Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E68 An Interview with George Torok and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker

Transcript

Networking Unleashed: S1E68 An Interview with George Torok and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:16
  Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
• 0:19
  Profitable Connections. I'm your host, Michael
• 0:23
  Foreman, and today we're talking about a game
• 0:26
  changer in the world of business and networking
• 0:28
  communication. Listen, that's right in my wheelhouse.
• 0:33
  So listen, you've probably heard how you say
• 0:36
  something is just as important as what you say.
• 0:40
  And what if I told you that in today's competitive
• 0:43
  environment, Superior communication isn't optional.
• 0:47
  It's your differentiator. My guest today is a
• 0:52
  master of helping people deliver messages that
• 0:55
  land with power, purpose, and profit. He believes
• 0:59
  that inferior doesn't win. And in this episode,
• 1:03
  you're going to find out exactly what that means
• 1:07
  for your next pitch, presentation, or conversation.
• 1:11
  Whether you're networking in a room full of strangers
• 1:14
  or speaking on a stage with high stakes, this
• 1:18
  conversation will help you out, speak up, and
• 1:21
  secure real results. Let's dive in. Now, before
• 1:25
  I introduce George, I just want to say that this
• 1:29
  is exactly what I talk about. This is exactly
• 1:33
  what I do, what I'm so passionate about when
• 1:37
  I go on stages, when I go into companies. He's
• 1:40
  the real deal. So I would like to introduce George
• 1:43
  Torok, and he has such a vast background. I'm
• 1:47
  going to let him introduce himself, but George,
• 1:50
  why don't you take it away? Thank you, Michael.
• 1:53
  Delighted to be talking with you and your listeners
• 1:56
  here on Networking Unleashed. And everyone starts
• 2:00
  somewhere, Michael, and I started out as a shy
• 2:04
  and introverted student. Now, those are two separate
• 2:08
  aspects. Some people confuse them, but shyness
• 2:11
  is a learned behavior, which means it can be
• 2:14
  unlearned. So introversion versus extroversion,
• 2:18
  I define as where you get your energy. I'm still
• 2:21
  an introvert. I know what to do. I can go to
• 2:24
  the networking events. And when it's time, I
• 2:27
  can stand up on a stage and speak to people.
• 2:29
  And I enjoy that. And I'm drained after. Totally
• 2:34
  wears me out. So that's where I started. And
• 2:38
  it actually started to change when I was in high
• 2:42
  school because I wanted to become popular. But
• 2:46
  I was afraid to stand out. So I pushed myself
• 2:49
  to be bold, to stand up, to answer questions
• 2:53
  in class, to ask the teacher questions, to walk
• 2:56
  up to that girl and talk to her. Oh, she's going
• 3:00
  to hurt me. No, she's not going to make fun of
• 3:01
  me. And I got over that. But it was a struggle.
• 3:05
  And later in my career, I learned to communicate
• 3:09
  more effectively. I'll tell you what the big
• 3:13
  change was. I attended a two -day workshop on
• 3:17
  presentation skills. And I went to that workshop
• 3:22
  thinking, in fact, my boss said, you don't need
• 3:25
  this. You're already good enough. And I thought,
• 3:27
  yeah, I'm good enough. And I went to the workshop
• 3:29
  and I came away with two big ahas. One, I wasn't
• 3:34
  as good as I thought I was. And I had to discover
• 3:37
  that myself. No one could tell me that. And two,
• 3:40
  I learned that effective communication is a skill
• 3:44
  set. And it's techniques that are based on principles.
• 3:49
  And the techniques can be learned, adapted to
• 3:52
  your style. But it's all skill. It's not natural
• 3:55
  talent. And anyone can learn to become a better
• 3:59
  communicator. And if you don't, you're going
• 4:02
  to be left behind. Absolutely. I can't, you made
• 4:07
  so many great points, but the most important
• 4:10
  thing is that networking communication is a skill
• 4:15
  and a talent. Okay. So you have to, and what
• 4:19
  do you do when you have to, what do you have
• 4:22
  to do to get better at a skill? What do you have
• 4:25
  to do with a talent? You have to practice, practice
• 4:28
  and practice. And then when you're finished with
• 4:31
  that, you have to practice again. Okay, so I've
• 4:35
  developed about 10 questions that I'd like to
• 4:37
  ask you, but I'm really interested in your answers
• 4:42
  because each one is something that I talk about.
