Nobody Ordered the Decaf Version of You
After everything we’ve talked about in this series—the fear of judgment, the awkward stage, imperfections, discomfort—here’s the ridiculous part: the people watching weren’t demanding perfection in the first place. You were.
They were waiting for a person.
☕ What Is Your Audience Actually Looking For?
A pulse and a point.
They want something useful, interesting, funny, helpful, opinionated, reassuring, or worth thinking about. They want the person who understands their problem to talk to them like an actual human being.
They are not watching your video thinking, Her left hand moved three times. I simply cannot trust this woman with my bookkeeping.
You are paying attention to you far more than they are. They’re paying attention to what they can get from you.
Your audience wants to hear things like:
What do you know that could help me?
Do you understand what I’m dealing with?
Do I trust the way you think?
Do I like the way you explain this?
Would I want to work with you?
Will I remember you when I need what you sell?
And that last one matters.
If you remove your humor, opinions, stories, expressions, and normal way of talking in the name of being “professional,” what exactly have you left for them to remember?
Conference-room coffee.
Technically coffee. Nobody wants another cup.
☕ Are You Showing Up—or Performing?
You know the voice.
“Hi everyone! I just wanted to hop on here today…”
No, you didn’t.
You hit Record and suddenly you sound like you’re giving a presentation to the board of directors.
Every word is carefully chosen. Your posture changes. You’re concentrating so hard on sounding knowledgeable that the person your clients actually like working with has completely left the building.
There’s a big difference between showing up and performing:
Showing up as yourself doesn’t mean sharing every detail of your life. Authenticity is not unrestricted access.
It means the person we see online is recognizably the person we’ll meet when we hire you.
Look at the dot. Talk. Say something worth listening to. You can edit the ums, breaths, and silences afterward.
Stop editing out the human before you even hit Record.
☕ Why Does Being Human Give You an Advantage?
There are probably plenty of people who sell what you sell. Some are cheaper. Some have prettier websites. Some have bigger followings. Some have been doing it longer.
But they don’t have your particular combination of experience, perspective, personality, humor, stories, opinions, and way of doing the work.
And you’re sanding all of that off because you think it makes you look more professional.
For the love of coffee, stop helping your competitors.
Polish can make you look capable. Personality gives people a reason to remember which capable person they want.
Your audience needs enough encounters with the real you to know you, recognize you, trust you, and remember you. That happens when you keep showing up as the same recognizable human instead of performing a cleaned-up version of yourself every time the camera comes on.
Hit Record. Talk like yourself. Say something useful. Post it. Then make another one.
You don’t need more polish. You need a pulse and a point.
☕ Plug-and-Play Hooks
These are for you to adapt to your biz, so you move through the buyer’s journey rather than parroting this week’s lesson.
Awareness
If you’re dealing with [problem], stop assuming [common belief] is the answer.
You shouldn’t have to [frustrating workaround] just to get [desired result].
Before you spend another dollar on [common solution], check this.
If [specific frustrating situation] keeps happening, here’s what I’d look at first.
You probably don’t need more [thing]. You need [thing that actually matters].
Recognition / Nurture
You’re doing [specific workaround] again because [problem] still hasn’t been fixed, aren’t you?
You’ve tried [option A] and [option B], and somehow you’re still dealing with [problem].
You keep telling yourself [customer’s rationalization], but what you really want is [actual desired outcome].
You’re comparing [option A] and [option B] with 14 browser tabs open. Here’s the difference that actually matters.
If you’ve ever [specific customer behavior], you already know how frustrating [problem] can be.
Expertise / Trust
I’ve worked with enough [type of customer/problem] to know this: [strong perspective].
Here’s what I check before I ever recommend [product/service].
Most people focus on [obvious thing]. I’m paying attention to [expert detail].
If I were choosing a [provider/product] for myself, this is what I’d ask first.
I won’t recommend [common solution] to every customer. Here’s when I will.
Consideration
[Option A] vs. [Option B]? Forget [common comparison point]. Look at this.
Here’s who absolutely should—and should not—choose [offer/product/service].
If your biggest concern about [solution] is [objection], this is what you need to know.
Before you hire a [professional], ask this question and pay attention to the answer.
The cheapest [product/service] may cost you more when [specific consequence].
Decision / Conversion
If you’re done with [pain point] and ready for [desired outcome], here’s your next step.
You don’t need to keep [workaround]. That’s exactly what [offer] is designed to fix.
Wondering what actually happens after you hire us? Here’s the process.
If [objection] is the only thing keeping you from [desired action], we should clear that up.
You’ve been thinking about [action] long enough. Here’s what getting started actually looks like.
