2-Minute Talk Tips

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. 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: 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: 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. 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

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 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. 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 The Speaker Lab https://thespeakerlab.com/ The Speaker Lab Podcast https://thespeakerlab.com/podcast/ Grant on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/grantbaldwinfans Grant on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gbaldwin/ Free Speaker Workshop http://freespeakerworkshop.com/ The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform http://TheSpeakerLab.com/book Speaker Fee Calculator http://MySpeakerFee.com Wall Drug https://www.walldrug.com/ Call To Action Speaker Lab podcast The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform.http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Grant

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 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 Kira Ming’s Website https://www.therealkiraming.com/ Kira’s book on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Small- Business-Big-Success-Straight/ dp/1546585060 Kira on Twitter https://twitter.com/therealkiraming Kira on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiraward/ Kira on Facebook https://www. facebook.com/therealkiraming/ Kira on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/therealkiraming/ Kira’s articles on the Huffington Post https://www.huffpost.com/author/kira21234-933 Call To Action Kira Small Business,...

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: 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 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...

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 Maura’s Website http://Maura4U.com Maura on Twitter http://Twitter.com/Maura4U Maura on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/maura4u Maura on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maura4u/ Maura’s Books on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Maura-Sweeney/e/B00A07TYK0/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&tag=tm0a4-20%20%20http://www.amazon.com/Maura-Sweeney/e/B00A07TYK0/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&tag=tm0a4-20 Maura’s Podcast https://maura4u.com/podcast-2/ Maura on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcBD5N4o7uZ2-Pq1gYpbzAQ Maura’s Online Course https://www.ingomu.com/personal-leadership-happiness-and-authenticity/ Call To Action http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Maura 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. Related

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 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: 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 Cory Truax on the Web http://CoryTruax.com Cory on Facebook http://facebook.com/CoryTruaxShow Cory on Twitter http://twitter.com/CoryTruax Instagram http://Instagram.com/CoryTruax The Cory Truax Show...

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 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 Charles White Website http://charleswhiteservices.com/ Charles on Twitter https://twitter.com/charlesoffwhite Charles on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wcharlesjohn/ Charles’ TEDx Talk https://youtu.be/sPI-ODSXAPw Top Tech Tools Podcast http://charleswhiteservices.com/toptechtools 1 Million Cups https://www.1millioncups.com/ Global Entrepreneurs Network https://www.genglobal.org/startup-huddle Stacy Sacco, MBA https://www.mgt.unm.edu/faculty/facultyDetails.asp?id=10208 Stacy Sacco on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacysacco/ Call To Action http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Charles 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: 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 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...

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 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 http://Coreconfidencelife.comhttp://2MinuteTalkTips.com/CoreConfidence 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: 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...

