© 2013 Amy Carroll for Next Step Speaker Services | Leave a comment here. | No comment

I won’t go into every mucus-y detail, but although I regained a raspy voice by Friday, I was still feeling lousy as I crawled into the car to drive myself to the airport.  My nose actually dripped, not once but twice, on the table in front of brand new friends at lunch.  (Hope I didn’t just make you lose yours.)

You may be feeling sorry for me by now, but I’m actually writing this post to brag on God rather than to whine about my circumstances.

All week I wondered, “What should I do?”  There was a plane ticket with my name on it, a website with my face and topic description on it, and a group of moms and daughters packing for their long-anticipated getaway.  As I prayed, I felt God nudging me to lean on Him and trust Him to come through.

So I did.

I emailed out prayer requests to my friends and team and started to beg God to fill in all my gaps.

So He did.

As I stood to speak Friday night, my symptoms subsided completely…until the moment I sat down.  The weekend was full of amazing worship led by a phenomenal worship leader, loving interactions between mothers and daughters, and divine conversations.  I not only “got through”, I was filled.  God filled in my gaps as I spoke, and He used the echoes of this scripture to keep me going:

“But he said to me, ’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (II Cor. 12:9)

I’m so thankful for my weekend on so many levels, but I’m most grateful that God used it to remind me of my frailty and His faithfulness.  It’s a reminder all of us “up front girls”–authors and speakers–can use every once in a while.

Amy

© 2013 Amy Carroll for Next Step Speaker Services | Leave a comment here. | One comment

© 2013 Amy Carroll for Next Step Speaker Services | Leave a comment here. | No comment

I long thought concluding my message was the hardest part of speech-making.

I’d craft my opening, introduce my topic, cover the material I felt God laid on my heart – using scripture and relatable illustrations. And then … what?

How do you end gracefully and effectively?

Maybe you’ve wondered the same thing.

Many speakers pay less attention to their conclusions than to any other part of their speech. It’s easy to assume if we can just get through the meat of the message (and that’s often our main focus), we’ll figure out how to end it when the moment comes.

But when that moment to close actually comes, if we have no plan for doing so we’re likely to lose steam and trail off rather than ending strong.

Never wait until you’re on the stage to decide how you’ll end. I’ve watched too many speakers do that last minute grope for a conclusion. Suddenly they appear unsure, inarticulate or uncomfortable. Those are not the feelings nor the impression you want to leave your audience with.

You want a powerful, effective ending—planned from the start—not a spur of the moment search for what to say.

The Best Endings

The best endings are ones that inspire automatic applause. No one has to tell or signal the audience this is the end because the last thing you said was the perfect way to wrap up this message. It’s now whole and complete.

The audience feels you are done – not because you are packing up your notes and Bible, not because the pianist has started to play, or because you’re saying, “Thanks for coming out today.” You have delivered the audience to their destination and it is evident.

They feel the satisfaction of a completed journey.

How do you achieve that feeling?  You encapsulate what you’ve been saying in a memorable way.

This might be done with a summary in your own words – hitting your bottom line, sticky statement again. This might be done with a brief poignant story. Or perhaps with a powerful quote.

Finishing a speech well is more art than science, I admit. It takes work, but it can be done. And as speakers, we need to be good stewards of our entire message, including the conclusion.

Perhaps especially the conclusion.

Are you crafting tight, satisfying closings to your messages? Are you finishing well?

The writer of Ecclesiastes asserted, “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning” (Ecc 7:8). Work to make that true of your message and both you and your audience will leave feeling satisfied.

Rachel Olsen is a national speaker with twelve years’ experience. She teaches public speaking for the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. Find her at www.RachelOlsen.com.

© 2013 Amy Carroll for Next Step Speaker Services | Leave a comment here. | One comment

Here are all the details:

Write Right Manuscript Critiques – Successful Self-Editing

Date:  Thursday, June 6, 2013

Time:  8:00 pm EST

Do you desire to take your writing to the next level? Are you receiving rejections that say, “Love your idea, but your writing needs work?” Maybe you are a speaker who is confident in your speaking skills, but not so confident as a writer.

