Kat Millar

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7 Big Mistakes Amateur Presenters Make

Do you want to show up as your best when you’re presenting?

But do you ever get on camera and suddenly feel like your authentic self is buried under a ball of nerves?

Or you feel like your audience hasn’t been as engaged and responsive as you hoped?

Having delivered thousands of presentations, each one getting more precise and clearer on what works and what doesn’t…

…I’ve discovered that there are 7 core mistakes that people make when it comes to presenting.

These little-known mistakes can make or break your presentations when it comes to getting engagement and building trust.

These are fatal, often undetected mistakes that people make in their presentations.

I’ll show you how to avoid them.

Instead of wondering why your presentations aren’t successfully engaging people.

Converting viewers into leads and clients…

…you’ll never have to worry about fumbling your words and not being able to communicate your value effectively.

What that means is that you’ll be able to show up confidently.

Relaxed and present, and use your presentations as a powerful client-converting asset.

What that ultimately means is that you’ll consistently have a waiting list of clients wanting to work with you.

In this video I share 7 big mistakes amateur presenters make.

You can check out the video here…

The 7 mistakes I’ve found amateurs make when presenting:

1 – Showing up with low confidence

Over the years I’ve discovered that there are 4 main fears that kill confidence. 

  1. A fear of failure – getting it wrong, looking silly, looking incompetent
  2. A fear of rejection – that people won’t like what we say
  3. A fear of loss of security – feeling unsafe, uncertain, insecure
  4. A fear of criticism – The fear of what people think of us, a fear of judgment, which can stop us from sharing authentically what’s on our heart.

Most of us have at least one of those fears. All these fears can be total dream-killers!

These fears stop us from stepping up as the leader and the influencer we were born to be.

My biggest fear was fear of failure. Specifically, feeling incompetent. It held me back for years from presenting.

If we want to accelerate our business growth, the trust people have in you, and how fast you get clients, you need to show up confidently.

I want to help women to show up powerfully and confidently.

We need to do whatever it takes to build ourselves up.

2 – Focusing Too Much on Themselves
If you’re nervous, focus on service.

When you’re speaking to people, the more you think about yourself, the more you’ll feel fear because you’re thinking about looking good and avoiding looking bad

I believe we all have a message to bring forth and a mission to fulfill on this planet.

Focus on the change you can help someone make in their life.

One thing that really helped me, was when someone said to me – “every day that you are focusing on yourself, someone is suffering.”

Someone is actually struggling right now because they have a problem that you can help them solve.

You know enough to help someone solve a problem.

If you have a smartphone, you can get on there in an instant and help provide solutions for people.

It’s ok if not everyone resonates with what you say. It doesn’t matter – it’s about the people that can be helped.

Turn the focus away from yourself and onto focusing on the value you can offer people.

That’s how you grow your business.

3–Failing to use Influence skills

Influence skills are essential if we want to help people have a breakthrough and improve their life.

The reason I have such a strong conviction around influence is that others went all in on their conviction. They influenced me to invest in education which gave me freedom.

When I was broke and struggling, people showed what’s possible for me and didn’t give up on me having a breakthrough.

It gave me my freedom.

Other people going ALL IN on their convictions to help me imparted to me a conviction and life has never been the same again

I will not give up on you because you matter. No one deserves to suffer. I don’t want anyone to be crippled by confusion.

When others ask me if I did all I could to help them, I can say YES.

I’ll do whatever I can to influence them elegantly. Not in a convincing or pushy way, but in a way that they can have a breakthrough.

4 – Not Valuing Their Expertise Enough

Remember to prize Yourself

You’re not a charity. You’re an expert in your field and you deserve to show up worthy of that.

We need to value the money and time we’ve invested in our craft and skills.

So many people get stuck in comparison. 

You need to value your skills and knowledge.

A lot of you have unconscious competence and you forget how valuable your stories and experiences are.

You are the prize!

5 – Underwhelming or overwhelming

Underwhelming is boring and fluffy.

Overwhelming is jam-packing so much in that people can’t absorb it or take action on it.

When you get this right in the sweetspot – it’s valuable.

Value is what gets someone to take an action.

Value also means spending time practicing, thinking through what is going to be really useful for people.

Value is not squeezing as much content as humanly possible.

Amateurs try and teach everything they know.

Professionals leave voids to create in the audience a hunger for more.

I once heard someone say that if you squeeze in the content, you squeeze the audience out!

6 – Being Unprofessional

We all know that we need to be professional, but what does that look like?

Being professional means:

  • Having a nice quiet environment and making sure your audio is good and clear with no background noise
  • Making sure that you’ve got a good lighting system
  • Setting your computer or tablet up at eye level
  • Making sure you start on time
  • Ensuring you have nice professional PowerPoints, if you’re using slides
  • Practicing your talk before you deliver it

All of this is part of being professional.

This doesn’t mean you can’t be personable though. It really helps to add humour and your personality and flavour.

Professionalism is not perfectionism. It’s about giving the most value while still being yourself.

