You know I usually offer suggestions in my weekly note to you. Whether they’re about speaking or networking or marketing, there’s almost always something concrete for you to put into practice. Something that will help you make a bigger splash and get better results.

This week, I’m looking for suggestions from you.

Chances are good you’ve heard me speak sometime along the way. It was about how to have a more powerful professional presence. Or what to say about yourself and your work to get attention, keep it, and lay the groundwork for a profitable relationship. Or how to have real impact on the phone or a web-based platform.

Although I weave in plenty of stories about my experience speaking in person and on the radio, the focus when I’m speaking is not me. Instead, I keep the spotlight on the audience, their work, and what I can share with them to help them communicate more effectively and be more successful.

And of course, I coach my clients to keep their focus on their audience. So they offer real value when they’re speaking, and not just a bunch of me-me-me-I-I-I.

All of which makes it a bit awkward, the advice I’m getting from speakers who are smarter and more successful than me.

This be-a-better-communicator stuff is fine, they say. But what people really want to hear is the inside scoop on my radio days. The people who played a part in them. And the tough transition to a whole new career when broadcasting caved in for me.

In other words, these experts on speaking are encouraging me to do more self-ing. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Not that any of my past is a secret, mind you. I’ve just thought of it for a long time as old news, ancient history, been-there-done-that.

And there’s something sort of pitiful, don’t you think, when you hear people yammering about what they used to do? They’re stuck in the past like that guy in Springsteen’s “Glory Days.”

But as I said, smarter speakers than me tell me I’m missing the boat. They insist there’s an audience in and around Chicago for a talk about my glory days … and the lessons worth learning from those experiences.

So, I’m asking for your expert opinion. How interested would you be in a talk that includes stories from the radio years and some suggestions for you too?

Some things we might cover:

  • Flexibility—Plan B for a nursing major. Yes, the nursing major was me. So how did I end up in broadcasting, anyway?
  • Perseverance in the face of withering criticism. (Rejection letters, hate mail … and now they tweet too!)
  • Boldly seizing an opportunity—how I wound up with a gig in Chicago while I was slaving over a hot microphone in Cleveland … waiting to be good enough to get a gig in Chicago.
  • Hiding, albeit in plain sight. This is a huge issue for women: ducking opportunities, playing small, passing up a chance to shine. We hold ourselves back in so many ways.
  • Playing with a team—how to work well together in ensemble radio or the shipping department.
  • When one door closes … reinventing yourself for Career 2.0. (Or 3.0, or 4.0…) This one could almost be another whole talk. I’ve learned a lot about starting over.

If that kind of program does sound like fun to you, I’m asking you help me find the audiences that will share your interest. What groups are they? And how can I make a connection?

And if you’re rolling your eyes, thinking, “Sheesh, that stuff really is old news,” save me from myself and let me know that too. (Trust me, I can take it.)

Share your thoughts in the Comments. I can’t wait …