Becoming a Thought Leader Through Authentic Storytelling, with Tricia Brouk

Episode 69

Unlocking the Power of Thought Leadership Storytelling

In today’s crowded marketplace, standing out as a recognized expert can feel daunting. For agency owners and strategic consultants seeking to fill their sales pipelines with right-fit clients, becoming a thought leader is no longer optional—it is essential. This episode of the Sell with Authority podcast, hosted by Stephen Wessner, CEO of Predictive ROI, dives deep into how authentic storytelling can transform professionals into influential thought leaders. Featuring acclaimed director, producer, and mentor Tricia Brooke, the conversation unpacks actionable strategies for leveraging storytelling—not just to get noticed—but to build lasting authority and legacy in your niche.

How Thought Leadership Storytelling Establishes Your Authority

Tricia Brooke brings a unique perspective to thought leadership storytelling, blending her theatrical background with practical communication techniques. She shares how, much like preparing for a stage production or TED Talk, crafting your message with intentionality is critical. Thought leadership storytelling isn’t about self-promotion or “blah, blah, blahing” on stage—it’s about mastering the art of impactful communication that resonates deeply with your audience. Using script analysis, acting techniques, and authentic narrative, you create an influential voice that leaves a lasting impression.

Stephen and Tricia emphasize that storytelling rooted in authenticity naturally positions you as a known expert without alienating your prospects. By being helpful and intentional in every interaction—whether through podcast episodes, keynote speeches, or blog posts—you nurture trust and build a loyal audience that eagerly anticipates your insights.

Essential Elements of Effective Thought Leadership Storytelling

Key takeaways from the episode reveal that successful thought leadership storytelling is multifaceted. First, understanding your responsibility as a communicator is pivotal. Tricia highlights that every word you speak influences people either positively or negatively; this underscores the need for dignity, respect, humility, and compassion in how you tell your story.

Second, storytelling requires a balance between preparation and spontaneity. Whether writing cornerstone content like articles or books, or preparing to speak publicly, you must craft narratives that are deliberate yet flexible enough to engage authentically with your audience. Rehearsal and mastery of delivery techniques—borrowed from theater—equip you to command the stage confidently while staying true to your message.

Third, leveraging your unique personal and professional journey adds richness and credibility to your storytelling. Tricia’s path from a dancer touring globally to directing TED Talks is a prime example of the value brought by genuine, relatable experiences that connect on a human level.

Practical Strategies to Harness Thought Leadership Storytelling

For those ready to elevate their influence through storytelling, the episode shares actionable advice:

• Create Cornerstone Content: Develop signature materials such as podcast series, keynote speeches, or provocative blog posts that articulate your niche and point of view powerfully.
• Adopt a Theatrical Approach: Study your script like a director, rehearsing with emphasis on tone, pacing, and body language to enhance message impact.
• Communicate with Intention and Integrity: Recognize the responsibility your voice carries and ensure each message fosters positive influence and connection.
• Focus on Helping, Not Selling: Position yourself as a resource with valuable answers, so prospects feel supported rather than targeted.

Implementing these strategies can future-proof your business by differentiating your brand and continuously attracting right-fit clients eager for your authentic perspectives.

To sum up, thought leadership storytelling, when done authentically and thoughtfully, enables agency owners and consultants to “step away from the sea of sameness” and own their professional ground confidently. This episode offers not only inspiring stories but also tactical blueprints to help you become “the influential voice” in your field.

Ready to transform your storytelling into thought leadership that drives results? Visit Predictive ROI’s resources page to access free tools and claim your copy of Self Authority, a definitive guide on building cornerstone content that sets you apart. Tune in, take action, and start owning your stage today!

On this episode of Sell With Authority I am thrilled to welcome Tricia Brouk. Tricia is an award-winning director, producer, and mentor who has helped countless speakers step onto prominent stages worldwide. Tricia’s expertise lies in transforming individuals into industry thought leaders through the art of authentic storytelling. Her book, The Influential Voice: Saying What You Mean for Lasting Legacy, soared to the #1 spot on Amazon’s New Releases in December 2020.