7 – Speaking Without Structure

People want organised knowledge.

You don’t want to just give people a whole heap of content or information and leave people to figure out what to do. 

You want to make it digestible and palatable for them, by breaking it down into steps or pillars.

The best speakers in the world have organised the information into a structure.

If you think that they’re just winging it and speaking intuitively, believe me – they’re not.

People have a fear that structure is boring and restrictive.

Talking so that YOU enjoy it? Or the audience enjoys it?

That’s why I use frameworks. It allows you to put your superpower in – your message.

3 reasons why structure is so important:

1. People actually get the message

2. People start using your words

3. People sign up

Structure helps you to amplify your influence

The world isn’t looking for perfect presenters. Imperfect presenters can still make a significant impact. This is why I’m dedicated to helping women to become great presenters.

If you want to move people with your message, create real change and grow a truly influential business.

Presenting is such an important skill set to add to your business.

Would you like to know how to run online events that attract new clients?

The recent Masterclass is now available – but only until midnight 28th August.

I shared –

  • How To Create An Engaging Workshop Presentation
  • How To Deliver A World-Class Workshop
  • How To Market Your Workshop So The Right People Come

Watch The ‘How to Get Clients With Online Workshops’ Masterclass Replay Now

P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 3 other ways I can help you grow your business:

1. Grab a free copy of my ‘Client Attraction Checklist‘

It’s a powerful roadmap to attracting leads, signing clients, and scaling your coaching business. — Grab It Here

2. Join the community and connect with like-minded Coaches & Experts

It’s our Facebook community where ambitious entrepreneurs learn how to increase their income, influence, and impact. — Join Us Here

3. Work with me to get more clients

If you’d like to work directly with me to get more clients… just send me a Facebook Message with the word “Clients”… tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details — Message Here

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How I overcame my biggest fear around presenting

Would you love to be the type of person who confidently and consistently shares your knowledge with groups?

But you find yourself procrastinating on recording live videos or running online events?

We all have a next level of presenting.

Maybe you’ve been doing pre-recorded videos and your next level of presenting is to do live videos.

Maybe you’ve been doing 60 or 90-minute Masterclasses and your next level of presenting is to run a ½-day or full-day event.

If we’re not taking that next step towards our next level, or we’re not presenting consistently there’s usually only ONE reason WHY.

  • Not “I’m too busy”
  • Not “I don’t like speaking on camera”
  • Not “I’m bad at technology”.
  • The one reason is usually fear.

The next step outside our comfort zone usually has a fear attached to it.

A lot of people I talk to are avoiding their next level of presenting because of fear.

I get it because I had so much fear around presenting.

Fear can be really crippling.

And the problem with fear is that we often think that it’s keeping us safe, when it’s actually just keeping us small and limited. 

If you want to become a more effective presenter, it’s so important to overcome any fears you have around showing up fully and authentically.

Otherwise, the fears can be like a ball and chain that will hold you back.

Which is why I want to help you understand the fears that are in the way of your next level and give you some practical strategies and mindset strategies to overcome them.

So, you can…
 
 1. Show up online more powerfully, more consistently, and more authentically

2. Build a deeper connection with your community

3. Get more engagement, and ultimately, more ideal clients

If you want to accelerate your business growth, the trust people have in you, and how fast you get clients, you need to discover any fear that’s stopping you taking action.

In this video, ‘How I Overcame My Biggest Fear Around Presenting’ I’m sharing 3 main ways I’ve found to overcome the fear so that you can show up and shine online…

You can check out the video here…

Over the years I’ve discovered that there are 4 main fears that people have when it comes to presenting confidently. 

  1. A fear of failure – getting it wrong, looking silly, like incompetent
  2. A fear of rejection – that people won’t like what we say
  3. A fear of loss of security – feeling unsafe, uncertain, insecure
  4. A fear of criticism – The fear of what people think of us, a fear of judgment, which can stop us from sharing authentically what’s on our hearts.

Most of us have at least one of those fears. And all these fears can be total dream-killers!

These fears stop us from stepping up as the leader and the influencer we were born to be.

In 2011, I was working in London and I attended a really big convention in Birmingham with a friend and I had one of those lightbulb moments when I was listening to the speakers. 

I realised that if I wanted to reach more people, I had to get over my fear of speaking to groups and learn the skills of presenting.

I remember afterwards sitting in a hotel lobby drinking wine by a fireplace with my friend and talking about the speakers and I said to him – I’m sick of just working with people one-on-one. I want to be a speaker.

It was a turning point where dream and reality collided.

It was such a magical feeling of passion and excitement and energy!

Since that time, I’ve been totally committed to learning and upskilling in the area of presenting.

It wasn’t until I learned how to do it that I started growing my audience and growing my income.

I’ve found that presenting is the best way to get clients. 

For most of my life, I didn’t like being seen. I didn’t like attention.

I went bright red whenever it was my turn to speak, even in a small group of friends.

Now one of the things that I’m MOST passionate about, is getting in front of a group of people and sharing tools, strategies, and inspiration that can help people.

