049 - Stand Up Comedy Secrets To Boost Your Communication Skills

Want to be a better presenter? A better all-around communicator? You might want to try stand up comedy. 

In this episode, Marion Spears Karr, Executive Search and Leadership Solutions, In-FLOW Executives, joined me to to discuss how being a stand up comic helped improve his communication skills. 

Topics included:

🔹The relationship between stand up comedy and business communication

🔹Why stand up comedy improves presentation skills AND informal interactions (like talking to your team)

🔹The secret to great stand up comedy. Hint: it's all about storytelling

🔹The difference between stand up comedy and improv. Which might be right for you?

And more

🔷 Thank you for listening. If you found this episode relevant don't forget to hit that Follow Button to keep learning and growing with us.

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💙 Find me on Bluesky @annetterichmond.bsky.social

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Transcript

WEBVTT

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And there I am forgetting to

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change the overlay.

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So good morning, good afternoon,

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good evening,

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wherever you are joining us from.

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I'm Annette Richman.

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This is Content Marketing School.

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And I'm so excited to be here with Marion,

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who I've chatted with before.

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He's such an awesome guy.

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And I absolutely love this topic.

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And...

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You know,

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we were talking before we went live.

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We actually met on Clubhouse,

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whereas most of the people

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I know now from LinkedIn,

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I met on Clubhouse.

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And it was really,

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really wonderful from that.

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And, you know,

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I got to know you on

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LinkedIn and had you on my

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previous career and

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business business show and podcast.

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But for anyone who doesn't

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know you and what you do, please tell us.

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I know you also you have

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kind of a fairly recent new venture.

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Yeah, great.

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Thank you.

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And Annette,

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it's a pleasure to be back on your show.

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And that circle of contacts

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and tribe that we've

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created from those early

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days on Clubhouse,

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it seems like it was a hundred years ago,

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but really just a few years ago.

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We've stayed connected and

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it's great to be able to

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support each other here on

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the LinkedIn platform.

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My name is Marion Spears Carr.

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And for those of you who don't know me,

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I'm somewhat of a serial

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entrepreneur and executive recruiter.

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who specializes in the healthcare space.

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I just founded my next

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company called Inflow Executives.

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We're based in Atlanta and Nashville.

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I live in Georgia and from North Carolina.

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And Inflow Executives is

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more than a search firm.

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It's a solutions firm.

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So we help healthcare

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organizations address not

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only executive leadership gaps,

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but also challenges within

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their own existing leadership teams.

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across the continuum through

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search through leadership

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development through um

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other resource provisions

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through consultants etc so

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that's that's really the

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work that what work that I

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do and I'm just glad to be

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here and and I have a real

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keen interest in

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um,

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leadership development and work with

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organizations in that world.

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And I've had created training programs,

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which kind of drove me to

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try to be a better public speaker.

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So Annette, that's me and, uh,

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glad to be here.

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No, I love that.

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And I, I know that your,

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your passion for leadership development,

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we've talked about that before.

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And, you know,

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I want to say hello to

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people on LinkedIn and we

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actually have a people,

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a couple of people joining

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us on Instagram as well.

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So I just wanted to say hello, uh,

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If you do comment, share with us,

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we will be able to see it

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here in the studio and respond to you.

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So thanks again for being here.

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Now, you know, of course,

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I know you from being in executive search,

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but I saw a post that you

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did not that long ago about

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being a stand-up

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And, you know,

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I wasn't really surprised

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having talked to you because you,

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I don't know,

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you kind of have this easygoing but humor,

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you know,

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that I picked up immediately

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when I first met you on Clubhouse because,

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you know, when you're not seeing people,

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it's all about what they say.

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So I wasn't,

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I was a little surprised but

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not really shocked.

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And so if you can talk a

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little bit about kind of

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how you got started in that

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and the whole story

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relationship between

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stand-up comedy and communication.

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Yeah, great.

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Absolutely.

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And it wasn't some kind of

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planned approach that I

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thought I would like to do

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stand-up comedy.

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Several years ago in the 2000s,

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as I was continuing to

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develop the company that I

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had at the time I sold in 2011,

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I realized that the

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leadership development work

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that I was doing

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was putting me in front of, you know,

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medium and large audiences.

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I was starting to land some

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speaking engagements.

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And, you know,

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I have a couple of things

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kind of count against me a little bit.

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And when it comes to

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speaking on stage is I have

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obviously is anyone listening have a very,

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very distinct regional

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North Carolina accent,

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but also have a very severe hearing loss.

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I'm completely deaf in my

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right ear and partially deaf in my left.

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So there was always this

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not necessarily fear about

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talking on stage or being on stage,

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but I wanted to be able to

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not be so contrived or so rehearsed.

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I didn't want my

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presentations to be – I

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wanted to be able to do

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them from memory and just

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be free on stage or free in

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a classroom in terms of how

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I communicated.

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And so a couple different people –

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recommended Toastmasters,

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which I think was great.

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I visited a couple of

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Toastmasters saying didn't

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feel like it was the right fit for me.

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But a friend of mine

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recommended that I take an

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improv comedy class.

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And for those of you who

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don't know much about Charlotte,

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North Carolina, from a comedy perspective,

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Charlotte is a hotbed for

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comedians starting out.

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There's a comedy company

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there called Comedy Zone.

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at the Comedy Zone that

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managed comedy clubs all

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over the Southeast and

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really all over kind of the

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Midwest as well.

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And a lot of professional

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comedians would come

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through there and a lot of

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developing comedians

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were there.

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So I took this improv class

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and I'll tell you that it

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was very difficult.

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I would recommend it to

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anybody who wants to be a

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better public speaker,

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but it was really hard for

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me not being able to hear

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very well on stage,

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being able to be really quick on my feet.

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I stuck it out though and enjoyed it.

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I know the people in my

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class probably suffered from me being

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you know just because I was

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not all that good at it I

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was really terrible at it

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to be honest with you but

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there was a couple people

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in my class that were

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stand-up comedians who were

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taking improv class to

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improve their um how they

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managed the stage and and

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how they responded to crowd

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did crowd work etc and they

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were going to an open mic

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where anybody that wants to

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try out comedy could go.

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And in Charlotte at the time,

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there was open mics everywhere.

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Like you could really go up.

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If you were going to try to be a comedian,

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you could go up every night of the week.

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And in some nights,

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on like Tuesdays or Wednesdays,

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you could go up two or

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three different times.

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It was just you show up at these clubs,

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sign up,

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And then they call your name

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and you go up and do five minutes.

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So I went with them to watch

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this open mic.

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And I expected everybody to be funny.

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I expected everybody to be really good.

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I expected everybody to

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really just be a whole

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bunch of professional comedians.

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It wasn't.

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It was nothing.

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matter of fact,

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the professional comedian

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showed up late and would do

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their set and leave.

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But all the people early were,

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were like me.

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They were beginners in whatever they were.

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And they were, and then they were,

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they were, they were terrible.

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Like it was, it was, it was so bad.

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Like it was in my brain.

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I was like,

00:08:05.302 --> 00:08:07.083
I'm so much funnier than all of

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those people.

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And I just,

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I just thought I got a funny thing,

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how you get encouraged.

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But I did, I got, I got very excited.

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I'm like, you know what?

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I'm signing up for next week.

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And I signed up and I said,

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I'm coming back next week.

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And the way it works is you

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have five minutes.

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They shine a flashlight in

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your eyes at four minutes

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to tell you you only have

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one minute left.

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And at five minutes,

00:08:30.690 --> 00:08:31.971
they cut your mic off if

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you're not finished.

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Wow.

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Yeah, it's pretty pressure filled.

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And I had never done anything like that.

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So I show up and I grew up around humor,

00:08:40.613 --> 00:08:43.134
my family, you know, Southern humor.

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And I thought I could just tell a story.

00:08:45.739 --> 00:08:46.961
and, and, or talk and,

00:08:47.364 --> 00:08:48.586
and most of my comedy is

00:08:48.626 --> 00:08:50.251
still very focused on self

00:08:50.292 --> 00:08:52.157
deprecation and a hundred percent clean.

