Mission Accomplished – Networking for A Bold, Audacious, Powerful Woman

Posted on August 10, 2015 by MarleneMB

The phone rang and I glanced over to see who was interrupting my busy day. It was Dawnna St. Louis, one of my mentors. I happily took her call because she always has nuggets of wisdom to share. This time it was different. It was a business offer.

Dawnna asked if I wanted to go with her to New Orleans to the Promotional Products Association International Women Leadership Conference. She was the closing keynote speaker. She wanted me to network for her during the conference. I would intermingle with the attendees, share information about Dawnna, and collect information that the attendees want to learn. Our mission was to secure at least two solid speaking engagements for Dawnna after the conference.

Of course I said “Yes.” Someone is going to fly me out to New Orleans, pay for my hotel, air and for what I love doing: networking and meeting new people? Absolutely, I was going.

The first night of the conference we attended the welcoming cocktail party. While Dawnna chatted with one of the other speakers, I floated around to meet the women. These women were quite friendly and welcomed me into their circle. I told them that I worked with Dawnna and she wanted to know what it is that they wanted to learn at the conference. Dawnna’s desired to ensure she delivered the most impactful speech and teach them “The Audacious Acts of Powerful Women Leaders,” her keynote speech title.

The workshops and networking sessions started on Monday and concluded on Wednesday with Dawnna’s keynote speech. Throughout that time, I mingled with the attendees. As I learned about the women’s interests and career concerns, I shared the information with Dawnna. She incorporated this information in her speech to make it more effective for the audience. I also told the women they shouldn’t miss Dawnna’s speech. She would be sharing valuable tips for them to be more successful in their industry. I informed these women that Dawnna was one of my mentors that have given me the confidence to start and grow my business.

By the time Dawnna to take the stage, the women’s expectation and curiosity had grown. Dawnna entered the room with a lot of energy, boldness and music playing to engage the audience. She threw out a challenge for four of them to get up on stage; if they thought they were audacious enough. The room exploded with excitement. The women rushed to the stage. I was in position to allow only four of them on stage. These women overcame whatever shyness they had and performed whatever acts Dawnna asked of them up on that stage. Here is an image of them having fun and the audience laughing along with them.

Next Dawnna shared her powerful story about going from being homeless to being the CIO of a multi-million-dollar company. She shared the challenges she faced in a male-dominated industry. This story resonated with the audience. Next she taught them how they can use audacious acts to become powerful women leaders in their careers. Finally, she concluded with questions from the audience that gave them an opportunity to get answers to burning questions they had. The event was a great success!

Here are things I learned from networking for Dawnna:

Care about what the audience needs/wants and not what you think they want to know.
Take the time to get to know them by listening more and talking less.
Be open and genuine when you approach them, you will be accepted more readily.
Offer to be of assistance to the event organizer. This goes a long way in getting access to your audience.
It is not about you, the networker, it is about the person your are networking for and his/her audience.
Perform your best for your client by going the extra mile.

The organizer requested that Dawnna and I attend the final dinner party in order for the women to speak with Dawnna in an informal setting. At the event, some of the women chatted with Dawnna while I got testimonials from the others on a cell phone. They were too happy to share that they thought Dawnna was the best speaker at the conference. They also told Dawnna what I great job I did for her. Our goal was to secure two new speaking engagements after the conference. We secured five! Mission Accomplished!

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Thank you for reading my post. Please hit the “follow” button at the top of the page to allow me to share more Purposeful thoughts, ideas and experiences with you. Feel free to leave a comment or share the article with others.

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Marlene M. Bryan is a Distinguished Toastmaster, DTM. She is a certified speaker and leader by Toastmasters International. She is currently the District 47 Public Relations Officer, and leader of the Public Relations Team. She provides her services to over 3800 members throughout the district. Marlene is the owner of Marlene M. Bryan, Corp and Small Biz Evolution, LLC. She is a Speaker, an Author and a Business Coach.

3 Lessons I Learned About Leadership at the Toastmasters District 47 Conference

Posted on April 28, 2015 by MarleneMB

He stood up before a room filled with over 200 of his Toastmasters peers. With confidence in his voice, he made his pitch to us, the leaders within the District. Elvis shared why we should vote for him as the new Division F Director. He only had two minutes to convince us to trust him with this important position to oversee over 400 people in Division F.

After Elvis’ well outlined speech, he sat down to listen to his opponent do the same. Once they were both done, the District Governor gave the go ahead for the leaders to cast their ballots. The ballot count took about 20 minutes to complete. During this time, the candidates sat nervously awaiting their fate. The election official came in and handed the results to the District Governor.