I’ve completely overcome my fear and although I still get nervous, it now no longer stops me.

My mission is to help women overcome the fears holding them back, and gain the confidence to consistently present their message to the world.

Here are the 3 main ways I’ve found to overcome the fear, so that you can show up and shine online…

1. Focus on the person who needs you

Rather than feeling like you’re talking to the masses, think of it as talking to one person, one human being who needs your help, and that really helps us overcome the fear of rejection.

If you’re feeling fear around your next level of presenting, it’s really good to focus on the person who needs you.

Think about the confusion they have, and how you used to be confused about the same things.

Think about how you used to be overwhelmed, disappointed, or frustrated about the things that you now have answers for.

Going back to that time when you were in their shoes before you found the answers, really wakes up a desire to speak up.

The world’s hurting right now and you have keys that can help people to improve the quality of their life.

Often we try to avoid our next level, because we think it’s going to give us less of what we want.

For example, our brain might be saying something like – “If you show up on a Facebook Live you might get rejected. If you show up on a Facebook Live and stuff up your words, you’re going to feel like a failure. You won’t feel secure. If you show up, you might get criticised.

There are so many things that your brain can come up with to stop you from taking action so you try to avoid these things.

Sometimes we think that the action means we’re going to get less of what we want but we actually end up getting more – because ultimately, what these four fears sit under is a loss of love, acceptance or belonging, and a loss of true human connection.

That’s what you and I are craving. We’re craving human connection.

Often, we avoid our next level because we think it’s going to lead to rejection or criticism, which will give us less connection with people.

The sad thing is, it costs us. It ends up giving us LESS of what we want – true human connection.

When you really connect deeply with your ideal client and what they’re struggling with, it does something so powerful in your brain.

However, the fear of not showing up because you’re so scared of what people think – whether they are going to judge you, can stop you from reaching this person that’s struggling.

This is the person that you have the answers for!

Something practical you can do to connect with them in your imagination is to write them a letter or journal as though you are them.

This can really help you feel connected with them as a human being that you can help, rather than thinking of speaking to the masses.

2. Take courageous action consistently

The fear is a result of our beliefs.

We only have chronic fear because of something we keep choosing to believe.

They’re just thoughts in our minds. They’re stories we tell ourselves.

The reason most people have these fears is because they think it doesn’t matter if they keep believing them.

They don’t think of the consequence of keeping believing them.

Just because it pops in your head doesn’t mean it’s truth. These aren’t facts.

Don’t allow your mind to run wild.

You can’t keep believing these thoughts and expect your results to change.

If you’re saying anything to yourself that’s stopping you from taking brave action, you need to stop saying that.

You need to speak the truth.

And you need to prove to your brain that action is safe.

This requires taking action despite feeling fear. We can’t wait for the fear to go away, it doesn’t. We have to act while we still feel it. We only succeed when we’re willing to fail.

Confidence is attached to progress, and we only progress if we practice. Publically. We don’t overcome fears sitting in our bedroom.

This freaked me out, a lot. But I realised it was the only way. I was trying to go around the mountain, under the mountain, away from the mountain – when I knew that eventually it was inevitable that I needed to climb the mountain.

If you don’t feel you’re progressing, you’ll start to lose your confidence and you’ll stay stuck in fear.

When we don’t take consistent, courageous action, we get stuck in over-thinking. Suffering from the elusive ‘perfectionism’ (that doesn’t exist).

We internalise all the worries and potential setbacks and over-think everything, instead of just acting.

If we want to grow, we can’t wait for our feelings to change. Our feelings will always try to protect us and keep us safe.

If you don’t start doing the things you don’t feel like doing, you could wake up one year from today and be in exactly the same place.

Most of us started our businesses to make more money, make a bigger impact, and have greater freedom.

But if we’re not showing up and presenting consistently online, it’s really hard to get these things.

One of the ways I overcome my biggest fear around presenting was taking action despite the fear.

I kept putting myself out there, even though it was uncomfortable.

* I recorded live videos, even though I found it uncomfortable

* I ran events, even though I didn’t know what I was doing

* I surrounded myself with encouraging cheerleaders (a.k.a great coaches and mentors).

* I continuously put my hand up at events until I got more comfortable with the spotlight

* I applied to speak at venues that scared me (like the International Convention Centre)

* I went to lots of networking events on my own

I’ve now spoken in front of hundreds of groups and no longer have a fear of public speaking. I still feel nerves, but I reframe them as growth and energy and do it anyway.

I’m so grateful to have awesome people around me who are powerful, strong, and who aren’t afraid of their presence, personality, and ideas taking up big space in the world.

I’m so grateful for my coaches and mentors who have modelled courage, who have felt the fear and done it anyway….

The people who have continuously fought against fear in order to bring their knowledge, experience, creativity, and ideas to the world.

Taking your place in the world feels good. Speaking up feels good. All it requires is choosing to take the next brave action on your path.

Something practical you can do is write down what is a courageous action you’ve been putting off and set a date to do it. Then put it into your calendar.

