Question #4: How Do I Find My Voice As A Teacher Or Trainer?

Answer: Put yourself through a four-part exercise. Let us explain.

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(A voice in this context refers to your area of expertise or what you’ll be defined as, your voice.)

Four-part exercise:

1. What am I good at?
2. What do others say I’m good at?
3. What are three things others say I’m good at that I know I’m good and most passionate about?
4. What’s the one thing other’s say I’m good at, that I know I’m good at that I’m passionate about that I can make my first $1 on first?

Step #1 – What Am I Good At?

If you want to find your voice and you have no idea what your voice is whether you’re a teacher or trainer. As a marketing professional, even as a human being ask yourself this question and on an 8 ½ x 11” paper write down for the next week what you’re good at.

• You could say I’m a great teacher,
• I’m a great consultant,
• I’m a great father, or
• I’m a great home buyer
• I’m a great reader, I read fast.
• I have a great voice; physical voice.

Whatever you think you’re great at.

Ask yourself what you’re truly good at and write those things; hopefully 40 of them on an 8 ½ x 11” sheet of paper.

Step #2 – What Do Others Say I'm Good At?

The second step of the four-part process; go to your friends, colleagues even an ex-spouse if you have one, because they’ll give you the truth. Family members aren’t the best, but you can go to them. Go to competitors or employees that work for you.

Go to vendors, anyone who you think will give you the truth and ask them; say what am I great at based on your observations? Give me a few things I’m really good or even great at.

Write down as they’re telling you in front of them. I have found when you write in front of them they’ll give you more answers. Write down in front of them what they’re telling you and shoot for two to three answers. If you’re not getting two to three answers then it’s not someone who knows you.

You can also ask them this question for fun, what am I not good at? Sometimes they’ll tell you what you’re good at once they know what you’re not good at. It’s a great exercise. Ask people socratically what you’re great at and write that down on a separate sheet of paper.

That’s part two of the four-part exercise of finding your voice as a teacher/trainer or human being. You have one sheet of paper after a full week of you writing down, doing some self-study/self-evaluation asking yourself what you’re great at and writing it down.

Then you go to friends, colleagues, ex-friends, ex-friends, ex-colleagues, ex-husbands or wives, family members you don’t specifically like or employees. Simply pick people you like or don’t like as long as they’ll talk to you, the people you don’t like typically are the ones that will give you the truth.

Ask them, what am I great at based on your observations, not what they think, but what they’ve seen? Then start writing and have at least 40 answers there. Now you’ve completed two of the four parts. The first part is 40+ answers of what you think you’re good at, feel you’re good at and what you’ve observed yourself to be great at.

Then another list of what others feel you’re great at, so the exercise is then half done after one week. Do this, because I’ve seen seven day workshops focusing on this. I’m going to give you this in less than five minutes.

Step #3 – What Are the 3 Things

The third step is to look at both lists, what you feel you’re good at and what others feel you’re good at, because they’ve told you and you look at three items that overlap. You will find more than three, but find three things that are similar.

Let’s say someone said you’re a great teacher and you feel as though you’re a great teacher, let’s say someone says you’re good with numbers and you feel you’re good with numbers those are called overlapping activities. Those are what you do, not why you do it and not how you do it, but they are just the what, which takes up your time?

The what, not the how or why, but the what.

So you take the, what from both lists and you look at three overlapping activities that you’re most passionate about. If you have a dozen overlapping activities don’t pick all 12 just pick three that you’re most passionate about.

What is passion? Passion is you would do that even if it were free, even if you made no money from it you would do it just for the love of doing it. I would listen to music, even if I didn’t make any money from it. I don’t make money from listening to music and I do it anyway.

I would watch the game of Squash, which I enjoy playing for free, because I do that anyway. I would teach for free. I get paid for teaching and training, but I love doing it so much I would do it for free and many times I do.
That’s a passion, so if someone says teaching and I put down teaching, which was on both of my lists I wrote that down as a passion activity, so find three overlapping activities or things that you’re most passionate about, which are the what’s of what you do.

Step #4 – What's The One Thing

Part four is critical, let’s see if you can vision this in your minds eye. You have two sheets of paper, hopefully many more than two, but you have two sheets.

One category is what you feel you’re good at and you’ve listed many. Another one is what others have felt you’re good at that you’ve listed.

You’ve taken three overlapping activities; things you do because you’re most passionate about it and you put that on a separate list. I recommend you put that on an index card. It doesn’t matter how big the index card is, but stick those three things on the index card.

Now what? Of the three things you’re most passionate about, pick one thing and decide on that one thing you feel you can turn your first dollar on the fastest. Focus on the one thing you can turn pro with fastest. How many dollars does it take to turn pro? $1

You want to turn professional as fast as humanly possible from the three most passionate things you’ve observed you’re good at and that is your voice.

I have seen exercises that have lasted days and hours, but I’ve never see one as easy as in these four steps.

Recap

These four steps have changed my life, I hope they will change yours if you go through the process.

1. Step one, what am I good at?
2. Step two, what do other people say I’m good at?
3. Step three, what are the three overlapping activities I’m most passionate about that I feel I’m good at from my list and others feel I’m good at from their list?
4. Step four, decide on the one thing from the three overlapping things on that index card that I’m most passionate about and will turn my first dollar on fastest.