Public Speaking

We’ve had a lot of people ask for a class on Public Speaking. It tends to freak a lot of people out which is why Idea #1 features Jerry Seinfeld’s quip that most people are so afraid of public speaking that they’d prefer to *receive* a eulogy than give one. (Hah.) Alas, if you have any fears over speaking in public, you’re not alone. Enter: Common humanity. And, enter my own stories about my fears and my favorite ways to alchemize that energy. (“I’m excited!” + “Bring it on!” + threat vs. challenge, etc.) Other Ideas include Rule #0 (aka, it’s not about you), Rule #1 (aka BE you—amplified!), systematically organize (and overprepare!), plus Optimizing your pre-shot routine before letting it rip! 🙂

(Note: We recently learned about an awesome company called Heroic Public Speaking. Our Heroic 101 Class on Public Speaking isn’t affiliated with them in any way, but we do love what they’re up to and encourage you to check them out to learn more!)

Larry King is, of course, a LEGEND. Do you know how many people he’s interviewed over his 50+ year (!!) career? 50,000. And counting. I got this book after Larry and James Pawelski interviewed me for their Positive Voices interview series. Larry wrote this book 25 years ago—37 years into his career. It’s a great introduction to his thoughts on “The Secrets of Good Communication” in every situation—from dinner parties to public speaking. And, it’s a great autobiographical sketch of his own career as “the most remarkable talkshow host on TV ever.” Big Ideas we explore include Talk 101 (remember: effort counts twice!), Day 1 (meet Larry Zeiger), The First Rule (= Listen!!), what to do when you make mistakes (keep on going!), and the power of enthusiasm (it's the engine of success).

Before Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People, he wrote this book. In fact, back in the day, one of the things Carnegie was best known for was his ability to help people develop their leadership skills by becoming great speakers. This book is a distillation of the training manuals from his classes. As with How to Win Friends and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, this book is quick-reading, super-practical, and entertaining (especially if you get a kick out of the early 20th century style like I do). Big Ideas we explore include: The Big 4 of Optimizing your speaking, the importance of “reserve power,” the secret to good delivery, your most precious asset as a speaker, how to gesture and the importance of magnetic vitality.

If you’ve ever had stress in your life (hah!) and wondered how to deal with it more optimally, I think you’ll love this. McGonigal tells us that how we THINK about stress plays a huge role in its affect on us and walks us thru the science behind it. Rather than try to get rid of stress (good luck with that!), we’re much better off shifting our mindsets to embrace and use the stress wisely!

Charisma. The idea that you’re either one of the lucky few born with it or not is a MYTH. Fact is: We can all cultivate our personal magnetism. In this fun, quick-reading, compelling book, Olivia Fox Cabane walks us through the practical application of the art and science of deliberately dialing our charisma up. Big Ideas we cover: The Big 3 of charisma: Presence + Power + Warmth (and how to boost each), what gets in the way (and what to do about it), the power of visualization (#1 tip) and more.

Amy Cuddy is awesome. Her TED talk is the 2nd most popular ever. This book is just as good. Learn the science of cultivating your personal power to bring your boldest self to your biggest challenges. Big Ideas we explore: self-affirmation theory, priming + nudges, the magic of expanding your body to increase your power, iHunch (how’s yours?), and the boldest you.

Dan Pink is a brilliant writer. His books have been translated into over 35 languages and have sold over 1 million copies in the US alone. We featured another one of his New York Times bestsellers called Drive. That one is all about “The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.” This one, as per the sub-title, is all about “The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.” The super-short story? Although only 1 in 9 of us technically earn our living as “salespeople,” we’re ALL in sales. In other words: To sell is human. Big Ideas explored include the new ABCs of sales: A is for Attunement, B is for Buoyancy, C is for Clarity) and how to master a servant-selling.

Sian Beilock is one of the world’s leading researchers studying the science of optimal performance. In this book, she walks us through a range of research studies she and her colleagues have conducted to help us get a better understanding of why, under pressure and when it matters most, some of us choke. And, of course, Sian provides a range of tips on what we can do about it. Big Ideas we explore: the what and why of choking, the ultimate choke vacuum, practicing under pressure, an antidote to exam choking, and a bunch of little tips on rockin’ it.

The Tools. This was easily the best book I read in 2012. It's *packed* with goodness. Stutz and Michels are two no-nonsense therapists who developed powerful tools to transform our problems into courage, confidence, and creativity. In this Note, we'll take a quick peek at how to put these powerful tools to work to create real change in our lives.

I’m a HUGE fan of Phil and Barry's first book, The Tools. Coming Alive is kinda like The Tools Part 2. In this book, we get four new tools to go along with the original five tools. Big Ideas we explore include how to connect to our Life Force, defeat Part X (their name for that part of each of us that gets in the way), build our confidence and learn to see problems as gifts as we live a GREAT life.

I'm convinced Mark Divine is a superhero. Seriously. And in Unbeatable Mind, the former Navy SEAL gives us the handbook on mental toughness. In the Note, we'll look at the keys to cultivating our confidence, the importance of cultivating our concentration, learning how to control our breathing and other goodness that will make you unbeatable.

Eric Maisel is one of my favorite writers and teachers and thinkers. In addition to being one of the world’s leading creativity coaches (and therapists), he’s also an amazing exemplar of creativity—having written dozens of books on a broad range of subjects. Big Ideas we explore in this Note include the fact that anxiety goeswith anxiety (yes, “goeswith” = one word!), existential decisiveness and why it matters, enervators —> energizers, a cool mantra, cognitive restructuring and step 1 to creativity.

Meet the enemy: Your ego. Our guide, Ryan Holiday, wrote one of my favorite books of 2015: The Obstacle Is the Way. Ego Is the Enemy is now one of my favorite books of 2016. It’s fantastic. Big Ideas we explore include: defining ego, becoming more than a flash in the pan, finally answering the question of whether it takes 10,000 or 20,000 hours to attain mastery, the virtue and value of staying true to your own path and making it rather than faking it.

Teddy Roosevelt told us that it's not the critic who counts. It's all about the individual who is actually in the arena--whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood... Who dares greatly. Brene Brown takes that spirit and runs with it--showing us how we can only dare greatly when we are willing to live Wholeheartedly, embracing our vulnerability as we cultivate our courage, compassion and connection.

Steve Chandler tells us “There is bad and there is good . . . And then there is crazy good." And, our path to living a crazy-good life is simple. It's all about CHOICES. As with all of Steve's books, this one is packed with wisdom. Big Ideas we cover include The 5% Solution, Systems vs. Dreams, Game vs. Shame, and making life an experiment.

In our last +1, we talked about our inaugural Heroic Coach program (there’s still a little more time to sign up and join hundreds of

This morning Alexandra and I were chatting about her new Heroic +1s. First: Yay! I’m typing this with a big smile as I’m super happy

This is one of Steven Pressfield's favorite books. When I heard that, I immediately got it. Brilliant. Patricia Ryan Madson is Emerita of Stanford University where she taught for three decades in the Drama Department. We'll have fun looking at her 13 maxims for improv living from this quick-reading, fun, smart, practical book.