Michèle Hecken is an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. An ex-CEO, she is the founder of The Art of Offboarding, a proprietary leadership and operational methodology which she implements in Fortune 500 companies. She is also a public speaker who delivers keynotes and workshops for organizations across the world. We asked Michèle how she transformed her business to do what she loves on her own terms. Here’s what she shared:

“Delegate!”

“Go from good to great. Build a big business. Size matters.”

“Don’t work too hard. Work-life balance matters.”

Sound familiar to you? I know I’ve heard and grappled with these universal “truths” over the years, after starting a global translation company in my twenties and trying to grow it while raising two young children. 

Eventually, I realized something that would change the course of my entire life: There was a way to build a successful business based almost entirely on what you love doing rather than what you think you should love doing. 

I carved out a system to grow the business that served my family, my team, our customers, and myself. In 2019, it culminated in a high-seven-figure exit. 

Here are the three paradigm shifts that form its foundation: 

1. From “Delegating” to “Offboarding”

According to some, you should delegate to successfully grow a business. I’m here to tell you that this is not the solution but the problem. Why?

What happens when you delegate is a placebo effect. You feel good in the moment because you shuffled something off your desk. But then you do it again. And again. 

What happens next? You get lost in the follow-up. The time you saved on executing the tasks is replaced with endless coordination of employee work.

Delegating simply shifts the kind of work you do. You still own the task. Eventually, you become more stressed, as delegation encourages micromanagement. 

Offboarding is a game changer because it transfers task ownership–your employees own the entire outcome. Speaking from experience, this is an excellent way to train employees, increase their value to the business (and ensure they feel valued), and relax your grip. This also frees up your schedule, allowing you to pursue other goals.

2. From “Work-Life Balance” to “Life”

I’ve never met an entrepreneur who works optimally within a standard nine-to-five schedule. Some days we are in a deep state of flow and work 14 hours. On other days, we might struggle to get out of bed. At the same time, we build our businesses to give us the flexibility to be present for our non-work engagements whenever we want–trying to please everyone around us. 

When you try and make everybody happy, all while keeping everything “balanced,” it becomes an impossible challenge. 

The solution, something that I do when advising other entrepreneurs, is to reverse-engineer it all. Ask yourself:

• What do I want my life to look like?
• What is my ideal day?
• How does my flow work on that day?
• What kinds of freedoms do I want and need?

The goal isn’t to ensure burnout never happens again. Instead, it’s to optimize your life and business so that they align with your true self, your wants, and your needs.

3. From “Good to Great” to “Good to Happy”

Everyone wants to be happy in life–most of us prioritize happiness as a goal. 

The happiest lives are those that are continually enriched with new knowledge, connections, and experiences. That means having the willingness to get out there, try new things, and make time for enjoyment every day. You can’t get to this point by feeling forced to fit in fun or relaxation time, nor by stagnating and stifling your growth.

One practice I’ve implemented, that has worked wonders, is treating every day like a “mini life” and living it on my terms. Am I allocating my time and energy where I want it to go? Am I enjoying my day to the fullest and achieving the goals I’ve set? Most of all, have I done things that brought me joy today?

If you can respond with a resounding “yes” to these questions every day, you can theoretically achieve an entire lifetime of happiness. Sounds much more realistic this way, doesn’t it?

Reframing paradigms and shifting away from what you’ve been told should make you successful is not easy. The opportunity to co-author a recently published book, Lead Like a Woman: Audacity has allowed me to reflect on just how profoundly I’ve subverted traditional expectations both in my business and in my life.

I believe the entrepreneurial dream needs to be reframed to include a joyful life in which you never have to give up happiness for the sake of your business. I know that with a few shifts in perspective, a clear methodology, and a remarkable support system, every entrepreneur can achieve that reality.

My podcast recently celebrated its 100-episode milestone.

In just over two years, my Lead Like a Woman podcast scaled to become a major revenue source and ultimately transformed my business. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with countless top women leaders, generate new business leads, and inspire an audience I could never have dreamed of–all because an article of mine went viral.

I hadn’t expected to amass 8.1 million impressions when I sat down to write about female leadership. I was simply trying to offer the woman leader’s perspective. But when my LinkedIn article became one of the top 10 most-read news items on the internet that year, one thing was clear:

People wanted to hear from empowered female leaders who were changing the world. I had the power to scale those voices, and I knew a podcast could provide the perfect stage.

Yet, I still had my doubts:

• How would I handle the technical setup?
• Could I commit to a long-term project like this while I ran a business?
• Who was I to speak on this subject matter, really?

Now, 100 episodes later, impostor syndrome has yet to recede. Despite that, I’ve still managed to build a stage for women across the globe. Beyond its success and business growth, the most rewarding aspect of all is that the podcast has become an integral part of the way I live out my mission.

Here are four key steps I’ve learned about launching a successful podcast with the power to move audiences:

1. Identify Your Purpose

“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.”

Alexander Hamilton said it, and I’ve learned that a proverbial “stake in the ground” is key to launching a compelling podcast.

Before launching, identify your big purpose–the mission you stand for. A bigger purpose will help sustain your podcast even when it begins to occupy precious calendar slots. When energy and motivation wane, your original purpose (the reason why you did this thing in the first place) will always get you back on track.

Lead generation cannot be your only motivator. To transcend the noise of the crowded podcast marketplace and inspire people in a real way, audiences need to know what you stand for. The strength of your stage depends on it.

2. Find Your Angle and Style

Every successful podcast employs its own unique style, tone, and angle–all of which help it stand out in a sea of comparable shows.

Finding your perfect “style” doesn’t happen overnight; often, it develops over time. Yet the best thing I ever did was what most hesitate to admit: I listened to other amazing podcasts, noted the things they do really well, replicated them–and made them better.

Be clear on how you want to sound, how you want your audience and guests to feel, and what unique value proposition you bring to the table. If you can nail down those elements in advance, you’ll be the hardest act to follow.

3. Create a Formal Structure

The more streamlined and replicable the structure of your podcast is, the easier it becomes to execute and the quicker it will scale.

Mine is predictable: Guests know what questions to expect, and audiences appreciate the consistency.

It also goes beyond the episode itself. I’ve learned to be structured with the research I do before recording any interview. Usually, I’ll spend one to three hours on research per guest, but I might dedicate more time if, for example, I want to read a book they’ve written.

From a great workflow with your editing partner (the team I use, Rise 25, are phenomenal at providing done-for-you podcasting services) to how new episodes are shared on social media, I recommend you process-out everything. My structure helps remove the burden of making a thousand small decisions so I can actually enjoy the podcasting experience.

