Getting it together with discipline and systems

I was lying in bed the other night thinking, "I'm so weak. I'm so lazy. I have great ideas but never follow through." And so on. Like most of us, I can be pretty mean to myself at times. But then I stopped and realized that none of those things are true all the time. Sometimes they're true. But my real problem is discipline.

I know what I need to do. And sometimes I even do it. But it's SO easy to let things go. Exercise. Project ideas. Healthy eating. Drinking water. Networking for my business. These are all things that I've blown off at one time or another for no good reason except I "didn't want to."

I ask you: Is that the way to get things done?

The word "discipline" struck me like a bolt of lightning that night lying in bed. And coincidentally, I've been noticing a lot of signs pointing me toward creating better systems, which can only help me be more disciplined. Whether it's opening a separate bank account just for rent, or creating a launch calendar for a new program or product, I've found that systems are the best way for me to accomplish my goals.

In 2011, I kicked off my first one-word theme year with the word ACT. And it forced me to do things I might not have done had I kept thinking about doing things instead of doing things. It's a more focused approach than writing resolutions, and I can apply it to all aspects of my life.

I thought I had a theme word for 2012, but I see no sign of it anywhere, so if I had one, I quickly forgot about it.

Onward to 2013, and keeping up my new tradition, my one-word theme is DISCIPLINE. And as a sub-theme, SYSTEMS.

How about you? What one-word theme resonates with you? Is there a word that encompasses your goals and desires for 2013?

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Is your speech spammy?

Today I was scrolling through Facebook, you know, for work... and came across a story that didn't quite seem believable to me. Yet several people I know had shared and commented on it. I Googled the subject of the story, and sure enough, part of the story was true, but the part that people were upset about was a complete fabrication.

You've seen these kinds of stories. They start out seeming credible and possible, but somewhere along the line, details get embellished and become more dramatic and farfetched, and pretty soon everyone is up in arms, reposting and calling for someone's head on a platter.

Posts like these clog my news feed every day, and are an utter waste of space. Yet it never occurs to those who post them to take a few seconds to Google the topic or visit Snopes.com to verify the story before they spam the rest of us with this junk.

This, of course, made me think of presentations that are embellished with dramatic stories, quotes and statistics that have never been verified but are repeated endlessly by speaker after speaker. Here are two that make me crazy.

Think of this unsubstantiated information as spam. It takes up space in your presentation where valuable content could be. It wastes your audience's time when they could be learning something true and relevant to their lives.

Furthermore, if you are misleading your audience, you are not just doing them a disservice, you are deceiving them - even manipulating them - to get the result you want. Is that how you want to influence people? Is that how you want to get your results? Maybe you know your audience is gullible enough to believe you, or maybe you're truly misinformed yourself. That doesn't excuse passing along unresearched material as fact.

What happens when they find out the truth?

1. At best, you look misinformed and lose some credibility and trust.
2. You look out of touch with reality.
3. You look like an outright idiot.
4. At worst, you look like a liar.

After the Facebook post I mentioned above, I was treated to another example of (to say the least) misleading information being used as a metaphor for personal growth. It's not a bad metaphor and people can identify with the pain and suffering described in the story, but it's completely false! Below, the short video I'm referring to. And here's the link that debunks the story.



Please take the time to make sure your material is solid, honest, truthful, verified and not manipulative. Nobody likes spam, but people especially dislike being led down a path that turns out to be a route to nowhere.

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Dealing with a distressed audience

Sometimes we have to give a presentation under less than optimal circumstances. I'm not talking about those times when you're having a bad day or haven't gotten enough sleep, although those are also less than optimal and we've all experienced it! On those occasions, we keep our discomfort to ourselves and suck it up.

I'm talking about those times when your audience is in distress or distracted because of something that's happened (or is going to happen) at their workplace, in the community, or in the world.

Sometimes it's a happy and exciting event, like when the space shuttle flew overhead at the exact time I was supposed to begin a workshop with a recent group. Everyone wanted to be outside for this historic occasion, the last nationwide tour of the space shuttle on the back of a 747. Unfortunately, the timing was off, and people spent the first 15 minutes of our training time going back and forth to see if it was coming. Distracting but manageable.

Last week, there was a different kind of incident, a school shooting that took many lives, a national tragedy.

I still had to give my training. People still had to attend my training. What could I do in the face of such an event, when I knew people were upset, angry, shocked and saddened (as was I)? Watch my short video below for how I chose to deal with it.



