Isabelle Mercier is a ‘no-nonsense’ dynamo, born to catapult heart-centered entrepreneurs and leaders to build impactful brands, businesses, and lives – she is also French, therefore, very passionately direct.
May 28th 2016, 4:15pm. I am standing in front of 3000 people at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, delivering the talk of my life (The Power Of Zero Tolerance) at TEDx Stanley Park and I am in the flow. In fact, it’s flowing so well that 5 minutes into it, I feel a perfect opportunity to spontaneously add a funny statement to further engage my audience….and then BOOM! There it is. The memory blank that I so fearfully dreaded for months.
Important to note that TEDx talks are scripted and to be delivered word for word. I have practiced this talk for over 6 months. I know it like the back of my hand. You can pick any word, any where from my script and I can seamlessly take it from there. But, what came after my funny spontaneous statement? Nothing. Zip. Nada. My mind went completely blank. There I am, standing on the famous TEDx red dot and my brain is going; Isabelle, what’s your next move here…’cause I got nothin’ for ya!
I did what I know to do best. Be real and be me. Without skipping a beat, I revealed to the audience that I had no idea where this was going and quickly made light of the situation (despite feeling like my whole life was collapsing in front of a live audience). Now, the universe rewards bravery in beautiful and surprising ways. A friend I had practiced with was in the audience and somehow remembered and shouted my next line out loud! I. WAS. BACK! And just like that, I had not only won the hearts and respect of an audience, I had also conquered one of my greatest and most paralyzing fears – blanking on stage. Being real and being me, flaws and all, saved the day.
As a brand positioning catalyst, my job, passion (and genius) is to see, extract and effectively communicate the essence of something or someone and to position that essence for people to say: I would be a fool to do business with anyone else but you; regardless of price.
My TEDx lesson further confirmed that positioning IS everything. I positioned my flub as audience engagement and went from catastrophe to the ‘coup de coeur’ of the day.
As one of North America’s Top Business Influencers, I have had the opportunity to work with trailblazing global brands as well as small local heroes to help them become and stay The First, The Best or The Only through our famous Build To Rock System and our world renowned LeapZone Strategies Trifecta Pillars of Positioning, Personality & Performance.
Positioning can make or break you. Your career. Your brand. Your business.
Your ideal clients and prospects will buy…the question is, will they buy you or someone else?
