What's in a Name? | Business Communication Coaching with ...

Another LinkedIn discussion question asked professional speakers for their opinion about the term ?motivational speaker?. I really enjoyed sharing this load of steaming rant:

?What?s in a name ? indeed!? What we call ourselves defines us and our value proposition. ?Speaking? is what we do ? a presenter-centric term. ?Learning?, ?Growing? or ?Improving? is what they do ? an audience-centric term. I agree with the consensus that ?Motivational Speaker? is passe and carries a lot of negative connotative baggage. Many people immediately think of Matt Foley from SNL living in a van down by the river.Taken literally, we can?t motivate anyone. Only they can motivate themselves. And I like ?Inspirational Speaker? even less ? way too TV preacher for me.

While I am ?president? of my company and serve clients as a ?consultant?, ?trainer? or ?executive coach?, I never use those terms to introduce myself. When asked what I do, my ?Elevator Speech? response is ? ?I work with business leaders who want to communicate confidently.? No titles, just a concise statement of my value proposition.

If the person introducing me at a speaking engagement reads the intro I provide, the audience hears ?Phil Stella runs Effective Training & Communication, Inc. and empowers business leaders to take some of the pain out of workplace communication and sales pitches.? It?s not about what I do, but who benefits from what I do.

Just about any title we would use has some negative connotative baggage, so I advise clients not to use one at all. Even worse is using several ? ?Founder, CEO and President? comes off very ego-centric, especially if people know you?re a ?sole-pro?. I don?t have ?president? on my business card or signature block either. The only people who really care about our titles are our family and the IRS.

Thanks ? I feel better now.

Source: http://communicate-confidently.com/articles/1403

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