10 tips to make a winning Elevator Speech

An Elevator Speech can give you that extra edge, that dose of self -esteem, and win you that business deal without even trying.

Read here to find out what an elevator speech is, and why is it important?

Use these 10 tips, and make a winning Elevator Speech:

Focus on the Solutions and Benefits you provide others:  

You are not selling yourself, or a product or service. You are selling a benefit to someone. You are providing a solution to someone’s problems. So instead of saying, I sell cosmetics, it can be, I provide the tools to women to step out daily with confidence.

Talk about what makes you UNIQUE: 

What sets you apart from the competition? What is your unique selling proposition? What uniqueness do you bring to the table? This is a crucial component of your Elevator Speech. For eg. I help people reach their highest potential using the power of their own thoughts!

Keep it Short and Simple:  

Stick to short sentences and simple words. Using jargon will only confuse your audience.

          I help people reach their highest potential using the power of their own thoughts!

Make this sentence shorter

I help people reach their highest potential by using powerful thinking.

Use Uplifting, Positive Encouraging Words: 

Use words with positive energy such as inspire, empower, powerful, confidence etc. This will instill energy in your elevator speech and inspire you and others.

Work on it MANY times:  

Make many versions of your elevator speech before you finalise it. And each time you work at it, keep refining it. Say it aloud to see how it sounds.

STAY TRUE TO YOUR HEART: 

Don’t try and be something you are not. It will show through in your elevator speech if you are uncomfortable. Stick to what your heart tells you, and use words that ring true.

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE: 

Once you have completed your final draft, practice it aloud many times. In front of the mirror, with family. It should become a part of your system. The trick is to belt it out comfortably and yet not sound rehearsed.

START USING IT NOW  and WHEREVER YOU GO!!! 

Don’t wait for the next networking forum, or the next big event to use your elevator pitch. Use it at a party, or at your grocery store, or anywhere where someone asks you, So, What do you do? This is the only way you will get it in your system.

HAVE DIFFERENT VERSIONS: 

We do many multiple roles. I like to have a few different elevator speeches which highlight different aspects of my work at different times. For eg when I want my coaching to be at the forefront, I may use a different one. When I want my writing to be highlighted, I would have a different one.

HAVE FUN! 

Most importantly, Have FUN while making it. That way, when you do say it, It won’t sound rehearsed or gawky or uncomfortable. Remember there is NO right or wrong way to make an elevator speech. It just has to convey the essence of who you are.

So, go ahead, pick up your pen, start typing, Make your Elevator Speech right now.

5 Simple Tips to boost your Self-Esteem

Self-worth. Self Esteem. Self Love.

Three interchangeable  and connected phrases.

How do you feel about yourself? 

Do you think you are worthy of all the good things in life?

Or do you feel unloved by yourself?

Self Worth, Self Esteem, and Self love affect our confidence and the way we approach life.

Imagine a day, when you feel frumpy, have a bad hair day, and feel bloated. If you were to walk in a party, would you scurry in unnoticed or would you waltz in like you own the place?

The good news is that we can change the way we feel about ourselves. And that too without changing ourselves. We just need to alter the way we think.

Here are my Top 5 tips to help you feel good about yourself

1)  Make a list of your Achievements: Sit down and make a list of all the things you are proud of about yourself. List EVERY accomplishment, whether small or big. The first five minutes may be difficult, but soon the words will flow. Look at the list, and enjoy the feeling.

2)Pat yourself on the back: You work hard at what you do, and sometimes all you really need is a pat on the back. Yes, do the physical act of patting your back. So take your right palm, and pat your left shoulder, and tell yourself , GOOD JOB! Repeat with your left hand! And feel your positivity rise!

          

      3)Maintain an Appreciation Journal: At the end of every day, write down at least ONE thing that you did well. Appreciate yourself for anything big or small on a daily basis. Complement this with Tip # 2, and you will be falling in love with yourself all over again.

      4)Appreciate one person each day: When we appreciate someone, we are training our brain to look for the goodness in others. Hence it changes the way we look at ourselves too. Appreciate a new person every day for one thing that they did. Write someone an email, or look them in the eye, and say Good Job, or give someone a hug or a pat on the back. Not only will your popularity soar, but so will your confidence.

      5)Practice a Random act of Kindness: The act of helping someone is empowering. There is something about putting someone else’s needs ahead of ours which makes us smile. Do at least one every day!

So Go ahead, Start this journey of self –appreciation and self-love TODAY.  And remember to give healthy doses of encouragement along the way! It will pave the way for a more confident and empowered YOU!

      

Why Gratitude makes us happy........

My mother went to the Government Office to liquidate her National Savings Certificates. As the clerk handed the cheques, my mother thanked her profusely. The clerk stopped and gave a big smile. Nobody thanks us. If we slip up, they are quick to create a scene. But nobody thanks us for anything. “You made my day” she told my mother.

