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Nurturing Passions & Crafting Stories w/ Will Parker Anderson · Something Extra

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Lisa Nichols: Chromosomes.
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1:19
Lisa Nichols: I'm delighted to have Will Parker Anderson on the show today.
1:22
Lisa Nichols: Will is a senior editor at Penguin Random House Christian.
1:26
Lisa Nichols: Well, Will Parker Anderson, welcome to the Something Extra podcast.
1:30
Lisa Nichols: I'm so delighted that we can make this work today.
1:34
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah, Lisa.
1:35
Will Parker Anderson: Thanks for having me.
1:35
Will Parker Anderson: It's great to be here.
1:37
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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Lisa Nichols: So you and I always love to, to tell our
1:41
Lisa Nichols: listeners how we connect, and you and I connected via LinkedIn.
1:46
Lisa Nichols: I think you reached right?
1:47
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
1:48
Lisa Nichols: Via LinkedIn.
1:50
Lisa Nichols: You had reached out or somebody had reached out on your behalf.
1:54
Lisa Nichols: And when I looked into your background, I'm like, yeah.
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Lisa Nichols: You are the perfect guest for for the something extra podcast
2:02
Lisa Nichols: and what we are trying to do with the show.
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Lisa Nichols: So I'm just so excited.
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Lisa Nichols: By the way, what a powerful platform.
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Lisa Nichols: Right?
2:08
Lisa Nichols: Shout out to LinkedIn.
2:11
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
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Will Parker Anderson: Who knew LinkedIn could lead to great conversations like this?
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Will Parker Anderson: I I love it.
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Will Parker Anderson: I I have connected with a number of folks on there and yeah.
2:18
Will Parker Anderson: It's wonderful.
2:20
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
2:20
Lisa Nichols: Oh, for sure.
2:21
Lisa Nichols: Well, I know that our conversation today is really gonna help our listeners,
2:26
Lisa Nichols: because you got a lot of knowledge, around communication and storytelling,
2:30
Lisa Nichols: Will, and I can't, can't wait to really jump into that.
2:34
Lisa Nichols: But I know that you grew up in Arizona.
2:37
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
2:37
Lisa Nichols: And really growing up in Arizona has a lot to do with what you're
2:41
Lisa Nichols: doing today.
2:43
Lisa Nichols: So I would love for you to tell me about the heat of Arizona
2:48
Lisa Nichols: and how the heat of Arizona kind of sparked a passion in you,
2:53
Lisa Nichols: that, like I said, plays into what you're doing today about shaping stories.
2:58
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
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Will Parker Anderson: Well, I'd love to hear the connection that you see between those because that's
3:01
Will Parker Anderson: fascinating.
3:02
Will Parker Anderson: I don't know that I've ever thought much about that.
3:05
Will Parker Anderson: But, yeah, I was born and raised in Phoenix.
3:08
Will Parker Anderson: I've been in California since two thousand and five, but a lot of my
3:12
Will Parker Anderson: family's still there, and so I'm able to get back and forth.
3:15
Will Parker Anderson: They come here, see the grandkids, of course.
3:17
Will Parker Anderson: I've got three young kids.
3:19
Will Parker Anderson: But, yeah, Lisa, you've intrigued me.
3:22
Will Parker Anderson: What what's the connection between the heat and what I do now?
3:25
Lisa Nichols: Well okay.
3:26
Lisa Nichols: So you you majored in journalism, I know, from Biola.
3:30
Lisa Nichols: Right?
3:31
Lisa Nichols: Beautiful campus, by the way.
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Lisa Nichols: Our daughter our middle daughter, when she was checking out universities,
3:36
Lisa Nichols: our son was in, Studio City at the time, our older Oh, yeah.
3:41
Lisa Nichols: Our older child.
3:42
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
3:42
Lisa Nichols: He was in the movie industry for a while.
3:45
Lisa Nichols: And when our middle daughter was looking at university, she looked at
3:49
Lisa Nichols: Biola, she looked at Westmont, Santa Barbara, and she
3:54
Lisa Nichols: looked at Point Loma, if you know where Point Loma is.
3:57
Lisa Nichols: I do.
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Lisa Nichols: Decided against Point Loma because, well, the
4:03
Lisa Nichols: lecture halls
4:06
Lisa Nichols: overlooked much like what Pepperdine overlooked the Pacific Ocean,
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Lisa Nichols: and she goes, you know, I am too much, you know, scatterbrite.
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Lisa Nichols: She goes, I know I would not be able to go here.
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Lisa Nichols: So I cannot go here.
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Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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Will Parker Anderson: That's hilarious.
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Lisa Nichols: I know.
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Lisa Nichols: But we even went to a, at Biola and
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Lisa Nichols: remember going to a general assembly with all the students.
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Lisa Nichols: And, but, anyway, beautiful, beautiful campus.
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Lisa Nichols: But here is what I am supposing.
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Lisa Nichols: The heat of Arizona maybe, you know, would cause
4:40
Lisa Nichols: you to be inside a little bit more than you would be
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Lisa Nichols: otherwise.
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Lisa Nichols: Right?
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Lisa Nichols: And then so you're having to figure out, okay.
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Lisa Nichols: What am I gonna do?
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Lisa Nichols: And you probably I I would love to hear the story.
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Lisa Nichols: I mean, when did you really start having this love for words
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Lisa Nichols: and for storytelling, that would make you want to major in journalism.
5:03
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
5:03
Will Parker Anderson: I love that.
5:04
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
5:04
Will Parker Anderson: And you're right.
5:05
Will Parker Anderson: I mean, it is in the summers unbelievably hot triple digits,
5:09
Will Parker Anderson: of course, you know, one fifteen some days.
5:11
Will Parker Anderson: So I've never thought about that, but it's highly possible that,
5:15
Will Parker Anderson: of course, when you're a kid, you go outside no matter what.
5:18
Will Parker Anderson: You you know, you play in the little pool or the sprinklers, lots of
5:22
Will Parker Anderson: super soaker battles, water gun fights back in the day.
5:26
Will Parker Anderson: But, yeah, my love for words, I think, really originated, back in
5:30
Will Parker Anderson: elementary school, and it was really my parents who helped to draw that out
5:34
Will Parker Anderson: of me.
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Will Parker Anderson: In two ways, they read to me a ton.
5:38
Will Parker Anderson: So both my parents were teachers and I had to spend a lot of
5:41
Will Parker Anderson: time in classrooms after everyone else had gone home from school.
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Will Parker Anderson: And, of course, just books everywhere in those classrooms, all
5:50
Will Parker Anderson: the nineties classics, you know, I I would just sit
5:54
Will Parker Anderson: and read all those kids' books.
5:56
Will Parker Anderson: And, but when it came to writing, I because I read so
6:00
Will Parker Anderson: much and my parents read to me, I would write stories and my
6:04
Will Parker Anderson: parents would just cheer me on in that and and celebrate that.
6:08
Will Parker Anderson: This is kind of funny.
6:09
Will Parker Anderson: I would even write poems to family members on their birthdays, when
6:13
Will Parker Anderson: I was like probably young elementary to mid elementary.
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Will Parker Anderson: And I entered some poetry contests and actually won, I think, in fifth
6:21
Will Parker Anderson: or sixth grade.
6:22
Will Parker Anderson: And so looking back, it feels silly.
6:26
Will Parker Anderson: Like, what was this elementary kid doing writing stories?
6:29
Will Parker Anderson: But actually, I think our passions and the trajectory of our lives
6:34
Will Parker Anderson: is rooted in those early years.
6:36
Will Parker Anderson: And so because I have three kids of my own, knowing how much the
6:40
Will Parker Anderson: adults in my life nourished those gifts.
6:43
Will Parker Anderson: And if we're honest, nourished them before they were anything to write home about,
6:48
Will Parker Anderson: but just saw a seed of potential and wanted to cultivate and nurture
6:52
Will Parker Anderson: that.
6:53
Will Parker Anderson: I'm looking for those things in my own kids, and my oldest is just
6:57
Will Parker Anderson: five.
6:58
Will Parker Anderson: But already, you can see patterns.
7:00
Will Parker Anderson: You can see the little inclinations of, my oldest daughter's heart
7:05
Will Parker Anderson: and the types of activities she's drawn to.
7:08
Will Parker Anderson: And those tastes and those passions will change with time, of course, or evolve,
7:12
Will Parker Anderson: but, that really is a part of my story.
7:15
Will Parker Anderson: So fast forwarding, from there, I became a
7:19
Will Parker Anderson: journalism major because really my main question walking into
7:23
Will Parker Anderson: college was, how can I write?
7:26
Will Parker Anderson: And I maybe thought a little about being an English major, but ultimately
7:30
Will Parker Anderson: went the journalism route.
7:32
Will Parker Anderson: And then right as I was graduating, the recession of two thousand
7:36
Will Parker Anderson: eight and nine hit.
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Will Parker Anderson: And so every newspaper, pretty much everywhere, had a hiring
7:43
Will Parker Anderson: freeze.
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Will Parker Anderson: And here's the beautiful thing.
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Will Parker Anderson: I think I would have made a terrible reporter.
7:48
Will Parker Anderson: That's just not me.
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Will Parker Anderson: That's not my lifestyle.
7:51
Will Parker Anderson: Sort of always being on call, having to press people for information.
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Will Parker Anderson: I'm much more reflective and, I'd say creative, although
8:00
Will Parker Anderson: reporters are are creative as well.
8:02
Will Parker Anderson: But, anyways, God pulled me into ministry for about ten plus years.
8:06
Will Parker Anderson: So I was a pastor and church planter here in Orange County
8:10
Will Parker Anderson: and kept writing that whole time.
8:13
Will Parker Anderson: But there is just this point where as a church planner, I needed supplemental
8:17
Will Parker Anderson: income, so I was writing and editing on the side.
8:20
Will Parker Anderson: And that just started snowballing, and I was getting more and more requests until
8:23
Will Parker Anderson: finally, a door opened up at Penguin Random House.
