Where does impact live? 5 tips from the Master Media Coach.

One of the best speakers at last week's World's Greatest Marketing Conference was media coach, Joel Roberts. As a media coach, his job is to get other people to listen to your story which means he has to help you create a compelling, impactful story in the first place. So here are 5 things that I learned from him last week that I thought I'd share:

1. Don't go to the media expecting to get interviewed or to get publicity until you're ready. Get clarity first and have your marketing in place before you attempt to sell your story.
2. Clarity comes with concrete, specific language and does not live in the abstract. If you're going to make impact, be as specific and clear as possible. If you try to tell people what you do or how you got to the place you're in now in general terms, not only will you not be able to sell your story but you won't even get listeners. The media favors the concrete over the abstact, every time and all the time.
3. Sell the problem first, not your solution. What's the problem you remedy for your clients or customers? This is a common mistake that people and businesses make. Make the problem known! Talk about it with drama and grit. Don't just enroll people in the problem but pull them in. Submerge them in it. Steep them in it. Paint that picture. Address it clearly and head on -- or -- get them to have the problem you solve (there are two kinds of problems -- ones people have or ones they don't). Think of yourself as being in the problem distribution business. You can only sell your solution when people can relate or identify with the problem first.
4. Make it real. Make it human. Look for balance between humanity and your expertise. So in addition to making your story crystal clear, remember to access that place -- that human, vulnerable place in you -- predictably and learn to articulate the message precisely. Access predictably; articulate precisely. Tell the most dramatic story, whether it's your personal story or one of your client's. Choregraph your own energy around it when you tell it and bring the emotion in to it for people.
5. Follow a model; master it then transcend it. An easy short model to begin with is to use this phrase "Today I'm (insert all the good specifics about your current success) but it wasn't always that way. I used to be (insert the things you were that you're not now) and/or I tried (insert specifics of all the things you tried) and nothing worked. It wasn't until I discovered (insert the thing that turned you around, your revelation or epiphany) that led me to where I am today. Can I tell you more?" If you can begin with this model of how to set up the short version of your story, then you'll be able to pique the media's interest (or anyone you're selling to) about why they should hear more. Basically, you'll use this as "the short memo that explains why the longer memo is necessary." Master this template and then you can revise to make it your own.

Joel is a masterful media coach who has helped many authors and corporate executives prepare for major media interviews on Oprah, the Today Show and radio stations too numerous to mention. His joy comes from teaching intensive 3-day Excellence in Media seminars, and upcoming dates along with contact information can be found at http://www.joelroberts.com/.

Your next lecture. Take a stand.

I'm still being inspired by Randy Pausch's last lecture, the meaning behind his life lessons and what he accomplished by sharing his beliefs with the world (well, he might not have known it would be with the world but YouTube had a different idea).

And certainly the political season is in full force and, no matter your views, we know that it is time for both candidates to take a stand on their beliefs and communicate their strategies and action plans for fixing our economy and keeping us safe. As we hear speeches and listen to beliefs, plans and opinions, we can be influenced to shape our own thoughts in order to vote for the candidate that we feel will be best to lead this great nation.

Whether it's Randy Pausch or a politician, taking a stand for kids or country is vitally important. Mission critical, in fact. There are many professors like Randy Pausch and hockey moms like Sarah Palin and singers like Paul Potts in the world. People who are doing great things but for most of their life hide behind running their day-to-day lives, when the world needs to hear what they have to say. The world needs to hear their voice. To positively impact the lives of others. To inspire a cause. To challenge the status quo. To entertain. To move people at a cellular level.

So if tomorrow you were given a stage and you had a chance to give a speech the whole world may hear, what would you say? What lessons would you like to teach? What talents or experiences would you like to share? In what way would you like to influence others? What legacy would you like to begin creating and leaving for your family?

Each of us already have a stage and we probably don't even realize it. That stage starts in the form of a blog. An ebook. A book. A conversation at the coffee shop. A talk in front of a small group.

Harv Eker once said, "if you've learned something and you don't teach it, you're ripping people off." You know, that couldn't be further from the truth. Some people say they're afraid to put themselves out there. Yes, it does require a decision -- a rather simple acceptance of being who you are.