2-Minute Tip: Slow Down Many speakers take the stage with their adrenaline pumping as the try to stifle their nerves or live in the exciting moment. Many times, they end up speaking to quickly. So try to slow down. When we speak, we are often excited about, or at least familiar with, our topic. Our tendency is to go quickly over the basic stuff. But the reason folks are in our audience is that they don’t know this stuff. They are likely hearing it for the first time. They are trying to digest and process this information as you speak. They are looking at your slides, too. So slow down a bit. Give every word a chance to sink in. And use a varied pace to truly land your key points. Post Tip Discussion: Meet Morgan Lopes Morgan Lopes got his start in public speaking riding a horse and wearing a cape at dinner time. He’s gone on to be CEO of one company and CTO of another — telling stories and working to change the world. Some of the key things we talk about are managing his multiple roles, the importance of the niche, and the power of story. Bio As a software engineer and entrepreneur, Morgan Lopes pursues deliberate, consistent progress over time as life’s greatest growth strategy. Regardless of his job titles, leadership is a choice not a rank. Morgan strives to make that choice daily and challenges others to do the same. Polar Notion. Cofounded in 2012 New Story (YS S15). A human centered software from design to development and beyond. Joined as Chief Technology Officer in 2016 Ending survival mode through home construction and global housing innovation. 3-Keys to Running Multiple Companies New Story 3D Printed Homes I’ll just leave this here. Links Morgan’s website http://www.morganjlopes.com/ Morgan on Twitter https://twitter.com/MorganJLopes Morgan on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganjlopes/ Polar Notion http://www.polarnotion.com/ New Story Charity https://newstorycharity.org/ New Story on Twitter https://twitter.com/newstorycharity New Story on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-story-charity/ New Story on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/newstorycharity/ New Story on Medium https://medium.com/@NewStoryCharity New Story on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwcfvCGwnBxzNMBo137Q4Ng Call To Action Polar Notionabout New Story herehttp://2-MinuteTalkTips.com/Morgan 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: Record Yourself and Watch it 3 Times Recording yourself on video used to be hard. But that’s not the case anymore. Nearly everyone has a powerful video camera in their pocket. There’s no reason not to use this tool to make yourself a better speaker. Record a rehearsal or presentation, and then watch it back 3 times in 3 different ways. First, close your eyes and just listen. Focus on pace, rhythm, and filler words (uhms, ahs, likes, etc.). Second, turn the sound off and just watch the silent video. Look for physical pacing, repetitive gestures, and awkward motions. Third, watch it as an audience member might and ask yourself, “Did I actually land my point? Do I feel inspired to do what I want my audience to do? Post Tip Discussion: Meet Denise An Galloni One thing I’ve seen over the past episodes is how childhood is not destiny. Some speakers started in grade school and couldn’t get enough stage time. Others were horrified early on, but were able to ultimately get past it and even learn to enjoy speaking. Your approach to speaking as a child is not your destiny in life. Public speaking is a skill that can be acquired later in life. If you want to acquire it. That’s how it was for Denise Ann Galloni. Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half Bio Voted the quietest girl in her senior class, Denise Galloni started to come out of her shell and find her voice as a young adult. Today her mission is to help others find their voices and become better communicators through her company, DG Training Solutions Inc., which was founded in 2014. In fact, Denise has delivered more than 500 presentations across the United States and Internationally. She is a Toastmasters award winner. Denise was inspired by so many women who helped her make her business more successful in 2017, she expanded her reach to help women live their dreams by creating, producing and hosting an award-winning TV show called Empowering Women. n 2018, she was a nominee for the Inspiring Lives Magazine International Empowerment Award. Denise’s show Empowering Women was a 2018 nominee in the categories for Best Talk Show and Best Series for The Greater Pittsburgh Community Media Awards. 5-Tips for Better Training videos Links Denise’s website https://www.dgtrainingsolutionsinc.com Denise on Twitter https://twitter.com/deniseanng Denise on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DGTrainingSolutionsInc/ Denise on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/deniseanngalloni/ Denise on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc7d1KUEIqZTUBlSzMSm9eA Empowering Women on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkS-fsSVzGlE5SI_yg3I8ZAGn3GB4DglO John Wannamaker on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wanamaker Toastmasters https://www.toastmasters.org/ Call To Action http://DGTrainingSolutionsInc.comToastmastershttp://2MinuteTalkTips.com/DGTraining 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 waste you first 10 seconds When you go out on that stage you are a blank slate with the audience . They don’t know you. They’re not bored with you — yet. Now is when you have the best chance to grab their attention and interest. So plan it out. Don’t leave your opening 10 seconds to chance or peter it away on, “How is everyone doing today?” Tell a story. Tease the content. Surprise them. Comfort them. Or get right down to valuable business. But whatever you decide to do, make it deliberate and within your control. Post Tip Discussion: Meet Magician, Speaker, and Coach Matt Fore Matt Fore’s career has really been full of adventure. From proudly showcasing magic in high school, to jumping on last minute cruises as a performer, to coaching entertainers hoping to grow their own businesses, he’s got stories to fill 10 episodes. What jumped out about him in this conversation is the humbleness with which he presents himself. There’s no over-the-top bragging here. It’s just a lot of simple practical advice and moments that had me laughing throughout the episode. Bio Matt Fore is a Humorist, Writer, Speaker and Comedy Magician who routinely serves as the main stage performer for Corporate, Association and Faith based events around the country as he has for more than twenty-four years. He has performed for Carnival Cruise Lines, The Magic Castle in Hollywood and has appeared on several national TV Shows including The Crook & Chase Show on TNN, Fox Sports and Swan’s Place on Odyssey. Matt is a contributor to Success.com, Entrepreneur.com and is the author of two books, “The Five Essential Elements – A Simplified Road to Success,” and his very popular comedy devotional “The Truth Shall Make You Laugh.” He is a lecturer among his peers in the areas of entertainment, sleight of hand magic and effective marketing. He lives in Johnson City TN with his author wife Jo Ann. They have three or four kids. He is not sure because he spends much of his time on the road. Minnie Pearl Matt’s early efforts at speaking in grade school were centered around Minnie Pearl. But what if you don’t know who Minnie Pearl is? Well, that’s why God and Google gave us YouTube Introverts vs Extroverts Matt describes himself as an introvert. Many speakers do. Personally, I go back and forth between the two poles so I guess I’m more of an ambivert. A lot of people assume introvert means shy so how can an introvert be comfortable on stage? Because the concept of an introvert is more nuanced than that. Generally, introverts lose energy engaging with other individuals and recharge in more quiet, individualistic activities. Extroverts are just the opposite. They soak up energy from the people around them. They thrive on personal engagement with other people. Public speaking at first glance seems optimized for extroverts since you’re in a room with dozens or hundreds or thousands of people. In reality, though, you aren’t in a personal engagement with all those people. You are on stage doing your own thing. You’re working to engage all those people at once and, while it’s important to think about those people and the value you are there to deliver, it’s ultimately a solo activity. It’s you and the concept of the audience. It’s an individual approach. You can leave all your energy on stage to land your message and succeed. It’s a heck of a lot easier than schmoozing at the networking party later. Let People Help After and before an event, people may want to help you out. If you’ve been doing this a while, you may not need that help. In fact it may slow you down and throw off your entire routine. Or you may want to not burden those folks. Let them help, anyway. Prepare ahead of time some tasks you can ask folks to do when the offer assistance. You’re doing them a favor. Them offering to help you is how they are trying to forge a connection or a relationship with you. Most of us...