Let’s take a moment to rewind and understand how this episode came to be. When Drew McLellan, CEO of Agency Management Institute, and I decided to pen our book, Sell with Authority, we knew that sharing insights and how-to’s on creating cornerstone content was a must. For those who have read our book, this valuable information is housed in Chapter 6. If you don’t have a copy yet, no worries, just visit PredictiveROI.com/Resources, and you can get your hands on a free paperback or Kindle version.

Chapter six of our book delves into what cornerstone content is and what it is not. We also offer various examples of cornerstone content types, each classified as either “writing” or “talking.” Some of these examples include podcast series, authored books, primary research studies, video series, webinars, provocative articles, and keynote speeches that define your niche and POV, steering clear of the generalist trap.

While some may gravitate towards writing, there’s a unique allure to speaking and sharing your story in a compelling manner. Speaking allows for a touch of improvisation, making the crafting, rehearsing, and delivery of content absolutely critical. This is where Tricia Brouk’s expertise shines, and it’s why I invited her to join the podcast today.

We dive into the process of transforming from a rock-solid agency owner or consultant to an esteemed thought leader. Tricia shares her wisdom on leveraging the power of storytelling without coming across as self-aggrandizing, which significantly adds value to your audience.

When we get this right and deliver an impactful speech, something extraordinary happens—we say what we mean and create a lasting legacy in the process.

What you will learn in this episode: 

• Why it is crucial to be intentional about what you are saying and how you are saying it when on stage
• Tricia’s approach to script analysis
• Why Tricia believes we are at a precipice right now when it comes to communication
• Some roadblocks to speaking with intentionality and connecting with the audience, and how to push past them
• Why a speaker should actually perform the action of waiting when standing on stage
• How to achieve mastery and command on stage
• Why credibility as a speaker does not mean you have to have a book or PhD

Resources:

• Website: https://triciabrouk.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/triciabrouk/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebigtalk/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebigtalkcommunity
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tricia_brouk/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TriciaBrouk
• The Art of the Big Talk Masterclass

Additional Resources:

• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/

Full Episode Transcript

Becoming a Thought Leader Through Authentic Storytelling: Full Episode Transcript

Welcome to the sell with authority podcast. I’m Stephen Wessner, CEO of Predictive ROI, and my team and I, we created this podcast
specifically for you. So if you’re an agency owner or a strategic consultant, and you’re looking to fill your
sales pipeline with a steady stream of right fit prospects and get the at bats, you know,
the opportunities that you need in order to build and scale, well, then you’re in the
right place. Do you want proven strategies for becoming the known expert in your niche and attracting
all the clients that you need? Yep.

We’re going to cover that. You want to learn how to step away from the sea of sameness. So you actually stand out from your competitors and own the ground you’re standing on. Yep. We’re going to cover that too.

Do you want to future proof your business so you can successfully navigate the next
challenge that you know is going to come your way? Well, absolutely. We will help you there as well. I promise you, each episode of this podcast will contain valuable insights, tangible examples
and best practices, never theory from thought leaders, experts, owners who have done exactly
what you’re working hard to do. So I want you to think practical and tactical, never any fluff.

Each of our guests have built a position of authority and then monetized that position
by growing their audience, by nurturing leads and yes, by converting sales. But all the while they did it by being helpful. So every time someone from their audience turned around, there they were with a helpful
answer to an important question. So their right fit prospects never ever were made to feel like they were a prospect. I also promise you every strategy that we discuss, every tool we recommend will be shared
in full transparency in each episode.

So you can become the known expert in your niche so you can fill your sales pipeline
with a steady stream of right fit clients and then again, never make them feel like
they were one of your prospects. Okay. So I am super excited, beyond excited, incredibly excited, over the moon excited for you to
meet our very special guest expert today, Tricia Brooke. So if you’re happy to meet Tricia for the first time, she helps high performing professionals
transform into industry thought leaders through the power of authentic storytelling. Tricia is an award winning director.

Understanding Thought Leadership Storytelling

She’s a producer and a mentor and has helped thousands of speakers step onto big stages
around the world. And her book entitled The Influential Voice, Saying What You Mean for Lasting Legacy was
a number one, number one new release on Amazon in December of 2020. Okay. So let’s step behind the curtain here for a minute. Let me help set the stage.