00:08:52.177 --> 00:08:52.197
I,

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I stay away from, you know,

00:08:55.250 --> 00:08:58.273
anything that's outside of, you know,

00:08:58.293 --> 00:09:00.514
what would be considered a clean comedy.

00:09:01.154 --> 00:09:03.495
And I bombed.

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It was terrible.

00:09:06.097 --> 00:09:07.259
It was probably the longest

00:09:07.619 --> 00:09:08.879
five minutes of my life.

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Literally no humor

00:09:12.442 --> 00:09:14.543
whatsoever seemed to have

00:09:14.562 --> 00:09:15.443
come out of my mouth

00:09:15.464 --> 00:09:16.663
because no one laughed.

00:09:16.703 --> 00:09:18.566
Like literally there wasn't even like a,

00:09:19.346 --> 00:09:19.966
a chuckle.

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It was just complete silence.

00:09:21.527 --> 00:09:22.967
And this room was this, this,

00:09:23.207 --> 00:09:24.948
this bar was filled with

00:09:24.989 --> 00:09:26.890
people and it was complete

00:09:26.990 --> 00:09:28.552
silence throughout.

00:09:28.672 --> 00:09:30.533
And I, and I just, but I kept going,

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I just kept going and a

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four minutes came up and I

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tried to get off stage as

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quickly as possible and

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walk to the back of the

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room through this sea of

00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:45.542
other people and got a few claps,

00:09:45.581 --> 00:09:46.802
you know, you know,

00:09:46.903 --> 00:09:48.964
good and give it up for the new guy.

00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:51.171
when I got to the back of the room,

00:09:51.270 --> 00:09:52.912
the two guys that had come with were like,

00:09:52.951 --> 00:09:54.032
Hey, good job.

00:09:54.111 --> 00:09:54.672
It's hard.

00:09:54.753 --> 00:09:57.114
First time, blah, blah, et cetera.

00:09:57.734 --> 00:09:59.654
And a guy sitting beside them said,

00:09:59.674 --> 00:10:00.554
you are terrible.

00:10:03.397 --> 00:10:04.376
You were so bad.

00:10:04.437 --> 00:10:05.778
He goes, you were terrible.

00:10:05.798 --> 00:10:06.298
And I'm like, well,

00:10:06.337 --> 00:10:08.278
thank you so much for your, uh,

00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:10.220
for your kindness of just

00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:11.000
sharing with me.

00:10:11.020 --> 00:10:13.142
I just saw how much I bombed.

00:10:13.162 --> 00:10:13.961
I get it.

00:10:13.981 --> 00:10:15.722
He goes, no, you were really bad.

00:10:15.783 --> 00:10:17.344
I'm like, well, well, thanks a lot.

00:10:17.364 --> 00:10:17.403
Um,

00:10:18.173 --> 00:10:18.933
And then he said,

00:10:19.094 --> 00:10:21.434
but I like your style and I

00:10:21.755 --> 00:10:22.696
like your voice.

00:10:23.375 --> 00:10:24.817
You just need to learn how to write.

00:10:26.618 --> 00:10:27.018
And I'm like,

00:10:27.038 --> 00:10:28.097
I don't know what you're talking about.

00:10:28.479 --> 00:10:31.039
And he invited me to a stand-up class.

00:10:32.900 --> 00:10:34.360
And I thought I failed so

00:10:34.400 --> 00:10:37.543
much at the other class that I would go,

00:10:38.822 --> 00:10:40.183
why not give it a shot to

00:10:40.244 --> 00:10:42.044
see what the differences were.

00:10:42.065 --> 00:10:44.385
And what I found out was

00:10:44.546 --> 00:10:46.606
there's so much difference between

00:10:47.620 --> 00:10:50.042
improv and stand-up comedy.

00:10:50.381 --> 00:10:52.803
Stand-up comedy really is

00:10:52.884 --> 00:10:54.424
about the writing and how

00:10:54.465 --> 00:10:55.865
the words are put together

00:10:56.446 --> 00:11:00.328
and the themes of what

00:11:00.349 --> 00:11:01.570
you're talking about and

00:11:01.629 --> 00:11:03.750
what your voice is and et cetera.

00:11:03.931 --> 00:11:06.413
And when I realized that the

00:11:06.452 --> 00:11:07.974
class was really focused on

00:11:08.014 --> 00:11:09.595
the writing part and how to

00:11:09.695 --> 00:11:12.397
frame the message, then I began to think,

00:11:12.537 --> 00:11:12.697
you know,

00:11:12.716 --> 00:11:14.057
I'm really on to something here

00:11:14.118 --> 00:11:16.779
as far as being a better public speaker.

00:11:17.538 --> 00:11:19.220
So that's how it started.

00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:22.702
And so the whole class and I

00:11:22.743 --> 00:11:25.245
don't want to just keep talking,

00:11:25.264 --> 00:11:26.365
but the whole class was

00:11:26.466 --> 00:11:29.128
focused on you learning how to write,

00:11:29.668 --> 00:11:32.010
learning what your voice was,

00:11:32.091 --> 00:11:33.392
what your perspective was

00:11:33.432 --> 00:11:34.533
going to be from.

00:11:34.552 --> 00:11:38.015
And you worked on creating a

00:11:38.196 --> 00:11:40.597
five minute graduation set,

00:11:41.278 --> 00:11:42.820
your first five minutes set.

00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:44.961
And the whole class was teaching me

00:11:45.936 --> 00:11:46.596
how to write.

00:11:47.136 --> 00:11:53.620
And, and so when it was all said and done,

00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:55.240
and there was 35 people in the class,

00:11:55.260 --> 00:11:56.400
a couple fell out.

00:11:56.441 --> 00:11:57.662
Then you have a graduation

00:11:57.721 --> 00:11:59.482
and everybody goes up and

00:11:59.523 --> 00:12:01.124
it turns out I was selected

00:12:01.224 --> 00:12:02.344
to be like the number two

00:12:02.384 --> 00:12:03.365
person in the class.

00:12:03.605 --> 00:12:07.287
So got to stand up and do my,

00:12:07.466 --> 00:12:08.548
do my bit again,

00:12:08.748 --> 00:12:09.827
not even thinking I was

00:12:09.847 --> 00:12:11.109
going to continue with comedy.

00:12:11.149 --> 00:12:12.809
It was just one of those.

00:12:13.009 --> 00:12:14.490
It was a learning experience for me.

00:12:15.410 --> 00:12:16.890
And it went so well that I

00:12:16.951 --> 00:12:19.152
ended up basically a lot

00:12:19.192 --> 00:12:20.412
for free at first,

00:12:21.032 --> 00:12:23.192
working part time for free

00:12:23.493 --> 00:12:26.234
as an opening act MC for

00:12:26.274 --> 00:12:27.894
the comedy's own comedy chain.

00:12:28.313 --> 00:12:29.734
And then and that evolved

00:12:29.833 --> 00:12:32.455
into some paid gigs and and

00:12:32.475 --> 00:12:33.754
I got into it.

00:12:33.855 --> 00:12:36.495
But from what I learned from

00:12:36.535 --> 00:12:40.557
that was translating into

00:12:40.616 --> 00:12:41.697
my work as an executive

00:12:41.716 --> 00:12:43.217
recruiter and as a public speaker,

00:12:43.238 --> 00:12:44.618
there's some really key things

00:12:45.282 --> 00:12:48.149
around how stand-up comedy

00:12:48.350 --> 00:12:49.975
translates into being a

00:12:50.014 --> 00:12:50.797
good communicator.

00:12:51.097 --> 00:12:52.501
So that's how it all started.

00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:56.100
Well, you know, I absolutely love that.

00:12:56.361 --> 00:12:57.042
And, you know,

00:12:57.101 --> 00:12:58.082
it's interesting that you

00:12:58.123 --> 00:13:00.724
talk about the writing because, you know,

00:13:00.803 --> 00:13:02.424
I studied writing in school.

00:13:02.625 --> 00:13:04.407
I worked as a magazine writer.

00:13:05.307 --> 00:13:06.988
But different styles of

00:13:07.148 --> 00:13:08.568
writing are different.

