Crossing the bridge into the land of your dreams

Learning does something nothing else can.  It engages and exercises your mind, fills you with well-being and makes you feel powerful.

Today I’ll tell you about Virginia and the transformation that learning created in her life…

Virginia is a really good person, but she never stood out.  She interviewed for a number of exciting new roles within her company … and kept not getting them.

She works for a company that offers our classes to their employees, which is how I met her.   Virginia showed up for Causative Communication eager and motivated to find out how to create a winning streak.

The following week she was in Mastering Virtual Presentations and, as I started the class, she interrupted, bubbling over with enthusiasm, and said, “There’s something I need to tell you: 

“Right after the last class I had to do an extremely difficult series of interviews for a competitive position.  I was interviewed by a panel of executives, followed by a series of one-on-ones with key stakeholders.  The next day their HR partner called me and said, ‘I normally never tell anyone this so quickly, but we’ve all talked and you are for sure the person we want in this role. Everyone who interviewed you said that, compared with everyone else they interviewed, you really stood out. You created such a bond and trust with each one of us, we all felt you’re part of our team already!  One of the execs even said that a wonderful positive energy comes from your eyes. We can’t wait to have you start!”

She was the same person, but the result was completely different.  Keep in mind:  she created “a bond and trust” with people and execs she didn’t know and these interviews were all virtual!

REAL communication dissolves all barriers. It creates true understanding, trust and a closeness you wouldn’t think could be possible when you’re virtual.

Virginia had a clear and beautiful vision of success. And a firm decision to make it.

Learning enabled her to cross that bridge.  And now she’s flying high with wings that will keep her airborne.

Learning enables you to cross any bridge into the land of your dreams. That’s why a great teacher is such a gift in your life and to the world. 

Never let your current level of ability limit your dreams. There’s no ability you can’t develop. All the abilities you could ever want are inside of you, like many seeds waiting for sun and water.

Your dreams are there for a reason. They are waiting for you to live them.

And learning can make it all possible.

What are you going to learn next?

Be the cause!

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The journey towards 100% certainty

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve heard or read the words, “We are living in a time of uncertainty.” 

I’ve been around for a while and I can’t EVER recall living in what anyone would call “a time of certainty.”  As a student of history, I can’t name any past civilization that I’d characterize as “a time of certainty”, including the Golden Age of Greece in the time of Pericles which was considered one of the best.

Persons today writing or saying that this is “a time of uncertainty” may be describing their OWN world view (and they’re likely to be having quite an awful day as a result), but it certainly doesn’t need to define your reality.

The word certainty means freedom from doubt. It also means unfailing and always producing the intended effect.

Imagine being free of doubt.  Imagine being unfailing and always producing your intended effect.  That’s what certainty is.

Certainty came from the Latin word certanus which meant full of confidence in one’s knowledge or judgment.

Doubt is the opposite of certainty. Freedom from doubt is powerful. A good dictionary will tell you that doubt means:

• to waver or fluctuate

• to hesitate

• to be in suspense

• to be missing confidence

• to believe truth or fact to be undetermined

• to fear, be apprehensive, to suspect

• to be in an unsettled state

Doubt came from the Latin duo which meant undecided between two things.

Clearly, a feeling of certainty is one of the most important feelings you can have.  A feeling of certainty is both desirable and VITAL for a happy life.  Having a feeling of certainty about yourself feels GREAT.

It’s not a feeling you want to have go away.  You want to feel certain … all the time.

But how do you achieve that?

The question that shines a light on this path is this one:  Do you derive your certainty from WITHIN?  Or from outside?

Your answer defines the degree of certainty AND happiness you can look forward to.

When certainty comes from the outside (what other people, economic conditions, news media, etc. are doing or going to do), you can all too easily get blown by the wind, and who knows which way the wind will blow?  You’ll NEVER have enduring certainty and any certainty you THINK you have, will blow away one day.

When your certainty is from within, it’s ALWAYS a time of certainty.

Let tell you some real examples from the hundreds I have heard from the professionals and execs who recently completed our online courses on Building a Foundation for Causative Communications and Mastering Virtual Presentations.

