Professionally Speaking

In this third edited highlight from the Silicon Valley Speechwriters Roundtable call, freelance speechwriter Michael Long shares his impressions of the conference. Mike taught a pre-conference workshop on Storytelling for speechwriters and has strong opinions about the keys to constructing a speech around a story. He also presented on Time management for speechwriters and relays a few of the many tips and tricks on ways speechwriters can work more efficiently. He also references his excellent newsletter which is available as a free subscription from his SoMikeSaid website.

By listening to Mike you’ll hear a Ragan Conference institution in full flight.

To hear what he said, click on the podcast icon below.

Back on June 27 I spent a delightful and instructive day helping judge emerging speakers at Sahar Kordahi's Bright Side of Life Voices of Leadership day.

Over 30 speakers competed in a showcase where they gave three-minute speeches that were evaluated in terms of presentation skills, message content, personal appearance and stage presence. The five winning presenters were Dawn Christensen, Carolyn CJ Jones, Jim Niswonger, Sandra Patino, and Ryann Pryor-Foster. They will give a 15-minute presentation at the follow-up event being held in Pleasanton, California on August 16.

The speakers were trained by Pam Whitman and Sahar Kordahi. In addition to individual coaching the winning speakers will receive

"Look the Talk" image consulting with fashion expert Olga Kamova

A speech writing coaching session with me

“Stand in your Leadership Role” coaching session with Sahar Kordahi

“Lead and Speak with Balance” with speech performance and movement specialist Pam Whitman

Support from the collaborative “Voices of Leadership” team

Referrals to other speaking opportunities

This was a well-produced, motivational and educational event perfect for emerging speakers to develop skills that will take them from "free to fee" in the exciting world of professional speaking.

I highly recommend registering for the August 16th Be the Voice of Leadership event and join in the program that Sahar and Pam have produced.

Interview

I caught up with Sahar & Pam after the event and asked them to share the background to the Voices of Leadership. To hear what they told me, click on the podcast icon below.

How many professional speakers do you know that go to work in their bathing suits? Well, that is exactly what Alicia Berberich does! Besides speaking to parents groups around the Bay Area, she teaches water aerobics at the San Francisco Presidio YMCA. She has over 10 years of experience teaching a diverse group of students the thrill of water aerobics. She has now taken that high energy and is focusing it on teaching parents success strategies for their kids.

Alicia noticed that many children were not learning basic skills that are needed in life such as conversation skills, perseverance, integrity, tenacity, and gratitude to name a few. She began speaking to small groups of mothers about the importance of these skills in adults and the idea of starting with the end in mind that she learned from the Steven Covey program.

Now Alicia, mother of three, talks to school groups, church groups, motherʼs clubs, womenʼs clubs and other groups about what parents can do to teach their children these important character building skills. Parents are excited to learn easy ways to develop these skills in their kids. Alicia has also found that parents are hungry for a place to talk about the various issues and challenges they are having in raising their kids. How to deal with difficult situations like bullying in schools, and how to deal with technology in the home, and how to instill values in kids and how to motivate them. Alicia offers workshops and on-going Success Circles, called Eagle Clubs, which provide just that place for parents to come on a regular basis to talk about their frustrations and find mutual support and ideas.

For more information about the Eagle Clubs, or to hire Alicia Berberich to speak, call 415-596-9806. Additional information is available on her LinkedIn page.

Speaker’s Academy Archive

I caught up with Alicia at a National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter meeting in advance of the Speaker’s Academy program. To hear what she told me about the ways she uses her business and executive skills when coaching families, and a simple tip on how parents can help their children, click on the podcast icon below.

Julie Mergen is fascinated with business systems. She admires those who create products from concepts. Along with her innate entrepreneurial spirit, she simply finds money interesting -- even more intriguing is the multiple, seemingly endless perceptions we as humans have about money. Julie says: “Money stops us, blocks us, money molds us, holds us, money is freedom, money is greed, money is a tool and a crutch, money is anger and happiness, money is love, companionship, affection, money is scarce, money is security, money is prosperity and abundant, money is influence and power. Money can be build an empire and destroy a marriage -- if that is how money is perceived, that is what money becomes.”

