How can your book make a difference? Part Two

Missed Part One?   Read it here.

I hope to inspire some of you to realize the gift hidden within you and give you the tools you need to spread that message and give new ideas and knowledge to make this world a little better for everyone. If you have a unique gift or ability, a book is the easiest way to spread that message to as many people as possible.

I would like to share with you the stories of some of the authors who I have helped to recognize their gift and spread the “word” with their published book.

One of those authors, Annie Hopper, has discovered a cure for Fibromalgia, MSC and Chronic pain syndrome and she is sharing her story to help other sufferers so that they can learn how she cured herself.  She hopes that if one sufferer can find a cure by reading her book, she has been successful in reaching out to other people who are going through the pain of the illness that once made her homeless.  Annie also offers workshops and since writing her book she has been able to spread her message to a much wider audience by giving radio interviews and being featured in the press.

Dr Daniel Scott is helping people to self-defend themselves in the workplace from verbal abuse with his book “Dr. Scott’s Verbal Self Defense for the Workplace.” He demonstrates how Neuro Linguistic Programming can be used against the workplace bully. His book will guide the reader through a detailed process of learning and practicing all the skills necessary to verbally defend themselves effectively in a professional manner. The exercises will include learning how to properly consider other people’s perceptions while still respecting and adhering to their own personal morals and principles, all within the structure and expectations of the company. Dr. Scott’s Verbal Self Defense for the Workplace is written primarily for general office workers and service industry staff; anyone who deals with individuals that become angry or confrontational with an organization’s employees and volunteers. He is providing a service to other people by helping them to overcome workplace bullying, something many of us have been the victim of. More information on this book at http://www.verbalselfdefensebook.com

Another example of a book that was written to help other people is “Care of the Caregiver” It is an easy-to-follow and practical working guide to help families and friends navigate the vital details of everyday life while caring for a loved one at home during a chronic or debilitating illness. When Lynn Longmuir’s husband Niall was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis in 1996, Lynn gradually found herself in a full time care-giving role with limited resources and no way of knowing how to deal with her own grief and pain. Taking care of someone you love is difficult and taking care of yourself in the process, without help, is practically impossible. After discovering how difficult to access and few resources existed for caregivers, she dedicated herself to ensuring that others in her situation have both the practical and emotional tools to be strong for themselves and their loved ones. Lynn is able to bring a voice of experience and compassion to this important topic. She can be found at www.careforthecaregiver.ca

Many entrepreneurs I know are inspiring and helping other entrepreneurs by offering insightful business leadership tools, sharing their knowledge to help. So ask yourself now…

• How will your story help others?  How can you be of service to others with your book?
• How can you help other people with the knowledge and experience you have?
• How can you best get that knowledge across so it is easy for the reader to understand?

If you would like more information on the InspireABook workbook system, classes or coaching, please visit Julie’s profile on our website.   Julie is running another workshop in Victoria, BC on March 6 & 7, 2010.

Tags: Business Success, Communication, sales and marketing
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How can your book make a difference? Part One

What is stopping you from sharing your knowledge and experience? Don’t let Fear and Ego get in the way of writing and publishing your book.

The biggest obstacle for writing your book always comes down to fear and ego, these are the top 3 objections:

• Is my story interesting enough?
• Will people be interested in reading it?
• Is my writing good enough?

When in reality you should be asking yourself:

• How can I be of service to others with my book?
• How can I help other people with the knowledge and experience I have?
• How can I best get that knowledge across so it is easy for the reader to understand?

Asking these tough questions up front will help you organize your book with the benefits to the reader always at the forefront of your outline.  The most challenging questions I always ask are at the beginning of my InspireABook™ workshops are:

1. Who is your reader? (i.e. age, sex, demographics, customers, friends, family or specific group i.e. cancer patients, entrepreneurs, parents etc,)
2. What will they learn by reading your book? (i.e. educational, inspirational, motivational etc)

Once you can answer these questions we have learnt the focus of your book and from here we organize your content to always reflect the lessons you want your reader to learn in a way it is easy for them to learn.