• 4:45
  So I'm very interested to hear. You talk about
• 4:48
  communication being a differentiator. How can
• 4:52
  professionals use this edge to stand out when
• 4:56
  networking in crowded industries? People will
• 5:01
  remember you based on how they felt when they
• 5:04
  met you and when you had a conversation with
• 5:08
  them. And that will be determined by how you
• 5:11
  communicated with them. And I'll give you an
• 5:14
  example of a recent conversation at a networking
• 5:18
  event I attended. The person said to me, he thought
• 5:23
  he was being, perhaps he thought he was being
• 5:24
  clever. So his opening statement was, what brings
• 5:27
  you here today? And I could have said my car
• 5:31
  or it could have been funny and said my steed.
• 5:34
  But instead, I said curiosity, curiosity in the
• 5:39
  search for a positive conversation. And he looked
• 5:43
  at me and he didn't know what to say. He had
• 5:47
  no follow up. So he started the conversation,
• 5:49
  what he thought was a clever question, but he
• 5:51
  didn't know how to continue it. And so it. We
• 5:54
  picked up the conversation at some point, but
• 5:56
  it went through this flat part. So be prepared
• 5:59
  to listen to people. And he could have responded
• 6:03
  with, oh, that's different. What makes you curious,
• 6:07
  George? So pick up on what people say and engage
• 6:11
  them, and they'll remember you. And I don't remember
• 6:15
  the guy's name. And if I see him again, I'm probably
• 6:18
  not going to go walk over to him because he left
• 6:21
  me with a yucky feeling. Right. That's right.
• 6:25
  And the important thing that you said was that
• 6:29
  you had to have active listening. Active listening
• 6:32
  is so important because you have to respond to
• 6:36
  what the person is asking you, not the next thing
• 6:40
  that you want to say. So when he got confused,
• 6:42
  because he tried to come out of his little bag
• 6:45
  of tricks of what to say, and you just hit him
• 6:49
  right back. So that's very good. And I'll have
• 6:51
  to remember that. Okay, so what are the most
• 6:55
  common mistakes people make when presenting themselves
• 6:58
  at networking events and how can they avoid them?
• 7:03
  One of the most common mistakes is that they
• 7:07
  think it's all about them. that they're there
• 7:09
  to give their 30 second or two minute or pitch
• 7:14
  about, here's what I do. Here's what I sell.
• 7:16
  Give me your card. I'll get lost. Get out of
• 7:19
  my face. This is the feeling that I have when
• 7:20
  that happens. And here's another, I remember
• 7:23
  a person approached me and they start talking
• 7:26
  to me, but while they're talking to me. their
• 7:29
  eyes are looking up. They're going up like this.
• 7:32
  And I realized that what they were doing is they
• 7:34
  weren't talking to me. They were reading the
• 7:36
  script that they had memorized in their head.
• 7:39
  So that's all they were there for. And then when
• 7:40
  they're done, I just looked at them and said,
• 7:42
  well, that's interesting. So the first thing
• 7:47
  is, it's not about you. It's about making connections.
• 7:52
  And connections means building a relationship.
• 7:56
  And another mistake is to write people off because
• 8:00
  you think, oh, this person is an incline for
• 8:02
  me. I'm not going to talk to them. I'm not going
• 8:03
  to waste my time with them. Guess what? That
• 8:05
  person might introduce you to someone else or
• 8:08
  they might simply give you energy when you arrive
• 8:12
  the next time because you already have a connection.
• 8:15
  So those are a couple of the mistakes. And the
• 8:18
  third mistake is. Not following up because it's
• 8:22
  about a relationship. And can you imagine if
• 8:24
  you can you imagine getting married and the first
• 8:27
  year you the year later after the marriage, you
• 8:30
  have a first anniversary and you give your spouse
• 8:33
  flowers and a card and all that. And you think,
• 8:35
  OK, that's done. I don't have to do that anymore.
• 8:40
  Don't work that way. That's a good analogy. I
• 8:44
  haven't thought about it that way. Follow up.
• 8:47
  is so important. It's more important, I think,
• 8:50
  than actually meeting the person, by the way.
• 8:52
  But the follow -up and the way you do it and
• 8:55
  what you do is so very important. And you brought
• 8:59
  it out. That's a great analogy. If you don't
• 9:02
  mind, I'm going to have to steal that, okay?