8:27
Will Parker Anderson: And, I'm now at Water Brook in Multnomah, which is a Christian
8:31
Will Parker Anderson: imprint.
8:32
Will Parker Anderson: We actually just created a new division called Penguin
8:36
Will Parker Anderson: Random House Christian.
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Will Parker Anderson: And, so we publish mostly adult nonfiction
8:41
Will Parker Anderson: and also do some kids' books, but I am thoroughly in the world
8:45
Will Parker Anderson: of words and Yeah.
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Will Parker Anderson: Really passionate about the impact that writing can make.
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Will Parker Anderson: And who knew that in our digital age, books would still be something
8:56
Will Parker Anderson: that they're not hanging on by a thread.
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Will Parker Anderson: They're doing quite well.
9:00
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
9:00
Will Parker Anderson: Whether audio books, physical books that people are still reading,
9:05
Will Parker Anderson: the industry is alive and well.
9:06
Will Parker Anderson: And I think that too, when we have so many other options, speaks to
9:10
Will Parker Anderson: the power of the written word and even the spoken word.
9:15
Lisa Nichols: Right.
9:15
Lisa Nichols: Well, I you can probably tell behind me, I'm a lover of
9:19
Lisa Nichols: books too.
9:20
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
9:21
Lisa Nichols: And in fact, what you don't see is I have a whole wall over
9:24
Lisa Nichols: on this side that is filled filled with books as
9:28
Lisa Nichols: well, and we've got books and boxes.
9:29
Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
9:30
Lisa Nichols: I remember, Will, my husband and I, we
9:34
Lisa Nichols: met in church when we were three and five and grew up together with,
9:38
Lisa Nichols: you know, dated through high school, dated through he's a couple years older, dated
9:42
Lisa Nichols: through college.
9:43
Lisa Nichols: But, you know, one of our date nights, you know, would be like one
9:47
Lisa Nichols: of our favorite date nights was going to Borders or
9:51
Lisa Nichols: Barnes and Noble, you know, into a book.
9:54
Will Parker Anderson: It's all gone now, I think.
9:55
Will Parker Anderson: Right?
9:56
Lisa Nichols: Borders.
9:56
Lisa Nichols: I know.
9:57
Lisa Nichols: Barnes has, has stood the test of time.
10:00
Lisa Nichols: But, there's just so much about what you've said that I really
10:05
Lisa Nichols: love.
10:05
Lisa Nichols: And I would love to do a study on this sometime because I have
10:09
Lisa Nichols: read a lot about,
10:11
Lisa Nichols: kids, and you kinda watch what they're drawn to.
10:15
Lisa Nichols: And sometimes very oftentimes, it circles back to what they
10:19
Lisa Nichols: do later on.
10:20
Lisa Nichols: So, like, if a child is playing with LEGOs and building things,
10:25
Lisa Nichols: there's a good chance maybe that they're gonna be in construction or they'll be
10:28
Lisa Nichols: an architect or, you know, engineer.
10:30
Lisa Nichols: I do think it, those early experiences to your point
10:34
Lisa Nichols: really do play in.
10:36
Lisa Nichols: And I just love the fact that your parents were cognizant
10:40
Lisa Nichols: of Mhmm.
10:41
Lisa Nichols: Your passions, right, and nurtured those.
10:43
Lisa Nichols: And I think it's just really important because it probably gave you the confidence.
10:48
Lisa Nichols: Will, you know, if they hadn't have done that, you know, then maybe you
10:52
Lisa Nichols: would have questioned, but I think it probably gave you the confidence to keep
10:55
Lisa Nichols: going and exploring what God had for you in that.
10:58
Lisa Nichols: So there's a lot about what Absolutely.
11:00
Lisa Nichols: What you said that I just love.
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Lisa Nichols: My parents it's funny.
11:03
Lisa Nichols: When I was seven years old, they gave me a little blue typewriter.
11:08
Lisa Nichols: And I can remember, see, I'm a lot older than you are.
11:11
Lisa Nichols: You probably don't even remember what a typewriter is, Will.
11:14
Will Parker Anderson: We believe it or not, we did we had one in my house.
11:17
Lisa Nichols: You did have to pay.
11:18
Lisa Nichols: Way
11:18
Will Parker Anderson: on that thing.
11:19
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
11:19
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
11:20
Lisa Nichols: And I I would.
11:21
Lisa Nichols: I would just sit there and try to come up with stories and, you
11:24
Lisa Nichols: know, and I love writing to this day.
11:26
Lisa Nichols: So, I do think, you know, that those early things really
11:30
Lisa Nichols: do make a a big difference.
11:32
Lisa Nichols: Well, now listen.
11:34
Lisa Nichols: You have had the opportunity to work with some authors, some of my favorite
11:38
Lisa Nichols: authors and projects.
11:40
Lisa Nichols: Jordan Rainer.
11:41
Lisa Nichols: I think you've done a little bit with Jordan.
11:43
Lisa Nichols: I love Jordan Rainer.
11:45
Lisa Nichols: I love redeeming your time.
11:47
Lisa Nichols: It's one of my favorite books.
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Lisa Nichols: Then he's written and then, he wrote the children's book, The Creator in You.
11:54
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
11:54
Will Parker Anderson: Such a good book.
11:56
Lisa Nichols: Such a great book for those listeners out there with littles.
12:01
Lisa Nichols: Highly recommend getting that book.
12:03
Lisa Nichols: The creator
12:03
Will Parker Anderson: The Royal in You as well.
12:05
Lisa Nichols: That's Oh, The Royal.
12:06
Lisa Nichols: See, I'm not read that one.
12:08
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
12:09
Will Parker Anderson: That one's a picture of heaven.
12:11
Will Parker Anderson: Basically, it's the sacredness of secular work, which is his adult book
12:16
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
12:17
Will Parker Anderson: Translated for kids and the illustrations, everything.
12:20
Will Parker Anderson: We're doing like a promo for Jordan right now because we're we're all big
12:23
Will Parker Anderson: fans, but, yeah, really excited, to be partnering with Jordan
12:28
Will Parker Anderson: for sure.
12:28
Lisa Nichols: That's awesome.
12:30
Lisa Nichols: And, and then you've had the opportunity.
12:32
Lisa Nichols: I'm not really sure what your role was there, Will, but you've had the
12:35
Lisa Nichols: opportunity to work on The Chosen, which is, like, one of our family's favorite
12:40
Lisa Nichols: series.
12:40
Lisa Nichols: Just incredible.
12:43
Lisa Nichols: What have you learned in working on The Chosen?
12:47
Lisa Nichols: What have you learned about biblical storytelling in a
12:51
Lisa Nichols: modern translation?
12:52
Lisa Nichols: Because it's you know, they've taken a little bit of liberty, but, you know,
12:56
Lisa Nichols: I really have not.
12:57
Lisa Nichols: I've just artistically, I've not seen anything that is incongruent
13:01
Lisa Nichols: to this to this point.
13:03
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
13:04
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
13:04
Will Parker Anderson: That's a great question.
13:05
Will Parker Anderson: So, I was never, an official employee,
13:09
Will Parker Anderson: but I was a contracted writer for them.
13:12
Will Parker Anderson: And so the project I worked on, they wanted to roll out some
13:16
Will Parker Anderson: curriculum for gen z because when the show when season one dropped,
13:20
Will Parker Anderson: they had a demographic in mind who would watch it.
13:23
Will Parker Anderson: And what they were surprised to learn is that actually gen
13:27
Will Parker Anderson: z was really interested.
13:30
Will Parker Anderson: Like, if you could get Gen z to watch The Chosen, they were
13:34
Will Parker Anderson: all in, like, really, really captivated and actually created a documentary
13:38
Will Parker Anderson: where they had, I think it was eight or ten Gen z,
13:44
Will Parker Anderson: you know, young adults watch the first season, and then they just
13:48
Will Parker Anderson: recorded the whole experience.
13:49
Will Parker Anderson: So anyways, what I did was they wanted to create a discussion
13:53
Will Parker Anderson: curriculum for Gen z based on the show.
13:57
Will Parker Anderson: And so we would get assigned episodes of the show, and then we would
14:00
Will Parker Anderson: write, these discussion guides and questions,
14:05
Will Parker Anderson: that were intended to spark conversation about Jesus.
14:09
Will Parker Anderson: And so,
14:11
Will Parker Anderson: so I I one of my good friends does a lot of fundraising for
14:15
Will Parker Anderson: the show.
14:16
Will Parker Anderson: So I also have kind of a window there.
14:18
Will Parker Anderson: But in terms of my experience, I think what I learned is,
14:22
Will Parker Anderson: number one, that that the film industry moves at an insane
14:27
Will Parker Anderson: pace and it is no joke.
14:30
Will Parker Anderson: It's like a, a hurricane of activity.
14:33
Will Parker Anderson: And even doing this one project with them, I, I got to experience that,
14:37
Will Parker Anderson: but yeah, you know, I would say they're so intentional about everything they
14:41
Will Parker Anderson: do.
14:41
Will Parker Anderson: And so even the curriculum that I had the privilege of writing,
14:45
Will Parker Anderson: we went through multiple rounds of edits and just kept asking
14:50
Will Parker Anderson: again and again, is this clear?
14:53
Will Parker Anderson: Have we removed all of the Christianese or the words that people
14:57
Will Parker Anderson: newer to faith may not understand?
15:00
Will Parker Anderson: And I think that discipline really captures
15:04
Will Parker Anderson: what the show is trying to do.
15:06
Will Parker Anderson: It's walking such a fine line between wanting to be biblically
15:10
Will Parker Anderson: accurate, cinematically captivating,
15:14
Will Parker Anderson: welcoming to those who are outside the faith or curious about
15:18
Will Parker Anderson: the faith.
15:19
Will Parker Anderson: So it's like, that's a massive agenda.
15:22
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
15:22
Will Parker Anderson: And you I think they do a really good job.
15:24
Will Parker Anderson: In fact, there was an article I read recently where they were breaking down.