This was an appropriate exercise and time frame for the group and for our proximity and connection to the event. However, if there had been something happening within the organization where my audience was directly affected, like layoffs or cutbacks, or a major distressing incident, I would have taken a little more time and talked a little more about what was happening, and my focusing exercise might have been a little more involved.

The important thing is to acknowledge that something is happening. Let your audience know that you're in the loop, you're not out of touch, and you understand their mental state - to some degree. Give them the opportunity to clear out the current distraction and be present and in the moment with you. Your presentation will go much more smoothly and they'll learn and retain more if you've dealt with the so-called "elephant in the room."

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Are you substituting learning for action?

I was on a social media teleseminar recently, delivered by George Kao, and he asked a profound question: "Are you substituting learning for action?"

This took me back to December 2010, when I decided my one-word theme for 2011 was going to be "ACT." After I chose this word, I came across several signs telling me that I had picked the right word, including this quote:

"Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more and think less. Take action and you can achieve ANYTHING."

And in 2010, I really did consciously make the effort to act more and think less. But then I got lazy again, like many of us do.

Does this concept resonate with you? Are you -- like me -- someone who is constantly taking classes and webinars, subscribing to a million newsletters for all the free tips, reading blogs, and packing your brain full of knowledge... but never putting it into action?

Sometimes we don't value the learning that we get for free as much as we value the learning we pay for. This is just one reason we don't follow through with next steps. And sometimes we don't know how to take the next step, because the reading and watching is only one piece of the puzzle.

Public speaking training and education, like other kinds of training you might take, is only as useful as the action you take to implement it. I know a lot of you enjoy reading this blog, reading my newsletter, downloading my free handouts and watching my tips videos. And you're learning a lot, there's no doubt, because it's important to me that my content is valuable, even if it's free.

But are you taking the next step? Are you acting on what you're learning? Are you standing in front of audiences and doing the things you've read about, like showing gratitude or using audience engagement techniques or grounding yourself?

Because I don't want you to be wasting your time. Or your audience's time, for that matter. If you're reading and learning, but not doing, then what's the point? You're not growing as a speaker, and your audience is not fully engaged with you.

I'm in the process of planning out 2013 for my business. I've got products and programs to launch, a mailing list to grow, speaking engagements to prepare for, and new opportunities (that I can't tell you about yet) to develop. I'm mapping it out, making a schedule, putting tasks and appointments on the calendar. I'm rethinking what I've done in the past and changing things up where necessary.

Something I've been working on for a few months is reorganizing my programs and coaching. You can see on this page some of my new offerings, like my home study program, "Speak to Engage: 7-Step Shortcut to Public Speaking Success," and my new coaching formats, including my SpeakNOW Presentation Transformation Coaching Intensives.

Something else I did this year was invest in my business. I joined a 9-month mentoring program that cost me a lot of money. The most money I've ever spent on my business, in fact. But it's worth it, because the guidance and support I'm receiving is helping me put into action ideas I've only imagined. I also signed up for a program to grow my skills in video. Because I want to stop talking about making videos and resenting the preparation involved, and just DO them.

What are you doing to plan out your speaking growth for next year? Do you want to build your business through speaking? Do you want to get more visibility and credibility for your work? Do you want to be seen as an authority? Do you want to stop avoiding speaking and start enjoying it?

Now let me ask you this: Do you have speaking engagements on your calendar?

Are you investing in your speaking growth and planning for how to implement what you're learning?

If not, why not? Don't wait for opportunities to come to you. Make them.

Stop substituting learning for action. Start doing.

2013 is going to be a big year. Can you feel it? What are your plans for growing as a speaker next year? Share in the comments!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Our kitties and the Christmas tree...

How did our kitties take to the Christmas tree? Watch the video and find out!



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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

December 12for12 Challenge: Put it all together

All 12for12 posts have been removed, as they are now part of my "SpeakUP! 8 Daily Challenges to Build Your Confidence Muscles at Work, at Home, and in Front of an Audience" online program, which will be launching mid-January 2013..

For more information on "SpeakUP," click here.

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

A simple stats illustration tool that's not a chart or diagram

How's this for a simple illustration - human bodies? So much more interesting than charts and graphs (although they do include a simple pie chart in the video as well). Can you make your message this clear and concise? Gotta give a hand to these students for their creativity!



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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!