Inspirational Women of the Speaking Circuit: Author AmondaRose Igoe On The Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Speaker
Your responsibility as a speaker is to ensure that your audience clearly understands your key points.
…You need to find various ways to make your points. Tell them one way, then tell them again in a different way, and finally, tell them one last time to make sure you hit the point home. Too much information given in one presentation only serves to confuse people and effectively shuts down the mind’s ability to pay attention. So, to avoid putting your audience to sleep, remember, it’s better to give a power-packed point that your audience will remember than to cover 25 points that they can’t recall at all.
As a part of our series about Inspirational Women of the Speaking Circuit, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing AmondaRose Igoe.
AmondaRose Igoe is an award-winning speaking expert, author of “Pain-Free Public Speaking” and “Share Your Story,” and is a contributing author in the number #1 Best Selling book series “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” She has taught thousands of business owners, entrepreneurs, and leaders her step-by-step proven speaker training and presentation coaching systems. AmondaRose hosts the Rising Stars Speaker Contest for Women and Unstoppable Speakers Success Summit, as well as speaking courses, programs, and events, including “Invincible Success Superstars,” “6-Figure Empowered Speaker Event for Women,” and online programs such as “Big Impact and Income Speaker Bootcamp,” “Speaking Success Blueprint,” and “Public Speaking Launch Pad.”
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in New Jersey with a single mom. My dad left our family when I was six and we found out when I was 10 that he had died in a fire in another state. My mother’s brother took my father’s place in my life. He was the best male role model I could ever ask for. I was like the daughter he never had and he loved me 100% unconditionally. He would have done anything for me. He was a true gift in my life.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was a social worker until 1999. I was looking for a change and took a job with a non-profit organization, Deborah Hospital Foundation, where I focused on their charitable gifts and annuities donors. They didn’t tell me when I took the job that I would have to speak to groups. Had I known this during the interview process I probably would have never taken the job. I had never presented before, so this was where I had to deliver my first presentation in front of an audience of 100 or more. As a result of this, I realized I had an undiscovered ability to create presentations and deliver them in an impactful way. So much so, one of the Board members said to me, “You need to teach everyone to deliver presentations like you.” I realized I had unique speaking abilities and gifts, and that I had to share them with more people. As a result, I started my full-time business in 2004 and have never looked back.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I had challenged myself to create a list of goals that stretched me and my belief systems. One of them was to interview Jack Canfield, co-creator of the #1 best-selling book series “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” Within a week of putting him on my list, an unexpected opportunity presented itself where I was able to connect with him. My heart told me to go for it and ask him if I could interview him and he politely said, “Yes.” I got to interview the one and only Jack Canfield for almost 50 minutes, which was a dream come true!
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?
We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Because I believe in always striving to be our best, I wanted to work on my ability to tell jokes and present. I am great at humor when it is unprepared and at the moment, so I attended a training on how to utilize more humor when speaking. I was speaking at an event in Colorado and was fully ready to utilize my brand new humor skills. I practiced my jokes over and over again and delivered them with all the skill I could muster. The response I got was less than inspiring. You could hear a pin drop. Joke after joke, the same thing happened. There was no response and confused faces were staring back at me. It was like watching a bad movie and I was the main character. I realized sometimes you need to stick to what you are good at and memorizing jokes just isn’t for me.
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?
For several years I struggled with losing sleep every night because I wasn’t making any money and I didn’t know how to change it. I had been praying for an answer. I felt like if nothing changed, I was going to have to get a job.
I went for an opportunity that I previously would have been afraid to pursue. I invested money in educating myself and improving my business results. I took terrifying leaps into the unknown instead of sitting around and saying, “I don’t know how,” or “What do I do?” and complaining and whining. Adopting the energy of someone who is successful made me look for what was possible versus looking at my struggles and making excuses. I ended up signing up for a year-long group for business coaching under Kendall Summerhawk, a successful female entrepreneur. The monthly payments were significant. I put it on my credit card and I couldn’t afford it, however, I diligently paid it off every single month.
It changed my life and my business forever because I had a coach who told me what to do, and I did exactly what she suggested…and even more. I ended up more than tripling my income! My life changed quickly and I realized when you have the right tools, you can make things happen really fast. I was no longer undercharging for my services and not seeing my value. I found success because I listened to my coach and implemented what I was learning. I was super successful in her program because I really went for it.
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?
The reality is that sometimes things aren’t going to go the way we planned, even though we had the best intentions. Sometimes, you have no control over a situation and the outcome. The bottom line is, none of us are 100 percent perfect in every situation and not every situation is going to turn out perfectly. We make mistakes, we mess up, and these are wonderful opportunities for growth. Do your best each moment and learn a lesson when it doesn’t go the way you planned. When you do your best, you might find “perfectly imperfect” is ultimately the best because it is real, authentic, and stuff gets done faster, instead of sitting on a lifelong to-do list.
