By Karen Post, on November 11, 2010

I sometimes twitch my eyes, baseballs and golf balls scare me, my spelling totally sucks and that I once lead a company down a toilet and lost a ton of money.

I recently opened a big speech with 5 pieces of self-deprecating information.

Crazy?
Nope. Self-deprecation and being honest about your list of imperfections can actually help build trust and credibility. It does not matter if you speak on stage, like me or not. You can use this strategy in a new biz presentations, recruiting a business partners and or team member.

Here’s how it worked.
1) It showed my audience that I’m willing to break rules and I’m not perfect. Prior to my flaw dump, the sponsor read my bio which is filled with great milestones. As I entered the stage, I threw out the question, “What’s up with all these speaker intros, as preachers of truth and messengers of real world best practices, and then all you here is half their story?”

2) This common ground served as a trust builder. Many in the group had some of the same flaws as I did. We connected.

3) This off the wall content added instant humor, which is often the key to message transfer with an audience, especially at 7:30 AM.

4) I flipped the most dramatic flaw (the business in the toilet one) into PROOF that, bouncing back is reachable, no matter how low your situation is and because of that unfortunate experience, I am 330% smarter. The audience knew my program content and knowledge was not academic BS, but true, authentic battlefield insight.

I was amazed at how many people came up to me afterwards and thanked my for my honesty and courage.

So what so wrong with you? And how can you make it work for you too?

By Karen Post, on April 27, 2010

Today I attended a “Get Motivated” event. I experienced 8 hours of elite speakers.

Message takeaways from each speaker:

Colin Powell (who was amazing)

• Recognize people in your world and your team’s purpose
• Small acts of kindness make a big difference
• The organization’s success is mandatory; if someone is not carrying his or her weight, make a change

John Walsh (who shared an important message)

• People, their passion and causes can make a difference in this world
• When life hands you your greatest loss, turn the situation into positive change to help others

James Smith (who was very entertaining)

• If you are not in the game, you’ll never win
• Self responsibility is not an option

Apolo Anton Ono (who is such an inspiration and so cute)

• Embrace a zero regret mindset
• The journey is as rewarding as the win

Zig Ziglar (who is a legend, but getting old)

• Healthy relationships impact your business success
• When you get old and can’t speak the way you once did, add video to your presentation

As a speaker, I love to watch other speakers. As a entrepreneur, I’m always looking for gems of wisdom and as a human in the rat race, I’m forever seeking added motivation.

I got all that for 19 bucks. For me, it was a purposeful/productive day and I got to spend time with my staff away from the office which was an added bonus.

Additionally, I witnessed a big feat for the producers of the event, Peter and Tamara Lowe. The place was packed with about 20,000 people. It was a nice sight: hungry business people fueling the local economy, consuming concessions, soaking up healthy energy and optimism. And some were even purchasing products and signing up for future development events. It’s great to see a business making money and enjoying success.

They have a good business model: market, fill a need, deliver value, market more and monetize. There’s nothing wrong with that.

As I was writing this blog, I checked out the web to see what others thought of the Peter Lowe “Get motivated” events. I found some interesting views, alleging A BIG SCAM.

So what’s all the whiny chatter on the Web about crude marketing tactics and event scam?

If an event producer drugs you upon entry and then tries to sell you stuff, that’s a scam. If you attend an event for 19 bucks, filled with top-notch speakers, get to network with 20,000 other business people and they introduce you to their product, then that equals a well done event with a sound business model.

Business conferences, seminars and events are always about what you make of them, what you take away and how you apply any new insight to your business or life.

These web crybaby idiots who scream scam need to take responsibility for their own their actions and decisions. And if they are unable, they should stay home.

By Karen Post, on May 7, 2008