Mary Hostetter–RE/MAX Alliance

April 17th, 2017

Johanna is the real deal in bringing her insightful teaching and coaching to clients. I have worked with her privately on several occasions to prepare my talks. She has helped me bring my storytelling and speaking forward in huge steps. 

Prepare for a speech (so it rolls off your tongue like butter)

March 30th, 2017

   

Ever wonder how to prepare for a speech
in the most effective way possible?

Or are you the person who NEVER prepares, and wings it every time, and thinks you’re pretty genius? 

You probably are. That’s awesome.

But here’s the thing. The next time you get up on stage to speak, preparing for and rehearsing your talk is one of the best things you can do for yourself, your audience, your business & the world. 

I’m not kidding. 

I know you’re probably thinking “But when I prepare, I get all stiff and self-conscious. It doesn’t feel like me. I do way better when I wing it.”

I believe you…sort of. 

I’ve been in the camp of non-preparers, for sure. But as I move forward in my speaking career, I find myself preparing MORE.

You’d think I’d need to prepare LESS as I go.

In someways, that’s true. I spend less time creating the talk. 

The talks are written. Got that dialed in. 

I’ve given the same talks a bunch of times, so I don’t have to create a new talk every time I give one. I tweak it a little for each particular audience, but the basics of the content is the same.

In fact, I prepare for a speech MORE. 

Since the content is crafted, and tried & true, I now get to spend my time honing in on the most specific language, nailing the parts that previously I stumbled over, getting the transitions to flow like melted butter, and feeling ease & flow in my offer.

That’s what I want for you. 

Listen to this video below where I share a few of the best ways I prepare for a speech.

Be sure to share how YOU prepare for a speech in the comments below. And let me know how it goes the next time you speak!

See you out there!

 

You are amazing! Now tell a story about it

March 13th, 2017

I have an amazing friend who is a long-time, die-hard New Yorker. She’s lived in the same tiny apartment between Avenues C & D in the East Village for 30 years. The bathtub is in the kitchen. (And it’s my favorite bathtub in the world)

Jane takes bubble baths and wears bright red lipstick and has spent a good part of her career working as a hospice nurse for homeless men with AIDS.

She tells stories and finds the treasure in everyone she meets.

We met in a week-long community dance training in Washington DC in 1994, and became fast friends by telling one another stories about love. When the training ended, I went back to Ohio, she went back to New York, and we agreed to write love letters to one another.

As in letters about love, and all the many ways it manifests in our lives.

For a long time, we did.

It was amazing.
But in Jane’s world, everything is amazing.

(If you’re ever feeling dull, or uninspired, or like your life is not all shiny and fancy like that other person’s is, give Jane a call and she will remind you of the amazingness of it all.)

I got reminded of that this week because another amazing friend gave me an assignment to ask a stranger about something amazing that happened in the last week.

It took a while for me to get around to doing it, because who walks up to strangers and asks them a question like that?

Apparently I do.
Here’s this week’s Just Say Something video.

About the AMAZING stories right before your eyes.

Have a listen. This one’s just under 4 minutes.

Now go find a stranger and ask them what amazing this happened in their life this week, and post in the comments a story you hear. Or what cracked open when you asked the question. Or what amazing thing happened in your life this week.

Go! Now! Do it!

See you out there!

Why Stories Matter: Connect with your audience every time

February 28th, 2017

You know that thing that happens when you tell a story and someone says “Ooh ooh ooh that reminds me of a time when…”

and they tell a story that maybe doesn’t even really have that much to do with the story you just told, but there’s a thread, and that leads to yet another story, and the whole night you’re traveling through worlds you had no idea you were going to enter, and you go home changed.

That’s the magic of storytelling.

When you tell a story, you spark another story.

When you tell a story well, the distance between teller and a listener shrinks, and you enter a world together.

Like if you’re facing a big, freakin mountain and you have no idea how you’re gonna get up it… if I’m listening to your story I’m facing that same mountain with you.