15:27
Will Parker Anderson: Here's all the things that creators of the chosen have to balance in
15:32
Will Parker Anderson: it.
15:32
Will Parker Anderson: I walked away with so much empathy because, of course, it has its critics.
15:36
Will Parker Anderson: But overall, I think they do a really solid job.
15:39
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
15:40
Lisa Nichols: I could not agree more.
15:41
Lisa Nichols: It is in you you use the word captivating, cinematically
15:45
Lisa Nichols: captivating, and it certainly is that.
15:47
Lisa Nichols: So I just we love it.
15:49
Lisa Nichols: We love it, and we kinda hang on.
15:52
Lisa Nichols: Oh, when's the next episode coming out?
15:54
Lisa Nichols: So well, let me ask you this.
15:56
Lisa Nichols: I mean, you see a lot of manuscripts and stuff, you know, Will, in
16:00
Lisa Nichols: your work.
16:00
Lisa Nichols: I mean, what do you believe makes a a manuscript go from good to
16:04
Lisa Nichols: great in your in your opinion?
16:09
Will Parker Anderson: What a great question.
16:10
Will Parker Anderson: That's my job actually is to to to try to
16:14
Will Parker Anderson: champion an author's thoughts and ideas and words and
16:18
Will Parker Anderson: really move them from good to great.
16:20
Will Parker Anderson: I just had this conversation on my own podcast,
16:25
Will Parker Anderson: it's called the writer's circle, but this literary agent was saying, you know,
16:29
Will Parker Anderson: with the time allotted to create a book, like from
16:33
Will Parker Anderson: the time that the manuscript is turned into the time the book comes out,
16:37
Will Parker Anderson: you you can't take a mediocre manuscript and make it amazing.
16:42
Will Parker Anderson: You can take a mediocre manuscript and make it good.
16:45
Will Parker Anderson: Or if you receive a good manuscript, you can make it amazing.
16:49
Will Parker Anderson: And I re I think that's really true.
16:51
Will Parker Anderson: So that may be daunting to some listening.
16:54
Will Parker Anderson: But so in other words, what I receive as a rough draft, I almost
16:58
Will Parker Anderson: immediately know, okay.
16:59
Will Parker Anderson: We're either talking, let's make this good or let's really push
17:03
Will Parker Anderson: because I think this has a shot at being great.
17:07
Will Parker Anderson: And some of the things that go into that,
17:10
Will Parker Anderson: so many.
17:11
Will Parker Anderson: Off the top of my head, one is books that are
17:15
Will Parker Anderson: written out of the deep overflow of what God's spirit
17:19
Will Parker Anderson: is doing in someone's life.
17:23
Will Parker Anderson: There's a difference between writing about a topic and writing out of,
17:28
Will Parker Anderson: the deep well of your own experience.
17:31
Will Parker Anderson: And maybe you're writing about suffering, for example,
17:36
Will Parker Anderson: maybe you're not actually in the season of deep suffering, but
17:40
Will Parker Anderson: you've probably got to have tasted it or maybe someone close
17:44
Will Parker Anderson: to you, you're watching them go through it.
17:46
Will Parker Anderson: And there's just something intangible that translates to the page
17:51
Will Parker Anderson: when you are living what you are writing.
17:53
Will Parker Anderson: So that would be one.
17:55
Will Parker Anderson: Another would be, timing.
17:59
Will Parker Anderson: I think I've seen really good books go out into the world.
18:03
Will Parker Anderson: I'd say great books go out into the world, and they don't receive a
18:07
Will Parker Anderson: huge reception.
18:08
Will Parker Anderson: And sometimes it's like, oh, I thought for sure this one was gonna hit
18:11
Will Parker Anderson: bestseller list.
18:12
Will Parker Anderson: And sometimes it's just a timing issue.
18:14
Will Parker Anderson: I think God and his wisdom prepares audiences,
18:19
Will Parker Anderson: to to be really receptive to certain books.
18:22
Will Parker Anderson: And so there's just a moment in time where there's an
18:26
Will Parker Anderson: urgency to the message of a book.
18:28
Will Parker Anderson: A lot of people are feeling the ache that the book names.
18:32
Will Parker Anderson: They need what the book is offering, and you can't manufacture that.
18:36
Will Parker Anderson: That's what frustrates writers.
18:38
Will Parker Anderson: As an editor, I get asked all the time, what makes a best seller
18:42
Will Parker Anderson: or what does the market need right now or what what does this type
18:46
Will Parker Anderson: of audience want?
18:47
Will Parker Anderson: And I just say I point them back to my first point, and I
18:50
Will Parker Anderson: say, just don't worry.
18:53
Will Parker Anderson: You can worry about that later.
18:54
Will Parker Anderson: But when it comes to choosing your topic, take it before God, talk
18:58
Will Parker Anderson: to those who really know you and figure out, what what
19:02
Will Parker Anderson: do you want to write about and honestly talk about for the next five
19:07
Will Parker Anderson: years because that's what it's gonna be for you Right.
19:09
Will Parker Anderson: Once you write this book.
19:12
Will Parker Anderson: So and then there's the technical aspects of writing.
19:15
Will Parker Anderson: There's is this book structured well?
19:18
Will Parker Anderson: Or is it just sort of scattered thoughts on the page that now we're
19:22
Will Parker Anderson: really gonna have to do a lot of rearranging and organizing,
19:27
Will Parker Anderson: to make it
19:29
Lisa Nichols: work now.
19:29
Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
19:30
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
19:30
Will Parker Anderson: The analogy I use that I borrowed from another editor is it's like pouring
19:35
Will Parker Anderson: coffee.
19:36
Will Parker Anderson: So a book that is unorganized, you might have the most delightful
19:41
Will Parker Anderson: coffee.
19:41
Will Parker Anderson: But if you just pour it out onto the table and it spills and
19:44
Will Parker Anderson: it splashes everywhere, no one can actually enjoy it.
19:47
Will Parker Anderson: It's just messy.
19:49
Will Parker Anderson: What a a structured book does, a good outline, a thoughtful outline
19:53
Will Parker Anderson: is it's basically like a mug.
19:55
Will Parker Anderson: It's a container for your ideas.
19:57
Will Parker Anderson: And once you pour that coffee into a mug, it's contained,
20:01
Will Parker Anderson: it's drinkable, it's enjoyable.
20:04
Will Parker Anderson: And so that's what a well
20:07
Will Parker Anderson: structured book does.
20:07
Will Parker Anderson: It takes good ideas and it puts them in people's hands so that they
20:10
Will Parker Anderson: can digest them and enjoy them,
20:14
Will Parker Anderson: rather than, you know, just kind of spraying them with all these ideas that
20:17
Will Parker Anderson: you have.
20:18
Will Parker Anderson: Right.
20:19
Will Parker Anderson: And that's a great challenge.
20:20
Will Parker Anderson: So that's a big part of what I do is getting in there and
20:25
Will Parker Anderson: finding the big ideas and asking, okay, what order can we
20:29
Will Parker Anderson: present these?
20:29
Will Parker Anderson: How can we tell a story with these ideas And contrary to
20:33
Will Parker Anderson: popular belief, an editor in my case, I'm a developmental editor.
20:38
Will Parker Anderson: My primary goal is not to worry about punctuation
20:42
Will Parker Anderson: and grammar.
20:43
Will Parker Anderson: If I see it, I'll fix it, but that's actually what we call a
20:46
Will Parker Anderson: copy editor.
20:47
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
20:48
Will Parker Anderson: And they get into the real minute nitty gritty.
20:51
Will Parker Anderson: What I do is more in the realm of ideas, shaping the structure of
20:55
Will Parker Anderson: a book, working on introductions, hooks, things
20:59
Will Parker Anderson: that draw in readers.
21:00
Will Parker Anderson: And so, anyways, that's that's a long answer to your question,
21:04
Will Parker Anderson: but those are some of the things that I look for.
21:06
Lisa Nichols: No.
21:07
Lisa Nichols: I love it.
21:07
Lisa Nichols: I love it.
21:08
Lisa Nichols: I love it.
21:08
Lisa Nichols: You know?
21:09
Lisa Nichols: Because we may have some aspiring writers, that are listening right now or
21:13
Lisa Nichols: have a book in them.
21:14
Lisa Nichols: You know?
21:14
Lisa Nichols: Now those are great points.
21:15
Lisa Nichols: You know?
21:16
Lisa Nichols: The timing of the book and the release of the book is so important.
21:20
Lisa Nichols: Tell me more, and you've already mentioned it, the writer's circle.
21:24
Lisa Nichols: So I know Yeah.
21:24
Lisa Nichols: There's a newsletter.
21:26
Lisa Nichols: I know there's a podcast.
21:27
Lisa Nichols: It really helps writers sharpen their skills.
21:31
Lisa Nichols: What inspired you will to start this community?
21:35
Lisa Nichols: And do you have any memorable successes that
21:39
Lisa Nichols: you've seen from, you know, cure writing this community for
21:43
Lisa Nichols: aspiring writers and and writers?
21:47
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
21:47
Will Parker Anderson: Absolutely.
21:48
Will Parker Anderson: So in my day job as an editor, I mainly work with
21:52
Will Parker Anderson: published authors who have sort of they've built some kind of a platform.
21:57
Will Parker Anderson: They've landed book deals.
21:59
Will Parker Anderson: I do work with first time authors as well, but the majority of them
22:02
Will Parker Anderson: have already established themselves.
22:04
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
22:05
Will Parker Anderson: And I love to teach.
22:06
Will Parker Anderson: I think that's one of the things that God has called me to do.
22:10
Will Parker Anderson: So not just to edit, but to help coach and train writers.
22:14
Will Parker Anderson: And being an editor, you get a lot of emails and people
22:18
Will Parker Anderson: asking how does publishing work, You know, the very things we're
22:22
Will Parker Anderson: talking about, what would make my book idea better?
