Speaking in public, get over yourself!

Seth Godin get’s it right!

 

Speaking in public: two errors that lead to fear

1. You believe that you are being actively judged

2. You believe that the subject of the talk is you

When you stand up to give a speech, there’s a temptation to believe that the audience is actually interested in you.

This just isn’t true. (Or if it is, it doesn’t benefit you to think that it is).

You are not being judged, the value of what you are bringing to the audience is being judged. The topic of the talk isn’t you, the topic of the talk is the audience, and specifically, how they can use your experience and knowledge to achieve their objectives.

When a professional singer sings a song of heartbreak, his heart is not breaking in that moment. His performance is for you, not for him. (The infinite self-reference loop here is that the professional singer finds what he needs when you find what you need.)

The members of the audience are interested in themselves. The audience wants to know what they can use, what they can learn, or at the very least, how they can be entertained.

If you dive into your (irrelevant to the listener) personal hurdles, if you try to justify what you’ve done, if you find yourself aswirl in a whirlpool of the resistance, all you’re providing is a little schadenfreude as a form of entertainment.

On the other hand, if you realize that you have a chance to be generous in this moment, to teach and to lead, you can leave the self-doubt behind and speak a truth that the audience needs to hear. When you bring that to people who need it, your fear pales in comparison.

Media you choose to do is always about the audience. That’s why you’re doing it. The faster we get over ourselves, the sooner we can do a good job for those tuning in.

Hire Millennials because they ask the right questions…

Inc. Magazine says:

In my experience, millennials will ask the question “why” before they ask “what” or “how” because they want to get right to the point. They want to know if something is worth the investment first rather than diving in just because you tell them it’s a good idea.

That’s exactly the kind of fresh perspective you need if you’re developing a new app and why hiring a millennial makes sense. Maybe you’re not ready to have one lead your entire marketing effort or the sales team. But don’t be afraid to give them a chance to push your company ahead. They might just point out the one thing that really needs to change.

They are right millennials might be:

Text-messaging, multi-tasking, advertising-leery, Attention Deficit Disorder-loving, trendsetting, blog-reading, information-addicted, social media experts, tech-embracing, fast-moving, highly-ambitious, quick-talking, well-educated, IPOD-listening, authority questioning, and have the blushing confidence of expecting to go from mail room to board room in one day, want to live more passionately, be happy, kill the 9-5 PM job and really want it all from money to entertainment to charity.

But we believe that greatness can be managed by understanding their strengths and how they communicate.  Let them push you.  But push back through mentorship, training and learning that bridge the gap.

30 is not the new twenty …. the ted talk that every 20 something needs to hear

This video clip summarizes the launchbox movement.

If your 20 something please watch and listen to this and make sure as Meg Jay says you know:

http://www.ted.com/talks/meg_jay_why_30_is_not_the_new_20.html?quote=2168

30 IS NOT THE NEW 20, CLAIM YOUR ADULTHOOD, FIND YOUR Identity Capital,  USE YOUR WEAK TIES, PICK YOUR FAMILY AND DON’T BE DEFINED BUT WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW OR DIDN’T DO …. YOUR DECIDING YOUR LIFE NOW!

Invest in yourself today…..

 

What would you do with your life if money was not the object?

My daughter sent me this great video from upworthy this morning.   The video is a 3 minute montage of the juxtaposition of what would you love to do vs. what does society do to condition our children to think they have to do? It made me reflect on what type of parent, mentor, coach and counselor I am.  Do I really counsel clients to follow their heart or am I pushing them to maximize their income?   Is one or the other necessarily bad in the world we live in?  Very interesting thought provoking questions.  Take a look.

Watch here

Wanted Millenials looking for purposeful internships

San Diego Coastkeeper’s Environmental Internships interns
A variety of environmental internships that offer hands-on experience and skill development for future careers in the non-profit and for-profit sectors. These positions have flexible hours based on your school/work schedules and are non-paid, unless otherwise noted.

Non-paid internships currently available:

We are all buyers don’t sell us

None of us buy products. We all buy products of the product—which are called benefits or need solutions. In short, we don’t buy what the product is; we buy what the product does for us.  Everyone is a buyer and they come to us that way.  They all have a problem that needs to be solved.   So often we as sales people, especially, the ones starting out, just jump into an explanation of the product.   WRONG APPROACH!  IT STILL BOILS DOWN TO GOOD OLDE-FASHION RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT.   Once the relationship is developed people will let you solve their problems or meet their needs.  Then the hard work comes, just allow them to buy.  Do you know how to teach relationship development?  If you don’t get some help there are tons of experts that get it like Zig Ziglar.  We want you to get it too!

Millennial Quits in a Boss Way

Have you ever desired to go out of your job in a big way?  Given the creativity of the millennial generation, you tube’s finest is now the way to commit.   So get your best clothes on and get some cool Kanye music and make it happen.

What do you think about this as a way to quit?

Being perfect by Ron Padgett

A long time ago Ron Padgett wrote a book on how to be perfect.  I think we all can learn a lot from him. Millennial or not, let’s look at a few of the simple ones like: Get some sleep; Hope for everything. expect nothing; Be friendly. It will make you happy; Don’t be too self-critical or too self congratulatory. Take a deep breath; Do not go crazy a lot. It’s a waste of time; Do one thing at a time. Be good; Be honest with yourself and diplomatic with others.

Sounds pretty simple, why don’t we find these tips easy?

New Book for Millennials interested in Sales

Did you ever think that you could learn about basic relationships in a book about selling?

Well believe it or not.  You can and it does teach! Jeffrey Gitomer gets the basics of relationship building.  In his book,  21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling, he knows exactly how to let you know the unbreakable laws for creating real and true relationships through knowing yourself and creating value.  While his rules are simple they are not always easy to deploy.  If you focus on the 3p’s, Personal, Professional and Physical growth you can have it all. Our millennial would be really well-advised to pick up this book and get a lesson in the real-life rules! Also, check out his book, The Little Red Book of Selling. Good reading!!!

Opportunity looks like hard work!!

The new mantra for millennials.   Don’t feel like a fraud.  Focus on yourself and make good with these lessons.   Opportunity looks a lot like hard work.  Work hard, pay your dues and dedicate yourself to taking the steps to where you need to get.  Being sexy is being smart.  Continue to learn each day and push yourself to be better.  Be thoughtful and generous.  The world is your oyster.  Push boundaries and work hard.  Build your own life, always be sexy and live your own life.    A lot like George Bernard Shaw’s advice who says “life in not about finding yourself it is about creating yourself.”  Millennials are most gifted to do this: it is who you are.   My advice at launchbox is what happens to you is because of you.  Have at it.

View this video of Ashton Kutcher