309: Top 10 Episodes of 2021

2021. I mean, what a year.

What a year.

I don't know what to think about it yet. I haven't done the work, but here is what I do have for you. The top 10 episodes of 2021. Let's do this. Let's go. Hey movers, it's Sally Koering Zimney with Be Moved. Let's go create some TOCs that will move this world. We're going to talk with amazing speakers, share tips, tricks, resources, and we are going to be moved so that our audience can be moved.

This moved me.

What is moving you? Hey everybody, welcome back to This Moved Me, the final episode of 2021 where we are doing a highlight light reel of the top 10 episodes of 2021. I like this kind of thing. I'm all about it. And it may— if you missed some of these, then you can go back and listen to the whole thing. Kind of, it's like a little menu. Here's like maybe the— of the best of the best. Here's the chef's choice of the episodes from 2021. And if you are brand new to me right now, you're like, I don't even know what we're doing here right now, lady. Let me just say, hi, I'm Sally Koering Zimney, and I'm your speaker coach. And I empower big-hearted entrepreneurs and changemakers like you to leverage the power of speaking so that you can show up and love up your audience with more confidence while growing your impact, your authority, and your revenue without sacrificing your authentic voice, because that's the magic sauce. And that is what I want for you. Every week on the show, we think about things that are moving me this week. This moved me, right? And my hope is that if it moved me, it's going to move you. And these episodes, they moved me. And actually, they moved me because it seems like they moved you as well. So we are going to share with you just a few excerpts from those top 10 episodes. I hope you enjoy because It's quite a chef's menu. Let me just say that. All right. Enjoy. I think the point is, don't let technology stand in your way.

Yep. And in fact, embrace it and lean into it. So one of the things that I loved about a speaker we had, he had a PowerPoint and his content was amazing. It was about eviction, which is a really timely topic. But he just leaned into the fact that he was at his parents' house on the East Coast and he was in front of their fireplace and his laptop was on 3 books or whatever. And he just said like, "I'm so happy to join you from my parents' house today." He leaned into where he was at instead of pretending like he was in a nice studio that was produced by a big production company. And I think— That goes with the authenticity of your talk, but leaning into where you are and saying, I'm so happy to join you from my living room. We don't have to pretend like we all have our own studio.

At one point in my professional life, my office was also the studio that was set up beautifully. And now I share it.

With your husband, right?

And my 3 kids are distance learning, right? It's there.

I mean, you just lean into that and you just say like, hey, my kids are learning. I bet your kids are learning. Let's all lean into what that is. And I think that's important. We can't pretend like we're not living in a pandemic.

Right. And it brings us into the same space because it's emotional recognition. Everybody's like, oh, yep, lotted together time.

Oh, I feel you, Sally. You know, everybody, and then that makes you relatable instantly with your audience. And you would do that in the room in a very different way. You would relate with everybody in the room probably by telling a story or, you know, saying you have kids or whatever it is. And so doing that by just being real about where you are, I think has done really well for us. We had one speaker who you could hear that there were children's feet in the background of her talk.

