How often do you step back and re-examine your goals, your passion, your methodoly, your marketing, WITH NEW EYES?

I know I do it on a continual basis, daily and yet I also realize that I NEED NEW TOOLS AND IDEAS to more thoroughly examine what needs to be updated, changed or thrown out and re-evluated.

Here a FOUR ways you can re-evalute your enterprise to move it into a more successful mode.

BRAINSTORMING is a great way to get quick, innovative input regarding your enterprise.  This is why large companies hold retreats.

Why not hold your own retreat with the peoplewho can best hel you move forward?  How about a marketing guru, business manaager, accountant, designer, social media expert, all round business consultant, etc.?  It would be worth the money in the long run.

I know I certainly could use it.  My mind gets stuck on  and it would help to have some experts around to brainstrom with in one big meeting (retreat).  Be sure to plan it carefully with the specific topics you want addressed.

A SURVEY of all past clients asking important questions you haven’t looked into lately, could shake things up.  What did they expect?  What did they get?  What was missing?  What can be done better?  What would they like to see next?   You could offer the first five some sort of special attention, gift, etc.

Hire a MARKETING EXPERT to dig around for new ideas to move forward.  Be sure to explain what you have done and what has and hasn’t worked and what you want to know specifically to move forward.

Step into the shoes of your IDEAL CLIENT.  (check out my previous post IDENTIFY YOUR IDEAL CLIENT.)

And schedule regular times where re-evaluation is done more deeply and innovatively.

I found this information extremely useful.  It has made a difference in my approach to reaching the clients who want me and will pay for my services.  (the following has been edited for this blog)

Identifying Your Ideal Client Profile

1. Identify the Qualities of Your Ideal Client: Identify your ideal client by asking yourself the following questions: Is there a particular group of people you’d be excited to work with? Are they appreciative of your efforts and insights? Do they want to work with you in a big way? Do they have the resources to afford you and the willingness to refer others? Are they easy to reach and connect with?

2. Know Your Ideal Client: Know WHO your ideal clients are, WHAT their particular issues are, WHY they’re having them, and HOW you can solve these challenges.

3. Identify Common Factors Among Your Clients: What is unique about your ideal client profile in terms of the problems that you can help them solve? Think about issues they’re faced with, goals they want to achieve and the biggest challenges they face. Then identify the insights you are able to provide them with and the results they will achieve from working with you.

4. List Your Favorite Clients: Make a list of your favorite current and past clients to help determine your ideal client profile. Consider their gender, age, location, industry, number of employees, title, and so on.

5. The Mass Market is Not Your Market: It’s expensive and difficult to differentiate yourself if you go after the mass market. By targeting a niche market, you will see better results at a lower cost. Be specific about who you are, what results you bring and who can most benefit from your expertise and experience.

6. Find and Reach Your Ideal Client: When determining your ideal client, one of the factors to consider is whether they are easy to reach through various groups and associations. Identify associations where they might be, newsletters they might read, and communication mechanisms to reach them. Who can introduce you to your ideal client?

7. Describe Yourself as an Expert: In establishing yourself as the expert in specific areas, among a particular client and industry, you can command more money, increase your client base and attract the attention of the press as well.

8. Identify the Insights You Can Provide Them That Your Competition Can Not: Get to know your competition by doing some research. Visit their websites, read their press releases, sign up for their newsletters, do a web search, review their marketing materials, and attend industry events. Think about five key attributes that are selling points for using you versus someone else.

9. Firing Incompatible Clients: If you are feeling drained, frustrated, or set up for failure with a particular client, working with them is probably not worth it. If any of the following sound familiar, you are not working with an ideal client: They seem unsure of what they want and how you can help, conversations are strained and tense, they continually question your credentials, their insecurity causes you stress, they want to see your work prior to it being completed, they don’t appreciate what you offer, or they don’t want to pay what you’re worth.

10. Take Advantage of Your Current Client Base: Use your current clients to get new clients. Oftentimes people are afraid to ask their clients for referrals, or for their help. In most cases, clients are happy to help if you simply ask. Send a letter or email to some of your best clients and explain what makes them an ideal client. Ask them a few questions that will help you to identify other clients like them (i.e. what associations do you belong to? what publications do you read?).

