Upon looking back, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone that 2009 was a tough year to be a financial planner. With the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing almost 27% of its value in the 2008 calendar year (according to cnnmoney.com) and unemployment reaching approaching record highs, clients were not especially anxious to “pull the trigger” on purchasing investment vehicles. Who can blame them? If I was laid off and I had a couple of mouths to feed, I would not be thinking about my retirement or what investments offer the best rate of return. My only immediate concern would be to keep a roof over our head, warm food in our bellies and clean clothing on our backs. But as all of the great economists have said, “Things will eventually get better.” We live in a capitalistic free market system where everything that goes up will go down and everything that goes down will go up again. History, like it has done before, will repeat itself again.

Besides working as a financial planner, I am also an assistant college professor who teaches public speaking at a local College in Southern California. I have noticed (especially this year) is the increase of working adults going back to school. More and more people are taking this bear market economy as an opportunity to make themselves better and prepare for the future. I have also experienced an increase in conceptual and product trainings in the financial world. What amazes me the most is that financial planners will spend thousands of dollars on sales trainings, but not a penny on improving the delivery of their message. Why is that? Why do sales people naturally believe they can effectively deliver their message to a group of potential clients without even one minute of proper speech training?

Being in sales is tough and being an independent financial planner is even tougher. There never seems to be a steady income coming in, there is seldom a person to pat us on the back or give us words of encouragement when times are tough, and real vacations are normally rare. To be successful in this industry you have to be a little crazy, stubborn and cocky. That’s probably why I love working in this field so much!

I learned a long time ago the best thing you can invest in is yourself. Learning all the top products and best conceptual sales ideas is great, but all of that is wasted money and time unless you can effectively deliver your message. One of the most disappointing things to witness is wasted opportunity. I can’t explain how many times I have witnessed financial planners spend thousands of dollars in sales trainings and then spend a few more thousand in giving a public seminar to end up with nothing to show for it.

Many people will play the blame game and believe it was a mistake in their marketing campaign, a bad economy, bad clients or whatever else they conspire in their head so they can shift the blame away from themselves. The truth is there are many factors that contribute to a failed public seminar. The number one reason time and time again is poor public speaking skills. I have witnessed presenters so horrible in their public speaking skills that they actually drove away potential clients. Many producers have no idea how to read an audience. They haven’t been informed of the simple techniques for adjusting their rhetoric so they can be more appealing and keep their clients interested.

As I have said many times to my students: “knowledge is worthless unless you can explain it and apply it.” Who really cares if you are the smartest person in the world? That can be rendered moot if you can not communicate and explain your thoughts effectively. Warren Buffet said it best: “Invest in yourself.”

Most experts all agree that the best training for successful sales people is in public speaking. You never know where life might take you; you might be currently selling indexed annuities and mutual funds and find yourself selling something completely different in a whole new industry someday. Being an effective public speaker will help you no matter where your carrier path may lie.

Be careful in choosing public speaking trainings. They can be very expensive and the common saying of “you get what you pay for” does not apply for public speaking training. There are a lot of hacks out there that are charging upwards of five thousand dollars to for their trainings, which is no more than what you could get for free if you joined your local Toast Masters Association.

Public speaking is the number one fear in America. More people would rather die than have to give a speech in front of a crowd. The fact that you even consider giving a public seminar is very commendable. Just remember that the most successful people in the financial world all give public seminars and every single one of them are nervous before they speak. Just tell yourself: “I am prepared, I know my presentation backwards and forwards, and I am ready to give it my best effort.” If you can’t say those three statements, then I better see you in my next class on April 29!