So what if. What if you share and you don't get any feedback. Who cares? That doesn't mean a life didn't get changed for the better. Some people will never tell you. Or some will tell you years later. As many trainers have said, "if I only make a difference in one life, it will be worth it." And I agree. But what if you could make a difference in 100. Or 1000. Or 1 million. Or 10 million.

Randy Pausch just thought he was giving a lecture for his kids and a few people at CMU. He didn't know that the lecture he would give on September 18, 2007, would be seen by over 10 million people on YouTube. Nor did he know the material would be published so quickly into a book that would live on long past his life. In fact, I just gave a copy of the book to my nephew for his college graduation, with a note that said "may you achieve all your childhood dreams." That one bit of inspiration, or the many millions like it, wouldn't have been possible if Randy hadn't of made the decision to press on, even in the face of impending death, to spend some of his last days writing a speech and putting some slides together. He made a decision. He took a stand. He shared his beliefs.

And so did our country's founding fathers. Proof that we can't take anything for granted.

So what's your next lecture? What of your life will you share with others? And when will you share? Take a stand.

Optimum Performance: Defrag your life, your business.

Most of us know when our computer is starting to run slow, to gag and to just not work as well as it used to that performing a simple hard disk defragmentation process is often all it takes for our computer to run better and for us to regain our sanity. Now I'm definitely not an IT pro, but I believe the process can take an hour or so and it basically finds all the free space that is in very small chunks and moves it all together in one big chunk. Once that happens, the system seems to have found some sort of freedom, and the computer works like it used to -- much faster and without any hiccups (you know, those things that always make one have to reboot all the time).

Isn't that how it is in our lives sometimes? Things will be going well and then all of a sudden we just don't seem to be getting things accomplished like we used to. A couple of months (or God forbid, years) go by and we look back and it seems like we've barely moved the needle from where we were before. As if we were in slow motion.

And our businesses can be the same way. We can take a quick walk through our offices and with careful observation we could probably find little pockets of "free space" everywhere. If we could just get all that wasted time together in one area, we could figure out how to accomplish the next goal, or get the Client or our Customers something they didn't expect, or spend some time planning for next year. We might be surprised that those pockets of free space could combine to equal a week's worth of time -- but we always say we're too busy for that off-site planning session which could improve team work and create ideas for implementation in the next quarter or next year. Or that we're too busy to take our family away for a short weekend for a little vision planning.

Most of us tend to regroup at the New Year. January 1st seems to be the time when everyone gets refocused on priorities and goals for the upcoming year. That's the time when we rejigger our lives or put everything we're doing through the defrag process. Cutting out the things that no longer serve us well, focusing on the things we want, reorganizing our "free space" to become more productive and to perform at a higher level, whether in business or in our own personal lives.

I encourage you to think of the upcoming Labor Day Holiday in a new light. To focus in on your work and life to make sure you're getting the most out of it. To be sure that what you're doing and how you're spending your time is running at optimum performance and is serving you well.

Own your greatness.

I'm getting ready to embark on a new chapter of my career to help people do what Les Brown says, "own your greatness." What inspires me are the people who are seeking more, those who ask "is that all there is?" or "How'd I get here?" or who say "I'd really like to be doing something else." Those who want to do more fulfilling and rewarding work, not being satisfied where they are.

Then there are the people who by most accounts are already successful who need a little boost, too. The CEO who is looking for the next chapter of his/her life who just hasn't stopped long enough to think it through or make it important enough to take action. The author who's already published and sold many books but hasn't figured out how to build his or her internet presence. The Think Tank group that hasn't figured out how to use blogging to collaborate and expand their collective thinking. The small business owner or entrepreneur who needs to take his/her business to the next level.

There are so many things that stop people from what I refer to as "mission critical." I believe it is critical, somehow mandatory, that each one of us fully lives our mission. And I'm talking about in business or in life. Can you imagine? What would it be like if you and everyone around you did nothing but exactly what they were put here on earth to do?

