I still remember how it felt the moment I first understood how others really see me. I was introducing speakers at events for the company I was working for.  150 times a year, I was standing in front of audiences introducing professional speakers. People always told me “nice job Stacey” and I believed they meant it.

Then a mentor of mine made me watch the video. We sat in front of a screen and I watched myself fumble with no cards, ramble, and totally fail to connect with the audience. When it was over, my coach turned to me and asked, would you want to sit through that? My first thought was absolutely not. My second thought was I have to get better at this. That's usually where it starts-with someone saying we have to get better at this

No matter how knowledgeable you are in your industry and no matter how hard you work, if you can't influence people, you can't do your job effectively. That's true for individuals, and it's true for whole organizations. The good news-influence can be learned. It takes a coach. It takes commitment, accountability and discipline. It takes time.

Just like I remember how it felt to fail, I remember exactly how it felt when things started changing. People stopped telling me “nice job”. They started saying things like you always come across confident & knowledgeable. You connect with your listeners and are genuine. They started asking more inquisitive questions about what I was telling them. They stopped looking at their phones and they started connecting with me. That's the change that I've experienced and that's the change I want you to experience too.

This is not about preparing for a meeting. This is about preparing for every interaction. This is about having the confidence to know that whatever gets thrown your way, wherever you are, you're going to present yourself authentically and effectively-to have influence Monday to Monday®.  You can't sell, you can't serve, and you can't lead until you can connect and build trust. Learn to do that, and you unlock your own ability for influence. You start to discover how much potential you truly have.