• 9:04
  All yours. It's free. It's a gift. Okay. Okay.
• 9:08
  So you say inferior doesn't win. What are the
• 9:13
  signs that someone is delivering in an inferior
• 9:16
  presentation or pitch? And how do they level
• 9:20
  up fast? A sure sign is when it's when they're
• 9:27
  talking about it's all about themselves. And
• 9:30
  I get another example. I attended a webinar the
• 9:33
  other day and 10 minutes in. The speakers are
• 9:38
  still introducing each other. And I used to show
• 9:42
  up early for those type of webinars, but now
• 9:44
  I know to show up at least a couple minutes in
• 9:46
  so I can skip that nonsense. But 10 minutes in,
• 9:49
  they're still introducing each other. They're
• 9:52
  talking about themselves. I don't care. That's
• 9:54
  not why I showed up. So stop talking about yourself
• 9:57
  and make it about the audience real quick. Engage
• 10:00
  the other person quickly and make it about them.
• 10:04
  And here's a tip to make. your presentation more
• 10:09
  about your listener, your audience. Use the word
• 10:12
  you. So here's what this means to you. Here's
• 10:16
  how you can benefit. Here's what you can do.
• 10:19
  Or has this ever happened to you? So speak to
• 10:22
  them as if you're speaking. So if you're speaking
• 10:24
  to an audience, speak to them as if you're speaking
• 10:26
  to one person. And use the same, if you're speaking
• 10:30
  to one person, you're speaking to one person,
• 10:32
  but use the word you and stop using the word.
• 10:35
  If the speaker is using the word I a lot, they're
• 10:41
  into themselves. That's very good. And I would
• 10:45
  say that in my presentations, I use the word
• 10:49
  you because I always believe that I'm talking
• 10:52
  to one person. I may be talking to 10, 20, 50,
• 10:57
  100, 200, 300. I always use the word you. So
• 11:01
  that's very good. I hope everybody that's listening
• 11:04
  is listening to George because he knows what
• 11:08
  he's talking about. Listen to what he's saying
• 11:10
  and use you in your presentations. And Michael,
• 11:15
  I'll add one point to that. Don't say you guys.
• 11:20
  Yuck. That's so gang talk. That's gang talk,
• 11:24
  street talk. You don't talk to people, you guys.
• 11:27
  Well, especially when you're trying to be inclusive,
• 11:30
  right? Inclusive, meaning men and women. So if
• 11:34
  you say you guys, most of the women will say,
• 11:36
  all right, I understand he's saying it to the
• 11:38
  masses, but some of them may say, what about
• 11:40
  me? So absolutely, you're 100 % correct. In your
• 11:45
  experience, how does a powerful presentation
• 11:48
  translate into profitable connections? And can
• 11:53
  you share a specific story? Ah, an effective
• 12:00
  presentation leaves people knowing what to do
• 12:04
  next. And I'll give you an example of actually
• 12:10
  a client that I helped. This client was pitching
• 12:13
  for a $10 million contract. And they had been
• 12:18
  failing in their presentations recently. So I
• 12:21
  coached him on this. And we spent... three days
• 12:24
  together working on this presentation. And initially,
• 12:27
  he had a 60 -minute presentation because they
• 12:31
  said, you've got 60 minutes. Guess what? You
• 12:34
  don't need to fill it. When we recreated his
• 12:36
  presentation, it was 12 minutes long. He's got
• 12:41
  60 minutes, and 12 minutes wasn't a magic number.
• 12:45
  It's just that when we were recreating the presentation,
• 12:48
  we got to that point, and I realized that was
• 12:50
  all he needed to say. And this is what many people
• 12:55
  don't realize. Say less. Say the minimum that
• 13:00
  you need to say to get the results that you want.
• 13:03
  And in this case, he delivered his 12 minutes.
• 13:06
  Now, can you imagine the committee listening
• 13:09
  to him and going, wow, the man's done in 12.
• 13:12
  This is fabulous. I like this guy already. And
• 13:14
  they spent the rest of the time asking him questions.
• 13:18
  So it became more of a conversation than a pitch.