4. Be Authentic

While a formal structure is important, nothing matters more than authenticity.

Asking your guest questions on the fly often leads to the most revealing answers–and audiences appreciate candid moments over robotic discipline.

Flubbing lines, technical fails, forgetting a thought mid-sentence–I’ve made all the mistakes. I spent my earliest episodes fretting over re-recording mistakes to appear “perfect.” Today, I’ve learned that it’s in those slip-up moments that we’re often more relatable to our audiences and guests.

I encourage you to choose authenticity over perfection every single time.

From new business opportunities and clients, boosted entrepreneurial credibility, and meaningful connections, my podcasting journey has been incredibly rewarding.

Above all, launching a podcast allowed me to shine a spotlight on the world’s most inspiring individuals so they’d never be left waiting in the wings while the curtain closed on them. Today, my mission still rages on: To build a stage for inspiring women everywhere.

If the thought of standing up in front of a crowd makes your palms sweat, your heartbeat thunder and your chest tighten, you’re not alone. Studies have found that around 77% of the world’s population fears public speaking—it’s so common that it has its own name, “glossophobia.” For the longest time, I was among that majority.

Today, as a professional speaker and coach, it’s safe to say I know my way around a keynote. However, even after 20 years of coaching founders, leaders and executives, I am still finding new caveats to the craft. But the most important thing I have found is joy in public speaking—and this is something I know we can all experience.

I’ve learned to get over my fear of failure and stop worrying about being judged (after all, it’s none of our business what others think of us). Once I put something out into the universe, people can do whatever they want with it. It’s totally out of my control. That outlook has given me the courage to tackle my fear, continue speaking professionally, build a speaker coaching practice and help others own their stage. Here are three tips that can help you go from quivering to confident, and finally enjoy public speaking:

1. Open with a story.

An opening story is the best way to introduce yourself to your audience. It invites them in, helps them connect and ensures that they’ll stay engaged out of curiosity.

One of my talks features an opening story of a time I completely flopped while giving a keynote. The audience might wonder: “Why in the world would she tell us about her experience dropping her cue cards all over the ground? It’s embarrassing.”

It’s true: It’s an embarrassing story (when it happened, I was mortified). Yet sharing that story at the very beginning of a talk humanizes me: The audience is able to relate this embarrassing experience to their own emotions in a similar scenario.

One essential fact: It has to be a personal story. If you don’t have one that applies, use somebody else’s—a friend’s, a family member’s or even an acquaintance’s story. As long as you connect it to your own experience in a seamless way that makes the audience feel something about your reality, you’ve kicked off your talk in a way that builds trust, connection and relatability from the outset.

From there, you have their attention and their emotion.

2. Memorize transitions, not scripts.

The audience doesn’t know you screwed up unless you tell them. Please don’t tell them.

The danger in memorizing your entire talk word for word is that you’re bound to mess up. When you finally get up on stage, the nerves, the lighting and the curious eyes can get to you. This is why I recommend memorizing your transitions, not your entire talk. At first, relying solely on memorizing transitions might feel a little like rock climbing with half your equipment. But resist the tendency for control; instead, memorize three small bullet points per slide.

Memorizing these transitions can help you:

• Stay natural and calm: Thousands of words in your head can easily get scrambled in a high-pressure moment. Knowing just a few can give you the confidence you need to improvise and still make sense. The less rigid you are, the more natural and calm you’ll feel and sound.
• Stay on track: Even if you mess up or go on a tangent, knowing where your next transition is can help you navigate the flow like an expert so your audience is none the wiser. When you aren’t worried about every word, your focus shifts to the next “mile marker” in your talk—the transitions you’ve mapped out which act as your compass.

3. Use slides for the audience, not for you.

Slide decks are for the audience—not for the speaker. Reading them on stage can be highly distracting, especially if you have to turn your back on the audience to do so. That’s a major trap that should be avoided at all costs. As soon as you divert your attention toward your own slides, you are severing the audience connection you worked so hard to create.

It’s normal to want to rely on slides. But slides are for the audience: They add visual dimension to the words you’re speaking, creating a more comprehensive and interesting audience experience. Keep the text on your slides limited so your audience doesn’t get caught up reading them.

Not sure how to best design your slides? First use the “Boardroom or Ballroom” technique:

• A “Boardroom” slide deck is perfect for a small set of people where you need to show data. For internal or tactical presentations like investor pitches or sales presentation, boardroom slides may be what you need.
• A “Ballroom” slide deck is a presentation designed for impact, drama and emotion. It’s perfect for large sets of people where you need to show visually appealing slides to emphasize rather than detract from what you’re saying. If your talk is meant to be inspirational or motivational, think “ballroom” for your slides.

Finally: Enjoy the moment.

The joy in public speaking is the freedom to mess up. It’s the liberty to look up from your notes, into the audience, and make a real connection with them. To enjoy the moment instead of being caught up in your fears.

If you follow these steps, I can assure you that you will find joy in public speaking.

Andrea Heuston, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member of the US West Bridge chapter, is a podcast host, speaker coach to leaders of Fortune 100 companies, a best-selling author, and CEO of Artitudes, a full-service creative firm specializing in storytelling, speaker coaching, executive presentations, branding and visual marketing. We asked Andrea why women make outstanding leaders:

At age 27, I had a business meeting that changed my career.

Three years after leaping into entrepreneurship, I was hired as a consultant for a large tech company in Seattle. In theory, I should have felt like a “star” arriving to make an impact for a major brand. Yet in reality, as I walked down a long hallway to the conference room, all I felt was fear.

Why?

I knew an executive team of seasoned business leaders waiting for me, all substantially older than me–and all men. And although they had hired me, I wondered over and over, on a loop, like a bad song you can’t get out of your head:

Why would they listen to me? Who am I, anyway?

As I approached the door, I took a deep breath and straightened my suit (yes, those were the days of wearing suits). I walked in and at that very moment, despite being the only woman in that room, I discovered who I was:

A leader.

Today, it’s no secret that gender equality in the workplace leads to better outcomes. While the gap between men and women in leadership roles is decreasing, a huge disparity still remains.

Research points to numerous reasons to include women on corporate boards (and it’s hard to argue with science). A 2015 McKinsey report found that gender diversity on executive teams directly correlated with stronger financial performance, and companies with more than one woman on their board outperform those with none.

But, why? So many reasons, but I’m going to focus on five of them today.