I’ll give you three examples of what increased certainty does.

A manager was leading a team meeting and, unexpectedly, politics flared up.  The conversation suddenly became an inferno of miscommunication, became very tense and people got upset.  Using all the skills she gained, she guided the conversation into and through the tough issues to a positive outcome where everyone felt happy and satisfied.  She especially made sure EVERYONE felt heard and acknowledged.  She turned it into a meaningful, emotionally impactful conversation that had a profound impact on all of them.  It brought the team together in a powerful way.  Afterward she was flooded with “Thank you” notes.

A client wrote me, “I am transformed.  I really needed the skills this week.  I turned every negative situation into a positive.  I pumped affinity and real understanding into every situation.  My week is now absolutely fabulous!  I just kept thinking, 'Is this really happening?'  I walked away so charged up, I was ready to take over the world!”

An engineering professional who had been extremely nervous presenting to senior execs (especially virtually) wrote me after a very important presentation: “It felt so great to know I was connecting and engaging the panel of execs, even though I couldn’t see them.  I could FEEL it!  At the end of my presentation, the top exec said, ‘Wow!  I have no words!  That was AMAZING!’.”

I’m receiving email after email from many other students sharing their extraordinary wins.

What does this have to do with certainty?  And with you?

When you take your communication skills to an extremely high level, your impact on the world around you is powerful, inevitable.  Your doubts about yourself, about the future, the world around you vanish.  You have great certainty.

In today’s world, especially because we’re virtual, it takes EVERYTHING I’ve been writing about in these articles to create it – but MORE of everything than before!  It takes MORE imagination, MORE being fully present, MORE really connecting with the other person or persons, MORE focused attention, MORE full affinity, MORE speaking with powerful intent, MORE listening, and MORE total acknowledgements so the other person feels truly heard.  These are all things you want to SPLURGE on right now!

I live my life with certainty.  And I’m dedicated to helping you live yours with certainty too, with extraordinary communication and presentation abilities that always work for you, with freedom from doubt.

I love certainty.

I am certain these three people I’ve written about will hit it out of the park again, that their success is just beginning.

I have 40 clients I’m working with this week.  I am certain I’m going to love them and make some lifelong friends. I am certain they will have extraordinary realizations about their communications and relationships.  I am certain they’ll experience enduring life-changing wins and that they’ll gain abilities that make them stand out.  I’m certain they will have a positive impact on the world around them.  And at home too.

I’m certain we will laugh.  A lot.

Do I know when I’ll be able to walk into a store without a mask? No.  But is that running my life? Not at all.

I have WAY more things on the list of things I’m certain of – and all the IMPORTANT things are on that list.

Certainty comes from being able to cause the outcomes you want. It comes from self-confidence.  And that comes from competence.  

And attitude. An attitude that says you look within for what you want.  An attitude that you can create anything you want. 

Attitude alone WITHOUT skills gets defeated.

The people who have abilities plus attitude are the ones who are going to change the world.  People like YOU!

I’m certain that good things are created on an individual level first, that individuals begin to impact other individuals around them, and that begins to impact a group and a wider and an expanding sphere of life.

I’m certain if good people (like you) are filled with their own inner certainty, that we can have a golden age ahead.

I’m certain you are unique.  I am certain you are important.  I will bet that you are a stabilizing force for the world around you.   The world needs you.

Live in a world of certainty! 

If I can help you do that, email me.  I am committed to helping you in your journey towards 100% certainty.

Be the cause!

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How to speak with your eyes…

Do you have a favorite photo of you? 

If you’re like most people, you have many photos of you that you’re not crazy about, and a small handful you like.  That photo you do like captures for forever something wonderful about you.  It’s the one photo of you that makes even you smile.

A really good photographer knows how to bring that out in you.  That’s what I do in teaching people virtual presentation skills.  Bring it out.  In this article I want to help you see WHY you like that photo of you and not others.

This will help you create more photos you like, but the reason I’m focusing on this is that the same principle applies to creating powerful communication virtually, especially when you’re giving virtual presentations.