I'm reminded of Paul Potts, the opera singer who won Britain's Got Talent reality TV show for '07. The guy had a voice like that and was hiding out selling cell phones for goodness sake. No confidence whatsoever. Unbelievable. His life has completely changed -- and all of us are the benefactors as we have the wonderful opportunity to listen to the passion in his voice because he chose to own his greatness -- he chose to trade his singing in the shower for singing on the world's stage. There's no way one can listen to Paul sing Nessun Dorma and not be moved. Truly moved. And his humble story just makes him that much more compelling as an artist. And everything he's been through in life has made him what he is today.

The thing is...he's not the only one. There are many more like him. Those of us who hide behind whatever lack of confidence we have in ourselves. Having incredible talent and not even being aware of our amazing gift. And "gifts" are like that...they come so naturally to us that we don't even realize what we've been given. We have to stop, be aware and make the right decisions.

I love what Paul said in his biography, "I was so nervous I was shaking like a jelly, but when I watch that audition back, I can see in my eyes that when I start to sing I go to a totally different place and the nerves just vanish."

What do you do that takes you to a totally different place? Where can you can get lost in doing it and time just seems to stand still in the moment? Where can you feel free from fear? What moves you??? Remember that everything in your life -- all your experiences, successes and failures, happiness and sadness alike -- have been given to you to bring you to this place. This moment right now. Will you choose to own your greatness? Or will you cower and retreat to a place of perceived safety? Be bold.

The maturation of Mandela: His 8 lessons of leadership

If you haven't yet read Time magazine's article on on Nelson Mandela, it's an impressive recap on Leadership from the man who's now 90 years young. I've listed 3 out of his 8 leadership lessons that I'm most passionate about -- you can read the article and choose your own.

Lesson #1: Courage is not the absence of fear -- it's inspiring others to move beyond it.

That is so true. Often we have to take some action ourselves in order to help others see that it's o.k. And sometimes it requires great faith in ourselves, our abilities, the unknown and a higher spiritual power. One of the best quotes of all time is from Gandhi, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."

Lesson #3: Lead from the back -- and let others believe they are in front.

This is a critical leadership lesson. I've seen many leaders make the mistake of always thinking they should be in front instead of drawing out the greatness in others. And they can't even begin to see how and what it costs their companies in terms of creativity, innovation, engagement, speed, client relationships, (I could go on and on). It's like they forget that their role as a leader is to teach and inspire others to lead.

There are two books that I've devoured on this subject, because I felt the authors were humble in their writings, realizing the mistakes they had made and where they had achieved success within their organizations. The first is from Michael Abrashoff, "It's your ship" and the second from Belasco & Stayer, "Flight of the Buffalo." Both books are in my Amazon recommended read list.

Lesson #7: Quitting is leading too.

I don't think we hear this very often in leadership advice but it is good advice to heed. Mandela says, "Knowing how to abandon a failed idea, task or relationship is often the most difficult kind of decision a leader has to make." And I would add that knowing "when" to equally critical.

His 90th Birthday

Quoted from the end of the article... Ultimately, the key to understanding Mandela is those 27 years in prison. The man who walked onto Robben Island in 1964 was emotional, headstrong, easily stung. The man who emerged was balanced and disciplined. He is not and never has been introspective. I often asked him how the man who emerged from prison differed from the willful young man who had entered it. He hated this question. Finally, in exasperation one day, he said, "I came out mature." There is nothing so rare — or so valuable — as a mature man. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Nelson Mandela is proof that one person can make a difference. Let's never stop asking ourselves, each day and each present moment, how we can make a difference in the lives of others. Be inspired by one man's life.

Exuberance: Where does it come from?

I've really never thought too much about the word "exuberance" until I met a land developer in northern Virginia by the name of John Clark. We were talking about ways to describe his passion for land development and in particular for his vision of Haymount, a new urbanist community near Fredericksburg -- a project he's been working on for many years. It was more than passion and certainly more than joy that flowed from him. He was nearly giddy.

To be exuberant is to be "joyously unrestrained and enthusiastic," according to Webster's dictionary. It's more than just having enthusiasm or passion -- it's more like unbridled enthusiasm that's somehow in one's blood and running through their veins rather than an attitude one professes.