1. ​​Empathy

In the business world, empathy is historically regarded as a soft skill most often assigned to women. Despite its stigma, female leaders have time and again wielded it to their advantage and proven its benefits.       

According to a University of Cambridge study, women generally outscore men on “cognitive empathy.” In simpler terms, women are better at putting themselves in others’ shoes.

In the workplace, female leaders tend to leverage cognitive empathy to influence others and build trust, which creates productive teams and psychologically safe cultures.

Empathy increases the effectiveness of leadership and the quality of relationships with employees, which, in turn, benefits an organization as a whole.

2. Strong communication

Apart from clarifying strategic paths forward, a leader must be a master of understanding needs–those of customers, stakeholders, and teams.

Excellent leaders know how to strike a balance between handing out the necessary performance requirements while giving a team enough freedom to generate creative solutions. A leader builds a map but leaves enough room for a team to explore the route.

Women leaders are particularly capable of finding that balance. The best women leaders know that listening is a key part of communication: Rarely the loudest in a room, women are compelled to find new ways of being heard. With communication as a key tool, women leaders have a unique ability to spark clarity rather than confusion.

3. Bolstering cooperation

A vital part of leadership is the ability to help diverse people work together to achieve a goal. 

Female leaders promote cooperation, partly because of their historic societal roles and partly because of natural instincts to contribute to their community.

They recognize that those around them want to be intellectually stimulated, energized by their environment, and recognized for their performance. As women leaders build relationships with colleagues and employees, they are able to understand how to help them develop as a team.

By understanding what unique strengths individual employees bring, female leaders foster cooperation and collaboration under a common vision in a unique way. When women collaborate to achieve a shared goal, the sky is truly the limit.

4. Problem-solving

Every leader faces problems each and every day.

When it comes to problem-solving, female leaders rank higher than male leaders, according to Harvard Business Review. Perhaps that’s because men and women evaluate problems differently.

Scientifically, when men solve problems, they tend to use one hemisphere of their brain. When women solve problems, they interconnect between hemispheres, engaging different parts of their brains.

The result: a multi-faceted approach that allows women to tackle problems with a wide range of tools. Unexpected and progressive solutions are likely to emerge.

5. Innovation

Female leaders create a top-down effect that infuses innovation throughout an organization.

One recent study looked at 341 Norwegian firms and found that female leadership was significantly related to organizational innovation. Evidence suggested that organizations with women leaders are more innovative thanks to the impact they have on culture.

Women do things differently, try new strategies, and break up ruts–all of which are necessary in both good times and trying times.

Female leaders bring skills, different perspectives, and innovative ideas to the table, but these three things combined help create future-focused, more resilient companies.

Sociologically and biologically, women have an advantage–and these five reasons are fundamental behaviors that drive the success of every leader, regardless of gender. When it comes to the role of women leaders operating in collaboration, the words of Ginni Rometty, the first female CEO of IBM, come to mind: “Your value will be not what you know; it will be what you share.”

The thriving workplaces of tomorrow will see both female and male leaders learning from each other’s skill sets. But in order for that to happen, we must continue to strive for a world where more women take the helm.

Not entirely unlike the 27-year-old version of me stepping into an all-male conference room, women must first discover who they are at their core: leaders.

How These Companies Made the Inc. 5000 List Again and Again

They fine-tuned their approach to fast growth by thinking deeper about customers, overemphasizing culture, prioritizing objectives, and embracing an entrepreneurial spirit.

Elisabete Miranda, President of CQ Fluency.

Growth matters for businesses, but continuous growth can be a challenge–and a champion maker.  

The Inc. 5000 list highlights the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Of the companies on the 2022 list, 2,907 honorees have appeared more than once. But a noteworthy group have multiple Inc. 5000 accolades to their names, with some making the list as many as 16 times. 

So, what are their secrets to sustaining above-average growth? Three of these leaders spoke withInc. about how they keep the top line expanding:   

Sniff out evolving customer needs  

Listening to customers–that is, really listening–can guide both the initial idea for your company and its evolution, strengthening your reach and supporting future growth. Lucie Voves–founder and CEO of the diploma and award frame manufacturer Church Hill Classics in Monroe, Connecticut–started her company by selling framed artwork of her alma mater, Dartmouth College. But as more customers started asking her to frame their diplomas, she pivoted. Her company has now appeared on the Inc. 5000 list 12 times and achieved annual revenue of $24 million.  

As your company grows, more opportunities could arise to help you better serve customers–and if you are listening, you can capitalize on them. At the Hackensack, New Jersey-based language service provider CQ Fluency, one of the company’s health insurance clients said they needed faster translations on a particularly time-sensitive type of letter. The CQ Fluency team solved the issue and then reached out to their other health insurance clients to see if they could benefit from a similar solution. In doing so, they discovered a wider need. 

CEO Elisabete Miranda says CQ Fluency’s business with health insurance clients increased 40 percent between 2021 and 2022 after improving this service and offering it widely to the client base.   

The key lesson, she says, is to stay “customer obsessed.” If you don’t take the opportunity to listen, you might miss the opportunity to grow. “Making sure you are talking to your clients and finding solutions that are out of the box–that pays off,” Miranda says. This year, CQ Fluency is forecasting $75 million in revenue. After landing on the Inc. 5000 list nine consecutive times, it’s aiming for double digits.

Pay attention to personalities  

No company is complete without a strong team, but the leaders who spoke with Inc. say that CEOs should take a hands-on role in building a culture that supports continuous growth. At CQ Fluency, for instance, Miranda personally interviews every employee the company hires to ensure that they are a fit.  

For Teddy Fong, CEO of the children’s furniture business Million Dollar Baby Co., culture is a more intentional focus than even the business strategy. He attributes the company’s growth to this attention–appearing on the Inc. 5000 list nine times and achieving $189 million in revenue last year.  

One way Million Dollar Baby achieves this focus: For the past five years, the company has required that every employee take a DiSC Personality Test, and Fong says that breaking down those results with the team helps promote more productive conversations and working relationships. In addition, the company conducts an anonymous engagement survey twice every year, following up on those results with team meetings and actionable takeaways.  

Fong also recommends that leaders pay close attention to Glassdoor reviews–and where employee and leadership understandings may differ–to constantly improve company culture. “I think too often, CEOs give too much credit to themselves about this brilliant strategy or this vision that they had, but at the end of the day, it’s this environment,” Fong says. 

