Coach’s secrets of success

A GEELONG business coach’s advice for more confident communication in business starts with encouraging increased selfawareness and empathy.

In delivering a workshop on Confident Communication is Key in Business, Scott Brown focused on creating stronger connections by understanding and expressing “the why” of your business story.

“Networking is an opportunity to relate as a human being,” he said. “It’s not transactional … it’s about relationship building.”

Mr Brown encouraged techniques to look at one’s self from the perspective of others.

“With increased selfawareness there is an automatic increase in awareness of others,” he said.

“If you happen to connect at a deeper level, on an emotional level, you are more likely to remember that person.”

Mr Brown offered tips and techniques for more confident public speaking but the workshop at Geelong’s Small Business Hive was more heavily geared to a better understanding of self and how that might be limiting communication.

He explained how greater self-awareness created the opportunity to have choice in how people saw themselves presenting and communicating.

“It’s really a fear of failure, not a fear of public speaking,” he said. “A fear of failure translates into a fear of trying.”

Mr Brown encouraged participants to discover the capacity that was “already there” and to “give yourself permission just to relate one human to another, or one to 100”.

“We have just spent from age four to now learning to be afraid and being taught we are bad for doing this and bad for doing that,” he said.

“We have developed strategies to survive in society, to fit in.

“That’s all contributing to you being afraid and nervous at the prospect of being on display.”