2-Minute Tip : The Stage as War Zone

Think of the stage as a war zone. Not in the sense that the audience is an enemy. The enemy is the way many folks hold back and don’t spend all their energy on stage.

To mix metaphors even further, the stage is that poker hand where you need to go all in./ If you hold chips back — if you hold energy or enthusiasm back — you won’t win. You won’t accomplish your goal.

When you get off stage, you want to be exhausted and drained because you left it all out there.

Post Tip Discussion

One reason I like talking about public speaking is because the content is ever green. By that I mean the strategies for effectively speaking today, are the same ones that will be effective next year. Or that were effective last year.

• Define your goal.
• Tell a story.
• Do it with enthusiasm.
• Be bigger on stage than you might be in private conversation.
• Do it all with authenticity.

As I write this, it is April 2020 and we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and shut downs of various sorts. As more people speak via webinars and video conferences, think about how those core principle change.

They don’t.

You still need to:

• Define your goal.
• Tell a story.
• Do it with enthusiasm.
• Be bigger on stage than you might be in private conversation.
• Do it all with authenticity.

This interview is one I recorded a year ago, and it’s just as relevant today. And it will be just as relevant 5 or 10 years from now.

In this conversation with Ken Moscowitz, we talk about the importance of your energy level and how to have to give it your all every time.

We also talk about how just because your story has become boring for you because you tell it all the time, it’s still new to your audience and can be just as powerful and illustrative now as the first time you told it.

And we wade into the discussion about which is more powerful: words or pictures.

Bio

From Ken’s website:

Moskowitz-Headshot.jpg?resize=148%2C150" alt="" width="148" height="150">

As a father of 5, this man knows how to multitask. OK, his wife does the multitasking, but Spanky’s a close second.

Spanky started his creative career in New York City and quickly rose to the top of the broadcast creative industry. He’s led re-branding and resurrection efforts for many major and smaller brands over the last three decades; like the Indy 500, Frito-Lay, Samuel Adams, Coca Cola, M&M Mars and many more. He also revitalized ailing broadcast outlets and sports franchise brands across the country.

Spanky’s unique approach to creative and fun, yet memorable branding, sets him apart in the industry. His approach is at times edgy, always unique, but very memorable.

Til-it-Hurts-Cover.jpg?resize=100%2C150" alt="" width="100" height="150">

Following the advice of his mentor and friend Gary Vaynerchuk, Spanky built his business by jabbing (that’s Gary Vee’s shorthand for providing value). It worked so well that he wrote a best-selling book: Jab Till It Hurts: How Following Gary Vaynerchuk’s Advice Helped Me Build A 7-Figure Brand.

Hop over to SpankyMoskowitz.com to get to know Ken better, find out where he’ll be next, and book him for consulting or speaking opportunities.

Links

Ken ” Spanky” Mokowitz

https://www.spankymoskowitz.com/

Ad Zombies

https://www.adzombies.com/

Ad Zombies on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/adzombies

Ad Zombies on Twitter

https://twitter.com/AdZombies

Ad Zombies on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/adzombies/

Ad Zombies on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adzombies/

Ad Zombies on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrFDrjmaBoYug__OTRF8KBQ/

 Jab Till It Hurts: How Following Gary Vaynerchuk’s Advice Helped Me Build A 7-Figure Brand

https://www.amazon.com/Jab-Till-Hurts-Following-Vaynerchuks/dp/1724043471

Gary Vaynerchuck

https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/

Tony Robbins

https://www.tonyrobbins.com/

Episode 119 — Staying in Your Lane with Chandler Walker

http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/ChansLogic

Ep 098 — COVID-19 and Stroke

http://Strokecast.com/COVID-19

Call To Action

• To learn more about Ken, be sure to check out Ad Zombies everywhere, including the links above
• Check out Ken’s book from your favorite online bookstore, library, or read chapters on the Ad Zombies blog
• Subscribe to 2MinuteTalkTips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode.
• And, as always, don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Tip: Tell Stories

Stories are how humans connect. They form the basis of our social relationships. They’re how we share history.

As a speaker, one of the best ways to make sure you connect with your audience is to tell stories — and not just one. Illustrate your talk with as many stories as possible. Generic ones are okay, but authentic, personal stories will bring you the most success.