Assignment: Write down the top three to five decision makers that you would like to spend an hour with. Do some research and find out where they will be in the next few months. Can you attend a conference they’re speaking at? Or, do you have a mutual connection?

Features and benefits are being bandied about.  And as important as they are, they need to be constantly in front of the consumer to do work their magic.  It is said that a buyer needs seven times to have a product in front of them before they buy.  How do you make sure there are repeat peformances of the benefits of your product?

I  have found two resources that pay off – Newsletters and Blogs.  New, constantly updated information around the main subject on a regular basis.  And that’s the catch.  Although the content is important and stimulating and maybe even well written. readers will vanish quickly if you are not CONSISTENT in producing new material to hold their attention.  That means every week you MUST send out that newsletter or update that blog.

If the blog and/or newsletter engages the reader, you now have a dialogue within a community established.  Thus the blog/newsletter becomes a source not only of important information in a particular field, but a major source of community that reaches beyond the writer to include valuable opinions, points of view, discussions and deeper information to help the reader succeed in the use of your product/endeavor/service, etc.  It can be a source of help in reworking your product and collaboration and more.  It can make people feel that they know you and have a personal connection to you.  All this works to your benefit.

Now some of you may think writing a blog or newsletter may be difficult.  I had a lady I met a few days ago at a networking event tell me that she just could never write a speech.  I assured her if I just asked her the right questions, the speech would be there.  Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and ask yourself the questions they would want answered and then take it from there.

But above all start writing.  It is just one of the tools you have in today’s market that can help you.  And you must not let it fall away as part of your marketing plan.  Too many people are reading and writing for you not to be included in this exciting way of promoting yourself.

Barbara Kite is an Executive Speech Coach and a Professional Acting Coach in Portland Oregon
<a href=”http://www.barbarakite.com”>www.barbarakite.com</a>

SPEAKING COACHES HELP ENTREPRENEURS GET THEIR MESSAGE ACROSS -

BUSINESS - INTERNATIONAL

HERALD TRIBUNE 

By Hillary Chura

Published: Thursday, January 11, 2007

How about  a change of perspective? 

My Acting Coach would say you need to get their attention, shock them and change their perspective.

And although this clip doesn’t shock, I found it reminded me that I’m playing it safe and moved me to remember that in America we avoid the big emotions.  What else do we stay away from?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gQ31m4Yt0s&feature=related

Chavela Vargas – La Llorona (Video Clip)

Just another reminder through art, that I need to daily shake myself out of my every dayness.

Just another reminder that as an entrepreneur I’m not using all of me to succeed in my work and I should be re-examining and challenging my approach.

I am always questioning how connected am I with my purpose to make a difference in the world through my art and my desire to make money is.  How concerned am I with making sure the right questions are in bold letters across the human sky?

It is a constant questioning, a constant struggle, a daily need to remind myself to constantly examine.

I come from a generation that believed that if  you weren’t aligned with the “truth” connected with your art you were selling out.  In the ensuing years the lines have blurred quite a bit. 

Artists feel it’s okay to do crappy work just to get the money they need to do the important work.  I wonder.  My younger colleagues remind me that if they do everything that comes their way they will gain exposure, valuable experience and eventually power over their creative life in the business world,  which will allow them to express their true art.  I wonder.

So little I find, is done that deals with truth and the result is that we end up in the mess we have created through allowing, encouraging, supporting and covering lies. 

I remember this one saying that really got to me and I try to connect to it every day (not successfully always but with the intention to move in that direction)

From Chinua Achebe
“The poet (artist) who is not in trouble with the King
is in trouble with his work.”

What advice do any of you give to young artists in this regard?

How foolish are you?  How successfull do you want to be in communicating your passion?

I have been seeing a large number public speaking clients lately and if there is one salient feature amongst all of them, it is the inability to embrace foolishness.

The fear of  looking foolish has a great number of  potential speakers stuck in mediocrity, sameness, safeness the land of boredom. 

