Why Your Voice Needs To Be Out There

If you’ve ever hesitated to put your voice “out there” because you’re not the “right” size, shape, age, race, gender, orientation, know that you’re not alone. But it’s time to step up and be heard:

Why it’s harder to sashay on stage with your megaphone when you’re different from the norm in your community (and yet you’ll be more memorable when you do).

How creating a routine—a schedule—can keep the fear harnessed.

Enlisting a partner(s)-in-crime to push you forward or back you up.

Scoping out the “competition” to remind yourself of how you’re different—and why you need to publish.

Using archetypes to rise above traditional thinking and claim a unique niche in your marketplace.

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00 - 00:39

Rochelle Moulton: Walking into a gym full of more or less fit people when you're struggling with your weight and fitness requires a certain kind of courage. The wrong coach, and I've witnessed a few of them, could easily make you turn around and never come back. Hello, hello. Welcome to the Soloist Life podcast, where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton. And today, I want to tell you a quick story and then talk about why your voice needs to be out there and we can talk a little bit about the how. So I

00:39 - 01:14

Rochelle Moulton: go to a gym where you have the option of buying sessions with 1 of their staff personal trainers. Now I've been a member there for about 5 years, so I've seen trainers come and go. And with few exceptions, they're usually in their 20s or early 30s, incredibly fit with the patience to work with whoever walks through the door. Sometimes, when I have nothing better to do, I eavesdrop on their conversations with clients to hear how they encourage or explain or just shoot the breeze. And it's kind of fun, you know, professionally really to see their techniques

01:15 - 01:52

Rochelle Moulton: and personality and action with all different kinds of people. But every once in a while, an outlier shows up. And I've been watching this 1 guy who's been around maybe a year. He doesn't look like any of the usual characters. He appears maybe 30 to 40 pounds overweight, and he wears their uniform in a baggy style, not like any of the other gym gods. And he seems like a nice enough guy, and he has 1 of the most infectious laughs I've ever heard. But I kept wondering, would someone serious who wants to get fit choose the

01:52 - 02:26

Rochelle Moulton: guy who doesn't look like he's figured it out for himself yet? Now, he seems consistently busy, and I've been idly wondering how he was doing. And then yesterday, watching him with a client made me see his appeal. Overheard his discussion with a new client who had lost 35 pounds and hit his first goal to get his weight down to 300 pounds. Now this coach was so supportive, he immediately engaged the guy in talking about what they could do together to get him to his next goal, which was 250 pounds, and about how it wasn't just a

02:26 - 02:58

Rochelle Moulton: number on a scale that defines success. They were clicking on so many levels, I was in awe. Because walking into a gym full of more or less fit people when you're struggling with your weight and fitness requires a certain kind of courage. Like the wrong coach, and I've witnessed a few of them, could easily make you turn around and never come back. I'm not gonna lie, I teared up a bit at how this man was being seen and supported in a way that would help him become the person he wanted to be. So why am I

02:58 - 03:37

Rochelle Moulton: telling you this story? Because it is so easy, I've done it myself, to decide that you aren't the right size, the right shape, the right gender, the right race, orientation, age, to deliver whatever message it is that you want to share. And when you're whatever is accepted as the norm, like say a straight white cis male, it's much easier to sashay onto social media, for example, and pull up your megaphone. But if, for whatever reason, you feel different and that difference is holding you back, I'm here to tell you it's time to let that go. Not

03:37 - 04:13

Rochelle Moulton: saying it's easy, let me tell you there are days I can't even look at LinkedIn, never mind post there, but getting your voice out there, Your uniquely powerful voice from your lived experience is everything. You will help people in ways you can't even imagine. So I'm gonna share a few tips and tricks to get yourself in the habit of sharing your ideas, of sharing how you help your ideal clients and buyers. So number 1 is set yourself a routine. Holding yourself accountable to a schedule helps in a few ways. I mean, first, it gets the time

04:13 - 04:43

Rochelle Moulton: to do it into your calendar, into your routine. Say you're going to do something as simple as posting a LinkedIn piece twice a week. Maybe you'll experiment at first to see what days and times work for you, but you know you want to deliver 2 posts a week. So you add that to your production schedule. Your client work, your business development, your writing, think of them as all part of what you produce each week. How much time do you need to write those 2 posts? How far in advance do you want to prep them? And there's

