I admire people who ‘show up’ and express themselves — particularly when they take that step towards authentic self-expression. There is much fear in our world, and fear is often the reason we hide or only reveal what we consider to be acceptable about ourselves.  I believe that the fear of revealing ‘who’ we are is greatly misunderstood and that fear somehow equals rejection by others. Yet most of us know instinctively when someone is hiding (i.e., not showing up).

Consequently, we do not trust them enough to reveal ourselves to them or to accept them for who they appear to be. It takes courage being authentic (being our natural selves). It is one of the greatest gifts we can offer other human beings and ourselves.

Being our authentic selves means that our quality of life is greatly enhanced and there are many rewards. Our relationships improve and we experience less stress. We develop deeper and longer-lasting friendships. Others in our community tend to trust us. The experience of the world seems more real. It seems to me that those who, by age or wisdom, live in the state of authenticity are revered, respected, loved, and admired.

In today’s business world, I believe that we are increasingly being called upon to ‘show up’.  Trust is the number one issue in business today, are you real, can you show up?  Because we now communicate so much by email, voicemail, fax, and via the Internet, I believe the need for interpersonal communication is continually growing. The more we use technology to communicate with each other, the greater our need for face-to-face communication, and the more we crave the authenticity of personal contact.

Nothing replaces the nuances of tone and pitch of a human voice or the facial and physical expressions of the communicator. But because we are using these skills less and less, we are losing our ability to ‘show up’.  Words are only part of the messages we send to each other. Emotion and intent are also carried and amplified by body language and by the sound of the human voice.

When I show up in person and can be myself, I am heard in a very different way — a way that starts to build the relationship and deepen the understanding between listener and speaker. This creates an opportunity for a genuine exchange to take place. Communicating in person is the most powerful form of human interaction.

Show Up and make a difference, Geoffrey

Technorati Tags: Authenticity, communications, emotional intelligence, Leadership, personal growth, psychology, relationship, self-awareness, success strategy, trust

Comment from sasa July 30th, 2008 at 11:54 am

hi, thank you very much for sharing these feast of ideas with us, I can assure if one can apply what is typed above, I could be as a rock star next presentation- thank you Sasa.

My response;

Hi Sasa, you can become a ‘rock star’ speaker; it just will take some work to become that ‘overnight’ success, as I think the only way to become a motivational speaker today is to train with someone in the profession. When I started it was not as professional, or at the demanding level that it is today.

While good marketing and publicity will get you media attention and bookings, in the long run being a ‘great speaker’ is essential. It is a craft that is learned, practiced and developed. A great speech is a performance.

Good marketing will get you a booking. A great speech will get you a repeat booking and build your future bookings.

To begin with you have to decide what market or people you want to target with your speech or topic. Choose a subject of interest to companies and groups of people around the globe. Pick your area of expertise or at least the subject you would like to speak to others about. Make sure the topic is what you are passionate about, because when it gets tough convincing others, practicing, marketing all the time, the passion will then sustain you.

Seek out and pursue the best motivational speakers that speak on your chosen subject or that you admire or speak in your area interest. Go and hear what they have to say, and how they go about getting their message across. Study them. If you copy and become them, or use their materials, you will be seen as a phony, just learn techniques and skills. Also make sure they are the keynote speaker, not just the warm up person beforehand.

It is hard to start out as a keynote speaker until you have some sort of following, some type of record behind you, some sort of depth and expertise. The facts are that there is an over supply of ‘wanna-be’s’. But if you are gifted and you study and work hard learn the basics, you have a chance to go to the top as quickly as anybody else does. If you do study with a successful speaker you can avoid the pitfalls and create your own success much sooner.

Leading motivational speakers often offer classes as well as books and other teaching aides to help create new motivational speakers. This may sound strange. Why would a person in the profession offer instruction on how to be a competitor? My perspective is that the more people who are out there in the world, speaking about my teaching methods and using my motivational speaker training techniques, the better known I will become. The more you work and the more you are successful, the more in demand I will become as a keynote speaker and presentation skills trainer.

You have to start somewhere and taking training and coaching from the people at the top is the quickest way to get yourself hired to speak at someone’s convention or meeting.

When a company wants to make an impact at an in house convention or annual meeting they hire extreme motivational speakers to come in and deliver a more powerful message creating a sustained impact. These speakers concentrate on one thing and one thing only – making businesses more profitable from the minute the speaker is done speaking. Extreme speakers also offer extreme motivational speaker training designed to make you a ‘rock star’ speaker. The market is almost limitless for extreme motivational speakers; the more the merrier, and a good student always help to make a teacher look even better.

Go for it Sasa!

All the best, Geoffrey

Technorati Tags: keynote, marketing, motivational speaking, rock star

I was asked recently (after a speech) ‘how do I become a motivational speaker?’ This caught me by surprise, as I never set out to become a motivational speaker, it just seem to happen once I got on stage. I know my first audience were more inspired by my courage and my message, not necessarily my skills.