And she was like, "It's lunchtime." I love that because all of a sudden I know more about who this person is. And I think virtually all of a sudden, what I've seen that has not worked well is people feel like, okay, now I've gotta be PowerPointy. Now I've gotta be more buttoned up, more like, mm, because it feels so much more businessy instead of personal and connected. And I love the idea of your speaker saying, it's lunchtime, there's the kids, you know, because now I know more about who she is and I recognize that, I can envision it in my head and it brings us into the same space together and connects us personally. I'm gonna add a circle. I'm gonna add a third layer onto this Venn diagram. How does your voice and your audience's needs fit into what the world needs right now. This is where your business and you and the world and your audience, they just all come together in this powerful trifecta, Venn diagram. If you cannot speak to the sense of urgency of now, and if you cannot place your business in the context of the needs of the world or society or what is happening right now, I'm afraid that what you're talking about is never gonna bust through. It might be interesting, it might be helpful, but it's not going to get to the level of recognition and thought leadership and influence and authority that I know you are capable of. It is truly important for us as speakers and leaders to connect what we are talking about to something higher. I'm not talking about like God here, I'm talking about purpose. I'm talking about what is happening in the world. That perspective is needed and important. And as a bonus, it is a way for your business to benefit from your speaking without you being salesy, sleazy salesy person. Yes, right? Because when we are talking to a need in the world, We don't have to be talking about our business. Our business is attached to that idea now because it's attached to you and it's attached to the needs of the audience and it's attached to the moment of now. If you can nail your beginning, your ending, and your transition, audiences kind of forget about the rest. We're talking about how to be memorable on stage, and part of what is underneath that intention is an acknowledgement that they will not remember everything. They can't possibly remember everything. And so really the question for us becomes, how can we set up the experience for them to remember the things we want them to remember, to have the experience we want them to have, to create the feeling that we want them to have? And the BET and the between really, really do that. Now, the BET, you just heard me say, it's beginning, the ending, and the transitions. If we focus on everything, we may end up with a mushy experience for our audience rather than really focusing on the pieces that create the experience for our audiences. So we want to set up what is the most important elements of this. Focusing in on the beginning, the ending, and the transition helped me really let go of the rest. A strong beginning builds trust. A strong ending leaves an impression, right? So it's really, really important how you want them to leave that experience, what you want them to take with you from that. And then the transitions are intention, holding their attention and intention in those moments when they might be likely to let go and step out of it. And in those moments, if we do not handle the transitions well, it creates distrust and people kind of go, "Zhoop," and they step, they step back out of it. Okay. So beginning, ending transitions build trust and it allows people to step in and be with us in that experience. Yes. And in order to grow a million-dollar business, We don't have to be experts at everything.

Correct.

Yes.

So I'm like looking for affirmation.

Yes.

No, you do not have to be an expert at everything.

In fact, probably trying to do everything is going to keep you from stepping into that space. And I, I just wonder if there are some other lessons that you have learned along the way that would be especially applicable to us as not just entrepreneurs, but maybe even as speakers?

I think the big one is embrace community. I am huge when it comes to community, and I know that like I would not have the business that I do now without the steps that I took really early on. Actually, in my first full-time year in business, I did 52 coffee chats in 52 weeks. There are people that I created and formed connections with that eventually I was on their podcast, or they referred me to a new client, or they saw something that they thought that I I would be great at grant-wise. There's all of these connections that are still near and dear friends to me today. So I think, I think about community a lot and just getting yourself out there and realizing that I don't ever see somebody as my competition. I always see how can we learn and grow together and kind of climb the mountain to success together. So I think that that's probably one of the big ones. The other one is not doing it all alone. Anytime somebody's like, oh, how did you create a million dollar business? I'm like, I have a team. And I quickly realized what I'm great at, what my strengths are, and what my weaknesses are, and surround myself with the people who complement me really well and have strengths in the places that I'm weak and vice versa.

Yeah.

And so that's a big one. And then also surrounding yourself with people who are a little bit farther ahead than you. What I mean by that is I'm always looking for a place where I'm either the small or the medium-sized fish instead of the big fish. Because if I'm already the big fish and I'm seeing small and medium only, then I think like, oh, this is the pinnacle. I've reached it.

My goal for all of you listening is to develop a signature talk that is repeatable, that is scalable, and that is profitable. It's hard to do that if you aren't first clear on what your talk topic is. It's going to take a little bit to get you narrowed down into your particular niche and your particular message. Create a signature talk that you can trust. That you can lean on that is gonna work for you in lots of different scenarios and set you up as a powerful part of your business. It's gonna give you momentum to get out front and be more visible because you will have this asset as a part of your business that you can pull out of your back pocket. So getting clear on your talk topic can unleash you out into the speaking world in a really exciting way. Digging into who you are, particularly what is that specific thing that you bring to the table. So your unique message, it should feel very, very true to you. And discovering what your audience needs, who they are. This filter is so, so important. And part of it all is also getting really clear on who you are through your audience's eyes, knowing the kind of impression that you make, your brand, your personality, what you wanna really lean into as a go-to in your industry. And then making sure that we leverage this tool as a part of your business. So how does this talk fit into your message, your mission, your business? What you are doing, what you are out there in the world trying to do. When you can find the place where those 3 things intersect, that is your moving message. How do you help people define their character, like their persona? What's step 1 for people if they're like, I don't know, I just kind of wear whatever?