Narrow your focus on the best opportunities   

Prioritizing your top goals is crucial to keep growing, according to the leaders. “We’ve been most successful when we had the clearest and most directed objectives,” Voves says. For instance, during the pandemic, Voves and her team added a second shift to keep people at a safer social distance. This required more training resources that could have been used elsewhere, but Voves said it paid off to ensure safety of the workforce and continued output–two crucial priorities for that time. 

Aligning with these clear objectives can sometimes lead to some difficult choices, but ones that can pay off, as Fong experienced. Five years ago, he felt pressured to move Million Dollar Baby toward direct-to-consumer offerings to take advantage of a higher-margin business. Instead, he decided to keep the company focusedon its strengths as a wholesaler to ensure it executed to its fullest capacity.  

“One of the things that we always tell our teams is: ‘You’re going to have 10 opportunities all the time. How do you not move those 10 an inch, but instead focus on three and do them all the way?'” Fong says.  

Never lose that entrepreneurial spirit  

Despite the best-laid plans, your company may still face daunting challenges. In these moments, it’s crucial to embrace what Voves calls your company’s “entrepreneurial spirit.” At least three times, Voves says her company needed to take a major pivot–the Great Recession and the pandemic being two memorable examples.  

But she says innovating out of these challenges and thinking like a founder helped her figure out how to head in a new direction, and even compete against larger outfits. “I think that our entrepreneurial spark and the flexibility of our management team has been an important part of why the company’s been able to continue to grow over such a long period of time,” Voves says.  

For instance, during Covid, Church Hill Classics changed its marketing approach to reach those college seniors who would not be graduating on campus. Church Hill Classics started new initiatives, partnering with a cap-and-gown company to pitch virtual graduation marketing ideas to colleges and universities–focusing on the emotional aspect to celebrate senior class members. It also created a social media road map for college bookstores to help them share the products online. Meanwhile, DTC business skyrocketed with the company’s own marketing initiatives.  

During the 18-month period after the onset of the pandemic, Voves said business increased 50 percent.  

Fostering this entrepreneurial spirit means being flexible and feeding the instinct to innovate, Voves says: “What worked yesterday or five years ago is not what works today.”

Writing a bestseller has great appeal but it’s no walk in the park. It can help build your authority as an expert, acting as a highly credible stage for you to project your own voice. However, what’s often overlooked is the fact that very few entrepreneurs ever make it to publishing (and some who do, don’t achieve the impact they intended).

Most people feel they have a book in them. In fact, 81% of Americans believe they can write one but very few actually end up doing so. The fraction of those who go on to have a bestseller is even smaller.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely a part of the majority of Americans who share in the dream. Like you, I was guilty of that vision and for the longest time, I let my imposter syndrome inhibit me from getting started. Although I was already a successful Speaker Coach, entrepreneur, CEO, and mother, the idea of putting myself out there as an Author terrified me.

I kept thinking: 

What if people think I’m full of myself? What if I actually have nothing to offer? What if people don’t even read the book?

In hindsight, the “what ifs” never go away. However, I’ve learned that doubts can never stop determination, so long as you remain passionate.

Finding joy throughout this entire process is what truly separates a disaster from a bestseller. I should know – I wrote two! Before embarking on the journey, follow these five steps:

1. Identify a purpose

I can say with utmost confidence that if you’re not writing a book primarily for yourself, then the project won’t be anywhere as impactful. Lead generation, new client acquisition and monetization will come (they did for me) – but I don’t believe they should be your main motivator.

The easiest way to determine whether you have a strong purpose is to answer these three questions: 

• Who is this book for? 
• What is it about?
• What is the key takeaway? 

If you can identify them easily, then you’ve found your book. At every stage of the writing process, return to that purpose to make sure that the narrative remains intact. Otherwise, the book will fail to convey your message and the project won’t have nearly enough impact.

Without a clear purpose, the book-writing process will be taxing rather than fun and the outcome won’t near the bestseller outcome you envisioned.

2. Pinpoint stories and journey

Once the purpose of your book is determined, finding stories to take readers on a journey is the fun part. By pulling your memories, lived experiences, learnings and ideas into a structured outline, you can create a cohesive narrative throughout.

With my first book, Stronger on the Other Side, I kept returning to the same memories that made me who I am today. I called them my four “befores and afters” (moments of rebirth which were also the hardest moments of my life): a 17-day coma I found myself in; a fire burning my house to the ground; and others. These moments taught me how to find hope when all is lost and what I learned could benefit others too.

Although these stories were tailored to my own life, their underlying themes were relatable. By providing specific detail, they become tangible, impactful, and provide a perspective to readers – whether it’s a fresh outlook, a reflection on their own hardships, or simply comfort knowing that someone else had successfully made it onto the other side of a major challenge.

3. Lean on collaborators

No, you don’t need to write the entire thing yourself. Right from the get-go, there was no doubt in my mind that I would get a ghostwriter. After interviewing three, I really connected with one and I was so grateful that she took my project on.

It’s important to find someone you genuinely like: you’ll be spending a lot of time with them. You have to be comfortable enough with them to open up freely and to trust that they’re going to do your story justice.

The process was really enjoyable for me. I charted out the outline of my book and she would come up with different interview topics to go through each week. Slowly, chapter by chapter, the book came to life.

However, ghostwriting isn’t the only option; there are many other ways to collaborate. My second book, Lead Like a Woman: Tales From the Trenches, was multi-authored, which was a different but extremely fun experience (so much so that my third book, coming out shortly, will follow a similar structure).

It is less labor intensive in the traditional sense: although you’re not writing from cover to cover (the contributions of others will ease that burden), you’ll have to put in a lot of legwork: finding people to contribute and corralling those busy people into submitting by certain deadlines (which can feel not entirely unlike “herding tigers”).

4. Work with an editor to clean it up and finalize

When it comes to the editing process, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Version control: Once you hand over your draft, don’t interrupt the editor’s workflow before they’ve had a chance to completely go through it.

• Familiarity: You’ll want to find an editor who knows you and the industry well. They’re going to know how to polish up your writing while remaining in your voice.

My best piece of advice for the editing experience: let go of the little things. Expert editors will take control – and their process is crucial. If you don’t have a professional editor to work with, find a skilled writer who already knows your voice so the outcome remains impactful.

5. Consider self-publishing

Most people assume that a self-published book can’t achieve bestseller status. I’ve done it – it can!

When it comes to publishing, your personal preferences should be the deciding factor. Having done both avenues, self-publishing my first book was a great decision. It helps accelerate the process: while publishing houses can take up to 1 year (sometimes longer) to get a book published, my first book was live in 3 weeks.