Post Tip Discussion

Grant Baldwin has built a business speaking to speakers about the business of speaking. He hosts the Speaker Lab podcast, which is in my weekly must listen to list. His Speaker Lab company runs the popular Booked and Paid to Speak program. And now he has a new book coming out next week on February 18, 2020 called The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform.

As a long-time fan, I was thrilled to talk with Grant for this episode. I think I’ve listened to every episode of his podcast. Now I just need to put it all into action.

If you’ve ever wondered how keynote and other professional speaker make their living and how you can too, Grant is the guy to listen to.

Bio

headshot.jpg?resize=175%2C168" alt="Grant Baldwin is against a slate background, looking straight at the camera." width="175" height="168">

Grant Baldwin is the founder of The Speaker Lab, a training company that helps public speakers learn how to find and book speaking gigs. Through his popular podcast The Speaker Lab and flagship coaching program Booked and Paid to Speak he has coached and worked with thousands of speakers. As a keynote speaker, Grant has delivered nearly one thousand presentations to over 500,000 people in 47 states and has keynoted events for audiences as large as 13,000. Grant has also been featured in national media including Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, and Huffington Post.

He now lives near Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Sheila, and their three daughters.

5 Basic things Effective Speakers Do

Grant shared this list of characteristics of effective speakers. The key thing here is that all the required skills are ones that anyone can develop.

1. They are comfortable with their content.
2. They are familiar with their content.
3. They understand pacing and pausing.
4. They tell a good story
5. They keep an audience engaged

5 Steps to a Successful Speaking Career

S – Select a problem to solve.

P – Prepare and deliver your talk.

E – Establish your expertise.

A – Acquire paid speaking gigs.

K – Know when to scale

This is the framework Grant covers in The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform.

Links

Call To Action

• Subscribe to the Speaker Lab podcast in your favorite podcast app
• Check out Grant’s new book The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform.
• Share this episode with someone else by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Grant
• Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Tip: Be Authentic and Tell Your Story

Across the different guests I talk with, the theme of authenticity keeps coming up in the tips. It’s similar in many of them which demonstrates just how important it is. Also interesting is how each of them brings their own angle to the concept.

When you tell your story and use it to connect with the message you want to convey, it’s much easier to have a memorable and authentic impact on your audience. And that’s ultimately what you want.

When you are talking about things that aren’t about you specifically, you can still let your authentic self come through. It’s in your enthusiasm or feeling about the topic your discussing. It’s in the analogies you use. It’s in how you dress and how you carry yourself. It’s in how you relate to the folks in your audience.

Sharing your story and being authentic doesn’t mean you have to share your detailed biography, especially when it’s not relevant to your topic. But you may have had an experience or anecdote that helps explain something. It doesn’t have to be a major thing in your life. It just needs to be something that will help make your point and help you achieve your goal.

Meet Kira Ming

Kira is a writer at heart. As she became more and more successful, she received more invitations to speak. And that helped her writing business. Which got her more speaking opportunities. Ultimately she learned that people want to hear from the person behind a brand.

The point is, she didn’t seek the stage.

And when she found herself on it, she had to learn fast. She had to learn to be bigger than herself — to push beyond her own limiting beliefs about what she was capable of to share her story with her audience and how her company could help them achieve their goals.

Bio

Kira Ming’s background in publishing spans over 15 years and involves the creation of her own successful publication. Over the past decade she’s had the pleasure of interviewing some of entertainment’s biggest names, and has been involved in many legendary events within entertainment both as a host and media sponsor.

She’s spent the past few years developing tools, resources, marketing material, and several types of content for businesses, editing numerous projects, and contributing articles to major platforms including Huffington Post. As a result of her success within publishing, content marketing, and business strategy, she felt it only necessary to write Small Business, Big Success – a straight to the point guide for small business owners. Kira Ming has served as keynote speaker, a panelist, and workshop conductor for numerous events, and she’s excited to continue giving value when it comes to her expertise.

3 Reasons Entrepreneurs Should Speak

1. It increases the audience for your product, service, or content
2. Others want you to speak on their platform. And that will further expand your audience and potential customer base.
3. It has a high conversion rate. People are more interested in buying from someone  they’ve personally seen and heard

Personal Branding

We talked about this topic a bit. A lot of people don’t like the idea because they feel, “I’m a human being — an individual. I’m not a brand.”

