This Moved Me

We've got some exciting things to share with you today! #1) We're now over on YouTube. That's right - this beloved podcast now might sound a little different while we bring you the audio feed of our new video show. I love showing up in your ears, and will continue to do so. But follow us over on YouTube to see my face while I share speaking tips, insights, interviews and inspiration.  Search for BeMoved by Sally Z on YouTube #2) We're opening up a new FREE Facebook Group, with the focus of offering you quick and actionable tips on how to Move Your Audience. Join us over there to get access to all kinds of awesome goodies, like Sally going live, 5-day challenges to get you up and moving, Talk Talk watch parties (not sure what that is?! - join us)! bemoved - dot - com- slash- move your audience   #3) One of the things we'll be doing over in that group is a 5-Day Jump Start Your Talk Challenge! We'll spend those five days making sure you're clear on your talk topic so that you're ready to jump into your next tal

I got to sit in Rob Bell’s audience for an entire day. It was a day full of connection, insights, mastery… and this weird kind of “magic” that sometimes happens when a speaker is gelling with their audience. So, when it came time for the Q&A, I raised my hand and asked, “Rob, I’’m a speaker coach and I’d love to talk about what’s REALLY going on in here. This thing happening between you and the audience right now… ?“ With a twinkle in his eye (the one he has most of the time!), he said. “Awwww yesssssss….” I knew he would totally ‘get’ it - of course! - as the’s the creator and instigator and believer in just these things. And he delightfully reminded us all of the energy that passes between all of us… That energy? That’s at the heart of our purpose as speakers. It’s ultimately not really about how lovely our content is -it’s about our ability to harness the connection between speaker and audience. Thanks, Rob, for continuing to remind us what’s REALLY going on here. 

Sitting in Jason Jaggard's audience or workshops are consistently mind-blowing experiences. I’ve watched Jason live out what he pushes us all to do: to become and do more than we think we can. To live a bigger dream, and to not settle for the easy or mundane… And this creative leadership is so essential for us. To get beyond our own perceived limits and do something that matters. Embracing our own potential as creative leaders is all a part of the journey to become a better speaker.

A few years ago at our neighborhood picnic, I was talking with a neighbor who was new to me, and she said, “You have GOT to audition for this Listen To Your Mother show!”… It sounded fun so I checked it out - and eventually was both in the show - and got to interview the founder of the whole concept: Ann Imig. Ann is a writer and speaker and has empowered people - women in particular - to share their stories. So together, Ann and I took a deep dive into how and why stories are one of the most essential parts of our journey as leaders and speakers.    YouTube of Sally’s piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLRRZvWXQ-w Ann Imig: https://annimig.com/

I’ve admired Brad for years! In his work as the creator of Kid President (yes, THAT kid President!) - he has been a source of joy, inspiration and radical kindness for MILLIONS. When I got to meet Brad in person a few years back, he was as delightful as ever. Like - the most humble, gracious, hilarious and earnest person I’ve ever met. And then he got on stage: he broke all the rules that didn’t work for him, and just so joyfully shared out of love. And that JOY is what I wanted to talk about on the show. In this conversation, Brad shares something that I still aim for each and every day: Instead of saying “I made this, love me” - we create and say, “I made this out of love, for you.”  That difference comes from pure JOY for your work, your purpose, and those you get to serve. Enjoy.

Vikas Narula is an entrepreneur, speaker, writer - and passionate advocate for purpose-driven entrepreneurship and connectivity. Through his work with his tech company Key Hubs, he’s learned some powerful lessons about how we cultivate and share influence and connection with our audiences - and he shares them with us here. (Spoiler alert: it’s all about genuine care for your audience, being grounded in our authentic voice, and loving ourselves first.) Take a listen!

On our journey to become better speakers, we take on all the big ideas: authenticity, connection, risk, etc. etc. etc.... but we can't forget about something that is admittedly less sexy but oh so important. And that is PROCESS. One of the reasons I wanted to highlight this episode is that Jeff Goins - writer, speaker, entrepreneur - is one of the most thoughtful and effortlessly inspirational people I’ve ever talked to.  He is reflective, deep, open, curious - and advocates for us owning our ability to be artists of our own making. He's all about the big ideas, but insists we don't get lost there. The process is in service to all of the art. And that combo is so important in our journey. 