For, for me, it starts with vision and vision around what do you see about yourself right now. It's not the casting really far down the road. It's what do you see about yourself right now and really being present to the life season that you're in right now, the career season you're in right now, the right now body that you have, all of those pieces. It's like really getting present and, as I call it, on trend with yourself. Because so many times we're following fashion trends or following what the latest influencer is saying to do, or we're trying to copy somebody else, and we are not aligned from the inside out around who we are, what's most important to us, where does our day take us? Because that's one of the things I talk about is, okay, what is your schedule? What are the things you're getting dressed for? And how do you want to show up for that? Almost like creating a uniform for your lifestyle, for your career. And by uniform, I mean just having a very simple formula around what are your signature pieces, What are your best colors? What is your body type and what are those things that are going to elevate and enhance your best parts and minimize appearance of the things that you're concerned about? That all starts with vision and really just pausing and understanding where you are today and being able to then say, based on what I'm seeing, what are the key aspects of my style? How do I need to show up? What are the, you know, 2 or 3 words to describe how I would show up, right, as this person that I'm— I am, you know. And then, you know, because people always talk about dress for the part you want to be, but I think it's like dress for who you are first. Because if you don't know that, it's really hard to advance to the next thing. Even if you're not feeling so great about your body, you have to embrace where you are right now, or you'll never come from a whole healthy, loving place of building a future version of yourself.

As an orator, I never really understood informative speaking. I was kind of like, how do you not try and persuade people in this moment? I mean, isn't the point of sharing information to do something with it? Don't you want people to change their minds about something? At the end of the day, and I say this with love, info speakers, just kind of found it uninspiring. But you know what? The point was not to inspire. The point was to inform. And this I think of as the basic difference between a topic expert and a thought leader. Informative speaking versus persuasive speaking. Now, a topic expert knows things. They have experience in that topic. They're typically knowledgeable. They have probably experience that has led them to their knowledge. And a thought leader takes all of that expertise. You've gotta have all of that as well. And then a thought leader puts it into context and makes it meaningful. So let me put it this way. A topic expert is known for what they know, and a thought leader is known for what they know and for who they are. They inform and persuade. They educate and inspire. So does your audience know who you are? Have they heard your stories? Do they know what you believe?

When I first started speaking, I was like, here's some facts and here's some facts and here's some facts and, and nobody connects with that, right? I wasn't calm enough. I wasn't over these fears enough to have an engaging, emotional, frontal lobe kind of conversation with people. And that's what we crave as humans, right? We crave this connection, this belonging, this, she sees me, right? This is, ah. And if we're in a state of, ah, nobody is going to feel seen or heard, even though you're doing the speaking.

If we cannot bring a little sparkle, if we cannot show up wanting to truly connect with the people we're talking to, nobody's going to care.

You just nailed it. That's exactly it. It's the sparkle. It's the fun. Like, if I'm not having fun, nobody out there is having fun. We're not going to have a good time together. Bring the fun, bring the enjoyment from inside here, and then everybody else will have it.

It's a mind game.

When you look at the biology of sort of communication and audiences, is you— have you heard of mirror neurons before?

Yes.

Yes. Right.

Okay.

So the idea that if I'm interacting with you, you're actually picking up on my emotion and my intention and reflecting that back to me. So if I show up, right, and I, here I am, I'm going to deliver this big speech to you. And I show up and I'm like, so Sally, and I'm so worried for you. You're nervous for me. Like that's the connection. Our audience is going, ah, oh, I want you to be good. You're okay. Please get her out of there. This is not good. Right. But if I show up and I am having fun, it is hard. It's like why laughter is so contagious. If I sit here and I just like gawk it up and I'm like, ahahaha, and we start laughing, you can't help but smile. And so there's this great opportunity for us to bring that through ourselves to our audiences and have that reflected back to us.

Share a belief that you have let go of that held you back in some way, because I think there's a lot in here for all of us.

One of the limiting beliefs that I really had to let go of was that I was not worthy of compensation because I was not an expert in the thing I was seeking compensation for. And the imposter syndrome was just like crushing me. I mean, crushing every day, every moment I thought about it. And I really dug deep and rewired that just a little bit. I mean, sometimes I still have to write notes to myself on the bathroom mirror anytime it's just like a really bad time and I'm starting to feel it come creeping back up. I'm like, no, no, you are worthy. Your purpose is worthy of compensation.

