Lessons learned from speaking to 900 entreprenuers at the Glazer/Kennedy Info Summit…

I’ll be brief, since the pilot on the Qantas flight that I’m on right now announced we are taking off to Sydney in about 10 minutes.

It’s been a pretty crazy two weeks in the US.

First attending my sister’s wedding in San Diego and seeing her get married to a really great guy.

Secondly, spending the last 8 days in St. Louis preparing and presenting to 900 entreprenuers at the Glazer/Kennedy Info Summit.

My staff who came to support me said they had never seen so many people run back to the room to order a program.

I was humbled by the amazing response to my story and my online sales conversion system.

Now that I’m coming down from the high from the last few days, I’ve had some time to reflect on some of the key reasons why so many of the attendees resonated with my message and ordered ChatWise.

In the hallways throughout the event, I was able to get a lot of feedback about my talk.

If you in anyway speak to small or large groups of people, I hope what I’m about to share with you will make a difference in how deeply you connect with your audience.

Lessons learned:

1. Tell your story with authenticity

So many times I see speakers work really hard to put on a “show”.

You can feel they’re working hard to be “perfect” so they can mask who they really are.

Funny thing, I discovered being on stage, the more real and down-to-earth I was, the more the audience felt they got to know me.

I shared my “Lessons From Toby” book story about my son Toby and it created a bridge between everyone in the room.

(More about “Toby’s Book” here)  http://www.TobysBook.com

As a few of the attendees said to me, “If we had a chance to spend more time together, I’m sure we’d be friends.”

2. Share valuable information that the audience can take away and use, even if they don’t buy your product

A lot of speakers put a lot of pressure on themselves hoping that everyone in the room will buy what they have.

That’s what I call “hopeium”, the “drug” that we inject into ourselves to set unrealistic expectations.

In an audience, there are always going to be people ready to take action and others who aren’t.

That’s ok.

Both groups deserve to be respected and taken care of.

That’s why I always spend time sharing new concepts and ideas they can implement right away, whether they decide to order my solution or not.

Not everyone’s a fit, respect that.

3. Don’t try to use techniques that make the audience feel you are manipulating them

You’ve probably heard  speakers who begin their talks with opening questions to the audience that make you wonder why they even asked them in the first place.

You know what I mean?

Let’s say you go to a sales conference to improve your sales skills and the first thing the speaker says is: “How many of you are here to learn new sales skills to make more money!?”

Duuuuh, isn’t that obvious?

You wonder if the speaker forgot which conference he was at.

Degrading the audience by using questioning techniques that are designed to trigger blatantly obvious answers, only lowers your credibility.

Your audience will follow you and stay with you if you talk to them with the same respect as if you were a guest in their home.

4. Let them know you have something to offer early on

One thing I always do is let the audience know, early on, that some of them will want to take home what I have to offer and some won’t, and that’s perfectly ok with me.

When I say that, there’s a collective sigh of relief in the audience, almost as if they’re saying “Jeeez, how refreshing, someone who tells it like it is.”

The audience wants to connect with you, that’s why they are there.

They have no problem investing in solutions as long as they feel they’re not being strong-armed into making a decision.

Ease off on “techniques” and lay out your proposition in a way that proves your case.

5. Speak for the pleasure of meeting and connecting with new people

Even though a lot of people ordered ChatWise, my biggest pleasure was all the new people that I met.

You see, my ultimate reward is connecting with people.

It makes me feel centered and creates a ring of people around me who care.

And the more I share my stories and ideas about how to profit from our new economy, both over-the -phone and on the Internet, the more I recognize that when it’s all said and done, authentic trust with  prospects, clients and customers is what brings us closer to our goals.

Thanks for reading and being open to my thoughts.

Your comments are welcome below.

To your success,

Ari Galper

P.S. By the way, the week of Dec. 2nd, I’ll be speaking twice in London — once on Unlock The Game www.SuccessTrackUK.com/arigalper and the other on ChatWise (I’m Mr. “X’, but don’t tell anyone 🙂 www.BusinessBreakthroughDay.com