90: Leveraging Technology to Build Business Relationships with Terry Brock

Today, we are delighted to be speaking to Terry Brock! Terry is a legend in the speaking and meetings and events industries. He has tons of experience as a speaker. He has traveled to more than 44 countries to talk about technology and earned almost every award you could imagine for speaking. 

In this episode, Terry talks about his fascinating experiences, shares plenty of tips, and explains how to use video to improve your business relationships. 

We hope you enjoy listening to our lively conversation with Terry Brock today!

Terry Brock’s bio

Today, more than ever, you need to know what is happening with technology and business and how to benefit from the changes.  

Today’s guest is ideally suited to help you understand what is happening and take advantage of the opportunities. Terry Brock is a Communications and Marketing Advisor who works with clients around the world (44 countries and counting!) showing them how to present in a video to get the results they want. 

He’s a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, has earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation, and has received the highest award given by the National Speakers Association (1 person per year), the Cavett. He recently was asked by Ace Hardware to be their Chief Retail Advisor training their retailers around the world in video. He was asked by Skype to be their Chief Enterprise Blogger and worked with them to serve their 43 million monthly customers. His clients include sole proprietors to Fortune 10 companies. 

Building relationships

For Terry, the meetings industry is all about communicating, building relationships, and connecting with people. He enjoys speaking to many different kinds of organizations, from Fortune 10 companies to solo practitioners, and showing people how to leverage technology to build relationships. He is always open to learning something more and something new.

Terry’s career journey

Terry has been a professional speaker since 1983. He started speaking in the third grade when he stood up in front of his church to read the Christmas story. After college, he worked in radio and newspaper, and then went on to get an MBA in Marketing. After completing the MBA program, Terry taught himself to use a computer. He started using spreadsheets to help people invest in real estate. After that, he started doing spreadsheet training. 

Then, Terry found a company in Atlanta looking for someone to do training on the very same spreadsheets with which he had been working, so he started working for them. 

Training CPAs

Terry met someone from the Georgia Society of CPAs and started training CPAs to use spreadsheets. From there, things started growing.

The National Speakers Association

After speaking for five years, Terry landed up speaking to CPAs in New York City. One of the speakers told him about the National Speakers Association. He decided to join the organization and also got involved with the local chapter. 

Getting involved 

Getting involved in the National Speakers Association made a big difference for Terry and opened many doors. It gave him training and motivation and taught him all he needed to build relationships, help others solve their problems, and become a great speaker. He initially became the Co-chair of a speaker’s school that the NPA was offering, then VP of Finance for the Atlanta chapter, and eventually President of the Atlanta chapter. 

Technology

Technology has always been a vital part of what Terry has been doing. He loved being around people, so he also started talking about relationship marketing and blending technology into that.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency

Lately, Terry has become excited about speaking about Bitcoin, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies at conferences because they open up possibilities for people everywhere.

Video

Terry considers video to be one of the most powerful business tools today. He believes that video has some distinct advantages. If you do not know how to communicate effectively using video, you will hamper your career.

The future

Terry thinks that in the future, we will be using both video and in person.

Having good audio 

You need to have excellent audio when using video. If people cannot hear you or you cannot hear them, they will go somewhere else. Make sure that you have an external microphone positioned so that you are looking into the webcam.

The background

Be aware of what you have in the background and what is going on behind you when you do video. 

Video messaging

If done right, video can be a valuable tool for connecting because it can humanize the virtual experience. Send a video of yourself rather than a letter or text to connect or give someone a message. You communicate your emotions better that way because people can see your facial expressions and how you react.

A shift

Business owners will need to make a shift in the future when managing their teams and client relations. Many people prefer working remotely. They focus better and can get more done in that way. 

Managers

Managers need to understand that we are going into a new world. They should learn to adapt, be flexible, focus on results, and assign tasks based on objectives rather than on the number of hours that get put in. 

Using technology in the right way

Technology should be used appropriately and to its best advantage, focusing on getting the best results.

Technology problems

Many problems caused by technology can get solved by using time-honored non-technological principles like filtering emails and using time-blocking.

Successful people

Terry knows many successful people who got ahead by being kind, gracious, giving individuals, and treating people with decency, honor, and respect. 

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