Did you ever think, I can’t believe I said that?
It seemed to be a pretty simply question…but…
Do you find it difficult to talk about what you do?
You know you’re really good at it, but you struggle to articulate exactly what it is?
You are not alone.
I was at my first ever official networking event.
I had just set up as a Coach. I had years of corporate experience and could talk about that pretty easily. But I had no idea how to describe what I do now.
I sat down beside the one person that I knew. He had introduced me to the group and assured me that it was a great place to meet new people and create new business opportunities.
My heart was pounding. Everyone had a minute to introduce themselves. At first I just kept thinking about what I was going to say, I could barely hear what others were saying. I was terrified. And quite sure that I was going to sound incredibly stupid!
Then I decided to simply listen to the others and hoped that that would inspire me to find what I was going to say.
And that’s when I noticed it.
That’s when I had this huge realization.
Most people in the room were quite uncomfortable and felt similarly to the way I was feeling.
They seemed to be really struggling to introduce themselves and a lot of what was being said was not very clear or enticing.
Then it was the turn of the young woman that sat 3 seats away from me.
She stood up, looked around the circle and with a huge, relaxed smile started to tell a story. She was a therapist and she told the story of a couple who had arrived at her clinic in distress and how she had facilitated a real breakthrough for them.
I was immediately compelled to speak to her and find out more.
The story had completed drawn me in and I noticed that it stayed with me for quite some time.
In fact, over the next few months, as I attended the networking group on a regular basis, I noticed that it was the introductions that included a story that I remembered. Not just when I thought about the group, but also when other people asked me for a recommendation.
Years have gone by since that young woman impressed me with her story.
Yet little has changed.
Wonderful and talented professionals everywhere struggle to tell their story.
It’s just not enough to be great at what you do; you have to be able to articulate it in a way that compels people.
Once you can tell your story, your ideal clients find you. It makes all the difference.
So, what story are you telling?
How do you manage to talk about what you do?