3. Follow a Formula

Focusing on the people you’re here to help and taking courageous consistent action can get you over the line to stepping up to your next level.

So you decide to go live, to do the event, but then there’s another story coming up.

And it says something like…

“I don’t know what to say,” or “I don’t know how to make it come across in the way I mean.”

“What if no one likes it? Or What if I struggle to come across as credible?”

“What structure do I use?”

“What needs to be in the presentation in order to get engagement?”

Maybe you don’t know what call to action to share.

Maybe you don’t have a clear offer.

Maybe you’re not sure how to make your presentation emotional and awaken a desire within people that inspires them to take action.

And if you don’t have the right tools, skills, and support to overcome them, the stories and fears will run your business.

How often have you thought about running an event, but you haven’t?

How often did you think about doing a FB live video, but you didn’t?

That’s because it’s hard to work on these fears without having structures, tools, templates – a proven formula

You overcome fear with a formula.

The fears are not just about ‘just doing it’ because you also need the skills and the tools – you need the roadmap.

When you have the roadmap – the formula for how to do it, all the fears start to vanish because you know what to do.

The fears don’t go away on their own. If you don’t know how to present, the fears will keep your business stuck, and small.

When I was stuck in fear of failure, it was just because I didn’t know how.

I was trying to attempt something that I didn’t know how to do well. SMILE

Following a formula means you overcome the fear in a very practical way, without having to do years of therapy and mindset work.

If you want to accelerate your business, you need someone outside of you to help you through it.

Without my mentors, I never would have been able to overcome the crippling fear I had of what people think.

I had a lot of coaching sessions to be able to do what I do.

I have a lot more coaching sessions to do to go to my next level and I’m always going to have a mentor.

Whatever you want to do next, it’s unlikely you’re going to go to your next level on your own.

Some of you are trying to do it all on their own and it’s almost impossible.

One of the fastest ways to overcome fear is with a formula. 

For me, it was learning the skills and getting the tools – like templates and a structure – that helped me step up, despite the fear.

It’s not about getting rid of the fear so you never feel it.

It’s about getting to the point where you can take action consistently DESPITE having the fear.

A clear, step-by-step how-to.

A formula stops fear from stopping you.

You overcome fear with a formula.

The most important thing I did that overcame my biggest fear around presenting, was I invested in learning presenting skills (and realised it was so much easier and more once I had the how all laid out step by step).

If you recognise that there’s a next level for you and you also recognise you need the HOW…

And if you’d like to learn how to create a presentation that inspires people and gets you clients, I’d like to invite you to my upcoming FREE live workshop “How to Get Clients with Online Workshops” on Tuesday, August 23 at 7 pm AEST.

How to get clients with online events

I’m sharing:

  • How To Create An Engaging Workshop Presentation
  • How To Deliver A World-Class Workshop
  • How To Market Your Workshop So The Right People Come

You’ll learn how to: 

  • Use FREE events to reach your financial goals
  • Grow your business by helping more people using my proven formula
  • Build trust and connection fast, even if you struggle with nerves
  • Create engaging and profitable presentations
  • Position yourself as an expert
  • Consistently sell out your programs

Register for How to Get Clients with Online Workshops

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3 Little-Known Things That Kill Your Presentations Every Time When You Ignore Them

There are 3 little-known things that people do in their presentations that hinder their success. Many people have no idea that these are mistakes they are making when they’re presenting.

Whether you’re presenting on Facebook lives, Insta lives or stories, webinars, workshops, or if you’re presenting 1:1 to your clients, you may be doing some of these things without realising.

The reason I’m so passionate about this is that I love supporting people to step up as a leader and position themselves as someone valuable and worthy of being listened to.

Presenting to groups has been the #1 thing that has grown my business, even though I used to be so scared of it.

It has enabled me to create a life of fulfilment and freedom, have a voice, fast-track my business success and help more people, which has all been possible by leveraging the power of events.

Before I started presenting, I was only working with people one-to-one.

I LOVED doing one-to-one work with people, it was my comfort zone. I’m an introvert and didn’t like being the focus of attention and didn’t want to present in front of groups of people. I didn’t want to be the one up the front with everyone looking at them.

But I remember a moment in time where I was at a big convention called Filex, sitting in the crowd listening to the speaker.

And I suddenly it hit me – and I had one of those ‘penny-drop’ moments that surprised me.

I thought “It’s going to take me waaaaay too long to build the business I want to build one by one! I’m never going to have the impact that I want to have. I want to be a presenter. I want to be the one on stage!”

I remember thinking “I HAVE to get over this fear of speaking to group. I HAVE to learn to present”.

At the time I was working as a fitness and health coach, only doing one-on-one coaching sessions. My first step to learning to present was to run a small group program at Les Mills called ‘Look Better Naked.’ It was a program for 6 women for 6 weeks.

Les Mills has high standards with qualifying people to deliver their programs and I remember the guy who was assessing me told me I was too quiet and needed to be more outgoing and loud. He said that I needed to ‘fake’ confidence until I felt it.