22:26
Will Parker Anderson: And I really have a heart to train writers,
22:30
Will Parker Anderson: who are just still figuring it out to sort of demystify publishing,
22:36
Will Parker Anderson: to share, you know, whatever insider knowledge, that I'm learning,
22:40
Will Parker Anderson: and that's how I view it.
22:41
Will Parker Anderson: I'm I'm just sharing things as I'm learning them, that may be helpful
22:45
Will Parker Anderson: to them.
22:46
Will Parker Anderson: And it's been a complete joy.
22:48
Will Parker Anderson: I think,
22:50
Will Parker Anderson: it's called the writer's circle.
22:52
Will Parker Anderson: I have a podcast where I interview authors, literary
22:56
Will Parker Anderson: agents, marketers.
22:58
Will Parker Anderson: Basically, it's a Christian writer's dream.
23:01
Will Parker Anderson: Like, here's all the stuff that you need to know and not just
23:06
Will Parker Anderson: industry knowledge, but here's how you nourish your soul.
23:10
Will Parker Anderson: Here's how you root your identity in Jesus as you
23:14
Will Parker Anderson: are pursuing your goals, because writing is tough.
23:19
Will Parker Anderson: Publishing is tough.
23:20
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
23:20
Will Parker Anderson: It'll chew you up and spit you out.
23:22
Will Parker Anderson: We need each other and we need encouragement, and I call it the writer
23:27
Will Parker Anderson: circle, sort of a double meaning.
23:29
Will Parker Anderson: Publishing sometimes feels to those who have not yet landed
23:34
Will Parker Anderson: a book deal like this elite inner circle that they're unwelcome
23:38
Will Parker Anderson: to join until they do something cool or accomplish something.
23:43
Will Parker Anderson: And I wanna just erase that paradigm and and instead say, no.
23:46
Will Parker Anderson: By writer circle, I mean, let's circle up just as humans,
23:51
Will Parker Anderson: and let's help one another.
23:52
Will Parker Anderson: Let's encourage each other.
23:54
Will Parker Anderson: Let's be generous with our knowledge, so that those
23:58
Will Parker Anderson: who really do wanna put in the work and wanna and want to establish
24:02
Will Parker Anderson: themselves as writers have handholds or stepping stones,
24:07
Will Parker Anderson: and they can at least take their next step.
24:08
Will Parker Anderson: And on their hard days, there's people around them to say, keep going.
24:13
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
24:13
Will Parker Anderson: The Lord is with you.
24:16
Will Parker Anderson: These words aren't wasted.
24:17
Will Parker Anderson: Like, we need to hear those reminders.
24:19
Will Parker Anderson: And even writers aside, I think we all just need that
24:23
Will Parker Anderson: in the Christian life as we pursue whatever it is God has put in
24:27
Will Parker Anderson: our hands, whether it's raising kids or running companies
24:31
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
24:32
Will Parker Anderson: And everything in between, we we need people around us.
24:34
Will Parker Anderson: And so I'm trying to provide that community and that
24:39
Will Parker Anderson: equipping for writers.
24:41
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
24:41
Lisa Nichols: It's it's a beautiful ecosystem.
24:43
Lisa Nichols: And as you're talking, Will, I'm just thinking you're putting all of the pieces
24:48
Lisa Nichols: together, right, that there could be some amazing collaboration
24:53
Lisa Nichols: that even happens in that group when you've got literary agents and you've got
24:56
Lisa Nichols: the writers and you've got publishers and you've got all of these people in
25:00
Lisa Nichols: the ecosystem.
25:02
Lisa Nichols: Goodness gracious.
25:03
Lisa Nichols: I bet you I bet you there's some cool collaboration that's come out of
25:07
Lisa Nichols: that.
25:08
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
25:09
Will Parker Anderson: Definitely.
25:09
Lisa Nichols: And I could not agree with you more.
25:11
Lisa Nichols: I don't you don't have to be a writer.
25:13
Lisa Nichols: You can be a business owner.
25:15
Lisa Nichols: We all need people.
25:16
Lisa Nichols: I I laughingly say, I had those people in my life.
25:20
Lisa Nichols: I'm sure you do too.
25:21
Lisa Nichols: I hope you do.
25:22
Lisa Nichols: That are my Barnabuses.
25:24
Lisa Nichols: You know?
25:24
Lisa Nichols: They are my Barnabuses.
25:26
Lisa Nichols: They are my Encouragers.
25:27
Lisa Nichols: And Yeah.
25:28
Lisa Nichols: Goodness, we need that.
25:29
Lisa Nichols: Right?
25:30
Lisa Nichols: Just as Mhmm.
25:31
Lisa Nichols: Have those people that go keep pressing on.
25:33
Lisa Nichols: You know?
25:33
Lisa Nichols: You're you're you're gonna get there.
25:35
Lisa Nichols: Well, let me ask you this.
25:38
Lisa Nichols: You you've said before in some of the things that I've researched that
25:42
Lisa Nichols: editing is like pastoral work.
25:44
Lisa Nichols: Can you expand on that?
25:46
Lisa Nichols: What do you mean by that?
25:48
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
25:48
Will Parker Anderson: Absolutely.
25:50
Will Parker Anderson: With any industry and certainly publishing, we compare ourselves
25:54
Will Parker Anderson: to others all the time.
25:57
Will Parker Anderson: I do it.
25:58
Will Parker Anderson: I I I see a lot of writers doing it.
26:00
Will Parker Anderson: It it's the world that we live in.
26:02
Will Parker Anderson: And so what I've discovered is that all the technical aspects
26:06
Will Parker Anderson: of my job aside.
26:07
Will Parker Anderson: Right?
26:08
Will Parker Anderson: Like, I'm hired to make a book better.
26:11
Will Parker Anderson: That is my job.
26:12
Will Parker Anderson: But the the real joy of what I do, and it includes that part
26:16
Will Parker Anderson: of it, but is getting to walk beside authors and form
26:21
Will Parker Anderson: friendships with them.
26:23
Will Parker Anderson: And, you know, they're going through stuff, the ebbs and flows
26:27
Will Parker Anderson: of life.
26:28
Will Parker Anderson: They, have disappointments, frustrations.
26:33
Will Parker Anderson: And so just getting to be a constant presence.
26:36
Will Parker Anderson: And at the particular publisher I work for, I'm actually
26:40
Will Parker Anderson: with my authors from step a all the way to step
26:45
Will Parker Anderson: z.
26:45
Will Parker Anderson: So from the moment we first start working on the book through all
26:49
Will Parker Anderson: of their marketing meetings, their prelaunch, you know, their launch phase all
26:53
Will Parker Anderson: the way until they release it.
26:55
Will Parker Anderson: And then even afterwards, there's more work to be done, believe it or not.
26:58
Will Parker Anderson: But Mhmm.
26:59
Will Parker Anderson: I get to walk beside them.
27:02
Will Parker Anderson: I love praying for my authors and with them.
27:05
Will Parker Anderson: I do that quite often.
27:09
Will Parker Anderson: And they don't just need someone with expertise.
27:12
Will Parker Anderson: They they need to be seen.
27:15
Will Parker Anderson: They need encouragement.
27:17
Will Parker Anderson: They need someone that's safe to process with.
27:21
Will Parker Anderson: And, you know, publishing moves quick, and so there's a lot of it's a
27:25
Will Parker Anderson: it's a team, a massive team that works on one book.
27:29
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
27:29
Will Parker Anderson: But I get to be their point person.
27:31
Will Parker Anderson: I get to be, like I I said, their safe place.
27:34
Will Parker Anderson: Love that.
27:35
Will Parker Anderson: Because I was a pastor for so long, it's just in my DNA, honestly.
27:41
Will Parker Anderson: I and, you know, I I'm not preachy with them.
27:44
Will Parker Anderson: I don't I'm not always like, well, let's start this meeting in prayer, although
27:47
Will Parker Anderson: there's nothing wrong with that.
27:49
Will Parker Anderson: But it's really I'm just listening, and I'm trying to sense,
27:53
Will Parker Anderson: okay, where is this author in life?
27:55
Will Parker Anderson: And just last week, I I had my very first meeting with an author
27:59
Will Parker Anderson: working with him for the first time.
28:02
Will Parker Anderson: And he mentioned in the course of our conversation that was really a professional
28:06
Will Parker Anderson: conversation.
28:07
Will Parker Anderson: We're we're working out what is our editing schedule, how do you
28:11
Will Parker Anderson: best work, how do I best work.
28:12
Will Parker Anderson: But in the midst of that, he mentioned this has been the most intense
28:16
Will Parker Anderson: season of spiritual warfare I've ever experienced.
28:18
Will Parker Anderson: And, I just flagged that in the moment.
28:21
Will Parker Anderson: And then at the end of the call, I said, hey.
28:22
Will Parker Anderson: Can I just pray for you?
28:23
Will Parker Anderson: And, you know, it's nothing earth shattering.
28:27
Will Parker Anderson: It's normal, you know, follower of Jesus stuff.
28:30
Will Parker Anderson: But
28:32
Will Parker Anderson: I think some folks would be surprised to know that even in Christian
28:36
Will Parker Anderson: publishing, it there's just so much to do.
28:39
Will Parker Anderson: And the pace is so fast that that stuff either can
28:43
Will Parker Anderson: become perfunctory or just going through the motions.
28:48
Will Parker Anderson: Like, we just pray to start a meeting because that's what Christians should do
28:52
Will Parker Anderson: or it gets forgotten.
28:54
Will Parker Anderson: And I think I've tried very imperfectly, mind you, I've tried to
28:58
Will Parker Anderson: cultivate a sensitivity
29:01
Will Parker Anderson: to God's spirit and and just reading the room and knowing, hey.
29:04
Will Parker Anderson: This may be a moment that I can bring, my my pastoral
29:09
Will Parker Anderson: gifts to bear, or just my my presence as
29:13
Will Parker Anderson: a brother in Christ to these authors.
29:15
Will Parker Anderson: And I will tell you the reverse is also true.
29:18
Will Parker Anderson: I've had authors texting me in the last few months,
29:22
Will Parker Anderson: asking about some medical things I was facing, saying, hey.