00:13:08.649 --> 00:13:11.071
People, I think, often mistakenly think,

00:13:11.130 --> 00:13:12.010
well, you know,

00:13:12.130 --> 00:13:13.831
if I can write a blog post

00:13:13.893 --> 00:13:15.232
or I can write an article

00:13:15.293 --> 00:13:15.913
or something that...

00:13:16.293 --> 00:13:17.095
Yes, I can certainly,

00:13:17.154 --> 00:13:18.336
I can write a script or I

00:13:18.375 --> 00:13:19.496
can write for comedy.

00:13:19.517 --> 00:13:20.557
And, you know,

00:13:20.618 --> 00:13:21.479
it really is very

00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:23.461
specialized and having that training.

00:13:24.341 --> 00:13:25.123
And I find that really

00:13:25.163 --> 00:13:27.365
interesting because I was not, you know,

00:13:27.885 --> 00:13:29.508
I never really thought about it,

00:13:29.607 --> 00:13:30.668
although it's kind of like

00:13:30.729 --> 00:13:31.409
one of those things that

00:13:31.450 --> 00:13:33.051
it's obvious when somebody

00:13:33.110 --> 00:13:34.373
says something like, of course,

00:13:34.413 --> 00:13:35.173
it's about the writing.

00:13:35.192 --> 00:13:35.394
Yeah.

00:13:36.225 --> 00:13:37.267
Yeah.

00:13:37.807 --> 00:13:38.087
Go ahead.

00:13:38.148 --> 00:13:39.168
No, please, please.

00:13:39.849 --> 00:13:40.009
No,

00:13:40.070 --> 00:13:41.750
you know what I was going to say for

00:13:41.890 --> 00:13:43.793
one of the first tenants of

00:13:43.873 --> 00:13:46.294
comedy and standup comedy

00:13:46.956 --> 00:13:49.899
is this phrase of get to the funny fast.

00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:52.600
Like when you get up on stage, you'll see,

00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:54.202
you know, beginner comedians,

00:13:54.905 --> 00:13:56.066
will come up on stage and

00:13:56.086 --> 00:13:56.927
they'll say stuff like,

00:13:56.966 --> 00:13:58.047
how are y'all doing?

00:13:58.206 --> 00:13:59.687
And good to be here.

00:13:59.768 --> 00:14:02.688
And well, that's cordial and nice,

00:14:03.309 --> 00:14:04.909
but it's not funny.

00:14:05.330 --> 00:14:07.971
And the whole idea around comedy,

00:14:07.990 --> 00:14:09.032
standup comedy particularly

00:14:09.072 --> 00:14:10.172
is around how many laughs

00:14:10.231 --> 00:14:12.732
per minute you can get from the audience.

00:14:12.833 --> 00:14:14.094
The more laughs per minute,

00:14:14.153 --> 00:14:16.695
the more pace you have, et cetera.

00:14:17.554 --> 00:14:21.777
And thinking about leaders

00:14:21.856 --> 00:14:23.238
communicating with their team,

00:14:25.245 --> 00:14:25.405
Um,

00:14:25.666 --> 00:14:27.246
that was one of the things that I teach,

00:14:27.506 --> 00:14:29.607
teach, uh, people when,

00:14:29.788 --> 00:14:31.207
when they're talking to a

00:14:31.268 --> 00:14:32.788
group is to get to the

00:14:32.889 --> 00:14:34.089
point pretty quickly,

00:14:34.249 --> 00:14:35.830
get to what we're going to

00:14:35.870 --> 00:14:37.770
talk about pretty quickly.

00:14:37.831 --> 00:14:39.711
So instead of getting to the funding fast,

00:14:39.750 --> 00:14:41.611
get to the primary objective.

00:14:42.253 --> 00:14:43.936
of what the presentation is about.

00:14:44.015 --> 00:14:45.979
So one of the things I did

00:14:46.058 --> 00:14:49.625
was is kind of place value in,

00:14:50.405 --> 00:14:51.047
obviously you want to

00:14:51.086 --> 00:14:52.149
introduce yourself and

00:14:52.188 --> 00:14:53.831
introduce the background, et cetera.

00:14:53.871 --> 00:14:54.994
But one of the first things

00:14:55.033 --> 00:14:56.336
you can do as a communicator

00:14:57.073 --> 00:14:58.315
is establish what the

00:14:58.375 --> 00:14:59.436
conversation is going to be

00:14:59.475 --> 00:15:00.697
about immediately.

00:15:00.856 --> 00:15:02.958
So get to the point of what

00:15:02.979 --> 00:15:03.798
we're going to talk about.

00:15:03.839 --> 00:15:04.340
That way,

00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:06.041
everybody's locked in pretty

00:15:06.100 --> 00:15:07.081
quickly to what you're

00:15:07.121 --> 00:15:09.703
saying and go from there.

00:15:09.724 --> 00:15:11.885
So that's the first step if

00:15:11.926 --> 00:15:12.806
you want to translate.

00:15:13.527 --> 00:15:14.607
And for example,

00:15:14.927 --> 00:15:17.970
one of the things we spent time on,

00:15:17.990 --> 00:15:19.171
a lot of time on,

00:15:19.751 --> 00:15:21.552
was writing our

00:15:21.673 --> 00:15:25.015
introduction for the emcee to give.

00:15:25.908 --> 00:15:27.587
And one of the things we found was,

00:15:27.727 --> 00:15:31.308
is the introduction needed

00:15:31.448 --> 00:15:33.509
also have a funny component to it.

00:15:34.629 --> 00:15:36.970
For me, my introduction is very simple.

00:15:37.070 --> 00:15:38.870
I grew up in Concord, North Carolina.

00:15:39.509 --> 00:15:42.051
My dad was retired from the military,

00:15:42.110 --> 00:15:43.431
did a whole bunch of different things.

00:15:44.010 --> 00:15:45.971
But my dad really in his

00:15:46.312 --> 00:15:47.711
older years was a greeter

00:15:47.731 --> 00:15:50.913
at Walmart and he loved it.

00:15:51.092 --> 00:15:52.192
He loved being a greeter at

00:15:52.212 --> 00:15:53.212
Walmart and he was,

00:15:53.777 --> 00:15:55.397
such a good greeter at that

00:15:55.437 --> 00:15:56.538
particular Walmart that he

00:15:56.577 --> 00:15:57.677
was voted greeter of the

00:15:57.717 --> 00:16:00.639
year four times in the five

00:16:00.698 --> 00:16:01.558
years he was there.

00:16:02.139 --> 00:16:05.320
So my intro is the son of

00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:06.519
the four time greeter of

00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:08.380
the year at the Concord Walmart.

00:16:09.140 --> 00:16:10.061
And then my name,

00:16:10.522 --> 00:16:11.922
and it's kind of a silly thing,

00:16:11.981 --> 00:16:14.182
but it gets people like, that's funny,

00:16:14.263 --> 00:16:14.503
right?

00:16:14.543 --> 00:16:15.763
That's funny, whatever.

00:16:16.283 --> 00:16:17.844
And just get to the point.

00:16:17.864 --> 00:16:18.903
And that's why introductions

00:16:18.943 --> 00:16:20.903
need about people don't

00:16:20.923 --> 00:16:21.784
need to be a page.

00:16:21.825 --> 00:16:23.105
They need to be, you know,

00:16:23.615 --> 00:16:25.537
Here's what this person's background is.

00:16:25.596 --> 00:16:27.118
Here's where their point of

00:16:27.217 --> 00:16:28.399
authority is coming from or

00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:30.360
why they're an expert in the topic.

00:16:30.841 --> 00:16:32.163
And then get right to the point.

00:16:32.202 --> 00:16:33.524
So that's the first thing

00:16:33.563 --> 00:16:35.426
that we learned from comedy

00:16:35.466 --> 00:16:36.527
that I translate in how I

00:16:36.547 --> 00:16:37.368
do presentations.

00:16:38.341 --> 00:16:39.842
No, you know, I love that.

00:16:39.964 --> 00:16:43.246
And I have heard that from a couple of,

00:16:43.346 --> 00:16:43.567
you know,

00:16:43.586 --> 00:16:44.988
because I follow a lot of people

00:16:45.028 --> 00:16:46.068
that I learned from.

00:16:46.109 --> 00:16:48.291
There's so many smart people on LinkedIn,

00:16:48.311 --> 00:16:49.533
TikTok and everywhere.