• 13:24
  Very good. And if you keep it conversational,
• 13:27
  then that will also keep the attention of the
• 13:30
  people involved. Okay, so give me your top strategies
• 13:36
  for making a lasting first impression, whether
• 13:39
  in person, on stage, or even in Zoom. Different
• 13:45
  environments, but there are some similar techniques.
• 13:50
  First of all, connect with people. And so, for
• 13:56
  example, when you're on stage, make eye contact
• 13:59
  with people. Now, what if you got 100, 500 people
• 14:02
  in a room, 1 ,000 people? You might, I can't
• 14:04
  look at everybody. Yes, but it's not who you
• 14:07
  looked at. It's who believed you looked at them.
• 14:10
  So if you look off to the one side here, you're
• 14:13
  looking at that person over there, that five
• 14:16
  or six or maybe 10 people around them believe
• 14:19
  you looked at them. So talk to them for a sentence.
• 14:23
  or two and then move your eyes over here to another
• 14:25
  part of the room so by the end of the presentation
• 14:27
  everyone feels that you looked at them and therefore
• 14:32
  we're talking directly to them now when you're
• 14:34
  in zoom of course you need to spend the time
• 14:36
  looking into the camera not the screen because
• 14:41
  you think i'm looking at them no you're not it
• 14:43
  doesn't look that way you got to look at the
• 14:44
  camera which is hard to do it's a training but
• 14:47
  the audience needs to believe that you looked
• 14:50
  at them another technique is to engage people
• 14:53
  throughout. Our attention span is so short today
• 14:57
  that you need to engage people every, it depends
• 15:02
  how many seconds or minutes you need to engage
• 15:05
  them. And there's two main ways you engage people.
• 15:10
  One is changes in your delivery, and two is by
• 15:14
  involving them. And one of the best techniques
• 15:18
  that actually uses Both of those methods is to
• 15:21
  tell stories that involve them, that they can
• 15:26
  see themselves involved in. So there are a few
• 15:29
  of the ideas to connect with people. And of course,
• 15:33
  start on time. And even if you didn't start on
• 15:37
  time because the emcee was late, you finish on
• 15:41
  time and maybe a little bit early. I watched
• 15:44
  a speaker at an event. They had five minutes
• 15:47
  to speak. They spoke for 15. And they said at
• 15:51
  the end, oh, oops, we went a little over time.
• 15:55
  No, you didn't. You went three times over. And
• 15:59
  why would you think it was little? And so finish
• 16:02
  on time or a little bit early. And people go,
• 16:04
  whoa, that wasn't so bad. That's right. That's
• 16:09
  right. And when you try to engage your audience,
• 16:11
  I always have them ask them a question, have
• 16:15
  them raise their hand. you know, or something
• 16:17
  else like that. And I always try to engage. I
• 16:21
  think my audience, the bigger audience last year
• 16:24
  was about 300 people. And I broke it up into
• 16:27
  four segments, sections. And I just crossed my
• 16:30
  eyes and I stared right at the people and everybody
• 16:34
  thought I was looking at them, but I didn't see
• 16:36
  anybody, but that was just me. Okay. How does
• 16:41
  one balance authenticity with professionalism?
• 16:45
  in high stakes networking or speaking situations.
• 16:50
  Ah, and that's a terrific question to ask because
• 16:55
  some people say they, some people, for example,
• 16:59
  say, oh, I don't rehearse because I want to be
• 17:01
  natural. Guess what? Anyone who's good at what
• 17:05
  they do in any kind of performance, whether it's
• 17:09
  music, dance. The sporting world, you think those
• 17:13
  people who are out there playing those sports,
• 17:16
  those multi -million dollar athletes don't rehearse,
• 17:18
  don't practice. You think that the great pianists
• 17:22
  of the world don't play scales to rehearse to
• 17:25
  get their fingers working. Of course they do.
• 17:27
  That's how they come across natural. But see,
• 17:30
  too many people stop rehearsing too early. So
• 17:32
  first of all is to remember to rehearse. And
• 17:36
  then, ah, but. Stay real. Be in the moment. Just
• 17:41
  because you are the performer, you're on stage,
• 17:45
  stop thinking of yourself as a star because the
• 17:52
  audience will feel it. And I watched a presentation
• 17:55
  last week where one person told his story. One
• 18:00
  of the speakers just told his story of how he
• 18:02
  built his business and the challenges they had
• 18:04
  and the problems. Was he dynamic? No. However,
• 18:09
  he was real. And when he was telling his story
• 18:13
  of struggle, and then this happened, and that
• 18:15
  went wrong, and we're thinking, holy crap, how
• 18:18
  does he keep going? How does he have the perseverance?