This is a short sighted approach. A brand is really  a mental shortcut that we all use that is a summary of our thoughts and feelings about a person, an organization, a topic, etc.

We all have a brand whether we want one or not. Personal branding is about taking an active role in influencing how people think about and see you.

It’s essential in the modern social media landscape we live in. And people will create it for you if you don’t protect it yourself.

It’s a modern way of caring about your reputation.

Links

Call To Action

• To learn more about Kira or her book, Small Business, Big Success: A Straight To The Point Guide For Small Business Owners, check out the links above.
• Who else do you know that might enjoy this episode? Give them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/TheRealKiraMing
• Don’t get best…get better

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

2-Minute Tip: Be Your True and Honest Self

We talk a lot about authenticity because it matters. And while it may seem daunting, it can actually make things easier. When you don’t try to fake it, you don’t waste brain cycles and energy trying to maintain a façade.

There are 3 questions to ask yourself when you prepare to talk to an audience:

1. Who are you really?
2. What do you have to offer your audience?
3. What do you have to gain from the experience?

Integrate this framework into your prep work to put yourself on the path to success.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Heather Vickery

“Man up,” is a phrase I don’t like. Most folks understand it to mean that it’s time to just do something that’s hard or that you’re afraid to do it.

But obviously, it’s sexist. It implies that being afraid to do things is womanly and doing the tough stuff despite fear is manly.

I prefer the exhortation to, “Fortify!” instead of “man up.” Sometimes you do need to muster all your energy and willpower to accomplish something tough. “Fortify” captures that spirit without insulting a significant portion of your audience.

I’m thinking about this today because today’s guest is host of The Brave Files podcast, personal coach, speaker, author, and musical theater enthusiast, Heather Vickery. Heather often finds herself telling clients, “So what? Do it scared.”

Bio

Portrait.jpg?resize=150%2C246" alt="Heather Vickery stands against a stone wall in a flowery dress" width="150" height="246">

Heather Vickery is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, keynote speaker, business owner, and transformational coach. But Heather isn’t just a savvy businesswoman − she’s an inspiration.

The founder of Vickery and Co., Heather helps organizations build an environment of honoring “The Whole Employee” so that they have empowered team members, happier clients, higher retention and make more money!

Heather is a featured expert on achieving an authentic and meaningful life and designing your own roadmap for balance and success.

A mother of four, Heather’s world turned upside down after a major life transformation and divorce, suddenly, she had the freedom to be her most authentic self. She discovered that this same authenticity empowered her with the confidence she needed to repair, rebuild, and reach her life’s vision and goals. Today, Heather leverages her entrepreneurial skills and expertise to coach individuals towards greater personal and professional fulfillment. Through her story of personal bravery, perseverance, and resilience, Heather inspires audiences and empowers attendees with the tools they need to live bold and meaningful lives. A strong believer in strengthening her community, Heather also serves as vice president for The Children’s School and as a board member for the About Face Theatre, Chicago’s premiere LGBTQ theatre.

Heather is the executive producer and host of The Brave Files Podcast featuring real stories from people living courageously.

Heather is the author of “Gratitude Journal: Shift Your Focus.”

She works with people all around the globe to help them build Brave and empowered life’s.

Heather’s Speaker Demo

Books

It’s great that I get to share Heather’s conversation this week. As I write this we are just a few days away from the Thanksgiving Holiday in the United States.

Giving thanks and expressing gratitude is an important life skill, and on December 3, Heather can help with that.

Heather’s new book, Grow Grateful: A Gratitude Journal for Kids and Families will be released on December 3rd.

This book is designed to help you create intentional and impactful conversations with kids about gratitude. Doing so will lead to life-changing habits that increase their own happiness and wellbeing and give you delightful quality time together.

The second edition of Heather’s earlier book, Gratitude Journal: Shift Your Focus is also available.  This beautiful journal offers space to record gratitude, personal wins (high fives), and 180 unique prompts to help you connect with gratitude in unique and often surprising ways.

What I think is important about these books is that the focus isn’t just on being grateful because it’s the right moral, ethical, or spiritual thing to do. Heather talks about gratitude as something that is good for you. It raises your spirits and helps you feel better.

These can be great presents for various holiday events, or they can even help you kick start a gratitude practice for yourself or your kids as we approach the time for New Year’s resolutions.