This is how it plays -”I might be too loud, too quiet, too imposing, too animateed, too open to criticism, too wrong, too stupid….I MIGHT END UP LOOKING FOOLISH.”

This litany of negative thoughts grow stronger each time they surface particularly because  they are never addressed,  just accepted and allowed to become part of the speaker’s truth.

And the result?  The result is that we are then careful; watching ourselves to make sure that no error occurs, that no foolishness gets out, that no failure is noticed.  So we commit to safeguarding our authentic (foolish), human (error/failur ridden) self.  

We end up being serious in our manner, monotone in our voice, boring in our presentation, safe in containing our emotions. No music from the soul, no real connection, no memorable stories are given to the audience to take away with them to remember us by and to be grateful they came to hear us.

The choice is clear – bore  your audience or chance looking foolish. 

How to allow FOOLISHNESS into your life?

• Give up on perfection.

 

• Remember it’s not about you – it’s about the story, the gift you are giving, the audience

 

• Stay present

 

• Get out of your own way

 

• Focus on the audience one at a time and make eye communication (not brief eye contact)

 

• Trust you know what you know and don’t have to go by your written speech

 

• Be ready to improvise, change with the needs of the audience

 

• See the story in detail, before you say it (practe beforehand seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, hearing your story in all aspects)

 

• Give yourself permission to fail- lose your place, make an error, feel under the gun,  BE FOOLISH.  All you need to do is focus on your important gift (the message that is going to make a difference in the audience’s life) and focus on the audience and listen to them

 

• And most important address the negative thoughts you have before speaking – answer them with something truthful and positive every time they come up

 

• BREATH, BREATH ,  BREATH (before you go on, while you’re on and after)

 

• Remember speaking is like acting - it requires AUTHENTICITY, HEIGHTENED ENERGRY and GREAT STORY TELLING SKILLS

It is not the critic that counts.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marked by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasm and great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                   ~Teddy Roosevelt

Just what it says above.  A fellow blogger inspired me to merge his observations with my work. 

As an acting coach, in every class I make sure every person gets up and works, sometimes with one other, sometimes by themselves, sometimes with the whole class, but always in front of an audience, always needing to connect with them.

I believe learning happens not just with the words.  As a matter of fact, I believe it happens the least with words.  Sensorialy and kinestetically we retain so much more and on a deeper level.  Telling me about skiing is just not the same as having me do it, see, smell, taste, touch, hear and move in the experience of it all.

I have always known that speaking is like performing – you need to give the audience an experience.  That requires authenticity, heightened energy, great story telling skills, among other technical needs.   And now I’m am on a mission to find even more deeper ways to involve my audience besides just talking about what they need to know. 

If  you’re interested in addressing your fears about speaking, here’s one assignment I give to some of my actors.

You’ll have to read about it in my next blog:  FEAR REVISTED – Fainting at Nordstroms

Here’s an assignment I give to some of my actors.

Choose a large department store (preferrable Nordstroms) and faint in the men’s or women’s clothing department (the opposite of your sex).

It’s easy – you just slowly fold your body down to the ground.

The purpose – because you’re afraid to. To put yourself out there. You live in a box and you don’t really know it (none of us know the parameters of it).

Because you need to feel vulnerable.

Because you need to feel in control.

Do something silly and connect back to the child, the adventurer that still lives in you. (Don’t you want to bring that energy to your speaking?)

Do something that is outside your comfort zone.

How strict are you?

How many silly rules to you adhere to? I wouldn’t think of fainting anywhere because “that’s just not done. It’s irresponsible. People would think I’m crazy if they found out. There are rules we have to follow.”

Are all of them necessary? Do they encourage us to be even more strict with ourselves, more boxed, hold on more tightly (to what?)?

How important is your fear, (do you know that the opposite of fear is excitement?)?

It’s just a way to get you to think and start asking questions about your freedom as a human being, as an artist, as a speaking artist.

Oh and don’t worry about getting “caught” by thepolice or firefighters or management and wasting their precious time. As soon as someone approaches you, start to get to your feet and mention something about “never going without breakfast again”. Of course it helps if you do this late in the afternoon. AND of course you have to be aware of what is going on around you while pretending to faint. You have to be very present as a actor and as a speaker.