What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
When I asked God what I was here to do, I heard, “Teacher.” I quickly said, “God, I don’t want to be a school teacher.” I asked over and over, “God, what I am here to do?” and I kept getting the same response, “Teacher.” I finally understood what God meant. As an international speaker and a coach today, I am really a teacher, even though some people may see me as a speaker and a coach. I know that I am here to teach and I love to teach with every ounce of my being. I make sure it is fun too.
Can you share with our readers a few of your most important tips about how to be an effective and empowering speaker? Can you please share some examples or stories?
1) Getting to the Starting Line. The time is now! — If you are someone who wants to absolutely make a difference in the lives of others through public speaking and/or wants to accelerate your career, NOW is the time to get out there and start speaking to groups. There is no time like the present. When I first started my seminar and coaching business, my coach told me to set a date for my first speaking event. I was totally blocked. I couldn’t move forward. I couldn’t set a date on my own. I am so grateful to my coach for nudging me, very strongly, to set a date that moved me out of my comfort zone. I am sure a few of you are saying, “Wait! I haven’t conquered my fear of public speaking, yet! I’m not even sure which points I want to make!” If you’re thinking this, then you absolutely MUST take this tip to heart: You have to just get out there and do it, even if it means taking some small steps first, and even if you don’t do it perfectly. By setting the date of your first speaking event, even before all the details of your speech are determined, you are setting a clear intention that you are going to do it. That intention will give you the courage to move you beyond your comfort zones. While it’s relatively “safe” to stay in the “planning” stages, once you take “action” by setting a date, you set the reality of it in motion!
2) From the moment a speaker opens his or her mouth, they must GRAB the audience’s attention. All eyes and ears must be drawn to the speaker. If a speaker wants the audience’s attention, they must find a unique way to connect with the audience and get them excited. This sets the stage for the entire presentation. If the speaker loses them in the first few sentences, it can be really hard to get the audience back. Creating a powerful and memorable opening is one of the very essential keys to great speech writing. It takes a lot of creativity to always come up with interesting, fun, and attention-grabbing openings. I can promise you, if you commit to doing it you can develop the creative abilities to “wow” your audiences with memorable openings. I know from personal experience that it is not always easy in the beginning. I used to believe I didn’t have a creative bone in my body. However, as I moved into the public speaking industry and then into coaching and training, I discovered that creative presentation writing is second nature to me. It is something I absolutely love to do. It can be fun for you too.
3) Your responsibility as a speaker is to ensure that your audience clearly understands your key points. For this reason alone, you must follow this very simple process. It’s broken down into three easy-to-remember steps. You’ll want to follow this format for each and every essential point you want your audience to remember, from a five-minute introduction to a two-day seminar.
- First, tell them what you’re going to tell them
- Then, tell them again, but in a different way
- To ensure that they really “get it,” tell them what you told them, again!
I know this seems rather redundant, however, trust me on this. You need to find various ways to make your points. Tell them one way, then tell them again in a different way, and finally, tell them one last time to make sure you hit the point home. Too much information given in one presentation only serves to confuse people and effectively shuts down the mind’s ability to pay attention. So, to avoid putting your audience to sleep, remember, it’s better to give a power-packed point that your audience will remember than to cover 25 points that they can’t recall at all.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
Imagine you have a presentation coming up and you are feeling all this discomfort in your physical body.
• Take a deep breath and breathe out all your worry and fear through your mouth.
• Exhale big and release it again.
• Focus on how your information is going to serve your audience, which will take the focus off of your fear.
• Repeat the process until you feel calm and relaxed.
Breathing out is a simple, effective, and easy approach to get over your fear of public speaking. The key is to focus on others — your audience — which puts your attention where you want it to be.
You can use this method anytime you need it!
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1) No matter how hard you try, not everyone is going to love you, so you might as well be your authentic self. When I started to own this and let go of the need to be loved, I got to be me and my clients and audiences positively responded. They loved that I was me, so that meant they could be themselves too.
2) Be grateful for the successes as well as the failures because they all teach you something. Let go of the good versus bad mentality. Think of it as effective and ineffective. Effective means do it again. Ineffective means lesson learned and simply don’t do it again.
3) Successful people know you don’t have to work hard and put in a zillion hours to be successful. You simply need to work smart and live a balanced life. As a result, you become a magnet for success. I tried being the one who was working 60 hours a week and all I did was burn myself out. I stopped doing that and my business grew!
4) If you don’t love doing something in your business, hire someone who loves doing it. For example, it took me a very long time to hire a bookkeeper. I am talking years. I would track all my income and I would wait until I was meeting with my accountant to put my business credit card purchases on my tracking sheet. It would take me a day or more to document all of this. This is time I could have spent speaking or working with coaching clients.