00:16:49.692 --> 00:16:52.936
And, you know, I was always of the mind,

00:16:52.995 --> 00:16:53.235
too,

00:16:53.296 --> 00:16:54.998
that if I do a presentation to come

00:16:55.057 --> 00:16:56.558
out and say, you know, hi, I'm Annette.

00:16:56.578 --> 00:16:57.580
I'm so happy to be here.

00:16:57.961 --> 00:16:59.522
And now when I do do that,

00:16:59.562 --> 00:17:01.283
I come out and I say something about.

00:17:02.043 --> 00:17:02.183
Oh,

00:17:03.384 --> 00:17:06.007
people think of LinkedIn as making

00:17:06.047 --> 00:17:06.567
connections,

00:17:06.626 --> 00:17:07.768
but it's really this 24-7

00:17:08.147 --> 00:17:09.648
party or something before I

00:17:09.669 --> 00:17:10.669
start talking about myself.

00:17:10.990 --> 00:17:12.230
But that's something.

00:17:12.289 --> 00:17:14.551
And as I'm listening to you talking,

00:17:14.571 --> 00:17:15.172
I'm like, man,

00:17:15.211 --> 00:17:16.113
I got to get into one of

00:17:16.153 --> 00:17:19.375
those classes because I think it would...

00:17:20.375 --> 00:17:21.796
you know, I think it, I would,

00:17:21.895 --> 00:17:23.696
I would also really, really, you know,

00:17:23.777 --> 00:17:26.478
enjoy it as well as, as making, uh,

00:17:26.877 --> 00:17:29.019
making me, uh, a better presenter.

00:17:29.239 --> 00:17:30.378
And, you know,

00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:32.180
I tried Toastmasters as well.

00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:34.681
And, you know, I also felt like, I don't,

00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:35.602
I don't know that it just

00:17:35.662 --> 00:17:36.821
wasn't quite for me.

00:17:36.862 --> 00:17:40.223
It was the, it was very, um, structured.

00:17:40.483 --> 00:17:42.845
And, you know, when I, um, I wanted,

00:17:43.025 --> 00:17:43.265
I would,

00:17:43.464 --> 00:17:44.746
was looking for something or

00:17:44.766 --> 00:17:45.605
thinking about something to be a

00:17:48.067 --> 00:17:48.507
You know,

00:17:49.228 --> 00:17:50.827
and we were talking a little bit

00:17:50.867 --> 00:17:52.409
before we went live about

00:17:52.489 --> 00:17:53.789
the idea of doing improv

00:17:53.829 --> 00:17:55.490
because I've had people,

00:17:55.549 --> 00:17:56.590
communication coaches,

00:17:56.830 --> 00:17:57.830
recommend that because it

00:17:57.871 --> 00:18:00.172
can help you kind of think on your feet.

00:18:00.251 --> 00:18:01.792
But I find it really

00:18:01.893 --> 00:18:03.534
interesting because I had

00:18:03.574 --> 00:18:05.815
always thought before our conversation,

00:18:05.914 --> 00:18:07.276
actually, that, you know,

00:18:07.455 --> 00:18:09.856
improv is comedy and, you know,

00:18:09.936 --> 00:18:11.436
and they're kind of interchangeable.

00:18:11.877 --> 00:18:12.958
And yet, as you say,

00:18:12.998 --> 00:18:14.818
they're really totally different animals.

00:18:14.838 --> 00:18:15.118
Yeah.

00:18:15.278 --> 00:18:16.839
Yeah, they're totally, totally different.

00:18:16.900 --> 00:18:19.061
Now there is great value in improv.

00:18:19.102 --> 00:18:20.784
And even though I was terrible at it,

00:18:21.044 --> 00:18:22.345
I learned a great deal,

00:18:22.565 --> 00:18:26.087
like how to communicate with others,

00:18:26.147 --> 00:18:28.250
how to build onto their topics.

00:18:28.589 --> 00:18:30.852
There's a, there's a game called yes.

00:18:30.992 --> 00:18:32.073
And where someone says

00:18:32.133 --> 00:18:34.214
something on a particular

00:18:34.255 --> 00:18:35.676
topic and you say yes,

00:18:35.757 --> 00:18:37.278
and then you add to it and, and,

00:18:37.765 --> 00:18:39.705
I think that's a real valuable way,

00:18:39.806 --> 00:18:41.986
particularly if you're

00:18:42.026 --> 00:18:43.267
leading a workshop and it's

00:18:43.467 --> 00:18:44.626
highly interactive.

00:18:45.126 --> 00:18:45.727
That's a great.

00:18:45.807 --> 00:18:46.666
And then there was other

00:18:46.767 --> 00:18:48.167
skills that I learned from improv.

00:18:48.208 --> 00:18:50.008
But but but to stand up

00:18:50.828 --> 00:18:53.509
because it was so focused

00:18:53.608 --> 00:18:56.109
on making you it look like

00:18:56.670 --> 00:18:57.609
you were making this stuff

00:18:57.690 --> 00:18:58.911
up all as you go.

00:18:59.050 --> 00:19:00.730
But it was very practice.

00:19:00.770 --> 00:19:03.332
It was very easy.

00:19:04.071 --> 00:19:05.152
it really helped you from

00:19:05.172 --> 00:19:05.751
that perspective.

00:19:05.771 --> 00:19:07.692
So the second thing that we learned was,

00:19:08.472 --> 00:19:10.493
is your, your first joke,

00:19:10.634 --> 00:19:12.114
your first real joke or

00:19:12.153 --> 00:19:13.534
your first real punchline

00:19:13.993 --> 00:19:15.115
needs to be the second

00:19:15.214 --> 00:19:16.535
funniest thing you say all

00:19:16.555 --> 00:19:18.295
night of that set.

00:19:19.015 --> 00:19:19.715
Because again,

00:19:19.776 --> 00:19:20.915
it's all about getting your

00:19:21.155 --> 00:19:23.935
audience completely engaged into, okay,

00:19:24.477 --> 00:19:25.477
here's where we're going

00:19:25.537 --> 00:19:27.497
now let's go there.

00:19:27.517 --> 00:19:30.738
And so one of the things that, that,

00:19:31.973 --> 00:19:34.214
Once I how I when I do my

00:19:34.255 --> 00:19:35.535
presentations on any of the

00:19:35.595 --> 00:19:37.536
topics that I talk about, be it gratitude,

00:19:37.576 --> 00:19:39.175
be it leadership, be it accomplishment,

00:19:39.997 --> 00:19:41.717
culture stuff that I work on.

00:19:41.737 --> 00:19:44.377
But the second point that I

00:19:44.417 --> 00:19:47.259
make after is I want it to

00:19:47.298 --> 00:19:48.398
be pretty poignant.

00:19:48.739 --> 00:19:50.599
I want it to be something to

00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:52.240
make people think I want to

00:19:52.421 --> 00:19:54.121
want to get draw them

00:19:54.340 --> 00:19:55.981
immediately into the end of

00:19:56.001 --> 00:19:56.922
the conversation.

00:19:57.903 --> 00:19:59.464
And so that's, that's really important.

00:19:59.484 --> 00:20:02.026
That's another aspect of, of,

00:20:02.306 --> 00:20:03.586
of comedy that I translated

00:20:03.605 --> 00:20:04.987
into my personal, you know,

00:20:05.067 --> 00:20:06.048
my personal business

00:20:06.087 --> 00:20:08.429
presentations is I want to, again,

00:20:08.669 --> 00:20:10.409
it's all about getting the,

00:20:10.809 --> 00:20:12.670
bringing the audience into your world.

00:20:13.270 --> 00:20:16.132
If it's the topic you're talking about,

00:20:16.771 --> 00:20:17.752
bring them into your world.

00:20:17.792 --> 00:20:19.032
And this is where not being

00:20:19.073 --> 00:20:20.693
boring really is helpful

00:20:20.713 --> 00:20:22.315
because you'll lose them quick.

00:20:22.335 --> 00:20:23.575
You lose an audience fast.

00:20:23.595 --> 00:20:25.455
Today's attention span is unbelievable.

