Do you cringe when you hear an infomercial guy yelling with rollercoaster inflections in his voice? I know I do. He’s trying so hard to sound enthusiastic, but he just sounds annoying. All that hype-y up and down in his voice comes across as totally phony, doesn’t it?

Enthusiasm Is Not Cool

That 3 AM salesman is contributing to the bad rap given to expressing enthusiasm. Plus, it’s not really cool to sound excited about things. In fact, there’s a current trend in everyday talking (especially for younger women) to speak in a fast kind of monotone.

Regardless of your age or gender, if you’re speaking to clients without enthusiasm, you’re working against yourself in your business. And I know you don’t want to do that. If you don’t sound excited about what you’re doing, how do you expect them to get excited?

You Don’t Have To Fake It

Expressing your excitement about what you’re teaching or offering needs to be genuine. People want to listen to real people speaking in an authentic way. That honesty helps create the relationship essential to doing business with someone. So don’t fake it. That won’t help you either.

You want to activate your own energy and passion when you’re speaking. The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek “en theos” meaning “the god within.” So it’s your highest self, your spirit that generates your own deep enthusiasm about what you do. It’s always there in you – not something you need to manufacture or bring in from an outside source. It just hides from you sometimes.

So Fire It Up

I know – some days it’s easier than others to ignite your zeal (don’t you love that word?) for what you do. Here are some tips to help with that:

• Take the time to write down why you’re passionate about what you do and what your vision is for your business. Pull this out and read it to refresh your memory.
• Keep track of your wins in a journal so you can use them as fuel. Include testimonials, sales you’ve made, new subscribers, new clients – you get the idea. Again, keep this wins journal handy to look at when you want a boost.
• If nobody’s around, read these things out loud to your imaginary buddy, saying, “listen to this!”
• Jump up and down. Punch the air. Get your body into the act!
• Think of something else that gets you really excited and raise your overall level of spirits.
• Give yourself an old-school pep talk like you’re your own athletic coach.
• When you’re on the phone, stand up and move around.

People really love enthusiasm, whether it’s trendy or not. It just feels good to be around somebody who’s excited and happy, doesn’t it? And people listen much more deeply to an enthusiastic speaker. They retain more of what they’ve heard because they felt good while they were hearing it. This is a great rapport builder, and raises the know-like-and-trust factor in your listener. So speaking with energy and excitement is a great marketing tool.

Dust off your own enthusiasm when you’re speaking in any business situation. And if you want some outside assistance, I’m here to help you with that. Just contact me.

What are thoughts? What tips do you have? Leave a comment and let us know!

One sure way to reduce your speaking fears is to shift your focus. Set aside those questions that drive your discomfort. You know the ones:

• Can I really do this?
• Will they like me?
• What if I don’t say this right?

Instead, shift your focus to the transformation your service or product will create for your audience. This works whether you’re talking with one person, a whole room full of folks, or hundreds of people on a teleseminar.

How It Works

Start by visualizing just one person (preferably your ideal client). Now picture them totally transformed by what you offer. Really get into imagining all the ways their life can be changed by your service or product. YOU know what that looks like and feels like. You’ve seen it with other people — right? Can you feel that excitement? I’m grinning just writing about it!

Now bring that energy and vision to your conversation and your anxiety is just pushed aside. When you’re fired up with that enthusiasm from knowing the possibilities, it’s contagious. Your listeners could care less whether you “say it right” or not. They’re caught up in your vision for them of what can be created with your service or product.

And underneath your enthusiasm, you’re relaxed because now the conversation has nothing to do with your fears and your worries. You could actually have fun! AND you’ll be doing a better job of getting your best message across.

Bonus Tip

Do a dry run first. Take some time to practice this on your own by following these steps:

1. Define your ideal client. Write out a complete description of a person who fits your definition of who you’re the best match for.
2. Make a list of every benefit your offer can create for your ideal client.
3. Go even further, asking what’s the benefit resulting from each of those benefits.
4. Now picture that ideal client experiencing those benefits.

Try this with your own business speaking and leave a comment below — Let us know how this works for you.

Are you losing your newbie audience? Do you leave them wondering what you’re talk about? When you know your topic well, it’s really easy to do.

If you want to serve your listeners, you need to keep them right there with you – not 3 steps behind. If they can’t understand you, they’re gone!

Watch The Jargon

The Challenge: Jargon is the vocabulary specific to your niche. It’s easy to slip into because you’re reading it yourself and using it with your colleagues. It can save you time because one word can stand for two sentences’ worth of explanation. But you can’t be sure your audience knows what those terms mean. And most people won’t ask if they don’t know. They just stay confused.

The Fix: Try out your talk or report on a friend who knows nothing about your topic. Ask them to point out any unclear places. Then use your terms, but define them. The second time you use the term, make a short reference to your definition. (This helps those who missed it the first time.)

Who & What You Mention

The Challenge: Thought leaders in your field are familiar to you because you’re following what they’re doing. You may even have relationships with them. The same thing goes for regular industry events. But your listeners (or readers) may have no clue as to who or what you’re referring to – or why.

The Fix: Give a short reference point to anyone or any event you mention, including where to find out more. This will help your listeners to follow up if they want to. They’ll also be able to stay focused on what you’re talking about. Otherwise, they’re racking their brains trying to find their own reference points. And they’re not listening to YOU.

Assuming Knowledge

The Challenge: It’s tough to remember what it was like in the beginning, isn’t it? Unless you give it some attention, it’s very easy to skip over critical information that your audience really needs – especially if they’re newbies.
The Fix: Before you get started, get a feel for the knowledge level of the person or group you’re talking to. Encourage questions. Make a joke about it. If I’ve got a group that’s pretty quiet and may not ask questions, I ask them to hold up an index finger if I reference something they’re not familiar with. I demonstrate, and joke about the secret sign that I’m being confusing. It helps people to relax and increases our chances of understanding each other.

Bring Your Best Game

The Challenge: You want to serve your clients and give them confidence in you. You think a good way to do that is to show that you’re in the know. You’re lacking confidence yourself so you try to borrow some by using insider lingo, name-dropping of industry gurus, and discussing advanced subjects in your field.

The problem is that this can back-fire on you. Your listener may feel excluded – not part of the club. So they go to get help from somebody else they feel more comfortable with.

The Fix: Relax. Keep your mind on your listener and the best way to inform them. This helps you keep your mind off yourself. Be who you are — just the real you. Stay focused on how you can best serve your audience, and try to put yourself in their shoes. That’s what will really keep them engaged.