The “downside” to self-publishing: marketing your book is entirely on your shoulders. Marketing is going to be an integral part of publishing no matter what, so you can either pay for it or roll up your sleeves to do the work yourself. Self-publishing means having more intention with how your book is marketed but it will also be more time-consuming.

Here’s a bonus tip to reach bestseller status: go the multi-author route in order to speed-track marketing and exponentially get the word out. Having multiple people write the book means you have multiple people marketing it, too. The more “buzz” your book creates, the more sales it generates, the more reviews it receives and websites that talk about it, the closer it gets to earning that coveted “bestseller” prominence.

Ultimately, writing a book takes stamina: it’s a long process and a lot of work – and rarely does it become a major source of revenue. However, done for the right reasons, it can be incredibly fun and often freeing. It can support your bigger goals, inspire people in a way you never imagined and maybe even scale to a bestseller. But do it wrong and you’ve wasted time, energy and money.

If you can easily find your way through this guide – identifying your purpose, harmonizing your experiences and really committing yourself to the process – then you might have what it takes to publish your bestseller.

Strong women are often called assertive. They are straightforward about their wants and needs. They often rub people the wrong way. However, women who are strong are complex. They may have a background that has created the need to be gritty, tenacious, and passionate in a way that other people take offense to.

Many of us have been interpreted as demanding or even bossy. But the truth is that strong women can also be very sensitive and thoughtful. Here are eight things that I believe a strong woman brings to all of her encounters:

• She stands up for herself. Strong women are outspoken when it comes to confronting others about being treated poorly. When an injustice has taken place, they speak up rather than let it roll off.

• She invests in herself. Whether it’s learning something new, pushing themselves to be healthier, or taking a big step outside their comfort zone, these women know that investments they make for themselves and their life offers guaranteed dividends.

• She has boundaries. When a strong woman makes decisions, she checks in with herself first to see if she really wants to do it and has the time and space to invest in an opportunity. She says yes to opportunities which strengthen herself and no to those that diminish.

• She celebrates other women. Strong women encourage other women. They focus on recognizing and celebrating the strengths they see in other women. She is vocal in her support.

• She knows her worth. While she doesn’t always feel beautiful, intelligent, charming, interesting or even strong, she knows that she always brings value. When she finds herself in a situation with someone who devalues her, she’ll either make it known or leave at the first opportunity.

• She doesn’t rely on others’ opinions about her life. While she may internalize negativity, she makes an effort to let the negative comments pass and doesn’t allow the remarks of others to stop her from what is right for her. She understands that negativity says more about the person flinging it than it does about her.

• She is confident. Most strong women have a well-defined sense of identity, and their actions are in line with their morals and beliefs. They do not have a need to win others over as much as they need to stay true to their own beliefs.

• She decides to be strong. There isn’t a woman among us who has not experienced fear, anxiety, insecurity and other negative emotions that can tear us down. Strong women choose to commit to themselves. We truly embrace the idea that we will never give anything, or anyone, the power to break us.

A strong woman can walk into the room and hold her own with class, grace, and style. It’s never about being rude or demanding. Rather, it’s more about maintaining a personal commitment to guide herself through difficult situations.

I’m proud to be “too much.” I’m proud to be strong. I hope you are too,

Asa part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Andrea Heuston.

Andrea is the founder and CEO of Artitudes Design, an experiential design firm that works with Fortune 500 companies (Microsoft, Starbucks and Expedia to name a few) as well as startups and non-profits. She is also is the creator and host of the podcast, Lead Like a Woman, where she interviews female leaders and entrepreneurs who share their tips on life, leadership and entrepreneurship. She is passionate about empowering women and helping to close the gender gap for women in business.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

At24 I was putting myself through college and running the creative services department at an energy systems engineering firm in Seattle when the company was purchased by a French firm. They had me lay off the entire team of seven designers and then laid me off. However, two days later they called me back and said we made a mistake — we need to do some rebranding and we need you to come back. I decided I didn’t want to put my fate in somebody else’s hands anymore, so I jumped in my car, drove 60 minutes to Olympia, the state capitol, got a business license, and the energy systems firm became my first client.

I also grew up with a father who had traditional values around gender roles, favoring female domesticity over entrepreneurship and leadership. He didn’t believe that women should be in business. The realization that I could run a company and I could do it well was also the attraction, motivation, and inspiration for founding Artitudes Design.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

In 2008, I started the year off in the emergency room. In March I had surgery. In April I had more surgery. On May 30th, I became very ill. Three days, one misdiagnosis, three emergency rooms, two ambulance rides, and one very concerned husband later, I was in surgery yet again. I didn’t wake up from that surgery for nearly 3 weeks. I had aspirated on the operating table, contracted pneumonia, which then turned into Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or ARDS. ARDS is similar to SARS. It turns the lungs to stone. The doctors put me into a medically induced coma until my lungs could recover. At the time, ARDS had an over 70% fatality rate.

I don’t remember anything from that time. Except for some very vivid, medication-induced dreams! My husband and family remember it all. I woke up and met Dr. Stuart — the head of the hospital. (You know you’re really sick when the head of the hospital takes you on personally!) Dr. Stuart said to me, “I’m so happy to meet you because I didn’t really think I’d ever get a chance to.” I had no idea how ill I’d been until that moment. It was a long road back to health, and I missed over 8 months of work in 2008.

During that time, something amazing happened. The enthusiasm and passion I had breathed into Artitudes Design kept the company alive — without me! My incredible team of talented, creative and yes, enthusiastic heroes pulled together and saved the day.

Prior to this experience I was a micromanager, a control freak. I used to touch at least 80% of all projects that came through our doors, but because of my illness, I was forced to step back and see where I could truly add the most value to the company, and where I could let others shine with their skills and enthusiasm. It’s changed the way I lead, and I believe that both Artitudes and I are better for that decision.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

That’s a hard one. My mistakes are always huge, but not amusing! For example, my first employee and my best friend embezzled money from me. Another employee interviewed so well that I didn’t check her references before hiring her and she ended up throwing a chair at a contractor working for us at the time and I almost got sued. They’re funny in hindsight but were no laughing matter at the time. However, I learn so much from my mistakes. They’ve taught me resilience and made me a better person and leader.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My Grandma Gerry was a powerful woman for her time in the 40s and 50s. She raised two boys on her own after her husband left her. She needed to work so marched down to Boeing and got a job operating a huge computer back in the day when computers were the size of a room and few women worked, let alone at a male-dominated company like Boeing.

