What stuttering taught me about running a business
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What Stuttering Taught Me About Running A Business Lisa Barone @lisabarone
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My 2011 TEDxAlbany presentation about how stuttering taught me to embrace being weird and helped me start a business. [You can find a video of the presentation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jTjYI_l8cg]
Transcript of What stuttering taught me about running a business
What Stuttering Taught Me About Running A Business
Lisa Barone
@lisabarone
Who Is Outspoken Media?• Internet Marketing Company
located in Troy, NY.
• Founded in 2009 with my partner Rhea Drysdale
Our job is to make YOU louder and more outspoken on the Web.
New challenges force you use what you already know.
An Intro To Being Weird
My Entry Into Being Weird
• Just 1% of the adult population stutters.
• 80% of adult stutterers are male.
That makes me a freakin’ unicorn
My Entry Into Being Weird
Stutterers display higher activity in the area of the brain that controls speech movements, making it difficult for the brain to process the information and account for the correct movements.
Getting My Groove Voice Back
• I was fearful of standing out or attracting too much attention
• I hid behind a mask instead of showing people who I was.
• I was limiting my voice because I didn’t believe I deserved one
Like a business…
The Benefits Of Being A Stutterer
• I understand the power of voice better than a fluent speaker.
• My struggles allow me to better relate to the struggles of others.
• I only have to meet someone once for them to remember my name.
The Benefits Of Being A Stutterer
My stuttering makes me memorable. And because I am memorable, I have a platform.
Stuttering taught me how to run a business
because….
Stuttering taught me how to embrace weird & make weird
work
Weird didn’t always work…
Weird is how you stand out in a crowded niche.
Weird is how you become memorable and build a platform.
Weird is new normal.
Making Weird Work For You
Making Weird Work For You
Step 1: Accept that you are weird.
Because you really are. And it’s really okay.
Step 2: Pinpoint what makes you weird• What is it you do when no one’s watching?• What part of your life or what hobby do you have that
you’re not quick to tell people about?• If you had a superpower, what would it be?• What did you love or do as a kid that you now suppress?
Making Weird Work For You
Your weirdness can be rooted in
• An experience• A character trait• A physical trait• An odd passion• Extreme extrovertness OR
introvertness
Making Weird Work For You
Step 3: Find a way to use it.• How can you make that weirdness work for you? • How can you magnify it in a way that will speak to
your customer needs?
Making Weird Work For You
Create your Blogging Superhero
Making Weird Work For You
Your blogging superhero is a heightened version of you, emphasizing your most marketable traits, while de-emphasizing your traits irrelevant to your business.
How can your weirdness make you more marketable?
We need to stop giving “weird” a negative connotation.
The success of your business rests on your ability to stand out and be
memorable.
Forming Outspoken Media
Weirdness In Motion
You can laugh but…
• Snooki NYT best-selling author• The Situation $5 million+ • Jenny Book and a bronzer• Ronnie Product endorsements • Sammi Perfume• Vinny/ Pauly D Clothing lines
BIG FINISH!
A word from Dolly Parton
Figure out who you are, and then do it on purpose.
-- Dolly Parton
It’s your oddness that makes you interesting and what will drive people to your business.