Jenny Evans is - I’m just gonna say - a total bad ass boss babe! We’ve known each other a few years, and she embraces RISK in the best of ways. As a resilience coach and fitness expert, she is LIVING IT.  I still remember a moment from our conversation when she talked about wanting to use a trapeze in her talk. A trapeze! How awesome is that?! I love it when people break the rules that don’t work for them, and that’s exactly what Jenny does. She inspires me with her bold - and still grounded - approach. She is somehow down to earth and totally aspirational at the same time. If you want to embrace risk more so you can become a better speaker - you’ve got to check out this conversation. 

Angela Lussier - the founder of the Speaker Sisterhood -  is passionate about empowering women to use their voice and step out front with confidence. Several years ago (right after the 2016 election, it turns out), I had invited Angela on to the show and we talked about how - when we own and trust our authentic voices - we trust ourselves to do big things. We wrestled with that word: authenticity. And it’s an idea that we all need to wrestle with in our journey to become a better speaker! How can you BeAuthentic in your journey to become a better speaker?

B.T. Harman (formerly Brett Trapp) is one of those amazing people who so generously agreed to hop on my podcast, even though we’d never met. But the truth is I FELT like I knew B.T. because of his incredible vulnerability in sharing his journey. I am in awe of him, think he’s adorable and so creative and brave and … he is showing us again and again how to live with courage and vulnerability.    This is such an important part of our journey, and I can’t wait for you to hear more from B.T., and remind ourselves to embrace vulnerability.

I got to see Amena Brown speak at the STORY Gathering a few years back - and its as one of those WOW moments. She has a powerful, grounded and joyful presence, which is a totally engaging combination. And when we sat down to talk - what became clear to me was that Amena embraces the part of our journey that takes the most courage: and that is owning our own particular voice.    Here’s a look back at our conversation where we focus on EMBRACING COURAGE as a pivotal part of our journey as speakers. 

The journey IS the THERE. And it is SO TRUE for us as speakers, too: People come to me in such varying stages - some embracing the path opening themselves up to learning and growing and some - resisting the journey wanting to rush to the END, to this idea of THERE… When in reality - there is no THERE. It is a circular, constant evolution and iteration and growth process. So I decided help us ALL embrace this journey we’re on by sharing some of my all-time favorite conversations I’ve had about these really essential parts of the journey. The parts that even if we are on board with... we have to always keep working on. Cause the journey IS the there. Over the last four years I’ve talked with some incredible people - some of whom it’s fair to assume you’ve heard of - and others, you likely haven’t. And yet - ALL of these conversations held some AHA moments that will help us walk along in the journey more openly, more thoughtfully - more courageously. I've got 10 episodes for you, re-published favorites here on T

Hey everybody! I’m so excited to be with you today - mid-way through my Signature Talk Studio launch… The cart closes on Thursday so I wanted to address one of the big needs and questions I’m getting about the course… Like - In the time when so much of our work is done virtually…why would I invest in creating a signature talk? What’s the value of a signature talk when we can’t be live with people for awhile? Well - besides the fact that event planners are now booking speakers for 2021 (so now is actually the PERFECT time to work on your signature talk!… cause when they opportunity knocks you want to be ready!) - But there will also be lots of opportunities to share that talk virtually, before 2021 - and after. According to an April 2020 survey of 1,776 PCMA event planners, 66% have postponed their events – and 7 out of 10 respondents have moved a face-to-face event partially or fully to a virtual platform. And your signature talk is the core of ALL of your messages that you share - whatever the context. So -

I’m thinking back on the thrill of getting a request to speak.    Especially when those gigs are a few months away, it feels like you’ve got all the time in the world to create your talk.    A month out - you think - I should work on that - but I still have some time. I’ll get to it… later.  You know, waiting on that brilliant spark of inspiration.   And then suddenly you’re two weeks away, and panic sets in. No brilliant spark of inspiration - just a rock in the gut, realizing you’ve got a lot to do in a little time - and if you want to do this well you probably should have started… YESTERDAY.    The next two weeks are miserable. Stressful. You’re snapping at the people around you, staying up too late, not taking care of yourself (cause you’re doing this ON TOP of everything else…  Why does everything always happen at the same time, you ask yourself?!   And then - the moment comes - and you step out front… and instead of feeling like a rockstar cause you’re totally prepared - you feel scattered, scared, and

When I was in grad school studying persuasion (yes, that’s a thing), I was at this 10-day residency intensive, where we did an incredible deep-dive into our subject areas with the help of these incredible professors and mentors. In those 10 days, we had to create our plan for the semester… and it was INTENSE. And because I’m an ideas person, I had a bajillion of them… Lots of ideas - lots of hard work - but focus? Not so much. My brain would swirl, and I’d start down one path and then question where I was going and then wonder what I was doing and then veer into another direction. Every day I’d show up to my mentor’s office and say “I’ve got it!” I’m going to do this! - … and then I’d spend a day getting inspired by someone’s talk or a discussion with some brilliant professor - and I’d be off in another direction. Every few days I would freak out and say - I’m not going to get there! I’m not going to figure it out. And my awesome mentor would say - “Trust the process.” Kind of like when I was in theater and w

