This will be of interest to you if you are a friend or fan of my brother Robert Fripp, legendary guitarist of King Crimson, and his very talented wife award-winning singer, songwriter, and actress Toyah Willcox. This is a tribute to them on their 35th anniversary.
When I was growing up, my mother gave me great advice.
She said, “Patricia, of course, it is the inner you that is most important. However, you have to dress up and look good so that you can attract others. They will then discover how nice and smart you are and how you can be of value to them.”
Hollywood has ideas to help you get promoted.
She said, “You can have everything you want as long as you dress for it!” She had a point. Costumes are as essential for the movie of your life as they are for a Hollywood movie.
You need to internalize your new way of presenting and make it second nature. When you deliver your presentation, you want to be able to focus on the audience, not your performance.
You will never be able to schedule as much rehearsal as much as you need, so make it a part of your routine:
Some presenters like to move, while others stand still. There is a big difference, however, between movement and nervous energy. Have you noticed that some presenters do what looks like a little dance in the front of the room? Or put their weight on one leg and then the other? Do not distract from your own message with unnecessary movement.
In the beginning, it is best to stand still, and I also recommend standing still when you are telling a story or delivering your key benefits as a way to emphasize your points. How you stand represents the stability of your ideas and your company, which builds your authority and makes you feel comfortable. If you have an accent, remaining stationary helps your audience get used to the sound of your voice. (This may not make sense, but it is true!) If you are moving around when they are getting accustomed to the sound of your voice, your listeners often believe they can’t hear.
If you study exceptional speakers, you will notice that they employ three types of movement:
Read More...Even if you leave a voicemail, say “Bob, I never get tired of telling the story about how we (fill in the name of an important project you worked on together). Would you mind telling me in your words what your experience was? Did we reach or exceed your expectations? Did we come in under budget? With your permission, I would like to make an appointment and record your comments. May I use you as an example in my sales presentations? Let me know when we can talk.”
Read More...Developing good public speaking skills helps you make more sales more often.
To sell you need technical skills, product knowledge, know how you compare to your competition, territory management, a good relationship management system, discipline, and self-management. However, that is not enough. Too often the best presentation wins.
Earlier in my career when I was primarily a keynote speaker, a large food service company invited me to keynote their yearly sales conference. After my speech, Jennifer, the National Sales Manager, pulled me aside and said, “I liked your speech. However, I really loved how you delivered it. Can you teach our salespeople to speak that way? We sell quality food and uniforms to hospitals and healthcare systems.
It takes us a year of work and relationship management to be in a position to deliver an hour presentation to a hospital board. It is worth $9 million dollars a year if we win the business. We are losing sales, and it has nothing to do with our offering or price. When I follow up, I keep hearing it has to do with the fact that the presentation skills of our competitors are better than ours.”
As I put together the program for them, little did I know she had just given me the secret to always be in demand, no matter how good or bad the economy is.
Read More...Developing good public speaking skills will boost your confidence in front of your senior management.
Will is a Staff Performance Engineer with a large technology company in Silicon Valley. Like many brilliant technical experts, they invest years developing their skills and suddenly find themselves pushed more into the spotlight.
Will told me, “Four months ago, I attended your presentation skills Masterclass. It was eye-opening. I just wanted to let you know how insanely helpful that class has been for me. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a very anxious public speaker. After your class, my anxiety magically melted away. Recently, I delivered an hour-long talk to my twenty-five-person team. The audience included management, a Director, and our Technical Director.
No matter what your career or personal goals are, mastering public speaking skills is an important part of your personal development. You probably realize that improving communication skills is helpful in almost every area of life. The higher you go up the corporate ladder, the more valuable your presentation skills become.
There are many benefits of developing good public speaking. I hope Steve’s story will encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and take action.
It never ceases to amaze me that intelligent, well-educated, and ambitious professionals frequently overlook developing the number one skill that is guaranteed to position them ahead of the crowd. Namely, the ability to stand and speak eloquently in public, or at least stagger to their feet and say anything at all.
What is it about public speaking that terrifies so many? Most likely it is because we do not want to look, feel, or sound stupid in front of others.
To which I reply, “No. You are an untrained speaker.” My second comment is always, “Stop telling yourself what you do not want. When you learn and apply my techniques and principles, you will become a well-trained speaker.”
You improve what you focus on. I tell my coaching clients, “You have invested your entire career training to be a competent CPA, engineer, nurse, dentist, financial advisor, or ambitious professional. For decades I have focused on how to get your message across in a more clear, concise, and interesting way that receives more buy-in for your ideas. I assure you, becoming a great public speaker and presenter is not rocket science. However, it is more complex than most professionals realize.”
