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It’s so easy when facing a hurdle to give up and settle for what we’ve got, right? We tell ourselves, “It’s too difficult. I can’t do it. I’m not good enough.” Or we justify our inaction with excuses. And there’s no one to tell us we’re talking rubbish. But how about when we communicate with others instead of just listening to the voice in our head? Things can be amazingly different.
The 7-Day Challenge Last month, I joined the “7 Day Challenge,” which was part of Natalie Sisson’s Freedom Plan – a 10-week online course for entrepreneurs to design a business to support their ideal lifestyle (I signed up because I love my work in helping people create communication habits for business success and happiness, and I want to be able to add more and more value without burning out). The challenge was to promote and host a live paid webinar training based on our experience and knowledge that would help our ideal clients, and allow us to have our own product or service to continue offering.
What I did I ran a webinar called “How to Wow your Audience in English – Top Tips for Japanese Presenters.” You may have read about it or even registered and participated – thank you! To provide practical and tested tips, I based the content on a presentation I’d given at Waseda University the week before. With the basics in place, I reworked the slides and content to deliver in a webinar format – keeping in mind that I couldn’t rely on the visual side of my presentation delivery (eye contact, facial expression, gestures, posture, and body movement). I announced the webinar through the Sasuga! Tips for You list, on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and through the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan’s weekly newsletter.
The voice in my head and hurdles All this took time and effort, and the nagging voice in my head questioned whether I could really deliver a valuable presentation training through a webinar. Would people sign up? Would they find it useful? What if there were technical problems? The biggest hurdle was setting up the payment system. I wanted to offer a bank transfer option for those hesitant to pay online. But I didn’t want to publicize my bank details. Hmm, what to do? I came up with the idea of entering the information in the confirmation email that people would receive after registering. Great. Solved. Shut up, little voice. But I had less than 7 days from promotion to hosting, and some people might not be able to get to the bank in that time. I needed an online payment option. According to its website, the online payment service that I planned to use could be set up in minutes. Sadly, not true. I had to submit business-related documents for approval, and the process would take at least two weeks. I didn’t have two weeks. I needed to complete the 7 Day Challenge between May 29 and June 4. The little voice was going bananas. I sought advice from Natalie and others in The Freedom Plan. They offered heaps of suggestions, but nothing seemed to work in Japan (I’m currently the only person in Japan in The Freedom Plan). I was ready to give up. It just wasn’t going to work. I didn’t have time. It was too complicated. The little voice in my head must be right. Then, one afternoon while on a Skype chat with my fabulous assistant, Yumi, I told her about my hurdle. Soon after, she typed back that she’d found a Japan-based service called SPIKE. I checked it out, and my business account was up and running in minutes. Yumi tested the user end, and that was easy too. Wahoo! Solution!
The rocking result Twenty-two people registered for the webinar, including three participating for free after they’d joined the five-session Sasuga! Presentation Skills Course. Thirteen joined live, and I sent everyone a recording to view at their leisure. I received feedback saying the webinar was “really interesting” and “convincing,” and that “the content was extremely useful.” But that’s not all! Remember this was a 7 Day Challenge? It was actually a competition for participants of The Freedom Plan – over 100 entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs-to-be around the world. And I won! I’m so grateful to the webinar registrants, Yumi, SPIKE, Natalie, and The Freedom Plan community.
The communication lessons I learned two lessons about how communication can help us to achieve amazing results.
Lesson 1: Be accountable. I would never have run this webinar at this time and with these results if I hadn’t participated in the 7 Day Challenge and been motivated by the communication with others in The Freedom Plan. I’d accepted the challenge and made a commitment to everyone. So much more effective to communicate with others in this way than to keep a goal in my head where I could talk myself out of achieving it.
Lesson 2: Share your struggles – ask for help. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve the results if I hadn’t shared my struggles with Yumi. Now, she’s an amazing person and immediately came back with a solution even though I hadn’t actually asked (so I’m adding to this lesson that asking is also good). Now here’s what I ask of you. Decide what you want to do. Find a colleague, friend, family member, or support group, and share your goal. If you get stuck, ask for help. Amaze yourself with your achievements!
And if your goal is related to communication skills, let me know. Maybe I can support you.