Executive women listened to and participated with me in Speakonomics! (TM)Four Little Words You Must Know to Make More Money. Afterwards several of them complained about what I modeled for them.
Their complaint? They want to speak and present just like everyone else, but a little bit better. And I showed them speaking and presentation techniques that are not like what everyone else does.
Standing out from the crowd is what gets you ahead and makes you more money. If your fear of being different is stronger than your desire to get ahead, then by all means just do what you see others doing. You'll get the same results, but you'll be comfortable.
When you really, really want to leap over your competition you must plan for that. Part of your plan is to figure out how to stand out from the crowd. Think Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, Bill Gates.
Better yet, think of stand out women: Oprah, Carly Fiorina, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. These women and the others who come to your mind are not just a bit better than their peers--they stand out big time.
Which of my unusual suggestions did my audience object to? Asking the audience to put their hands in the air. Embedding 40 seconds of music into a photo. Suggesting that they use video of people coming and going into their office buildings rather than a still and sterile office building photo. Providing simple writing exercises for audience engagement.
You don't have to be outrageous on the platform. You do have to be appealing and engaging and create stickiness. Those results will bring you huge return from every speech or presentation. The higher the return on memorability, the higher your status, and eventually the more money you will make.
If you are worried about being different on your own platform, send your objections to me through the comment link.
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