This Moved Me

Vikas Narula is an entrepreneur, influencer, and owner of Keyhubs. He has perspectives on life that helps others see things that are most important. We talked about how speakers can overcome the disconnect between themselves and their audience by understanding the power of influence and connection. We shared our thoughts on the importance of creative expression and the core concepts that transform speakers to influencers. Vikas, thank you for sharing such compelling and optimistic insights!

David C. Mann is an acclaimed speaker, award-winning theater artist, and presentation coach. David has a way of grabbing and holding his audience's attention with his honesty, energy and humor. It is evident from his interactions and presentations that he has a great understanding of human intricacies. He helps people overcome the hurdles in their mind, guides them in practical ways to find their "inner human" and inspires them to keep telling their story. David, thanks for bringing so much of yourself to this interview.

Joshua Johnson is a geocacher, YouTuber (as the Geocaching Vlogger) and speaker. Since his first YouTube video in 2011, Josh's curiosity has taken him around the world in pursuit of geocaches and meaningful connections. His contagious, playful attitude has earned him a respectful spot in the ever-growing, evolving, sometimes scary world of YouTube. He creates and delivers niche content in a way that resonates with his audience.   In this episode, I dig into Josh's mind to learn how he embraces the risks, challenges and unique opportunities of YouTube, while being his authentic, spirited and joyful self!

I don't know about you, but I'm not an especially techy person. I've had to learn to muddle through because part-and-parcel to being a speaker is having some technical know-how, or you'll find yourself up a creek without a paddle. If you know what I mean. How on earth do we present without a technical glitch?    

Scott C. Jones - comedian, TV host, writer - and now a speaker! - has joined me on the show as a budding speaker with a wide performance background. Scott's story is powerful. He's been in front of the TV camera for years; and after a health setback, he's found himself recreating his presence, and his story. We talk about risk, our stories, saying yes, learning from our work, the craft of expressing ourselves - and the wonderful ways we find ourselves in this arena. Scott, I'm a fan! Thanks for reaching out - and for sharing your story with us!

Aside from "Starting with an A" and "Leggo-ing Your Ego" and "Investing in the Relationship" - you need to be sure that feedback is both honest AND helpful. It's a simple filter, that asks just a little more of both the feedback give and the feedback receiver. 

John Zimmer - lawyer, Toastmasters master, speaker, improviser and communications coach - joined me for a conversation about how we can bring the art of communication to ANY opportunity you have. Whether you're in a courtroom, or giving a TED talk, doing improv, sitting in an interview, or standing in front of your coworkers for a meeting - these skills are essential to moving your audience. I love John's breadth of experience - and how he brings these skills to so many arenas. As he says, "The more ways you can speak, the better the speaker you can become." (Check out John's amazing website with tons of speech analysis - and, his wonderful TEDx talk!)

Simply put - you cannot grow through feedback unless you have a relationship with each other. Without a relationship, there might be some food for thought given and perhaps integrated - but likely discarded. Trust. It's what's for feedback dinner.      

In May, I participated in a Listen To Your Mother event. Have you heard of Listen To Your Mother? You may have heard my interview with LTYM founder Ann Imig from last fall, or perhaps you've been in the audience of one of the 41 shows that takes place throughout the country. Or, maybe you've run across the LTYM YouTube channel, with their hundreds of talks from the last 7 years! Or the book. And even with all that, if you haven't heard of LTYM, now you know. And now you've gotta get yourself to one of these events! in this episode I talk with three people who took part in this spring's Twin Cities show - Junita Flowers, Vikki Reich and Liz Sjaastad. Enjoy!

We most often think of asking people who are receiving feedback to let go of their egos... See it as a gift... do not defend or explain yourself... Not getting defensive in the midst of receiving feedback can be a Herculean effort sometimes - depending on who is giving it. It is an incredibly human and vulnerable moment.   And here's the thing. It should be a vulnerable moment for the feedback giver, too.    (And, I personally think sometimes there's helpful information in the explanation if the person is truly open to what you're saying.)    Can you approach this conversation with curiosity? Without all the answers? interested in how the other person might be interested in solving the problems that you see or that you are experiencing? Assuming the other person's best interests are at the forefront?    And I know, I know - sometimes the other person's best interests AREN'T at the heart of things. I've been there. When I first started coaching, I was so focused on proving myself, I took the speaker down to sh

Vanessa Van Edwards - scientist and speaker - joined me for a conversation about how to present yourself... or, as I almost titled this episode: How Not to Be Awkward. Why is Vanessa the expert on this topic? As a "recovering awkward person" herself, she approached the soft skills of presenting, love, and influence - studying it like she studies science. And through that she has been able to bring to light some key lessons for all of us on the science of influence, charisma and presenting ourselves with confidence and credibility.  

