Public Speaking ‘X Factor’ Secret -- Your Business 'Voice'

The secret to great public speaking is surprisingly simple and difficult: find your “business voice.”

Finding your authentic “voice” in business may be difficult, but once you discover it, it never leaves you. 

Your authentic voice is the critical, and often missing, “X” factor that sets you apart from all the dull speakers that come before and after you.

But how do you reach inside and find that voice?

Writers have techniques for finding their voice, and so do singers. Why shouldn’t executives, entrepreneurs, and managers have the same chance at being truly authentic in the way they speak, present, and pitch?

Your business “voice” is made up of four core components: point of view, experience, facts, and passion.  When you have these four elements – your voice makes itself clear to your audience, naturally, and all the fears drop.

Each one of these elements leads into, and supports, the other. 

Experiences provide fertile ground for developing a point of view (or expert perspective) on your subject, but facts, research, and case studies create the engine that drives your POV. Once you have these elements the passion part kicks in authentically. Suddenly, you’re saying something people are paying attention to and that’s when you’ve found your authentic voice, that’s when you stand apart.

Finding your point of view on your subject is not difficult, but few people try. It’s a simple 10-step process and works every time. Ad agencies use it. Start-ups looking for funding use it. CEO’s presenting to regulatory bodies use it to create greater understanding of their point of view.

Why not you?

Take It From Aristotle -- Stories Work!

Go Beyond The Military Approach

The days of selling and presenting using the well-worn “Objectives, Strategies, Tactics” template are long gone. 

The old "What are the objectives and strategies?" way of selling and presenting may have been fine in 1992, but its a style that is as dull as dirt today.  

If want to take your sales and presenting skills to the next level take a page from Aristotle’s playbook – create a story.   

By having a pitch, presentation, or speech cut into three strong and distinct sections – Beginning, Middle, End – you will when over audiences with a journey.   

Everyone wants to be told a story and if you are on stage talking to more than 10 people embrace the idea that you have to tell a compelling story or else you will lose them to the digital drumbeat of their texts, emails, and social media. 

Learn how and make your next presentation stand apart.  www.boldpointnow.com.

Secret Sales Weapon is Your Story

Three Secrets to Telling Your Business Story

You may be like most people. You are afraid of telling your story, especially as it relates to your business. It can sometimes seem, well, too personal. 

The irony is, this kind of personalization is your secret weapon.

Here are three secrets to success when making your next business presentation or sales pitch. 

The first is personalization. Why? Everyone wants to hear your story because they hear their own story in your experiences.  I promise, the one thing your audience will remember will be what you say about yourself.

Second, create a strong story line, with a real beginning, middle, and end.  Everyone wants to be told a story, provided it makes sense to the subject. These may sound tough, but all you need is a little guidance.  Try our three business-story templates. It takes all the guesswork out of it.

And third, it all starts with a strong Point of View, that is, the rudder that will guide your presentation.  If you have these three elements you will succeed.  Learn how.  www.boldpointnow.com.

Successful Start-ups Have Core Message

Start Your New Business With A Core Message

Getting your new business started is one thing, but without a strong brand voice or positioning statement you will struggle. 

I work with start-ups everyday and the one thing entrepreneurs struggle with is a succinct, compelling message. You've only got about 12 seconds to engage an investor, partner, or customer so you better have it locked down tight. Do you?  Do you know how?

Believe it or not, few spend time on this critical communications element.  But it doesn't have to be hard if you know how.  

Find, develop, refine your message first and then build your marketing plan and business. Take the 10-Step Point of You training process or download our "12-Second Elevator Pitch" templat and learn how at  www.boldpointnow.com

Can You Articulate Your Brand Voice in 12 Seconds?

Help Managers Find The ‘Brand Voice’

Many can’t communicate their brand’s benefits effectively, and certainly not in one or two sentences. 

Whether you are new to an organization or a veteran, you will need to refine the brand brand messages continually and in powerful, succinct ways. 

Whether it’s giving an elevator pitch, or refreshing an existing product, being powerful about your brand message and refining it are critical to your organization’s success. 

Learn how this can be done in minutes with our ‘Point of You’ training process and with our "12-Secon Elevator Pitch" template at www.boldpointnow.com

Present From The Heart

How Can I Say Something Authentic?​

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​You've  got nothing "real" to say on the subject. You are not alone.

Few people know how to develop a message that is authentic and engages audiences. Most rely on the slide templates to guide thinking, you know, the "what are objectives/what are our strategies" type slides. These won't help much. 

​Your crazy boss wants you to talk about customer service, or new products, or what clients are doing.  Who are you?  You've got nothing profound to say on the topic.  You're scared to death to speak in front of two people, let alone fifteen or fifty. 

​But, you will do it. You will create the usual PowerPoint slide show. As you speak, the audience will check their emails and texts under the conference room table. Can you blame them? You really aren't engaging them. The slides will no doubt be small and fuzzy, the logic slapdash, clip art idiotically animated. It's the presentation template from 1992.  We've all been there. Some things never change, right?
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But what if you did something crazy?

​What if you told them something really interesting, something from the heart, something that will change the way they look at customer service, or new products, or clients? Something that will change the way they look at you? 

​What if the story and the presentation were interesting, impactful, and it all came from you. What if you dazzled your bosses, associates, or your clients with these new insights and with how you present?  

What if you became the expert? How would that feel? How would that change your life and career?  How crazy would that be?

​The first step is finding your point of view, or your "Point of You." Go ahead, be crazy.  Show them what you've got. It's not that hard if you know the steps.

Are Presentations Costing You Big?

How Much Are Lousy Presentations Costing You?

There are no statistics on how many deals are lost due to poor presentations.

The variables are great: no focus, lack of preparation, no engaging conversation, poor style, lousy slides, and on and on.

It’s even unclear how many presentations are given each day.  The numbers in the U.S. alone range from 30 to 100 million, but not all are “deal killers.” It is fair to say, however, that each day millions of presentations fall short. Yet, all organizations can change this easily, fast, and with little cost.

If you could close 10 percent more deals with a more powerful message or presentation would that be worth pursuing?

How?

Great presentations or sales pitches are not about a dazzling slide deck, though that can help. It’s about having a strong point of view, a story, personalizing it, and then having dazzling visuals.

The most critical missing element I have found is point of view.  The best presenters know about “telling a story,” but even they can miss the most essential component to the story – the point of view.  Without a point of view, you’re presentation is sunk, or at least not as powerful as it could be.

Like a rudder on a ship, your point of view is what sets a presentation’s course, sets you apart, guides the story, and lands the audience in a safe place. A point of view is not difficult to develop. It’s based on personal experience, research, case studies, current trends, and outside expert opinion. 

For your next presentation, try creating a strong point of view.  Put it right upfront, in Act 1 of your business story. We call it “Point of You” in our training.  It will set you apart instantly, set the course, and make your next presentation a breeze.  You’ll audience will love it, and you’ll close more deals.