When it's something that is easy and that I enjoy, like speaking, I'm like, I'll do that all the time and you're gonna pay me what for it? Like, that doesn't feel right. Yeah, because one of the beliefs that I am working hard to let go of is that you have to work hard for money. I have— I felt pride my whole life in working hard. And my parents worked really hard as teachers.

One of the stories I've recently had to get over with, and I recognize I've been dealing with for over a decade or so, was the idea of you're paying your dues, you're paying your dues, you're paying your dues. And so, so seeing it less as you have to work hard, but as this is a demonstration of your commitment It's a stage gate you're passing. And so you're earning that future earning. You know, it's like this is where you're doing it. And what I recognized with the help of another coach was that what I'm really saying to myself is success requires suffering.

Yes.

It was letting go of the idea that success and suffering are inextricably linked. And it's like, that's not the case. I think that's something I had to let go of.

Obviously. Taking on any of these belief systems, or even just like a single phrase like that, it takes a while to even realize that you have them. So it's just this really fascinating, hard thing. It's not just figure out your funnel and make more money.

Is there any kind of basic checklist in mind of like every speaker page needs Yeah, your topics and maybe even adding context as to this topic is really good for this type of audience. So whether it's for a smaller intimate audience in the workshop group setting or a bigger stage and/or virtual summit, I think it's also good to share if you've spoken on different places before to kind of build that credibility for people. This is more of like a more logistical thing, but having high-resolution photos on your speaker page/media kit, that way people can immediately go to your page, download them. So something else too that's really important are including testimonials. You almost want to think of your speaker page as a sales page in a sense, because you're selling your expertise. People want to know how, how your message is translated to audiences. So that's really crucial. And, and the last thing, of course, is there's probably a few more add-ons that are kind of nice to have, but including your bios. So your, your professional short bio, or like a longer bio depending on, again, the audience. That way people can have a quick excerpt of like, okay, this is exactly what this person does, this is how I'm going to present.

It sounds, it sounds dumb, but when you're like, here's my media kit, you're like, wow, fancy, this This person has a media kit. Here are my high-res photos that you can download, and here's the person to contact about booking, even if it's you. But I think that those are some things that you can include that help set you up for what's next for you. I'm always pushing people to set yourself up for the next level so that you're not approaching it as like, well, I'm only speaking a little bit right now. And it's like, well, don't set up your speaker page with that attitude. It's like, set up the speaker page for what you want it to be, for how you want to be taken seriously, and you start to grow into that as you build it. But if you don't build that, it really won't happen. Thank you so much for being a part of this. What part of this moved me in 2021? I hope you enjoyed that little chef's menu of the top 10 episodes from 2021. It was really— what a year. I mean, I don't even know what to say about it. I hardly feel like it happened, and yet so many things happened. It flew by so fast, it's kind of freaking me out a little bit. I, I literally feel like I was just here a year ago talking about the year of flow, that 2021 was going to be my year of flow. Ah, did it flow? Maybe, maybe me not even knowing hardly what happened this year because it was so flow.

I don't think so.

I really don't think so. I don't know. I need to take some time to reflect on 2021. I haven't done that yet, but I will the first episode of 2022. Is typically when I share what my word of the year is and what the theme of the year is going to be. I'm circling, I haven't landed on it yet. I'm recording this really even— it's not even December when I'm recording this, so I have a little time to figure this out. But I'm excited about 2022, I gotta tell you, I'm really excited about 2022. There's a lot of fun stuff coming your way. I feel like 2020, 2021, there was a lot of learning, a lot of bravery and courage and frustration and tragedy and hope and disappointment and belief and change and growth. I mean, holy cow. It's kind of incredible, and I know that I'm not alone in that. I know that you also have been through a lot in the last few years, but here we are. You know how much I love the starts of things, right? I love Mondays. I love New Year's. I love new months, new quarters, the beginnings. I love the beginnings. And so I feel like 2022 is a big new beginning, and I'm excited about it. I'm all about it, and I am so grateful that you are here on this journey with me. I'll see you very soon in the new year. 2022, baby!