I’ll give you some specific examples from my clients in the next post – so stay tuned!

If you would like more information on the InspireABook workbook system,  classes or coaching, please visit Julie’s profile on our website.

Tags: Business Success, Self Development
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Writing a Book ~ A Good Reason to Start Now

We all have a book inside of us, but for so many, time, money and a general lack of understanding of the publishing industry stops us from even starting the process.

Back in 1998 when I left England and started my journey around the world, I promised my 92-year-old grandma I would write letters to her every 2 weeks.  The next time she saw me was in 2001 when I came back for a visit.  She presented me with a suitcase full of my letters and postcards and told me “now write that book”

That planted the seed that maybe I could write a book, even though I had no writing qualifications.  I did not consider myself to be particularly good at grammar or spelling, but everyone kept telling me I had an interesting life and it would make a good book.  Anyway, I had heard how difficult it was to get your book published as a first time author and that seemed like a lot of hard work.

While I procrastinated my Grandma continued to receive my letters and I continued to travel.

In April 2005 I attended a workshop in Singapore on “how to write your book” and that turned out to be the inspiration and motivation I needed to get me started!  By the end of 2005 I was at the final editing stage and by Feb 2006 I self-published my book.I dedicated my book “A seven year journey around the world – discovering my passion and purpose” in memory of Bea, my grandma who inspired me to write my book.  Not only did she pass away before she saw the book in print, she didn’t even get to know I had actually started work on it, thanks to her.

Don’t let this happen to you!  Write your memoirs before its too late, write that fiction book you’ve been dreaming about, write that business book to promote your business and give you credibility, put all those poems and essays into a book, turn your thesis into a book!  Just start.

Remember, you don’t have to be an expert at grammar or spelling or sentence structure, that is what editors are for!  It is just up to you to tell your story from the heart and get started and take the time to educate yourself with the many resources available to make the task easy and enjoyable!

Once you have done the writing, or even in the process of doing the writing, invest in a weekend workshop to give you a system to make it easier and a process to help you turn that writing into a book.

Julie Salisbury is the creator of InspireABook.  If you would like more information on the InspireABook workbook system, take part in online classes or telephone coaching or want to jump start your book project with a writing retreat, please visit Julie’s profile on our website.

Tags: Business Success, Communication, sales and marketing
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You’re in Business Now – Leave Your High School Voice Behind

You’re in Business Now … Leave Your High School Voice Behind

Do you feel like you are not being taken seriously?

When you are delivering information does your audience start to problem solve . . . when what you meant to do was give them answers?

Are you being held back in your organization or being passed by for a job or promotion?

Somewhere along the line you may have learned to believe that, as a woman, if you raise your voice an octave, or become ‘cute’ that you will magically melt the person in front of you and get what you want from them.  The problem begins if you make a habit of speaking this way and can’t let it go – or you never learned to bring your tone down and be business-like in the first place.

It’s the tone and inflection used as well as the words spoken.

This might work at home, but if this style is a permanent state of communication for you, it may be holding you back in business and that is when it becomes an issue!  It is easy to lapse into a voice that is comfortable for us – but how we talk to our family and girlfriends may not be appropriate for a business meeting.

If your voice and tone goes up at the end of every sentence it may imply to your listener that you don’t trust yourself or that you are uncertain of what you are saying.  It may also appear that you are looking for validation or approval.  If you are seeking a decision vs. seeking approval the question mark should come at the end when you ask “What are some possible solutions for this issue?”  If you have an implied question mark with your voice raising at the end of each sentence your audience won’t have confidence in what you are saying and it will seem as if you are constantly looking for something from them – when they are looking for something from you!

Imagine this example (the question marks imply a raised tone and inflection at that word so it seems like a question) “Those boxes(?) of inventory in the corner(?) You said you wanted to catalogue the contents (?) and I have an idea(?) We could create a workbook(?) in Excel (?) and create a spreadsheet for each box (?), and tape it(?) on the front of each box (?) so the staff will know what’s in them(?). Would that work for you(?).”