To help answer the question, here is my path to the stage.  As a family, we moved around a great deal when I was growing up, and I was shuttled regularly between London and Plymouth (UK) – always adjusting to the different cultures. The armchair psychiatrist might say, “you were redefining yourself each time you moved or were uprooted. You were trying to survive by being different, trying to form relationships that were permanent”.  I would say also I learnt to survive and communicate anywhere, hence my lifelong focus on communications. I have always been fascinated by the artist’s struggle to perform live, and spent time in amateur dramatics at school and at college – mostly working behind the scenes and the occasional bit part, because as strange as it seems, I am shy. These experiences are the source of the ‘fire’ in my belly and drive my motivational speeches.

While at MGM, in the UK, I worked on Space Odyssey 2001, The Dirty Dozen, and James Bond – this later was to prove to be a pivotal experience that helped me when I finally stepped on stage. My first piece of advice, don’t do it the hard way and realize that the very effort to become a motivational speaker will change you permanently!

I had the opportunity in the 70’s to become a platform artist and speaker with Redken, a dynamic and innovative cosmetic company, to present to other artists, salon managers and owners. I remember the first time I stood up to speak, my voice shook so much I could barely be heard, but my passion was felt.

I did learn to speak (the hard way), from feedback and failure and practice. I learned to speak out. I was painfully aware that the first 30 seconds impression could make or break my presentation. I did get better, with the help from mentors (Douglas A. Cox and Lew Loscony). As my ability and reputation as a speaker grew, so did the demand to get better and I started to get regular bookings. In the early 70’s there weren’t any speaker coaches, only people who if they liked you or believed in you would take you under their wing, I was fortunate that both Doug and Lew took the time they did.

Soon (5 years) I was a regular keynote speaker to groups of 500 plus at trade shows, the largest having an audience of over 4000. I completed several speaking tours of the USA, Australia and Canada. After being on the road for almost thirteen years as a professional speaker I came home to unpack and stay. A few years later I realized how much I missed public speaking. It was then I knew I had been changed by the effort to become a motivational speaker.

I have been asked before by individuals and corporations for coaching in communication and presentation skills. As people asked it seemed a good idea to teach what I love - I led my first ‘public speaking’ workshop in 1994 which today I believe is unique among communication and presentation skills because it is grounded in the principles of authenticity and personal expression as the keys to effective communication. This workshop is a practical start to the process of becoming a powerful speaker. To become a motivational speaker is another process entirely and few are ready for the challenge.

As a consultant I wrote and led the “Presentation Power” presentation skills workshop for the University of British Columbia, Executive Education from -1996 to 2004, and also in the MBA program at Sauder School of Business, UBC.

In 2003 I was the speech coach for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Bid, coaching the presenters and editing speeches, both in Vancouver for the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation of Vancouver and then in Prague, coaching the speakers for the final and winning presentation. This was a truly fun and exciting assignment as I got to contribute on behalf of Canada and British Columbia and my hometown of Vancouver.

Today I consider the “Step Up To The Mic” to be my finest program and I know I will continue to learn, expound and write about speaking, communications and our challenges as human beings to be understood and understanding each other. If you have the desire and the ‘fire’ in your belly to become a powerful motivational speaker, come and join us. Just be prepared to change, be prepared to work, to fail, be prepared to work even harder and oh yes! be prepared to change permanently.

All the best, Geoffrey.

Technorati Tags: Authenticity, change, flame inside, motivational speaking, Olympic bid, passion, presentation power, professional speaker, speak out, workshop

Thank you for your positive comments about the new website. I asked for and got some great help from people I know professionally and personally in my community; editing and ideas from author and writer coach Julie Ferguson and corporate communications consultant Carol Oakley. Also a special “thank you” to Patricia Olgivie, Mika Lane and for the advice from Jenny Kim and Elayna Breakey with their invaluable insights into the IT world, editing and encouragement from Brigitte Winterhoff.

I also want to say “Thank you” to Cathy Schouten (www.webgarden.com) for being our website designer, stick-handling all of my various creative and sometimes off-the-wall ideas. Cathy as a website coach made my life so much easier, because she is so congenial to work with and gives great feedback. Danielle the videographer did amazing editing and helped create the various video clips, Danielle can be found at www.velvetpumpkin.com.  I came to realize how important being coached was for me, to keep perspective and focus as I sometimes get lost in the drive to succeed and miss what truly matters.

Professional Coaching

Professional coaching has  well defined boundaries and I believe that successful athletes, entrepreneurs and corporations all have something in common: the desire to succeed. What Olympic athletes have always known is that if you want to maximize your potential and win, hire a coach.

Coaching is to performance what leadership is to an organization.

As human beings are primarily emotional creatures, top-level coaches are experts working with EI (Emotional Intelligence), including both self-limiting and self-enhancing beliefs – helping the fires that burn within to roar. We (coaches) do not create the flame, we can help you fan your flame into a roaring success. As a coach I won’t even accept a client if I fail to find a flame inside. I know that flame is the prerequisite for greatness.

Most people only accept the amount of coaching their egos will allow. Champions are well known for being open to world class coaching, the more open-minded they are, the more successful the champion. The great ones don’t care about ego and control; it about improving their results – they’re looking for the competitive edge, no matter how slight.

Their logic is simple: when a champion competes, the advantage is the edge in thinking, strategy and technique. Champions look for that advantage that great coaching can provide.

All the best,

Geoffrey

Technorati Tags: champion, Coaching, competition, ego, emotional intelligence, flame inside, greatness