00:20:25.576 --> 00:20:25.675
How,

00:20:26.194 --> 00:20:27.255
quick people are like,

00:20:28.276 --> 00:20:30.135
they're already looking,

00:20:30.336 --> 00:20:31.296
doing something else.

00:20:31.336 --> 00:20:31.656
Yeah.

00:20:32.176 --> 00:20:33.656
You know, I, I've heard it was a, a, a,

00:20:34.277 --> 00:20:35.298
like goldfish.

00:20:35.357 --> 00:20:36.337
And then I heard recently

00:20:36.397 --> 00:20:37.478
now it's like a gnat or

00:20:37.557 --> 00:20:38.278
something like that.

00:20:38.337 --> 00:20:39.898
But, but I, I wouldn't,

00:20:40.439 --> 00:20:41.538
I would imagine that that

00:20:41.598 --> 00:20:43.059
type of training to,

00:20:43.099 --> 00:20:44.299
to sort of veer a little

00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:45.799
bit into that is very

00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:47.401
valuable because if you're, um,

00:20:48.060 --> 00:20:49.582
If you're in leadership at a

00:20:49.662 --> 00:20:52.483
company or aspire to it, being able to,

00:20:52.503 --> 00:20:53.364
you know,

00:20:53.523 --> 00:20:55.905
speak and and and have people

00:20:56.125 --> 00:20:57.967
engaged has got to be

00:20:57.987 --> 00:20:58.886
extremely important.

00:20:59.827 --> 00:21:01.229
Yeah, it was.

00:21:01.288 --> 00:21:02.890
And the third thing that

00:21:02.950 --> 00:21:04.431
really came out of doing

00:21:04.471 --> 00:21:05.391
stand up and by the way,

00:21:05.411 --> 00:21:08.153
I worked part time.

00:21:08.746 --> 00:21:10.446
for several years at the

00:21:10.507 --> 00:21:12.788
clubs as an opener and as a feature,

00:21:13.407 --> 00:21:16.109
I did some corporate comedy along the way,

00:21:16.190 --> 00:21:17.569
still do a little bit of that.

00:21:17.789 --> 00:21:18.671
Um, and,

00:21:18.770 --> 00:21:20.051
and I still probably do one or two

00:21:20.092 --> 00:21:21.791
shows a year with, with,

00:21:21.932 --> 00:21:22.792
with my business.

00:21:22.853 --> 00:21:23.472
It's hard to,

00:21:24.173 --> 00:21:25.614
that's a hard life to try to

00:21:25.634 --> 00:21:26.954
be a professional comedian,

00:21:27.115 --> 00:21:29.195
like our true professional comedian.

00:21:30.175 --> 00:21:32.116
I tend to be a hobbyist at it, but I mean,

00:21:32.136 --> 00:21:33.438
I get paid when I go on stage,

00:21:33.478 --> 00:21:34.538
which helps, you know, that,

00:21:34.679 --> 00:21:35.979
that makes it a little bit better.

00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:37.220
But, um,

00:21:38.385 --> 00:21:39.246
It's a hard life.

00:21:39.286 --> 00:21:40.906
But what the third thing

00:21:40.946 --> 00:21:42.007
that really came out of it

00:21:42.067 --> 00:21:47.849
was it because I wrote and

00:21:47.890 --> 00:21:50.150
write my comedy from my perspective,

00:21:50.230 --> 00:21:51.471
from how I see life,

00:21:51.550 --> 00:21:52.891
how things that I went

00:21:52.931 --> 00:21:56.492
through or my family or how

00:21:56.573 --> 00:21:57.972
I grew up or the culture

00:21:57.992 --> 00:21:58.973
that I grew up in or

00:21:58.993 --> 00:21:59.794
whatever it might be.

00:22:00.999 --> 00:22:03.339
I became even more, I guess,

00:22:03.619 --> 00:22:04.540
secure in that,

00:22:05.381 --> 00:22:07.082
secure in the fact that I

00:22:07.221 --> 00:22:09.042
am from the Appalachian

00:22:09.083 --> 00:22:10.942
region of America and that

00:22:10.982 --> 00:22:12.364
I do have a thick accent.

00:22:12.663 --> 00:22:14.025
And even though I've been in

00:22:14.065 --> 00:22:15.345
executive search for 32

00:22:15.345 --> 00:22:16.605
years and spoke to boards

00:22:16.685 --> 00:22:18.026
and large conferences,

00:22:18.086 --> 00:22:18.967
I'm actually going to be a

00:22:18.987 --> 00:22:20.247
keynote to a large nursing

00:22:20.307 --> 00:22:22.548
organization in the fall.

00:22:24.528 --> 00:22:28.010
The comedy being in comedy

00:22:28.631 --> 00:22:30.853
made me more comfortable in my own skin.

00:22:30.873 --> 00:22:36.115
And I think, you know, for people who are,

00:22:37.276 --> 00:22:37.556
you know,

00:22:37.655 --> 00:22:39.557
maybe a little bit nervous about

00:22:39.998 --> 00:22:42.618
being genuine or trying to be, you know,

00:22:42.759 --> 00:22:43.839
something that they're not.

00:22:43.859 --> 00:22:45.701
Stand up comedy is a great

00:22:45.740 --> 00:22:47.422
way to express who you are.

00:22:48.268 --> 00:22:49.449
as a person, again,

00:22:49.528 --> 00:22:52.490
my comedy is focused on clean comedy and,

00:22:52.750 --> 00:22:57.093
and that's, and that is just where,

00:22:57.153 --> 00:22:59.773
you know, you know, my core values are.

00:23:00.275 --> 00:23:02.695
So I take that.

00:23:03.596 --> 00:23:06.038
It also makes me or helps me

00:23:06.238 --> 00:23:08.298
like to be not.

00:23:08.618 --> 00:23:09.599
And I don't, and by the way,

00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:10.779
I don't step on a stage and

00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:13.821
try to be funny with my presentations.

00:23:13.922 --> 00:23:15.182
It's just, it's not like,

00:23:16.115 --> 00:23:17.555
I think I need to tell jokes

00:23:17.654 --> 00:23:18.836
on stage when I'm talking

00:23:18.895 --> 00:23:22.076
about how gratitude can

00:23:22.195 --> 00:23:23.997
change behavior or how

00:23:24.057 --> 00:23:26.076
leadership that's focused

00:23:26.217 --> 00:23:27.938
on managing micro

00:23:27.978 --> 00:23:29.498
accomplishments is of value

00:23:29.617 --> 00:23:31.298
and subordinates, et cetera.

00:23:31.798 --> 00:23:34.819
I don't deliberately try to be funny.

00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:36.240
I think people...

00:23:37.769 --> 00:23:40.071
that comes off as contrived, right?

00:23:40.112 --> 00:23:41.652
It comes off as, you know,

00:23:41.672 --> 00:23:42.792
you're trying too hard.

00:23:44.394 --> 00:23:45.775
Doing stand-up really helped

00:23:45.815 --> 00:23:47.496
me be more comfortable with that.

00:23:47.675 --> 00:23:49.717
And, you know,

00:23:49.757 --> 00:23:50.376
the other thing about

00:23:50.396 --> 00:23:52.057
stand-up that relates is

00:23:52.097 --> 00:23:53.959
that stand-up is not really,

00:23:55.259 --> 00:23:56.180
for the most part,

00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:58.981
most stand-up comedians are

00:24:00.415 --> 00:24:02.978
are not telling jokes like

00:24:02.998 --> 00:24:04.219
they're not telling like a

00:24:04.259 --> 00:24:05.921
joke right like you know

00:24:06.221 --> 00:24:07.301
two people walked into a

00:24:07.342 --> 00:24:08.663
bar whatever it is or you

00:24:08.702 --> 00:24:09.463
know yeah they're not

00:24:09.544 --> 00:24:10.384
telling jokes they're

00:24:10.644 --> 00:24:11.726
they're talking about

00:24:11.766 --> 00:24:12.926
things that they observe

00:24:13.507 --> 00:24:14.848
you know my favorite one of

00:24:14.868 --> 00:24:15.749
my favorite comedians a guy

00:24:15.769 --> 00:24:17.711
named Brian Regan and Brian

00:24:17.750 --> 00:24:20.432
Regan is a lot of comedians

00:24:20.473 --> 00:24:23.135
favorite comedian Brian Regan talks about

00:24:24.342 --> 00:24:25.521
Just normal stuff.