So how do we believe so deeply in our vision -- whether for ourselves or for our company -- that we have this unrestrained joy that exudes from us? Is that possible? Realistically, it's not possible to maintain it through the trials and tribulations of life -- or is it? Is that a choice we have?

I remember Anthony Robbins once talking about achieving the point of "sustained joy." I mentioned it to a couple of colleagues and we all talked about how that seemed so impossible to achieve in one's life. Yet Tony, the eternal optimist and NLP expert, believes it is possible. That if you enjoy and love what you're doing so much, that nothing bars you from the feeling and belief that you are truly doing your life's mission. You know, what God intended you to do in it's closest form. And when we're in that place, we experience that joyfully unrestrained enthusiasm (en-theos = in God) that is better referred to as exuberance.

Have you ever experienced that profound joy in your life? When you just could feel yourself enthusiastic beyond belief? Like you were so happy about what you were doing in your life that you couldn't even see straight?

Could you imagine if we were to feel like that more times than not? Rather than experiencing it once in a blue moon -- we would feel it most of the time? Can you imagine the sustained energy that would be with us if we could only figure out what to do that makes us happiest? It's so simple. Find our life's mission and just do it. Do you know what your life's mission is -- what you were put here on earth to do?

Take a risk or stay the course. No reward in the latter.

We've often heard that doing something is risky. Our society pressures us to play safe. Stay where you are. Go down the path of least resistance. Don't rock the boat.

Yet boats are made for rocking. And great sea captains never become great sea captains by sailing calm seas. Sometimes we can't see that staying put or playing it safe is the biggest risk we could ever take. That fear of the unknown is the only thing that holds us back from propelling us forward. From reaching our goals. From making the quantum leaps in our lives. Why should we be satisfied with staying where we are? Who says we should just keep plugging along in the bay of mediocrity? What is it that we really fear? Are we fearing taking a risk or what will happen if we step out of our comfort zone -- or are we fearing our own strength and inner power?

This has long been debated but I'm often so inspired by Marianne Williamson's writing...

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us. It’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

-Marianne Williamson
Made famous by Nelson Mandela

When we take a risk, when we step out of mediocrity, when we move away from fear - we often step into the light where we can see more clearly. And not only that, we help illuminate the way for others to do the same, just by our one simple act. When we don't take what so often seems like a risk or the road less traveled, we not only hold back ourselves, but we hold back those around us. Those who could be inspired -- even liberated -- by our actions.

So the next time you're faced with a choice between what appears to be risky and what appears safe, be sure to look at it from all angles before making a decision. Don't be swayed by what society says, or what perhaps a well-meaning parent told you as a child -- don't be pressured to play small. Do accept your own power -- the impact that only you can have -- and light the way for others. With risk comes reward -- a fulfillment beyond measure.

Leadership that resonates, captures passion

Last week, a colleague gave me a brochure for the upcoming 10th annual Forbes Executive Women's Forum, Building Bridges. Quite a few great speakers on the line up, including Shelley Lazarus, whom I had the pleasure of hearing speak at the DMA last year.

But I enjoyed reading the agenda details for speaker Annie McKee, co-author of Resonant Leadership: Renewing yourself and connecting with others through mindfulness, hope and compassion. The blurb to describe her talk says "What distinguishes great leaders? Exceptional leaders capture passion. Through resonance, leaders become attuned to the needs and dreams of people they lead. They create conditions where people can excel and are able to sustain their effectiveness through renewal..."

There are some great insights to ponder here. Connecting through mindfulness. Capturing passion. Becoming attuned to needs and dreams (which reminds me of the book, The Dream Manager). Sustain effectiveness through renewal not just of others, but ourselves.

Sounds great conceptually. But in our day-to-day world, how often are we as leaders truly connecting with people? How many of us take a moment to find out what drives an individual team member? Or to make "renewal" a part of the team or company's culture? I believe it happens, sure. But most often we're so busy getting work out the door that we're not keenly attuned to people's needs.

There's a lesson here for all of us. That today, we can make an effort to genuinely connect with someone and build a bridge between who they are and the job we're asking them to do. That's how we capture passion and bring it to life. How we resonate with others. Agree?