League of Extraordinary Women – 3 WAYS TO BE LESS BORING AND CAPTURE AN AUDIENCE

3 WAYS TO BE LESS BORING AND CAPTURE AN AUDIENCE

Business, Marketing
16 September 2016
Posted By Sheryl Thai On 16 September 2016

Last night, I was working away in the lounge as my housemates were engrossed in the finale of The Bachelor. I don’t watch TV so had no idea what was going on but when I heard one of the “finalists”, or whatever you call the last two bachelorettes, say I love you, my ears perked up and I yelled in an incredulous voice “HOW CAN YOU FALL IN LOVE IN 6 WEEKS? ARE YOU SERIOUS!”. I almost stood up to announce it to the world.

I was told to calm down.

So, I proceeded to eat a freshly baked croissant (don’t ask) and hopped onto my Bumble app to check out the great choice of real life Bachies. I swiped right 3 times – probably the top score for me in one day. There’s just something oddly satisfying about getting that “BOOM” match that makes you smirk and think, “yeap, I still got it”. Aww c’mon, you know exactly what I mean, don’t leave me in the dark here. And for those of you that are happily coupled up, I know you sneakily steal your single friend’s phone and swipe around on their dating apps. *nudge*

You’re probably wondering why I’m writing about my single/dating life. The answer – ’cos it’s FUN FUN FUN.

We all get tons of emails each day, most of which are so boring. 

To be honest, I started drafting a piece on mentors today and as I started reading it and my eyes glazed over. Damn, I couldn’t even read my own content, how could I possibly capture an audience of over 10,000 on email? Then it made me think about an experience I had last Friday night – unfortunately this is just a G-rated version so you don’t need to close your eyes.

Anyhow, meeting new “friends” at bars, I often get the same lines and questions over and over. It makes me roll my eyes and say, excuse me it was nice talking to you, I’m going to walk over there now, then disappear into the night. So it was pleasantly surprising when I met someone that was light hearted and saying things to make me laugh. He probably came across a bit weird at first, sure, but you know what? He captured my attention and that was enough to keep a conversation flowing.

In business and in life, there’s always a way to make the mundane and boring – more entertaining.

Whether it is going to a bar to “meet new friends” or trying to hustle your way to meet an investor. There are ways to stand out and capture attention. You don’t need to be Ellen or Whitney Cummings funny. To stand out all you need is to do something different to what most people will do. In your own style. Here’s 3 ways.

  1. ASK THE QUESTION
My opening line to one of Silicon Valley’s biggest Angel investors was “What do you think is wrong with the room in there” after he spoke at an event on raising venture capital which had approximately 150 men and only 10 women. Marry that up with my Aussie accent, I stood out from the crowd. That line opened up the conversation to what League of Extraordinary Women was solving in the world. Long story short, he remembered me when I followed up with two emails. And considering he gets about 1000 unsolicited pitchy emails a day and he did end up responding to us with some specific targets to meet. WIN.
  1. SHARE THEM STORIES
We’ve all had those super entertaining friends that we love to invite to parties because they can keep us entertained. Well there is no reason why you can’t be that person.  My brother, is the best at telling stories and there’s one thing I’ve learnt from him is that it’s a skill that you can learn and improve upon. Story telling requires practise. So the next time something exciting or funny happens to you, start forming that story in your head and retelling it until you can capture an audience. You can write about it , talk about it, blog about it. Capture the details, build up the story and maybe have a sinker at the end. If you need an example, re-read my story above.
  1. WHY SO SERIOUS?
Have you asked yourself why you need to be so serious, all of the time? Like, who set that rule for you? Are you your own boss? Oh the industry says so? Whether you work in a strict professional environment or have a salon, your personality can still shine through. Yah, we all have deadlines to meet, products to sell, money to make. BUT, we also have a life to live.
I love the branding and marketing of Frank Body as it’s cheeky and their one liners often make you smirk. Their branding is sleek, clean and impeccable but you can see that they’ve got a real personality. From the get-go they’ve nailed standing out from the crowded market that is beauty products and whilst their idea was quite unique at the time, their competitors will often find it hard to catch up because they’ve already stood out from the crowd and really owned it.
Share below how you capture someone’s audience or if you liked my story. I feel lonely because no-one’s leaving comments anymore, I do however, have about 2,496 spam comments which I don’t know how to delete without spending 24 hours on it. Tell me how to do it, please!
spamcomments
See I wasn’t kidding.
Stay Peachy,
Sheryl Thai, CEO
League of Extraordinary Women
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One Response

  1. Jodin says:
    September 16, 2016 at 9:11 am

    Hey Sheryl,

    Loved the example of the question you asked the investor – really great! To have something that makes someone think and engage in your conversation is awesome, and that was clearly very powerful!

    I have a story for my business about how I used to be a chocoholic. A few years ago, when my boyfriend gave me a taste of this new superfood-rich hot chocolate blend he created…OMG my world changed! Here was a way that I could have chocolate everyday without the guilt, without the bad side affects…in face I was actually improving my health with every sip!

    Since then I’ve been able to remove normal chocolate from my life completely, but no longer depriving myself of it – rather replacing it with something that’s so nourishing and beneficial and yummy that I don’t even crave or want the other stuff.

    So that’s why we started our business, to bring this to the world and provide a nourishing chocolatey delight that people can enjoy everyday and that nourishing them in so many ways.

    🙂

    Reply

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