What leadership lessons can you learn when the airlines lose your luggage, a creepy guy sleeps next to you on the floor and you have to pay over $1,000 in one-way tickets to make your speech on time? Adventures of public speaking…. oh the places you will go! What was the worst travel experience you had and what lesson did you learn from it?
What leadership lesson can we learn from swimming with a school of baby manta rays?
Here are a few leadership lessons learned while in Sumter, SC this week to speak at my first
Advice form John C. Maxwell: Good Leaders Ask Great Questions
He mentioned there are seven questions that can unlock big doors for you. The next time you are getting together with someone ask them one or all of these questions:
1) What is the greatest lesson you have ever learned?
2) How has failure shaped your life?
3) Who do you know that I should know?
4) What have you done that I should do?
5) What have you read that I should read?
6) What are you learning now?
7) How can I add value to you?
The one that I would add that I always ask those I meet with is, “What would you do differently if you were starting out again at my age?” This one always gets me great answers.
Advice from Linda Kaplan Thaler: It’s all about GRIT
“Every time you do something nice for someone, you create a positive imprint, and positive impressions are like seeds. It may take 1, 5 or 10 years, but those seeds will blossom and flower in some wonderfully unexpected way!” – Linda Kaplan Thaler
1) Every leader needs GRIT to succeed: GUTS. RESILIENCE. INITIATIVE. TENACITY.
2) Be brave enough to try!
3) Dont prepare! Over OVER prepare!
There was SO much I learned while speaking and listening to the other speakers, like Craig Valentine and Tim Sanders, and I am very thankful Lefford Fate put this event on in Sumter, SC. Hope you are having a great day and as always…
Dream BIG,
Ryan
Here are three things you need to take into consideration the next time you speak on stage:
Avoid stepping backwards when trying to make a point: Think of the stage being divided into two parts. Draw a line in the middle of the stage parallel to the front row; call it the front and the back. Every time you step toward the back it indicates three things to the audience; A negative view point, moving them into the past, or indicating you are uncomfortable. If someone tries to kiss you–and you’re not interested–what is your natural reaction? You move backwards. It’s the same when you speak. If you move backwards while trying to make a positive point, your body and its actions do not align with your words. Step forward to make a powerful point and to show the audience you are not nervous.
Avoid being too energetic at the start of your speech: I often see this when speakers try to get their audience pumped at the beginning of a meeting. Some of their listeners are just not into it. They lose them for the entire presentation or speech. I have three levels of energy when I am on stage: Low, medium and high. I start with medium energy to “test the waters” and see which way I want to take the audience. Beginning with too high or too low an energy level risks your audience tuning out your entire presentation. Start out with medium energy.
Avoid making assumptions about the audience: Please don’t say things like “I know what you are thinking” or “I bet you like/don’t like XYZ.” Unless you are 100% sure of what your audience does or doesn’t like, don’t say it! Never make assumptions about your audience. No matter how good you are, you do not know what everyone is thinking! Instead, say things like “What I was thinking after this was” or “I know not everyone might like XYZ.”
Avoid these common mistakes aspiring speakers make the next time you get in front of a group of people! As always…
Dream BIG,
Ryan
I use a whiteboard to help outline my goals, ideas and coaching sessions. How can you utilize a whiteboard? Are you a whiteboard fan? Share by clicking on a social media icon below and let’s connect!
This week I am giving away five prizes for fun! Here is how you enter to win each day:
1) Subscribe to the blog in the right hand corner of this page (if you are already subscribed, you are awesome, and you will be eligible to win, as well).
THEN
2) Each day share and tag one of your favorite articles from RyanAvery.com on Facebook and/or Twitter. For every post you share and tag, your name will be entered in the daily drawing. So, simply by subscribing and sharing on Facebook and Twitter you can have a total of three chances to win, every day!
Here are nine articles to consider sharing:
3 Easy Ways to Make $500 Speaking
10 TED Talks Everyone Should Watch
Don’t Think The Worst In People
4 Reasons to Co-Author Your Next Book
5 Lessons Learned Being a World Champion
6 Reasons Real Leaders Are Really Speakers
What It’s Like Being Married to The New Wifestyle
What’s The Best Investment to Make in Today’s Economy?