• 18:21
  I don't know if I could do it. So we felt him,
• 18:24
  his story. Another speaker spoke and gave us
• 18:29
  wonderful insights, yet he had an attitude. He
• 18:34
  had an attitude that just, he's not someone that
• 18:39
  I would want to sit and have coffee with because
• 18:41
  he would spend the whole time talking about himself.
• 18:45
  So connect with the audience. You are not the
• 18:48
  star. Your audience is the star. Absolutely.
• 18:54
  And I was just going to say that I always make
• 18:57
  the audience the star, right? But I go into networking
• 19:00
  communication with what's called a servant's
• 19:03
  heart. Right. I'm always looking to give and
• 19:07
  not to receive. Now, people say you go to a networking
• 19:10
  event and you're looking to sell either your
• 19:13
  widgets or whatever the case may be. Take that
• 19:16
  completely out of your mind. The people that
• 19:19
  I coach, I tell them all the same thing. Go in
• 19:23
  there looking to give to be that source for somebody
• 19:26
  that's going to be the referral source for two
• 19:28
  people. And you'll get so much more out of it
• 19:31
  when you're looking to give. not receive. So
• 19:34
  that's my main story. And that's powerful advice.
• 19:38
  And more people need to understand that the grease,
• 19:41
  if you assume that networking is a machine, the
• 19:45
  lubrication, the grease that keeps it working
• 19:47
  is helping other people. Absolutely. Absolutely.
• 19:52
  Okay. Let's talk about energy and delivery. What
• 19:56
  should networkers know about tone, pace, and
• 20:00
  presence? when they communicate. Your voice says
• 20:07
  a lot about how you feel. It says whether you
• 20:13
  are excited. It says whether you are being positive
• 20:16
  or whether you are maybe being deceptive or even
• 20:22
  feeling not confident about what you're saying.
• 20:24
  So your tone, your pace. So for example, And
• 20:30
  it's not necessarily how you feel. It's how the
• 20:32
  audience perceives the message. So, for example,
• 20:37
  if you are chattering away at me a mile a minute
• 20:42
  and I barely have a time to listening to what
• 20:45
  you're saying, I'm trying to digest what you're
• 20:47
  saying, but you're going so fast that I can't
• 20:49
  even decipher. That's annoying. And it strikes
• 20:54
  me. It comes across as you are obviously nervous
• 20:58
  talking about this topic, especially if you just
• 21:02
  keep talking without pausing. So, for example,
• 21:06
  some people believe that they can't have any
• 21:09
  blank spaces, can't have any pauses in there.
• 21:12
  But the reality is the pauses give you a chance
• 21:16
  to breathe. And it gives the audience a chance
• 21:20
  to digest what you just said. And if you can
• 21:24
  demonstrate that you can stop talking for two
• 21:27
  or three seconds, the audience feels more comfortable
• 21:32
  because it's not like you're trying to ram something
• 21:34
  down our throat. Absolutely. And what I've used
• 21:38
  is a good rule of thumb. Comedians. Comedians
• 21:42
  have a great presence. They pause at the right
• 21:45
  time. They actually wait. for something back
• 21:48
  from the audience. And I follow a lot of comedians.
• 21:52
  And when they're on stage and something doesn't
• 21:55
  work, they look at it and they say, okay, that
• 21:56
  didn't work. So I'm going to write that down.
• 21:58
  And they move on. So if you make a mistake, it's
• 22:02
  not the end of the world. You made a mistake.
• 22:04
  But when you are active listening and you respond
• 22:08
  to what they said, pause. And I read an entire
• 22:13
  book about the pause after you listen. because
• 22:17
  it is so very important. It does, A, give them
• 22:21
  time to digest what you have said, and also gives
• 22:26
  you time to respond to what they said. It serves
• 22:31
  multiple purposes, but the pause is so very important
• 22:34
  with the pace and your tone. Always, you raise
• 22:37
  your voice, you lower your voice, you raise your
• 22:39
  voice, you lower your voice, but you have to
• 22:41
  do it in such a way. But yes, very good, very
• 22:44
  good. Okay, so here's a good one. What role does
• 22:49
  storytelling play in effective communication,
• 22:52
  especially when trying to build meaningful business
• 22:56
  relationships? Stories make the difference between
• 23:03
  success and failure. No question. Stories engage
• 23:06
  us. Stories stimulate our imagination. Stories
• 23:11
  build trust. The best stories are ones that create
• 23:18
  a visual in the mind of your listener and trigger
• 23:23
  an emotion. At the least... at least one of those,
• 23:28
  either an emotion or a visual, but those are
• 23:30
  the best stories and people need to see themselves
• 23:32
  in your stories. And I'll give you a quick example.