I remember doing it and feeling in control of my life.

Let me know how it goes.

What is the purpose of art?  BIG discussion and many different beliefs are out there. 

Here’s mine.  Art must  contribute to making a real difference in the world.  Mia Farrow is fasting for 21 days starting Monday April 27th.  I think of this as performance art. 

It is time we all became more aware of what is going on in Darfur.  We don’t want another Rwanda, although in some ways it’s happening already.  My mother spent time at Ravensbruck concentration camp and I heard stories about he stay from the age of 10.  I wish everyone had.  We need to raise our voices and stop this NOW.

Since the Foreign caregivers have left, there is very little help, food, medicine, shelter for those that really need it and death by starvation and by massacre is coming.  What are you going to do about it?  How can you use your creativity, your passion, your imagination to make the world a better place, starting with Darfur.  Starting NOW.

Here’s a video explaining the history of Darfur to better understand what is going on and how difficult it is to deal with.  Once again, greed, oil is one of the central forces.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USLDoIiFzzg&NR=1]

Apologies to anyone who thinks this an inappropriate subject for this web site.  I don’t.

How do you prepare yourself to tell the world about your gift as an artist, as an entrepreneur?

 

As an Acting Coach and Public Speaking Coach I deal with artists and presenters of all sorts who want to effectively communicate their gift.  What is your gift?  Can you put it in a sentence?  Are you passionate about it?  Do you realize that it can change people’s lives?  Do you focus on this when you speak, because it’s not about you, it’s about the gift you are giving.  If you have nothing to give to an audience, don’t speak. 

 

My gift is the ability to inspire and validate artists and speakers helping them realize that their gift makes a difference and teaching them acting skills and authenticity to deliver it effectively.

An inspiring video on validation

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao]

 

What stands in your way?  What stops you from becoming a dynamic speaker?

 

Fear?

Fear of what?  There are many I have heard throughout the years.  Here are a few.

 

“I’ll make a fool of myself!” 

 

                        “What if I lose my place?”

 

       “I really don’t know that much.”

 

“I’m boring.”

                                                “What if I freeze up?”

                       

What is your specific fear?  Become friends with your “doubter”.  Know it on an intimate basis.  And address it. 

 

Involvement is the enemy of tension. 

 

 Be involved in what your gift can do to help your audience and the attention will be on that, not yourself.

 

But how can you be involved if you are watching, judging, directing, and scaring yourself?  You can’t.

 

So let’s address it!

 

Let’s start at the very beginning – feeding that all important brain of yours.   Deep Breathing.  Have you heard it so much you’re sick of it?  I know I am.  And yet, over and over again it comes up.  Deep inhalation and exhalation – extremely important to relaxation, centering, feeding of the brain.  Eight slow breaths in, hold on four and out on seven breaths.  Do that three times.

 

Now imagine yourself in front of a large crowd giving a speech or better yet, remember the last bad experience speaking.  Now ask yourself what were the thoughts you had at that time?  Any of the ones mentioned above? 

 

Write them down and deal with them one at a time. Be specific.  And then ask yourself “Is this true?”  “Am I boring?”  “Do I not know enough about my subject?”  The answer is NO.  You must pay close attention to these “doubters” and stop them dead with a big resounding NO.  You see most of the time you don’t address them and they just build, getting stronger and stronger every time. You validate them every time you do not address them, letting them affect your self-worth.  So, first say NO.  Then tell the truth.  What is the truth?  Ask yourself. 

 

“I’ll make a fool of myself!”  You will, plan on it, so be prepared to acknowledge it when it happens.  Say it out loud to the audience.  “Well, I sure screwed up.”  They’ll love you for it.  They’ll appreciate your humanity.  They’ll feel you are just like them.  They will trust you.  Some professional speakers purposely screw up just so they can get the confidence of the audience.  And just think if you get that one fear out of the way, you can focus on your gift.