When I spoke to my grandmother about starting my own business, she was incredibly supportive. She loaned me 5,000 dollars to start the business which was a huge amount of money to her. I paid her back, with interest. She insisted on interest. Smart lady.

She was a major influence in my life. She was never a victim. I really respect that about her. A lot of people are victims in this world, and they look at life as being bad to them. That wasn’t my grandmother. She would pick herself up and deal with whatever life threw at her. And throughout my many tough life lessons I’ve kept that in mind. That power to choose our reaction to anything the world hands us forms the basis of my book, Stronger on the Other Side: A Guide to Getting from Victim to Champion.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

I think there are a lot of things that are holding back women from founding companies. First, we don’t have a lot of role models. Founders of businesses are almost always white men. Because it’s not what we have in our purview, we don’t think it’s possible. It’s not that it’s not possible, it’s that we just don’t see it often enough to believe it ourselves.

Secondly, the societal norms are still that women are expected to be the house, the hearth, the home, and still expected to run the family. It is changing and the new generation that’s coming into the workforce believes that anything is possible which I absolutely love. But overall, that expectation that women will run the home is still there and that can get in the way of their ability to have the time and energy to found a company.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

We need government subsidized childcare for families so women who want to can get back to work or found companies. Incubating a baby and incubating a business are both incredibly hard things and we need to provide resources and support that make it easier to do both. The cost of childcare is prohibitive, and families often decide that one parent should stay home. Almost exclusively the man makes more money. So, when as a couple you have to make the decision of who’s going to stay home, you go for the lower wage earner.

Secondly, we need better access to capital for women and more education about it, so women know what’s out there and how to get it. Women almost exclusively bootstrap their companies. When men have an idea and want start something they’ll ask their friends and their family for money or they’ll go out and seek Angel or VC funding, but women historically bootstrap because a) they don’t think they’ll get it, and b) they’re afraid to ask and afraid to incur debt.

Access to capital is one of the biggest things that works against women — they either don’t see the access, or they can’t find it. There are a ton of grants for women who are in business or starting businesses, but they’re really hard to find. I’ve spent hours and hours on the Washington State grants page looking for a grant that’s specifically for women owned entities that other women founders told me about, but it’s buried so deep I can’t find it.

There need to be more programs like the Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO) which helps women entrepreneurs through programs coordinated by SBA district offices. The more things like that that are available and visible and publicized, the more likely we are to be to go for them.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

Women bring so much to the table — as founders and as executives. Women are both empowering and inclusive. They are generally more inclusive of ideas, of people, and of different thought processes, and more likely to challenge the status quo, so you get a stronger company with that.Also,companies that have women at the helm or women on their board make more money than companies that don’t. Other benefits according to The Harvard Business Review are that companies with more women in senior positions are also more socially responsible, and provide safer, higher-quality customer experiences.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

One of the myths is that you must be focused on your business 100% of the time for it to be successful, but that’s absolutely not true. Being able to focus on yourself and your family and your mental and physical health will make you a stronger leader and make your business stronger. A lot of people say, ‘it’s going take all your time, you’re going to take away from your family, you’re not going to have time for anybody anymore’. That is utterly untrue, that is a decision you make on your own — there are super successful female founders who work 20 hours a week.

The other myth is that you have to know everything about everything. You categorically don’t. The best thing you can do as a founder is surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. Don’t ever be the smartest person in the room, because if you don’t believe there’s room to grow, you never will. I think that it’s vitally important because a lot of people, especially men, want to be the smartest person in the room. But if you’re not open to somebody else’s ideas or looking at something a different way that could make your company bigger, faster, stronger, better, you’ll at best limit your growth and at worst, fail all together.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

Oh, it’s definitely not for everyone! To be a successful founder you need to get over the fear of failure. You must believe that if you fall down six times, you get up seven. That’s such a trite quote, but it’s really true. If you look at something and you say, ‘What if I fail… What if I lose this?’ you’ll be paralyzed. You have to go through that exercise in your head that says, ‘What’s the worst thing that can happen?’ and the worst thing that can happen is you lose the business. You need to be ok with that and say, “hey, I’ll just do something else, or I’ll start a new one.” Setbacks fuel growth and future success and you need to believe in that with every fiber of your being.

There are some people who like clear parameters and direction — they like to color inside the lines. When you tell them what needs to be done, they can execute brilliantly, but they need that roadmap.

That is the opposite of what a founder does — a founder is always looking to color outside the lines, to push into uncharted territory. I’m not saying there’s not an element of entrepreneurship in a lot of jobs these days and people asking how they can do things better in order to succeed, but it’s different when you’re a founder. You have to be comfortable with the unknown and be able to jump off the building and trust that you’re going to make it, that you’re going to fly.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Confidence

As Sheryl Sandberg once famously said, “no one gets to the corner office by sitting on the side, not at the table.” As girls and women, historically we have been taught to defer to men. Forget that notion! The “nice girl” attitude you may have learned growing up doesn’t work in business, and customers, leaders and clients may tend doubt your abilities or, worse yet, try to take advantage of you. You need to own the table. Learn to walk into any room or situation with your head held high confident that you are an equal, an expert in your field, that you deserve a place at the table.

A Tribe

We all need support, but female leaders especially need their tribe! Your tribe is as unique as you are, but I suggest surrounding yourself with people who support but also question you. You should have a banker, a lawyer, a CPA, a bookkeeper and a coach. And you absolutely need a girlfriend you can cry with and drink with. In my role as CEO and founder, it’s taken me a long time to understand that I need female peers, business partners, friends, a female community. From a book club to an all-woman business group to nurturing friendships in my life, actively seeking out a supportive female community is one of the best things I’ve ever done to contribute to my own success and well-being.

You also need to hear the hard truth sometimes. Your friends/tribe can see your crap and call you on it when you can’t see it yourself. When you have trusted people around you, they’ll be the first ones to see your patterns, good or bad. Your best source of an objective opinion is your trusted group of supportive women that don’t have any other objective but your well-being.

Thick Skin

You have to have thick skin, because every person in your life is going to question you, they’re going to say: ‘Why are you doing this? Why don’t you just get a job? Why don’t you leave that to somebody else? What makes you think you can do that? Who’s raising your children right now? Shouldn’t you be making dinner?’ And when you’re assertive you’ll be called a bitch or bossy. It’s an endless litany of barbs. There’s always judgement about women. You need that thick skin, and you need to be able to laugh at yourself and let it roll off.