I’m going to use Marc as an example.  Marc is a senior executive I coached this week, helping him prepare for a presentation he’ll be making with thousands watching.  The two reasons people are listening to Marc are interest in his content and his position in the organization.

As a technical leader, Marc is extremely knowledgeable and has great technical content.  Marc also has a great strategy, and he’s innovative.  None of these come across. 

It comes across dry.  Fine for the first 3 minutes, then disappointingly uninspiring.  He can’t wait for it to be over, and neither can you.

How do you bring out the charisma of someone like this?

Let me bridge back to you and talk about how do you bring it out of yourself?

Well first let me tell you how NOT to do it.

You know when someone’s taking your picture and they tell you to smile? What are you feeling at that moment?  Pretty awful, right? Like you’re forcing yourself to smile when you’re not feeling it.  You’re FORCING that smile.  You hold it until the camera clicks.  And then you drop it.

When you do that, your smile looks fake. It doesn’t match the look in your eyes.

The look in your eyes is THE most powerful, THE most important, aspect of your body language there is. 

People ask me all the time if body language is important.  My answer is an unqualified YES!  But we have to look at WHERE it comes from.

If you work on the superficial, your body language will be terrible because it’s fake, like you see in the bad photo which captures your fake body language and freezes it in time for you.

Let me repeat this.  The look in your eyes is THE most powerful, THE most important, aspect of your body.

Whether you are in person and even MORE so when you’re virtual!

When your smile doesn’t MATCH your eyes, whether in a photo, an in-person conversation or a presentation, you DON’T look good. I don’t even need to see you to tell you I’m 100% certain of that.

The other thing that happens when someone tells you to smile for the camera, is that you get self-conscious.

Self-conscious literally means too conscious or aware of yourself.  It means you’re putting your attention on yourself.

Having attention on yourself VIOLATES every principle of powerful and effective communication. 

Imagine watching your arm while you play tennis. How well will you play?

If you look back at that photo of yourself that you really like, what was your attention on?

What were you thinking?

Most importantly, what were you feeling?

I have no doubt you had no attention on yourself and you were filled with a powerful feeling.  Right?

And it showed in your EYES.

An empty smile will NEVER create the effect we’re looking for.

It’s not in your mouth. It’s in your eyes.

You want your eyes to speak.

Film stars in silent movies knew this very well. They didn’t have sound to carry them.  They spoke with their eyes.

How you do that is by what you’re thinking and what you’re feeling.

Let me make a point here.  Your eyes speak whether you want them to or not.  If you’re feeling any anxiety, if you’re even a little bit self-conscious, believe me your eyes are speaking that out to the world.

I have a photo of me I really like.  I’m in India with 225 students. They’re each doing individual exercises. I’m wearing a beautiful Indian salwar (gorgeous silk tunic over fabulously elegant pants).  I’m holding a clipboard loosely in my right arm and my left hand is on my hip.  I’m closely observing a young student as he works on his assignment.  I’m utterly absorbed in him and the look of pure love on my face floods the photo.  This photo captures timeless beauty.

Genuine and great affinity for the person or persons you’re talking to is what puts that beautiful look in your eyes and makes you look good, makes you beautiful or handsome.  And, very importantly, makes others respond.

I coach many senior executives. Only a small percent of them have sufficient affinity to be called charismatic.

I’m like the photographer who can draw the charisma out.  I draw their affinity out.

I do this by coaching them on what’s in their core.  Not superficial facial expressions or hand gestures, but their core, which is the true fountain, the true source, of charisma.

Going back to Marc, he looks like two different people in his “before” and “after” videos.

In his “before” video, Marc’s eyes are dead.  They’re not cold, just lifeless.  He smiles occasionally, but his eyes have no life.

In his “after” video, Marc’s eyes are filled with great warmth, they’re smiling, twinkling even.  The look in his eyes fills you with great warmth for him.

This can ONLY happen with genuine feelings of affinity.  You will never be successful faking it or forcing it.  It has to be REALLY happening inside you.

It comes from inside you, moves to your eyes and then to your smile. 