So I just had to step up.

Eventually, I started running bootcamps and then I started doing 1:many presentations, running seminars at my gym.

I didn’t realise back then the things I was doing wrong, but over time I have learned what NOT to do as a presenter, by doing these things myself.

 

1 – Winging It Without A Structure

The problem that most people have when it comes to creating a presentation, is that they don’t have a proper presentation structure. They wing it without structure.

That’s what I was doing. I was literally showing up and teaching everything that I knew, instead of actually organising my knowledge correctly.

There’s a formula for presenting correctly – in a way where people can receive the information you are giving them. There’s a formula to engage people and maintain people’s attention. I didn’t know any of that.

So, the first thing that people get wrong that kills your presentation is they think they can just show up and ‘flow’ and speak intuitively. They think they can just show up and talk, with no plan or structure.

If we don’t organise our knowledge in a way that someone wants to receive it, we’re actually doing our audience a disservice. I’ve seen this happen so many times where people just think they can speak from the heart, without having planned their presentation.

When you have a formula and structure, you can still flow naturally and be intuitive and speak from your heart. Having a structure doesn’t stop you from being spontaneous, it can actually help it.

If you think about professionals and successful people, how do they become professionals? They practice, practice and practice!

The Netflix documentary ‘The Last Dance’ about Michael Jordan shows this perfectly. It is incredible the amount of practice thatMichael Jordan put in and he was the best in the world.

I was reading that when he was filming the movie Space Jam, they would film for weeks or months on end doing 12-hour days. He would then go straight to training and practice for 5 hours every single day.

When we do a presentation and we are winging it and speaking from the heart, we are doing our audience a disservice. We are not valuing them enough to plan and craft our presentation or use psychology or the power of influence to help people to take action.

Remember every single presentation is designed for someone to take action. It’s not designed for it to just be interesting. You want to inspire someone to take action and that requires crafting your presentation.

Presenting is a profession because it requires crafting and tweaking your words. The higher the stakes, the more you practice. People who do TED talks practice for months beforehand.

2 – Focusing On Yourself And Not On Your Audience

The second thing that kills someone’s presentation is focusing on themselves and not on their audience. This happens all the time because public speaking is so many people’s biggest fear.

It’s the Number 1 fear people have.  People are really self- conscious, and they’re thinking about themselves and what the audience is thinking of them. You can train yourself to overcome this, so when you’re presenting, you’re thinking about your audience.

I spoke at a woman’s event last Sunday and when I was rehearsing for it I brought up pictures of women on Google images on my 2 screens, so when I practised, I was looking at people’s actual faces.

It was a great way to practice for a live event. I don’t put Zoom on gallery view as it’s very distracting. If I have it on gallery view, I look down at the gallery, and then my eyes are not looking at the lens. So I turn off gallery view and only look at the lens so I am then connecting straight to you.

So there’s a difference on video when you’re presenting, then when you are doing a presentation to a live audience. Because it’s been a couple of months since I did a live event, I visualised that live presentation with people in the room together night after night before I went to sleep.

I visualise what I want every night before I go to sleep. I visualise myself helping thousands of people at once.

This is why people will organise their knowledge and put it into a book, or a TED talk. They organise their knowledge so they can help multiple people all at one time.

And so, when I showed up on Sunday, because I had practised and visualised the event, it felt completely normal and there was no need for my brain to throw out fear.

This way I could be really present with the audience and focus on communicating my message as well as I possibly could.

It’s so important that we’re not self-conscious and thinking about how we look and sound, but instead being present and focusing on sharing our message in the best possible way to serve our audience.

Presenting is not always easy, and it takes learning the craft. But it’s worth it because if you get one valuable presentation, it’s an asset and it’s a legacy item. You can use it over and over again.

If you want to fast-track your business, I believe the most logical thing to do is to present to multiple people at one time.

But you’ve got to get over any blocks or fear of presenting so you can fully connect with your audience.

3 – Under-Sharing or Over-Sharing 

Under-Sharing

Under-sharing is being stingy and holding back from giving.

We HAVE to always provide great value, whether they’re getting free content or not. That is super important.

If you think about all the years and all the amount of study and research you’ve done, you won’t be able to put that all into one presentation or even into a week’s worth of content.

We’ve got to make sure that we’re generous and giving really genuine value.

We can’t just give fluffy stuff. We’ve got to give content that has substance and real-life application.

Over-Sharing

On the flip-side is over-sharing. I used to do this all the time. When I ran an all-day event, I would give so much away.

Because I wanted to give so much value, I ended up giving away too much value. This actually ended up doing a disservice to people.

You want your presentations to give value, but you don’t want to over-deliver. You want people to leave hungry for more. You need to be able to spark curiosity and help people see that you can solve the problem they hold.

There’s a sweet spot in the middle of being generous and not giving everything you have away, all at once.

Be like Goldilocks – share just the right amount. (remember the story? “Ahhh, this porridge is just right!”).