29:26
Will Parker Anderson: How are you feeling?
29:27
Will Parker Anderson: How's treatment going?
29:29
Will Parker Anderson: And so I'm on the receiving end as well.
29:32
Will Parker Anderson: I'm not the hero of the story.
29:33
Will Parker Anderson: I I'm just a a brother in Christ who is, you know, doing hopefully
29:37
Will Parker Anderson: good work with these writers.
29:39
Will Parker Anderson: But, yeah, I love that part of my job, the relational slash
29:43
Will Parker Anderson: pastoral element.
29:45
Will Parker Anderson: Without it, I wouldn't enjoy what I do nearly
29:47
Lisa Nichols: as well.
29:48
Lisa Nichols: Right.
29:49
Lisa Nichols: Well, it's what really gives it meaning, Well, then I'm thinking,
29:53
Lisa Nichols: you know, you're not their editor just their editor.
29:56
Lisa Nichols: You're doing life with them at that point.
29:58
Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
29:58
Lisa Nichols: And that's just a beautiful thing.
30:00
Lisa Nichols: Well, we do need to take a quick break.
30:02
Lisa Nichols: And when we come back, well, I just I wanna get into just communication
30:07
Lisa Nichols: in general,
30:08
Lisa Nichols: because there are you know, there could be CEOs, CMOs,
30:12
Lisa Nichols: aspiring,
30:14
Lisa Nichols: business leaders, all types of people.
30:16
Lisa Nichols: And I just feel like communication, honestly, is one of those skills.
30:20
Lisa Nichols: I don't care what your role is, what you're doing.
30:23
Lisa Nichols: We can all hone that skill and work on that skill to move the
30:27
Lisa Nichols: needle to to become better communicators.
30:30
Lisa Nichols: So this is what I'd like to talk about when we come back.
30:32
Lisa Nichols: So we're gonna take a quick break, and we'll be, right back with,
30:37
Lisa Nichols: Will Parker Anderson on the Something Extra podcast.
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31:11
Lisa Nichols: Welcome back, everyone, to the Something Extra podcast with Will Parker Anderson.
31:15
Lisa Nichols: So, Will, I've absolutely loved our conversation.
31:18
Lisa Nichols: But here, I wanna dig in deeper just to communication.
31:22
Lisa Nichols: It's just such an important topic.
31:24
Lisa Nichols: I don't care who you are.
31:26
Lisa Nichols: We we always need to be looking.
31:28
Lisa Nichols: How can we how can we improve this skill?
31:31
Lisa Nichols: Because it's so important.
31:33
Lisa Nichols: In fact, so many times, we'll even in teams and, like, dysfunctions
31:38
Lisa Nichols: with teams and things, if you really drill down to it, sometimes the
31:42
Lisa Nichols: root is miscommunication
31:45
Lisa Nichols: or thinking that you've communicated and all you've done is just said some words.
31:50
Lisa Nichols: But, you know, communication is so much more than that.
31:52
Lisa Nichols: Right?
31:53
Lisa Nichols: It truly is.
31:54
Lisa Nichols: Like, how did the person on the other end receive that?
31:57
Lisa Nichols: Did they receive it?
31:58
Lisa Nichols: Did they understand what you were trying to communicate?
32:01
Lisa Nichols: And and if they didn't, then it's really the communicator's responsibility
32:05
Lisa Nichols: to go back and and, try to tweak that.
32:08
Lisa Nichols: But, you know Yeah.
32:09
Lisa Nichols: Have you do you have you had a situation where you
32:13
Lisa Nichols: can look and see what do you think one of the biggest mistakes
32:18
Lisa Nichols: that leaders and others can make in communication?
32:22
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
32:22
Will Parker Anderson: What a great question.
32:23
Will Parker Anderson: And just so listeners know, I have a passion for writing
32:27
Will Parker Anderson: and the words on the page, but I also love speaking and
32:31
Will Parker Anderson: communication and, broke my heart.
32:34
Will Parker Anderson: But I I turned down, an invitation to speak at a camp this summer,
32:38
Will Parker Anderson: which is my absolute favorite thing to do.
32:41
Will Parker Anderson: But with family commitments and everything else, just couldn't do it.
32:45
Will Parker Anderson: But, yeah, to me being invited to do, you know,
32:49
Will Parker Anderson: a week of talks where it's like we need five or six talks.
32:52
Will Parker Anderson: I love that.
32:53
Will Parker Anderson: I love getting into that knowing that,
32:57
Will Parker Anderson: you you have an opportunity to speak life to people.
33:00
Will Parker Anderson: But, to your question, there's lots of roadblocks.
33:04
Will Parker Anderson: There's lots of, landmines that we can unknowingly step on.
33:09
Will Parker Anderson: So the first one that comes to mind is, we we overcomplicate
33:14
Will Parker Anderson: or we we say too much.
33:16
Will Parker Anderson: And simplicity and communication is everything.
33:20
Will Parker Anderson: Right?
33:20
Will Parker Anderson: I also I went through seminary.
33:22
Will Parker Anderson: I went through preaching classes where where they really break down
33:27
Will Parker Anderson: the theory of communication.
33:29
Will Parker Anderson: And what the experts say is that really max
33:34
Will Parker Anderson: what the human brain can handle and whether you're doing a twenty minute talk
33:38
Will Parker Anderson: or an hour long talk is about three big ideas.
33:44
Will Parker Anderson: And the three point sermon is a famous formula that Mhmm.
33:48
Will Parker Anderson: You know, all all those good Southern Baptist preachers like to employ.
33:53
Will Parker Anderson: But anyways, yes.
33:55
Will Parker Anderson: Limiting yourself to three ideas and learning the art of
33:59
Will Parker Anderson: outlining.
34:01
Will Parker Anderson: So maybe you do have ten things you really wanna say and you're like,
34:04
Will Parker Anderson: no.
34:04
Will Parker Anderson: These are all
34:06
Will Parker Anderson: essential.
34:06
Will Parker Anderson: I don't wanna lose any of them.
34:08
Will Parker Anderson: I have this one thirty minute slot, and I wanna maximize it.
34:12
Will Parker Anderson: Well, that's great.
34:13
Will Parker Anderson: How can you take those ten if they absolutely can't go, which I would
34:17
Will Parker Anderson: definitely press on a little.
34:18
Will Parker Anderson: Like, tell me more about these ten.
34:20
Will Parker Anderson: I'll I'll this editor will help you eliminate some.
34:22
Will Parker Anderson: But Yes.
34:23
Will Parker Anderson: Let's say you really do have ten things you wanna say.
34:26
Will Parker Anderson: Well, how do you package them under three points?
34:30
Will Parker Anderson: How do you fit them together and put them in com
34:34
Will Parker Anderson: mental compartments so that people can take those ten ideas
34:39
Will Parker Anderson: away with three souvenirs, like three big ideas.
34:44
Will Parker Anderson: And there's a lot that could be said, but, one of my favorite
34:48
Will Parker Anderson: analogies and it's attributed to different people.
34:51
Will Parker Anderson: I apologize.
34:51
Will Parker Anderson: I can't remember.
34:53
Will Parker Anderson: But if you just picture, a giant slab of marble
34:57
Will Parker Anderson: and if your task is to chisel out a statue,
35:02
Will Parker Anderson: like the famous statue of David out of that block of marble,
35:07
Will Parker Anderson: what we do as communicators is we think, oh, the more I say, the
35:11
Will Parker Anderson: better.
35:11
Will Parker Anderson: The more I'm either gonna prove my knowledge or I I maybe we have
35:15
Will Parker Anderson: good intentions.
35:16
Will Parker Anderson: I'm going to provide the most value I can, so I'm just gonna pack
35:20
Will Parker Anderson: this with information.
35:22
Will Parker Anderson: That's the wrong question.
35:24
Will Parker Anderson: How much can I keep?
35:26
Will Parker Anderson: Master communicators ask the opposite question.
35:29
Will Parker Anderson: How much can I eliminate?
35:30
Will Parker Anderson: And so it's like you're carving out a statue from a block of marble.
35:34
Will Parker Anderson: Your job is not done.
35:36
Will Parker Anderson: You don't have that final statue until you have chiseled
35:40
Will Parker Anderson: away absolutely everything that can go until all that is
35:44
Will Parker Anderson: left is your masterpiece or the core of your
35:48
Will Parker Anderson: idea.
35:49
Will Parker Anderson: And so I say simplicity,
35:53
Will Parker Anderson: that's the principle.
35:55
Will Parker Anderson: The actionable piece there is to become a ruthless
35:59
Will Parker Anderson: eliminator and to really not hold back.
36:02
Will Parker Anderson: And, actually, it's like spring cleaning, the relief you feel as
36:07
Will Parker Anderson: you're donating or giving away things that you don't need.
36:10
Will Parker Anderson: You gotta shed those ideas.
36:12
Will Parker Anderson: And once a communicator learns to travel lightly
36:17
Will Parker Anderson: and they see the impact that simplicity has on their audience, it becomes
36:21
Will Parker Anderson: addictive.
36:21
Will Parker Anderson: And pretty soon you're like, you feel this relief because you don't have to
36:25
Will Parker Anderson: say it all.
36:26
Will Parker Anderson: You you don't feel less than, you don't feel like you need to impress.
36:32
Will Parker Anderson: You're really focused on serving your audience.
36:35
Will Parker Anderson: And that's what this is all about.
36:37
Will Parker Anderson: It's,
36:39
Will Parker Anderson: not to say this in a confrontational way, but it's not about you.
36:43
Will Parker Anderson: It's it's not about me.
36:44
Will Parker Anderson: Right.
36:44
Will Parker Anderson: As we are communicating, it is a act of love and an act of
36:48
Will Parker Anderson: service.
36:48
Will Parker Anderson: And,
36:50
Will Parker Anderson: I I remember one of my first sermons.
36:54
Will Parker Anderson: I had a friend who was really wise, and so I asked him,
36:59
Will Parker Anderson: hey.