Sorry, that’s a really bad pun, but let’s set the stage here for when Tricia and I were
going back and forth, Tricia and I are kind of laughing. I can see her laughing in the corner of my eye right now. So when her and I were going back and forth in email the other day, and why I decided
through that email exchange, I’m like, holy bananas, I hope you’ll say yes to this invite. So I invited her like right away to join me on the podcast. Why?

Well, when Drew McClellan and I, Drew is the CEO of Agency Management Institute, excuse
me, Management Institute. When he and I decided to write our book, Self Authority, we knew we needed to write a chapter
in that book that shared insights and how to’s for creating cornerstone content. If you already have a copy of our book, yay, it’s chapter six. If you don’t yet have a copy of a book, but you would like a free paperback or Kindle,
just go to predictive roi.com slash resources and we’d be delighted to send it to you. I promise you it’s a hundred percent free.

Okay. So back to chapter six, we mapped out what cornerstone content is and what it isn’t. And then on page 57, we shared some examples and types of cornerstone content. Examples like it could be a podcast series. It could be writing a book.

It could be a primary research study. It could be a video series. It could be a webinar Q and A series. It could be provocative articles or blog posts, and it could be keynote speeches that elegantly
define your niche and your point of view. So you avoid the easy to fall into generalist trap.

The Role of Thought Leadership Storytelling in Agency Growth

And then within that list of examples, we labeled each as whether that was a writing
example or a talking example. And the reality is most people gravitate toward one or the other. On the writing side of the equation, you can become more thoughtful and deliberate because
there’s a little bit more time. On the talking or speaking side, no matter how well prepared you are, there will be an
element of improvisation that comes with delivery, which makes the process for how you craft
your content, how you rehearse your content, and how you deliver or perform your speech
absolutely critical. And that’s why I invited Tricia to join us today on the podcast.

We’re going to talk through the process for how to transform a rock solid, awesome agency
owner consultant into a thought leader through the power of sharing your story and sharing
your story. right, in a non-self-aggrandizing way,
in a way that adds tremendous value to your audience. Because when we get that right,
when we nail it on stage, something amazing happens. You say what you mean,
and you create a lasting legacy in the process. I promise you, if you’ve considered making speaking
your cornerstone content, and you’re looking to get
on more influential stages, then the insights and wisdom
that Tricia shares during this conversation
will help you raise the bar in how you approach that work.

So without further ado,
welcome to the Sell with Authority podcast,
my friend, Tricia. I am so honored and excited to be here with you, Stephen. Thank you so much. And just to be clear, I’m always a yes. Anytime you need anything for me, I’m always a yes.

Just know that. You are very kind. Thank you for saying that. Our conversation that we had back
on the Onwardation podcast was just so awesome. So when you and I were going back and forth
in email the other day, it was like, holy bananas.

Like I said in the introduction, had to invite you. It was just a had, had to do it. So I’m really grateful that you said yes. Thank you for your kind words. Before we dive in with what I’m sure is gonna feel
like a barrage of questions coming your way,
take us behind the curtain.

Key Strategies for Thought Leadership Storytelling

You’ve done amazing things in your career. And I want our audience to hear that. Like I mentioned to you in the green room,
I want them to hear that in your voice, not mine. So take us behind the curtain. Give us two, three minutes of context about Path & Journey
to kind of further set the stage, and then we’ll dive in.

For sure. I am from Arnold, Missouri. I grew up on a small, on a farm in a small town
with a dream of moving to New York City to become a dancer. I watched PBS, Gelsie Kirkland, Baryshnikov,
The Nutcracker. I became obsessed with ballet
and realized that when I was in high school,
I was gonna move straight to New York City
to pursue my career in dance.

And my parents had none of that,
which was brilliant on their part. I did go to college. I got a BFA in dance from Stevens College
in Columbia, Missouri, and at 20,
moved to New York to pursue my dream. I am one of those rare birds
who actually did dance for a living. Most of my career, I toured around the world
with Lucinda Child’s Dance Company.

