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FRESH THREADS
NEW! The Freenoter Podcast!
There are lots of resources out there on how to become a paid speaker or keynoter, but what if you speak to build your business, as a FREEnoter? Each week, join me and Tom Webster as we cover all the angles of how to profit from speaking for free. If you are looking to grow your business from the stage--without "selling from the stage," this is the show for you. We will cover EVERY aspect of building your business through speaking, and even share a different craft cocktail recipe every week, just because. Subscribe now!
How do you change (like, REALLY change) a mind?
It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the success of your marketing and selling efforts — not to mention much of your speaking and writing efforts — depends on how good you are at changing people’s minds. Except that people don’t like to change their minds. In fact, when challenged, people will often double down on their […]
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How to draft the Conversational Case™ for your idea
Here’s something to try… Fill in the following “script” for your idea or message: When I/we speak with: [type of audience] They often want to know: [common question your idea, product, or service answers] So they can: [high-level goal to achieve] When looking for that answer, they often focus on: [current perspective or approach] Rather […]
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Does your message need to answer WHY, WHAT NOW, or HOW?
I’ve been filling your eyeballs with a bunch of information on how to pinpoint your audience based on what questions they’re asking, and I introduced this as-yet-unnamed tool where you could “place” your audience on one of three bases of a metaphorical baseball diamond: At First Base: They’re UNAWARE of both the “real” problem and the […]
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Why you need to find your audience’s “position” (and how to do it!)
If you’re trying to figure out how to make your message really resonate with your audience and drive action, take a minute to do these two things: Write down the “real” problem you solve for your clients, customers, or audiences Brainstorm all the ways they talk about that problem now, even if it’s asking the […]
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Where is your audience?
“How do I find my audience?” There are lots of answers to that, of course. And, since I escaped the agency world and its focus on marketing tactics, I’m not going to give you that kind of answer. Why not? Because all of those research tools, advertising techniques, and inbound strategies don’t work if you’re […]
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Why you need to give your audience a “positive want”
“Wanting” is a funny thing. It’s important because it’s easy to say “yes” to things we want — and too easy to say “no” to things we don’t. That’s why “wanting” is necessary in your message, because if people don’t hear something, early, that they want or want to know more about… they’ll tune out, […]
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Is this normal?
Whew! I have been BUSY. Actually, scratch that. I don’t like using the word “busy.” It implies what my friend, ah-mazing speaker, and consultant Neen James calls, “unintentional attention.” You know, that thing where you’re doing things just to do them, but not really paying attention to what you’re spending your time on, or why. Busy […]
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5 reasons to stop using a 3-point presentation structure
There’s a piece of presentation advice that I’d like to see die a very fiery death: the one where people tell you that “all you need” for a great talk or presentation is: An attention-getting opening 3 main concepts or themes (usually attached to a story each) A memorable close I have no issue with […]
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Is speaking at (or going to!) the conference worth it?
The other day as I was looking for an old handout from a talk I used to give, I stumbled across something I thought you’d find useful: a “calculator” to figure out whether speaking at an event is worth it or not. You could also use it to decide whether or not to attend a conference, […]
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How good is your opening shot?
Before you read any further: go and watch this video on the 10 greatest opening shots of all time. I wanted you to see how much the opening shot can do for a movie. How it can set the scene and open the story. How you literally can’t start the movie without it… just like you can’t start […]
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