Spotlight: Jane Atkinson

Recently  got connected online with Jane Atkinson, Author of  Wealthy Speaker. Book was inspirational and had great insights on how to become a speaker no matter your experience.

1st What inspired your to write the Wealthy speaker


Back when I was working as a business manager/agent, professional speakers in my industry would always ask me "can I take you to lunch and pick your brain?" They wanted to know my secret to success with my various speakers.

At the time, I thought, "some day I'm going to charge for this". And so when I moved into my own coaching and consulting company, the time was right!


Surprisingly, when I went to write it all down, everything easily fit into 3 categories (Ready, Aim, Fire) which made it quite seamless. The ready section was all about setting the stage to build a business and getting crystal clear on what you are selling. Aim was about making sure that same clarity was reflected in solid marketing materials (ie: websites). And then in Fire, we walked through how to roll out to your target market.

Since blogging and social media was introduced, I wrote a 2011 update which takes some of our Fire strategies and adopts the new mediums.


2nd There are many authors who write books but don't make the effort to leverage book due to fears of not be able to speak to crowd etc. What you recommend

Well as Jerry Seinfeld put it so brilliantly, "some people would rather be the person in the casket than giving the eulogy at a funeral!"

This is a pretty normal fear. But if you really wanted to leverage your topic and begin a career in public speaking, there are many thing you can do.

1. Consider joining Toastmasters, that is their specialty (helping people move past the fear).

2. Practice. Give small speeches at your church or anywhere they will listen. When you are passionate about your topic, it comes through. And if you're nervous, just tell them, maybe you'll all have a laugh about it and relax. BTW, opening with humor can really help everyone relax!

3. When giving a speech, here are 3 keys:

BREATHE: Take ten, long deep breathes prior to going on stage. That oxygen will help nourish your brain and keep you thinking clearly.

KNOW YOUR STUFF: When you have your presentation down cold, and know your material - which most authors would - it's much easier to


BE PRESENT: Three is to try to be in the moment and if you can, have fun. When you are having fun, the audience will as well. A good example of this was Anne Hathaway when she co-hosted the Oscars. What could be more nerve wracking? Yet, she looked like she had a good time!
 
For more information on her book and access to her blog  go to http://www.speakerlauncher.com/
 
Remember its all about Get Connected Make Wealth Happen the resources and information is out there for you to succeed. Thanks Jane!