04:43 - 05:18

Rochelle Moulton: no 1 right answer here. You'll decide what works for you. My point here is when you think about pushing out ideas, it takes a lot of pressure off if you just make it part of your routine. Okay, number 2, enlist a partner in crime. Whether that's a friend, a spouse, your coach, find someone who will read or watch or listen to your stuff and give helpful feedback. I got in the habit early on of reading my draft emails to my husband. Now it has 2 advantages. 1 was that hearing it out loud pointed out where I

05:18 - 05:50

Rochelle Moulton: was too formal or too wordy. It gives me more of the reader perspective. And I actually do that with everything I write now to read it out loud first. The other is that the hubs is not in our sort of business. He's in commercial production. So he listens to it with a different ear and he will tell me when I'm being too buzzwordy or I get on my high horse. Co-hosting my first podcast was another way of punching through a whole bunch of concerns I had 8 years ago. Having a buddy podcast meant if I had

05:50 - 06:25

Rochelle Moulton: a bad day, he'd be on his game and vice versa. And we split the duties of production and marketing so it was never overwhelming and we always had each other's backs, which when you're a soloist is especially wonderful. And then third, you could do a very deep dive on what your competition, and I use that word loosely, is doing. So hear me out on this, because I can almost hear you saying, what, why would I want to copy them? Well, you don't. What cruising the competition is good for is a big old reminder of how you're

06:26 - 07:01

Rochelle Moulton: different. Whether that's like the trainer at my gym who doesn't look like a traditional trainer, or whether it's much deeper than that. Here's a way to look at it. I'm willing to bet that your space has a few archetypes. There will be the sage, for example, someone who's deeply researched an aspect of your niche, and they're constantly updating the industry with their findings and their viewpoints, right? You know somebody like that. There is usually a warrior, right? The 1 who takes a contrarian position and dukes it out with everybody. We know those. The alchemist who seems

07:01 - 07:42

Rochelle Moulton: to midwife those deep transformations and is always looking for the magic. Artist who's constantly creating or making new things. Maybe there's an Avenger who's looking for justice and protects the underdog. That's the 1 railing on how the system doesn't work or is rigged. There's the storyteller who's gifted at metaphor and explaining meaning through stories. And the pioneer who's discovering and exploring new things. Your space might even have a gambler, the 1 who plays the odds and then convinces you to go along. And there's probably at least 1, judging by LinkedIn, probably way too many, playing the

07:42 - 08:19

Rochelle Moulton: hero, right? The 1 who swoops in and fixes it all. The advantage of thinking in archetypes as you look around you is that you realize that it's not about you. Not really. It's about how you best share your point of view about how you communicate lines up with your genius zone. Because the more you 0 in on that, the more likely you'll become unforgettable to your ideal clients and buyers. So looking at people you may see as intimidatingly ahead of you as just archetypes, take some of the sting out of it. Instead of saying, oh, I

08:19 - 08:54

Rochelle Moulton: can't talk about X because Jesse already is the authority, you might say, Jesse is acting the sage. He's been doing this forever, But I'm a pioneer here. I have some new ideas that could attract people just like me. And when you put it from that perspective, how could you not put your point of view out there? Plus, if you start seeing yourself through that pioneer lens, it will impact the kind of language you use, who you start aligning with, and how you develop your expertise as you grow. So, listen, here's the thought I want to leave

08:54 - 09:33

Rochelle Moulton: you with today. Your voice is valuable. It's 1 of a kind, and you have no idea how many people you might impact positively if you just use it for good. And in case you're wondering why I haven't said anything about monetizing your voice, I'll tell you. There is so much pressure, especially on newer soloists, to monetize your expertise. And of course, that's the ultimate goal. But if you're having trouble getting your voice out there, decouple it from making money. Make it about helping the people you care most about in ways that only you can. And go

09:33 - 09:50

Rochelle Moulton: get them. Now, as we wrap up this episode, if you haven't joined my email list yet, now is the time. Your soloist business and your future self will thank you. The link is in the show notes. That's it for this episode. Please join us next time for The Soloist Life. Bye-bye.