My brain and my body will figure out how to get up that mountain too.

We climb that mountain together.

Engagement. Resonance. Empathy.

Imagine that. Stories can do that.

When you tell me a story I see new possibilities I hadn’t seen before.

And Lord knows we need all the new possibilities we can get right about now.

I get a window into a different reality, a different body living in a different world with different perspectives.

You get to travel to places inside and out that you haven’t been before.

Our worlds get bigger.

We get to show each other what we’ve figured out about how to be human.

Stories cross borders.

The borders of time and space as well as the borders between people.

They remind us we’re not alone.

We’re not alone! We have each other!

I don’t know about you but I can so caught up in that little dopamine hit of the tiny screen, but oh the connection that happens with a good story, when two actual living breathing human people tell one another stories? 

I’d take that over the tiny screen any day.

Stories inspire change.

Better than any other agent of change. (in my humble opinion)

Think of a story that made you lean in. A story that helped you understand. A story that made you laugh. A story that made you cry.

Yeah. That one. The one that changed you.

You can tell that kind of story.

Let’s tell some stories and change the world.

Telling a story is one thing.
But telling it well?
That’s a whole nother can of words.

(That was a typo. I meant to say worms, but I’m keeping it.)

Want help telling YOUR story? Let’s talk! 

 

Stop behaving and get connected

December 23rd, 2016

Do you get gold stars for good behavior?

Do you find yourself doing major contortions and back flips to get those gold stars?

I do. At least I used to. Now I do my best to break rules whenever I can, but it still pushes me up against an old “MUST BEHAVE MUST BEHAVE MUST BEHAVE” recording that got planted deep in my bones a long time ago.

Sometimes out in the big bad world, when a young person shows feelings at an inconvenient time, in an inconvenient way, it gets counted as “bad” behavior.

Sometimes when a grown-up shows their authentic self, it gets counted as “bad” behavior.

Bummer. Not in my world.

(If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know that already.)

In today’s #justsaysomething video, I talk about how maaaaaybe good behavior doesn’t need to be the top priority.

Listen to the video below (this one’s 4 minutes) then share it with a friend, and share your thoughts in the comments below.

How to be a You-Tube Sensation (or not)

December 17th, 2016

I’m not gonna try to lure you into watching this video.

I’m not gonna dangle a little carrot so you’re tempted to see what’s inside.

I’m not gonna tease and tempt you.

I’m not gonna make you hyper aware of your pain so you grovel to the play button in hopes of having your problem solved.

I’m not gonna appeal to your inner hero to get you to click so you feel like you can conquer the world simply by clicking this link.

I’m not gonna make you wish you were someone other than you are.

I’m not gonna convince you you should be a better version of yourself.

I’m not promise the secret to how to go out into the world bigger, bolder, and brighter today.

I’m not gonna whine and guilt you into opening it.

I’m not gonna promise 6 figures, or a better love life, or the path to being the next Oprah, or the secret to not working, or how to live the rest of your life on a beech.

I’m not gonna make you feel like the only way to happiness, or skinniness, or great sex is to click this video.

But I did make episode 3 of JUST SAY SOMETHING with Johanna Walker.

And I am going to invite you to watch it.

Just because.

OK OK one hint:

In this video I share THE ORIGINAL NOTE given to me by a beloved friend a bunch of years ago when I was afraid I might say something stupid.

It now hangs on my bulletin board as a reminder every day.

Listen to see what he wrote.

There. Had to give you a reason. I knew JUST BECAUSE wasn’t gonna cut it.

OK. Now watch.

How ’bout you? If you weren’t worried about what someone else might think, if you had total permission to F&*k up, what would you say?

Post it in the comments below! Then share this video with someone you know who has something to say that they’re not saying yet.

How Crying will make you a more powerful public speaker

December 10th, 2016

If that picture is throwing you off a bit, stay tuned. She’s on the road to becoming a more powerful public speaker, as are you.

