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As a business coach and speaker coach, I’ve long stressed the importance of just being your genuine, authentic self, But I’ve mostly underscored this in relation to meeting folks before your talk and in terms of how you’re “being” in front of the room during your presentation.

But what about after … when you’re done speaking and you’re interacting with the folks as they leave, especially the ones who hang around to get a little bit of more personal time with you?

The message doesn’t change. You’re the same person … before … during … after … always.

I’m sure that seems pretty self-evident and you probably wouldn’t expect anything different from me in terms of advice, so why do I bring it up?

As a life and business coach, I don’t talk about myself and what’s going on in my world in my coaching sessions … unless somebody asks. And they often do.

At the beginning of our recent call, my client asked me, “What are you up to this week?”

“I’m leaving Friday for a speaking engagement.”

“You must be so excited! I know how much you like speaking!”

“Uh, no … I’m not excited at all.”

You’ve always loved a good story … ever since you were two. And we all really love a classic redemption story. For me, personally and professionally, it goes beyond the basic human interest appeal. As a business coach and a speaker coach, I rely heavily on the redemption story to connect with people … to illustrate … to guide … to inspire.

Last month, in my Life Lessons newsletter, I wrote about Tiger Woods after his improbable victory at the Masters at age 43 … with a fused spine. How he lifted himself from the depths of despair to get his life, his body, and his game back in shape.

I got more feedback on that article than any I’ve ever gotten. (Thanks for your nice comments!)

So, what I want to do now is piggyback off that article and talk to you speakers and wanna-be speakers out there about how a well-chosen redemption story can help establish your credibility and get the audience to like you and really listen to you. And to help you make your essential point in a way only a story can.

One of our specialties is teaching people how to build their businesses by speaking.

Here’s how it works. Contact an organization whose members are in your target market and arrange to speak. Provide real value in your speech. Toward the end of the talk, offer attendees a complimentary coaching session or consultation with you.

Many of the folks who sign up for your complimentary sessions will become clients if you’re able to help them during the session and they see how you can continue to help them.

You typically don’t get paid to speak. You get “paid” on the back end as new clients sign up for your services. I’ve generated 3, 5, 7 … up to 13 new clients from a single presentation!

Denise was pleased to be a guest on the SkillBites show recently. To listen to the interview, click here. What follows are the take-aways from that interview.

Speaking is a great way to get in front of your target market, share your expertise, and gain new clients, but how do you get the speaking engagements, and how do you translate being in front of new people into generating new clients? These questions and more were answered by Denise Hedges, business development coach, speaker coach, and guest on this month’s SkillBites Show.

I’ve spoken at several conferences over the last few months, and when I’m there, I go to hear as many of the other speakers as I can.  I do it so I can benefit from their insights.

But I also can’t help seeing and hearing the things they do as presenters … what works and what doesn’t. 

I want to share with you a simple, but powerful, practice I got from Brian Tracy that’s really made a difference for me.

Why do people do what they do with their lives? Truth be told, a lot of people stumbled their way into their present circumstances without a lot of thought or intention involved.  They do a job.  They get paid. Many, though, are drawn to a particular vocation because they simply enjoy the work.  It suits […]

I want to tell you a story.

So, do I have your attention?

Probably, because we all love stories.

I’m a speaker and I train speakers. And from a speaker’s perspective, stories are the best tool we have to help folks relate to the new information we’re giving them, incorporate new insights into their worldview, and inspire them to take life-changing actions.

The day is approaching.  You’re going to give a presentation. 

You know you need to practice, so you make sure to read through your script a few times and actually run through it out loud three or four times the day before. 

You’re ready to go, because, after all, if you need to, you can just wing it on any sections where you go blank, or use notes or your PowerPoint slides to cue you … or even just read from your script.  

Right?

Uh, that would be a big fat NO!