A lot of people ask me how do I know the difference of what content to share or not share. Like, how do you know what content should go into your free Facebook Live, webinar or workshop?

Many times, it’s very case-by-case, figuring out what should be shared and what shouldn’t be shared.

There’s an art and a science to it and requires crafting and mapping it out.

If you think of a client journey – there are people that don’t know you, so the content that you share with them is going to be different to people who come to your workshops, or who consistently show up on your Facebook Lives, for example.

Everyone’s in a different stage on the journey. And that’s why it’s so individual, there’s really not just one rule. It depends on multiple factors.

I’ll be unpacking these factors and so much more this coming Saturday at my free event ‘How To Get Clients With Online Events’.

It’s happening THIS Saturday 24th October.

I will be sharing the formula I’ve learned from the last 13+ years of doing live and online events to help you get clients from events.

I’ve used this formula to build my business into a 6-figure coaching business. It’s my best strategy for attracting new clients.

You can register here

See you online soon!

Kat

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How To Overcome Your Own Objections To Selling

This week I’ve been having lots of conversations with people about sales and the beliefs people have about selling.

With the current economic climate, the topic of whether people should be selling, discounting or holding back and retreating is in a lot of people’s minds.

People are wondering “Is it appropriate to sell during these times?”

There are a host of limiting beliefs coming to the surface during this coronavirus season.

This is highlighting the difference between people who truly believe they have something valuable to offer

I don’t know your unique business situation, but I wanted to offer some ways of thinking about it to help you out.

If you’re a business owner and your service genuinely helps and serves people and improves their life, sales is key.

Sales is the ONE THING that will improve your financial position and give you more of what you love.

Sales are the key to bringing you freedom in your business and in your life.

Marketing, copywriting and presenting are all things we need to do well, but ultimately if we can’t get people to put money into our bank accounts, we will never be truly free. We will always be working for someone else.

I’m talking to all leaders, coaches, consultants, educators, thought leaders and subject matter experts. If you are a heart-based business owner, this is for you.

I want to ask you a question: what comes to your mind when I say the words ‘selling is…’? What’s literally the first things that come to mind?

If you hold the belief that selling is in any way negative, such as scary of difficult, that’s going to affect your ability to sell. If you feel like sales is hard, why would you do it?  You’ll avoid it at all costs. And then your business will suffer.

Your very first reaction to the words ‘selling is’ and the definition you give the word ‘sales’ is going to determine your success in business.

The number one asset that you have when you’re selling is confidence. If you’re not confident in how your product or service will help someone, no one will buy from you.

There IS a way of selling, that is enjoyable for BOTH parties; it’s authentic and exciting. It gives both parties more of what they want. But first, you need to sell YOURSELF on selling.

Here are 5 ways to overcome your own objections to selling:

1 – Write Down all the Beliefs you Have About Selling

Be honest about your current beliefs around sales and write them down. Do you hold beliefs that sales are difficult? Do sales equate to fear of rejection for you?

Two of the most important needs that we have as human beings is to belong and the other need is to be accepted and not rejected. The truth is that in doing business, you will meet people who don’t like you or what your business stands for.

If you’re not willing to be hated by at least one person, then you’re not cut-out for business.

If you are trying to be all things to all people and avoid rejection, you won’t take risks and being in business takes being willing to take risks. I challenge you, be honest with yourself about your core beliefs around sales. The first step to change is being honest about where you are truly at.

2 – Identify Limiting Beliefs and Objections to Sales

Number 2 is to write down any limiting beliefs or objections you have about sales. Some of these would have come into your list in Number 1.

Do you believe selling is hard or awkward? Or do you have definitions of sales that are positive and empowering? What objections to selling and limiting beliefs around sales do you have?

Now circle all the beliefs that are empowering and cross out any beliefs that disempower and limit you.

Consider reframing these beliefs. Where you feel selling is scary, write down what you want to believe that is empowering, like selling is exciting. Write down what the opposite is of the negative and limiting belief.

If you want to start seeing sales as enjoyable, write down all the reasons why selling is fun and exciting. It means you are helping people and you are also making money from helping people.

3 – Sell Yourself on Selling

Sell yourself on all the reasons that selling is a positive and not a negative. Selling is caring for others and helping people which brings meaning to sales.

The number one thing that you can do to increase your financial position is to get brilliant at sales. Where you’re at right now is directly in proportion to your ability to sell.

There’s many other skills we need in business such as copywriting, marketing and presenting skills, but selling is the one thing that directly brings money into your bank account.

If you don’t have money in your bank account it’s because of your mindset around selling and it’s because of your mindset around your worth and your value. If you truly value yourself and what you do then why wouldn’t you sell it?

This is why I love selling because I genuinely help people improve their lives every single day. I coach and encourage people and they improve their lives. This is the power of what I offer, so I will never stop selling because it helps people change their lives completely. It’s a win-win.

We’ve been programmed to believe that selling is a bad thing and we need to break that conditioning, People assume selling is about greed and money-grabbing.  If you’re offering something to someone who doesn’t need it, then you’re not really selling, you’re manipulating.