Have you been lying awake nights thinking “Just Say Something episode 2 is coming up soon!! I wonder what Johanna’s gonna say?!?!?!?!”

It’s OK if you haven’t, but if you have, SO HAVE I !!!

I’ll tell you one thing. I got sick right after the election. I cried for about 3 days, then I got sick.

Whether or not it was election-related, it has been a doozy of an illness. I got strep throat and pinkeye and fever and a wicked, relentless cough. I’ve been MOSTLY better, but haven’t been able to shake it completely. Eeegads.

And we are indeed in a doozy of a time, with some serious s%#t hitting some serious fan.

Which means, whatever your politics, there’s lots to speak about.

Time to speak up, speak out, stop playing small.

In this week’s episode I spill the beans about the #1 secret for how to become a more powerful public speaker.

I’ll show you how to access some POTENT POWER that is all yours.

And I bet you anything you haven’t heard this secret before in any other “#1 secret to powerful public speaking” posts.

SERIOUSLY.

(If you have, I’d love to see it.)

So have a listen. Then share in the comments below how YOU best connect to your power.

Did you catch last week’s #justsaysomething video? Here’s the link again in case you missed it.

Sharing is caring! Share this video, or subscribe below.

See you next week!

“Just Say Something” Episode 1

December 1st, 2016

Today’s my birthday. (More on that in a moment)

In the midst of planning for 2017, I found myself saying to a colleague, “Man oh man my newsletter is the bane of my existence. I love writing it when I do, but I can’t for the life of me get consistent. My self-doubt demons grip the back of my neck and my fingers freeze when I sit down to write and I nosedive right back into that old ‘I have nothing to say’ story. What the heck should I do about that?”

Here’s what my friend said: “Johanna, do this: Pick up your phone. Set a timer. Hit record and videotape yourself speaking. Just say something. Do it for 5 weeks in a row and call it #justsaysomething with Johanna Walker. See what comes.”

So I’m doing it. Ripping off the band-aid. Abandoning perfection. Telling the self-doubt demons to go sit in the back seat so I can drive. Doing the same thing I ask my clients to do:

Say something. Put a stake in the ground. Get information. Correct course if you need to. Then say something else.

Risk saying something “stupid.” Risk getting it “wrong.” Risk the possibility of messing up and feeling humiliated. Get out of your comfort zone.

#justsaysomething

Not sure what direction this little project will take me. I might tell stories. I might give public speaking tips. I might just have a little rant (which is kinda what I did today. A little birthday rant.) But I’ll send you a video every week till the end of 2016.

Whatever happens I hope you’ll join me to find out.

I intend to commit for 5 weeks, then if I’m still having fun, and you haven’t unsubscribed by then, I’ll keep going.

Here’s #justsaysomething episode 1. It’s 4 minutes. Have a listen.

What would you say if you pulled out your phone and set a timer for 3-4 minutes and JUST SAID SOMETHING?

Try it. #justsaysomething, then post it below.

I dare you. 🙂

Thanks for tuning in.

How to get booked as a speaker

July 3rd, 2016

One of the biggest questions I get asked as a public speaking coach is “How do I get booked as a speaker?”

I usually don’t have to convince people that speaking in front of a room full of people is the best thing since sliced bread. (Even though speaking in front of a room full of people has been around since long before sliced bread.)

Your business,  your passion, your story, your world-changing idea. Whatever it is, you want to broadcast it through speaking.

You know that’s the way to grow a following. Reach your clients. Position yourself as the expert you are.

You just don’t know how to get on a stage and deliver your extraordinary talk.

Great! Let me help you.  Here are the 7 steps you need to take to book those gigs:

1. Know your goals.

What do you want out of this talk? Do you want exposure? Do you want to be paid? Do you want to use it as a way to grow your business? Do you want to take a risk? Do something scary? Say something you’ve never said on stage before?

What do you want for your audience? Do you want them to be enraged? inspired? moved to action? Do you want them to sign up to work with you? Do you want them to have conversations with other people about it after they leave?

