“What I did on my summer vacation.”

Every one of you have given a speech or written a paragraph or essay about what you did on your summer vacation while you were in grade school.

You wrote about the lake, the mountains, or the week at the beach. Or you gave a speech and your opening line was, “What I did on my summer vacation.” And you held your own hands and nervously performed in front of your peers.

How have you progressed since then?

How much better are your writing skills? How much better are your presentation skills? And how important are those skills to your sales success, your business success, your social media success and your career success?

What most people don’t understand is their initial training forms the foundation of their present skills. Your grammar, your ability to spell, your self-confidence to be able to speak and your overall character are formulated by your ability to communicate both orally and in writing.

Think about the emails you receive with the subject line that says: “Your in Luck!”

The person who wrote it is immediately perceived as an idiot, and the email is discarded as both disingenuous and poorly prepared.

The reason I’m harping on speaking and writing is that they are the foundation of the two most important elements of your success: image and reputation.

Everyone wants to have a great image.

Everyone wants to have a great reputation.

GOOD NEWS IS: You can influence both your image and your reputation with your CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE.

I’ll ask my audiences, “How many of you would be nervous speaking in front of a group of 300 people?” Almost everyone raises his or her hand. The real answer is, they are not nervous, they are not uncomfortable – those are symptoms. The real issue is, they are UNPREPARED. They lack the experience or the subject matter expertise, or suffer from limited self-image or low self-esteem – or perhaps all four.

Perhaps if you took a Dale Carnegie course on public speaking or joined a Toastmasters group you would become a confident presenter.

Perhaps if you started your own blog, and at the age of 30 or 40, you write about what you did on your summer vacation, you might be able to attract people with similar likes and values as they search the Internet.

Please do not confuse this column as a call to action.

Rather it is a call to reality.

REALITY: Your writing skills and your speaking skills need to be at a higher level of competence if you are looking to elevate your income to a higher level.

REALITY: Your reputation is the sum total of your words and deeds, a large portion of which can come from writing and speaking.

REALITY: Your customers are more likely to buy your message if they buy into your passion.

REALITY: You can gain an amazing business social media presence if you combine your ability to write and your ability to convey a value message to your customers.

Here’s my recommendation to you:

1. Write a 500-word blog post once a week. Write about something you love. Write about something that may affect your customers. Write about something within your expertise.

2. Speak in public once a week. A civic organization will be happy to have you as its breakfast or lunch presenter. Speak on something you love; speak on something others will value.

2.5. You will not reap immediate rewards. But slowly over time, your image and reputation will emerge. That’s a reward that has nothing to do with commissions or earnings, but it has everything to do with the feeling of fulfillment. That’s a feeling I hope you get to experience.