2-Minute Tip: Take Action The most important thing you can do as a speaker is to speak. Get one or two takes ready to go and then just focus on filling your calendar. Do whatever you can to book yourself solid. Get that stage time so you can get better. Post Tip Discussion: Meet Candice Bakx-Friesen Candice Bakx Friesen is essential the Nike of Canadian Real Estate. She embodies the idea of just do it. In today’s conversation, you’ll hear her advise several times to say yes and then figure it out when an opportunity presents itself. While this may not be the best advice for neurosurgeons, it does work pretty well for speakers. Figure out your message, focus on that and deliver value to your audience. I really like her approach to doing new things — just do it, and try not to get in your own way. I also like that she emphasizes the importance of knowing your audience. In real estate of course we all know that the 3 most important things are location, location, and location Before speaking to an audience Candice looks into the local real estate market. It’s not hard; there are plenty of resources available. Then she can deliver a custom talk that makes her local audience feel valued. You can do that with most of your audiences, too. Do some research on what your audience is concerned about and mention their concerns. Talk to them about their problem specifically. They will feel that much more connected to you. Bio Candice is passionate about helping people reach their financial dreams. Candice has been a real estate investor since 2001. She is also the founder of Investor Smarts Global Network and Driven By Results, and a coaching partner within the Truly Invested Real Estate Club. Candice’s candid approach to business and affinity for getting past the fluff and getting to the root of each challenge for her clients so that they get a lot done, has led to her becoming a highly sought after coach within the finance and real estate industries. Candice has had the opportunity to speak at many events, and enjoys sharing and teaching others. Some events she has spoken at include: Toronto Real Estate Investors Forum (Toronto, ON), Truly Invested Real Estate Group (Winnipeg, MB), Group Facilitator at the Conversation Event (Texas, USA), Durham REI Club (Toronto, ON), RENTS Bootcamp Event (Kamloops, BC), Prairie RE Forum (Regina, SK), Judge for TEDx (Flowermound, Texas, USA), Shine Again Event (Steinbach, MB) Coaching There are many qualities and skills that go into being an excellent professional coach – integrity, in-depth knowledge, marketing savvy, effective negotiation skills and a high-quality professional network, all of which are hallmarks of how Candice works. “Client first” philosophy has always been her approach and it requires Candice to continually improve her skills and ways of doing business. This means keeping herself accessible, being a good listener as well as a good communicator, and responding quickly to her client’s needs. Links Investor Smarts website link http://www.investorsmarts.ca/ Driven By Results https://www.drivenbyresults.ca/ Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/investor-smarts/id1443677340 Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=332473&refid=stpr YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5923OKL5DCgNLh9G8ycAgQ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-lS0UYG9P5mcFq4EAamWpA YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcmU3BvlLg_KJ4Wxtvsk7uA Facebook facebook.com/investorsmarts Facebook facebook.com/drivenbyresults Twitter twitter.com/drivenbyresults Twitter twitter.com/investorsmarts Instagram http://Instagram.com/drivenbyresults Instagram http://Instagram.com/investorsmarts Call To Action Investor Smarts podcastDriven By Results coaching program.http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Candice 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: Greet Audience Members Early As much as practical, if you have time before your speech, meet some members of your audience. Greet them as they come in and sit down. This accomplishes a couple things. First, it’s the start of a relationship with a new person. For part of your audience, you will no longer be just that person on the stage. Instead you will be that person they were just chatting with who is now on the stage. As you build that relationship, you are building trust. Second, it gives you some familiar faces you can look for when you are on the stage. This encourages you to engage in more eye contact, and it gives you some people you can specifically look for. As a bonus, it can even help with speaker nerves by distracting in that period before your talk. Post Tip Discussion: Meet Joel Hawbaker Joel Hawbaker has fully embraced the storytelling aspect of speaking. And why wouldn’t he? Telling stories is how civilizations have shared their histories, their lessons, and their faiths for millennia. It’s how religions today share the lessons and directives of their prophets and marketing departments around the world grow their profits. And it’s how you can make history compelling and memorable for the toughest audience in existence — school kids. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less I also like Joel’s thoughts on the importance of humility for not just a speaker and teacher, but for any expert. There’s an importance in going back to basics and working on fundamentals. Success requires a strong foundation, and not thinking you’re too good to work on the basics. Even an experienced speaker needs to think through their content, do the prep work, and practice. This focus on humility and going back to basics is an important that can help us connect with more audiences. They’re the best way to celebrate the hero of our talks — the message. Bio Joel W. Hawbaker is a professional speaker, an author, and a high school teacher and soccer coach in Alabama where he lives with his wife, his two daughters, and their two rescue dogs. Joel has a degree in History from Covenant College, and he also spent time studying Medieval Civilizations at New College, Oxford, in the UK. In his professional speaking, Joel focuses on the topics of blended family life, leadership, and education. His goal is to help people form better relationships through a combination of confidence and humility. In addition to his books on leadership, he is currently working on a book about blended family life. Writing the Book Joel talked about his approach to writing his book. He worked on his outlines in the evening, and he filled them out while driving to work. This can be a great approach, assuming you can do it safely. This is a great job for a dedicated digital recorder. For a task like this, the small, cheap ones are probably fine. This is an approach that can work because editing is easier than creating. Once Joel had his recordings done, he could turn them into transcripts and then edit them into a book. Even with that, it still took him a year to write, “Inverted Leadership.” But he did it. On Strokecast, I talked with true crime author Paul Sanders. He finished his latest book a week before he had his stroke. That stroke robbed him (at least for now) of his ability to write books. So don’t wait. Get that book written now. Joel found a way to write it during his commute. How can you find a way to write yours? Links Joel’s Website https://reallifeleading.com/ Joel’s book on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Inverted-Leadership-Others-Forgetting-Yourself/dp/1983110167/ref=sr_1_1 Joel on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/joel.w.hawbaker Also Joel on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealLifeLeading/ Joel on Twitter https://twitter.com/RealLifeLeading Joel on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-hawbaker-9421a077/ John Acuff...