Getting clear about this will help you talk about it, speak about it, write about it, pitch it. It will help you better connect your talk with the people who need & want to hear it.

2. Do a braindump of all the possible places you might speak.

Where are your people? Where do they hang out? Which Meetups? Which conferences? Which clubs?

Do a brain dump of every possible place. PTA meetings. Swim clubs. Churches. Meditation groups.

No censoring. No editing. There will be enough time for that later.

For now, just make a list and go with it. Remember, you can’t correct course standing still.

3. Tell everyone you know that you’re a speaker.

Don’t be shy about letting people know you’re a speaker and you want to speak.

Say to the guy at the corner grocer (do they still have corner grocers?) “I’m a speaker. I speak about how working on your public speaking skills will make your sex life way better.”

Tell your neighbor’s neighbor. Your mom’s pharmacist. You kid’s teacher. The guy you met on the bus when the snow was so bad you had to wait an extra 20 minutes to get to where you were going.

At the risk of sounding woowoo, not only will all those people know you’re a speaker, and will think of you when the guy they meet at the next bus stop says he’s looking for a speaker, but the universe will hear you too.

When you’re clear about what you want, the universe is better able to get in behind you and make it happen.

4. Pick up the phone.

I have a sign next to my desk that says “Pick up the phone, Johanna. Make the call.”

As an introvert who would sometimes rather sit at her computer and check her email than pick up the phone and make a scary phone call, I have to remind myself to pick up the phone. Yes sometimes you gotta make a cold call.

And yes sometimes you gotta sound really confident even if you don’t feel it inside.

In many cases, that uncomfortable phone call is what’s going to open the door to your next speaking gig

In my FREE 5-day Getting Booked Challenge, I share templates for how to have these phone conversations. Click here and let us know if you’d like to be notified next time we run it live. 

5. Make ridiculously bold asks

You’re not going to get very far if you sit back and wait. That agent is most likely not going to walk into your living room and offer you a $50,000 gig if you did nothing to earn it.

So ask yourself:

Where do you really really really want to speak that you think maaaaaybe one day down the road there’s a remote possibility that you could get on that stage?  Or where’s the place your mind is telling you you could never possibly get on that stage?

Make the list. Believe it’s possible.

Then introduce yourself. Get to know the decision maker. Let them know what you have to offer. Let them know how you can rock that stage.

Engage your ridiculous boldness and ask.

6. Get an accountabilibuddy.

Don’t do it alone. Get a buddy. Get a team of buddies.

Tell your buddy what your goals are and what steps you’re going to take to get there. Put your heads together and make a plan, then support each other in following up with the plan.

You can even make calls for each other. Be one another’s agent.

Just don’t try to do it alone. Seriously. 

7. Be gentle with yourself.

Putting yourself out there is HARD.

I work with a lot of people who are speaking for the first time, and I can attest to the fact that once you decide you have something to say and you want to say it in a bigger way, the demons who want to keep you small come out in full force.

Get to know those little guys (or gals). Get familiar with them. Don’t give them too much power. You’ve got the power. Own it. Claim it. It’s yours. Not theirs.

Have fun. Take action. Get real. Get out there. GET SUPPORT. Get booked.

What’s your next action step? Post it in the comments below!

 

Impact your audience: What’s your one thing?

May 29th, 2016

I’ve been thinking about you. Wondering how life is going in the world of a brave speaker who wants to impact your audience in a big way.

Even if you don’t always feel brave, my friend, I know you are.

A lot of the people who work with me know they have a powerful message to deliver, or an important story to tell. They feel it burning inside them. They want to have an impact.

They imagine themselves on stage inspiring their audiences. They imagine the joy of affecting change through speaking. Of someone’s life being touched because of something they said. Of audiences saying “You! I want to work with you!”

But for most of them there’s a pretty massive gap between their office chair and that powerful impact.

Can you relate?

The gap is different for different people, but for many folks, it’s a matter of clarity.