Links

Call To Action

• Don’t, “Man up.” Fortify instead.
• Check out Heather’s Brave Files podcast and books at the links above.
• Share this episode with one other pers0n by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Heather.
• Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

2-Minute Tip — Connect with Your Audience

Before speaking, meet your audience members. In a small meeting, maybe that means greeting them as they come in to the conference room. At a larger event, that may mean mingling with attendees in the venue.

By meeting with some of your attendees before you speak, you start to build a connection and a more personal relationship. It can make your audience instantly more friendly to you as a result.

It can also give you Valuable information about things that are on the audience’s minds that you may be able to incorporate into your talk. There are all sorts of valuable things that can come from those connections.

Additionally, it can help distract you from your own nerves in the lead up to your talk.

Maura Sweeney — The Ambassador of Happiness

Maura Sweeney is the world’s Ambassador of Happiness. She has built a career around speaking as part of traditional corporate roles she’s held and later as an entrepreneur.

The recurring theme in this episode is connection — how you connect with your audience on a personal level and the importance of connecting your message with your stories. Those connections all need to be internally consistent find success and happiness in public speaking.

Bio

Author, Podcaster, and International Speaker, Maura Sweeney has transformed her own mantra of “Living Happy – Inside Out” to become a global influencer.

A former corporate manager and home schooling mom transitioned again at age 50 to make her life long goal a reality. Today, she brings uplift and unity to an often disempowered and divided world.

A former HuffPost columnist who has traveled to 60 countries, Maura was first called the Ambassador of Happiness by the UNESCO Center for Peace when invited to speak at the inaugural Nelson Mandela Day celebration. Since then, she’s trademarked her title and become a popular media guest featured on hundreds of media outlets in the U.S., Europe, Africa and Australia.

Maura has lectured on Influence and Leadership at universities, leadership conferences, women’s organizations, Model UN’s and several American Embassy outposts. In 2018, she was named Women of the Decade at the Women Economic Forum held in The Hague. Maura Sweeney’s genuine and first-hand approach empowers others of every background to become their finest version of self and helps us see what’s best in us all.

Maura just released an ecourse for Personal Leadership, Happiness and Authenticity on the Ingomu Learning Platform.

Links

Call To Action

• So check out Maura’s books, podcast, and more. You can find all those links above
• Connect with someone in your life by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Maura
• Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode.
• Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

2-Minute Tip: Earn your Confidence

If you project confidence on stage your audience is more likely to believe you. If you are confident, you’ll feel less nervous getting up to speak.

Confidence doesn’t come for free, though. You have to earn it. And you earn it by doing to work — by planning, editing, revising, practicing and rehearsing. If you don’t do the work, you don’t deserve the confidence and probably should be nervous.

So if you find you lack confidence in your public speaking, ask yourself, “Did I do the work to deserve it?” If the answer is, “No,” okay. Now you know what you have to do in the future.

Building blocks with Cory Truax

Cory’s story is one of building. He didn’t become a speaker by jumping on the biggest stage he could. He assembled this life in pieces beginning in school. Then began volunteering to speak and chaining together event after event as people would see him speak and then invite him to speak.

That’s the journey we talk about today — about taking small steps forward that lead to bigger and bigger things — and doing a lot of work today.

Bio

picture.jpg?resize=150%2C150" alt="Cory Truax Stands against a brick wall while wearing a bow tie.">

Cory Truax’s day job is in Admissions at the University of South Carolina. He supplements that with secular and religious speaking gigs, and on air work at WLFJ radio in Greenville, SC.

Cory Truax fills a lot of roles – Host of the creatively-titled radio show & podcast, “The Cory Truax Show,” Teaching Pastor at Beechwood Church, uncle extraordinaire, and even has a day job.

Cory enjoys early-morning work-outs; all things football; basketball’s post-season; healthy political discussions; theology; learning new things; and discovering new voices. Cory is also an invited speaker at church, educational, and political events along with serving as the fill-in host for WLFJ Christian Talk 660’s morning show, “Christian Worldview Today.”

Leadership and Public Speaking

One of the key lessons in this conversation is the link between leadership roles and public speaking. If you become a leader in an organization, no matter how small, you have the opportunity to speak. The more people see you speaking, the more likely they are to think you are a leader. And the whole thing can loop from there.

For kids there are opportunities to lead and or speak in school projects, clubs, teams, and church. Pursuing those opportunities early open up future opportunities for success.