2-Minute Tip: Fuel your body properly Our bodies react differently to different foods, and to maximize our performance, we need to consume the appropriate fuel for the results we want. That means, first of all, hydrate. That was also the very first tip in the very first episode of 2-Minute Talk Tips. But it goes beyond that. Avoid dairy before speaking. It drives mucous production which leads to throat clearing and generally results in less clear speech. Managing blood sugar is also important to prevent energy crashes and to reduce the stress on our systems. So what should you consume if you’re planning to speak? Focus on proteins and fats. Think savory instead of sweet. And drink more water than you think you need. Post Tip Discussion: Meet Nutrition Expert Mary Sheila Gonella Mary Sheila Gonnela is a speaker, teacher, and nutrition expert. And in this episode we cover all those different areas. We don’t often think about the fuel we need before speaking when we hit the snack buffet at a meeting. But it does make a difference. It’s among the things we explore this week. But that’s not the only thing about effectiveness that we explore. Working with an assistant and being transparent with your audience are all ways to be more effective while speaking. Bio Having served clients for over a decade as a Board Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant and Ayurvedic Practitioner, Mary Sheila Gonnella teaches clients how to honor their unique physiology, move self-care to the front burner, and achieve and maintain radiant health. Mary Sheila’s classes and public talks fill up with students who keep coming back for more . “Your breadth of understanding and your enthusiasm to share this knowledge, is so palpable. I learn many things from you every time!” Mary Sheila’s students at Bauman College Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts, where she taught for 7 years, say she is “One of Bauman’s greatest assets. She is brilliant and communicates her brilliance well. I am in awe of her knowledge level. She was a Godsend and a wealth of knowledge.” Jill Brogan, NC In addition Mary Sheila’s private practice, Occidental Nutrition, Mary Sheila consults and teaches classes through doctor referrals in a clinical medical setting, where her approach has helped people have complete health transformations. “My husband has been able to cut out nearly all his medications, as well as his sleep apnea machine, and both of us have greatly improved our sleep, and collectively we have lost 250 pounds. We can’t thank Mary Sheila enough for her knowledge, energy, dedication and wonderful sense of humor.” Her online courses include Your Roadmap to Bone Health, Blood Sugar Reset, Adrenal Vitality Blueprint, Winter Vitality Cleanse, Deeper Than Weight Loss, and Food Mood & Fermentation. One of Mary Sheila’s favorite ways to connect with her students is by rolling up her sleeves, putting on an apron, and teaching cooking classes, reconnecting people to their ability to create delicious healing food in their own kitchen. Her classes include Fermentation, Eating for Immunity, and Everyday Superfoods, to name a few. Mary Sheila’s wealth of knowledge has led her to be included as a featured speaker and teacher on various online summits and stages around the San Francisco Bay Area. Stay connected by visiting www.occidentalnutrition.com and sign up to receive “The Breakfast Report” Mary Sheila’s free guide to determining the right breakfast for you, your hormonal balance and your blood sugar regulation. Personal Stories Mary Sheila talks about how she was able to connect with a group of young students by sharing the personal story of her mother’s cancer. As a result, she was able to engage the students. It’s similar to the experience the Ari Gunzburg talked about a few weeks ago. In that episode he talked about throwing out the talk he planned to give to instead share his personal story with a group of...