• 23:35
  I was speaking to a group of entrepreneurs and
• 23:39
  this was actually some years ago. And I told
• 23:42
  a story about my teenagers, about the challenge
• 23:46
  of the teenagers. Now, the interesting fact,
• 23:49
  the reason that I told the teenager story is
• 23:52
  because I, at the time, I looked young for my
• 23:55
  age and I wanted the audience to know that I
• 23:58
  was old enough to have teenagers. So I worked
• 24:00
  in the story about teenagers and the frustration
• 24:02
  and communication. And I know I connected because
• 24:05
  after my presentation, people came up to me and
• 24:09
  started telling me about their teenagers. That's
• 24:16
  how you should. Yep. That's how you know you're
• 24:19
  connected with them. That's very good because
• 24:21
  you had a connection with the people you were
• 24:24
  speaking to. And that, of course, is the ultimate
• 24:26
  goal. But I feel that the storytelling, it can't
• 24:30
  be too long. The story can't take up a half an
• 24:32
  hour. But if you have that quick story and if
• 24:36
  you have a few stories, I use slides when I present.
• 24:42
  But I have a few stories that I keep in my back
• 24:45
  pocket. for those audiences that it's appropriate
• 24:48
  for. But I feel that storytelling is a very important
• 24:52
  part of presentation, networking, and everything
• 24:55
  else. Not as much with networking, because networking,
• 25:01
  you don't have that time, unless it's a one -on
• 25:04
  -one, something like that. But yes, that's very
• 25:06
  good. Okay. What do you recommend to someone
• 25:10
  who struggles with speaking confidently? in front
• 25:15
  of others, especially when trying to make a connection
• 25:18
  that counts. First of all, realize that feeling
• 25:25
  anxious or nervous when speaking to other people,
• 25:30
  whether it's one person, a half dozen, or a few
• 25:33
  hundred, feeling anxious is normal. So if you
• 25:37
  have experienced any form of anxiety, nervousness,
• 25:42
  you're normal, okay? You're normal. Get over
• 25:44
  it. You're not the only person in the world.
• 25:46
  Now, here's something to keep in mind. And here's
• 25:52
  a question to think about. Is it more important
• 25:56
  to feel confident or to appear confident? And
• 26:04
  people sometimes ask this question of some of
• 26:06
  my audiences and people say they want both. That's
• 26:09
  nice, but you can't always have both. And there
• 26:12
  will be those moments when you have those pangs
• 26:15
  of anxiety. The audience, the listeners don't
• 26:20
  need to know. They don't need to know. And so
• 26:24
  what if you stumble, you make a mistake? Big
• 26:26
  deal. We'll actually like you more when you appear
• 26:30
  imperfect. Like us. When you appear human, stop
• 26:35
  trying to be super person. You're not super person.
• 26:39
  And even Superman had kryptonite. It's okay to
• 26:42
  be imperfect. It's okay to be nervous. And if
• 26:45
  you stumble, you trip on a word, don't worry
• 26:49
  about it. Just smile. So here's the secret. When
• 26:52
  you're feeling nervous, smile. Now, you won't
• 26:57
  feel like smiling. You won't. But make a small
• 27:00
  smile. And guess what? When you smile, and especially
• 27:05
  if you smile just after you stumble, people look
• 27:07
  at you and go, oh, the speaker's got it under
• 27:10
  control. There's no problem. Look, he's smiling.
• 27:13
  Everything's okay. But if you make a mistake
• 27:15
  and you frown and go, oh, my God. Oh, I made
• 27:19
  a mistake. They'll know. You don't want them
• 27:21
  to know. You just show them that you're just
• 27:24
  delivering your presentation and there's little
• 27:26
  stumbles in there just to make you look human.