Every few weeks I get the question of - How can I navigate through my fears? Or - how can I handle my pre-talk jitters? I love this question, because it owns the reality of our pre-talk jitters, and that we ALL get them… And let me say - i sure HOPE you’re getting some pre-talk jitters!!! Cause that means you’re about to do something big, and potentially awesome! Yes, it also means it could be potentially BAD to the same degree but in the opposite direction - but guess what? It doesn’t help to think about that… So instead - we’re going to talk about ways to get our brain focused - our heart ready - and our bodies strong so that we walk into that moment (or turn on the camera for that moment) - and feel ready to be brave… I think of my prep in three areas: Body, Mind and Spirit. BODY: This is a big one because your body is your instrument. And it’s essential that you keep it healthy and ready! MIND: This is all about MANAGING your mind. SPIRIT (HEART): This is about getting your HEART in the right place. Who

Hey Movers! On the show this week, I get to share with you one of my awesome speakers, Kate Fitzsimons. She is a youth motivational speaker from Australia - and speaks with teens all over her country about resilience… She is But then she got the opportunity of a lifetime: the next “bigger” stage, as I like to put it… and she realized she wanted a little extra help. Didn’t want to leave anything on the table Didn’t want to get to that moment and feel like she *should have, could have, done more… When you have a ‘high-stakes’ opportunity - that’s often the point where we say… I need some help. I want to make sure I nail this. I want to feel like I’ve done what I can, I don’t want to leave anything to chance. So she hired me to help her develop her American talk. And Kate is one of my most hard-working speakers… gives 110% in everything she does, and it shows. I’m so excited for you to hear about the process of creating her new signature talk… I thought it would be awesome to also talk with Kate about how she’s

Getting our content out of our heads and into our bodies is ESSENTIAL - and it applies to ANY MESSAGE…virtual, in real life, in a keynote, on a webinar, on your IG LIVE video, on that podcast … DELIVERY is purely how a message lives in your body - and how it is experienced by the Audience. PS - this is ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT when we’re not in the same room! Because our delivery is the ONLY thing tying people to our content! Many of us *know* this… are left with HOW we can create more embodied talks and delivery that is present and focused… Well - it takes time to find it - but I want to share with you one of the key strategies I use to help people take the first step from the script into their bodies - and that’s the Walk and Talk. I have seen this strategy free people from the confines of memorization - and help them deliver with more authenticity… help people discover the REAL words behind their scripts And get out of their heads and into their bodies allowing them to find a little more self-trust and flexibi

Our audiences are meeting us virtually, which has pushed (and pulled!) many of us out front. And yet - for many people it’s not a comfortable prospect. All of us battle some Imposter Syndrome, and meeting our audiences virtually can be both liberating creatively - and especially daunting. So - in this time when our visibility is so essential, how can we get more comfortable with getting more visible?   #1 - BeCLEAR about your WHY. I have been more visible in the last 3 weeks, gotten over myself in some ways because I feel DRIVEN by my PURPOSE. What’s your WHY?…and what do your people NEED? Key Question: What are they struggling with right now?   #2 - BeAUTHENTIC. Own YOUR particular expertise. This is not just about your topic - but your TAKE on that topic! Key Question: Coming at it in the opposite way: What do you DISAGREE with? What trend in your area of business are you willing to stand up and say - NO to? As thought leaders - we need to be saying something NEW, and lead people in a NEW direction. #3 -

Tiffany spent the last 20+ years being an expert and trusted “facilitator”, teacher and workshop leader - but NOT a speaker. Which is what brought her to me. Tiffany knew that speaking is good for her business - for her brand - for her movement and for her message. She WANTED to do it. She planned and strategized around it. She worked with a coach. She was thrilled to get the opportunity to step on stage as a keynoter at this big conference. And she was also scared. “I’m not a speaker” - she said. What?! You speak all the time!, I said! You lead workshops, and get on Lives and create videos… Why not be a speaker?! This has been our conversation over the last few years as we’ve worked together - and finally she had a breakthrough. At one of her recent speaking engagements, she finally felt like a SPEAKER. How about you!? Are you ready to BE a speaker? Are you ready to step through whatever invisible barriers exist that are keeping us from those big stage moments? So embrace the potential of our power and leade