I actually did dance with Baryshnikov. So I started manifesting my dreams
without even knowing it when I was seven years old
and loved my life. I started a business so that I could make passive income
while I was touring. That fitness company is what I started,
and it’s still in existence,
and transitioned when I was a dancer out of dance
because I never wanted to be the dancer
who was always in pain. I wanted to really go out on my own terms.

And so that’s what I did. I created a one-woman dance show
where I did all the solos other choreographers
had made on me and choreographed my own solos,
did a one-woman show. And it was like one of those Zen sand sculptures. The monks create that sand mandala,
and it takes months and months and months to do it,
and it’s perfect. And when it’s done, they simply wash it away.

Why Thought Leadership Storytelling Matters Today

That was exactly how I approached
the next chapter of my life. So I washed away my dance career intentionally,
moved into directing and choreographing and producing,
started working in film, television, and theater. I’ve always been in showbiz,
so that was a natural transition. And then about six years ago, a friend of mine,
and this is the conversation that we had on Onward Nation,
asked me to direct her TED Talk,
and I approached it just like a one-woman show,
choreography, blocking, script analysis. And she planted the seed,
you should really do this, work with speakers.

And I then moved into producing TEDx Lincoln Square
in New York City. And what I realized was I had this opportunity
to approach thought leadership and speaking
the same way I approach plays and directing. Okay. And that is to do script analysis
to really teach thought leaders and speakers
how to write really awesome,
impactful, and theatrical scripts
so that they stand out among keynoters. And then took it to the next level,
and I literally use acting techniques with my speakers
and have been able to teach all of my speakers
the same techniques that I work with my actors.

I’m still working in theater
and I have a Broadway show happening right now,
and I’m writing my own play and making documentary films
and have been able to incorporate
this theatrical background and my point of view
into thought leaders’ work so that they stand out. And so it’s incredibly inspiring to me to watch a speaker
step into the next level of who they are as a communicator
because they have these tools. And it’s not just about getting on stage
and blah, blah, blahing. It’s about getting on stage and having mastery
and command over what they’re saying,
how they’re saying it in order to impact the audience. to leave a lasting legacy and to really understand,
here’s the other thing that I wanna just say,
to really understand the responsibility
that they have to step on a stage.

And in my book, The Influential Voice,
this is part of why I wrote this book. I wrote it because of what was going on in this country
and in the White House in 2020. And I believe that all voices matter
and that when you understand how to communicate effectively
with dignity, curiosity, respect, compassion,
humility, and love,
that is when you become the influential voice. It doesn’t mean we have to have the same opinions. It means we need to be dignified in how we communicate.

That’s powerful. Okay, but let’s take that piece even deeper. It’s already powerful what you said. I wanna push on this word responsibility. That’s big.

Implementing Thought Leadership Storytelling in Your Business

So you said the responsibility they have
when they get on stage. Tell us more about that. That sounds really compelling right there. If you get on stage and you are not intentional
about what you’re saying and how you’re saying it,
you have the potential to create negativity,
hate, and influence in the wrong way. When you understand your responsibility
and every single word that you say
has the impact of influencing someone for good,
then you understand your responsibility.

And let’s be clear, when you’re a parent,
you’re an influential voice. If you’re sitting across the table from your kids at dinner
and what you’re saying to them
is going to influence them for good or bad. If you’re a teacher,
you’re standing in front of the classroom,
you’re an influential voice,
and that’s your responsibility to influence for good. If you’re standing at the Berkeley Center
in front of 15,000 people, the same thing goes. If you are standing in front of our nation,
you have the potential to influence good or evil.

And that’s why it’s important that we understand
what it means to be an effective communicator
and to speak with dignity. I love that. And I love the use of the word responsibility. It is a privilege to stand on a stage
and to actually share something meaningful
with your audience. And when our goal is to be helpful and non-self-aggrandizing
and we want them to win,
that is a responsibility.

It is a privilege, it is a gift,
and it deserves to be treated as such. Thank you for reflecting that. Absolutely, Steven. It is a privilege. And when you take on that responsibility,
then you understand that what you say
is in service of your audience.