Adults aren’t shut out though. There’s a reason Toastmasters isn’t just about speaking, but also about leadership. There are opportunities in churches and PTAs. There are committees and cross-functional teams at work. There are condo and home owner associations.

To grow as a speaker, try being a leader. To grow as a leader, try being a speaker.

Question Your Assumptions

On a recent episode of the Real RX, a podcast hosted by doctors, they talked about aging in women. The official guidelines say that generally women do not need to get pap smears after age 65. The standard is in place because of two assumptions:

• Women over 65 do not have sex.
• If they do have sex, it’s with a long-term partner.

The problem is that often, both those assumptions are false. Relying on those false assumptions can lead to higher risk of cancer.

You can listen to the whole episode here:

If you’d like to hear more from Dr. Kim Brown, I interviewed her last year on my other show.

Another example that I’ve shared before is this. When I taught people to sell laptops, I talked about how I liked selling laptops instead of desktops because I didn’t have to lift a heavy monitor with the sale.

In the late nineties, that got a laugh. By 2005, new audiences no longer laughed. Why?

Because light weight flat panel monitors had replaced heavy CRTs in the market. The joke no longer made sense.

We have to question our assumptions.

Links

Call To Action

• To learn more aby or find his podcast, visit http://CoryTruax.com.
• Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/CoryTruax.
• Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode.
• Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

2-Minute Tip: Be Vulnerable

We often talk about the importance of authenticity as a speaker. Another way to think about it, though, is vulnerability.

The benefit of vulnerability as a speaker is that the audience can feel where you are coming from. It’s easier for them to connect with you.

And if they feel that stronger sense of connection, they are more likely to pursue the action you are calling them to pursue.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Charles White

When I put together an episode, I don’t always know what it’s about. I do my core edit of the conversation where I listen to the whole thing, cut some stuff , and clean up the audio Wile I take notes.

Then I look over my notes. Sometimes I sit with it for a day. It’s only then that I realize what my guest and I talked about. Then I can write up my intro and outro comments and start work on the show notes for an episode. That’s my process.

And that’s how I came to realize that this week’s episode is all about process. Charles focuses on process in his life.  Process can be quite freeing. Once you have a structure and a way of doing things, suddenly those tasks get a whole lot quicker.

Often when we talk about public speaking we don’t think about the process. We think about standing in front of the crowd with some slides.

But 90% of the success of a talk is determined before you ever open your mouth. It’s in your preparation and planning. And when your preparation becomes repeatable and duplicatable, you have a process.

It’s not as sexy as the roar of the crowd, but the right process can make your life so much easier.

Bio

white-headshot.jpg?resize=150%2C150" alt="Charles White wearing a beret and looking at the camera" width="150" height="150">

Charles helps business owners who need their operations to run more efficiently. As businesses get more clients, more work orders, and hire more people the processes they built become stressed. Charles is there when you are looking to find that new tool, improve your old process, and increase your workforce’s output.

He provide a full service solution to improving your daily, weekly and monthly workload. Together he helps you identify areas of your business that can most benefit from immediate intervention. Then he provides a solution through new software implementation and personalized training documentation, videos and in person classes.

Charles’ TEDx Talk

Links

Call To Action

• Visit the links above to learn more about and connect with Charles White.
• Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Charles
• Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

2-Minute Tip: Know 3 Stories

While it’s helpful to have lots of stories at your disposal, there are three types that will help you in speeches, job interviews and client interactions.  They are Underdog, Authority, and Fixer.

The Underdog story is the story of where you came from. It’s the obstacles life put in your path and how you got over, around, under, or through them to get where you are today.

The Authority is the story about your expertise. How do you know what you know? Why should people listen to you? What makes you different from other folks they could be listening to right now?

The Fixer story is about what you do to help others. How can you help this audience? What will you do or what will you enable them to do?

With those three stories in your pocket you can are better prepared for any audience.

When we talk about pathos, ethos, and logos as being crucial to persuasive success, these three stories support the often neglected ethos side of the pyramid.

Post Tip Discussion: Meet Zack Hudson

I and my guests talk a lot about Storytelling in public speaking. And I talk about it more with Zack today. One thing that makes today’s conversation a little different is that we get a little bit deeper into the process of finding your stories. Because that is what Zack does with his clients — he helps them find and tell their stories.