00:24:26.323 --> 00:24:27.682
And you're like, well, how's that funny?

00:24:27.823 --> 00:24:29.222
He finds the humor in it.

00:24:30.804 --> 00:24:32.784
And so I really like that

00:24:32.844 --> 00:24:33.763
about about Brian.

00:24:33.784 --> 00:24:35.025
And he's a professional comedian.

00:24:35.184 --> 00:24:36.585
He fills out arenas like

00:24:36.625 --> 00:24:38.025
he's amazingly funny.

00:24:39.425 --> 00:24:41.465
There's a comedian right now

00:24:41.645 --> 00:24:42.746
that's really hot called

00:24:42.766 --> 00:24:44.826
Nate Bargatze from Nashville.

00:24:45.586 --> 00:24:48.167
Nate is also talking about real life,

00:24:48.208 --> 00:24:51.167
his life, like how he lives, his family,

00:24:51.228 --> 00:24:53.848
his growing up.

00:24:54.189 --> 00:24:57.069
And, and, and, you know,

00:24:57.089 --> 00:24:58.730
he looks like a soccer dad

00:24:58.789 --> 00:25:00.211
up there and it's hilarious.

00:25:00.490 --> 00:25:01.851
It's just so funny.

00:25:01.951 --> 00:25:03.070
It's, it's, it's funny.

00:25:03.490 --> 00:25:08.613
So how does that make one of the,

00:25:09.192 --> 00:25:10.472
how does that translate

00:25:10.613 --> 00:25:11.492
into the work that,

00:25:12.232 --> 00:25:13.973
that I do in terms of presentation?

00:25:15.589 --> 00:25:18.852
It just gives me a natural focus on that.

00:25:18.991 --> 00:25:22.074
And my comedy is really self-deprecation.

00:25:22.994 --> 00:25:25.536
I'm usually the butt of the joke, right?

00:25:26.416 --> 00:25:27.017
And again,

00:25:27.037 --> 00:25:30.259
they say if you laugh at yourself,

00:25:30.278 --> 00:25:31.920
you're okay, right?

00:25:31.960 --> 00:25:32.619
You're okay.

00:25:32.980 --> 00:25:33.980
So how does that help in

00:25:34.020 --> 00:25:35.082
terms of being a leader?

00:25:36.025 --> 00:25:37.446
it makes you transparent it

00:25:37.468 --> 00:25:38.849
makes you you know in my

00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:39.770
mind it makes you

00:25:39.790 --> 00:25:40.791
transparent so that's where

00:25:41.333 --> 00:25:43.256
that was really important

00:25:43.276 --> 00:25:44.958
and storytelling is is also

00:25:44.978 --> 00:25:47.040
a key piece of it but that

00:25:47.182 --> 00:25:47.982
that's the third thing I

00:25:48.022 --> 00:25:49.305
learned from being a stand-up comedian

00:25:50.421 --> 00:25:51.922
Well, you know, I love that.

00:25:52.122 --> 00:25:53.461
I prefer, I guess,

00:25:53.481 --> 00:25:55.522
what you would be

00:25:55.603 --> 00:25:56.983
identified as clean comedy.

00:25:57.324 --> 00:25:58.284
You know, I'm not,

00:25:58.463 --> 00:25:59.805
having been a bartender for years,

00:25:59.845 --> 00:26:01.546
I'm not offended by foul language.

00:26:01.645 --> 00:26:03.205
But, you know,

00:26:03.306 --> 00:26:05.247
sometimes I feel when people are,

00:26:05.267 --> 00:26:06.647
when comedians use it, they...

00:26:07.288 --> 00:26:09.388
they use it to, to get the laugh,

00:26:09.409 --> 00:26:10.348
but it might even be like

00:26:10.388 --> 00:26:11.169
the nervous laugh.

00:26:11.189 --> 00:26:12.470
Like they just use it to get

00:26:12.730 --> 00:26:14.009
the laugh because what they're saying,

00:26:14.210 --> 00:26:16.411
what they're doing is not, um, all that,

00:26:16.510 --> 00:26:17.431
all that humorous.

00:26:17.530 --> 00:26:18.991
And, um, I,

00:26:19.172 --> 00:26:21.813
I did see a comedian many years

00:26:21.893 --> 00:26:24.074
ago who was a joke comedian.

00:26:24.094 --> 00:26:24.973
That was like his thing.

00:26:24.993 --> 00:26:26.413
It was like Jackson joke guy

00:26:26.473 --> 00:26:27.214
or something like that.

00:26:27.535 --> 00:26:28.875
And it was the most boring

00:26:28.954 --> 00:26:30.355
show that I ever saw.

00:26:30.496 --> 00:26:31.736
I mean, I just thought it was just,

00:26:32.115 --> 00:26:33.856
you know, not, not funny.

00:26:34.057 --> 00:26:34.217
And, um,

00:26:34.636 --> 00:26:36.538
I think that for me,

00:26:36.878 --> 00:26:39.040
if I'm watching someone, you know,

00:26:39.141 --> 00:26:42.784
the comedy, if it's relatable,

00:26:42.864 --> 00:26:44.365
something that, oh, yeah,

00:26:44.444 --> 00:26:45.125
I've been there.

00:26:46.567 --> 00:26:48.087
Because things are so universal.

00:26:48.107 --> 00:26:49.068
So I just want to say hello

00:26:49.088 --> 00:26:50.589
to some of the people in our audience.

00:26:50.690 --> 00:26:52.490
Elizabeth Walker says hello.

00:26:52.570 --> 00:26:53.731
Thank you for joining us.

00:26:54.792 --> 00:26:56.253
And my friend Jillian

00:26:56.294 --> 00:26:59.076
Whitney joining us from sunny Las Vegas.

00:26:59.277 --> 00:27:00.837
Lovely to have you here, Jillian.

00:27:01.317 --> 00:27:02.038
And here is a...

00:27:03.876 --> 00:27:06.458
Marion Fan delivered one of

00:27:06.518 --> 00:27:09.499
the best keynotes I experienced in 2023.

00:27:09.499 --> 00:27:12.660
The message on gratitude and

00:27:12.700 --> 00:27:14.101
leadership still resonated.

00:27:14.161 --> 00:27:15.501
Storytelling and great research.

00:27:15.821 --> 00:27:17.422
If improv is part of that magic,

00:27:17.582 --> 00:27:19.143
sign me up from Virginia.

00:27:19.423 --> 00:27:20.222
And I like to read the

00:27:20.262 --> 00:27:21.223
comments because it's going

00:27:21.243 --> 00:27:22.443
to be on my podcast and

00:27:22.463 --> 00:27:23.424
people won't be able to see

00:27:23.464 --> 00:27:24.224
them on the screen.

00:27:24.881 --> 00:27:26.061
Well, thank you, Chelsea.

00:27:26.082 --> 00:27:27.082
And I really do appreciate

00:27:27.102 --> 00:27:27.823
the kind words and,

00:27:28.542 --> 00:27:30.003
and I think that the art of

00:27:30.064 --> 00:27:31.344
storytelling and being

00:27:31.403 --> 00:27:33.184
comfortable on stage and then,

00:27:33.204 --> 00:27:36.346
and to her point, thank you, Chelsea.

00:27:36.406 --> 00:27:37.567
It's very kind of you.

00:27:37.748 --> 00:27:37.867
I,

00:27:37.988 --> 00:27:39.067
that was one of my favorite

00:27:39.808 --> 00:27:40.848
presentations I did all

00:27:40.888 --> 00:27:45.010
last year around gratitude is, you know,

00:27:45.171 --> 00:27:45.912
you can be funny,

00:27:45.951 --> 00:27:47.291
you can have great stories,

00:27:47.332 --> 00:27:49.353
but you have to back it up with, with,

00:27:49.753 --> 00:27:51.734
with the research and the conviction and,

00:27:51.755 --> 00:27:51.815
and,

00:27:53.055 --> 00:27:54.695
So that's another thing that

00:27:54.715 --> 00:27:56.877
I learned in comedy school

00:27:56.958 --> 00:28:00.101
was you have to write with

00:28:00.141 --> 00:28:01.240
conviction and that

00:28:01.281 --> 00:28:02.682
conviction comes from being

00:28:02.762 --> 00:28:04.084
comfortable with the topic

00:28:04.144 --> 00:28:08.307
or comfortable with the

00:28:08.346 --> 00:28:09.807
message that you're trying to present.