Julie started a women’s investment club in 2004. During its existence the club has touched the lives of 16 diverse women. Together, these women learned and implemented strategies for investing one dollar to earn two in return. They studied the stock market; learned about real estate investing; explored several business models; held a club portfolio which fostered courage for many members to move outside their comfort zone; and expanded their individual portfolios. They made some money, they lost some money — but most importantly, Julie led these women through a learning process to change their perceptions about money. Perceptions about money had restrained each of them from achieving financial freedom, which meant something different to each of them in turn.

Spending six years in a club with these magnificent women was an immense gift that Julie is eternally grateful for. Along with her interests, this experience shaped the concepts for workshops, one-on-one mentoring and a monthly publication, Her Money Magazine. Julie’s passion now is to reach out and share in creating a new community which includes all women, anyone who wants to discover their relationship with money and create financial freedom — freedom in all aspects of life.

Through workshops, mentoring, and public speaking Julie’s sets a standard for women to rise up authentically with confidence and achieve what each individual woman believes is her standard of financial well being.

Her Money Magazine is a pillar in the financial realm of women's lives; sparking an interest and cultivating confidence; demystifying fears and broadening views about money in ways that educate, encourage, empower and even entertain while women of all ages all over the world take action to achieve financial well-being; living dreams that come true.

Through a newly founded non-profit, Her Freedom Foundation, Julie will reach out specifically to the single mothers who find themselves struggling financially, feeling trapped and possibility seeing themselves as victims of circumstance. The Foundation offers support and education to show these women the way to financial empowerment.

Julie is a leader making a difference in the lives of women, so that they in turn may make a difference in the lives of those who surround them.

Speaker’s Academy Archive

I caught up with Julie at a National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter meeting immediately prior to the start of the Speaker’s Academy program. To hear what she told me about her plans to publish the magazine and her best single piece of advice for women who want to learn to manage money, click on the podcast icon below.

“Speech is my Music. Music is my Speech” – Emiko Hori

A native of Japan, Emiko Hori grew up in California. An accomplished musician, she has been actively speaking and giving presentations to corporate clients and young adults about the connection between musical performance and public speaking and presentation skills.

A graduate of the renowned Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Emiko has give piano recitals throughout the US, Europe, and Canada including masterclasses in Bergamo, Italy, the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, and at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany.

Her new book Let's Play Speech!: How to Give a Better Speech Using the Principles of Musical Performance is now available. The book is an entertaining and instructive exploration of the ways public speakers can improve their "performances", learning from the ways musicians use pause, rhythm and tonality and the way they have to learn to listen to the audience:

Did you know there are many similarities between piano performance and public speaking? They both have a clear message to deliver in front of the audience. They both impact the audience’s life and way of thinking. Interestingly, the musician’s mindset seems to coincide with many aspects of public speaking.

It is packed with practical tips that will improve anyone's speech preparation and delivery.

Speaker's Academy Archive

I caught up with Emiko at a National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter meeting immediately prior to the start of the Speaker's Academy program. She surprise me by sharing why what she calls the "Strippers Walk" is a crucial skill both professional musicians AND speakers (not to mention strippers!) need to learn. By this, she means the first five seconds when the person steps onto the stage and the audience judges exactly what you look like, your expressions, how tall or short you are, and most importantly, what kind of personality you have, just by watching how you walk. To hear Emiko explain more about the connection between stripping, speaking and musical performance, click on the podcast icon below.

NSA/NC Meeting Report: Saturday March 2, 2013

The Saturday meeting of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association featured two savvy businesswomen who shared ways professional speakers and information entrepreneurs can book more business and own their niche markets. Stephanie Chandler is a Silicon Valley refugee who left a stressful job on the Peninsula for the life of a successful information entrepreneur. Lois Creamer knows the speaking business. She has worked with the superstars of speaking as both a cheerleader and strategist. She is endorsed by none other than Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE.