Whether you have published or desire to publish, self-editing is a crucial skill as a professional writer. The more skilled you become, the more opportunities you have to gain the attention of a publisher or agent. In this call, Suzie Eller will offer a “thick-skinned manuscript critique” of three selected nonfiction articles and/or chapters submitted by participants. Using these examples, participants and Suzie will work through the top ten self-editing techniques to make your writing more polished and powerful.

*Participants who sign up for this original call may submit a nonfiction article of up to three pages of a sample chapter one from a work-in-progress to be considered for the critique. Suzie will choose up to four. Critique of your submission is not guaranteed.

Amy

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I am feeling fairly well about an upcoming event, but I am not sure how to follow up after the event is over.  How do I get testimonies to use on my blog and/or in my media packet ? Should I ask in the event for the women to sign up for newsletter and blog post or should I try to get the event planner to mention it later?  I guess what I really want to know is how do I really connect with these women for more than the one day.

It’s a fantastic idea to collect endorsements from events as you go.  You’ll always need fresh ones for biosheets, your website, etc.  I usually wait until after the event and then ask the event coordinator for one.  Because these endorsements need to be well-written to be usuable, I usually ask by saying, “Would you be willing to take some time to craft an endorsement?”  I’ve worked hard to find wording to encourage people to put some thought into what they write.

It’s also wonderful to give attendees ways to keep in touch with you after an event.  You can do this several ways.

• Have business cards printed so attendees will be able to find your website and email.
• Include this information on the bottom of your handout for notes.
• Print cards that include all the information you’d like from attendees and boxes to check if they’d like to be subscribed to your blog or newsletter.  You’ll have to input the information yourself, but it may be worth it to make it this easy for attendees.
• Use the cards for a drawing for a giveaway.  That’s been a great way for me to get more cards back!  I also allow women to just write their name so they can be included in the drawing.

Thanks for the great questions, Amy!  Does anyone else have other ways you form lasting connections after your events?

Amy

© 2013 Amy Carroll for Next Step Speaker Services | Leave a comment here. | 4 comments

I’m a very practical, nuts-and-bolts kind of girl, and sometimes in all my pragmitism, I lose what’s really important.  I’ve heard it said that prayer isn’t just the preparation for the work.  It IS the work.  I believe it’s true, and yet I occasionally get caught up in preparation with very little prayer.

Here are two steps every speaker should implement:

Build a prayer team.  I have a group of precious friends who receive my prayer requests for speaking along with my event schedule.  They are women with whom I feel I can be transparent, and they’re godly, faithful women I know I can trust.  There’s one other thing that I particularly love about my group.  Each is of a different decade, so I ask them to pray specifically for the women in their decade.  I didn’t plan it this way, but I have a prayer warrior in her 20s, 30s, 40s (me), 50s and 60s.  That covers the majority of women at my events, and I love thinking that each of my friends is praying for the needs of women in their phase of life.

Although this group of women is one I’d love to spend more time with, I’ve decided to keep our prayer team as low key as possible.  We don’t meet together, but I just send them my prayer requests.

Pray for attendees by name.  I’m going to be transparent with you.  Although I know members of our speaker team who have done this for a long time, I had never done it personally.  I certainly prayed for the event and for the attendees in general, but I never prayed for them by name.  In our meeting I mentioned earlier, Wendy Blight shared passionately about this practice.  I love and admire Wendy and her heart for prayer, so I decided to try.

I simply started asking the event coordinators to send me the list of attendees.  You can’t imagine how excited they are when you tell them you’re praying for each woman individually!  I also couldn’t have imagined the results.  Even before I got to my last event, God had made the event so personal to me.  I already had fallen in love with both the group and each woman before I ever got there.  I trust God had also prepared hearts to be moved by the messages more than before.

I know many of you have a heart for prayer, and I’d love to hear how God has taught you to pray for your events!

Amy

© 2013 Amy Carroll for Next Step Speaker Services | Leave a comment here. | One comment

Although I want to spend hours of time with my fingers in the dirt right now, spring is a great time to work on platform building.  Event planners often book speakers for their fall and holiday events before everyone heads off for summer vacations, so this is the time to get the word out about your messages.

