What is transformational speaking? Transformational speaking creates permanent change within an individual or group. As a speaker you want your message to have impact. You want to make a difference. You want someone to get up and take action. How do they to do that? Through transformational speaking. So how do you do transformational speaking?
1. Get Connected With the Material.
You must get connected with your own personal material. Ask yourself, how do I feel about what I’m saying? If you don’t believe what you’re saying, your audience isn’t going to believe it either.
Several years ago, my twin brother, Arcee, was going to college to move up in his corporation. One of his classes was public speaking. For his final he had to pick four controversial topics and give a report on them. He called me for help. The first thing I asked him was, how do you feel about the topic? The second thing was are you for or against it?
A lot of us think our topics are about inspiration or just knowledge, but they’re not. The stronger you can make your message the more believable it is going to be to your audience. You can make it strong by taking a stand on what you believe in. The more you can take a stand the more powerful you are going to be.
One of my Superstar Mastermind participants is a psychiatrist and an advocate for health. She has made it her mission to share with the world what the new health reform law really means. She has made a stand and she’s rallying other people to be with her. You must make a stand for your topic and get connected with that material.
For instance, my stand in public speaking is that I believe that everybody has a message to share that only they can share to people who can only hear it from them. That is my belief and I take a stand on that 150%. I also believe that if you can’t get your message out there because of fear or procrastination, it can be taken away from you and given to someone else who can. That is my belief. I stand for that belief. My job is to help people get over their fear so they can get out there and share their message. I am totally committed to that.
The next question you want to ask yourself is, how is my audience receiving this? Are my words too strong? Do they lack compassion? Sometimes when you get too strong on a position, it feels like you’re in someone’s face. I don’t say my stand right away in my presentation. I wait until people get to know me before I share with them how I feel; otherwise, it might be too much and they won’t be able to absorb it. If I’m on stage it can be an hour or so before I share that idea with people.
Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and ask yourself, how am I receiving this information as an audience? Am I making them feel good? Am I too strong? The more you speak in front of people, the more you will know how to gauge it and the more of a stand you can make.
2. Reveal Your True Self.
To be a transformational speaker you have to reveal your true self. This is a challenge for a lot of people. It’s a challenge for me. I’m still working on it. What are your beliefs? What are your vulnerabilities? The way you share with people is through your personal stories, emotional stories, clients’ stories–weaving your story throughout your presentation. Have enough of it up front to earn the right to be there, but be vulnerable and stay connected with your audience by letting people see a little bit as you go.
One of the things I have shared later with my audience is my story about how I didn’t actually quit my corporate job. The universe said, “I can’t wait for you to give notice. You’re too chicken.” So the universe found a way to help me leave by getting rid of my department.
I weave that detail later in my story. Once people get to know me I can share it as a way to share myself. To be honest. To have integrity. To be vulnerable. To be authentic. It’s up to you, where and how much of that story of vulnerability you want to use. Think about it in a new way. How can you weave it through your story? Or maybe you use other ways to reveal yourself. That’s really what it’s all about.
For instance, I didn’t just all of a sudden graduate and go into corporate America. My first degree is in theater. As an aspiring actress, I went to auditions while I worked full-time. It was very hard to serve two masters. I had to knock on doors and hope those doors would open. When the corporate opportunity came to me, I grabbed it. I started as a secretary, then a para-professional, then my boss said, “Arvee, I can see you going out to clients and doing their bookkeeping.” I said, “forget that. Why don’t I just teach them how to do it?” And that’s how my consulting practice was born. Very quickly I moved up in that company. That’s part of my story.
Sometimes you can tell just parts of your story. The previous story doesn’t apply to what I do speaking-wise, but it would if I was talking to young adults about moving up a career ladder. I use the following story to relate to people about believing in their dream. I use it as a way to show people what is possible.
My dream was to be an actress, to be on the stage. I gave up on that dream. When I got into speaking for corporate America, I gave classes and grew. Then 9/11 happened and the whole world of technology took a turn for the worse. My dream of becoming a partner in the firm was over. But through speaking, I was transformed. And I transformed it into a business where I’m helping thousands of people to create permanent change in their own lives.
It wasn’t until 23 years later that I got into this business and now I’m back on stage. I’m living my dream. So no one can take away that dream. No one. My life was transformed because of speaking. Talk about transformational speaking and permanent change!