Stephanie Chandler: Living the good life after corporate America

Stephanie was inspired by the film Sleepless in Seattle to move to Sacramento, open a bookstore and write novels. Neither worked out for her. She quickly moved on to Plan B, launching herself as a speaker and non-fiction author on the urging of superstar literary agent Mike Larsen.

She launched BusinessInfoGuide.com, her first website, in 2004. Now, six books and a series of websites later, she is in demand as an author, speaker, Forbes blogger, and expert on content marketing, internet marketing, small business growth strategies, and publishing.

8 keys to owning your niche

The importance of speakers owning a niche has been a core lesson taught in NSA/NC Speakers Academy classes for many years. Stephanie walks the walk when it comes to knowing how to do this in the digital age. Heck, she's even written a book on the topic.

She shared eight simple strategies to increase website traffic and own a niche:

Define your target audience. Decide who you want to reach and what challenges you can solve for them.

Tap into the power of community. Figure out where your audience spends their time and engaged them there.

Optimize your website. Incorporate keywords and phrases that your audience would use to find you. Update your site frequently, generate incoming links, and continually add new content.

Implement a blog. This will help build your audience, increase website traffic, generate new clients, create consulting opportunities, and attract media interviews and speaking engagements. It's also the heart of your social media strategy. Stephanie recommends updating it at least twice a week.

Develop a content marketing strategy. Create ebooks, white papers, and special reports that you give away. Distribute articles to websites to reach your target audience or write articles for print publications.

Expand with video and podcasts. Even speakers who hate writing can record their presentations to communicate their message.

Embrace social media. There are great reasons why executives are signing on with social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest each have their own unique advantages. You can automate much of the distribution of the content between these different sites.

Commit a little time each day. just as you need to spend time weeding and planting seeds to enjoy a luxuriant garden, so you need to set aside time each day to develop content, engage in social media, and cultivate community. Stephanie advises that a little effort goes a long way in expanding your brand.

More details are available in her slides:

Lois Creamer: Business Strategies for Professional Speakers

Lois's advice starts with the way we say hello. As professional communicators, the worst way to introduce ourselves is by NAME and TOPIC. We need to learn to introduce ourselves in a compelling and interesting way. Much better is an introduction by CONCEPT and OUTCOME. This captures your unique differentiation. She calls this a positioning statement and uses these words whenever she meets someone:

"I work with professional speakers who want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes."

This is far more effective than using an elevator speech, which is typically too long and boring. An effective positioning statement should go on your website, one-sheet, email signature, and be part of any voice mail message you leave when calling prospects.

Effective voice mail messages

If Lois can't reach a decision maker she'll leave four voice mail messages over a period of a couple of weeks. Each will use the positioning statement and end with a qualifying question to encourage them to take action:

"Mr. Prospect, I'm sorry I missed you. This is Lois Creamer, I'm a consultant, I work with speakers just like you who want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes. I'm calling to see if I might be a fit to be helpful to you in your business in any way. And I'd love to send you something about what I do. I want to make sure it would be welcome. Could you call me and let me do that."

If four messages bring no results, she'll leave a 5th indicating she's been trying to reach them, but this will be the last call she'll make and she'd love to hear from them. This is often the message that gets a return call from a busy executive.

Negotiating fees

Many speakers have a hard time negotiating fees.

Lois advises to speak for full fee where possible, or be willing to waive your fee, but never give a "free speech". If you are willing to waive your fee or speak for a reduced fee, ask the event organizer what else, if you are willing to do that, they are willing to provide you of value. Her blog lists suggestions on items of value speakers can negotiate.

If you need to raise your fees, do so with a few months advance notice and give clients the chance to book you at the existing fees before then. look on raising fees as promoting your success in the marketplace.

Interview: Lois Creamer on the future of the speaking business

To hear Lois's thoughts on changes in the speaking business and what she sees coming over the next 5-10 years, click on the podcast icon below ...