2-Minute Tip: Just put yourself out there Getting past intense nerves can be challenging, but there comes a point where you just have to do it. Just acknowledge your nerves and stage fright and do it anyway. If things don’t go well, the world won’t end, and (for most of us) no one will die. So just get up on stage, nerves and all, and just do it. How can you give yourself the best chance for success? It’s no secret — practice. Prepare and practice. The more you do that, the better you’ll be able to focus on what matters — the audience and the message. Afterall, it’s not about you. Post Tip Discussion: Meet Okoyomoh Egbekhuwa — or simply Huwa “You know what’s great about hitting rock bottom? There’s only one way to go, and that’s up!” Okoyomoh Egbekhuwa — or simply Huwa — is a Chemistry student, spoken word artist, and podcaster living in Nigeria. We live in an amazing time where technology let’s us have conversations like this across the world. Spoken Word is a performance genre where poetry meets public speaking meets story telling. Rhythm and timing are critical to success. A lot of the lessons Huwa learned as she grew as a performer will likely resonate with other speakers today. And I have to confess my own ignorance here, This is a genre I wasn’t really familiar with before this conversation. I love getting to learn stuff on the show. Bio Okoyomoh Egbekhuwa, or just Huwa is a performance poet and podcaster from Nigeria, West Africa. She’s been speaking since she was eleven years old at debates and in church. She started performing as a spoken word artiste three years ago and realized how underrated it is as an art so she started up a podcast, called The Spoken World, inviting performance poets, authors and enthusiasts from around the world to share their stories as expressed in literary arts. Recently, she’s learnt that the podcast can be so much more as it involves stories that reveal the culture, traditions and politics of individuals across the globe. Sing Huwa quoted the movie Sing in our conversation. It’s an animated film about animals performing in a singing competition. A lot of the stories are about dealing with nerves, being true to yourself, and getting out there to share your art. Here’s the trailer: The Danger of the Single Story The Danger of the Single Story is the risk we have of falling into ignorance. In the context of our discussion, we touched on how many folks in the US and elsewhere have a limited perception of life in Africa. One narrative about the continent often dominates our perception. Storytelling is a great way to connect with an audience. As an audience member its also important to seek out more stories from speakers and artists who have a different background. It’s not about creating an artificial debate between 2 view points — 2 or more viewpoints and be different without being in opposition to one another. Even with my relative ignorance I think it’s safe to say that life in Nigeria is very different from life in Egypt or life in Lesotho. And it’s fair to say that life in Lagos is probably very different from life in Yola (and yes, I did have to pull up a map). And that’s the danger of the single story or narrative. It makes it way too easy to make assumptions about a wide swath of the Earth and its people. It’s not just about geopolitics and cultural diversity, though. As speakers, how many of us have gone into a company, or even a department within our own company, with a narrative in mind about the people there? What do you think you know about the internal culture of Amazon or Microsoft or Starbucks? These are organizations with tens of thousands of employees and contractors. The single story in our minds about organizations will impact how we prepare and speak with them, even though that story may only apply to a part of the group. And even if it applies to most of the organization, is your audience within that...