• 27:29
  And just be human. Yeah, absolutely. And I have
• 27:33
  found that owning the mistake, and I've made,
• 27:38
  I can't tell you how many mistakes I've made,
• 27:40
  right? But I just said, oh, that one's on me.
• 27:43
  And I just moved on and went over it. And that's
• 27:46
  the best. And the audience reacts to that. They
• 27:49
  say, oh, he's got that type of thing. And there's
• 27:51
  been like a lot of things. I was on a stage one
• 27:54
  time that the floor felt, it's like a two foot
• 27:57
  floor, a false floor, and it fell through. You
• 28:01
  know, and I'm sitting there and I'm looking down
• 28:04
  and I'm looking up at them. I said, boy, I'm
• 28:06
  feeling mighty low. And I got up onto the stage
• 28:09
  and I just moved on because it happens. Things
• 28:12
  happen. But I'll give you an instance of what
• 28:15
  I heard of. This was a speaker many years ago,
• 28:19
  was on stage and they tripped and they fell down.
• 28:23
  And of course, the audience, they're worried
• 28:26
  about this person. And the person, while they're
• 28:28
  down, they said. I guess I'll now take questions
• 28:32
  from the floor. And of course, the audience burst
• 28:37
  out into laughter because they knew he was OK.
• 28:40
  And he got out, dusted himself off. He was able
• 28:43
  to carry on. That's great. That's a great line.
• 28:46
  I hope I remember something like that if it ever
• 28:49
  happens to me. And here's something to keep in
• 28:52
  mind. The more you. you speak in front of people,
• 28:56
  the more likely you're going to have things go
• 28:58
  wrong, whether it's a technical problem or a
• 29:02
  technical problem is most common, but it could
• 29:04
  be a disturbance from the next room. It could
• 29:06
  be something happening and a chair falls over.
• 29:09
  It could be a server drops a plate of food. Think
• 29:12
  of those instances ahead of time and prepare
• 29:16
  a line. And it doesn't have to be tremendously
• 29:19
  funny. It could be. And it's easy. Pick a line
• 29:24
  from a popular movie or a song or something in
• 29:28
  the news that you can use. And people will think
• 29:32
  they'll laugh. They'll think you are so clever.
• 29:34
  But you prepared this line years ago. You had
• 29:37
  it ready. You had it. Oh, beam me up, Scotty.
• 29:41
  You've been waiting to say that line for years.
• 29:44
  It's true. You have to seem as though. It's off
• 29:48
  the cuff, but you're prepared for it for years.
• 29:52
  You may never use it, but you have it in your
• 29:55
  little bank of lines. Yeah. All right. So let's
• 29:58
  bring this podcast full circle. If a listener
• 30:01
  wants to become a must -remember communicator
• 30:04
  starting today, what's the first small change
• 30:08
  they should make and how should they speak or
• 30:11
  present themselves? This is a combination. Say
• 30:19
  less, listen more. Yes. I'll give you another
• 30:25
  example of a client I was working with. He's
• 30:28
  presenting to a group the services that he provides
• 30:32
  and it's IT related and it can help them save
• 30:35
  costs. And he sent me his slide deck. And, of
• 30:39
  course, the first three, four slides were all
• 30:41
  about him and who we are in history. I said,
• 30:43
  get rid of that. Throw it out. No one wants that.
• 30:45
  They don't care. I said, instead, I said, why
• 30:48
  are you talking to this department? Well, they're
• 30:51
  the biggest department in spending, biggest budget
• 30:54
  in the organization. I said, okay. So you want
• 30:56
  to connect with them on that. So start with something
• 30:59
  that means something to them. Your first slide
• 31:01
  will have the amount of their budget. the number
• 31:04
  go go look it up find out the number it's the
• 31:07
  biggest so put that on and if it's a rough approximation
• 31:09
  fine so you put that up and you tell them here's
• 31:12
  how much that's been budgeted or was spent last
• 31:15
  year and then the next slide is the promise that
• 31:18
  you make how much money you're going to save
• 31:21
  them now you got them Yeah, that's true. Now
• 31:28
  I, with networking communication, we say that
• 31:31
  if you do it properly, you're going to make X
• 31:35
  dollars more than what you made last year. So
• 31:39
  that's very, cause that puts it in their head
• 31:41
  immediately that saying, okay, I better listen
• 31:45
  because either a, I'm going to save. a hundred
• 31:49
  thousand dollars or B, I'm going to make a hundred
• 31:52
  thousand dollars, whatever the case may be. But
• 31:54
  put that, I learned that if you put what you
• 31:57
  want to say really in the first slide or second
• 32:00
  slide, it grabs her attention. Okay. I'm listening
• 32:04
  to this now because I'm going to learn this.
