David Diana

There is no magic formula for ramping up your business and getting it to take off. Of course, people will tell you there is, and you’ll get all kinds of interesting offers to that effect. But I’m not buying it. Not if you want that last 10%, the upper echelon of whatever it is you’re striving for. In my line of business it isn’t too difficult to bring about change. My organization can make some of the obvious changes to improve the bottom line: work a little harder, be more visible, offer a new service line.

If you’re looking to improve your public speaking skills try these helpful tips. USE THE POWER OF “TRANSFERABLE CONCEPTS” One of the best ways to create a powerful first impression is through the use of story. It doesn’t have to be a personal story. Any compelling story related to your topic will do. The first thing that a good story does is identify a theme or common experience that serves as a ‘transferable concept’ for participants. By this I mean that audience members can relate to the story and will be able to identify their own personal experiences as you go through your presentation.

Consider for a moment just how powerful you and I have become. In 2005 a man named Jeff Jarvis was in need of a computer after he left his corporate job to find newfound freedom as an entrepreneur. He chose a Dell for its reasonable price and history of good customer service. There was one problem – his computer turned out to be a “grade A” piece of junk! There were seemingly endless “crashes” and “bugs”. After months of frustration he decided to vent by writing a post on his personal blog hoping to warn others who might be reading before they made the same mistake. His blog was brief and filled with emotion.

It is simply part of the human condition. We twist ourselves around a discursive thinking process where logic and reason prevail. Our minds ramble on and on trying to make sense of an idea, conflict or challenge. • Should I play it safe or be frivolous? • I want to do this, but maybe I’m not good enough. • Is the idea I have good or bad? • Should I sign up for boxing or ballet?

It’s not easy to open yourself up to possibility. And when you make the effort it can be filled with risk and setbacks. When I’m feeling stuck I remind myself that my world is, in many ways, a psychological construct of the mind. And the story I see and tell myself is founded on a network of assumptions. No matter how objective I try to be the world still extends well beyond the borders that confine me to my every day reality. Every dilemma I find myself facing only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view.