Marrying Marc’s incredible content with charisma created a leader whose communication is inspiring.  I guarantee if you see him talk, you’ll find yourself smiling without even realizing you’re doing it, a smile that starts before you even have time to think about it.  It starts the moment he starts speaking.

Which brings me to another point.

Many people have momentary bursts of affinity in their presentations.  A small burst at the beginning, one or max two brief bursts in the middle and occasionally a tiny burst when they’re leaving.  They’re all momentary and over in a flash.

Very few maintain powerful affinity throughout their entire talk. You can see it in their eyes.  No life in the eyes throughout most of their presentation.

The key is to start STRONG and CONTINUE that affinity throughout your entire presentation.  Of course that feeling will still have very natural peaks and valleys, but in a much HIGHER range of feeling that brings out the BEST in you.

My inbox is full of emails from students I coached last week, telling me that already this week they’re getting incredible results and the feedback they’re receiving is that they’re now “Amazing!”

Nothing makes me happier than helping someone who wants to reach others with their ideas achieve their goal.  Nothing makes me happier than filling the world with great communicators.  Nothing makes me happier than helping people be amazing.  If we do this enough, we’ll have an amazing world.

Be the cause!

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KNOWING without looking…

Many, many people have been signing up for our online training.  It’s very uplifting and, as one of my clients said, “It makes you feel good about the world and it makes you feel good about yourself.” 

That’s one of my purposes, so it makes me very happy to hear that.  It’s a good time for learning. 

I’m coaching a lot of people on their virtual presentation skills these days.  I have about 50 students this week alone, a combination of workshops and one-on-one coaching for execs.

Here’s one question that comes up a lot:

“I know I’m supposed to look into the camera, but I want to see their faces to see their reactions to what I’m saying. How do I look into the camera and see their reactions at the same time?”

My answer surprises them.

There’s a huge difference between:

A. Causing the reaction you want and KNOWING you caused it without having to look

B.  Doing something and then stepping back to look and see what reaction they’re having.

When someone says they need to “see their faces” to know their reaction, it immediately tells me they don’t have enough ability or skill to simply cause their intended reaction and know they caused it.  Without looking.

You have to be pretty good to do that.

This level of ability gives you a super high degree of certainty.  It’s a, “I don’t have to look, I KNOW I did it.”

For example, when you can say, “I don’t need anyone to tell me no one was multitasking during my presentation.  I KNOW they weren’t.”  And you’re right.

Or, “I don’t need to see if they get it.   I KNOW I delivered it so well that they absolutely got it.”

Or, “They don’t need to tell me.  I KNOW they like me.  I KNOW they agree with me.”

Or, “I don’t need to see if they’re inspired or are going to act. They are and they will.” 

And they do.

In other words, you knowingly caused it and you’re sure you did.

This kind of certainty comes from being able to hit it out of the park, an expression describing an American baseball batter hitting a home run that makes the ball travel so high and so far, it flies way out of the stadium beyond anyone’s reach. 

What I’m talking about is being able to tell by the perfect FEEL of your swing, by the impact when you connect with the ball, and the special sound of the crack of the bat … everything about that motion feels so right, you start running around the bases because you KNOW you have a home run. 

It takes an incredible amount of intention to achieve that.

Intention is positive and deliberate purpose.  Deliberate means you’ve decided.  Positive means totally certain.  Certain means no doubt.  Intention means no doubt about the outcome.

When you have that level of intention, magic happens.  Whether it’s baseball or communication.

Society encourages self-doubt, but surrenders to intention.

I think I’ve mentioned to you that my inbox is full of successes and wins from students.  What a joy to read them!

This week one of our recent students from Mastering Virtual Presentations wrote that she’d been invited to present to 200+ people at a Virtual event earlier in the day.  She wrote she created, “25 minutes of focused presentation, total connection with the audience, eye contact, Affinity, FUN and intention!  It all came to life!”

She had 200 people watching her that she couldn’t see.  Did she have any visible sign that she was connecting with them?

No, she just KNEW, just like the guy who hit the home-run knows.

