So what’s your “Speaker Kryptonite?”

It’s believing that you have to be a great speaker in order to get paid to speak. This preconceived, self-limiting belief that you allow yourself to believe about your worthiness to be speaking in front of groups is destroying your speaking business.

This “Speaker Kryptonite” is the one poison I see that stops most speakers from first getting started, then second, making BIG money.

The notion that you have to be a great speaker in order to get paid to speak is one of the biggest lies that continues to get passed around throughout the speaking industry.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

It’s NOT about certain presentation skills that certain ‘speaker coaches’ (and I use that term loosely) try and sell you!

You know what I’m talking about because I’m sure you’ve heard it at some point like I have. 

These BS ‘speaker coaches’ tell you that during your presentation…

“You have to walk in a V-formation” 

”You have to make eye-contact with each person in the audience 37 ½ times or you’ll never communicate the message”

”You have to use fancy hand-gestures to emphasize points”

“You have to clearly say and state every word and every line or audiences will think you’re not a professional”

…Blah, Blah, Blah!

Come on – give me a break! What a load of BS! 

I’ve never made any money either in a paid speaking fee or from Platform Selling because of any of that stuff!

One of the BEST pieces of speaking advice I could ever give to you that’s imperative for you to deeply understand is this:

All speaking is – is having a message to say that helps people, then standing-up in front of groups and saying it to help people! 

That’s it!…period!

Who cares if you walk in a V…or, if you look at every person in the audience for ‘x’ number of times…or, if you use fancy hand-gestures…or, if you say every word and every line perfectly, etc.

Hear me now as I say this loudly: NONE OF THAT MATTERS!

As a matter of fact, the more you do that stuff, the less the audience will relate to you! 

Want to know why?

They want to be able to relate to you…be inspired by you…and believe that, because of you, they CAN do it too! Whatever it is!

It’s the same for any topic…it doesn’t matter if your topic is sales, leadership, spirituality, etiquette, real estate, motivation, building a business, diversity, team-building, customer service, living on purpose, inspiration, getting a job, networking, internet marketing, etc. 

Have I ever messed-up in a presentation? ABSOLUTELY! As a matter of fact, I do so in just about every presentation to this day! Not only do I “flub” words and forget certain lines or stories to say, but I’ve actually fallen off of three stages in my career. If you watched me speak for a group, you would quickly see that I’m never going to win any ribbons in any presentation skills contest.

But, again, it’s NOT about presentation skills stage mechanics! It’s about delivering your message to help people!

A few years ago, I did a motivational presentation for a group of about 800 college students, parents and faculty members at a Community College in Southern California. It was a very fulfilling night. After the presentation, kids and parents were coming up hugging me and asking for pictures and if I would autograph their books.

In addition to helping many people with my motivational message, money-wise, it was also a great night. In addition to the $7,500 fee I was paid for the 45-minute presentation, the audience also bought a little over $12,000 of my books and training programs. Not bad – almost $20,000 for 45-minutes.

As the awesome crowd was breaking-up, a speech professor from the college approached me and asked if I would like to see a copy of the 8-page critique she wrote on me consisting of “all of the things I did wrong in my presentation.” (Ha, ha – I’m not joking!)

Can you believe this?!?

I just inspired and helped the audience of kids, parents and faculty members, giving them hope and many tips and ideas for overcoming any challenge they’re facing in their personal and professional lives…and also taught them the skills for implementing them. 

On top of that, from a business perspective, I had just made almost $20,000 for being able to deliver my message and help these people!

Yet, here’s this speech Professor (who I bet NEVER got paid for a single presentation in her life) basically telling me that the majority of my presentation didn’t live up to the standards of a “good presentation” and was “so bad” that she took 8-pages of notes on all the things “I did wrong” in my presentation!

Man, I’m even laughing at it as I’m writing this! 

So, did I accept the “presentation skills critique?”

Come-on, are you serious?!?!

I politely said…

”Maam, no thank you because I’m not interested in your critique of how many times I said ‘uhm’…or that I had my hand in my pocket…or that I didn’t walk in a ‘V’…or that I flubbed lines. What you don’t seem to understand is that I don’t deliver speeches. I have a message to say that helps people and I simply stand-up in front of groups and say it to help them! And tonight, I made a great, positive difference in the lives of the people who were here in the audience because of how they reacted after hearing my message. So, thank you but I could care-less about how ‘bad’ you think my presentation was from a presentation skills standpoint!”

She didn’t like that too much and scurried away!

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t strive to improve your delivery, timing and your comfort level on stage. No, no, no! That’s not what I’m saying at all.

The teaching point I really want you to get is…

If you’re allowing this “Presentation Skills Speaker Kryptonite Poison” to drive your speaking business then you’ll never make any real money because you’ll be way too focused on all of that stuff that just doesn’t matter!

Remember, it’s not about “walking in a V-formation…making eye-contact with each person in the audience 37 ½ times… …using fancy hand-gestures to emphasize points…clearly saying and stating every word and every line, etc.”

All speaking is – is having a message to say that helps people, then standing-up in front of groups and saying it to help people!