Melanie Watkins always dreamt of becoming a doctor but when she found herself sixteen and pregnant, that dream seemed out of reach.

Having been raised by a single mother, Melanie knew the challenges single motherhood presented. Despite the uphill climb, Melanie made the decision to raise her child on her own.

Her memoir, Taking My Medicine: My Journey from Teenage Mother to Physician, is the story of a young woman's triumphs--overcoming the stigma of a teenage pregnancy and embarking on the journey to medical school.

Drawing from pieces previously published in Chicken Soup for the African American Soul, Chicken Soup for the Single's Soul, Woman's World Magazine, What I Learned in Medical School: Personal Stories of Young Doctors, her memoir encourages young people to dream and to push beyond their most difficult circumstances. Her book is an inspiring story of faith and perseverance about a teenage mother beating insurmountable odds to create a brighter future for herself, her son and her community.

Melanie Watkins, M.D. is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is licensed by the California State Medical Board to practice Medicine and Psychiatry.

She received her medical training at the Stanford University School of Medicine and completed an internship in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco. Her specialty training in Psychiatry was at the University of Nevada, Department of Psychiatry.

She currently is in private practice in Walnut Creek, CA.

Dr. Watkins has experience in treating anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, substance dependence, and personality disorders. She has particular interest in women’s mental health, cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy. Dr. Watkins can also provide support for family members and friends of mentally ill patients who require hospitalization and/or ongoing support. She enjoys treating adolescents and adults.

She enjoys long distance running, motivational speaking and reading non-fiction books. She can be reached through her website www.drmelaniewatkins.com. She lives in Walnut Creek. Her son, Jonathan, is 18 years old and is a freshman in college in Reno, Nevada.

Speaker's Academy Archive

I caught up with Melanie at a National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter meeting immediately prior to the start of the Speaker's Academy program. To hear what she told me about her speaking program which has taken her from Alaska to New York, delivering talks to students from disadvantaged backgrounds; the story behind her book and the importance of mentorship, click on the podcast icon below.

Kathy Stershic is Principal Consultant of Dialog Research & Communications. She provides senior-level business and communications consulting expertise to executives at leading-edge organizations, and is especially known for bringing focus and alignment to complex environments. She has worked with many IT companies in various stages of growth, which affords her broad understanding and insights into the high tech marketplace as well as internal organizational dynamics.

Before starting Dialog, Kathy served as Vice President for Cognitiative, Inc., a San Francisco-based consultancy specializing in marketing research and communication strategy for high tech and dot.com clients; she also worked as a Senior Analyst for Jupiter Media Metrix Custom Research Group; and earlier in her career, she worked on staff for several fast growth software and hardware companies.

Kathy recently completed a Master of International Policy and Practice degree at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington DC, focusing on Information Technology policy. She has held leadership positions in various professional and civic organizations, including the International Association of Business Communicators, Public Relations Society of America, the American Marketing Association, and the World Affairs Council of Northern California.

Kathy’s musings on IT policy can be found on her blog.

Freelance Focus

I asked Kathy about her interest in Tech Policy and what she sees developing in the ways technology companies will advertise and communicate about their products and services. She also shared her thoughts on cyber security, SOPA and PIPA. She's in business for herself for the last 12 years and if you'd like to hear her advice on how to succeed as a freelancer, click on the podcast icon below.

Kathy Hart is President of ClearVision Consulting, Inc., a global company that specializes in accelerating organizational excellence and improving human performance. Kathy is a highly sought after consultant, speaker and coach.

Kathy has worked in corporate environments for more than 28 years. She brings to ClearVision broad leadership experience in the non-profit, banking, manufacturing, insurance, and utility industries. In these leadership roles she successfully promoted and advanced business and industry emergency preparedness, employee safety and health, and implemented enterprise-wide change efforts. In 2012, she was honored by American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) Women in Safety Engineering (WISE) Common Interest Group for her twenty years of making a difference in the safety, health, and environmental (SH&E) field as part of the WISE ‘100 Women, Making a Difference in Safety’ project.

