Learn To Say 'YES' or how I went from never speaking to Keynoting at The Business Show in le
Did you realise I am a motivational business speaker? In the last few months I have spoken at events up and down the country. I talk about how to take your business to the next level and throw a little magic in as well. On the 18th May 2017 I keynoted on the main stage at The Business Show at Excel in London, I actually closed the show. If you want to see the sort of thing I did check out this video
So how did I go from having no speaking experience a year ago to keynoting at The Business Show within one year? I learnt to say YES. I am fairly certain a lot of people reading this, if they are really honest with themselves, fail to say YES to opportunities right in front of them. However doing so can change your life. Let me tell you about four times I said YES in the last year and how doing so has changed my life.
YES NUMBER 1
A year ago I saw a Facebook post about Bradcamp, Specially 'Be A Better Speaker'. This is an all day course run by Brad Burton teaching people what they need to know to become a speaker. I didn't know Brad that well at this time, just by reputation. I also had no intention of becoming a speaker. I thought that Bradcamp would be a good thing to do as I might pick up some tips I can use on stage as a Magician. However I easily could not have gone, it's not like I needed to go. I could have saved my money and my time.
But when I was asked if I would like to sign up to attend I said YES. Sometimes people shy away from paying to attend courses and educating themselves. My attitude is simple we are always learning. The day I think I know everything is the day I quit.
I can honestly say attending Bradcamp was the best thing I could have ever done. Absolutely life changing. Which brings me onto YES number two.
YES NUMBER 2
At the end of Bradcamp, Brad took me to one side and asked if I would like to be on Speaker Seeker - his speaker agency. This was a huge deal as Speaker Seeker is very difficult to become a part of. I would never have been asked to be a part of Speaker Seeker if it wasn't for saying yes to coming on Brad Camp. Obviously when Brad asked me about Speaker Seeker I said YES however that is not the second YES I'm talking about, that happened the next day.
24 hours later Brad calls me and asks if I would like to speak on the 4Networking stand at The Business Show in London in two days time. Let me remind you I had never keynoted and although I have been on stages performing magic this is a totally different thing. I also had no content and nothing to talk about. It would have been easy to say 'NO'. However I said 'YES'.
So I had two days to put together a talk, practice it and find the confidence to deliver it in front of 100+ people. I also had to self finance a trip to London for three days. To say this was a difficult situation was an understatement. I don't think I slept much in those two days as you can imagine.
After two days I arrived in London and smashed the keynote both days. I knew that this could lead to something big and I poured my heart and soul into it. I could now say I spoke at The Business Show in London, something a lot of seasoned professional speakers cannot say. If I had said no and would still be sitting at home wondering what might have been.
After the Business show there were many opportunities to speak and I took all of them. I 4Sighted up and down the country, I spoke at The Accelerate Conference for 4Networking, I spoke at other networking groups throughout the UK. However it was only recently that we come to YES number three.
YES NUMBER 3
A few weeks ago I was asked by 4Networking to speak at The Business Show again. Now it would be very easy for me to say no. I was in the middle of setting up a new company, I had just taken on a new member of staff and we were in the middle of a huge office move. Doing the Business show would not really have generated a lot of new assets as I'd been there and done that. Nobody could have expected me to say YES and yet I did.
I wanted to show 4Networking I support them. They have done a lot for me and I wanted to give back. I also thought by going to the Business Show you never know who I will meet or who might see me speak. Was it inconvenient for me to go to London for a few days? Yes! However looking back saying YES was the best thing I ever did.
YES NUMBER 4
While The Business Show was taking place the organisers found out Hilary Devey would not be attending. She was the final keynoter of the show on the main stage and this was a huge problem. They asked Brad if he could think of a replacement and he suggested me. I got a phone call off Brad asking me when I was speaking and I told him 5pm. He said that the organisers were coming to watch my keynote and if they liked me I would be Hilary's replacement. He then said "am I Up for doing this!".
To say that my heart dropped into my stomach is an understatement. How could I step into her shoes on the main stage when I had only been speaking for a few months. Then self doubt started. Am I good enough? Will people watch? Will they care? What if I die on my arse? I thought about saying no for a split second and then said "YES, No Problem!"
Now imagine the situation I was in. I had to deliver a keynote at 5pm when everyone is leaving the show. I had to smash it out the ballpark and I knew there were people watching me and critiquing me. Luckily I did smash it and then went on the keynote on the main stage the next day and smash it again. To this was a buzz is an understatement. It was fantastic, an awesome opportunity, amazing social proof - just amazing
There is no chance I would have been in that situation if I had said no.
The thing I want you to take from this is that as a business owner you need to be saying YES. Can you honestly tell me you have said YES to every opportunity that has come your way in the last year? I hear people saying all the time that they are unlucky and they never get an opportunity to succeed. Let me tell you something right now.
YOU MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK
It's very easy to say no to things that you perceive as not being important. However you need to understand there is a ripple effect. Every YES leads to another opportunity to say YES and yet another opportunity after that. Whilst when you say no you are effectively shutting the door on any opportunity that might have presented itself.
My advice is simple. Imagine what you want, get a clear picture in your head of what you desire. Then simply say YES to every opportunity that presents you no matter what. If it's seemingly unimportant say YES. If it puts you into a scary situation say YES. If it pushes you outside your comfort zone say YES.
That's all I did and now I can say that I have keynoted on the main stage at the largest business show in Europe. How many people can say that? Not many and you know what I did that all those others didn't?
I SAID YES!
If you are serious about becoming a better speaker seek out
www.BradCamp.biz
https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/craig-petty-19192167
It's the best thing you could ever do
