We recently connected with Susan Harrison and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Susan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

I love listening and learning from other speakers and trainers. However, I’ve found that not all speakers and trainers are as interactive as I am. A few years ago I developed what I call the “Facilitative Training Method.” This method makes the participants the star of the training. They are seen as fellow experts who have a lot to contribute, bringing out the best in them.

Of course, this method only works for soft skills. And, they are what I speak and train on–including Leadership, stress, customer service and communication skills.

Susan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I was in high school I fell in love with speaking and even spoke at my graduation. However, after college, I continued in the restaurant business that I had grown to love over the past few years. It was there that I discovered my love for training. After opening over 50 restaurants as a lead corporate trainer for Applebee’s and getting married, I went into management. But, I did not forget what I really wanted to do: Be a speaker/trainer. After managing for about a year, I finally decided to pursue my dream and applied to be a speaker for Pryor Resources.

With Pryor I learned so much, including how to truly impact audiences so they are not only entertained, but also leave with practical information to have better quality lives. I was living my dream! With the birth of my daughter, I had to curtail my traveling and went into children’s ministry and ended up getting my Master’s and Doctorate in seminary. About 10 years later, I was back at it.

I started my own business, Dr. Susan Harrison, a speaking and training company. and also spoke for Skillpath for a couple of years. Starting this business and working for clients and seeing the changes in their lives and businesses, was definitely a highlight for me. I’m so thankful for the opportunities, relationships and learning this career has brought me. Sometimes I’m the keynote speaker and sometimes I train for hours, either way, it often hits me how fortunate I am to be actually getting paid for something I love this much.

The main thing I want my potential clients to know is that this is more than just entertaining you, it is providing your audience with motivation and tools to change their lives both personally and professionally. Making a difference is what I’m after and I’ll always have fun while I’m doing it.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The question of building a good reputation is one that I’ve answered many times for aspiring speakers. Like all speakers and trainers, I understand that being known is important so people think of me when it’s time to hire. The first way I did this was simply to speak everywhere for different audiences as often as I could and make connections along the way. Make connections. Speak. Make Connections. Speak.

And, by the way, when I speak, I’m in the Susan zone. I’m exactly who I am without fear of making a fool of myself. For instance, I’m a bit goofy. At times I will say something out of left field just to have a bit of fun with the group. I will use my body language to get a point across, tell a good story or to get a laugh. I’m exactly myself.

I love people. I love meeting people. Talking to strangers. Laughing with strangers. I’ve partly built a good reputation because I’m likable. If someone doesn’t like me (Tell me who they are NOW!) they will even probably say I’m likable. I’m likable because I like people and being likable has helped me to build a good reputation.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

(Not sure if this counts)

In the beginning of my career, I had a blast speaking all day for groups; however, despite being entertained, they were not leaving changed. Although I’m not sure when this epiphany came to me, I remember it was in the early days. I realized that I wanted more from this. I didn’t want to just feel good when I was done, I wanted the satisfaction that I made a difference.

From then on, I looked at things from different perspectives. I asked questions of the groups and helped them with their situations and problems. It paved the way for me to completely change how I operated.

During the break of one workshop, a woman came up to me and said, “I’m the problem at my office and they all hate me.” This not only lead to me helping her but it brought this issue into many workshops from that point forward. I knew she wasn’t the only one who dealt with this and I began helping both sides–both the likable and unlikable.

At this point in my career, I still enjoy making a difference no matter what the topic or audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://drsusanharrison.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanharrisonspker
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsusanharrison/

Image Credits
Jeevan Dhaker