The fact is everyone has stories to tell, even if we don’t realize it.

Bio

Today Zack not only speaks and consults with organizations. He also live the corporate executive life with more than 500 people in his organization across the southern US.

From Zack’s website:

headshot-e1569987634224-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150" alt="Zack Hudson stands outside in front of a body of water facing the camera." width="150" height="150">

I grew up in Louisiana and never saw a swamp until I was a teenager. I loved my town and the dream was to never leave and become mayor. That plan was dramatically altered when I met a certain redhead. She captured my heart and after getting married, we moved off to start our own adventure.

We relocated all over the South and started a family along the way. During the journey, I had a hunger to grow as a leader and discovered there were many others out there that had that same fire.

Since then, I’ve developed many leaders to become more than what they thought they could be. Many have gotten the job they’ve always wanted or ended up at their dream locations. One of my greatest joys is seeing others hit their personal goals.

Today, I lead about 500 employees across six states and spend much of my time developing them to be the leaders that they are called to be. I also help others across the globe reach their potential through the Passing the Baton Leadership Podcast and it’s resources.

What you may not know:

• I’ve made it to 38 of the 50 states so far.
• I minored in jazz bass in college.
• I’ve chest-bumped a whale shark.
• My daughter lived in 5 cities by the time she was 5.
• Sharon and I love Disney more than just about anything.
• I jumped out of a plane…with my mom.
• I served in the military.
• Pies are my weakness.
• I’ve survived running with the bulls and hang gliding.
• I’ve been in movies and TV shows.

5 Tips for Finding you Story

1. Do some free writing while you think about incidents from the past couple of weeks
2. Use a text app or speak into a voice recorder if writing is not your thing
3. Focus on authentic personal stories; don’t try to fake it.
4. Prepare your story before you tell it. Practice it; don’t improvise it.
5. Get feedback from friends and colleagues before delivering it in front of a “real” audience

Heart and Stroke Walk 2019

Regular listeners may know that I had a stroke on June 3, 2017. I looked for stroke related podcasts at the time to learn more. When I didn’t find enough existing shows, I started my own. You can learn more about that show at http://Strokecast.com

This year I am once again participating the Puget Sound Heart and Stroke Walk here in Seattle in October 2019. Please donate to the American Heart Association to help promote their work to reduce stroke through research and medical standards on the white coat side and through help folks reduce their blood pressure on the general population side.

If you’d like to contribute $10 or more, just visit http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/HeartWalk. That will take you right to the donation page on the AHA website. None of it goes to my pocket.

If you are interested in hiring me to speak at your event, we can have that conversation, too. Just reach out to me at bill@2minuteTalkTips.com

Links

Call To Action

• Check out Zack’s podcast and all his social accounts at the links above
• Pass the Baton yourself to a friend, colleague, or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/PassTheBaton. Then ask their thoughts on the episode.
• Consider donating to the American Heart association here: http://2minuteTalkTips.com/HeartWalk
• Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Tip: Reframe your Anxiety

Anxiety and excitement are closely related so if you’re nervous before speaking, reframe it in your has as excitement. Tell yourself how excited you are at this opportunity. The physical symptoms — jitters, racing heart, etc. are very similar so give your brain a different interpretation of them

Post Tip Discussion: Core Confidence

Authenticity is something a lot of my guests talk about because it matters. You can take inspiration and learn best practices from other speakers, but don’t try to be other speakers. Be yourself. It’s a heck of a lot easier.

Today’s guest coaches folks to do just that through his Core Confidence and AMP programs, with a special emphasis on understanding masculinity in the modern era.

Bio

head-shot.jpg?w=640" alt="Dennis Sumlin headshot in a suit and tie with sunglasses" width="200" height="200">

Dennis Sumlin is a certified life coach, speaking coach, speaker, podcaster, and Distinguished Toastmaster.

From Dennis’s website:

I have a long background in performing arts, speaking/broadcasting, talent recruitment, and other related promotional and administrative experience. I am both a certified communication and confidence coach as well as a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) from Toastmasters International.

The company that would become Core Confidence Life started out as a men’s development coaching service. Lack of confidence is far too common, and many people have a hard time both knowing and using all of their talents.

Along with promoting and developing artists with a pro-growth message, CCL, through the main podcast, helps you gain core self-confidence and a healthy self-esteem. Guests share their story and we give you actionable tips to support your development.

