Are you ready to go to the next level?

Two strangers walk into a workshop.

Both were natural therapists looking for similar outcomes but nervous as all get out. They had never met before but by “co-incidence” managed to sit beside each other.

As it turned out both these women did have something in common. They had both seen me speak at their industry associations in 2007.

I hadn’t heard from either of them in nearly three years but they were here today because their message had got bigger than their fear of public speaking.

Despite their own reservations, they were ready to find out if they were “good enough” to speak from the front of a room.

I quizzed them as to what it was that they remembered most from the talk I delivered to their respective associations. Both immediately came back with a vague recollection of a couple of things I had taught them during that brief 60 minute talk.

However both cited the reason they were sitting in the chairs, about to take themselves to hell and back, was because they remembered my story. They felt they knew me from that story and they trusted me to help them.

Both talks had caused me extreme discomfort but this short exchange showed the reality of speaking your truth. I felt honoured by their trust but I also honoured and thanked myself for having the guts to go and speak to them all those years back.

The talks these women attended were “walk in and talk” events both delivered in bleak environments. One in particular I remember being VERY nervous at because no one had mentioned my talk would be videoed. I’d driven for two hours that Sunday morning telling myself the worst that could happen was that I’d only bomb in front of a few people. The video going out to their national membership upped the odds dramatically!

The other talk had been delivered during the worst weather Melbourne could conjure up. I was tired and weary because I’d had to leave home three hours early because three out of the four exit arteries around my town were closed due to snow blocking the roads. The journey normally takes around three hours. It took me six hours this day as I progressively drove through snow, gale force winds and driving rain.

Despite these not so harmonious circumstances I made an impact on both occasions not because I was good but because the story I told resonated deeply.

It wasn’t a fancy story. In fact it was a rock bottom story without a happy ending.

It was however my truth.

These two women remembered me and my story enough to pay to attend one of my workshops three years later. Not only that, they chose to turn up to a workshop and let an almost total stranger help them overcome a fear most would rather die than do.

Back then I knew nothing about method. I hadn’t been taught how to work the energy of a stage. I didn’t know how to adequately roll out a learning set. I didn’t know how to put knowledge into conceptual bites that make it easy for people to understand. I probably broke all the rules at both talks but still my message came through because I knew how to earn the right to be in the room.

A well crafted “earn the right” makes you credible and memorable no matter what is going on because it demands you speak at the intersection of love and truth.

I influenced those women not because I was some fast eddy with slick sales techniques. I impressed because I had experienced and lived through every wart, every crinkle, every tear and every emotion I spoke about.

The power of emotional speaking is that it builds relationships.

Once you learn how to harness the emotion and tell your story from your heart, people will not only sit through a sixty minute talk without throwing tomatoes, they also remember you years later. This alone is marketing gold. BUT it gets seriously golden when people will come and work with you without you having to evoke hard sell marketing techniques to get them there.

Sure it’s not the fast road to success but it’s powerful, it’s genuine and it’s real.

The course they attended last weekend was called Sore to SOAR and man did everyone soar. One participant contacted me this week to tell me she has sent away for the material she needs to run her first workshop. She has been meaning to do it for ages. Difference this week is that she has done it.

But I get this feedback all the time. It is awesome and I love hearing every word.

However there is something more important for me than seeing participants float from the room espousing how much they’ve grown and how good they feel. What is truly remarkable is the undeniable fact that 80% of the participants who have attended fully have either spoken in public or delivered their own workshops within two months of completing Sore to SOAR.

That’s my point of difference – people actually step up and step out, some within weeks of attending the course.

The people who have done the course are just everyday people who have a dream in their heart and a burning desire to help more people.

Many who are breaking through are busy Mum’s, people just setting up in practice or people who have already had success in one aspect of their practice. To date they have been a bit “scaredy cat” about the next step but are good to go now.

They are the unseen heroes who have been standing beside a massage table treating people one on one or sitting at home knowing something is growing within them. Knowing their message is important for the world but they have no idea what that message is, how to find it or how to get that message out or even where to start. This eventually causes discomfort.

Discomfort is the one thing that makes most humans move.

What’s weird is that these supposedly “ordinary” people already have the story within them that will gain them recognition and give them the confidence to leap up to the next level. Sore to SOAR allows them to connect with their story and we all have one. The true magic occurs when you learn to apply the “earn the right” formula to your story.

Sore to SOAR is not just another workshop it’s a personal expansion.

The two strangers left with an admiration for each other rarely forged in a weekend. One shared as she walked out the door that she felt she finally had all she needed to speak. It was an incredible honour to move her from feeling ordinary to extraordinary in such a short period of time.

Sore to SOAR gives people two ultimate gifts – confidence and no excuses.

If you are ready to go to the next level there is a Sore to SOAR intensive workshop running in Melbourne 26 and 27 June 2010.

Sore to SOAR takes you on a journey from a sore place of really hurting inside to one where you SOAR out the door on Sunday evening with a heap more clarity around what you do and how you can make a difference to a lot more people.

The early bird price is running out soon.

Book now: www.Sore-to-SOAR.com