2-Minute Tip: Slides must help the audience, not the presenter One reason folks audibly groan when they think about PowerPoint is that too many speakers use the slides to help them get through their presentation rather than to help the audience understand what’s happening. We use them too often to: Ultimately there are 3 purposes behind our visual aids When it comes to improving our visuals, we need to eliminate any extraneous text, and limit ourselves to just one concept per slide. When designing slides or other visuals ask yourself, “Who does this help more: the audience or the presenter?” If it’s the presenter, cut it or change it. Post Tip Discussion Slides and visual aides are an important part of public presentations and not always in a good way. Slides dominate most stages these days, and reviewing a presentation for most folks means looking at the slides. This trend isn’t limited to the conference room; it extends into the courtroom. PowerPoint slide decks, foam core boards, and animations now help juries make decisions in courts around the United States. This week’s guest literally wrote the book on courtroom graphics. Kerri Ruttenburg, the Senior VP and General Counsel for Litigation at Walmart, is the author of Images with Impact: Design and Use of Winning Trial Visuals. She wrote the book to help lawyers and non-lawyers both make more effective use of visual aids in presentations. Bio Kerri L. Ruttenberg is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Litigation at Walmart, trial lawyer, and previously a partner at the law firm Jones Day in Washington, D.C., where she served as the Head of Litigation for the firm’s D.C. office. She has tried cases in state and federal courts around the country. Kerri recently authored a book published by the American Bar Association, Images with Impact: Design and Use of Winning Trial Visuals, which has been praised as “groundbreaking” and “a must for the trial lawyer’s library.” Based on nearly 20 years of trial experience, working with graphic designers and interviewing jurors, Kerri frequently conducts seminars for lawyers, judges, expert consultants and marketing executives on the effective design and use of visuals for trials and other professional presentations. Kerri has been a successful public speaker for decades. She paid for her college and law school education with competitive speaking scholarships, and her love of public speaking has continued through her career as she tries and wins cases, conducts seminars on presentation design and delivery, and even coaches others on how to improve their own effectiveness in public speaking. Thoughts on Speech and Debate While my career took me in the direction of marketing, and Kerri’s took her in the direction of Law (which are pretty much complete opposites in most corporate environments). Our origin stories have a common touchpoint — Speech & Debate or Forensics in high School and college. We both partially paid for college with scholarship earned in competitive speech. As kids start heading back to school next month, encourage or support their interest in Speech and Debate. And encourage schools to develop vigorous programs. The lessons from Speech and Debate extend well beyond how to speak before a judge. A year ago, in July 2018, I spoke with Denise Vaughan, one of my former team mates in Speech and Debate from the Carroll College Talking Saints, and now coach of the Speech and Debate team at UW-Bothell about competition and her path. You can here that conversation here: http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Denise Preparation The other important lesson is one I talk about a lot — the importance of preparation. Kerri emphasizes the importance of showing up early to make sure everything works and the venue is setup as expected. Preparation is also key for courtroom visuals. Kerri talks about the importance of using graphic designers for most of her trial graphics. We...

