Get Your Public Speaking Juices Flowing! Identify Your “POWER ZONE!”

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February 10th, 2009
Filed in: Business Leverage, Leadership, Lifestyle, Public Speaking

In 2001 I left my cushy corporate job for the exciting, risk-filled world of entrepreneurism. I knew what it took to be successful in business – I’d been working for one of the world’s largest Fortune 500 companies – so I jumped right in. I had a plan, I had a few clients and I had tons of passion. I was working with a coach to help me through this transition and he suggested that I speak at local events to help me create more visibility and get people excited to work with me.

So I quickly began to offer to speak at any and every local organization that would have me. I knew how to stand in front of a crowd and present information. I’d been doing that for years at Motorola. I had spoken in front of groups as large as 500 people as well as smaller groups of 30 – 50 people where I trained them on quality improvement principles. How hard could it be anyway?
Well, I would go to these events – some of which I was paid to speak at – and walk away feeling exhausted and as if my life blood had been taken away. The worst part was very few people were becoming my clients. I would often have to invest hundreds of dollars of my own money to fly to an event, spend hours preparing for the event, just to walk away feeling like I had failed. And even if I did pick up a client or two, I didn’t really feel like the client was a good fit for me.

What was wrong with this picture?

What I learned and I’m about to share with you can change your business drastically. I didn’t have a system in place that would a) help me identify target audiences, b) leverage my time to effectively convert prospects and, c) prepare and deliver an “enrolling” presentation that got people clamoring to work with me.

One of the most painful memories I have of this time is when a client of mine invited me to speak to one of his client’s professional organizations. Even though there were 45 people in attendance, the people in the room sat there with blank stares. They were not my target audience – they were my clients. They didn’t get it. I still get that feeling in the pit of my stomach remembering how I felt in front of them trying to get them to “get it.”

Another painful memory was speaking at a bootcamp a few years ago for small business owners. I knew my material but my time slot was a difficult one. I was the last speaker of a 3 day conference. I didn’t have the skills to really energize the group so their attention was waning the entire time. Thank goodness Tom Antion, creator of the Wake ‘Em Up Presentations, was in the audience. I later asked him for some feedback and he gave me some success tips that transformed the way I speak forever.

Fast forward to today.

Today when I speak at an event I average between $10,000 and $50,000 per event (depending on crowd size.) I often find people racing to the back of the room to be the first in line to take advantage of additional coaching and education. I have tons of fun and leave feeling full of energy. Often I hear from people in the audience what a difference I’ve made in their life.

The secret? Identify your “power zone.” When you know how to identify your “power zone” your results – a.k.a. revenue – will soar through the roof. Your “power zone” is when you stay in your high performance zone by doing what you love and are really good at but not over-extending your commitments.

So what’s your “power zone?”