 

“What if I lose my place?”  I was speaking to the Portland Female Executives at a lovely Hotel in downtown Portland.  I’d sent out questionnaires ahead of time asking what they were most afraid of.  Many said they were afraid of forgetting their place in their speech.  So halfway through my presentation, I stopped, and said “Well, I’ve forgotten what’s next.”  I then walked over to the podium about 5 feet away, rifled through my notes, and finally came up with the next thing to say.  At this point I looked closely at everyone and said “Do you think less of me because I forgot my place?” “Do you think my information is less valuable then it was before I forgot my place?”  Everyone shook their head saying “oh no, no.”  “Then why do you think you will be judged if you lose your place in a speech?” I said.

 

 “I really don’t know that much.”  I have heard this one more often than any other.  What most people don’t realize is that they are an expert in their field.  They’ve spent years learning through experience, classes, books and conversation, their particular gift.  I remember when I first started Public Speaking Coaching.  I told one of my Acting Students, “People already know all this.”  She looked at me amazed.  “You’re crazy,” she said.  “You know this stuff because you’ve lived with it day in and day out for years.  It’s second nature to you.  But the general public doesn’t have a clue.”  I found out she was right with the first workshop I did.  I had such a tremendous response for the gift I’d given, that I never questioned whether I didn’t know my subject.  Write it down, right now.  I AM AN EXPERT IN MY FIELD and put it somewhere where you can see it daily.

 

“I’m boring.”  I coached a College professor who said that exact same thing.  I asked, “What makes you think that?”  He said “When I was in Grade 6 and gave a speech, three boys told me I was boring.”  “And you have held on to that and let it grow all these years letting it stand in the way, haven’t you?” I said.  “Yes,” he replied.  We worked on making friends with that “doubter” and never it letting pass by with stating NO.  He replaced it with “I’m amazing.”  I asked him what sort of experiences he had had lately with his speaking and his book.  He said, “Everyone tells me it’s interesting and stimulating.”  And then he wanted to tell me about a recent experience he had in Los Angeles.  “I was at a famous restaurant frequented by many movie stars.  The owner came out and told me that she was a fan of mine and would I autograph my book.” 

 

“What if I freeze up?”  I must admit that was my biggest fear on stage and it actually happened more than once and I just made something up. But I remember the feeling.  I wished the floor would open up and swallow me and I would never be heard from again.  I remember apologizing to my director at the American Academy of Dramatics after the show, “I’m sorry I went up on the lines.”  To which he replied, “You did?  I didn’t notice.”  That’s right people notice a lot less than you think.  My suggestion is to memorize something that gets you back into it. A mantra.   Usually is the central theme of your speech in one short sentence – Speakers with Acting Skills and Authenticity ALWAYS have the edge.  If I say that phrase,  a slew of acting skills flood my brain and I’m off.  What’s you mantra?

 

We hold on to what doesn’t work instead of what does.  What works about you?  What do people say is great about you?  Ask them.  Write these statements down.  Use them whenever the “doubter” shows up and soon the truth will be stronger than your negative thoughts.  And you’ll be focusing on your gift and how it can change people’s lives because IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.

                       

 

 

 

I wrote my first blog post and sent it off to Lisa to read. A few minutes later my phone rang and Lisa said: “Barbara, you’re amazing, tell your story instead!” I realized what I had written was very little about myself. She wanted me to share my story with all of you.  How could I say no?  So here goes:

From the age of 7, I had always wanted to be an actress.  I could be someone different,  I didn’t like where I was – in a household where Polish was spoken and I was looked upon in the world as a foreigner.  I also wanted to make a difference in the world.  You see my mother spent a year at the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp during the war and as a child I wanted to save mymother.  I wanted to make sure that such atrocities never happened again. 

At the end of the war, the Red Cross had taken my mother to Eskilstuna Sweden, where she met my father (also Polish) and where I was born.

I was five when I arrived in Canada and remember being taunted with the phrase,  dirty DP (Displaced Person) on my way to school and feeling that same way in school.  We lived in a “Polish Roman Catholic” community  in Toronto.  We spoke Polish at home.  A home which my father ran with an iron Polish fist.  It took a long time to feel I belonged on this side of the Ocean.