It is never about you, ever. Love that. Okay, so there are so many great things
that I want to make sure that we touch on
a little bit deeper in sort of your introduction,
as well as the questions that I want to ask you. One term, though, that I’d like for you to define,
just so we have a foundation
for when it probably is going to come up
in our conversation,
and that’s the term blocking. So what do you mean by blocking?

Common Mistakes with Thought Leadership Storytelling

I’m a former dancer, always. I guess I should say I will always be a dancer. Blocking is choreography. It is when you’re intentional about when you’re moving
and why you’re moving. When I work with my speakers,
I create blocking cues inside of their script,
along with acting cues.

So there’s an intention there,
and it doesn’t mean raise your hand here. It means what’s the intention. What do you want from your audience
and how are you going to get that? We’re going to go to that in a second. But blocking means,
let’s say you want the audience
to feel very connected to you
and you’re standing center stage.

How you can do that physically
is by literally taking a step toward them. That’s blocking. So that means taking a step downstage towards the audience. If you want to disconnect from your audience,
if you’re literally trying to have them
feel separate from you,
that means you could potentially walk upstage. Turn your back on them.

That’s going to make them feel disconnected. Now that’s an intentional choreographic blocking choice,
and there needs to be a reason that you do that. Also, when you’re moving,
it means from stage right to stage left. Let’s say you have something super important to say,
you’re standing stage left. You could potentially walk all the way across
to stage right in silence for emphasis.

When you choose to walk as you talk,
that’s another choreographic blocking decision. So that is something that I want everybody
who’s listening to this to think about
being very intentional with your blocking
and your choreography. You could run from stage right to left
to give the audience a feeling of urgency. And that’s what I’m talking about when I say theatricality. I see all of my speakers’ keynotes
through the lens of theater,
and I want them to think about what that means
in terms of sound effects, voiceovers,
music, blocking, and intention.

The Future of Thought Leadership Storytelling

And in that last word, what you just mentioned, intention,
that really underscores the whole thing,
because when we’re nervous and we’re not prepared
and we haven’t really thought through
what we’re going to say
and how that is going to be helpful to the audience
and help them win, we start moving around. we we we start shifting uncomfortably we not only look nervous and look like we’re winging it but
to your point about the blocking we’re sending signals without even realizing it right oh my
gosh so true if you’re meandering around the stage the audience is just watching you meander
if you’re rambling on and on or talking in circles they will stop listening and the other part of
what you’re talking about the energy here is if you don’t really really know what you’re saying
and come in prepared or you are not authentically yourself because you’re trying to be someone else
because you’re not prepared the audience won’t trust you they don’t know why necessarily but
there is a disconnect because you’re not being authentically you and you don’t own the stage
back to the responsibility it’s your responsibility to show up prepared and to own that stage it’s your
job as the speaker to take care of your audience and if we because you are a mess are taking care
of you that is inappropriate isn’t that fascinating our goal to get on the stage is so that we can
develop trust with our audience but how we perform on stage because we’re missing the things that you
just talked about actually erodes trust or keeps it from ever being developed in the first place
totally that’s that’s fascinating okay so when you’re taking us into a bit of your process
you mentioned script analysis you mentioned acting techniques and i know there’s more
um let’s start with script analysis so break break that down for us if you would as to what that
means and uh maybe a few kind of golden nuggets around the how to do it amazing script analysis
is one of the most fun things in the process for me and i approach a speaker’s script the same
way i approach reading a new play i read it for the first time for pleasure and then i go back
in and i help them analyze what is working and what isn’t working and i want to give your audience
a five-part structure that will help them when it’s time to write their script or time to analyze
the script they have currently and that is identify a problem paint the picture or share
your story or someone else’s with permission of course introduce your new idea or concept
solve the problem with your new idea or concept and then call to action if you use this five-part
structure with all of your talks whatever it is with whether it’s an 18-minute talk a 10-minute
talk a keynote this will help you really be able to break down the information so that we can
absorb it so it’s identify a problem and it doesn’t mean you have to hit us over the head
with a big problem at the very beginning of the talk but for example one of my keynotes is about
leadership consciousness and i open i open the talk by saying we are at a precipice right now
and it’s our responsibility as speakers and thought leaders to determine how we are going
to communicate for good or evil so the precipice is the problem we’re at a precipice we can either
go down the dark side or stay on the on the side of the force and so that’s that’s what i mean when
i say introduce a problem then painting the picture and sharing a story you want to be able to connect
to the audience by becoming vulnerable and sharing a truth about yourself or an experience
that you had with someone else and then you’re going to move into introducing your new idea and
this is where thought leadership comes in really think about your point of view there are very few
new ideas that’s just the truth however there’s nobody but you who can share the information so
it’s your unique point of view that is going to connect the audience to you then you move into
solving the problem with your point of view and then you move into the call to action which could
be anything from getting the audience to simply adopt your idea as their own buying your book
signing up for your course or literally taking the information that you’ve shared with them
and going out and taking action whether it’s policy change or joining your mission or sharing
the information with your their family and again all in service of your audience tell me tell me if
i’m thinking about this the the right way because i’m i’m thinking that i’m thinking of this in sort
of a linear way and and so maybe i shouldn’t be but thinking of kind of a linear way from the
standpoint of like unless i do number one well with excellence and and identify the problem
and and get some acknowledgement from the audience that this indeed is a problem that exists
if i don’t do that well then when i when i move to you know paint the picture and share a story
they’re still stuck on one because i because i haven’t done that with excellence yet so so moving
to two probably doesn’t work so like we we not only have to follow this process but my guess is
and this i love your expertise on this my guess is is that we have to be so
well crafted in each of the five because if we don’t do
one really well, we can’t actually move the audience or help the audience move to the
next one. Am I tracking with you? I love this analysis of this process. I have not had somebody bring this to my attention before.

