10 Steps To Overcome Speaker's Block!

“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” - Thomas Edison

Writer's block?

A few years ago, I had the privilege of interviewing marketing guru, Seth Godin at the International Maxwell Conference in Orlando. We were talking about writer’s block, and he said, “Writer’s block? Does a plumber get plumber’s block?’

And then he said, “Listen, a plumber has to plumb whether they feel like it or not; whether they’re in flow or not; whether it’s their best day ever or not. The truth is, whether their creative juices are flowing freely or they are feeling totally brain dead .. they still have to show up and work! And so does a writer.”

Speaker's block?

And the same is also true for speakers. If you’re working on your signature story, or online program, or social media content, and it's turning out to be a little bit more difficult than you thought .. don’t allow yourself the luxury of thinking that speaker’s block is a thing! (How convenient is that thought anyway?)

Of course, at some times it's easier to get going than at others?

But easy or not, the bottom line is, you’ve got to find a way to do something. You may not find your genius right away, but you will find it if you stick at it.?

So if you’re struggling to get started, here’s a few tricks to prime the pump on your creative genius.

10 steps to get unblocked!

1.????? Get booked!

Far and away the quickest way to be super-productive is get booked to stand up and speak in front of other people. I think you’ll find that speaker’s block immediately evaporates into thin air!

2.????? Work at your best time.

If you know when you’re at your most productive, do your most important work then. I’m a morning person, and so for me, there is no comparison between working first thing in the morning and at any other time. In the morning, it’s like I’m working with someone else’s mind! But as I get tired, I just can’t think straight.

3.????? Give your mind space.

There’s a great line in Princess Bride, where Billy Crystal’s character says, “Don’t rush me sonny. If you rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles!”

Try and keep this in mind when you’re developing your content. Little and often over time is better than trying to do it all in one go, the night before. Give your marvelous mind some space and it will surprise with things you didn’t even know you knew!

4.????? Speak it out.

The vast majority of my clients find it much more comfortable to spend hours and hours tinkering with a script on a computer, rather than actually say it out loud. This can make the process very inefficient, if you let it.

It is uncomfortable at first, but if you just stand up as if you’re in front of the audience and speak it out, you’ll often be amazed with what you come up with under that pressure.

You’ll say a lot of nonsense too .. but just discard that and keep the gems.

5.????? Bounce your ideas off someone else.

Getting feedback, ideas and perspective from someone else can really help you tap into your best stuff. If you have someone you can brainstorm with, it can also be a fun way to evolve your content. ?

6. Record yourself and watch it back.

When you watch yourself in action, you experience it very differently to when you say it. It's almost like your coaching someone else. It can be a great prompt as to what to leave in, what to take out and to discover new ways of saying and doing things.

7. Time box yourself.

Give yourself a specific amount of time to just write or speak. Don't stop, keep going till you get to the end. If you're struggling to do 2 hours, start with 5 minutes.

8. Reward yourself.

"You're responsible for the effort, not the result." So don't concentrate too much on the outputs, concentrate on the inputs. Do the work and then celebrate! The more fun you make it, the less resistance there will be.

9. Your audience deserves your best.

Keep top of mind that your audience deserves your best. If you expect them to give you their most precious resource, their time .. then you need to give them your best in exchange. Do the best you can with the time you have available. You don't need to do it perfectly, but you do need to do your best!

10. Be kind to yourself.

Finally, don't forget to be kind to yourself. Be your biggest cheerleader, not your harshest critic. If you keep going, your content creation process will keep getting easier and your content will keep getting better. Being kind to yourself will help you keep going and will also make you feel better about life!

If you would like to watch a short video where I go into more detail, click here.

Final thought.

Progress is more important than perfection. Keep making progress often, and then it's just a matter of time. And if you have discovered other great ways to tap into your creativity, reply and let me know what they are please!?

Need help?

If you’re struggling to get your signature story or keynote down, have you ever thought about hiring a coach to help you dig for your gold?

Book a discovery call with me to find out more: click here.