The winner was announced. Elvis had successful won over the confidence of his peers to entrust the role of Division F Director. A loud cheer went out across the audience. The emotion on his face said it all. This victory was a sweet one for him.

This was not Elvis’ first attempt in his pursuit for the Division leadership role. It was his third! His first attempt was a bruiser. He lost handily to his opponent. In my observation, Elvis was a young leader in his Toastmasters career. The group of leaders felt he had more to learn. Normally, a lot of folks would walk away dejected by this defeat.

Not Elvis, he came back the second year. Again he was defeated. I believe this time his speech was not a winning one. Elvis did not logically state his case: what did he learn in the previous year as a leader, or how he intend to help his Division grow. His opponent did and she won.

Instead of going to the corner and licking his wounds, Elvis did something that make leaders great. He went back to the drawing board. Here are some of the things that I learned from observing Elvis:

Reflect: Elvis took time to reflect on what went wrong. He reflected on what actions he needed to take to demonstrate his commitment to the organization and to improve his leadership skills.
Refresh: Elvis refreshed his attitude and volunteered to be one of the District’s Club Coaches. He went around the division assisting clubs that were struggling in membership growth or needed guidance in conducting successful meetings for their members.
Resilience: Elvis did not give up. He knew he had it in him to be a leader over his Division. He did not quit when he experienced two losses. Instead he committed himself to prove to the District Leaders that he was deserving of their trust.

Some of the greatest leaders known have faced defeat in one form or another. Yet they did not give up. They reflected, refreshed and were resilient. Elvis’ journey to the Division F Director position reminded me of these three points. This was one of the most memorable leadership moment for me that I had to share it with you all.

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Marlene M. Bryan is a Distinguished Toastmaster, DTM. She is a certified speaker and leader by Toastmasters International. She is currently the District 47 Public Relations Officer, and leader of the Public Relations Team. She provides her services to over 3800 members throughout the district. Marlene is the owner of Marlene M. Bryan, Corp and Small Biz Evolution, LLC. She is a speaker, an author, and a coach. Pick up the latest copy of her book:

Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters

Her Habits Are a Part of My Entrepreneurial and Personal Spirit #IWD2015

Posted on March 8, 2015 by MarleneMB

Her smile and twinkling blue eyes welcomed me as I entered the classroom. Sister Mary Catherine was my fifth grade teacher. She stood perhaps 5 feet 3 inches. She wore her habit over her gray hair that protruded from beneath it. She had a soft voice that she did not have to raise for the twenty plus kids to pay attention to her.

Being a student of Sister Mary Catherine was a blessing for me. Today I share what I learned from this wonderful, strong woman that laid the foundation of my Entrepreneurial Spirit. I hope I am able to give her the honor she is due on International Women’s Day #IWD2015. Here are some of her habits I learned:

Be Welcoming: I was terrified of my first day in my new school, Sacred Heart, in my new country, the Untied States. I came from Jamaica at the age of ten. My mother immediately enrolled my sister and me in this school. Interacting with new people and learning new customs was overwhelming. But Sister Mary Catherine’s smile was the beginning of my lesson of welcoming strangers with warmth.

Defend the Weak: It was rough for me to make friends with some of the students. The bully of the class had her crew tease me about my Jamaican accent. Whenever, they started, Sister Mary Catherine immediately stepped in. Her small stature seemed to grow into a large shield in front of me, as she reprimanded these students to leave me alone. In her defense of me, Sister Mary Catherine taught me to stick up for justice and those that need a voice.

Use Your Knowledge and Skills to Win: She discovered that I had an aptitude for mathematics and science. Sister Mary Catherine would encourage me in these areas. She and my mother agreed that I would get extra homework to increase my knowledge and my skills in these disciplines.

Sister Mary Catherine entered me into a Science and Mathematics contest, I placed first in the school. I represented the school at the county level and placed third in my age group. This taught me to use my passion, knowledge and skills to go after the things I want.

Sacrifice: American History was a challenge for me, because I was an immigrant. Sister Mary Catherine told my mother that she believed that I could skip the sixth grade and move to the seventh; if I mastered American History. She sacrificed her summer vacation to tutor me in American History. Her sacrifice opened a new world to me, the love of history. I won the History award at my school’s graduation ceremony two years later.

Research: Whenever I didn’t know a subject, Sister Mary Catherine encouraged me to research it. My mother purchased a set of encyclopedia (remember those) for me to explore the areas I didn’t understand. With Sister Mary Catherine’s prodding, I utilized those books many times to learn more. I still do conduct research in my career to learn new ways of marketing my products or to make a decision on a matter.

