I’m still buzzing from all the energy and ideas from this super event I attended yesterday at the Radisson Blu Dublin Airport, even though I only got to experience a few hours (10.15 –1.30pm) due to other commitments.

This event was hosted by the amazing Samantha Kelly, and founder of and sponsored by some heavy weights like Aer Lingus and Tour America and MC was thealways polished Alison Comyn @alisoncomyn.

I was able to get 20% off the ticket admission because of the Women's Inspire Membership– but even at full cost, it is amazing value.  It is one of the best perks of this membership.

The quality of all the speakers and their content was outstanding.  I was very proud to be in a room full of women in business – mostly entrepreneurslike myself.  The theme was ‘Self Care’ in business and each presenter had a unique story to tell along with their latest tips and tricks for business.

I thought you might want to share in some of the great takeaways and ideas I noted during the morning sessions from four of my favourite presentations.

Linda Coyle @spk_w_impact presented on’Public Speaking: Feel The Fear AndSay It Anyway’

She shared some techniques thateveryone can do to help cope with ‘wanting to run away’ when faced with publicspeaking or other fears.

1. Be in touch with your body

Linda did a live scanningtechnique with the audience where you can learn to scan through every elementof your body to be tuned into any pain or tension.  Thisexercise helps you to feel more centered, balanced and empowered.  Whenyou feel more in control, you are less likely to have a quivering voice or loseyour train of thought.

2. Re-frame ‘nervous’ as‘excited’

Nervous is synonymous with fearwhereas ‘excited’ is associated with ‘looking forward to’.

3. ‘Hey fear – bring it on!’

Try to face your fears byallowing some of the symptoms to accelerate (sweaty palms, heart racing,feelings of nausea).  Thereis a point where they will stop.  Yourecognise they are unpleasant feelings and you get to a point to be able toresist and stop them.  Youachieve then a state of flow and confidence to deliver your talk or whatever.

Linda Coyle has more to say herein her LinkedIn Article:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-feeling-nervous-can-help-you-speak-better-linda-coyle/

Susan Carroll  

– works with international teams & leaders on vision, culture, complex change,creativity, innovation & resilience.  ‘Lead yourself, to lead others’.

‘Time management is not about time!’   It is all about setting priorities and boundaries.

Her three essentials to ‘stop being a busy fool’ :

1. Create a VISION for your job(and dreams). 

This gives legitimacy to your efforts.

2. Give yourself DAILYSANCTUARY. 

This is essential for self care.  Whetheryou take a few minutes out to enjoy nature or exercise at the gym, it will helpyou to contemplate your vision for your business.  Questionyourself – ‘is everything you are doing focussed on your vision for yourbusiness?’

3. PROTECT your BOUNDARIES

Say ‘strategic NO’s’ to be ableto say YES to the worthwhile stuff.

4. DISCIPLINE – underpinning theother 3 essentials

Protect your boundaries and makesure you have your quiet time.

Observing these elements willenable you to experience CHANGE and FOCUS.

spokeabout gettingmore serious for small business owners (an indeed all businesses) with the GDPRon the way by May 2018.  Wewill all have to be very careful about EXACTLY what kind of communications wesend to our customers and contacts.  Wemust have the correct opt-in’s from them first.

Grainne advised to put achecklist in place – know the rules and be aware of what to do with the data inyour database!

She also advised that yoursolicitor can become part of your team and can be just as important as youraccountant.   If you plan ahead, you save a lot in the long run,especially if things go wrong. It is always wise to plan for the worst casescenario and have plans in place for :

• Suddenillness or injury
• Beingincapable to make decisions yourself
• Ensuringpower of attorney
• Who hasthe spare key and alarm code!  it happens!

 (Facebook)gave a memorable and energetic presentation on 

Fiona did a number of livedemonstrations involving the audience too.  Her5 top tips to improve your Facebook page and get more business were:

1. ‘ABOUT’ PITCH

Write the most amazing contentfor your ‘About’.  Thisis the introduction to your page.  Whatyou do, where and why.  Thenin the detailed description section – tell more about your story.  Pretendyou are being interviewed and give your best pitch ever.

2. FIND YOUR TRIBE’S LANGUAGE

Facebook is about people who goto Facebook to connect.  Adaptyour business dialect to their language.  Allbusinesses are different shapes and sizes – so see what suits your businessbest. Share pages and content from other pages on your page – connect andnetwork with your local businesses too.

3. MOBILE MATTERS

Everyone is using mobile now tobrowse, research and more – much more than on desktop. So see what your pagelooks like on mobile and each of your posts. Make sure you are using the rightsize images and text and bits do not get chopped off in the mobile view!

4. LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

Make the most of the power ofvideo – Facebook Live is so effective. You do not always need to be on camerayourself. Film around you, your services, products and more.

5. BE YOURSELF

The content has to come from and‘be’ you to personalise your voice and brand.

Some Ninja Facebook Strategies andTips

1. The value is more in the‘POST LIKE’ not the ‘PAGE LIKE.  Avoidasking people to ‘like’ your page – ask them to ‘look’. If they are interestedin your content they will then like and follow you so you don’t have a bunch of‘vanity metrics’ – where loads of mates have liked your page but at the end ofthe day will never see your content in their feed as they are not interested inthe actual content of your posts!

2. Utilise the SHOP or SERVICESfeature.  Whenyou create a post about that service or product you can then tag the service orproduct!  Youwill see a little carosel of images under your post.

3. Use the built-in call toaction buttons on each post e.g. ‘call now’, ‘Shop now’ etc.

4. Add the MESSAGE feature toyour posts to encourage engagement and questions from your customers.

I’m sure all the otherpresentations were amazing too and apologies in advance to the other presentersfor not mentioning them here.  Ionly attended for a few hours.

 andattending their events.