The Difference Between Good and Great

Every year American Idol shows us the differences between singers who are good, and singers who can
really go the distance.

Greatness.

(Yes, a few slip through the cracks and Pia was a great example of that… but I bet she’ll go by way of Jennifer Hudson).

There are millions of people who can sing who never get a recording contract or become famous. The same goes for speaking.

Our industry pie will always contain a large percentage of people who are making a living vs. a small percentage of people who are getting wealthy.

Which category do you want to be in?

If you’d like to create more wealth with your speaking – give some thought to how you can take your presentation from good to great.

Now you might say, “my presentation is just fine, I just need more marketing”. That might be true, but I would also lay odds on the fact that most speakers need to push it harder to get better….to be truly great.

Masters of any industry continually refine and re-engineer. And that’s what we need to do.

1. Study other artists (singers, comedians, film, TV and Broadway actors).

2. Find a coach or mentor (someone who will push you)

3. Don’t buy in to your audience hype. “You’re the best speaker I’ve ever seen” should boost your confidence but doesn’t mean you are finished. When you’re getting 2-3 spin offs from every engagement, then you might be able to relax.

4. Focus. The majority of people try to do too much in a speech when often less is more. Developing a call back or through line that allows people to easily understand what you shared with them will help. AND, they can easily share it with others (spin off).

So keep working hard on it and when you marry a great speech with good marketing, you will move into the next level of wealth.

See you soon Wealthy Speakers!

PS: A really good example of focus was Joe Calloway’s Let it Go speech several years ago in Phoenix. We dissected that speech (plus you get to watch the full speech). We still have a few hard copies left, check out the Diary of a Killer Keynote DVD. http://speakerlauncher.com/tools.html

How do You Handle the Haters?

You look over in the middle of your speech and notice someone who has their arms folded and a major scowl on their face.

What do you do?

I call these “haters”. But that word is probably a bit harsh, but “mildly to moderate dislikers” doesn’t have the same ring to it, now does it?

About 6 times a year I speak to groups of professional speakers. You’d be hard pressed to find a more warm and generous audience. But awhile back one of my audience members was sending me some pretty negative vibes. And when she challenged something I was saying, I felt daggers coming from her tongue and a particularly nasty tone.

(Perhaps I’ve exaggerated this in my mind, since it’s so rare something like this happens).

I responded with my counter argument, and we moved on, but it was hard not to notice her sour look for the rest of the hour.

When you write a book, a blog or give a speech, you are opening yourself up to a certain level of criticism – I guess that’s why more people don’t do it, eh?

So what can we do?

1. Develop a thick skin. I have a feeling that time and experience is the best way to develop this. (Would love to hear your techniques, please comment below, I know you trainers and bloggers have a million stories.)

2. If you get a negative evaluation, look for a lesson in the criticism, if there is none, move on. Let it go.

3. Focus on the percentage (usually 95%) of the people that did like your work. Not everyone will like you, and that’s okay.

4. And my lesson with the woman a few weeks ago – don’t assume that you know what the person is thinking. Rosita Perez, one of the legends of our industry, had a great story about a woman scowling at her and it turned out Rosita looked like her ex husband’s new wife!

See you soon Wealthy Speakers,

PS: I’ve had a wait list going for my group coaching, so I just added a new Club starting in April, check it out.
http://www.speakerlauncher.com/ClubHybrid.html