Go to www.marionclaire.com  and on the Home page, you will find a link to download this valuable speaking tool:

5 MAGIC KEYS TO CREATING ANY SPEECH!

Knowing the answers to these Five Questions will enable you to create a fabulous speech for almost any occasion.  Download your Free Report now and make creating your next speech so much easier!  

Already a subscriber?  Click here.  

   Who Are You in 60 Seconds?    

      "I hate networking!" a business associate, call her Paula, admitted to me the other day.  "I know it's a required skill in running my business, but I dread every breakfast, lunch or evening mixer where I know I'm going to have to introduce myself in 60 seconds or less."

      "What's so fearful about talking about yourself and your business?" I asked.

      "I just hate it," she said.  "I get really nervous, always forget something important, and I feel so inadequate listening to all the other people in the room who are better at it than I am.  I plan ahead what to say, but I'm so worried about keeping within the time limit that either I forget half of it or speak too fast trying to get it all in.  And then afterward, I kick myself for being so incompetent."  She looked at me miserably.  "I'm really good at my profession," she added, "but, you'd never know it from those darn 60 seconds.  What's the secret? How do I get over this? It's really getting me down."

      Paula's lament is heard a lot, especially from people whose business depends as much on word of mouth as it does on other forms of publicity and advertising.  Many entrepreneurs, small business owners, and professionals of all persuasions find that the more personally they interact with prospective clients, the more successful their businesses become.  And that means saying something so appealing in 60 seconds or less that everyone they meet will want to hear more.  

      There are several different formulas for creating a 60-second intro.  All of them are supposed to hook your listener's interest and make you sound like someone they want to know more about.  They include saying your name, your title and type of business, what your specialization is, who your ideal client is and why your listener should prefer working with you rather than others in your field.  Everyone in business knows these formulas, and everyone uses them, with varying degrees of individual success.

      What Paula was looking for was the magic key that would make her feel confident as well as competent in networking situations.  More importantly, she wanted her listeners to feel confident that she was competent in her business and that it was well worth their time to find out more about using her services.

      The quickest way to attract attention when promoting yourself and your business to total strangers is to remember five little words: What's In It For Them, or WIIFT.

      After you say your name, even before your title, offer a description of what you do that will make your listener think, "That's interesting.  I want to know more about that."  My 60-second intro usually begins, "Hi, I'm Marion Claire, the Speaking Is Sexy Coach."  In those few words my listeners know what I do and how it will benefit them, assuming the idea that speaking can be sexy is something they'd like to know more about.  I then go on to explain why speaking is sexy and why it's important to achieving their goals.  I can then spend the remaining seconds talking about their particular needs, showing how I can specifically help them, how I've helped others, what my credentials are, etc.

      Whether it's a networking event, a social event, an interview, or a casual encounter standing in line at the movies, what remains constant is those few opening words   that say who I am and what's in it for them.  I deliver them with confidence and a sincere interest in offering something helpful to my listener.  The result is almost always an exchange of contact information, which I can then follow up on later.  The personal contact has been made and interest has been piqued.  I know that they're interested in what I can do for them, and it only took 60 seconds to find out.

      Remember the magic acronym: WIIFT.  Try your 60-second intro out on friends or colleagues; ask them for their honest reaction.  Get help if you need it to hone and polish your approach to make it irresistible.  Keep refining your opening until you feel so comfortable that you can say it almost without thinking whenever a networking opportunity arises.  Memorize the key phrases you want to say the same way every time, so you won't have to worry about forgetting them on the spot.  You'll never have to fear introducing yourself and your business again, and your listeners will be glad they met you in 60-seconds or less!