So I really appreciate this conversation, Steven. Yes, you’re absolutely on point. And that also means that you need to believe that this information that you’re sharing
as a problem, so much that your audience buys into it. And so it needs to really resonate with you in your belief system, align with your values. You again, need to share this with the audience because you want them to have the information
so that they can be helped.

And I truly believe we are at a precipice right now when it comes to communication. Freedom of speech is a problem right now in this country, and it is part of our constitution. So yes, everybody, I truly believe we are at a precipice right now. And if we don’t understand how to be conscious leaders and to learn how to communicate effectively
with dignity, we are going to stay in this problem. So you can feel that I care about this and it’s my job and my responsibility to share
it in a way that is a gift to you.

And I’m not telling you have to do something. I’m giving you the information passionately and with dignity and respect, humility and
love so that you potentially think differently about this content as well. But that was not only great teaching there in what you shared verbally, but in and then
how you delivered it, because it’s easy to hear the passion in your voice when you’re
delivering those words with intentionality and so forth. And so it’s not just the words. It’s the how you say them and how you deliver that to the audience that really matters.

So with with the five in your experience, because you’ve worked with thousands of people
on this process, where’s the sticking point? And maybe there’s a sticking point at each of the five. I don’t know. So is it do one of the five represent more of a sticking point or less of a sticking
point? Like where are some of the roadblocks to really doing this with excellence?

Expert Insights on Thought Leadership Storytelling

Many speakers get stuck on painting the picture or sharing their story. And that goes back to limiting beliefs and not believing that your story matters. And I have heard this more times than I can believe. My story isn’t important. My story isn’t sad enough.

My story isn’t traumatic enough. They go into this comparison that sharing their story isn’t as painful as someone else’s
might be. Therefore, they shouldn’t do it. And that’s something that I find so fascinating. And I’m, I’m always encouraging my speakers and reminding them that there is zero comparison
here.

Everybody’s voice matters. Everybody’s story matters. And when you trust that there is one person on this amazing planet of 7.9 billion people
who is meant to hear from you, and if you do not share your story, you are literally
robbing them from having heard from you. You’re robbing them from connecting to you. You’re robbing them from feeling not alone.

And that’s the thing is people get stuck on this. Well, I don’t have a compelling story to tell you absolutely do because it’s your life. And there’s one person out there who needs to hear from you so that you can change their
life, maybe even save their life. It sounds like, again, from a lay person’s perspective. So I know you’ll take this deeper, but it sounds like there’s a lot of soul searching
in this piece.