36:59
Will Parker Anderson: What do you think of that message?
37:01
Will Parker Anderson: And he gave me his honest thoughts.
37:02
Will Parker Anderson: And I remember one of the things he said was, well, you're about ten,
37:06
Will Parker Anderson: twelve minutes in, and I realized you were still in your intro.
37:11
Will Parker Anderson: That was a bit long.
37:13
Lisa Nichols: And it
37:13
Will Parker Anderson: was like, wow.
37:15
Will Parker Anderson: I didn't even realize.
37:16
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
37:17
Will Parker Anderson: And so, maybe that segues into the next point, which is
37:21
Will Parker Anderson: receiving feedback and not fearing it.
37:25
Will Parker Anderson: I know so many communicators and many of them are pastors who
37:29
Will Parker Anderson: have become so fossilized in their bad habits,
37:33
Will Parker Anderson: week after week after week, and they make it's a logical fallacy
37:37
Will Parker Anderson: that the longer I've been doing this, the better I must be.
37:41
Will Parker Anderson: There's a whole field of study around this called deliberate practice, which says,
37:45
Will Parker Anderson: no.
37:46
Will Parker Anderson: More reps does not guarantee improvement.
37:49
Will Parker Anderson: What it guarantees is it's reinforcing what you're doing.
37:52
Will Parker Anderson: But if what you're doing isn't, isn't correct, isn't useful,
37:56
Will Parker Anderson: then you're just cementing bad habits.
37:59
Will Parker Anderson: And that sounds harsh, but, man, there is so much freedom
38:03
Will Parker Anderson: and growth and welcoming feedback.
38:07
Will Parker Anderson: Of course, I'm an editor.
38:08
Will Parker Anderson: I'm gonna be talking this way.
38:09
Will Parker Anderson: Right?
38:10
Will Parker Anderson: But truly,
38:12
Will Parker Anderson: here's the paradox that I've discovered.
38:14
Will Parker Anderson: The communicators that I most look up to who are have the most
38:18
Will Parker Anderson: skill, the most charisma,
38:21
Will Parker Anderson: honestly, the most favor over their their speaking ability,
38:25
Will Parker Anderson: they are the least offended or scared
38:29
Will Parker Anderson: of feedback.
38:30
Will Parker Anderson: They actually are more hungry for input for people to
38:34
Will Parker Anderson: tell them, tell me what I'm doing wrong.
38:37
Will Parker Anderson: I just had an author I deeply respect and honestly look up to tell
38:41
Will Parker Anderson: me last week, Will, I want you
38:45
Will Parker Anderson: to make this the best that it can possibly be and hold nothing back.
38:51
Will Parker Anderson: I think of athletes like Michael Jordan who literally had a
38:55
Will Parker Anderson: coach,
38:57
Will Parker Anderson: a trainer for his diet, for different parts
39:01
Will Parker Anderson: of his game, for his recovery,
39:05
Will Parker Anderson: just all these experts around him.
39:07
Will Parker Anderson: So the best actually know they need help the most.
39:11
Will Parker Anderson: And it's our insecurity, our our imposter syndrome that says,
39:15
Will Parker Anderson: no.
39:15
Will Parker Anderson: I got this.
39:16
Will Parker Anderson: I've been doing this for a while.
39:17
Will Parker Anderson: You know, I don't need help.
39:18
Will Parker Anderson: And so I would just encourage people to ask the question.
39:22
Will Parker Anderson: If you're a communicator, when was the last time you welcomed
39:26
Will Parker Anderson: someone who you deeply respect, who has knowledge and
39:30
Will Parker Anderson: wisdom to just critique your communication
39:34
Will Parker Anderson: and to help you find ways to improve.
39:39
Will Parker Anderson: What you'll find is it increases your confidence.
39:42
Will Parker Anderson: You know?
39:43
Will Parker Anderson: That initial sting is hard to hear.
39:45
Will Parker Anderson: But on the other side of that is knowing some of your blind spots
39:50
Will Parker Anderson: and, it it becomes such a rewarding process.
39:55
Will Parker Anderson: Wow.
39:56
Lisa Nichols: That was that was just gold.
39:59
Lisa Nichols: Will, that was just gold.
40:00
Lisa Nichols: I mean, you just said blind spots.
40:02
Lisa Nichols: How do you identify?
40:03
Lisa Nichols: But you're blind to it.
40:05
Lisa Nichols: You have to have a mirror.
40:07
Lisa Nichols: You can't.
40:08
Lisa Nichols: Right?
40:08
Lisa Nichols: You gotta have that mirror.
40:11
Lisa Nichols: And I always say that feedback is a gift.
40:13
Lisa Nichols: It truly, truly is.
40:14
Lisa Nichols: And so but I think about, okay.
40:17
Lisa Nichols: What does it take though to receive the feedback?
40:20
Lisa Nichols: It takes humility.
40:22
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
40:23
Lisa Nichols: It takes a willingness to be vulnerable, to say, hey.
40:26
Lisa Nichols: I I realize I am not the smartest person that were a room, and
40:31
Lisa Nichols: that is that often boils down to our pride thing.
40:34
Lisa Nichols: Right?
40:35
Lisa Nichols: It really does, and pride, as we know, is very dangerous.
40:39
Lisa Nichols: But I there's just so much.
40:42
Lisa Nichols: Goodness gracious.
40:43
Lisa Nichols: We could do a whole podcast.
40:44
Lisa Nichols: I could just keep asking you questions along this line.
40:48
Lisa Nichols: But
40:48
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
40:49
Will Parker Anderson: Real quick too, because not all feedback is created equal, and
40:53
Will Parker Anderson: some have maybe received unkind, untrue, or
40:57
Will Parker Anderson: unhelpful feedback, and I totally get that.
40:59
Will Parker Anderson: And so Yes.
41:00
Will Parker Anderson: I've been on the receiving end of some really harsh words that have echoed
41:04
Will Parker Anderson: in my mind for years, even though I know it wasn't fair.
41:07
Will Parker Anderson: So there's four and this will be super quick, but there's four questions
41:11
Will Parker Anderson: that I've thought through in evaluating feedback that helps you parse
41:15
Will Parker Anderson: that out.
41:16
Will Parker Anderson: And, hopefully, we all have someone readily in mind that can offer
41:20
Will Parker Anderson: thoughtful,
41:22
Will Parker Anderson: tactful, challenging feedback.
41:24
Will Parker Anderson: But the four questions are, is it trustworthy?
41:30
Will Parker Anderson: We have to lean on relationships.
41:32
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
41:32
Will Parker Anderson: If you don't know a person at all giving feedback, gotta be really careful
41:36
Will Parker Anderson: how much you
41:39
Will Parker Anderson: listen to.
41:39
Will Parker Anderson: Yes.
41:39
Will Parker Anderson: The second question is, is it specific?
41:41
Will Parker Anderson: So rather than that was a bad talk, that's general and fuzzy and doesn't
41:45
Will Parker Anderson: help you.
41:46
Will Parker Anderson: Is it specific?
41:47
Will Parker Anderson: In other words, like my friend, hey, your intro specifically
41:51
Will Parker Anderson: was ten minutes.
41:52
Will Parker Anderson: It should have probably been three or four minutes with the time you had.
41:56
Will Parker Anderson: The third question is, is it true?
42:00
Will Parker Anderson: Sometimes the feedback that hurts the most or
42:04
Will Parker Anderson: isn't super helpful still has a shred of truth and
42:08
Will Parker Anderson: so it's a learning to parse out.
42:10
Will Parker Anderson: Okay.
42:10
Will Parker Anderson: Is this actually true or if it's partly true, what is the
42:14
Will Parker Anderson: part that I can actually hold on to and then leave the rest behind
42:18
Will Parker Anderson: me?
42:18
Will Parker Anderson: And then number four, last question, is it actionable?
42:22
Will Parker Anderson: Is this feedback something that I can actually take
42:26
Will Parker Anderson: and do something with?
42:28
Will Parker Anderson: So going back to my example, absolutely.
42:30
Will Parker Anderson: The next time I preached, you better believe my intro was
42:35
Will Parker Anderson: Was was probably still, like, six or seven minutes if I'm being real.
42:38
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
42:38
Will Parker Anderson: But it it put it on my radar, and then I could actually do
42:42
Will Parker Anderson: something with it because it was specific.
42:44
Will Parker Anderson: So, anyways, just wanted to throw that in there too because I
42:47
Lisa Nichols: That's gonna go for a little bit.
42:49
Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
42:50
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
42:50
Will Parker Anderson: I see those people who have been burned before by harshness.
42:53
Lisa Nichols: Absolutely.
42:55
Lisa Nichols: And to your point, if you allow that in,
43:00
Lisa Nichols: without asking those questions and having that discernment, will that stuff
43:04
Lisa Nichols: can echo.
43:05
Lisa Nichols: Right?
43:05
Lisa Nichols: And it can be damaging and and limit you.
43:07
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
43:08
Lisa Nichols: So no.
43:09
Lisa Nichols: That's really great.
43:10
Lisa Nichols: I have just a couple more questions, and then we're gonna talk about something
43:14
Lisa Nichols: extra.
43:15
Lisa Nichols: You wrote a post that I read,
43:18
Lisa Nichols: lately.
43:19
Lisa Nichols: I would really highly encourage our listeners.
43:21
Lisa Nichols: Go follow Will.
43:22
Lisa Nichols: I mean, he he's, you know, he's very active on LinkedIn.
43:25
Lisa Nichols: He's writing great post.
43:27
Lisa Nichols: Connect with him, because I think what he's putting out there is
43:31
Lisa Nichols: gonna really help you.
43:32
Lisa Nichols: But you wrote a post that I read about engaging your your kids
43:36
Lisa Nichols: in scripture over the summer, and it was really a powerful post.
43:40
Lisa Nichols: You're like, you know, we can do all these things, but why not take
43:43
Lisa Nichols: this time to really get them ingratiated more
43:47
Lisa Nichols: into scripture?