Compassion: Sister Mary Catherine’s compassion for others, her love of her faith, her sacrifice to make children like me become better people in this world, are just a few of her habits that I take with me everyday. Whenever I’m mentoring young children, the youth in my Toastmasters club, young adults or the grown folks, I draw from her’s habit of compassion to share with them.

Becoming an entrepreneur is a frightening journey. Yet armed with the lessons I’ve learned from Sister Mary Catherine, I know that it takes sacrifice to get where I want to go. It takes research to learn more about my field of expertise and how to service my clients. It takes having a welcoming spirit to get the clients to open up to me. It takes sticking with it to get through the doubts and fears. Finally, it takes using my talents, skills and knowledge to win in business and as a leader.

There is so much that I recall about Sister Mary Catherine that it would take pages to write about her. I did this in my book Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters. Diamond Cutters are what I call my coaches and mentors. The folks that have positively impacted my life. Sister Mary Catherine is one of my important Diamond Cutters.

Below are some of the medals I won at Sacred Heart School because of Sister Mary Catherine’s efforts and habits. Though I appreciate them and they sit in a special place in my home. They cannot replace the admiration and love I have for Sister Mary Catherine. I lost touch with her. I tried to reach out to her, but the school has since closed. I pray that she realizes the difference she made in my life and the lives of many other students. Thank you, Sister Mary Catherine!

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Thank you for reading my post. Please hit the “follow” button at the top of the page. This will allow me continue to write and share with you on a variety of topics.

Webinars Suck – Is That Right? – Part 3 of 4

Posted on December 18, 2014 by MarleneMB

Take a Poll - Make Your Webinar Interactive — Take a Poll – Make Your Webinar Interactive

Interacting with Your Audience

Welcome back! In Part 1 you read about importance of good content, and in Part 2 you learned how to get organized in this four-part series. Now it is time to conduct your Webinar. Don’t fail by making your session! Your content may be technical, complex or perhaps it is a new concept that requires critical thinking. This doesn’t mean it has to be a Snoozer! You can make the Webinar interactive and fun.

Let’s get started…

1) Establish a rapport – Start your Webinar by establishing a great rapport with your audience. Tell them why they should pay attention to you. Lay the foundation of why you have authority or expertise about the subject. Share tidbits about yourself that may help to endear you to the audience. Or make them laugh; great humor disarms people. Remember, people buy from folks they like and trust.

2) That Monotone Voice – Did you ever get on a Webinar and the presenter voice makes you want to sleep? You find yourself constantly yawning. Using voice modulation will help to your audience pay attention. Raising and lowing your voice at certain point during the Webinar will make your points come across better. You can emphasize certain words and phrases such as “THIS product will…”

3) Get rid of the Ums, Ers, Likes – It is amazing to me how much folks don’t realize how often they use filler words as crutch words when speaking. It drives me crazy to hear a presenter saying: “and then, you can, like, use it to, um, tweak your, er, SEO ranking.” WHAT! With all those filler words the message gets lost. I’ve been a Toastmasters member from 2009. This organization helped me to learn to get rid of my penchant for using the word “like” every time I opened my mouth. Check it out at toastmasters.org. Visit a club. It may change your life. It did mine.

4) Ask questions – Asking questions of your audience and allowing them to reply either in the chat session or verbally helps to keep the audience tuned in. Utilizing questions keeps it interactive. Asking a question at the beginning, during and after the session is helpful in keeping the audience engage. It is a great way to gauge if the audience is learning from your presentation.

5) Affirmation Polls (Check in with Your Audience) – One of the tools I admire about my pastor is his use of “Amen” to validate that his parishioners are paying attention. He would make a statement then ask: “Can a get an Amen?” or he may say: “Clap, if you agree.” Checking in with your audience by polling them with a question or statement that prompts an immediate response is a great way to ensure they are following along.

6) Offer Give-aways to Make it Fun – Tell the participants that “N” amount of respondents will receive a special discount or a give-away item for doing “xyz.” People like gifts and discounts. It could be a free e-book, consultation session, or discount on the next Webinar.

One of my best experiences on a Webinar was a few years ago. The presenter, Lewis Howe, demonstrated how establishing the right LinkedIn Profile can help to increase the participant’s visibility on LinkedIn. This would in turn make the participant more attractive to future employers and recruiters. Lewis had the participant modify his/her profile with keywords during the Webinar. This action caused the participants ranking in his/her area of expertise to increase.