While Kathy continues to support the field of safety and health by educating and mentoring those in the profession, she now uses her extensive knowledge of individual and organizational change in the field of organization development and effectiveness. In 2005, Kathy founded ClearVision Consulting with the express purpose of promoting the potential of people within business environments. Her work focuses on the alignment of people, processes, and structures to accelerate organizational excellence and improve human performance.

Kathy’s clients know her as a collaborative partner and coach who brings positive energy and innovative ideas to each relationship. When tackling challenges, clients rely on her grace and courage to co-create with them innovative and sustainable solutions. She began honing these skills of “grace under fire” when she became the first woman to integrate an all-male water polo team in high school.

Kathy has been recognized by numerous organizations for her leadership and dedication, and is currently a member of the Organization Development Network (ODN), National Speakers Association (NSA), and the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC). She is a former Board Member of the Bay Area Organization Development Network (BAodn), Admissions Chair for American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), and Chair for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Crime Prevention and Safety Committee. The later she remembers fondly, as it led to her first formal invitation to a Mayoral Inaugural Ball.

Kathy’s highly interactive speaking engagements include topics on organizational change, leadership and team development. She is an adjunct professor, and has taught and presented at Lao American College, Laos, and the National Hispanic University, San Jose. Kathy holds an Ed.D. in Organization and Leadership from the University of San Francisco, a M.S. in Occupational Safety & Health from the University of Southern California, and a B.S. in Business Administration from California State University-Sacramento.

She can reached via her website.

Pro-Track Profile

Kathy was the first member of the 2012 Pro-Track class of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association (now re-branded as the Speakers Academy) to achieve full professional membership in NSA. To more hear about her consulting business click on the podcast icon below.

A decade ago, the tools of communications belonged to a chosen few. Editorial control over newspapers, television and radio was in the hands of those professionals tasked with selecting content deemed worthy of the front page, the headline, the news bulletin. National newspapers and mass media channels were scarce resources. The stories they carried were linear and sequential. The 10 o'clock news was broadcast for an hour each evening at the same time. Important news was on the front page, above the fold.

That was then, this is now.

Immersive storytelling

Today's world is nonlinear, filled with always-on devices giving anywhere, any time access to media generated by those of us with a Wordpress blog and a point of view. Storytelling has come full circle from the logical inevitability of the printed page to the random, emotionally binding, infinitely looping immersive stories of this fragmented age where anyone can create and re-purpose content, as did the bards of pre-literate eras.

The implications of the transition from top-down to user-generated content is explored in detail by Frank Rose in his book The Art of Immersion.

Rose identifies the roots of non-linear storytelling in the popular serials Charles Dickens published in the 1830's. But it was the creation of the hyper-links of the World Wide Web that blew the lid off linear narrative:

Links change our relationship to information. They empower individuals and destroy hierarchies.

Cinema directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Jean-Luc Goddard and David Lynch create immersive, non-linear forms of film.

The unexpected juxtapositions, the startling elisions, the scenes out of sequence--asleep or awake, this is how we think, in a fast-dissipating vapor.

The implication is that we live in a multiverse, where events occur simultaneously. As the Western-born Spiritual Adept Adi Da Samraj has written about photography:

The human individual in the midst of Reality is like a camera in a room—perceiving everything from a fixed "point of view". But what does the room Really look like? The room can be viewed from every possible "point of view" in space-time—not merely from any particular "point of view", or even a finite collection of "points of view". Therefore, no "point of view" can reveal the room, or Reality Itself, because every "point of view" is limited and essentially self-referring.

Frank Rose explores the art of immersive storytelling and the emerging transmedia methods that the best practitioners are developing in video games, advertising, movies, social media, television and more.

Frank Rose Interview

In August 2012 I met Frank at a Churchill Club event in Silicon Valley and took the opportunity to ask him about the implications of immersive storytelling for professional speakers and corporate communications professionals. To hear what he told me, click on the podcast icon below.