Hit It Out of the Park Every Single Time!

Recently, an audience member asked me a great question:

“What mindset state helps you deliver the best in a prospect meeting or a speaking engagement?”

I thought it was the perfect question to respond to with some of my strategies to get ready for a new prospect meeting or a speaking engagement.

You’ll enjoy this article if you ever show up to sales conversations or speaking engagements nervous and sweating, worried you won’t make it through the meeting.

Or, perhaps it’s not THAT bad, but you still get the jitters and wish you were more confident.

How you show up to meetings and speaking engagements is critical to having a successful connection with your audience. When you connect with them, you make a better impression, bigger impact, and build more influence.

When I first started speaking, my focus was all on me. I remember presenting my first 5 minutes Toastmasters speech. The speech was an icebreaker where I talked about me. An easy topic! I spent 10 hours practicing a 5-minute speech about the topic I know the most about. Yet, when it was my time to present, my stomach was turning, my body was shaking, I was dizzy, and I thought I might pass out or throw up when they called my name to present my short speech.

Since then, I’ve given thousands of speeches. I’m not going to lie, sometimes I get nervous and every now and then I get very anxious. It’s usually when I think the stakes are high that I get more anxious, and it goes beyond my normal nervousness and excitement. I read somewhere that nervous and excitement come from the same place in your brain, so I try to shift the way I see it to excitement rather than nervousness. But that’s very different than the anxiousness that can take over my brain (or my amygdala for those of you studying the brain).

It's normal to have these feelings when we are stepping up our games! Our inner critic would rather we stay comfortable and don’t go out too far on a limb trying new things. Exposing ourselves to outer critics and the fear that comes along with those thoughts can be debilitating.

However, I know you want to do bigger things. You want to make a difference. You don’t want to play it safe. You want to change the world with your message, your product, your service. What that means is that you’ll need to find some ways to help you get past the nervousness and anxiety so you can be there for your audience. They are waiting for you to be their guides and support them over their next challenge. It’s your responsibility to show up.

There are a few pre-meeting practices I do that help me muster the courage to stand up and step out of my comfort zone so I can be there for my audiences. They include:

1.????Preparation. For every meeting and speaking event I get really prepared. For a sales call, I go to LinkedIn and Google to research the person or company to learn what I can about them before we talk. Then, I prepare a list of questions that I will help me understand what they are looking for so I can give them some ideas or offer a solution. The conversation is them talking and me listening. I want to ensure I can help them with my services. I’m not trying to persuade them to buy something just to make a sale.

For speaking, I’m going to talk a few times to the person who picked me to learn from them what they are looking for, the challenges their audience is having, what they’ve tried before and the outcome(s) they are looking for with the speech. Again, I want to make sure it’s a good fit. That I’m the right person for the job. If not, I have tons of friends in the speaking business and will make a referral to someone else. If we are a good fit, yay! Then, I get to work putting together a program that meets their objectives. I’ll spend hours thinking it through from different angles and check back in with the client to make sure I’m on the right track. I invest 90% of my time in this stage.

HOWEVER, HERE’S WHERE THE MAGIC COMES IN…

2.????Night Before Ritual. The evening before my big meeting, there are a few things I do to help me the next day. I review my presentation one last time. Then I close the presentation and I do not look at it again until 15-20 minutes before presentation time. Instead, I use my time to manage my energy. I like to listen to a creative meditation in my iTunes. I pray to connect with the audience and have clear communication. I drink chamomile tea and I relax. The night before is not the time for me to cram. It’s the time for me to rest so I bring all my energy the next day.

3.????The Morning of Ritual. I wake up early, get some great music on that makes me feel empowered and energetic. It must be music I like to dance and sing to. I know you’ll think I’m crazy, but here goes… I like to listen to Lick It Up by Kiss. Of course, I shower and get my make-up on (extra make up for speaking).

Then, I do a breathing exercise I learned from my friend Michelle Villalobos where I hold my arms out and bringing them to my chest while I inhale. On the inhale, I either say out loud or in my head that I am receiving gifts. The gifts are the audience’s presence and attention. Then I exhale and expand my arms. On the exhale, I imagine I’m giving gifts to the audience. The gifts are my knowledge and my presence.

Finally, I say a mantra. It changes each time, but the last time it was “I have massive value to give,” followed by “I am READY!” And, with that, I start my meeting.

The biggest lesson I learned from when I started in sales and started in speaking until now, and it’s the same lesson that helps me move beyond the nerves to be present with prospects and my audience, is to shift my focus on them. Having a givers mindset and knowing that you are there to show up and give value, share your knowledge, and offer suggestions to help them be better at what they do is the key to success for everyone.

This is the mindset that guarantees you’ll hit it out of the park every time!?

Cheers! Jennifer

p.s. If you’re ready to upgrade your LinkedIn account to ensure you’re speaking the right language to entice your prospects on your LinkedIn profile,?grab a copy of the Ultimate LinkedIn Profile Checklist, click here .

About the Author:

Jennifer Darling is a revenue-generating machine and in-demand keynote speaker, she led her teams to record-breaking results in sales. During the recession, her team posted a +40% swing in the national average in advertising sales and made more money than ever before (she even helped her boss earn his bonus to buy a new Audi, yay him).

Jennifer knows what works to turn frigid calls into smokin’ hot prospects. She is loaded with ideas that break through the traditional molds and create innovative solutions to stand out.

Jennifer is one of the world’s foremost LinkedIn experts, and the ONLY one who has 20+ years of advertising and sales experience. Jennifer has trained thousands of salespeople and business professionals to optimize and maximize their LinkedIn results. She is the author of Increase Your Sales Leads with LinkedIn: 52 Tips for Sales Success.