2-Minute Tip: Be Vulnerable When you open up and share your story with an audience, it gives them an opportunity to connect with you on a deeper, emotional level. When you establish that connection with them, they listen more closely, relate to you better, and are more likely to retain your message or execute your call to action. It’s not something to fake though. Audience’s can generally sense when someone is being authentic, rather than being fake. And vice versa. So on stage, you don’t need to pretend to be perfect. You can share failures and mistakes. You won’t chase away your audience. You’re more likely to inspire them to join you on the journey. Post Tip Discussion: Meet Ari Gunzburg Ari is now a motivational speaker, a podcast host, and a wilderness liaison. Once his two podcasts are launched, and his workload calms down slightly, Ari plans to start writing a book, outlining specific programs and ideas to help people build a more meaningful life. Ari learned about death early in life. He experienced a traumatic moment when only 10 years old, when his teacher passed away while on a hiking trip. This would affect his life deeply and change his perspective forever. Following the death of this teacher, there was trouble afoot at school for all of the traumatized kids. This created a domino effect of changes and decisions that all culminated in Ari getting his “PhD” from the school of hard knocks, through multiple bad decisions and the outcomes of those decisions. Having to live through these decisions and consequences has taught Ari many important life lessons; all of which he passes on to others. “Regret not, but learn from your mistakes,” says Ari, reminiscing the wild cycles he experienced during his misspent youth. “Any lesson gained from real life experiences is one you no longer need to learn in a formal educational setting.” Ari has had many life-changing experiences, each of which shaped him; from dropping out of high school, to going to jail, to experimenting with drugs, to wild partying and more. After more than a decade working in marketing, branding, graphic design and websites, Ari realized that his experiences can help others. That his mistakes don’t have to be lived over and over again, if he can just tell over his story, and help people understand. Ari is now focused on helping others, all while taking care of four fantastic children and the most amazing wife. He is building programs and workshops to help others, using his ability to speak. Ari is producing podcasts to help others find their path to success and greatness. Ari helps others experience the wilderness, and the calm that comes from being immersed in nature. And Ari is helping kids and teenagers make better decisions. Ari is now building lives of meaning. Toastmasters This week, we get to learn a lot more about the competitive aspect of Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a well-known international organization with thousands of chapters around the world. It’s a fantastic resource for folks who want to improve their public speaking skill, practice, and get feedback. While we do talk about competition in Toastmasters this week, keep in mind that is only part of the program. If you don’t want to compete, that’s perfectly fine. Most Toastmaster folks don’t. But for those who do want to explore competitive speaking, though, Toastmasters can be a great option. Vulnerability and Rebranding Ari’s tip about vulnerability is important, and you hear it come out a few times, including the last segment where Ari talks through his rebranding, refocusing, and redesign of his website. His new website is now live. If you’d like to see how it changed, you can check out the old version in the Internet Wayback Machine. Links Ari Gunzburg Website https://arigunzburg.com/ Ari’s old website on the Internet Wayback Machine https://web.archive.org/web/20190113064043/https://arigunzburg.com/ Ari on...