So much to say, so many ideas. You feel like you have to figure out how to say EVERYTHING in your talk. You have to fit EVERYTHING in because this is your one chance to make a difference.

Look. I am the queen of multi-passions. I get it. I’ve got my foot in so many doors you’d think I had a dozen extra feet. I fully support you in following your passions, diving in, living big and saying all the things you want to say.

BUT when speaking, the only way your audience is gonna know what you’re talking about, the only way they’re gonna remember you, is if you boil your message down to ONE THING.

There’s plenty of time to say all the things. Trust that they will all get said. But this time, for this talk, say ONE THING.

What’s the ONE THING you want your audience to remember?

I call this your Genie Gem.

Once you’re clear about this, that operates like a magnet for the rest of your talk. There’s still lots of work to do after that, for sure, but it all falls in a little more clearly once you nail down your ONE THING.

Now if you’re one of the people saying “But I don’t know my one thing! I have so many “one thing”s to say! How do I know which one is the ONE THING I should talk about?

First of all, you’re not alone.

So many people, including me, get stuck on the ONE THING project.

Here are 3 things you can try to budge that uncooperative voice inside:

 

1. Answer that question I asked above (as in really answer it!) : What’s the ONE THING you want your audience to remember at the end of your talk?

If you don’t know, try this: Imagine yourself on stage. You’re 100% present. You’re in your groove. You’re sailing. You’re having fun. You’re feeling the connection. The audience is with you. They’re on the edge of their seats. They want more. The connection is palpable in the room.

(OK, OK if you’ve never felt that, imagine the possibility. It IS possible, and probably not as far away as you think. Check out this blog post if you get stuck here.)

Imagine the standing ovation. The bow. That high that happens in a room when you’ve heard someone speak the truth with passion and clarity.

Your audience leaves. The next day, week, month they think about you. They remember that talk you gave. It stayed with them. They ponder it. They wonder what you’re like. They want to know the magic behind the scene.

What’s the one thing they remember? When they tell their friend about the talk they heard by YOU, what do they tell them? What do they talk about? What conversation does your talk spark?

“I heard this amazing talk about ______,” they say. “What really stayed with me was the idea that __________. It’s made a huge difference to me in my life. Here’s how:__________________.”

Fill in those blanks, and there you have it. Your Genie Gem

 

2. Still stuck? What’s something that really pisses you off? What enrages you?

You find yourself having conversations in your head about that thing other people do. If only you were in charge. If only they saw it your way. If only you had a million bucks you could make it so that thing that pisses you off would never happen again.

What keeps you up at night? What do you shout at the sky about while driving alone at night banging on your steering wheel?

Now let’s back up: What’s the value right behind that anger? You just said “If only they saw it your way.”

Well here’s the thing, the whole idea of speaking is to change people’s minds and get them to see things your way.

So, what’s your way? What’s the value behind that thing that pisses you off?

 

3. BUT what if it’s not quite right? What about all the other millions of ideas I have? Do I have to abandon them all?

It probably isn’t “quite right.” But you’re not gonna get any closer to nailing it by sitting around eating bonbons. So put a stake in the ground NOW, and walk forward with this “not quite right” Genie Gem.

Walk forward AS IF you know exactly what your one thing is. (Because you do)

Stay curious and see where it takes you.

You can tweak it and change it and turn it around at any point along the way. But you can’t move forward standing still, so let this “not quite right” Genie Gem be the thing that compels you forward.

And no you don’t have to kill all the other ideas. Remember that there will be many many more talks to give. File them away for next time.You get to have them all.

Once your Genie Gem is in place, you’ll have done some solid groundwork  on the road to crafting your knockout talk, and to attracting that perfect client who says “Oooh yeah I wanna work with her. She’s talking my talk.”

So, my friend, as you embark on the path of crafting your signature talk, ask the question, “What’s the one thing I want my audience to walk away with?”

Then, since commitment has boldness, power and genius in it, share it with the rest of us and post it in the comments below.

You won’t be alone.
And you’re gonna be awesome.