It’s funny.  When you have that level of ability, you can actually FEEL the energy of the audience coming back to you, even when you can’t see them.  Don’t ask me how, you just do.  It’s powerful.

What happened after her talk? Over 50 people spontaneously reached out and emailed her kudos. 50 out of 200.  Spontaneously.

When does that ever happen?  Home-run.

By the way, she’s not a senior executive. She’s not someone people have to play up to. She’s an individual contributor. With noticeably amazing communication skills.

You cause the reaction of the people in your audience.  Or you are the effect of their reaction. 

It’s all up to you.

That’s why it’s so important for you to have a clear decision about what reaction you want to cause and the ability to do it.  Then you can go ahead and cause it. 

And KNOW you did it, whether or not you see their faces.

Work on your abilities. Work on your intention. Work on your certainty. They will lead you down the path to magic.

If you want to fast track your journey down that path, I invite you to get involved in one of the events below…

Be the cause!

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The magic of the weird…

I just received an email from a recent student who wrote:

“I did your Causative Communication online training to learn how to handle difficult conversations. The weirdest thing happened. I’ve stopped having difficult conversations!!!  I haven’t had ANY since the training!”

Then she wrote two words that I’m very used to seeing in my inbox:

“It’s magic.”

Magic is when you produce a spectacular, even impossible, effect with very little effort, done so swiftly it’s invisible how you did it.

In difficult conversations, most people are used to expending a TREMENDOUS amount of effort and getting a mediocre or frustrating result.  So, what she’s describing IS magic.

The other word you see in her email above is one I’ve also gotten used to seeing and hearing from our students and clients:

Weird.

I hear this word a lot. At one point I joked I was going to call it Weird Communication, but I knew that unless someone’s done the training, they wouldn’t understand.

Let me explain why it’s weird.

I have another client who recently put all of our online training into their corporate catalog to make it available to 100,000 employees. She sat in to observe our first three training sessions to make sure they were going well.  A lot was at risk for her if they weren’t.

After the first session she said,

“That was weird. They were all paying attention.  That’s really weird for 6 hours of virtual training that they would pay attention the whole time.  What was even weirder was I was planning to multitask as I was listening and I couldn’t multitask.  I’m the world’s busiest multitasker and I just couldn’t do it. I found myself riveted and being attentive the whole time. That was really weird.”

After the second session she said,

“That was so weird.  I can’t believe how much people change in such a short period of time. It’s like they blossom before your eyes. They become compelling. You start to really LIKE them WAY more.  That’s weird to watch how they are at the beginning and how they are at the end, so different.”

After the third session she said,

“I know I keep saying the word “weird”, but it really IS weird. I’m watching these people transform in these workshops and you do it so quickly and so consistently, that’s so weird.”

Then I overheard her telling her boss, “These training programs are so good, they’re weird.”

She’s not the only one who’s used this word. I hear it often.  Almost as often as I hear the word magic.

When some says something is weird, they mean it’s really unexpected.  They mean it’s hard to believe.

I understand.  I know the world we live in. I know it well.

It’s a world where GREAT communication is weird. A world where creating a spectacular effect with very little effort is weird. Where a “normal person” being able to create consistent magic is weird.  Where having a great teacher and learning how to do it in such a short time is really weird.

It’s weird to suddenly have everything going exactly the way that you’d like.

It’s weird to suddenly have a great relationship with someone that you haven’t been getting along with.

It’s weird to suddenly be able to influence an entire organization.

It’s weird to tell your child to go to bed once and have them do it cheerfully and willingly.

It’s weird to present an idea and have it immediately accepted.

It’s weird to be alone in a room talking to a virtual audience that’s far away and be able to feel their energy coming back to you and know they are swept away and totally with you even though you can’t see them.

Great communication IS magic. Creating magic is weird.  Learning how to create magic is weird.  They’re all spectacular.  They’re all hard to believe.

Want to hear something really weird?  I looked up the derivation of the word weird (where it came from) and, get this, the word originally meant the power to control your fate or destiny.

That’s precisely what being CAUSATIVE is all about.  That’s precisely the PURPOSE of Causative Communication.

