How Do You Say What You Do?

I was scrolling through my twitter feed following links to interesting stories and blogs. That’s when I stumbled upon a promotion for an upcoming book release by Danielle LaPorte. I investigated her blog and quickly fell in love with her style.

I found this post pretty fast. Do yourself a favor and go read it. I will wait.

Welcome back. Danielle offered a great way to take your job title from boring to awesome. I tried to accomplish that on my About page. That took a couple rewrites and may get more in the future. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. This is about face to face conversation. This is a chat with a stranger in an airport waiting line. This is how you get people’s interest in hurry. In essence, she’s shown an example of the right way to use the classic elevator pitch.

Did you notice the end of the post? She wants to know how we say what we do. I’m down for the challenge. Are you?

What Does This Have To Do With Awakening?

Good question. A quick chat about the weather isn’t going to build connections. You can stand out in someone’s memory when you choose the right words. There’s nothing sleazy or hidden. It’s just a statement of the facts in a more exciting way.

From Danielle’s post:

Let people see the full scope of what you’re doing. You can be modest and powerful. Factual and engaging. Facts + feelings = genuinely compelling.

You deserve to toot your own horn once in a while. This is a way you can give yourself credit without sounding arrogant. It will actually open more conversation.

Giving Myself Credit

Introduce Yourself

I have to admit that being a Hypnotist makes this easy. Go try that one on a stranger. Tell them you’re a Hypnotist. It always gets reactions. Just remember you will be challenged to prove it, accused of being evil, told it doesn’t work, and a wide range of other reactions from positive to negative. It’s always fun.

That’s the point of this exercise. Engage people in a way that doesn’t make them feel threatened or bored. You want them curious. I have found ways around those reactions by choosing my words wisely.

I can say, “I help people change unwanted behaviors, defeat bad habits, and accomplish goals they thought were impossible. And I do all of that in the easiest way possible.” That always makes people curious. “I accomplish all of this by bringing together tools from various fields of personal development to guide you through a step by step personalized process of change until you succeed.”

That’s one way I can describe my Personal Coaching programs. It allows me to grab a person’s interest without provoking misconceptions about my tools. It’s still a very general look at what I do, but it provides a chance to find out what I might help you accomplish.

This can also be brought down into a smaller niche. I love telling people I help smokers walk away from cigarettes forever. They always ask how I can do it. My answer may look like this. “The process is simple. I designed a smoker’s way to quit smoking. I actually give you a couple smoke breaks while I help you quit.” That disarms a smokers threat response. Now they want to know more.

“I will help you discover your core values so you can see how smoking goes against them. The next step is showing you why you’re a smoker, and why you haven’t been able to quit. Then you get a smoke break.” That always gets some ears perked up.

“Then we will systematically remove the blinders that smokers wear, and unveil the illusions that smokers believe. Then you’ll smoke your final cigarette while following specific instructions.” People want to know how I know these things for sure. That’s when I smile and say, “Because I was a smoker for 20 years, and this is how I stopped. And I didn’t just stop smoking. I walked away from smoking unable to believe I was ever a smoker to begin with. So will you when you go through my program.”

Now Recruiting.

That’s how I give myself credit. That’s how I create more interest. It works, but I’m always seeking to improve. How do you tell people what you do? Share your stories in the comments below.

I’m grateful for the inspiration I found by participating in The Burning Question Series. Thank you, Danielle!  Share your blog posts below if you’ve done the same.