How to Get Over The Past and Focus on The Future
Subscribe to the blog, share an article and get entered to win one of FIVE awesome prizes:
1) Monday: $25 CASH
2) Tuesday: Signed copy of Speaker Leader Champion
3) Wednesday: 30 minute private coaching call
4) Thursday: Signed copy of Speaker Leader Champion
5) Friday: 30 minute private coaching call
Reminder: you must be a subscriber to this blog in order to be eligible to win, so be sure to subscribe, and then post an article on Facebook or Twitter. Be part of these five days of giveaways and make some money, get a copy of Speaker Leader Champion and/or a private coaching session!
I will post the winners in the comment section below everyday. I look forward to seeing who wins! As always…
Dream BIG,
Ryan
Currently my co-workers consist of my wife and a 12-pound Russian poodle puppy named Sugar. They can be frustrating at times, but before I was an entrepreneur I had several regular 9-5 type jobs and interacting with my co-workers was a daily part of my responsibilities.
In the workplace we can find ourselves frustrated with those we work with because we all have different styles, beliefs, ideas, and opinions. Often, the biggest frustration comes when a stressful situation happens at work or is communication related.
One of the best things you can do when you are frustrated by your co-workers is to have them answer these two questions:
1) I handle difficult situations better if…
2) I communicate best when…
You might get responses like:
1) I handle difficult situations better if I can get out of the office for five minutes to clear my head.
2) I handle difficult situations better if the person I am working with says at least one thing nice about me.
3) I handle difficult situations better if I have a cup of coffee in my hand.
4) I communicate best when I have time to process information by myself.
5) I communicate best when it is over the phone.
6) I communicate best when the person tells me exactly how they feel.
You will be surprised at what your co-workers say. This will help you minimize frustration at work and to avoid misunderstandings in the future. Ask your team these two questions and see how much more enjoyable work can be! As always…
Dream BIG,
Ryan
What if you could make more money in one hour than the average American makes in one week? Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I get paid to speak?” or “What are ways I can become a paid speaker this year?”
Below are three quick ways to make $500 speaking, all of which I have done myself.
The reason I am writing this article is to not promote a “get rich quick” mentality! I am writing this because I want to get people comfortable with making money for the knowledge, skills and ideas they possess-not to make a quick buck! If you can’t get comfortable making $500, how will you ever make $5,000? Your voice has power, so use it wisely!
Find a Sponsor: Find a company, organization, or person who can sponsor you to go out and talk to a group of 100+ people. In return, you will offer to talk about their product, service or idea. I recommend choosing someone whom you respect and whom you would be proud to represent. Whom do you know who owns a company seeking awareness for their product? Right now, we know that 48% of Millennials purchase products based on word of mouth marketing, and only 17% are influenced by TV ads. Convincing a company, organization, or person to sponsor you while you talk about how great they are can boost their sales and expand your reach!
Sell 50 tickets for $10: I bet you know at least fifty people. Combine your family, your friends, your social media following, those you work with, those you work for, and the strangers you could meet. You can sell fifty $10 tickets for a one-hour training. Pick a message you want to share, identify the target market who will benefit from it, and select a venue (preferably free). Send out your Eventbrite registration links to everyone you know. Go. Get started!
Get one company to pay you $500: It might sound harder than it seems but how many companies have you actually asked to pay you? Go out and ask ten people who are in charge of saying yes to things like this and see what they say. Companies spend tens of thousands of dollars each year on training their teams. What value can you bring to a company, organization or group? Take an HR or Senior Level executive out to lunch and convince them that you would like to train 20 of his or her employees on (insert subject here + outline the benefits) how to improve any area of their business. I am going to take a bet that most people don’t ask nor do they ask the right person.
Take time to make $500 in the next two weeks and prove to yourself you have valuable information for which people are willing to pay. When you speak, deliver $5,000 worth of content! Rinse and repeat. As always…
Dream BIG,
Ryan
Question: What is another idea people can do to make money speaking?
The book I am reading this week is Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki. He talks a lot about money in this book but more importantly passion. What is passion?
PASSION = LOVE + ANGER
Most people have one or the other. They give too much (love) so they get taken advantage of or they hate so much (anger) they don’t do anything productive with their potential. If you can find a balance between what makes you angry and what you are willing to do about it because you care about others, that is where you find passion!
If you are lacking passion right now, ask yourself “Am I balanced in love and anger?” What can you do to find that balance? As always…
Dream BIG,
Ryan
I was Googling images today for an article about communication and came across this one. Instead of writing an entire article, I thought this quote summed it up nicely! Do you agree or disagree with the above quote? Share your comments down below or share on your social media to get the conversation started!
