Best Audiences for You

Building our visibility is of primary importance when we are in the position to find more business. We have shifted from the need to enhance our credibility - this is already underway with the projects, cases and experiences we have behind us. To advance next, we must build our network, originate our own clients and regularly get some face time in front of key people.

So how do we strategize to build our audiences? Great question. It all starts with developing a plan, preparing to manage it and practicing the implementation until we develop insight on what is and isn't useful. Let's explore the first of these three steps.

Simply subtract

Addition is the usual sign of success. More toys, more friends, more dollars, more cars, more land, more square footage, more vacations, etc.

Rarely does someone select "subtraction" as a standard mode of operating when their career is going well. Yet simplicity is the ultimate form of reward. And simplicity leads to clear communication - clear mesages.

7 Benefits of Being in the Spotlight

As an introvert, I have come to see spotlights - times speaking in public - as unexpected sources of energy.

Yes, I still thoroughly enjoy days away from the crowds, schedules free of appointments and the time and space to research, analyze, and create in isolation.

But I must admit there are huge benefits for us to seek the spotlight, even us introverts. And these benefits are humbling. But a quick survey is important - who are you?

As Mark Sanborn suggests, "Change this inconsistency!"

By nature we automatically think one thing and do another. See the problems in others and not in ourselves. Do those things we wish we wouldn't. We are inconsistent creatures.

There is one inconsistency that Mark Sanborn has tweeted about lately. How can you keep commitments to others if you can't keep commitments to yourself?

A Right, A Risk, A Reward

This week on Harry's Law, Harriet's "security" director tipped her in the possibility of gang warfare in her neighborhood. His intention was for her to close up shop for awhile, so nobody got hurt. Of course Harriet had another idea. Force the gangs to meet her that evening so she could mediate the issue and resolve the issue responsibly. All in true Harriet style.

This collective bargaining method - bringing all parties together for a facilitated conversation around the issues of conflict - is a right of law-abiding citizens, yet it is a right many avoid. With it comes the possibility of escalated emotions that many of us are afraid to navigate.

This risk - navigating through heightened emotions - is one that is common to everyday life. From childhood into and through adulthood we grow in our practice of handling our emotions for the sake of being responsible while building relationships with those around us. Sitting down with those who have differences of opinion is an adult practice, that although risky, brings reward.

In Harry's Law, it brought closure on whether a gang member could date someone from the opposing gang. It brought closure on the value of a car. It even opened the discussion on handling gang members who decide to terminate their membership. Was it easy? No. Are most things worth having easy to come by? No.

Yet the reward for opening ourselves to honest, challenging conversation is actually several things: our personal satisfaction in having managed ourselves in a higher, honorable way; the ability to problem-solve while gaining mutual agreement; and the sense that everyone involved has been given the chance to say what they want to/need to say.

Open communication is a challenge. Yet it is a challenge that adult, responsible, emotional and respectful people take. And it is worth it.

Overcoming Personal Agendas

I just finished reading a post from Geoffrey James's blog on Sales and Marketing called, Top 10 Reasons Marketing Hates Sales. As James stated and described the challenge of each of the reasons, I had to laugh. These reasons aren't to be pigeonholed to only Sales folks and Marketing folks. They are so true of the agendas of folks with "seemingly" opposite or diametrically oppposed interests.

Starting with the most basic agendas, we can reasonably suggest there are times kids and parents have different agendas. The parents may operate to limit the boundaries of the child while the child operates to expand and explore those stated boundaries. Consider the male/female perspective. Whether the agendas are based on equality, authority or talents, similar push-pull tendancies exist.

When taking these agenda issues to the professional environment, we tend to function based on covering our weaknesses and discovering others'. Trust is the issue. Yet the most productive, trusting and enjoyable relationships, as they challenge one another, celebrate one another and push each other to exceed are those who are willing to let go of their own agendas.

Letting go of our agendas allows for discovery of what's been missing from our own perspective. It opens our eyes and gives us awareness. The key to letting go of our own thinking and intention relies on the simple question. What do you think? This question allows our responder to inform us. To give us a chance to observe them in action. To gain from their experience. And for those of us who are truly using an attitude of curiosity, we may dig deeper with Tell me more.

Typically those we may use these prompts with are people we enjoy. We slow down, dismiss our thinking and let our companion's minds become transparent. Consider doing the same with those we are challenged by. What would we gain? Probably the first thing is their surprise. And then quickly comes their thinking. So exhaust their thinking. Explore it. Then align the conversation from their end with seeking permission to explore your own thinking. Most often you'll be given it, especially after being so giving of your own time to listen to them.

In time, our agendas begin aligning and we discover the similarity, the need for team approach and the nudge in our own head of, "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Grab Baggers

This week I met with a skilled professional who values the art of public speaking, and then in the same breath announced to me that he won't plan his message before he speaks.

Grab bagger is what I said to myself. Grab baggers are presenters who basically speak off-the-cuff, allowing any version of conversation to stear the next point he makes. Grab bagging is one of at least 7 major speaking barrier patterns that produce audience reflections of, "Well she was nice" or "Was there supposed to be a point to this presentation?" or "Did I miss something?" or "Did the original speaker bow out at the last minute?"

This speaker may begin with a question or two for the audience, yet since this conversational element (when well-done, is extremely engaging) can bide time, it hooks the speaker into a pattern of relying on the audience to drive the presentational content. It is the act of a lazy presenter.

Even without audience involvement, the grab bagger may string together a number of points in a topic that are loosely related, expecting that is Good Enough for what is expected on the topic. Without structure and a solid flow of where the points are taking the audience, the presenter has just lost credit with the discerning audience.

Listeners aren't grouped simply to hear a person talk. They want to get something out of the presentation; actually, they'd prefer to get several things. Discerning and professional audiences appreciate the structure of a speech as it lends to new perspective on cause and effect, or appreciated strategy while learning techniques that support it. Audiences like to be given #'d points of assistance, as in "7 ways to turn around a chaotic moment".

Grab baggers haven't given themselves time to prepare. Prepare your speech. Know what specific focus you believe this particular audience will appreciate, how they can possibly benefit from it, what their challenges may be with it and tips in implementing. Create a carefully chosen gift for the listeners. Otherwise, close your eyes and grab at someone else's party.