So, I guess in today’s world – that’s weird!

I personally don’t WANT to live in a world where great communication is weird.  I want to live in a world where BAD or frustrating communication is weird.  Where argument, misunderstanding, conflict, hostility, crushing disappointment, bitterness, not feeling heard, anxiety and fear are weird. 

That’s WHY I’ve chosen this path.  To help the world around me gain the REAL abilities needed to make magic happen.

I was grinning reading the email above.  Nothing makes me happier than to know someone came to me to learn how to handle difficult conversations (of which she had many prior to the training) only to find that, MAGICALLY, after the training she doesn’t have any.

This is what I have to say to her:

“Welcome to this new weird world. It’s so GOOD, it’s weird.  You have a magic wand in your hand called new communication ability.  I know you’re using it to make the world a better place and we are all grateful for it.  Continue on!”

Be the cause!

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How to lead the invisible

Leader is not a title. You can’t get promoted into it.  And you can’t get demoted out of it.

Nelson Mandela was a great leader even when he was in jail.

I’m coaching many leaders, and many individuals with high potential for leadership.  As I watch them change, it’s clear that communication skill marks a leader.

Yes, you have to have good ideas.  But lead means cause to follow.  And people don’t follow good ideas poorly communicated.

For example, I’m coaching Steve, a new SVP of a major corporation.  Steve’s first day on the job was the first day his organization sheltered from home.  So he’s met no one in person. It’s all virtual.

Steve’s predecessor had been in the role many years and was well loved.  But the organization had gone stale. They were seriously falling behind others in their industry.  

Steve was hired to create breakthroughs. Not incremental change.  Breakthroughs.

Steve was very successful as a technical leader in another major, but smaller, high tech corporation. He had risen through the ranks and proven himself, both as a technical leader and as someone people could talk to, as trustworthy.

The problem was, it took years to warm up to him.  Mainly because his communication skills were those of someone who is, as he calls himself, a technical guy.  It’s one of the first things he told me, “I’m a technical guy.”

It was his way of saying, “I haven’t worried about my communication skills.”

Over time you learn that he is a GREAT technical guy who actually SHOULD lead because he has GREAT ideas, but it’s not something you see right away.

About a month after he started, the CEO asked Steve to present his strategy for the organization to the thousands who would be watching him virtually.

The reviews he received after this presentation were lukewarm.

Steve was the new leader of an organization that was uninspired, and even skeptical, about following him.  He desperately needed a breakthrough in their trust of, and enthusiasm for, his leadership to innovation.

Let me repeat this:  Steve has GREAT ideas.  But he did not get them across to the thousands of people watching him.

I watched him change as I coached him. 

I never coached him on the words he was using.  His words were fine.  I coached him on the RELATIONSHIP he built with his audience. 

Now, keep in mind, this was all VIRTUAL!  So this is an audience Steve has NEVER SEEN.  And it’s a LARGE audience.

I coached him on creating a strong CONNECTION with the audience and a powerful RAPPORT with them. 

Also on HOW to make eye contact with a virtual audience.  Everyone “knows” eye contact is important – but there are 1,000 different KINDS of eye contact.  You have to make the ONE kind that really matters.

And I coached him on how to make everyone feel like he was right there WITH them – in the SAME room – and feel like, “He is talking to me.” 

Steve just sent me the video of his most recent presentation.  He looks like a completely different person.  It’s powerful and compelling. 

The feedback Steve received on this last presentation was dramatically different from the first one.  Emails are flying through the organization by managers who had planned to work on their emails while listening to Steve’s presentation and they found it AMAZING (their words) – they were incapable of multi-tasking – they were riveted to watching and listening to him.

And (this is so politically incorrect), he looks really handsome in this one (don’t worry, he’s very happily married).  I just find the people I coach look more handsome and more beautiful when they become GREAT communicators. 

In short, Steve is now coming across as a LEADER.  It wouldn’t matter where you put him in the organization.  People will follow.

Great ideas + great communication skill = you’re effective.

Build the relationship with your audience.  Communicate exceptionally well. 