2-Minute Tip: Tell Your Personal Truth To be effective as a speaker on the big stage, you have to be able to tell your truth. That means you have to know what it is. This may take some personal work to understand what you are passionate about — what you truly believe. Where it really pays off is in the connection to your audience. They can sense the authenticity. More importantly, they can sense artifice. Ultimately it goes back to the words of Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Post Tip Discussion: Meet Mel Andre In the conversation I had with Mel, we covered the big picture stuff, but also some of the nitty gritty stuff about developing talk. There’s a nice mix of practical, individualistic, and conceptual material here. And like any good motivational speaker, Mell brings some great enthusiasm to our talk. Bio Mel M. Andre is an Entrepreneur, Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, CEO of Skill and Will Fitness and former lead consultant at Andre Consultant. Mel’s passion in life is to help people realize their greatness and help people accomplish their goals. Mel knows that in order to change your life, you must first change yourself and your mindset. Mel’s program focuses on helping you have a paradigm shift while also helping you make a plan to accomplish your dreams and goals. Several years ago Mel hit rock bottom and lost everything she had worked so hard to obtain. Mel decided that she would no longer be the victim and decided to completely change her life around. Through the power of motivations, dedication, discipline & positive affirmations Mel was able to turn her life around in a few months. During those few months, Mel decided to work on her business full time while also working on herself. She knew in order to become successful and stay successful she would have to make drastic lifestyle changes. These changes allowed her company, Skill and Will Fitness, to take off in ways she could only imagine. While Mel’s success grew she started mentoring her friends and family. This led Mel to discover her new passion, which is motivating and inspiring people to accomplish their goals and dreams. Keys to Success and Happiness Conference On May 11, 2019, Mel, along with Barbara Pando-Benke and Melanee Williams spoke at the Keys to Success and Happiness conference. At that conference they not only discussed how to become successful, but also how to find happiness during your journey and stay happy during the ups and downs that come with chasing your dreams and accomplishing your goals. You can watch the entire conference for free at http://KeysToSuccessAndHappiness.com. Five Mistakes Speakers Make Mel outlined 5 important mistakes new speakers make. To learn more about these mistakes, listen to the clip below, or just listen to the whole episode. If you’d like to share this video, you can use this link: http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/MelTalksMistakes Links Mel’s Website http://MelMAndre.com Mel on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mel_Andre911/ Hire Mel book@MelMAndre.com Mel on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Melmandre/ Mel on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mel-andre/ Mel on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVHWOus_DSf0bgzZmeM_mkQ Mel on Twitter https://twitter.com/Mel_Andre911 Keys to Success and Happiness Conference http://Keystosuccessandhappiness.com Call To Action Mel_Andre911.this link.http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Mel 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. Related