• 32:06
  And yeah, so that's very true. Very good. Okay.
• 32:09
  So that's the last thing you want to say, George,
• 32:14
  this was. First of all, it was enlightening for
• 32:16
  me because I learned so much about presentation,
• 32:21
  about networking. And even though I'm the person
• 32:24
  that's going around and talking, I learned. So
• 32:27
  what does that tell all of my listeners? Practice.
• 32:31
  You never know where you're going to get more
• 32:33
  information. And whether I use it or not is up
• 32:35
  to me, but I'll probably use 90 % of what you
• 32:39
  said. So if anybody listening would like to get
• 32:43
  hold of you, either to be coached or whatever
• 32:46
  else for business, or even just to say hi, how
• 32:49
  can they get hold of you? Two ways, Michael.
• 32:52
  And thank you for that offer. You can find me
• 32:54
  on LinkedIn. That's where I'm most active. And
• 32:57
  it's George Torok. And you can also visit the
• 33:00
  website, speechcoachforexecutives .com. That's
• 33:04
  speechcoachforexecutives .com. You can read the
• 33:07
  blog posts. There are over 100 posts there of
• 33:10
  tips and ideas. And you can contact me directly
• 33:13
  through there as well. And we can have a chat.
• 33:15
  And if you're interested in, if you're thinking
• 33:18
  about improving your presentation, your communication,
• 33:23
  and you want to find out what coaching would
• 33:24
  look like, we can have an initial 20 -minute
• 33:27
  call, whether that's phone or on Zoom, just to
• 33:31
  explore. No obligation. Just reach out to me.
• 33:35
  Very good. George, this was outstanding. I was
• 33:39
  looking forward to this podcast for so long,
• 33:42
  and I'll talk to you real soon. My pleasure.
• 33:49
  Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere. Let
• 33:52
  me just read a few of our sponsors that we have.
• 33:55
  Struggling to read success? Maybe it's time to
• 33:58
  quit. In Quit Your Way to Success by Rodney Davis.
• 34:02
  This reveals 27 steps to breaking bad habits
• 34:06
  that hold you back. This powerful book helps
• 34:09
  you rewire your mindset, take control of your
• 34:12
  actions, and turn setbacks into stepping stones.
• 34:16
  With real -life examples. motivational quotes,
• 34:19
  and actionable lessons, especially for sales
• 34:22
  professionals. You'll gain the tools to quit,
• 34:25
  what's stopping you, and start winning. Transform
• 34:28
  your future today. So Quit Your Way to Success
• 34:31
  by Rodney Davis, available now on Amazon. And
• 34:36
  this is a non -profit called Revved Up Kids.
• 34:39
  This is something I believe in wholeheartedly.
• 34:42
  Revved Up Kids is on a mission to protect children
• 34:46
  and teens from sexual abuse, exploitation, and
• 34:49
  trafficking. They provide prevention training
• 34:52
  programs for children, teens, and adults. To
• 34:55
  learn more, go to revvedupkids .org. That's R
• 34:59
  -E -V -V -E -D -U -P -K -I -D -S dot org. Well,
• 35:07
  that's a wrap, folks. A huge thank you to our
• 35:11
  special guests for sharing such incredible insights
• 35:14
  today. And of course, a big shout out to you,
• 35:17
  our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending
• 35:21
  your time with us. Remember, networking isn't
• 35:24
  about being perfect. It's about being present.
• 35:27
  So take what you've learned today, get out there
• 35:30
  and make some meaningful connections. If you
• 35:33
  enjoyed this episode. don't forget to subscribe,
• 35:36
  leave us a review, and share it with someone
• 35:39
  who could use a little networking inspiration.
• 35:42
  Let's keep the conversation going. You can find
• 35:45
  me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or my website,
• 35:50
  Michael. Until next time, keep practicing, keep
• 35:53
  connecting, and keep building those relationships.
• 35:57
  This is Michael signing off. Take care and happy
• 36:00
  networking.