If your phone is not ringing or your not getting emails from potential clients you may be missing one very important piece in your business. Regardless if you have a web presence or not, speaking is still the #1 way to build your practice, and with so many ways to share information these days you’ll want to have a plan to maximize the impact of your speaking opportunities.
So what can you do if you have ‘speaker-phobia’? I can tell you from my own experience, there are ways to make the process so much easier, and you may even find yourself enjoying the experience.
Here are 5 tools and strategies to help you overcome your ‘speaker-phobia’ and start to book lots of speaking engagements that will get your phone ringing.
1. Set the intention
Yes, this very simple step is a profound one that will have impact on your speaking opportunities. So take a minute to imagine how many speaking opportunities you would like to have and how often. When you are clear write this down and post it somewhere so you are continually moving towards your goal.
If you feel any resistance to speaking take a minute to check-in and see what the underlying belief is. Maybe you feel like you don’t know enough, or you’re not an expert, or you don’t feel like you have enough information to fill an hour long presentation. Allow yourself to lovingly release any of the beliefs that do not serve you.
2. Get clear on your message
Here’s where most therapist become uncomfortable and overwhelmed. They are unsure of their message and who that message can help, they don’t know where to begin. Take a minute to visualize those you are meant to serve, those clients that resonate with you. Think of how you have helped clients in the past. This will guide you in your message. When you get clear on who you help and how you help them, then you’ll know exactly where to find these potential clients and what message you can share to help these individuals.
3. Take action
Your clients are looking for you, but they can’t find you if you are not sharing what you do in a bigger way. So make a commitment to contact a specific number of places each month where your potential clients are, and ask if you can share your message. Simple is better, don’t overwhelm the program director with excessive information and your CV, instead share your talk title and ask if they accept outside speakers.
4. Be open
People who show up to hear you speak are interested in the topic you are sharing, and they are looking for change. Even if there is only 1 person in the room, you have the ability to create a profound impact on that person’s life. I actually had that happen, and instead of thinking the workshop ‘tanked’, I graciously welcomed the opportunity to help the person who showed up. Needless to say the workshop had a profound impact on their life, and they went on to have some major breakthroughs that not only transformed their life, but the lives of 1000’s of others as well.
Show-up, connect, share, and be open. Amazingly we don’t always see the gifts we have, and we think others know what we know. The truth is we know much more that we believe, and to be of service means to show up and connect with others who seek our help.
5. Have a follow-up plan
You’ve spent time and energy planning your presentation and you’ve felt like you connected with the listeners and shared some important information. You pass out your business cards and wait for the phone to ring and you hear nothing. You may even wonder, “what did I do wrong”?
I’ve had this happen numerous times and looking back I wish I knew this powerful strategy. I was missing the most important piece to speaking, the follow-up plan. Sure I gave helpful information, and sure the listeners got valuable information, and then I packed up and went home, and so did the attendees. We know that life is so busy and there is so much information out there, that if we don’t welcome people to continue the conversation, then they move on to what’s next in their lives (and the problem is put on the back burner until it becomes overwhelming).
So take a minute and formulate a follow-up plan. Write out all the details so you’ll know exactly what to do the next time you have a speaking opportunity
If you want more strategies on speaking (and a specific follow-up plan you can implement to start seeing results) you’ll want to access the IATPP (**LINK) “Resource Rolodex” bonus exclusively available when you join the International Association of Therapists in Private Practice (link**) by 10/21. Don’t miss this very generous bonus that will help you jumpstart your practice!
If your phone is not ringing or your not getting emails from potential clients you may be missing one very important piece in your business. Regardless if you have a web presence or not, speaking is still the #1 way to build your practice, and with so many ways to share information these days you’ll want to have a plan to maximize the impact of your speaking opportunities.
So what can you do if you have ‘speaker-phobia’? I can tell you from my own experience, there are ways to make the process so much easier, and you may even find yourself enjoying the experience.
Here are 5 tools and strategies to help you overcome your ‘speaker-phobia’ and start to book lots of speaking engagements that will get your phone ringing.
1. Set the intention
Yes, this very simple step is a profound one that will have impact on your speaking opportunities. So take a minute to imagine how many speaking opportunities you would like to have and how often. When you are clear write this down and post it somewhere so you are continually moving towards your goal.
If you feel any resistance to speaking take a minute to check-in and see what the underlying belief is. Maybe you feel like you don’t know enough, or you’re not an expert, or you don’t feel like you have enough information to fill an hour long presentation. Allow yourself to lovingly release any of the beliefs that do not serve you.
2. Get clear on your message
Here’s where most therapist become uncomfortable and overwhelmed. They are unsure of their message and who that message can help, they don’t know where to begin. Take a minute to visualize those you are meant to serve, those clients that resonate with you. Think of how you have helped clients in the past. This will guide you in your message. When you get clear on who you help and how you help them, then you’ll know exactly where to find these potential clients and what message you can share to help these individuals.
3. Take action
Your clients are looking for you, but they can’t find you if you are not sharing what you do in a bigger way. So make a commitment to contact a specific number of places each month where your potential clients are, and ask if you can share your message. Simple is better, don’t overwhelm the program director with excessive information and your CV, instead share your talk title and ask if they accept outside speakers.
4. Be open
People who show up to hear you speak are interested in the topic you are sharing, and they are looking for change. Even if there is only 1 person in the room, you have the ability to create a profound impact on that person’s life. I actually had that happen, and instead of thinking the workshop ‘tanked’, I graciously welcomed the opportunity to help the person who showed up. Needless to say the workshop had a profound impact on their life, and they went on to have some major breakthroughs that not only transformed their life, but the lives of 1000’s of others as well.
Show-up, connect, share, and be open. Amazingly we don’t always see the gifts we have, and we think others know what we know. The truth is we know much more that we believe, and to be of service means to show up and connect with others who seek our help.
5. Have a follow-up plan
You’ve spent time and energy planning your presentation and you’ve felt like you connected with the listeners and shared some important information. You pass out your business cards and wait for the phone to ring and you hear nothing. You may even wonder, “what did I do wrong”?
I’ve had this happen numerous times and looking back I wish I knew this powerful strategy. I was missing the most important piece to speaking, the follow-up plan. Sure I gave helpful information, and sure the listeners got valuable information, and then I packed up and went home, and so did the attendees. We know that life is so busy and there is so much information out there, that if we don’t welcome people to continue the conversation, then they move on to what’s next in their lives (and the problem is put on the back burner until it becomes overwhelming).
So take a minute and formulate a follow-up plan. Write out all the details so you’ll know exactly what to do the next time you have a speaking opportunity
If you want more strategies on speaking (and a specific follow-up plan you can implement to start seeing results) you’ll want to access the IATPP “Resource Rolodex” bonus exclusively available when you join the International Association of Therapists in Private Practice by 10/21. Don’t miss this very generous bonus that will help you jumpstart your practice!
