This Moved Me

I’m a BIG BELIEVER in editing! Editing is one of those skills as a speaker we don’t often talk about - but I think of editing as a leadership tool. It forces you to decide not just what you’re going to say -= but what you aren’t. It forces you to amok some decisions about what’s most important, most needed.    And as I was thinking about how editing interacts with storytelling - I kept thinking of a few “extra” things that seem to creep up in people’s stories, and that just don’t help you make your point well. They get in the way - they slow you down - they confuse the audience - they make it harder to deliver - they keep you from really excelling at this art form.    So - let’s dive in…. 3 things you need to cut from your story: 

This episode is brought to you by my NEW MASTERCLASS - “How to captivate your audience with story - without feeling like a failure on stage”… You know that feeling, right? - that feeling like you just didn’t CONNECT, things didn’t CLICK, that moment didn’t land… I have been having so many conversations with these amazingly brilliant people who are out there and just feeling like something’s not working…And getting things to work for you is my speciality. :) So, I want to invite you ALL to join me for this FREE MASTERCLASS going on starting on September 4th for a really limited time… jam-packed resource for those of us who want to move our audiences… and there’s ONE THING you need to master to really do it well… So, join me at https://www.captivatemasterclass.com I’d love to see you there! Ok, let’s dive in to this week’s episode! On today’s episode we’re going to be talking about the biggest hangup I see again and again with speakers as they begin to develop their story… And I want to get it out there so that

There are some pro strategies I've seen the pro storytellers use that ANY of us can use... and it will greatly affect the impact of your stories! Check them out:

One of the biggest questions speakers ask themselves before starting a talk is… which story do I tell? We know stories are essential and powerful - but WHICH story can determine how well your audience connects with you, and your idea. Check out this week’s episode to learn the 8 qualities that can help you assess your story (plus - a free download to help you!).

Here’s the truth: If you can’t see the magic in the every day, you won’t have a story to tell. But when we can see wonder and magic in the every day - and articulate its meaning - the stories will leap out at you, and those stories will move people.

So, yesterday I got a message from a friend of mine showing me the results of his 23andMe report.... saying that he was genetically predisposed to a fear of public speaking. (And he speaks quite a bit.) Hmmm! Interesting! By the end of the day, another 3 people had reached out with their own results on this same thing. (23andMe - nice marketing!) So... I HAVE OPINIONS!

People ask me all the time:  How long should it take to prep for this big talk? My answer is typically: More than you think.   With incredibly busy lives, juggling way more than one thing at a time - prepping for our talks often gets squeezed. Add onto that the mental and emotional challenge of developing a talk… well, avoidance and procrastination can take on a life of its own.  I get it! It’s not easy to create space when the more seemingly urgent can easily jump to the front of the line. But often the last few days and hours and moments before a talk, we are then faced with that moment of regret… I wish I would have taken more time for this. I wish I would have practiced this more. I wish I knew this better. I wish…. No more wishing! It’s 2019 - let’s do things differently this year.

JOY.  There were all kinds of signs pointing me to JOY: a journal that jumped out to me at the craft store; our Christmas card; a talk I heard; my latest Netflix craze watching Marie Kondo “spark joy”… The universe has been laying down little pebbles for me on this one.  But what does JOY have to do with you - and what does JOY have to do with speaking?  I think Joy is an essential element of speaking that MOVES people. Not convinced? Take a listen:

Movers, today is the final idea about how we can bring our idea to life through our Speaking Stories course that goes live Oct. 30th! If you are listening to this it means that the cart is open! After I talk with you about what it is - and why it is - I hope you’ll join us over the next few weeks while we bring our stories more to life and to your audience so it’s out there moving the world! Go to www.speakingstory.com to sign up!

Bringing your story to life…  To do that, we need to believe some things - deep down - before we can take the stage with courage and authenticity. Last week I talked about Six Rookie Storytelling Mistakes (and what to do instead). But this week - in anticipation of the Speaking Story course that opens for enrollment this coming Friday - we are diving into three beliefs all of my speakers wrestle with to some level or another (and from one day to another)!