43:48
Lisa Nichols: I think you've got three kids of your own.
43:50
Lisa Nichols: You already mentioned that.
43:51
Lisa Nichols: Callie Hayden.
43:51
Lisa Nichols: And what's the what's the baby?
43:54
Will Parker Anderson: Our youngest is Adley.
43:56
Lisa Nichols: Oh, I love that name, Adley.
43:58
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
43:58
Lisa Nichols: Callie, Hayden, and Adley.
44:01
Lisa Nichols: Can you share an idea with them?
44:04
Lisa Nichols: How can they what what can they do if this is important to a
44:08
Lisa Nichols: listener?
44:10
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
44:10
Will Parker Anderson: Well, really, I mean, I I love scripture,
44:14
Will Parker Anderson: and it's it's been such a a part of my life even from
44:18
Will Parker Anderson: an early age.
44:20
Will Parker Anderson: I've always loved it.
44:21
Will Parker Anderson: And I think part of that is because my parents found ways of just
44:26
Will Parker Anderson: modeling what it looks like to love scripture.
44:30
Will Parker Anderson: It was never a rote discipline or
44:35
Will Parker Anderson: it was never made to feel,
44:37
Will Parker Anderson: boring or like a chore.
44:40
Will Parker Anderson: So my my parents would often just share sort of off the cuff, like,
44:44
Will Parker Anderson: I was reading this verse and here's what this means to
44:49
Will Parker Anderson: me.
44:49
Will Parker Anderson: Here's how it's speaking to my life right now.
44:52
Will Parker Anderson: And so I really want my kids to experience the same, and I think
44:56
Will Parker Anderson: it can be intimidating for most of us as parents to think about
45:00
Will Parker Anderson: how do we introduce our kids to this massive book that's
45:05
Will Parker Anderson: hard for them to understand.
45:07
Will Parker Anderson: Of course, there's wonderful children's bibles and resources, but,
45:12
Will Parker Anderson: for me, one really simple thing is we have occasionally
45:16
Will Parker Anderson: chosen memory verses for our kids, just verses we want them
45:20
Will Parker Anderson: to learn.
45:21
Will Parker Anderson: And we've found that, teaching them through song
45:25
Will Parker Anderson: is by far the best.
45:27
Will Parker Anderson: So song and rhythm.
45:29
Will Parker Anderson: And if you just YouTube it, you can find so many resources.
45:33
Will Parker Anderson: You could put in the verse you're looking, unless it's real obscure if you're
45:37
Will Parker Anderson: in, like, Leviticus somewhere, maybe not.
45:39
Will Parker Anderson: But,
45:40
Lisa Nichols: you know, any of the things way.
45:42
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
45:43
Will Parker Anderson: Like, for it is by grace, you have been saved.
45:46
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
45:46
Will Parker Anderson: Right?
45:48
Will Parker Anderson: For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.
45:50
Will Parker Anderson: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
45:53
Will Parker Anderson: All all the the headliners, you you can find multiple
45:57
Will Parker Anderson: songs on all of them.
45:58
Will Parker Anderson: And so we'll just listen to those in the car on trips,
46:03
Will Parker Anderson: for a while.
46:03
Will Parker Anderson: I and it's always changing with the seasons, but we would do every morning.
46:07
Will Parker Anderson: We'd watch one of those those songs.
46:10
Will Parker Anderson: But I also remember, I went on a a daddy daughter trip with my
46:13
Will Parker Anderson: oldest.
46:14
Will Parker Anderson: This was now two two summers back.
46:17
Will Parker Anderson: And, I just got out my real bible, and
46:21
Will Parker Anderson: I found the memory verse that she was learning through a
46:25
Will Parker Anderson: song.
46:26
Will Parker Anderson: And I pulled out a highlighter, and it was really fun for her.
46:30
Will Parker Anderson: We just highlighted it in the Bible.
46:32
Will Parker Anderson: That was literally it.
46:33
Will Parker Anderson: It probably took ten seconds.
46:35
Will Parker Anderson: And then I think we went and found the second and third verse that
46:38
Will Parker Anderson: she had learned.
46:39
Will Parker Anderson: And that is so rudimentary.
46:42
Will Parker Anderson: And you it may sound boring on the surface, but she really enjoyed
46:47
Will Parker Anderson: that little activity.
46:48
Will Parker Anderson: It made her feel,
46:50
Will Parker Anderson: special.
46:51
Will Parker Anderson: It was like her getting to do something in daddy's big
46:55
Will Parker Anderson: Bible.
46:56
Will Parker Anderson: And Right.
46:57
Will Parker Anderson: I think we, we put too much pressure on ourselves that somehow
47:02
Will Parker Anderson: we have to be these master Bible teachers or have this robust
47:06
Will Parker Anderson: curriculum.
47:08
Will Parker Anderson: Honestly, even just putting your Bible on the kitchen table and mentioning
47:12
Will Parker Anderson: it, something that simple is where it starts.
47:16
Will Parker Anderson: Hey.
47:17
Will Parker Anderson: Do you know what this is?
47:18
Will Parker Anderson: Oh, this is a Bible.
47:19
Will Parker Anderson: Do you know what a Bible is?
47:21
Will Parker Anderson: Well, this is a book that God wrote to us.
47:25
Will Parker Anderson: This is daddy's favorite book.
47:27
Will Parker Anderson: For them to see you opening it, holding it,
47:32
Will Parker Anderson: and part of that maybe, you know, putting your smartphone down.
47:37
Will Parker Anderson: They're gonna figure out there's Bible apps eventually.
47:40
Will Parker Anderson: They're gonna run circles around us technologically.
47:43
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
47:45
Will Parker Anderson: But, yeah, just having a physical Bible around, I think is a huge win
47:49
Will Parker Anderson: for little kids, especially.
47:51
Will Parker Anderson: And then, of course, as they get older, you can start to actually do
47:55
Will Parker Anderson: real studies for them.
47:56
Will Parker Anderson: And I've done that a lot with others in my life.
48:00
Will Parker Anderson: As my kids get older, I'm really excited to start doing that with
48:03
Lisa Nichols: them.
48:03
Lisa Nichols: Conversations.
48:05
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
48:06
Lisa Nichols: That's so good.
48:08
Lisa Nichols: Well, I've talked to so many people that'll say, you know, the
48:12
Lisa Nichols: that my grandma's bible, you know, was always on their coffee table.
48:16
Lisa Nichols: I mean, it there is really something to that.
48:18
Lisa Nichols: And then and I will attest.
48:20
Lisa Nichols: I mean, I learned some Bible verses,
48:23
Lisa Nichols: as a young woman, you know, a young young person
48:27
Lisa Nichols: that I still remember.
48:28
Lisa Nichols: And I listen.
48:29
Lisa Nichols: I learned the Gettysburg address through song.
48:33
Lisa Nichols: So there is definitely a connection there.
48:37
Lisa Nichols: There definitely is.
48:37
Lisa Nichols: So I love that you brought that up, that that parents can Google that
48:41
Lisa Nichols: and find these amazing verses, that
48:45
Lisa Nichols: that someone has put to song.
48:47
Lisa Nichols: I've got a little lightning round for you.
48:49
Lisa Nichols: I know you're a fan of Mexican food and rich Mullins.
48:54
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
48:56
Lisa Nichols: You know, what would your dream party look like, okay, knowing that you
49:01
Lisa Nichols: love Mexican food and rich Mullins.
49:03
Lisa Nichols: It's gonna include some sort of, you know, good good
49:07
Lisa Nichols: singing and, tacos or something.
49:10
Lisa Nichols: Right?
49:12
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
49:12
Will Parker Anderson: Dream party definitely would always include Mexican food.
49:16
Will Parker Anderson: I would add of all varieties.
49:18
Will Parker Anderson: Like Arizona is an interesting scene for Mexican food.
49:21
Will Parker Anderson: It's got some, like, Tex Mex vibes
49:25
Will Parker Anderson: to it, but then a little bit more authentic Mexican as well.
49:29
Will Parker Anderson: And then, of course, here in California,
49:32
Will Parker Anderson: Tex Mex is anathema.
49:34
Will Parker Anderson: We're a little too healthy here on the coast.
49:37
Will Parker Anderson: So it's a lot more, authentic Mexican food.
49:41
Will Parker Anderson: Obviously, we're we're really close to Mexico, and it's a wonderful part of our
49:45
Will Parker Anderson: culture here.
49:46
Will Parker Anderson: So but, yeah.
49:47
Will Parker Anderson: A a great party for me.
49:48
Will Parker Anderson: There's gotta be music for sure.
49:50
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
49:50
Will Parker Anderson: If it can be live music, that's probably the dream.
49:54
Will Parker Anderson: For my thirtieth, a number of years ago, my wife, had
49:58
Will Parker Anderson: a a songwriter friend of ours come and and play, a live set.
50:03
Will Parker Anderson: And we have done a lot of worship nights or just,
50:08
Will Parker Anderson: almost open mic nights in our our backyard.
50:11
Will Parker Anderson: So I have all all the speakers, the mics, the sound system.
50:15
Will Parker Anderson: I'm a musician.
50:16
Will Parker Anderson: So we love anything that involves live music, not
50:20
Will Parker Anderson: just like a Spotify playlist.
50:22
Lisa Nichols: Right.
50:23
Lisa Nichols: Oh, I love that.
50:24
Lisa Nichols: I love that.
50:27
Lisa Nichols: Did I dream this, or did I read the are you a drummer?
50:31
Will Parker Anderson: I am a drummer.
50:33
Lisa Nichols: Okay.
50:33
Lisa Nichols: So see, it was in there somewhere.
50:36
Will Parker Anderson: It's impressive.
50:37
Will Parker Anderson: Yes.
50:38
Lisa Nichols: Oh, okay.
50:38
Lisa Nichols: Good.
50:39
Lisa Nichols: That's awesome.
50:40
Lisa Nichols: Well, I grew up with music too.