Gratitude is often mistaken for just common courtesy. And yet we are found lacking. In our busy lives, we fail to say thank you to the waiter who got us water, a stranger who stopped to let us pass, or a friend who compliments us for nice clothes. Our responses vary from “It’s his job” to “It’s my right to go first”, “or isn’t it nice, I bought it from….”

And yet Gratitude is much deeper than common courtesies. Gratitude is a lens to view our world. If viewed with a lens of gratefulness, the world seems better, the people in our lives more helpful, and our troubles insignificant.  If viewed with ungratefulness or cynicism, our world seems unjust, full of scheming people, and our troubles larger than life.

We know the theory and the benefits. Yet I know from experience that wearing the lens of gratitude takes persistence and practice. It is easy to look at all the things that go wrong, or to make a list of all the people to blame.

So how can we start? How can we wear this lens all the time? Or at least, most of the time.

My favourite is a simple exercise. Take a page of blank paper. Write “My gratitude List “at the top.

And now write. Think of all the things big and small to be grateful for. Think of the situations in your life that make you happy. Think about your relationships. Think about people who have helped you. Think of opportunities you got. Think of your last vacation. Think of something you are grateful for at work.

When I do this, At first I find that I am daunted by the blank page. I need to fill this? But then, as I write one, two and three things, I find that, soon I am scribbling away to glory.

So even if nothing comes to mind, persist. Stay with the page. Stay with the gratitude. Fill that page, no matter how long it takes.

The process of writing this list and then reading it brings to life all the wonderful things that are happening in our lives.  And truly, there are wonderful things happening all around. If we can only, pause long enough.

I like to carry my list in my wallet, or paste it on my display board. It helps me focus. It helps me move on quickly from my disappointments and my frustrations.

Shawn Achor from Harvard talks about the Happiness Advantage in this Ted talk. Watch it here.

 According to him, practicing the below 5 things for 21 days can rewire us for a positive attitude and happiness.

·         3 Gratitudes everyday.

·         Journaling

·         Exercise

·         Meditation

·         Random Acts of Kindness

So the next time, a waiter brings you a glass of water, Say thank you. If a stranger allows you to pass, stop and smile at him. Not only will you make somebody’s day, but it’s the secret to a happier you.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall!!

Last week I read an article on Mirror Fasting.  Was I reading this right? Some women bloggers tired of their reflections, and some tired of being vain stopped looking in the mirror for a few days. The result; they felt more comfortable with themselves.

Sociologists argue that Mirror Fasting is just another way of re-inforcing our vanity. According to them, it does more harm than good, and is at best a very temporary solution.

In my opinion, Mirror fasting is a way of avoiding ourselves. If we were comfortable with our self image, looking into the mirror would always make us feel good.  It would make us smile irrespective of how we looked, or whether we had a bad hair day.

So, the question is not, “Does Mirror Fasting help?” but “What can I do to feel better about myself always?”

As a Heal your Life Workshop Trainer, one of the techniques (pioneered by Louise.L.Hay) we teach people is Mirror Work. Mirror Work is the opposite of Mirror Fasting. It involves looking in the mirror and making friends with what you see.

Can you look in the mirror and say “Hey, I like you”

On a day when you are feeling fat and bloated, can you look at yourself and say, “I know you are not perfect, but I still like you!”

Mirror Work involves going beyond looking at physical attributes, and appreciating our whole self, exactly as we are.

I like to call it going on a Mirror Binge!

So what’s a Mirror Binge?

Each time you look at the mirror, say powerful uplifting words to yourself.

For e.g.,

You are a wonderful person!

You are a beautiful person on the inside and the outside!

You are beautiful exactly the way you are!

I love you, just the way you are!

Now Mirror Work takes some practice, and a lot of guts. Imagine having a bad hair day, and still telling yourself, “You look great”. It is not just about liking ourselves but about accepting us for who we are in that moment.

However, with patience and persistence, it is a surefire way to long lasting confidence and increasing self-worth.

As we grow more comfortable with the way we look, we also influence the way people look at us. My favourite example is of the picture above. When a cat walks into the room thinking she is a lion, people admire her majestic grace. If the same cat, thinks she is a squeaky tiny mouse, people ignore her presence.

So, try going on a Mirror Binge! Make the Mirror your best friend.

This is the only binge you can do without any negative side effects!

The link between Performance and Potential..

How often have we heard it being said or ourselves said about someone, “He/She has immense potential, but somehow it doesn’t come across in his/her performance”.

Growing up, I often heard my teachers talk about my potential. But somehow, as I inched to the finishing line, I lost interest, or gave up, or stopped short.
And even today, I work on myself every day. I need to remind myself that I have to cross that finishing line, and live upto my potential. I don’t want to spend my dying day wondering, “Did I live up to my true potential?