00:28:09.907 --> 00:28:11.529
So in the case of what she's

00:28:11.549 --> 00:28:12.349
talking about is the

00:28:12.509 --> 00:28:14.311
authentic gratitude training.

00:28:14.332 --> 00:28:15.752
There was a couple of years of

00:28:17.250 --> 00:28:19.111
pretty deep research, uh,

00:28:19.191 --> 00:28:21.270
review related to that training,

00:28:22.451 --> 00:28:22.872
excuse me.

00:28:23.192 --> 00:28:24.751
And, um, you know,

00:28:24.811 --> 00:28:26.113
that training is around how

00:28:26.133 --> 00:28:29.034
to change behaviors using gratitude.

00:28:29.094 --> 00:28:31.394
And we teach leadership, uh,

00:28:31.554 --> 00:28:33.154
professionals how to do that.

00:28:33.634 --> 00:28:34.295
But back to,

00:28:34.454 --> 00:28:36.236
back to the comedy piece of it, the last,

00:28:36.296 --> 00:28:37.536
the last component of that

00:28:38.376 --> 00:28:40.196
is one of the other things

00:28:40.317 --> 00:28:41.458
is that they teach you in

00:28:41.538 --> 00:28:42.597
comedy is putting

00:28:43.786 --> 00:28:45.047
the words in a particular

00:28:45.227 --> 00:28:47.448
order so that the funny

00:28:47.528 --> 00:28:51.269
word is the last word in

00:28:51.309 --> 00:28:52.871
the phrase of the punchline.

00:28:53.451 --> 00:28:59.854
So a master of that is Jerry Seinfeld.

00:29:00.934 --> 00:29:02.675
I'm not a huge fan of his comedy,

00:29:02.715 --> 00:29:03.915
but I'm a huge fan of how

00:29:03.955 --> 00:29:05.457
he puts his comedy together.

00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:11.721
And he writes, still to this day,

00:29:12.622 --> 00:29:13.903
I've seen some videos on it.

00:29:14.242 --> 00:29:15.542
He literally writes out the

00:29:15.623 --> 00:29:17.903
story that is the funny story.

00:29:18.443 --> 00:29:20.325
And then he works on

00:29:20.365 --> 00:29:21.885
eliminating the amount of

00:29:21.905 --> 00:29:23.865
the words so that one,

00:29:23.885 --> 00:29:25.047
he gets to the funny fast.

00:29:25.106 --> 00:29:26.227
Two, he's making the point,

00:29:26.247 --> 00:29:27.008
which we talked about.

00:29:27.548 --> 00:29:28.127
But three,

00:29:29.347 --> 00:29:30.548
is he making the point that's

00:29:30.568 --> 00:29:31.769
going to have the funniest?

00:29:33.750 --> 00:29:34.829
The last part he says is

00:29:34.869 --> 00:29:36.050
going to be the funniest thing.

00:29:36.843 --> 00:29:37.123
Well,

00:29:37.722 --> 00:29:40.765
how does that fit within how does

00:29:40.785 --> 00:29:41.845
that fit within being a

00:29:41.884 --> 00:29:45.145
presenter with a keynote or

00:29:46.467 --> 00:29:47.606
or leadership training or

00:29:47.666 --> 00:29:48.988
what or with your team

00:29:49.087 --> 00:29:50.328
making a presentation?

00:29:51.189 --> 00:29:53.470
Thinking about the most important point.

00:29:53.490 --> 00:29:56.250
Remember, I said the second that.

00:29:56.621 --> 00:29:57.722
The first joke has to be the

00:29:57.762 --> 00:29:58.624
second funniest.

00:29:59.285 --> 00:29:59.404
Well,

00:29:59.424 --> 00:30:00.646
that's where the key point needs to

00:30:00.686 --> 00:30:01.067
be made.

00:30:02.088 --> 00:30:04.711
Closing strong at the end of

00:30:04.751 --> 00:30:05.653
the meeting or end of the

00:30:05.693 --> 00:30:08.096
presentation is absolutely vital.

00:30:09.010 --> 00:30:11.272
to that message being received,

00:30:11.393 --> 00:30:13.095
that message being acted on,

00:30:13.154 --> 00:30:16.678
that message being fully

00:30:17.358 --> 00:30:18.680
grasped by the audience.

00:30:19.601 --> 00:30:21.622
So really taking the time to

00:30:22.242 --> 00:30:23.824
think about what the last

00:30:23.864 --> 00:30:25.165
thing you're gonna say is,

00:30:25.185 --> 00:30:28.048
and you may go into Q&A or whatever,

00:30:28.107 --> 00:30:30.309
but closing strong is really important.

00:30:30.631 --> 00:30:32.192
And you could take that

00:30:32.251 --> 00:30:33.874
framework for even a short,

00:30:34.758 --> 00:30:36.479
presentation is get to the

00:30:36.538 --> 00:30:38.640
point fast make sure that

00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:40.821
this this the first point

00:30:40.862 --> 00:30:43.522
that you make is the topic

00:30:43.542 --> 00:30:44.243
that you're trying to

00:30:44.304 --> 00:30:47.144
address feel the middle of

00:30:47.204 --> 00:30:49.547
it with supported research

00:30:50.467 --> 00:30:51.147
and sharing that

00:30:51.188 --> 00:30:51.887
information through

00:30:51.928 --> 00:30:53.269
storytelling however and

00:30:53.288 --> 00:30:55.851
then closing strong those

00:30:55.911 --> 00:30:57.531
are that's how you in my

00:30:57.592 --> 00:30:59.373
mind how you make the the

00:30:59.413 --> 00:31:01.173
biggest uh impression and

00:31:01.872 --> 00:31:03.219
and that your message is received.

00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:05.609
So that's what I learned in comedy school.

00:31:07.367 --> 00:31:09.150
Well, you know, it's like that because,

00:31:09.269 --> 00:31:09.490
you know,

00:31:09.549 --> 00:31:11.131
I studied film and everything in

00:31:11.171 --> 00:31:12.791
college and it's like that with film.

00:31:12.852 --> 00:31:14.053
It's like that with a dinner

00:31:14.093 --> 00:31:15.294
at a restaurant, you know,

00:31:15.334 --> 00:31:16.454
that you want to finish

00:31:16.494 --> 00:31:17.234
because that people

00:31:17.275 --> 00:31:18.695
remember that's what people

00:31:18.736 --> 00:31:19.537
remember at the end.

00:31:19.576 --> 00:31:20.998
So I am sharing your

00:31:21.057 --> 00:31:22.318
LinkedIn profile here.

00:31:23.059 --> 00:31:23.799
And, um,

00:31:24.340 --> 00:31:26.182
are you open to connecting with people?

00:31:26.342 --> 00:31:27.843
Yeah, please.

00:31:27.962 --> 00:31:29.845
I I'm in creator mode.

00:31:29.884 --> 00:31:31.726
So your first option is to follow,

00:31:31.766 --> 00:31:32.686
but I prefer that you'd

00:31:32.707 --> 00:31:33.707
send me a connect request.

00:31:33.747 --> 00:31:35.808
So just use that down arrow, um,

00:31:36.499 --> 00:31:36.959
The more.

00:31:37.118 --> 00:31:38.099
Click on more.

00:31:38.200 --> 00:31:40.020
Click on more and send me a

00:31:40.040 --> 00:31:40.701
connect request.

00:31:40.740 --> 00:31:41.781
I'd rather bring you into my

00:31:41.801 --> 00:31:45.343
network and join you in your network.

00:31:45.903 --> 00:31:47.003
And yeah, please.

00:31:47.124 --> 00:31:48.625
And I post a lot of content

00:31:48.664 --> 00:31:49.345
about leadership.

00:31:49.404 --> 00:31:50.506
I post a lot of content

00:31:50.546 --> 00:31:52.727
about the gratitude framework.

