Twenty years ago, Valerie Garcia started answering phones at a real estate office. She quickly fell in love with the industry and agents, and even got her real estate license. However, her true passion was being behind the scenes – teaching agents how to use and adopt new technologies/tools.

Today, Valerie is a speaker, consultant and encourager with over twenty years of experience in real estate education working with a number of industry brands all over the world. Fun fact: She has spoken on every continent in the world except Antarctica!

A few years ago, Valerie left her corporate position to follow her passion and start her own consulting business with a strong focus on speaking, content creation and storytelling. Whether it’s speaking on stage, in a board room to a team or presenting to a client in their living room, Valerie helps real estate professionals improve their speaking skills and build confidence so they can successfully tell their story.

Our VP of Marketing Lisa Fettner sat down with Valerie to discuss how you can find your voice and tell your authentic story.

• Marketing in today’s world is noisier than ever and tactics that may have worked fifteen years ago just don’t stick anymore. That’s why Valerie created a workshop, called The Modern Campfire, to bring people into small groups and teach them how to use storytelling in their business.
• Valerie shares that the biggest challenge for those who want to speak on stage is understanding what authenticity means to them and figuring out how to be comfortable with themselves.
• Valerie notes that there’s no shortage of speaking opportunities – at events, your local news station, conventions, etc., – what’s difficult is deciding you have a message. What are you good at? What do you like to talk about? What are you passionate about? You must establish that and then put it into words.
• If you’re new to the speaking world and a bit camera shy, Lisa and Valerie recommend trying a Facebook Live or podcast to get more comfortable.
• A major benefit of speaking at events and telling your story is that it can generate more referrals for your business. By becoming recognizable to a broader audience, you naturally stay top-of-mind.
• For those interested in becoming a speaker, Valerie recommends you find your voice, become comfortable with who you are, know who your audience is and determine the story you want to share.

Click above to watch the full interview and learn more at valeriagarcia.com.

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