Creativity

It doesn’t matter if you’re a scientist or if you run a design firm, you have to be creative in your conversations, you have to be creative in how you present issues and solutions, you have to be creative in the way that you look for funding, and you have to be creative in how you juggle the demands of home and work. Creativity fuels big ideas and opens the door to new business opportunities.

A Kickass Outfit

You need an outfit that makes you feel like you can own the world when you wear it. It adds to your confidence level. It’s the outfit that makes you feel like a superhero; this is your uniform, this is your costume, and you are who you need to be to rule the world in that outfit. I have a pair of pants that I call my Super Woman pants. If I really need some good mojo, if I’m going to be speaking in front of a crowd or giving a big presentation, it’s what I wear. I also have a floral pantsuit that is one of my superhero costumes. It’s hard to have a bad day when I’m wearing it.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I’m passionate about empowering women to empower others and that’s really what I’m trying to do with my podcast, Lead Like a Woman. My goal is to help women recognize and realize their own power. I believe wholeheartedly that when we listen to women, we get a fuller story than when we listen to men. And that’s not to say that men’s ideas and voices are wrong or bad. That’s not at all what I’m trying to say. Rather, women have a different insight and different approach to things, and if we can inspire women to empower other people, the world will be a better place. Mainly because they will be listened to on a different level. Women see things that men don’t see because they’re deeper into the trenches generally of their lives, their families’ lives, of anywhere where the fringes are in society. Women when they get together can do incredible things. Men can, but there’s a little more jockeying.

How can our readers further follow you online

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreaheuston/

http://andreaheuston.com

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

If I could inspire a movement, it would be around the idea that feminism is stronger when all people support it — all genders, all colors, all political parties. When women rise, society benefit. Closing the gender gap in pay and societal roles can raise the GDP by 35%, according to the World Economic Forum. There is a rising tide for equality, and even equity in gender roles. I believe that it needs to be bigger, louder, and bolder in order to see some sort of parity within the next 100 years.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Melinda Gates. I’m so impressed with what she’s doing to elevate women in this world. Everyone can learn from her. She continuously steps out of her comfort zone and listens and learns from the people she’s helping. She’s very humble and open to feedback and I don’t know many people in a position like hers that are so open to critical feedback. I’d LOVE to have her as a guest on my podcast.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Atsome point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Andrea Heuston.

Andrea Heuston is the founder and CEO of Artitudes Design, a full-service creative services firm that specializes in providing high level speaking and design support to top executives and their companies.

Artitudes works with Fortune 500 companies (Microsoft, Starbucks, and Expedia to name a few) as well as startups and non-profits.

Andrea has 20 years of experience coaching speakers for pitching their companies and ideas to audiences of all kinds and sizes. She is skilled at teaching her clients how to create audience connections through communications, visual and spoken. So much so that clients have called her the script whisperer!

When not helping clients, Andrea is a is sought-after speaker in her own right, speaking on women in leadership and on living our best lives in gratitude.

She’s a TEDx Seattle speaker coach and a certified speaker with Entrepreneur Organization’s Global Speakers Academy.

I grew up in a. middle class family in a suburb of Seattle. One of the defining moments of my upbringing was going abroad and living in Denmark my junior year of high school. It was eye opening, as I found a whole new world and a new way of doing things. Not necessarily right or wrong, just different, and viewpoints and values other than those of my parents. I found my own voice and I was able to realize who I was, independent of my parents and their beliefs.

My father had traditional values around gender roles, favoring female domesticity over entrepreneurship and leadership. He didn’t necessarily believe that women should be in business. The realization that I could run a company and I could do it well was also the attraction, motivation, and inspiration for founding Artitudes.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

My company, Artitudes, began as a ‘traditional’ graphic design firm — creating logos and branded content (newsletters, brochures, postcards, etc.) for clients. As technology changed, so did we, moving into the online world. Today we are a solutions provider in the experiential design space — we specialize in designing and executing corporate events — from visual concepts, video, motion graphics, and animation to presentation design for events from 5 to 50,000 attendees. However, I quickly found out that killer creative is just the tip of the spear. All the beautiful visuals in the world won’t make up for a poor presenter. So, I began offering speaker coaching and content writing to our clients and found that I really loved it and it was one of my superpowers. One client called me the script whisperer. My goal is to make every speaker a superhero and I love seeing the transformation that takes place.

I’m also passionate about empowering women and closing the gender gap for women in business, so I speak about that at every opportunity I can, in addition to interviewing women leaders on my podcast, Lead Like A Woman.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I met the Dalai Lama! I was working a large corporate event where he was a speaker, and I had the utter privilege of meeting him backstage. We were working, looking at slides for his presentation, so not discussing a higher purpose or anything like that. But what struck me about him was presence, and not only his presence backstage and how he treated the people there, but his presence in front of the audience. He really connected with them and knew what they needed at that moment. It was never about him as a person or a speaker, it was about the people he was talking to, which is a great lesson for all speakers to remember.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

It wasn’t funny at the time — more like an epic failure — but looking back on it now, it’s like a comedy skit. I was giving a presentation to a group of entrepreneurs, ironically on how to give a great presentation. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Despite being prepared with my presentation on my laptop and a backup, my laptop didn’t work with their ancient technology, and I had to put my slides on somebody else’s computer. Then my clicker wouldn’t work with that computer, and we had to borrow one from the venue. They put a lavalier mic on me so that I could walk around. I had my notes in one hand and the clicker in the other. But the clicker was way more sensitive than mine, I had no experience with it, hadn’t practiced with it, so every time I pushed it, it advanced three slides which put me off my game completely. Then, to top it off, the lavalier went out. At this point I’m a third of the way through the presentation, I’m completely discombobulated because the clicker’s not working, I’m losing my place because I look up at the screen and I’m not on the right slide, and all of a sudden, I have no mic. They gave me a hand-held one. But now I had my notes, a hand-held mic and the clicker to deal with. Do you think this went well? Nope! I dumped my notes all over the floor. I was mortified.

It was the first time I’d spoken in front of this group of entrepreneurs, and I thought to myself, I’ll never speak in front of these people again. I actually got an eight out of 10. But for me, it was a minus 10, I was mortified that this happened. What I should have done is just laugh it off, acknowledge it and make it a teaching moment: ‘hey guys things are clearly not going my way today, but this is a great example of what not to do.’ I also didn’t know my content well enough to wing it as I was relying too heavily on my notes. These days I memorize everything.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My Grandma Gerry (now deceased) believed I could do anything, literally anything. She was my biggest supporter. When I got laid off from a job at 24 and decided I wanted to start my own business, she loaned me $5,000 to buy a Macintosh computer and get business cards. It was a huge amount of money to her, and she didn’t hesitate.