50:41
Lisa Nichols: Music has always been a very big part of my life since I was,
50:45
Lisa Nichols: like, four years old.
50:46
Lisa Nichols: I started singing solos in our church and just, I love
50:50
Lisa Nichols: music.
50:50
Lisa Nichols: It's the universal language.
50:52
Lisa Nichols: Is it not?
50:53
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
50:54
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
50:54
Lisa Nichols: Really is.
50:55
Will Parker Anderson: I mean,
50:56
Lisa Nichols: can move your soul like nothing else.
50:58
Lisa Nichols: But
50:59
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
51:00
Lisa Nichols: Let me ask you this.
51:01
Lisa Nichols: You've got a saying too.
51:03
Lisa Nichols: Here's a willism.
51:05
Lisa Nichols: You said that you run on caffeine and grace.
51:09
Lisa Nichols: So what's your go to coffee?
51:11
Lisa Nichols: What's your go
51:13
Will Parker Anderson: to?
51:13
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
51:14
Will Parker Anderson: Well, the those are just a curve ball because I actually am a huge
51:17
Will Parker Anderson: tea drinker, which people it confounds them.
51:20
Will Parker Anderson: They're like, what are you drinking?
51:23
Will Parker Anderson: I get made fun of a lot for it if I'm being real, but
51:25
Will Parker Anderson: Yes.
51:25
Will Parker Anderson: I I stick to my guns.
51:27
Will Parker Anderson: I do like coffee.
51:28
Will Parker Anderson: If I'm gonna drink coffee, the reason I don't drink a lot of it
51:32
Will Parker Anderson: is it wires me in a way that I I
51:36
Will Parker Anderson: can't sleep and, I'm getting a little older, Lisa.
51:40
Will Parker Anderson: So, you know, coming up on forty here.
51:42
Will Parker Anderson: And, it just wires me.
51:45
Will Parker Anderson: So but, yeah, I drink a lot of black and green teas
51:49
Will Parker Anderson: is my go to daily drink.
51:52
Will Parker Anderson: And that gives me I drink it all day.
51:54
Will Parker Anderson: So Yeah.
51:55
Will Parker Anderson: I don't know if that's good for me or not.
51:57
Will Parker Anderson: I think it is.
51:57
Will Parker Anderson: I it's supposed to
51:58
Lisa Nichols: be it's supposed to be good for you.
52:00
Lisa Nichols: I'll ask our nutritionist, and I'll let you know.
52:02
Lisa Nichols: Okay?
52:03
Lisa Nichols: Please do.
52:03
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
52:05
Lisa Nichols: Okay.
52:05
Lisa Nichols: I have one last question to ask you before we talk about something extra
52:09
Lisa Nichols: because I know that this is a question that you ask your guest.
52:13
Will Parker Anderson: Oh.
52:13
Will Parker Anderson: Oh, no.
52:14
Will Parker Anderson: Oh, no.
52:15
Lisa Nichols: I know.
52:16
Lisa Nichols: I know.
52:17
Lisa Nichols: See, I turned the tables on you here.
52:19
Lisa Nichols: Okay.
52:19
Lisa Nichols: So if life was a book, what would the title be?
52:22
Will Parker Anderson: Oh, no.
52:23
Lisa Nichols: Oh, no.
52:24
Will Parker Anderson: You got me.
52:25
Will Parker Anderson: You got me.
52:26
Will Parker Anderson: Oh, wow.
52:27
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
52:27
Will Parker Anderson: I had an author, who I was interviewing flip it on me, and I
52:31
Will Parker Anderson: was like, oh, no.
52:31
Will Parker Anderson: No.
52:32
Will Parker Anderson: This is your interview.
52:33
Will Parker Anderson: You can't do this.
52:35
Will Parker Anderson: I've interviewed dozens of people I don't know that I thought about it but
52:38
Will Parker Anderson: I'll I'll come up with an answer for you okay
52:44
Will Parker Anderson: man this is so hard I'm I'm experiencing in real time what I do
52:47
Will Parker Anderson: to the office that I do what you
52:48
Lisa Nichols: do to your guest
52:50
Will Parker Anderson: I I've actually I started giving them a heads up because that's only fair.
52:54
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
52:57
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
52:57
Will Parker Anderson: I I can't believe that.
52:58
Will Parker Anderson: With something better.
53:00
Lisa Nichols: I can't believe that.
53:01
Will Parker Anderson: The editor.
53:03
Lisa Nichols: Well, I
53:03
Will Parker Anderson: know how much goes into the titling process and so I feel that pressure.
53:07
Will Parker Anderson: But Mhmm.
53:08
Will Parker Anderson: What I think about right off the bat and something that I often
53:12
Will Parker Anderson: carry with me is
53:14
Will Parker Anderson: a gratitude for the patience of God.
53:18
Will Parker Anderson: Like when I think through the seasons of my life, I just think,
53:22
Will Parker Anderson: wow, I was either so foolish or so clueless in
53:26
Will Parker Anderson: that season, and yet God was the same there as he is now.
53:31
Will Parker Anderson: And I'm probably still foolish stumbling around
53:35
Will Parker Anderson: in so many areas that I don't even recognize.
53:37
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
53:38
Will Parker Anderson: And so just we talk about God's patience, but
53:42
Will Parker Anderson: the depth of his patience has always gripped me.
53:45
Will Parker Anderson: Like, I can't believe,
53:48
Will Parker Anderson: for my whole life, he has been present.
53:51
Will Parker Anderson: So my title would be something about that.
53:55
Lisa Nichols: I like it.
53:56
Will Parker Anderson: I like it.
53:56
Will Parker Anderson: Grateful for the patience of God.
53:59
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
54:00
Lisa Nichols: Absolutely.
54:00
Lisa Nichols: Steadfast,
54:03
Lisa Nichols: the steadfast love of God.
54:04
Lisa Nichols: Bring with us.
54:05
Lisa Nichols: My goodness.
54:05
Lisa Nichols: How many times we mess up.
54:07
Lisa Nichols: You know?
54:07
Lisa Nichols: And to your point, he continues to pursue us.
54:10
Lisa Nichols: He's patient.
54:11
Lisa Nichols: He's like, I'll meet you where you are.
54:13
Lisa Nichols: You know?
54:13
Lisa Nichols: It's just that's so good.
54:15
Lisa Nichols: I love it.
54:16
Lisa Nichols: Well, let me ask you this because this is the question I ask everyone
54:19
Lisa Nichols: of my guests.
54:20
Lisa Nichols: What is the something extra you believe every leader needs?
54:26
Will Parker Anderson: That's a fantastic question.
54:28
Will Parker Anderson: There's something extra that every leader needs.
54:36
Will Parker Anderson: You know, I would probably say,
54:41
Will Parker Anderson: to rest in the grace of God, but
54:45
Will Parker Anderson: but really to know that,
54:49
Will Parker Anderson: you're not going to get it right and that you don't
54:53
Will Parker Anderson: have to create a false narrative that spins
54:57
Will Parker Anderson: what you do into, you know, perfectionism.
55:02
Will Parker Anderson: But you can actually really lean heavily on the grace of God
55:07
Will Parker Anderson: to cover those mistakes,
55:09
Will Parker Anderson: the times you didn't know what to do or did the wrong thing.
55:12
Will Parker Anderson: And actually, I had someone say to me once, lead out of your
55:16
Will Parker Anderson: weakness.
55:18
Will Parker Anderson: Don't hide it, but put it in in the forefront.
55:21
Will Parker Anderson: And that's not to say you overshare or you're just emotionally leaking
55:25
Will Parker Anderson: on those that you lead Mhmm.
55:27
Will Parker Anderson: Or over divulging.
55:29
Will Parker Anderson: But what it means is you are vulnerable,
55:32
Will Parker Anderson: and humble, and you're willing to show your need
55:37
Will Parker Anderson: for grace and the confidence you have in that grace of God
55:41
Will Parker Anderson: more than in yourself.
55:42
Will Parker Anderson: And here's the thing, people will exploit that at times.
55:46
Will Parker Anderson: Mhmm.
55:47
Will Parker Anderson: And they will be unfair and hurtful and say things
55:51
Will Parker Anderson: like, oh, well, I knew that you were always dot dot dot.
55:54
Will Parker Anderson: But for the majority of folks that you're leading, that's going to give them
55:58
Will Parker Anderson: freedom to be real and to know that you are a safe
56:03
Will Parker Anderson: place.
56:04
Will Parker Anderson: And,
56:05
Will Parker Anderson: yeah.
56:06
Will Parker Anderson: So
56:07
Lisa Nichols: It's beautiful.
56:07
Will Parker Anderson: Lean on grace and lead out of weakness.
56:10
Lisa Nichols: Oh, now there's a book title for you.
56:14
Will Parker Anderson: There it is.
56:15
Will Parker Anderson: There it is.
56:16
Will Parker Anderson: You're welcome to use that one.
56:17
Lisa Nichols: Book title for you, Will.
56:19
Lisa Nichols: Well, hey.
56:20
Lisa Nichols: Listen.
56:20
Lisa Nichols: This has been so much fun.
56:22
Lisa Nichols: Thank you so much for agreeing to come on to the show.
56:25
Lisa Nichols: And I just know that, everything we've shared here, I mean, I
56:29
Lisa Nichols: know it's gonna help our listeners.
56:31
Lisa Nichols: I encourage our listeners reach out to Will, and, you
56:35
Lisa Nichols: know, follow him.
56:36
Lisa Nichols: And I I just know that I've learned a lot today, and I've been
56:39
Lisa Nichols: inspired.
56:40
Lisa Nichols: So thank you so much for your time.
56:42
Will Parker Anderson: Yeah.
56:42
Will Parker Anderson: Of course, Lisa.
56:43
Will Parker Anderson: It's great to be with you.
56:45
Announcer: Thank you for listening to today's show.
56:47
Announcer: Something extra with Lisa Nichols is a Technology Partners production.
56:51
Announcer: Copyright Technology Partners Inc two thousand and nineteen.
56:54
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