When you overcome your fear of rejection in sales, it can become fun. Reframe your beliefs around selling to understand that you are enhancing people’s lives. The money follows when you really want to help people.

4 – Write Down Why Selling Will Give You More of What You Want

You’re improving someone’s life by selling them your product or service. You’re helping others and in return, you are also helped. You are going to get so much satisfaction and joy if you can sell during a difficult period.

The financial crisis has not peaked yet. In fact, maybe in five or six months time, the government will take away its help and banks will stop putting pauses on loans. This is the time when there is government and bank assistance so it’s a great time to sell.

Think of all the people that you can help through the lows. There is so much opportunity for freedom at this time. And sales gives you the freedom to enjoy in life what you want to enjoy.

If I didn’t know how to sell I wouldn’t have freedom.  I wouldn’t be able to work full time in my business and be an entrepreneur.

Without sales, I’d be stuck in a job that I didn’t enjoy. I’ve been there and I hated life. I was miserable, depressed, moody and tired all the time. I don’t want to go back there.

I made friends with sales and I’m so glad I did as it keeps me living my purpose.

One of the best things you can do for yourself and for your business is to make selling your friend.

 5 – Give Your Brain Evidence That Sales is Enjoyable

Prove to your brain that selling is enjoyable. Rather than just saying affirmations and trying to believe them, prove it by taking action.

People are always asking me how to find clients. I tell them that their clients are already out there, on their  laptop or on the phone. You need to reach out and tell them that you can help them. You need to risk rejection and risk someone saying no.

Just ask questions.

For example “Are you still looking for help with growing your business or with improving your home or losing weight?”

Ask people how they are going during this time and if they need help with whatever it is you do.

You can offer a free session, and just use it to give back to people.  About 90% of the sales conversations I have with people is them talking to me and me listening, coaching and helping them.

I don’t even think of these conversations as sales conversations, as I genuinely know I can help people.

It’s amazing the number of business owners that I talked to who are struggling to make money and they can’t afford to pay for Facebook ads. This is most likely because they are not having enough sales conversations.

 

If you want to know the best way to sell during these current times, I recently ran a FREE 90-minute masterclass called ‘Selling Equals Service’

It was a powerful session and I received lots of great feedback afterwards.

I talked through 5 keys to effective selling and shared a 6-step VALUES based selling framework that I personally use and share with my clients.

In case you missed it, I’ve created a replay which is now available for the next 48 hours. ?

? Grab Your Free Access Here

P.S. The content is a game-changer if you want to sign up your ideal paying clients, so don’t procrastinate – take action and watch it today before it comes down!

Enjoy!

Kat

 

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5 Stages of Mindset Change

 

We are collectively walking together through a crisis period, one that is filled with great uncertainty for many of us.

We are in a time of loss. We still have so much to be grateful for, yet we have also lost a lot.

And I believe important to acknowledge that and grieve the loss in a healthy way.

I think it’s wise to acknowledge and feel our feelings, whatever they are.

None of us have ever been through this. And many of us are struggling to adapt to the changes that have happened so fast.

Stress happens when our bodies feel fear and we don’t process our thoughts and feelings in a healthy way.

We can’t function and perform well for ourselves, our clients, our communities or our businesses if we live in a constant state of stress.

We can’t pour from an empty cup.

So the first step is becoming aware of what’s happening internally.

How we walk out this crisis is determined by the mindset we choose as we navigate through it.

I’ve recently noticed a cycle in my own thinking through this time, and also in the thinking of some of my clients and friends.

I have named this cycle the 5 stages of mindset change.

In this video and article I share the 5 stages in the cycle and how they manifest in your life, so you can determine how to move to the next stage and use this time to become more resilient.

Stage 1 – React

The first mindset change is to react. We are all reacting very differently to the circumstances around us.

There’s one thing we can’t control and that’s the circumstances around us.

The circumstance is neutral until we put thought and meaning to it. A circumstance cannot make us feel anything.

There are plenty of things we can control, like our thoughts, our emotions, our actions, and our results.

This isn’t anything new, this is well-known in the world of psychology.

This is the way our brain works and what happens when we realise that our reaction to a circumstance is within our control.

We might not control our initial impulse to react, but we can control the meaning we give to the circumstance.

We can control our thoughts about the circumstance, which then controls our feelings about it. Our actions and behaviours follow on from there.

Realising there is so much we can control is very helpful when we feel out of control with a lot of uncertainty in our lives.

We all react differently. Some people are in different stages.  If you think about the stages of grief, there is shock, then there’s numbness. I’ve definitely had some numbness where I’ve found I’m not remembering things and my brain is foggy.

Some of us do what I call going to ‘BED’.

B is for blame

E is for excuses

D is for denial.

We might rotate between blaming other people and blaming ourselves for how we feel. We make excuses. We can start saying that we are not going to achieve our goals or we are not going to move forward.

We can deny our feelings and the changes and almost ‘pretend it’s not happening. In this stage we are reacting to what’s happening rather than taking control of our responses. It’s like we want to just hang out until it’s all over.