When Lewis was finished he gave a Call to Action to purchase a more detailed session for successfully navigating LinkedIn. The response rate was very high to his Call to Action. You too could increase the success of your Call to Action by keeping your clients and future clients engaged through interactive, informative and fun Webinars.

You have created great content, got yourself organized for your Webinar and you have everything set to make it an interactive session for you participants. But what about the platform? Which Webinar provider should you select? Part four, the final part of this series will give you some information how to select a provider.

We are almost at the finish line for you to conduct successful Webinars. The Webinar Platform you choose as your Webinar “stage” is important. Do not choose free, cheap or even expensive as your only reason for selecting a Webinar provider.

Find out how I learned these tips and more from my Diamond Cutters, My Mentors and Coaches, pick up a copy of Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters today.

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Thank you for reading my post. Please hit the “follow” button at the top of the page. This will allow me continue to write and share with you on a variety of topics.

Webinars Suck – Is That Right? – Part 1 of 4

Posted on December 16, 2014 by MarleneMB

Come on. Admit it. You joined a Webinar that you really wanted to learn something new to advance your business practices, implement new ideas or utilizing new tools. You finally get added into the session after five or ten minutes of downloading software or multiple retries…only to be greeted by hundreds of beeps, bings, and bangs as other folks join. It is so annoying that you want to yell to the moderator: “Mute the “Beeping” call chimes!!!

Okay, maybe it’s only me. But I would guess that a lot of folks have encountered this experience. Some may have even walked away with a bad impression of a Webinar session; if this was their first experience.

Speaking with a friend the other day, I asked him if he thinks Webinars work. He said most of his clients believe they don’t. In fact, some of them think Webinars suck! Wow! This should make a lot of Webinar providers and presenters happy. Not.

In my humble opinion, Webinars can and do work; if done in the right fashion. Over the years of conducting Webinars as a Sales Engineer Manager, a Product Manager, Marketing Director, a trainer and now as a small business owner, I have learned that to present a successful Webinar I was must include or do the following:

Great Content
Organize It
Make Interactive
Select the Right Webinar Provider

There is quite a lot of information to share with you. I don’t want you to ask: “Where’s the beef?” Therefore, I will share these tips in each part, spread out over four posts especially for you “multitaskers” (you know who you are)! Today, we will examine how having the right content will contribute to your next Webinar’s success.

Content! Content! Content!

Maybe I’m being a bit dramatic here (I’ve been accused of worse), but in planning your Webinar session you need to take into consideration how the content meets the need of our audience. Too often, I have participated in Webinars in which the presenters spent most of the time pushing the products and services. While they spend very little time discuss how these products and services will benefit the participant’s business or individual’s requirement.

Or they conduct the bait and switch approach. They promised one type of experience, but when you get in the session it has nothing to do with what was promised. In fact, the content was not relevant to your needs.

Here are a few ideas for great content:

Make it informational (Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em) – Address a problem that the audience may have. Share ideas with the audience how to address this problem. Example: “Not sure how to maximize your LinkedIn connections to get new business leads? The Five Tips on Maximizing LinkedIn Connections for Business Growth Webinar will give your the methods to Convert Connections to Clients.” or “Learn How to Convert LinkedIn Connections to Clients”
Show them – Give step by step instruction is a great way for people to remember and learn a subject. We love lists. We were conditioned to remember lists. We make a list when we go shopping. We make To-Do lists to get tasks done. We take lists of questions to our doctors for health issues we may be experiencing (if you don’t, you should).
Give them proof that it works – Providing your audience with a strong case study of how you or your company helped solve the problem for someone just like your audience. Back the case study up with a testimonial from that person or persons.
Summarize (Tell ‘em what you told ‘em) – It is a good idea to summarize the problem and solution again at the end of your Webinar. Remind them of the key benefits and value they will get.
Give a Call to Action – Include a call to action in the content of your presentation. You may softly mention the call to action a few times in the Webinar session, then state it stronger at the end.

Throughout your content be clear, get to the point and concise your message as much as you can without losing valuable information. Don’t make it too long. One hour or less is best. Use this quick mantra: “Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Show them. Give them proofs and examples. Finally, tell them what you’ve told them.” By incorporating some of these tips into creating content for your Webinar, you should be able to make it more attractive to your target audience. In the next post, we will move onto getting organized in part two of this four part series.

Find out how I learned these tips and more from my Diamond Cutters, My Mentors and Coaches, pick up a copy of Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters today.

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Thank you for reading my post. Please hit the “follow” button at the top of the page. This will allow me continue to write and share with you on a variety of topics.