For decades, I have been on a mission to take will-be leaders like Steve and help them acquire the skills to fully step into that leadership position.

You’ll see the list of offerings below this message that we use to do that. If you see something that resonates with you, choose it.

Just remember this:

It doesn’t matter what your position is. If you learn to lead, others will follow. And when they do, you’ll KNOW you have just put yourself in a position to create powerful change.

Be the cause!

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Virtual is REAL

I woke up this morning to an email from a recent student.  She just got promoted and could not be more excited.  She’s a Millennial.  It’s her first promotion.  She’s flying high.  Another student was promoted to SVP of a major Silicon Valley multinational corporation.  Someone took a screen shot of the joy in her face when she was told the news during a virtual staff meeting and this beautiful photo has been shared a thousand times.

My inbox is full of good news.  Some days I can’t even keep up with it.

I’ve been wanting to create online training for years.  My staff will tell you it’s been on my “goals for the year” for a loooong time.  I never had the time.  We were always so swamped with in-person clients, there wasn’t a moment to sit down and design training for a whole new medium.

And then “now” happened.  When I pulled the staff together and asked them what they thought about the situation, they didn’t even have to think.  They said, “Great opportunity to do what we’ve been wanting to do for years.”

And so we are. 

In the last several weeks we’ve built an online business overnight.  Everyone working overtime.  It’s going better than even we expected.

We’ve been overwhelmed by the client demand for this training.  It turns out we have people all over the country and the world who have been wanting to do our services, but weren’t able to travel or have us come there. 

We’ve trained hundreds of people in the last several weeks, WAY more than we were ever able to do in person, and the wins are pouring into my inbox more than ever.  I was delighted to discover that the amazing wins our clients have always had working with us in person also happen when they work with us virtually.  I can’t tell you how relieved I am!  I was worried the client wins would be less.  Not so!  Whew!

We were able to offer free webinars for several weeks.  But we’re now being asked to do so many sessions for individual corporations, we simply don’t have time to continue them at the moment. 

There’s one exception.  A number of organizations asked me to put something together specifically for engineers.  We have so many of them around us.  So you’ll see a free webinar just for them below (or for you if you are one!).

I’ve learned so much in the last several weeks.  Some I already knew, but it really came home to me seeing so many people win in such a short period of time:

When you have the ability to engage any audience or any individual and create a powerful impact when you’re virtual, there’s no one in the world you can’t reach. 

Despite what most people think, the word virtual does NOT mean, “Not there.” It means, “MAKE IT REAL.” The word virtual literally means, “Having the power of being real.” Even though it’s not actual, it is AS POWERFUL as if it were real.

That means your virtual presence should be as strong, powerful and real as if you were in the same room. It means your communication should be as strong, powerful and real as if you were right in front of their face. It means your impact needs to be REAL. That’s what the word “virtual” means.

When you can do that, no one tunes you out. No one multi-tasks. They listen. They get it. They respect you. They’re inspired. They buy-in. And, if you’re really good, they admire you.

That takes some serious skills.  They’re easy to learn. 

When it comes to communicating effectively, even very capable people are operating at less than 10% of their potential.  Bring out the other 90% of yourself.  It’s there waiting for you.  There’s nothing more thrilling.  You’ll fly high.

Don’t listen to feedback that’s not helpful. The only feedback you should listen to is feedback that gets you excited and makes you feel your true power is being released.

Find a good source to work with.  If you didn’t invent Jedi, you’ll need a Jedi Master to help you become Jedi.  You won’t figure Jedi out on your own.  Work with a Jedi Master and you’ll achieve extraordinary results so fast it’s exhilarating.

We’ve had many organizations have their folks do live group online training together.  It’s crazy awesome fun.  I’ve never seen groups have such a good time!  Learn new skills together and support each other and keep the skills alive when the training is over.

Possibly the most important thing I learned is that ALWAYS is a good time to develop your skills.  It’s always a good time.  You are alive and have goals that matter to you today.  Don’t back-burner your happiness.    