The No 1 Best Way to accomplish what you want is to communicate more effectively.
You may find them surprisingly simple. However, they are little known and frequently overlooked.
This is the perfect event if you want to excel in your career, make more sales, get paid to speak, increase your public speaking skills quickly. We all speak in public. Those who master the skills get what they want.
Read More...No matter what you want to accomplish, good presentation skills get you there faster.
As I hope you can tell, my mission is to help ambitious professionals like you perfect how they speak and present to help them get what they want.
In case you are wondering how I can help you, here are a few examples of the professionals I work with.
Professional speakers work with me to take their presentations from good to great.
Marketing teams hire me to help their technical content experts speak at customer conferences to increase their visibility and credibility.
Sales managers hire me to help them drive more sales by perfecting their important conversations and presentations.
Executives like Eric, whom I wrote about in my last email, ask me to help them create presentations that inspire action and commitment from their associates.
And ambitious professionals want me to help them shorten their learning curve.
You can be confident that I can get you there faster. Let’s talk.
In my last email, you read how I suddenly realized that my clients and audience members wanted me to help them improve their public speaking skills.
Are you thinking, “Patricia, how can you help hundreds of speakers who have different messages and audiences?”
Each presentation may be unique, but proven principles and timeless techniques always work. After 30 plus years of focusing on mastering the ability to speak to audiences of all sizes and makeup and then simplifying and demystifying the process for creating and delivering a message that resonates with any audience, I have developed a superpower.
How do I know my techniques and approach work? The amount of repeat business and referrals from engineers to executives, celebrity speakers to customer service reps, from rocket scientists to financial advisors assure me that they do.
It is my years of multifaceted experience and options to help that fit all budgets. My approach is to teach you why and how to improve all your presentations.
Whatever your goals or career path, becoming a good public speaker will help you excel. This is important to you because, as you can tell by my story, regardless of how you begin your speaking journey, you can enjoy more success than you imagine possible when you are a good speaker.
I may be getting ahead of myself. Does this make sense to you? Let me know if you have any questions or comments.
In summary, good public speaking skills will help you get what you want!
In case you are wondering, “What should I do next,” you have two choices.
If you want to learn the best presentation techniques immediately in an easy, convenient, and cost-effective way, sign up for FrippVT Powerful, Persuasive Presentations Online Learning Platform.
OR we can have a conversation about what you specifically need help with and a personal demo or FrippVT.
If you want to know more, enjoy this video message:
Want to talk about how I can help you with FrippVT?
“For my most important speeches, I call Patricia Fripp. Nobody is better to help you improve your presentation skills.” Wanda Hope, Chief Diversity Officer, Johnson & Johnson Worldwide
“As a seasoned speaker being coached by Patricia Fripp has helped me deliver my game-changing message with more power and eloquence. My client testimonials and feedback prove it. If you are interested in improving your presentation skills, call Fripp.” Ron Karr, CSP, Past President, National Speakers Association
“The information in FrippVT to improve my presentation skills is as valuable as any college course I’ve taken. This is a resource that everyone needs. The investment is worth ten times more than I paid and has been life-changing. After 2 months I would have paid $3,000. My fees, recommendations, and referrals have increased dramatically. I am delighted. For the first time in my speaking career, I know exactly want I am doing when I walk on stage. One technique in course 8 helped me book a high-fee presentation.” Mitzi Perdue, author of How to Make Your Family Business Last
“To watch how our veteran group of salespeople became involved in your Storytelling to Increase Sales was impressive. We are excited to continue your training with FrippVT Sales.” Jeff Walters, Vice President, North American Sales, Peak-Ryzex
“When we hired Patricia Fripp to improve our sales conversations and presentations, my expectations were high. Patricia Fripp’s customized approach before, during, and after with her FrippVT online learning has resulted in more and larger sales. Patricia’s ability to excite, inform and coach our team was impressive. “ Scott Hamilton, Vice President of Sales, Distech Controls
“For 24 consecutive years, we have hired Patricia Fripp to deliver keynote speeches, breakout sessions, a speaker school for our industry and conference speakers, and coaching of our leaders with their presentation skills. Patricia is the best speaker investment you could make. Our members receive RCH credits for FrippVT.” Dan Maddux, Executive Director, American Payroll Association
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FrippVT Users New Feature Community
This is a way to interact and get feedback from other FrippVT users. Please watch the short demo and hear my opening story about how to respond when a client does not have your fee.
The success of the Community feature depends on how much participation we have. Check it out.
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