This morning I wrote three letters of introduction about my availability as a speaker/teacher/trainer. Next, I posted a request online to all my networking groups asking them to send me contact info to other groups they know of, the schools their kids attend, and any military folks they know who schedule training for enlisted men and women or veterans. I also asked their permission to drop their names as referrals.

So that aspect of my three-pronged campaign is underway. Actually, those steps took care of two of the three things I’ve committed to doing: public speaking and teaching.

The last piece of the puzzle is getting invited to a Business Expo in some official capacity so I can add value there while getting my name out into the public more than it already is. In other words, I’m trying to build a higher profile…always a ‘fun’ thing for me to do since I’m about as far from the ‘Look at me!’ type as they come.

But I have to step outside my comfort zone if I want to get better results than I’ve been getting. I can’t hide behind well-written words and expect to get much farther than I already have. And people insist that I’m an engaging speaker and a good teacher, so it’s something I can do, for sure.

My problem is that, as someone else astutely noted, “Writing is show business for shy people.” Once I get going in public, I’m fine.  I’m just a nervous wreck, pretty much, until “show time.”

I put a lot of pressure on myself not to waste anybody’s time, to be sure every minute is as valuable as the combined minutes that my audience is spending to hear what I have to say. It’s a big responsibility! When speakers waste my time, I get upset. If I’m going to spend time listening to someone in an official capacity, I want it to add measurable value to my life. I suspect that others feel exactly the same way.

So I fret and stew a lot over how to make sure that what I share is helpful, engaging and memorable. So far, so good.  I’ve delivered several of these trainings already and sufficient numbers of people in the audience have always stepped forward afterward to thank me for what I presented–and I can tell they mean it and feel relieved that some of the stumbling blocks in their business life have been removed as a result of what I shared.  That is sooooooo cool!

It makes the preliminary fretting feel well compensated.