You are important to the world.  We need you.  We need to hear your voice.  We need you to win at the game of life.  Whatever way you do it, gain the communication skills you need so life is not directing you, but you are causing it to go the way you know it should.  We will all be happier because of it.

Be the cause!

Upcoming Online Services

NOTE:  Please check with your company’s Learning & Development department to see if our programs are in their catalogue.  If they are, that’s the best way for you to sign up.  The free webinar for engineers is not in catalogues yet.

1.       FREE Webinar: Virtual Communication Skills for Engineers

April 28, 2020

11:00 – 12:30 PST

Click here for information and to register.

2.      Live Group Webinars for Teams or Employees to Keep Morale High

Click here for information and to schedule.

3.      One-on-one Virtual Coaching to Build Life-Changing Skills

Click here for information and to schedule.

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How Jesse blew away the Founder, CEO and CMO in a single presentation

Jesse, one of our clients, just sent me a video of his virtual presentation to VIP customers and senior execs after his coaching.  It was SOOOO good, it blew me away.  (Not just me, but his CEO and everyone else in the meeting.)

I was swept off my feet by how calm he is.  

Jesse is dynamic and charismatic … and calm.  It’s a powerful mix.  The one adjective NEVER used to describe successful professionals in corporate America is CALM.  And yet, that is the #1 barometer of real confidence. 

He is looking right into the camera, his presence is STRONG and it feels like he’s talking right to you. He also makes you feel you’re the only person he’s talking to, and that really gets your attention.

He takes his sweet time and makes sure that the quality of his communication is extraordinary.  He’s not trying to cram a whole lot of words into a short period of time (which always makes you look frantic).

His slides are in the background enhancing his presentation, but making a personal connection with you is his main focus.

Jesse has several key messages and takes his time getting them across, so you not only GET them, you’re impressed by them and you remember them.

The outstanding characteristics of his presentation are his comfort and clarity.  He is completely comfortable and his presence is nice and strong.  His pace is spot-on, he is extremely clear, and his slides now enhance that clarity.

And his great affinity and warmth for the people he’s talking to is evident in his tone, in all of his body language, facial expression and, especially, in his eyes.

All of Jesse’s effectiveness is entirely due to the fabulous connection he’s making by talking so directly to his audience, to you, via the camera.  That is what is underlying all this other goodness.

It’s a rare kind of presentation.  It’s personal.  It’s real.  It has personality.  It creates rapport.  It’s inspiring.  You believe him.  You want him in your life.

Jesse is normally very hard on himself.  That’s all gone.  This is what he emailed:

“My presentation was outstanding, even though it was virtual! It was one of my best presentations that I have ever made and I felt in the zone. As soon as it kicked off, I just felt comfortable and was able to flow with it. Your coaching prior to the session was career changing, literally. The CEO immediately sent me a note congratulating me and the head of Marketing sent a note to the execs in the company saying I “killed it!”... the Board member who founded the company also recognized what I did.”

Jesse ended his email by writing he feels like there’s still a lot for him to learn.

He’s right.  There is.

But it's the difference between positive and negative gain.  Negative gain is when the presenter is doing a lot of things that are negative.  They detract from making a powerful impact.  For example, experiencing anxiety, self-doubt, saying, “Uhm …”, being unable to connect with the audience, losing the audience’s interest, talking too fast, etc.

Jesse’s not doing that.  He’s lost all the negatives and entered a new rank of presenters.

Positive gain is when you reach a new dimension of extraordinary communication and continue to build on the positives.  You keep going higher and higher.  This is where your communication becomes good enough for you to become a great world leader (or whatever your highest goal is). 

You too can operate in this high class of presenters.  As you achieve higher levels of ‘outstanding’ with your communication skills, your abilities develop into powers and you begin to feel you’re operating at your true potential.  You’ve left the negatives behind.  A worthy and exhilarating goal.

Helping others achieve this is our mission.  It’s what we do here. So, consider this your direct invitation to join us in the upcoming Virtual Presentation Skill-Building Summit.  I’ll open enrollment for this session on Friday, March 13, 2020.  Feel free to contact us if you want me to put you on the list to pre-register.

Be the cause!

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