5) Value your time, knowledge, and energy. When you do, other people respect your time, knowledge, and energy too. Your clients get better results and you will attract more opportunities. When I first started my business almost two decades ago, I was seriously undervaluing my services. My coach said to me, “Do you want to be known as the cheap speaker and coach or the one who changes lives?” Of course, I said changes lives.
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 am currently planning my Rising Stars Speaker Contest. It is open to women aged 25 and older who want to speak to an in-person audience. This will provide an outlet for them to share their message with more people, gain confidence, and elevate their speaking skills. Registrants will include entrepreneurs, leaders, teachers, coaches, authors, community members, storytellers, and more. This will be a safe place to open up amongst other women to share personal stories of transformation and how they took hardship and turned them into success.
Each presenter will have up to five minutes to tell their story. There are three topics: Motivator, Story Teller, and Educator. A panel of judges will select a winner from each category. The grand prize winner will receive a trophy, a VIP ticket to and the opportunity to speak at the 6-Figure Empowered Speaker Event for Women (on Hutchinson Island from Oct. 7–9), and a 60-minute coaching session with me. The value of the prize is $5,200. Second and third place receive a general admission ticket to the October event.
On the judging panel, I will be joined by former HSN host Kellie Olver, Becca Powers, Gina Pero, and September Dohrmann. Becca is an award-winning Fortune 500 sales executive, life and career reinvention coach, and author of “Harness Your Inner CEO: Rise into Passion, Prosperity, and Personal Power.” Gina is the CEO and founder of The Peroette’s, a former Radio City Rockette, professional speaker, ICF Master Certified Life Coach, and a certified movement specialist. September is the current President and CEO of CEO Space International. Forbes.com has called her CEO Space Business Growth Conferences a “must-attend” event for entrepreneurs.
It will take place on Saturday, August 28 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at Hyatt Place in West Palm Beach, Fla. For more information and to register, please go to https://amondarose.com/rising-stars-speaker-contest. I will be donating 10% of ticket sales to non-profit women’s organizations.
Can you share with our readers any self care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.
SET ELECTRONIC BOUNDARIES
Setting electronic boundaries is not about putting up a wireless fence to keep people away from you. What it means, is that you need to separate the things that you use electronically for business and ones that are used for personal time.
Electric boundaries, a.k.a. time out from your work-related internet and phone world, may sound crazy, however, this is what I have to do to ensure that when I close my office, I am completely out of the office — physically and mentally.
My cell phone is used for personal reasons only. I am not a medical doctor, so I am not dealing with emergency situations when my clients or prospective clients call me. They can wait until I return back to the office. I do not use my cell phone for business emails either. If I did, I’d never feel like I have time off.
COMMITTING TO NORMAL WORK HOURS
I used to work 12 hour days because I was told by others that you had to work hard if you wanted something. Today, I can tell you how the energy of pushing and forcing felt awful because I was trying to make it happen.
And, you know where that got me? Nowhere fast.
Everything changed when I had heard a few people say that when they took more time off and stopped working all the time, they actually made more money. So, I tried it!
YES! It is true because pushing and forcing is like a repellent to the things you want, such as healthy relationships.
MODEL THIS
As a speaker, coach, and author, one of the most important things that I have learned is that my clients will model my behavior. If they see me working like crazy and missing out on life, they will think they have to do the same. For someone who is new to business or has been struggling for some time, stressed out and overwhelmed is not appealing as a coach and/or role model.
Why would my clients ever want to model someone who is overworked and unhappy? Not very appealing is it?
I always keep in mind that my clients are watching how I do things and often model how I run my business. I want my clients to model positive behaviors that teach them how to balance work, family, and fun, which means respecting their time off.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe” really resonates with me because it is one of my favorite reminders that audiences and clients resonate with authenticity by showing them the real me and not trying to be anyone else but me. As my business has grown because of my new authenticity level, I changed it a little bit to say, “Your Authentic Vibe Attracts a Bigger Tribe.”
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?
The movement I intend to focus on is all about touching the lives of millions of women who are ready to take the stage and own their worth and value, in addition to sharing their authentic heart and feminine strength. I want them to release trying to be, act, or speak in a way that doesn’t honor their personal truths and life experiences. As a result, these millions of women will rise higher and show other women they can do the same by being exactly who they are meant to be — powerful, empowering, caring, confident, and valued.
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!
Jen Sincero, author of “You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life” and numerous other books. I love her honest, real, and very funny style. She tells you like it is and how to change it and makes you laugh along the way.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AmondaRoseIgoe/
Twitter https://twitter.com/AmondaRose
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/amondarose/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/amondarose/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl9kF1y_kGcTPSgAcjO6UFA
Website https://amondarose.com
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
