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Sam Horn's "Take Action" Newsletter |
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| In This Issue: |
August, 2007 |
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The Secret to Establishing Entrainment with Your Audience
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“Before building a better mousetrap, it helps to know if there are any mice out there.” - Mort Zukerman
Before building a brand, it also helps to know if the "mice" you are marketing to are already fed and full.
It doesn’t make sense to go head-to-head with established businesses that are already doing a good job taking care of the customers you want to target.
It’s smarter to ask, “What do my potential and current customers want, but can’t find? How can I offer something that is unlike what’s already available?”
For example, 7-Up branded their differentiation by becoming the Un-Cola. Detroit was turning out big cars, so Volkswagen grabbed market share by going small with the Beetle. As their clever commercials pointed out, "It makes your house look bigger."
Enterprise noticed most rental car agencies were located near airports to serve travelers, so they deliberately set up shop in neighborhoods. Plus, they promise to pick you up and return you to your home, hotel or workplace – something no one else offers.
WASH radio observed that other stations played the same top 40 hits, so they adopted the slogan “Do Not Repeat After Me” and promised to never play the same song twice between 9-5.
How are you unlike your competitors? How are you the opposite vs. the obvious? Build your brand or business around that and you’ll stand out from the crowd instead of getting lost in it.
Want weekly examples of individuals and organizations who are breaking out vs. blending in?
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“Sometimes, when I am playing the piano, it feels as if I’m plugged into the continuum of music from the beginning of time. It’s as if I am not even there. I am simply doing it.” - Bebe Freites, pianist with the Honolulu Symphony
Have you heard of the concept of “entrainment?”
When athletes are totally immersed in their sport and playing in the zone, that’s entrainment. When you “lose yourself” doing something you love (i.e., reading, gardening, dancing, painting,), and the world slips away, that’s the exquisite state of entrainment.
One of your goals as a speaker is to create an atmosphere in which the audience is caught up in your message. You know you have succeeded in creating entrainment when there is no coughing or fidgeting in the seats - only rapt attention.
One way to create this shared, singular focus is to relive your stories rather than tell them.
For example, when speaking on how to pursue your dreams by writing a book or starting your own business, I love to relive the time a friend and I ventured out to Hawaii’s famed North Shore on New Years Day. I was living on Oahu at the time. Leslie and I were both young, fit, and bold enough (foolish enough?) to tackle Waimea Bay’s winter surf.
I don’t just relate this story as something that happened to me a long time ago; I re-create and “act” out the scene so people in the audience can see us standing on the sand with our boogie boards, eyeing the formidable waves, and wondering, “Should we go in, shouldn’t we go in?”
If we go in, we could have the time of our lives. We could also get tumbled around and turned upside down and inside out.
Thirty minutes later . . . I’m embarrassed to say, we’re STILL standing on the beach wondering, “Should we, shouldn’t we?”
After another few minutes of debate, Leslie and I finally looked at each other and simultaneously agreed, “Let’s go in.”
We kicked as hard as we could to get out past the surf line, then waited with our boards for a suitable set. We knew that once we committed, there’d be no turning back. You can’t tell a 6-foot wave, “Sorry, I changed my mind.”
We finally saw a wave we thought we could handle, nodded at each other, and kicked, kicked, kicked to match the momentum of the wave. We caught it and the swell lifted us up and shot us forward. Whoosh!
Aaahh, the thrill of slicing down the face of that thundering wave, then cutting back and forth as we rode it all the way in until we scraped our bellies on the beach. We looked at each other, grinned from ear to ear and decided to go for it again. Back out we paddled for another ride, another shot of adrenalin.
On the drive home, Leslie and I debriefed the day and realized we never would have had that once-in-a-lifetime experience if we’d stayed on the beach wondering, “Should we, shouldn’t we?”
I then share one of the following quotes about confronting fears and taking risks.
“We always experience anxiety whenever we confront the potential of our own development. Do what makes you anxious, don’t do what makes you depressed.” - Soren Kierkegaard
“The crime is not to avoid failure. The crime is not to give triumph a chance.” - Hue Wheldon
“There are always two voices sounding in our ears - the voice of fear and the voice of confidence. One is the clamor of the senses, the other is the whispering of the higher self.” - Charles Newcomb
Next I ask participants, “What is something you’ve always wanted to do - become an author, launch your own speaking career or coaching business? Are you standing on the beach wondering, ‘Should I, shouldn’t I?’” You’ll never know standing on the beach. Go in. You’ll never regret the things you do, you’ll only regret the things you wanted to do and didn’t.
What’s the point? I frequently get emails from people months later telling me about a goal they’ve achieved because they remembered that story and decided to “go in” instead of standing on the beach and letting their doubts get the best of them.
What’s this got to do with you? When and where are you speaking next - a conference, sales meeting, business luncheon, or venture capital event?
If you want to win buy-in for you and your message; if you want to command the respect of everyone in the room; identify a story that is original to you and relevant to your audience. Then, craft and vividly recreate the details so everyone in the room is entrained in your story as if it’s happening right there, right then.
Next, develop a phrase that articulates and imprints the desired action so people remember and act on your recommendation weeks, months later.
Those are just two of the secrets to being a speaker who gets a) yes's to your proposals, b) asked back, and c) paid well to do work you love that matters.
Want help designing and delivering your stories and key points so they have maximum impact? Want to develop a memorable phrase that motivates people to follow up on your message? Want to launch your own rewarding speaking career?
Call 1 800 SAM-3455 to register for Sam’s West Coast or East Coast Speaker Camp. Receive $100 off by mentioning that you saw this article in this ezine.
Find out for yourself why Kay Cannon, current President of the International Coach Federation, said, "When it comes to working with other people, I'm tough to please. I demand personal integrity, extraordinary skills, a great sense of humor and deep commitment to client results. Sam Horn has all of these qualities and more. She has the rare ability to help you find the hidden genius buried within your thoughts, shape this into a compelling message and deliver it in an eye-catching package. Working with Sam dramatically expanded the focus and purpose of my work."
I'm partial. I think magic happens in our weekend Speaker Camps. We meet Friday night for dinner (my treat) so everyone gets to know each other. Sat. and Sun. are spent designing, delivering, and polishing a presentation that will take your business or career to the next level. Many attendees say it's the most rewarding (and fun!) investment they've made in their professional future in years.
Call Cheri at 1 800 SAM-3455 with your questions and to receive that special $100 off discount.
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| Sam Horn helps entrepreneurs and organizations POP! What does that mean? She helps clients develop one-of-a-kind ideas, identities, approaches, niches, pitches and brands that help them break out vs. blend in. She does this through her books (POP! Stand Out in Any Crowd, which Seth Godin calls "revolutionary"), one-on-one consulting, weekend camps, media interviews (NPR, Investors Business Daily, Chicago Tribune) and speaking for organizations (Outstanding Capital Speaker 2003-04). She lives and works from her lakefront home-office, 10 mins. from Wash DC's Dulles Airport.
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