

The gold in your story is the seemingly mundane smaller things in life that have deeply affected you.

Ordinary moments often morph into "extra-ordinary" ...

If we took our own advice, the world would be a very different place.

I was finishing a post about our willingness to stare down the truth and "go there."

To go deep and say what truly needs to be said.

Scratching the surface helps no one.

I was ready to hit PUBLISH, but something happened.

I threw up a little in my mouth.

Lots of words that scratch the Sue Young surface.

Even the Grammarly app I use deemed the engagement as “Bland.”

Ugh.

So I followed my own advice to "go there." 

This is the real deal, Take 2.

I'm days away from finishing a year-long Mastermind program.

I'm a firm believer in learning from people who are 5-10 steps ahead of me.

To do this, I plunked down $30,000 to join Emily's Mastermind.

And I'm not even close to reaching my business goals. 

Surprisingly, I am OK with this.

Because Emily's group turned me upside down and inside out. Not so much as an entrepreneur but as a human being.

As the program wraps up, I’ve done a lot of reflecting.

I'm a “list person” and a 1/3 Manifesting G...

Speaker Rant Here:

You wanna become a paid speaker so you can share your stories and change lives.

That's wonderful.

There's a huge mistake that beginners make that I want you to avoid at all costs.

This is the 3rd time in a few weeks I've heard something like this.

A connection on LinkedIn posted this today and I cringed. You should never experience this!

Look, a keynote is VERY different than a breakout session.

In how you craft your...

💎Stories and the flow of your talk

💎Slides

💎Activities

💎Handouts

💎And your mindset!

A true professional speaker who gets paid to present time and time again asks the right questions from the moment they are hired so that they are absolutely in their power and can blow the doors off their presentation!!

My coaching clients know that walking into a surprise is not professional.

If you're wanting to get serious about becoming a paid speaker, let's hop on a free Story Power Session strategy call. Click this link to apply.

Entrepreneurs are rarely short on ideas. 

And then we tell ourselves: I have no idea where to start.  😢

Let's ban the phrase, I have no idea where to start. 

It’s a familiar and comfortable narrative that has you brainwashed into believing you're stuck.

I’m calling you out on this BS because your internal story is blocking your business growth.💰 

You insist you're clueless and instead focus on external messaging like ad copy, SEO, and email automation.

Here's the thing. 

🎇Your internal messaging is more important than anything else.

Because marketing rarely works when your internal story keeps hammering that you have no idea what to do.

Our words create our worlds. 🌎

 And our communication is “an inside job” that no SEO guru can tweak. 

When you start with Step 1 and commit to cleaning up your internal story, you'll have: 

 🎯Qualified leads and decision-makers joining your list and community. 

 🎯People who love engaging and sharing your content, so you have more visibility...

Humans are born with only 2 fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises.

Science proves it.

Everything else you’re afraid of was learned, most likely in your childhood (0-7 years old)

And we carry these fears—and the stories behind them—with us…for years.

• You talk about being afraid of heights.

• You talk about being afraid of dogs, spiders, or snakes.

• You talk about your fear of public speaking. Then, you give momentum to your (learned) story by talking about the presentation you messed up…in 2012.

Our words create our worlds. 🌎

And they usually keep us from growing ourselves and our businesses.

So, what are you afraid of, aside from maybe falling and loud noises?

My client, Don, was reflecting with me about how transformative this fear lesson has been for him.

Don’s a super smart techie.

He was studying computer languages long before the rest of us found the Internet.

His programs have been used by the Pentagon and White House; so cool! ⚡

But until a few ...

I can’t count the times I’ve stared at a crisp new landing page that’s about to go live, wondering: will this convert?

Will my message land? Will the words resonate so people opt-in, reply, or join…whatever…?

{BECOME A CLEAR + CONFIDENT COMMUNICATOR SO YOU ATTRACT DREAM CLIENTS. APPLY FOR A FREE 30-MINUTE STORY POWER SESSION HERE}

Your words—and mine—only dance off the page and into the hearts of prospects when we use THEIR exact lingo.

When we talk about

• THEIR pain
• THEIR aspirations
• THEIR desires

This was glaringly obvious in one of the women entrepreneurs Facebook groups I’m in.

A member—let’s call her Lauren—wanted feedback on a landing page for her new offer. She specifically asked for comments on her 2-minute welcome video.

When I looked and read the few lines of text above the video, I had no clue what Lauren was offering.

Would the video bring clarity?

The page layout was visually appealing, but the words were confusing.

I wanted to give Lauren the benefit of th...

Building rapport with others—whether it’s in person or online—takes practice. Much of it is intuitive. 

Rapport is about creating a bond, link, connection, and understanding. 

The goal is to connect and engage people so that they are thinking, feeling, reacting, and involved.

Humans crave connection and want to be understood.  

Rapport building is an art and skill in communication that’s used daily in all our relationships.

Here are 10 tips to connect and build rapport with others: 

1. Act approachable. When mingling face-to-face, be aware of how you move and behave. Notice how confident and easy-going folks network. Use body language and gestures that are inviting. When you’re online, have a welcoming and intriguing profile or video. Smile in your profile picture; it matters! 

2. Ask good questions. People love to talk about themselves so develop your listening skills and curiosity. Learn how to ask powerful questions and listen closely to reply with a thoughtful response. Pe

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