I always ask for feedback on my coaching, speaking and trainings. Partly because I want to be sure that what I'm doing is working and I want to know ways I can get better - but also because I give so much darn feedback it only feels right to offer people a chance to give some to me.    And one of the things I hear again and again is that I have a way of giving candid feedback in a loving way. In a way that people appreciate and hear and can learn from. It's one of the highest compliments that I have received in my work, and I appreciate it greatly - not only because it makes me an effective coach, but because that's how I want to do business. I want to help people be better speakers, but I also want to hold people up and celebrate them. I love people. And I want them to FEEL good, as well as do good work.  And there was a time when I wondered if you could do both. That's an old paradigm of thinking - and I'm so glad to de-bunk it. You can do both. In fact, I think all things work best when you can do both.

Happy Season 3! This is big, friends. I had the huge honor of having a 45-minute conversation with the amazing Rob Bell. In fact, I call him that so often I think he should just change his name to "the amazing Rob Bell." Here's the technicalities of his impressive bio: Rob Bell is The New York Times bestselling author of Love Wins, What We Talk About When We Talk about God, The Zimzum of Love and his most recent book How To Be Here. iTunes named his podcast, The RobCast, Best of 2015. He’s been profiled in The New Yorker, he’s toured with Oprah on her Life You Want Tour, and in 2011 Time Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People In The World. He has a regular show at Largo, the legendary music and comedy club in West Hollywood and is currently touring his How To Be Here Experience around the world. He and his wife Kristen have three children and live in Los Angeles. [Holy crap, people. Oprah. Time Magazine. Books. And!, he's besties with, like, all my favorite people. I'm sorry, I can't stop g

It’s Mini Moved Me day! Today I want to talk with you about a little memorizing trick I use when I’m trying to get the content of my talk to move from my head and really sink into my body.

I wrote this piece over on my This Moved Me Facebook page, and it resonated. I wanted to record this to share with more of you - and to remind us all how powerful our voices are. 

Margi Simmons and Elena Imaretska - two brilliant and creative speakers - both call the Brave New Workshop their professional home. The Brave New Workshop is an improv theater that may sound familiar to you because they are famous for being the longest running improv comedy troupe in the country. Super cool, since Margi spent years on that stage. And Elena spent years dancing and performing. They both have respective chops as performers and creative leaders that make them "expert." But they also do this work because they believe something much deeper happens when we take the risk and step out on stage. The skills and mindset and courage that improvisors are challenged to show are the same skills that can help us become great leaders - and, of course, great speakers. So, I got to sit down with them both at the BNW's new amazing space (so, sorry for the echoey sound) - and talk about how we can take the innovative mindset out on stage with us.

Rita Boersma has been with me since the beginning. Literally! She was my first guest way back in 2014 - and I thought it was time to bring her back to the forefront. Why? Because Rita is someone who brings her talent and insight so beautifully to her creations that I'm often in awe of what she can do. She is brilliant and funny - as a writer, a speaker, a coach and an improviser. And together, we've made some cool stuff.  So if you're new to us here at This Moved Me and haven't gone all the way back to the beginning - enjoy this little gem... the sound system wasn't up to par; the equipment was mediocre; but the conversation was rich. Enjoy! 

In this republication of one of my most popular episodes EVER on This Moved Me, Hank Fortener and I delve into HOW he creates talks week after week with the same kind of passion and intentionality that he brings to each talk. Hank is a talk-crafting master, thanks to the thousands of hours he has spent building and re-building talk after talk. In this slightly longer episode (I just couldn't cut anything!) - Hank shares his insights, ideas and approaches to crafting a talk.

So today's Mini Moved Me is all about two very simple ways you can break through that 4th wall and set a tone of connection with your audience.   Seek out the people in your audience who can bring the rest with them - and then share something together. For me, for years, it was finding the 7th grade boys who know how to do the worm. They do the worm, we cheer them on, and now we're buddies. Now we have a common connection. And secondly, make sure you get out from the front table and make it your deal to get really curious about the people in the room. Get their advice, find out who they are and what they're thinking. (You will know based on more than just what they say, btw. Their body language will say it all.) Two easy things. I've got a bunch more strategies - but this is supposed to be a "mini" moved me, so we'll have to say them for later.   And of course, you can check out the reminders I got from the Rob Bell experience a few weeks ago: Space, Resonance, Wisdom, and Co-Creation.

Jared Sherlock - magician, entrepreneur, producer, actor - opened up a magic kit at age 8 and decided that he wanted to be a magician. He went on to study theater and boldly took his magic to the world at a young age. I got to see him in action a year ago at the CSB/SJU RedTalks where he gave an astounding 5-minute talk that AMAZED me. It was full of illusions and "trickery" - and yet, it felt authentic and honest. I wanted to talk about that wonderful paradox, and Man! - Jared lives it. I loved this conversation, and I hope you do, too!