As I looked through questions we’ve received from our readers, the majority center around how to generate speaking opportunities.  I could reinvent the wheel, but my friend Tracie Miles has already put together a great list of ideas.  You can read her post here.  I suggest starting back at the beginning of her series and reading it in its entirety by clicking here.  She has loads of excellent ideas embedded.  My suggestion is to make your own list, prioritizing and working on one project at a time.

Reading other blogs is another way to keep my ideas flowing concerning marketing.  My two favorites are Michael Hyatt’s and Seth Godin’s.  I encourage you to check them out.  I’m also planning to buy and read Michael Hyatt’s book Platform.

Finally, let’s work together as Kingdom building speaker girls! What are you doing (have you done) that has worked in getting the word out about your message?  Do you have any other marketing resources to share with us? Each person who leaves a comment will be registered to win a free Next Step coaching call! Duplicate suggestions are fine–we’ll use it as a survey.  :)

 Amy

© 2013 Amy Carroll for Next Step Speaker Services | Leave a comment here. | 2 comments

I just want to write, Suzie!

That’s a message I receive in my in-box almost weekly.

I normally offer this challenge: For the next six weeks I want you to write on a schedule. Not just when you are inspired. Not just when you feel that you have time. Once you have completed that, then you have proved to yourself that this is more than a whim.

You’d be surprised at how many take that challenge, but at the end of six weeks they’ve written little. They give up.

But some do endure, and then I challenge those women to take another six weeks to explore the business aspect of this ministry/career to which she feels drawn.

You see, writing is only half of succeeding in the publishing world. It you truly desire to write, then it is important that you not only write, but learn the business end of marketing and publishing your writing. A successful writing career doesn’t happen overnight. Earning an income as a freelance writer is a continual process of education, networking, and submitting your work.

What are ways in which you can learn more?

Join a writers’ group online or in your community. Read books from solid professionals about writing (there are many great books on the craft of writing at your local library). Subscribe to writing magazines. Read books in the genre in which you hope to write.

Attend a writers’ conference. You may be unsure if you’ll have the right questions or know the best class to attend, but you’ll walk away with more information than you arrived with.

This is a step that I clearly remember taking nearly 14 years ago. When I walked in the door, I felt my beginner status from head to toe. But I didn’t give up. By the end of the conference, I realized that we were all writers; I was simply at the starting line, while others were halfway down the track, and others closer to the finish line.

Doing all of the above allowed me to progress from a beginning writer to eventually working full-time as a professional freelance writer with hundreds of articles published nationwide, books published, and columns and blogs established.

Every career and ministry has a learning curve, a time to develop your niche in that world.

But there is never a point where writers can say they have arrived. Professional freelance writers and authors continue to attend workshops, network with editors and writers, join critique groups, and stay current on trends in their craft. I do!

Have you been wishing for a writing ministry or career, but not investing the time and education needed?

Perhaps today is the day you move from wishing that you were writing to intentionally pursuing and investing in the dream on your heart.

Ways you can invest in your writing dream/ministry/career today: 

• Purchase the 2013 Christian Writers’ Market Guide 
• Listen to Karen Ehman, best-selling author and P31 speaker – How to Write a Bang-up Book Proposal
• Attend the July, 2013 She Speaks writer’s track with intensive workshops, editor and agent one-on-ones, and networking with writers, from beginner to professional.

Suzie

© 2013 Amy Carroll for Next Step Speaker Services | Leave a comment here. | 2 comments

Several years ago at She Speaks, however, she delivered a message about the woman at the well that had a focus elevating the message to one with great transforming power.  As soon as I reached her in the hall, I asked, “HOW did you do that?”

“Do what?” she asked.

“How did you make your message so LASER-LIKE?”

With a smile, she explained how she had begun to create messages around one core point.  All the stories, points and teaching were wrapped around that one point.  I can attest to the effectiveness of her method!

Culling out all the “yada yada” in our messages and extraneous information is hard, but it’s worth it.

Here’s a memorable phrase from Preaching Rocket that helps:

Don’t let your information overwhelm your idea.

As you edit your next message before you deliver, try evaluating each sentence with the idea of a single focus in mind.

© 2013 Amy Carroll for Next Step Speaker Services | Leave a comment here. | No comment