Hi friends,
This is the last week of the Performative Speaking course. All 30 of us gave our “graduation speeches” live on Zoom in front of the class.
What a fantastic atmosphere! The chat was blowing up with admiration, praise, and applause for one another. Well deserved, as we all noticed how far we’ve leaped forward in our persuasive speaking abilities.
Research points to the fact that we most remember the beginning and the end of an experience.
So, intentionally creating a very positive, reassuring experience at the end of a course is a great way to manifest a positive memory in the students’ minds.
I’ll definitely remember Performative Speaking as a transformative experience.
The end of one course is the beginning of another: Cam and I kicked off Minimum Viable Video.
20 students will learn how to grow their businesses and accelerate their careers using videos.
To give them a quick win, the very first assignment is to film two “hello video” for friends, family members, or coworkers.
This doesn’t require any preparation and helps to get you comfortable on camera. Just hold up your phone, hit record, and say hello to someone you haven’t connected with in a while.
I sent two videos this morning to friends and immediately got wonderful responses back. Nobody expects to receive a personal video!
Try it out for yourself. I’d love to hear about the reactions you get.
Now, here’s what I want to share with you…
📹 How will you scale your impact in 2021?
I recorded and published my Performative Speaking “graduation speech.” The assignment was to talk about our plans for next year. For me, it’s all about my new “Scale Your Impact” mantra.
📖 How to create your perfect introduction
“What do you do?” is the question that’s always on the test. Yet, we’ve never actually learned how to introduce ourselves properly. So far, I’ve more or less winged my introduction. But I realize that poorly explaining what I do is a huge mistake. Lucky for me, I got the chance to learn from brand expert Clay Hebert how to solve the introduction problem once and for all. Clay ran a masterclass on creating the perfect intro in Performative Speaking. And this is what I learned.
💡 Specificity wins
Ever noticed that our eyes gloss over most marketing messages? Instead of reading intently, we’re skipping ahead.
That’s not what you want when you’re trying to convey an important message to your audience.
So, how do you get them to pay attention?
I gave it away in the headline: be specific.
Let’s try a little experiment where you can see for yourself how specificity works.
I’m going to show you one sentence at various levels of specificity. Then tell me which one you find most interesting.
…
When your clients have to follow up regarding the service they’ve booked…they’re anything else but impressed.
When your clients have to contact your company to find out when the technician will arrive…they’re anything else but impressed.
When your clients have to call your customer service team 3 times to find out when the technician will arrive to repair their leaking washing machine … they’re anything else but impressed.
…
Do you notice the difference? The last sentence is way longer than the first one but packed with little details that paint a picture of the scene.
Specific, visual language draws our attention and makes messages memorable.
So, whatever you write next…think about what generic words you can substitute for specific examples.
Thanks for reading! Thoughts or feedback? I’d love to hear from you!
Virtual hugs,
Julia
PS: I had the opportunity to get feedback on my newsletter this week from a mastermind group focused on growing newsletters (Thanks, Steven, for inviting me!) So, you might have noticed that I got rid of the “My latest article” and “Your Actionable Copywriting Tip” headlines. I’ve replaced them with emojis to convey the theme of the different sections (📹 for video, 📖 for a blog post, 💡for a tip). I like the look of it, but ultimately this has to work for you. Let me know if you have any feedback and ideas for how I can improve my newsletter