My business operations manager, Carrie, is my rock and biggest cheerleader for me in general, but especially for my speaking efforts. After that disastrous speaking gig, she found me another opportunity. I was so petrified about going back out in front of people that I told her, I can’t do it if you’re not with me, so she came with me. And I got a standing ovation. She’s always been my biggest champion when it comes to things like that, and she’s always the one in the audience that I can look at and know I’m safe.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

I’ve been challenged so many times! I’ve learned to embrace it with what I call failing forward. I’ve learned that failure isn’t necessarily failure, it’s about what I can learn and take forward in my life and in my business and my speaking to be stronger and better. The more risks I take, the more I fail forward, the more successful I’ve become. I now look at “failures” as a stair step to something greater. I believe that the only way to truly succeed is to have failed in the past.

As a speaker, you need to know that you will have days when you bomb, or think you bombed. But if you can learn from those occasions, it will only make you stronger and better.

What drives you to get up every day and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?

Currently, my main empowering message is about gratitude and how you make a decision every day about what kind of day you’re going to have. You don’t get to choose what happens to you, but you get to choose your reaction to it, and while it can be very difficult, it’s also the most gratifying thing ever. I’ve even written a book about it, “Stronger on the Other Side: The Power to Choose.” I know it sounds clichéd, but if I can help one person in an audience who’s having a down day, who is dealing with something big, that’s what makes it all worthwhile and keeps me going.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

I’m working on a trademarked process for speakers that will review things like accessibility, cultural sensitivity and audience development — all aimed at building speaker skills and creating highly effective speakers. We’re also developing online courseware to go with it. It’s very exciting.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness.” That’s been vital for me because I’ve been able to create new pathways that never were there before, especially for women.

Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.

Audience research.

The first thing you need to learn is that your speech is not about you, it’s about your audience. Before you even start writing your speech you need to do your research, understand your audience: what are they there for; what makes them do things; what are their trigger points; what are their concerns and needs. We do a lot of research and only then then do we start figuring out the right messaging and content, delivery mechanisms and activities.

Location research.

Find out everything you can about where you’re speaking. How big is the stage, how much room will you have to move around, will you be behind a podium? How is the audience spread out? And then practice your delivery within that context. For example, with TEDx, we know that the space for speakers is a 10 x 10. I have my speakers block it out at home with a rug or tape so that they can feel the space and walk around the space when they are practicing their speech. I have them do this so that when they are on stage, they’re not thrown off by having more or less space than they anticipated.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

And then practice some more. It can’t be overstated how much you need to do this. You need to practice it when you’re alone, you need to practice reading it, you need to practice doing it without reading it, you need to practice recording it and then reviewing the recording, you need to give the speech to your dog or the mirror, or your cat, or a family member. And once you feel comfortable with it you should do a dummy run in front of a small audience of friends or trusted colleagues. And be sure to ask them for candid feedback.

Also be sure to watch recordings of your own speeches. You can improve your speaking skills so dramatically when you do this. You’ll see or hear your verbal stalls, you’ll notice your body language, you’ll see when you’re not looking confident, you’ll get a sense of whether you’re gesturing too much, or too little, moving about the stage too much or not enough.

Hook them with an opening ‘heart’ story.

Audiences like personal stories. It’s a way to connect with them. I call it the ‘opening heart story’. But it can’t be a random story, you need to be sure to connect the story to the message of your speech. For example, I was once in a coma (a story for another day!), I start some speeches by saying:

“I started the year off in the emergency room. In March I had surgery. In April I had more surgery. On May 30th, I became very ill. Three days, one misdiagnosis, three emergency rooms, two ambulance rides, and one very concerned husband later, I was in surgery yet again. I didn’t wake up from that surgery for nearly 3 weeks as the doctors put me in a medically induced coma.” It’s a story that gets people’s attention and emotionally involved in my speech immediately.

But I don’t just tell the story to get attention. Between the coma and recovery l was gone from work for seven months and my team stepped in and ran the company in my absence. Prior to the coma I had been a micromanager and touched 80% of the projects that came through Artitudes’ door. I didn’t know how to empower my team. Good leaders know how to delegate and let people play to their strengths. I didn’t. Learning to let go made me a better leader and the company stronger and that’s the point I make through the coma story. The company would not be as successful as we are today if I had kept my old micromanaging habits.

Pay attention to language and cadence.

No matter how great the content, your speech may fall flat if you haven’t paid attention to the language and your cadence. For example, if you use words like ‘just ‘or ‘I think ‘or ‘maybe,’ it weakens the power of your words and reduces your power as a speaker. Women, in particular, undermine themselves with the language they use. You need to be and sound confident.

Other tools include varying the pace, pitch, and volume of your delivery.

One tool I like to use in my speeches is the a ‘repeated stem.’ Repeated stems draw attention to ideas and takeaway points. Probably the most well-known example of a repeated stem is “I have a dream,” in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech.

In my speech about gratitude, I’ll say, “I have one last thing I’d like to share with you: you deserve a joyful life, where anxiety takes a back seat to happiness; you deserve a joyful life where it’s easy to find gratitude in every moment; you deserve a joyful life, one with endless opportunity in grace, you deserve a joyful life and so on…

As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?

One thing that I ask all my speakers to do, and what I do, is to think positively. It can make a huge difference. It’s helped me as a speaker overcome negative self-talk. I used to work myself into a lather before a speech. I’d think, ‘Oh my God, no one’s going to listen to me,’ or ‘it’s going to fall flat’, or ‘I’m really literally going to break a leg because I’m so graceless.’ But instead, when I coach speakers, I give them affirmations and visualization exercises. I ask them to visualize the audience giving them a standing ovation at the end. I ask them to use affirmations such as ‘I’m going to do well today’ or I’m so grateful for the opportunity to help this audience’, that kind of thing. So then what you’re doing is setting yourself up for success rather than failure.

You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

If I could inspire a movement, it would be to bring more positivity to the world and help people become more accomplished and confident speakers, so they in turn share their message with others in a way that it can be received. If I could do that, then we’ll have multiple movements and many people changing the world.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

Michelle Obama. She is one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard and she’s simply mazing as a human being. As a speaker she engages the audience from the minute she opens her mouth, and it’s not because of who she is, it’s because of the way she tells her stories and because she understands who’s listening to her.