One of my favorite parts of doing workshops is when I help people discover the ‘THING’ that makes their voice unique. The thing that is essential to them. The thing that, despite our misguided efforts to polish up, layer up and perfect our role as “speaker” (whatever that means!)… well, it still eeks out. :) Which, honestly, is a wonderful wonderful thing, and the HEART of AUTHENTICITY! I call it your Speaking Superpower. If we can own it - it’s powerful.    Part of owning it is sharing it!…So here goes: 

To my delight, authenticity has been a buzz word and goal of speakers for a long time. As “talks” have become a preferred and powerful platform for LEADERS (not just professional and motivational speakers), the door has opened to more and more people to share their stories in their own way.    This, my friends/speakers/movers!, is a wonderful thing! As a presentation coach whose mission is to create talks that move the world (not to create talks that are perfect and overly polished and ‘right but boring’) - I LOVE that audiences want more than just the standard chicken-dinner presentation.    They want REAL.  They want BRAVE.  They want… YOU.    That’s the good news.    But it also means that more and more of us are finding ourselves up in front, and the bar is higher. Leading. Speaking. Daring.    And in that big moment…  sometimes WE DON’T FEEL LIKE OURSELVES. It can sometimes feel like we’re playing a role, or being a “character” of a speaker.    Who do you become up on stage?    Hopefully, you are YOU…You

What’s the biggest mistakes people make?… This is one of those questions I get again and again!  and well, if we’re talking about Delivery or Preparation or Content development or Mindset - I answer them each differently. And today I want to answer it in the context of STORY…    The 6 biggest rookie storytelling mistakes… so you won’t make them, too!   Let’s dive in!   

I remember watching this really famous speaker once tell a story that I KNEW she wasn’t ready to tell yet. It was too much - too powerful, still - still too emotionally raw…  (And I’ve also seen speakers who are so far beyond their stories - that it doesn’t have any emotional resonance left. They’ve told it too many times, it’s lost its power for them… there’s no emotive connection left. It’s been used up. ) What struck me was that she was telling the story because she NEEDED to. It was a part of HER healing. And that’s not nothing.  Would I recommend it? Nope….  There are those stories that we’re just not ready to tell yet because we ourselves aren’t healed enough. Listen to that instinct. It may not be ready yet. It might be too raw.  So how do we know when a story is ready to be told?

Credibility is getting in the way of you sharing your story.      What will they think of me if I share that one experience that doesn’t put me in the best of lights?    What if I talk about how I failed?    what if I share my biggest mistake?… will they still respect and admire me?     Even though we’re told again and again - Queen Brene, you are PREACHING THIS - that people appreciate and admire the bravery of vulnerability…    Especially in a work context, too many of us - to protect our credibility - stop short of sharing what’s real. 

So - today’s episode is getting us ready for that course… in the first episode of the series we talked about what an origin story is… and last week we talked about one of the biggest myths that keeps us from really sharing who we are and what we think…    TAKING THAT ME ME ME (or what can sometimes FEEL like me me me) and turning it into US US US.    Taking the personal, individual, specific…. and finding the universal in it.    Which is THE POINT of sharing our stories.  Because of course it is NOT to just talk about ourselves.  We want our audience to find THEMSELVES in OUR STORY. 

So today’s episode is based on a conversation I had with one of my speakers, who has also been a guest here on This Moved Me… I’m a HUGE fan of his, and he’s doing such important work. Tony Loyd. He’s the host of the Social Entrepreneur podcast, and he’s really building up his speaking work, because he’s so driven to get his ideas out into the world. He is NOT interested in getting HIMSELF out into the world… he’s So he’s a very typical - what I call - unspeaker. Despite the fact that he’s incredibly experienced - he’s been in the C-Suite, he’s been up on front of audiences for years - he still has a level of self-doubt or fear or myths that get in the way of him fully owning the moment and… to the point of my show today… his story. (By the way, EVERY SPEAKER struggles with this… unspeakers just admit it, and vulnerably walk into their efforts to change it… which is what makes their talks so compelling, authentic, and moving…) So when Tony and I sat down to work on his 2nd TEDx talk… he shared that he wasn’t

I want to talk about Origin stories.  I’m going to be sharing a course over on Movers-U on how to develop and own a powerful and authentic origin story in October… so excited about it. And so I’ll be - starting today - a series about our Origin Stories - to prepare for it.  So before I dive into some ideas around the challenges and importance of doing this - and walk you through some critical steps in terms of HOW to do it…  I wanted to spend the show today talking about WHAT IT IS.  What is an origin story? 

Carmen Simon - neuroscientist, best-selling author, speaker - uncovers the importance of knowing why and how we can remember things in the hopes that the message we have will stick with our audience forever. Her neuroscience background gave light to important insights to how we can tailor our talk to be extra impactful! 

Welcome, Movers! The new and improved WEBSITE is finally here! I am so proud of how it came together and hope you enjoy it as much as I do. My hope is that this website will become a home of resources for you as you begin or continue on your speaking journey! Check it out: http://www.thismovedme.com