What is being said in this example is that you have a good idea for organizing your workplace – the words are right – it’s the voice and tone that are the problem.  The words coming out of your mouth are intelligent but your message and ideas become hard to hear in the words because of the questions (the inflection).

There is no denying that there are different voices we use, depending upon who we are with – don’t give up the fun kid voice you share with your close friends or family – you can speak to them however you want.  Do you have one friend that as soon as they phone everyone around you knows exactly who you are talking to because of the voice and words you use?  That’s okay!  But, if you want to be sent out to represent your organization (or represent yourself in business) you can have the greatest business suit and haircut on the planet and have all the right words prepared to say, but you must have a voice that can instill confidence in your listeners.  If you sound unclear or uncertain then your organization appears unclear or uncertain.  Regardless of how you look and the level of work you can produce, people may still doubt what you say because of how you’re saying it.

So, you are reading this and you are wondering … Do I do that?  Is this me?  How will I know? Many times we are operating on a sub-conscious level because we have done something for so long it seems normal to us (and even those around us).  A friend said the other day that her husband married her for her Scottish accent and now he no longer hears it – we become very accustomed to the people we are with the most.

Find someone you trust and ask them some key questions – this could be your friends or family, but probably more applicable would be someone from your workplace or a former professor or teacher.  If you are in a business networking group where you regularly speak, but you’re not getting any referrals from, ask someone that you have connected with there.  People that love you or work with you will never tell you something that they think might hurt your feelings – unless you ask.

Approach them and ask them clear questions such as:

• When I speak, what impression do you get?
• If you didn’t know me would you describe my speaking as assertive, young/mature?
• Do I sound like I know what I am talking about?
• Am I speaking with confidence about my subject?

Note of caution: If you are reading this article and know someone this applies to, don’t pass them this article unless they ask – we must remember to be gentle with each other and people need to see us kindly in order to take our advice or learn from us.  We can’t just tell people things because we believe it will help them – thinking kindly is about respecting someone – if they respect you they will ask you for your opinion.

If you don’t want to ask someone, recording yourself may be the best way to hear this in your own voice.  The next time you go to a business meeting ask for permission to record it on a small recorder – suggest that you want to take notes afterwards or record key points.  Then, listen to how your voice is compared to the rest of the people in the meeting/room.

• Does your voice go up?
• Are you pitched an octave or two above the rest of the contributors?
• Are you rushing through the words?
• Do you have cutesy little giggles?
• After you finish speaking are people giving you solutions?

Make sure that it’s a long enough meeting before you attempt this exercise because at first you will be very aware that the recorder is on but eventually you will lapse into your natural state.  If it isn’t a confidential meeting there are usually no issues – just make sure to ask for permission (oh, and make sure there is lots of time on your recording device).

If you think this is you then what can you do?

• When you speak don’t make what you say sound like a question – keep the inflection down or even at the end of your sentences.
• Take your voice down an octave.
• Keep recording yourself and note improvements
• Work up the courage to ask someone you trust
• Remember if you deliver your message in the form of a question you end up leading your listener to try and find solutions for you and what you have just told them – you will get completely off track and lose momentum for what you want to accomplish.
• Voice coaching can be a powerful business tool – it is not just for theatrical and musical performers.  Start thinking of your clients as your audience and you on the stage – get a standing ovation from them – or at least a sale!

Please remember that your high school voice can be appropriate – the only time you have to leave it behind is when it is stopping people from hearing your message, or stopping you from achieving all that you want to and CAN achieve.

Examples:

• High School Voice
• Business Voice

If you think you might be speaking in your high school voice and want some help with speaking in the business environment, Fiona Prince is a Communications Consultant who works from the premise that miscommunications are inevitable and that when we know how and why a miscommunication occurs, we are better able to manage it and get on with whatever project we’re working on. She provides workshops and one-on-one coaching.  Read more about Fiona at www.princeheron.com or contact her at 250.418.5982 or fiona@princeheron.com

Tags: Communication, Self Development
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