They applied, you voted. Here are the 12 speakers that the NetworkInAustin community chose to learn from at the 2011 NetStorming events. In no particular order:

Amy Hardin CEO, AcSELLerate Sales Development Systems

Influence and Persuasion: The Psychology of Sales

Join Amy Hardin for an interactive learning session about the psychological principles that are the cornerstones of persuasion. When employed correctly in the sales process, these principles greatly increase your ability to persuade others to your point of view. This class provides eye-opening insights into the art and science of selling. Get answers to questions like:

• Why do some people have more influence than others?
• Can the ability to influence others be taught?
• Can you sell better if you understand the psychology of persuasion?
• What are the principles of influence and how are they used?
• Is there such a thing as automatic influence?

Combining science, research, field studies and sales best practices, this entertaining talk is guaranteed to increase your Sales IQ!

Scott Ingram, NetworkInAustin.com

Real Networking Doesn’t Happen at Networking Events

There are endless opportunities to attend luncheons, mixers and other networking events. While these events are important it's critical to understand that very few opportunities come from attending these events. Whether you're looking for new clients, investors, partners, a new job or to advance your career it's imperative that you understand what networking really is. In this session you'll learn how to build real relationships that lead to real opportunities. Plus networking tips that will increase your effectiveness and accelerate results.

Dag Nybo, The Growth Coach

Tools to Diagnose and Correct Your Business Performance

1. Knowing Your Business & Audience:

• What – The type of Service do you provide.
• Who - Who you should be focusing on. Defining your target client. Pros & Cons of the gunshot approach.
• Why – The reasons a prospect/client should buy from you and continue to do business with you.
• 2. Diagnosing Performance Gaps: Most of us complain about a missing piece of our business. We want to generate a larger funnel of prospects, we’d like to reduce client turn over, we’d like to increase our marketing, but we feel unable to pinpoint a fix. Categories of Performance Gaps
• Conceptual Understanding– We lack a (mental) model of how a particular piece of our business should work. How do we create such a model?
• Skill (missing, incomplete) – We lack a particular skill that is limiting our performance.
• Behavioral – Covers Mindset & Limiting Beliefs. It’s human to occasionally exhibit the incorrect behavior, but they learn to correct over time. If we discover that we lack motivation, repeat mistakes, have a hard time adopting needed behaviors, we can adjust.
• Ways to Diagnose & Address:
• Develop Curiosity: Ask ourselves quality questions and create a plan to fix.
• Use past experience as data. Take risks & adjust each future at bat.
• Step through a “how would I handle this” use-case.
• Develop safe areas to practice behavioral changes, new skills, conceptual improvements.
• Involve a Mastermind Group, Mentor, Accountability Partner

Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks, SPHR, Forte Consulting

Flow: Reaching the Ultimate Fulfillment

Find out what Mihail Csikszentmihalyi discovered (real name!) and how it can help make people happy.  Explore what could be even more fulfilling than lying on the coach and watching football.  Can people be happy and fulfilled at work!?? Can we create conditions that make us and our employees more likely to be fulfilled and happy? ----The answer may be YES…..

Julie Wickert, True Story Communication

Get Your Story Out There

Humans appear to be hardwired to respond to stories. A Scientific American article (August/September 2008) states, “Storytelling is one of the few human traits that are truly universal across culture and through all of known history. And stories have a unique power to persuade and motivate, because they appeal to our emotions and capacity for empathy.” Your organization’s stories are unique. Learn the impact of a good story well told in distinguishing your business, products, and services from those of your competitors. Look at examples of effective case studies, testimonials, and “About Us” pages and discuss what makes them work. Discover ways to capture and use the stories that matter to your customers and prospects. While the focus of the talk will be on written stories; it will also touch on using video.

Pete Monfre, Clarity Marketing

The Cold, Hard Truth about Marketing ROI

Confused about getting a Return on your Marketing Investment? You are not alone. The marketing industry has experienced massive changes over the last 10 years (ever heard of the Internet?) and with great opportunity comes great misinformation. Forget what you've read about Marketing ROI - it may apply to the big boys but small businesses play by different rules. ROI is possible - if you know what to measure and how. In this presentation, Pete Monfre will tell you what other marketing consultants would never reveal. The truth will set you free.

Bob Davis, Simple.Sales.Strategy

Go Get ‘Em Tiger is Not a Sales Plan or How not to Confuse Activity with Results

A brief 15 minute high energy talk on why and how sales people (and entrepreneurs) fail to plan effectively for sales results and what they can do about it.

• 10 - Slides
• 6 - Actions you can take today
• 3 – Free Tools A few laughs !
• Bonus “Stump the Sales Chump” – 5 minutes Q&A.
• 98% content – 2% pitch.

Stefan Werdeger

Building Winning Partnerships/Alliances

I will help the audience walk away with some best practices they can implement in their business on How to look for good business partners in the market How to determine if there is a good fit (should you really align/partner with that other business) How to develop joint win/win go to market strategies and customer solutions that make sense How to build lasting relationships with partners

Brad Closson, Connective Management

And Another Plan Bites the Dust

Good business planning is made up of three keystones. Strategy, the plan, and accountability. Of the three, accountability gets the least attention, though it is critical for success. I will cover some of the core principals of accountability and how to help strengthen this forgotten aspect of strategic planning.

• The importance of Accountability
• The forgotten keystone
• Tips and tools for Accountability
• An Accountability Team

Katie Osborne, Full Moon Design Group

Lunar Cycle: Are all of your marketing wheels in orbit around your brand?

Building your business and its brand is a necessity, but what happens next? What are you doing to create awareness for your brand? Are you leaving a marketing wheel alone to float into outer space? Join me as we review the different wheels that need to be engaged to build a successful business. From printing to social media, we will discover individual details of each of the five marketing wheels and also discuss ways to bring them all full circle so that they are orbiting together to build a strong and recognizable brand.

Jonathan Gesinger, Emma and Matthew Parente, Aperio Marketing

Where E-mail Marketing Meets Social Media. Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!

How can your email marketing campaigns complement your social media strategy? Join Jonathan Gesinger from Emma (www.myemma.com) and Matthew Parente from Aperio Marketing (www.aperiomarketing.net) for an example-filled conversation about the latest trends and ideas for integrating social media and email. You'll see how to craft effective email campaigns that show off your social media savvy, and you'll understand how both channels work together to build stronger relationships with your customers, members or fans. Most importantly, you'll see how you can drive more business by pairing the two marketing channels together. You may also see more references to mediocre '70s comic book characters, but we're not making any promises.

Rick L’Amie, Moxie Marketing

The Marketing Hourglass: Get your Customers to Know, Like and Trust You, and Keep them Coming Back

In the era of social media, the traditional marketing funnel is broken. Now more than ever, thanks to the power of social media and the Internet, customers are defining your reputation and must be nurtured to get repeat business and valued referrals. Duct Tape Marketing Authorized Consultant Rick L'Amie of Moxie Marketing will share a new way of thinking about how to attract and retain more customers using the Marketing Hourglass. It starts with getting people to know, like and trust your business and ultimately leads to repeat business and referrals. Then you flip the Hourglass over to keep your lead generation machine going.