Stress occurs in a number of ways and can show up in physical, mental, emotional and behavioural red flags.  We might feel irritable, moody and unmotivated. We might find ourselves over-consuming and indulging in bad habits. These are all symptoms of stress and occur in the ‘react’ stage.

Stage 2 – Reflect

In this stage, we start to reflect on how we’ve chosen to react. Some people never make it to the reflecting stage.

Have we chosen to retreat or advance, to become stronger and grow, or have we hidden from facing the reality of the crisis?

To reflect is healthy. Be open with yourself about how you are feeling and how you have been handling the situation.

Reflection allows us to GROW from this situation.

We can choose a growth mindset that takes what’s thrown at us and we can use it to become stronger, more powerful and more evolved.

We can live at the ’cause’ side of the equation.

Or we can live at the ‘effect’ side.

We all have a choice. We can choose to retreat or advance, choose to become stronger or diminish during this time. This all starts with reflection. 

Stage 3 – Recover

The next stage that a lot of people move to, is what I call recover.

In the recovery stage, we’ve reflected on how we’ve reacted, and then we start to recover.

We start to become more self-aware, self-accepting and accepting of the situation.

We may have been frustrated or angry at having things taken from us.

For example for me, I was so frustrated that I couldn’t use the gym! Going to the gym has been part of my life for 25 years and it was wired into my habits and lifestyle and even identity. It was a coping mechanism.

I would go from feeling frustration at not being able to go to the gym, to feeling guilt and beat myself up for being silly that it’s such a ‘first world problem’. Then I went to feeling compassion for myself for the loss. Even if it seems small and insignificant to someone else.

I’ve realised that I had to grieve the loss of that part of my life. That it’s ok.

Have you lost things that form part of your identity and are also a coping mechanism? If that’s you, I understand.

There is a sense of loss and grieving that comes with any type of loss of something or someone we’re used to.

When you start to recover, you look at the possibilities.

You ask yourself things like “How do I want to be in this season? What can I do differently? How can I meet my needs in a different way, now that restrictions are in place?”

Stage 4 – Reset

The reset stage is a stage where you need to have empathy for yourself and for others.

This is the stage to show yourself kindness, grace and compassion for what you’ve been going through.

This is where the rebooting and recharging kicks in and your creativity gets turned back on.

Recently, I’ve been wanting to plant some things on my balcony. I want to do some painting and I want to write more poetry.

I want to sort out my online systems and I feel more motivated to make changes, whereas in the first few weeks of this, I was feeling numb, confused, lost and a bit all over the place.

In the reset phase, we make empowering changes.

For example I’ve committed to a friend to meet in the park and motivate each other, go for bike rides and take the weights out.

I’ve committed to some non-negotiables of daily sunshine, nature and movement.

I’ve committed to showing up online, regardless of how I feel. I’ve committed to being productive.

The reset stage is putting in some routines, making sure that you have a schedule and keeping some sense of certainty.

Your brain is freaking out right now because there are so many unanswered questions. We don’t know how long this is going to last. There is so much uncertainty.

Having routine brings certainty to your brain. I need a sense of routine every day. I need to stop staying up late. I need to go to bed earlier and get up with a plan every day. I need to stick to my daily plan and weekly goals.

If you’ve fallen down and gotten off of the track, forgive yourself, pick yourself back up again and start showing up in a way that inspires you.

Stage 5 – Resilience


Resilience is your ability to bounce back from stress.

This is where we shift from the stress response to being strong.

Resilience is about acknowledging your feelings of stress and being kin

d to yourself and deciding to use them to grow.

When we are in the resilient stage, we feel strong, resourceful, creative and powerful.

But then something might happen and we find ourselves back in stage 1 as we react again and go back around the cycle again.

We’ve all been feeling certain levels of stress. It’s important to acknowledge that it is stress and that your brain doesn’t feel safe due to the upheaval we have all been experiencing.

When you feel stress rising up in your body, take a moment to do some stress relief actions:

* Deep breathing or meditation.

* Increase your movement and intake of healthy food.

* Externalising your thoughts – journaling, or processing with a coach or friend.

* If you have nervous energy and find yourself scrolling, find something to create something and do things with your hands.

Remember that comforting yourself is different to caring for yourself.

Most of all – be kind to you. You’re doing great, my friend. Even if you don’t think you are.

I know we all try to be strong and independent, powerful leaders, but we’re all going through this together. It helps us if we are open, honest and vulnerable.

When we face these feelings, it allows us to move on to the resilience stage more quickly.

You don’t need to rush to resilience. The by-product of reflecting, recovering and resetting will be resilience.

Love to hear your thoughts.

Are you a service-based business owner?

Do you need help setting up an online funnel, so you can attract new clients?

I’m offer a free 30-minute strategy session here

*First-time sessions

I’ll help you clarity your next steps to building your own, profit-producing marketing funnel, fast.

Looking forward to helping you get more clients online!

Take care and stay strong,

Kat

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