I have always wondered:





I learnt the answer in my Executive Coach Training program held by Results Coaching Systems. Our Master Coach told us of a simple quote given by Tim Gallwey in his book “Inner Game of Tennis”





I let that statement sink in. I tried to absorb the true meaning of it.
And my mind flashed back to all those times that I hadn’t lived up to my potential.

What was the interference I had felt? Was it external? Was it some distraction? Was it someone else telling me I couldn’t do it? Yes, sometimes.

However, as I dug deeper, I realized, it was mostly internal. There were certain thoughts that I was thinking that were leading to the interference.




It was my self-talk which was leading to the interference. If I could minimize this interference, could I bridge the gap between my potential and performance?




Of course, external interference can also come in, in the form of detractors, disturbances etc, but most of us can handle those, and control them.

How can we control the interferences caused by our thoughts and beliefs?
And that’s when I realized that Affirmations and Powerful Visualizations can help us tune out the interference.

An Affirmation is a positive statement that is powerful and puts our focus back on the outcome.



I have worked with Affirmations for many years now, and found it an excellent tool to change my thinking and focus on the result.

Visualizations are all about picturing the outcome that you want, and painting a wonderful image of it in your head. The mind thinks in pictures, and there are many experiments conducted which show that visualizing the outcome in great detail, and living it as though it has already happened has a great impact on the actual outcome itself.

I first learnt about this tool from my father at age 16. When I was working hard to get into a prestigious college, he told me to spend 5 minutes every day, visualizing that I was already in the college. How would I feel then? How would I behave?

I took it a step further, and changed my daily route to pass that college. I would spend time watching from the other side; observe the uniform of the students. I would imagine myself waving to myself from inside the college.

I lived my dream, and walked into that college as a student three months later.



The simplicity and power of this equation, and the tools that I can use, has given me clarity on how I can maximize use of my potential.

Some questions below to make you think, and reflect…








And needless to say, we must always have faith in the immense potential within us..that is just waiting to be unleased…

Of Humility and Learning...

One of my turning points in life came when I decide to attend the Heal Your Life Workshop Leader Certification course in the UK. It is a weeklong teacher’s training course which trains and empowers you to conduct workshops on the powerful philosophy of Louise Hay.

I had already read the book Heal Your Life, and applied the principles in my life. I was beginning to experience fabulous changes in my life.

To say that the one week I spent was life altering would not be enough. It was a safe, nurturing environment with 40 other lovely souls. All of us spent 7 days learning, sharing, growing, and helping each other grow.

It was time away for me from everything. I was away from my job, my family, and friends. The clarity I experienced there was immense, and my vision for Swayam Life Skills took seed.

Looking back, I ask myself, "What are the things i learnt in that One week?"

Many things come to mind including acknowledging my true potential, the importance of quiet time, the power of my thoughts and discovering all the answers within me.

But most of all, I learnt the power of Humility. Here I was thinking about myself as someone who has a decade of corporate experience, and now wants to help people, and share my knowledge.

And then I saw 39 other people, older than me, with more experience, and yet so humble and willing to share. And they were keen on learning..from ME!

I learnt the POWER of humility and of being OPEN to LEARNING FROM OTHERS.

And even today, as me and my organization takes baby steps, I remind myself everyday to be Open and keep learning. From the 5 year old slum child I teach, to my 60 year old workshop participant, to the many teachers, there is a lesson to be learnt from everyone.

I only need to LISTEN, LEARN and always be HUMBLE.

THOUGHTS ARE THINGS....

When i look back at my life, and think about the point where true transformation began, it was when i started looking at my thoughts!

The first step was an AWARENESS to find out what was i thinking.
The next step was to change that thought, change the lens with which i viewed the world.

Like all CHANGE, this isn't easy. But with practice, I found I could slowly replace a negative, stressful thought, by a simple positive thought.

I CAN NEVER DO IT became I CAN DO IT.

I AM A VICTIM became I CAN CHANGE MY CIRCUMSTANCES


Did my problems disappear? NO!!
Did my challenges fade away? NO!!

I simply changed my thinking. And what i found was, that i felt better about myself. I found myself bouncing back from stressful situations quickly. My inner sense of peace and well being went up dramatically.

And yet, today I do go through situations, when my mind shouts I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE or LIFE IS SO UNFAIR. But as i let that moment pass by, and remember, that it's just a thought. And a thought can be changed.

I am sharing this simple poem that i read, which is a wonderful reminder for all of us.

Hope you enjoy reading it.

THOUGHT ARE THINGS

I hold it true that thoughts are things;

They're endowed with bodies and breath and wings:

And that we send them forth to fill

The world with good results, or ill.

That which we call our secret thought

Speeds forth to earth's remotest spot,

Leaving its blessings or its woes

Like tracks behind it as it goes.


We build our future, thought by thought,

For good or ill, yet know it not.

Yet so the universe was wrought.

Thought is another name for fate;

Choose then thy destiny and wait,

For love brings love and hate brings hate.


By Henry Van Dyke