Real strength is transparent.  It comes from that muscle called the heart.

Marc Mero is a brilliant example of that.  Marc is a former professional wrestler with the World Wrestling Federation.  For years he made his living smashing people around the ring as 'Johnny B. Badd'.

Now he's fighting in a different arena.  Marc is on a passionate crusade to expose steroid use in professional wrestling.  He's telling the story of his own steroid use in the wake of the deaths of wrestler Chris Benoit and his family.

He's telling his story on national television and across the country to the toughest crowd of all: teenagers.

He speaks from his heart and doesn't apologize for it.

Marc gets emotional when he talks about his past.  But, he does whatever it takes to get through to kids about the pressures to 'follow the crowd' and the toll steroid use has taken on his body.  He's real and the kids feel it.

I felt it, too, when I worked with Marc.  He's amazing.

Why did he have such an impact on me?

It's simple: he doesn't hide behind 'canned' speeches.  He talks about his mistakes, his pain and what he's learned from not getting it 'right' the first time.

He's more concerned about his audience getting the lesson than he is about appearing vulnerable.  That's the real deal about speaking from your heart.

Tip: Let your guard down when you have something important to say that could change someone's life.

Though it may be one of the hardest things you've ever had to do, take the risk of being 'transparent'.  Let them see and feel your anger, pain, frustration and yes, even your joy!

With rare exceptions, your emotion and passion will have much greater impact than your words alone.

(For more on Marc Mero's work log on to: www.championofchoices.com )

I saw that happen to a man at a conference I attended recently.  He actually apologized to the assembled group that he has a hard time explaining his work to people who aren’t in his industry.

He not only lost the interest of anyone standing there, he lost any possibility for referrals.

Being good at what you do does not translate into being good at talking about it.  Let’s face it, if you can’t explain it, you can get paid for it.

Join me for my free teleseminar on December 22, 2009 (Noon and 9pm EDT), where I’ll be sharing secrets on how increase the odds of getting what you want by changing how you talk about what you do!

Have you ever received an amazing compliment that completely surprised you?  I’m not talking about a ‘You look nice today’ kind of compliment.  I’m talking about the kind of compliment where someone tells you that you’ve changed his or her life by something you said or did or taught.

It’s humbling and often a cause for reflection.

We make an impact every day.  We teach people by the way we treat them.   We teach them by what we ‘do’ in their presence…especially if we don’t know they’re watching.

What you ‘do’ trumps what you ‘say’ any day of the week.

No one knows your intentions but you.  If your actions tell people you don’t care, your words mean nothing.

Tip the odds in your favor by joining me for my free teleseminar on December 22, 2009 (Noon and 9pm EDT) and find out how easy it is to make a powerful impact in less than 15 seconds!