00:31:52.826 --> 00:31:53.948
And obviously, you know,

00:31:53.968 --> 00:31:55.848
my work in the executive search space.

00:31:57.568 --> 00:32:00.230
I just got recently posted.

00:32:02.009 --> 00:32:04.030
a badge for top executive coach,

00:32:04.111 --> 00:32:05.752
but you know, LinkedIn, you know,

00:32:05.913 --> 00:32:06.673
one of those badges,

00:32:07.673 --> 00:32:08.755
my executive coaching

00:32:08.815 --> 00:32:10.455
really comes in the content of,

00:32:10.635 --> 00:32:11.616
I coach the people that I

00:32:11.656 --> 00:32:13.538
place with the companies

00:32:13.558 --> 00:32:14.338
that I work with.

00:32:14.358 --> 00:32:15.240
So that's where it comes

00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:16.461
from or team coaching.

00:32:16.500 --> 00:32:18.522
So, but yeah, please reach out,

00:32:18.563 --> 00:32:19.262
connect with me,

00:32:19.323 --> 00:32:20.584
send me that connect request.

00:32:22.025 --> 00:32:23.306
Love to have a dialogue with

00:32:23.346 --> 00:32:24.666
you and learn how to,

00:32:24.866 --> 00:32:25.728
how to support your

00:32:25.748 --> 00:32:26.828
networking efforts as well.

00:32:28.298 --> 00:32:31.721
And also, if you do connect with Marion,

00:32:31.820 --> 00:32:33.241
you will get to see some

00:32:33.722 --> 00:32:35.324
photos of his beautiful dogs.

00:32:37.340 --> 00:32:39.301
Yeah, I post way too many dog pictures.

00:32:39.541 --> 00:32:40.603
No, no, never.

00:32:40.903 --> 00:32:41.743
Never too many.

00:32:41.824 --> 00:32:44.005
You know, we're both dog lovers here.

00:32:44.744 --> 00:32:45.385
So, you know,

00:32:45.645 --> 00:32:46.606
one of the things that I like

00:32:46.646 --> 00:32:49.248
to ask everyone who comes

00:32:49.327 --> 00:32:51.609
on my show is for some kind

00:32:51.630 --> 00:32:52.390
of final thought.

00:32:52.470 --> 00:32:53.371
Now, you know,

00:32:53.971 --> 00:32:55.551
I've asked you a few questions.

00:32:55.592 --> 00:32:57.492
You've shared a lot of information.

00:32:57.613 --> 00:32:58.794
Thank you so much for that.

00:32:58.894 --> 00:33:00.315
But is there anything that

00:33:00.335 --> 00:33:01.395
you'd like to share that

00:33:01.476 --> 00:33:01.996
you think would be

00:33:02.036 --> 00:33:02.935
important for people to

00:33:02.976 --> 00:33:05.357
know sort of to maybe round this up?

00:33:06.086 --> 00:33:08.048
Yeah, great, great, great question.

00:33:08.108 --> 00:33:10.289
I think the biggest thing is,

00:33:10.369 --> 00:33:11.652
is I think a lot of people

00:33:13.073 --> 00:33:14.594
probably think they have

00:33:15.454 --> 00:33:16.355
some reason that they're

00:33:16.394 --> 00:33:18.257
not a good communicator, right?

00:33:18.317 --> 00:33:20.618
They may not be able to get

00:33:20.659 --> 00:33:21.599
their messenger calls or

00:33:21.619 --> 00:33:23.280
they feel they don't like

00:33:23.320 --> 00:33:24.461
public speaking or they

00:33:24.481 --> 00:33:26.644
don't like being in front of audience.

00:33:26.683 --> 00:33:28.085
But we have to do it every day,

00:33:28.184 --> 00:33:29.685
regardless of how we feel

00:33:30.145 --> 00:33:31.667
in our world of business today.

00:33:31.688 --> 00:33:33.048
It may be on Zoom.

00:33:33.088 --> 00:33:34.430
It may be in person.

00:33:36.613 --> 00:33:39.854
So think about taking a comedy class.

00:33:39.894 --> 00:33:41.575
Think about taking an improv class.

00:33:42.035 --> 00:33:43.875
Think about starting to

00:33:44.076 --> 00:33:46.517
write about what you want

00:33:46.537 --> 00:33:48.498
to talk about and practice

00:33:48.577 --> 00:33:49.919
getting to the point fast.

00:33:50.878 --> 00:33:52.799
But don't be afraid of it.

00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:55.701
Failure in that regard is

00:33:55.780 --> 00:33:57.201
not that big a deal.

00:33:57.241 --> 00:33:58.221
You might be embarrassed.

00:33:58.883 --> 00:34:00.722
Like I said at the beginning of this thing,

00:34:01.084 --> 00:34:03.084
literally my first time on

00:34:03.104 --> 00:34:04.005
stage doing stand-up,

00:34:05.094 --> 00:34:08.682
literally zero laughs, zero laughs, none,

00:34:09.485 --> 00:34:10.807
you know, and, um,

00:34:12.045 --> 00:34:13.387
I walked off stage, you know,

00:34:13.507 --> 00:34:16.070
a bit embarrassed, but it made me,

00:34:16.210 --> 00:34:16.530
you know,

00:34:16.550 --> 00:34:17.490
it made me want to go back and

00:34:17.510 --> 00:34:17.971
do it again.

00:34:18.050 --> 00:34:19.012
So the thing is,

00:34:19.092 --> 00:34:19.652
is I would encourage

00:34:19.672 --> 00:34:20.393
anybody watching or

00:34:20.413 --> 00:34:21.353
listening to the podcast.

00:34:22.414 --> 00:34:23.615
Don't, don't be afraid.

00:34:23.675 --> 00:34:25.157
Just go, go, go, go, go do it.

00:34:25.317 --> 00:34:26.418
Like go give it a shot.

00:34:26.599 --> 00:34:27.018
And, um,

00:34:27.179 --> 00:34:29.101
and most cities have good standup

00:34:29.141 --> 00:34:30.342
comedy classes all over.

00:34:30.402 --> 00:34:32.583
I know Atlanta does and Chicago does,

00:34:32.704 --> 00:34:33.885
and there's a lot of

00:34:33.925 --> 00:34:35.326
classes out there and, you know,

00:34:35.385 --> 00:34:36.586
kind of go around and check it out.

00:34:37.333 --> 00:34:38.873
or consider Hostmasters or

00:34:38.934 --> 00:34:40.896
consider improv.

00:34:41.916 --> 00:34:43.898
But to the points that we made,

00:34:44.197 --> 00:34:45.358
sorry for the long answer

00:34:45.378 --> 00:34:46.519
to your short question, Annette.

00:34:46.739 --> 00:34:48.740
No, no, I love that.

00:34:48.760 --> 00:34:49.541
I love that.

00:34:49.742 --> 00:34:52.684
And even if there isn't anything local,

00:34:52.724 --> 00:34:54.585
I think you can even find things online.

00:34:55.164 --> 00:34:55.425
Yeah.

00:34:56.005 --> 00:34:57.126
If you just don't have anything.

00:34:57.706 --> 00:34:58.467
Well, Marion,

00:34:58.568 --> 00:35:01.769
I thank you so much for for

00:35:01.971 --> 00:35:04.393
coming on and sharing this

00:35:04.492 --> 00:35:07.155
story with me and people listening,

00:35:07.235 --> 00:35:08.576
because, you know,

00:35:08.596 --> 00:35:09.996
I think it's so important

00:35:10.036 --> 00:35:11.338
to people to step out of

00:35:11.378 --> 00:35:12.139
their comfort zone.

00:35:12.179 --> 00:35:12.478
Right.

00:35:14.181 --> 00:35:15.981
So, again, thank you so much.

00:35:16.061 --> 00:35:17.362
It was such a treat to have

00:35:17.402 --> 00:35:18.103
you here with me.

00:35:19.304 --> 00:35:20.485
Everyone else have a great

00:35:20.525 --> 00:35:21.567
rest of your day.

00:35:21.586 --> 00:35:22.286
Yeah.

00:35:22.467 --> 00:35:23.148
Thanks for being here.