One of my clients is going to more mixers and networking events than even I do. She’s out there speaking. A year ago, she never would have done that. Her business is changing. She is creating positive changes in herself and permanent change in her own clients. By speaking you can gain more confidence to talk to people one-one one and in groups. You hold your head up higher. You take more risks. You get out of your comfort zone.
Speaking transforms your life, and you as a speaker can take that same information and transform other people’s lives. There’s nothing else on the planet that has such an impact as speaking. Think about Martin Luther King Jr. and his great speeches. We didn’t see how he got there, but as a minister, he practiced speaking. He practiced being connected to his message. Les Brown is also a well respected motivational speaker. I call him a transformational speaker. And that’s going to happen to you.
3. Speak From The Soul.
Speak from the inner depths of your soul, not just from the heart. Speaking from the heart is not good enough anymore. You need to go deeper with your stories. Go deeper with the benefit you provide your clients and customers. Don’t stop at the surface. What is the benefit of having that benefit in their life? It brings peace of mind or confidence. It gives a greater sense of being in the world. It’s huge. So, go deeper.
Being present isn’t good enough, you need to be sensitive to your audience. Pay attention. If you’re intuitive, practice being intuitive when you’re on stage. Get out of your head and get connected to your soul. Be aware of your audience. This isn’t a given. I saw a speaker who never even looked at his audience. Speaking is a learned skill. You can’t just wing it or you can’t help people that you could rightfully help. This is serious. This is more powerful than any other marketing strategy or any other business.
Be willing to get emotional. If the time comes when you’re speaking and you’re digging deep, and you get emotional, let it come. Also, let it go. You don’t want to be a blubbering cry baby up there. Your audience will appreciate that you gain control. I saw a speaker once who started getting emotional and kept crying and crying, and it made it very uncomfortable for the audience. So get emotional, but then let it go.
4. Give Hope.
Remember you are selling hope for a better life. You’re selling hope for a better relationship, or better health, or more money, or a better business. You’re always selling hope. Make sure no matter what you’re talk is about that there is always hope.
One of my clients said in her self-introduction speech, “even people with two left feet can learn how to dance.” That’s giving hope to the hopeless. What is it in your business that you do that you can give hope so that other people can do it too? Mine is that anyone can learn how to speak. Anyone can be inspirational and authentic, and still craft a presentation that sells. Give hope and remember that’s what you’re selling.
5. Invitation To Breakthrough.
You need to invite your audience to have a breakthrough with you. Most people are going to listen and not let go unless you invite them to do so; unless you create a safe environment in which they can. Let them know its okay to participate. No one’s going to make fun of them. They aren’t going to be the only ones. Let them know its okay to feel, to experience, and to be present themselves.
Always remember at the end of your presentation, to invite them to participate in a long-term program with you. That’s what creates breakthroughs, transformation and permanent change. That’s the flow: breakthrough creates transformation, creates permanent change. And that’s what we all want. Permanent change. A lot of us do things because its habit. We haven’t changed within permanently.
I remember when I was a little girl I had a dog named Tinkerbell. Every day, when I turned on my light, she would jump on the bed. One day, I moved my bed. I turned on the light and saw her there already in mid-air. Then she came crashing down. We have these habits, and then we find ourselves in mid-air crashing down to the ground. Get rid of your habits and create permanent change. They are changes within us. We do them with our heart open, our soul open, and do them as long as we want to do them.
These are the keys to transformational speaking: 1) get connected with your material, 2) reveal your true self, 3) speak from the soul, 4) give hope, and 5) give an invitation to a breakthrough.
Arvee Robinson is a Master speaker trainer, international speaker, and author. She teaches business owners, service professionals, and entrepreneurs how to use public speaking as a marketing strategy so they can attract more clients, generate unlimited leads and grow their businesses, effortlessly. She teaches a proven speaker system for delivering persuasive presentations, and easy formulas for creating killer elevator speeches and magnetic self-introductions. Arvee has helped hundreds of individuals to win clients and close more sales every time they speak. As a high-energy motivational speaker, Arvee has shared the stage with speaking giants such as Mark Victor Hansen, Joel Bauer, Loral Langemeier, Chris Howard, Dave Lakhani, and many more. Arvee offers private coaching, workshops, home study courses and weekly tele-classes. Her persuasive speaker training programs transform ordinary business owners into superstars in their industry.
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