Core Confidence Life is not just a promotion company, we support your development as an artist and a person, and we work to both make you more confident in your message and craft, and to promote a healthy authentic soul centered lifestyle.

Gillette: The Best a Man Can Be

Links

Dennis Sumlin Website

https://coreconfidencelife.com/

Dennis on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-r-sumlin-cpc-dtm-05262b31/

Dennis  on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dennisrsumlin/

Dennis on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6xbqQqKpwoLsyL-G2K-NlA

Dennis on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/CoreConfidenceLifePodcast/

Dennis on Twitter

https://twitter.com/dennisrsumlin

Core Confidence Podcast

https://coreconfidencelife.com/listen/

Iron John by Robert Bly on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Iron-John-Book-About-Men/dp/0306813769

Call To Action

• Check out Dennis’s website, podcast, and more by visiting http://Coreconfidencelife.com
• Share this episode with a friend colleague or relative by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/CoreConfidence
• Subscribe for free to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode.
• Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.

2-Minute Tip: Don’t Apologize

Or more specifically, don’t start your talk by apologizing to the audience for the talk they are about to hear. It comes across as an appeal for pity. When you do that it means you are starting from a position of weakness rather than one of strength.

The opening few moments of your speech are where you can have a tremendous impact. Engage your audience with something compelling. Don’t waste it apologizing about how you were up late the night before and don’t feel prepared to deliver your material well. Don’t start by telling the audience they made a mistake coming out to see you.

Post Tip Discussion: Fire Stories with Jason Jordan

I often talk about the why of your talk. Why are you delivering it? WBTU — Why bring that up? Why should your audience care? If there’s no reason for something to be in your speech or on your slides, cut it out. It’s just wasting your time.

Jason Jordan thinks about Why a lot, too, but it’s on a bigger scale. He helps organizations and individuals craft their Fire Story — the story of what drives them. It can be a cause close to their hearts or based around a moment in time that irrevocably altered their future for better and worse all at once.

My Fire Story, of course centers around the morning of June 3, 2017 when I found myself whisked away to the hospital I would live in for the next month, and the changes that have happened in my life since then — the things I’ve learned and the passion I was able to focus on helping others share their stories.

This week, Jason shares his story and talks about shaping those Fire Stories we all have. He talks about his approach to crafting a speech that will utterly terrify novice speakers, about the impact of forensics on his life, and just why Fire Stories matter.

Bio

From Jason’s website:

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I completed my MBA in 2004 at Texas A&M, with a focus in Entrepreneurship. I found competing in case competitions (before the rise of “Shark Tank”) to be especially exciting! I remember noticing, at the time, that the teams that usually won were expert storytellers, and always had a compelling narrative for the inspiration for their business idea. I would watch as their stories connected with the judges, and their faces would crack into beaming smiles. That was when I first realized how storytelling could impact business.

In 2009, I launched my dream career as a professional speaker and coach, primarily focused on the interaction of the Generations (Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials). I developed programs on Intergenerational Sales Tactics, Leadership Development, and Communications, which were delivered at corporations and events around the country. Giving people tools to help them connect with others outside their generation was immensely satisfying, but the more business leaders, entrepreneurs, and influencers I worked with, the more I pushed them toward sharing their story.

This inevitably led me to the stories that matter most: The FireStories!

I am committed, for the rest of my career, to helping people discover and share their FireStories. In a world that is overrun with information and people trying to be heard, what we truly need is UNDERSTANDING. We don’t need to know what you do or how you do it. We need to know your WHY. Your FireStory provides your WHY.

Simon Sinek’s TED Talk on finding your Why

Thoughts on Forensics

Now that the new school year has begun in the US, Speech and Debate is picking up again. It gave me my early training as a speaker. It helped Jason get started.

Many of our previous guests got their start competing in Forensics, including Spoken Word Artist Huwa from Nigeria, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Litigation at Walmart and Courtroom Graphics specialists Kerri Ruttenberg, and Dr. Denise Vaughan from the UW-Bothell Speech and Debate team.

If a student expresses interest in speech and debate, encourage them. It may be the most valuable educational experience of their life.

Links

Call To Action

• To learn more about Fire Stories, check out Jason’s website.
• Share this episode with 3 coworkers or relatives by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/FireStory
• Don’t get best…get better.

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.