by Gwen Bortner | Marketing, Presenting
For speakers, trainers, and sometimes consultants, the person who actually buys our service (the customer) is not the one who receives our service (the consumer).
[featured-image single-newwindow=”false” id=”140130-CashInHand” alt=”Cash In Hand”]Photo Credit: Tax Credits via Compfight cc[/featured-image]
This can create an interesting marketing and sales conundrum. If referral marketing is one of the most effective techniques, but the consumer of your services doesn’t actually buy directly from you, what is a person supposed to do to create a referral marketing strategy?
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by Gwen Bortner | Presenting, Tips & Tricks, Training & Instruction
When I was a kid, one of my very favorite cartoons was Scooby Doo. A giant dog that is scared of everything … pretty funny. Interestingly, now I have a Scooby Doo of my own. She too is a Great Dane, afraid of everything, but very good-hearted.
I learned some great lessons about overcoming stage fright from Scooby Doo (not so true with my own dog). These days I rarely experience stage fright. I can’t be sure it was from the lessons on overcoming stage fright I learned early in my life from Scooby Doo, but regardless I think they still apply.
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by Gwen Bortner | Presenting, Training & Instruction
Presenters come in all shapes and sizes, using a variety of skills, working in a myriad of venues. But whether they are working as professional speakers, writers, instructors, trainers or preachers, they all need to know these three secrets to being a successful presenter.
[featured-image single-newwindow=”false” id=”131018-Shhh” alt=”Shhh…It’s a secret”]Photo Credit: SamikRC via Compfight cc[/featured-image]
The truth is that these aren’t secrets in the “you shouldn’t tell” sort of way – they are secrets because people either don’t know about them or are unaware of their importance. But if your message is important and being at the top of your game matters to you, these three secrets are the key to your success.
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by Gwen Bortner | Presenting
Bond…. James Bond. It is an iconic statement famous throughout the English speaking world and probably much of the rest of the planet. But what can James Bond teach us about presenting?
[featured-image single-newwindow=”false” id=”130914-All6JamesBonds” alt=”50 Years of Bond”]Image via GeekDad[/featured-image]
Well, quite a lot actually. To date there are 6 actors who have played James Bond unless you also include the spoof version of Casino Royale, where James Bond is played by actor David Niven. Whether you are a fan of Sean Connery, Daniel Craig, or any of the others in between, each Bond actor has something to teach us if we examine them carefully.
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by Gwen Bortner | Presenting
[featured-image single-newwindow=”false” id=”130801-Theater” alt=”Auditorium”]Image via Flickr by Bahman Farzad[/featured-image]
Let me start by saying that I have never been in a play or been part of a theater production; however, I have a lot of theater friends and have attended theater performances from local community theater to Broadway productions. So although I haven’t been on stage, I have learned a great deal from being in the audience, listening to the actors debrief and just being generally observant. What I have come to realize is that speaking and acting have a great number of commonalities, and a good speaker can learn a a few lessons in speaking from their actor cousins.
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by Gwen Bortner | Presenting
The secret to excellence is simple: you have to be willing to try, miss the mark, analyze what went astray, make adjustments and then try again. In short, you have to be willing to practice!
[featured-image single-newwindow=”false” id=”130702-PianoKeyboard” alt=”Piano Keyboard”]Image via Flickr by dgj103[/featured-image]
And there it is, as simple as that. But it is really that simple? Probably not quite, because you do need to have some basic competencies in the area in which you seek to be excellent. But the difference between someone being truly excellent versus good or adequate is rarely (if ever) raw talent; it has significantly more to do with their willingness to invest time and energy in the form of practice.
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