And maybe you push them, nudge them, maybe give them a hug and a push like, like we like
to say here, predictive around, maybe thinking about their point of view, it might be their
first time that they’ve ever thought about that or consciously thinking about their beliefs. They know what their beliefs are because of their beliefs, but, but it’s internal. They haven’t actually verbalized that belief system. So is that how you, or let me rephrase, how do you sort of hug and push them through that
process? Because it’s, it’s like discovering something new maybe for, for, for many of the people,
but then when they’re on the other side, they’re like, holy bananas, I had no idea that was
in there.

Mastering Thought Leadership Storytelling

Oh my gosh, I love this hug and push concept. And this is absolutely true within the work with, with me in, in all of my containers,
with all of my speakers, it’s incredibly intimate. And the intimacy is because of my desire to reflect back what’s actually going on for
the speakers. And I’ll give you an example. I have had an incredible client.

She’s an amazing speaker and she is a relationship coach. And we began working together on her entire platform, not just one talk. And within the first three months, she wanted to do a talk about relationships. And I was kind of veering her away from that and very gently nudging her and say, we don’t,
we’ll get there. We don’t know what the talk is yet.

We’ll get there. And my job is to just be an active listener, consciously actively listening at everything
that she shares with me. And we had a call and she was catching me up. I just got back from Cabo. I was diving.

I was taking pictures of these incredible sea life. It was so amazing. And the sea life, some of the male sea life does this,
some of the female sea life does this,
and it’s very fluid. And I said, Marie Elizabeth,
and she’s done a talk about this. So this is not private information.

Your talk is about how sea life can teach us
about gender fluidity. And the reason that was so intimate
is because she was able to use
her underwater photography in the talk. She is able to speak about equality
and gender and relationships. But what’s bigger here that I wanna just mention
is that someone is going to be able to share this talk
with their family who otherwise
would not have had the language
or potentially the courage to start this conversation. Right.

How to Approach Thought Leadership Storytelling

And that’s why this work is so important. And that’s why sharing your story
can potentially always change,
but can potentially save someone’s life. And whether it’s gender, whether it’s mindset,
whether it is science, whether it’s sleep apnea,
whether it is robotics and surgery or healthcare
or human rights, whether it’s policy change. And trust me, I’ve worked with all of these people. It’s really big what we do.

And your voice has the ability to change lives
and to change policy. And that’s why speaking is so important to me. And that’s why I absolutely love
this conversation with you. Oh my gosh, this is so great. I’m gonna take you behind the curtain here for a second.

The hug and the push, which of course we love here. So this might seem super counterintuitive
as to where I learned that from. I spent the day at the United States Military Academy
at West Point. And so I was with a group of friends
and one of our friends who was in charge of leadership
actually on campus at the time, Colonel Bernard Banks. And so Bernie asked us,
hey, do you wanna come into a classroom
and I’ll actually teach you maybe like a couple hours
of the curriculum that we teach here with our cadets.

And we’re like, what, wait, what? You mean we actually get to go to class
at the Military Academy? Yes, please. And so we did, right? And it was amazing, of course, as you might imagine.

But Bernie Banks, Colonel Bernard Banks,
who was in charge of, again, leadership at the Academy said,
we believe here as faculty
at the United States Military Academy
that our job is to know our cadets so well
and to know when they need a hug or when they need a push. And I’m like, you’ve got to be joking, what? That’s amazing. And he’s like, because these are the future leaders
of the United States Army
and they need essentially the emotional intelligence
to know when the people who are in their command
need a hug or when they need a push. I’m like, wow, I never would have,
I would just, my assumption was push-ups, sit-ups,
all this stuff.

And no, it’s so dramatically different
because they get it, that it’s a hug and a push. That’s being an influential voice right there. That’s perfection. Amazing. Okay, so you broke down the script analysis
and thank you for that.

You also mentioned a few minutes ago, acting techniques
and maybe blocking fits into kind of that repertoire,
but if you could take and peel back acting techniques
so we have a better understanding of that. For sure. I practice the technique of objective and action,
which is David Mamet style. And there’s also the method acting style,
which a lot of actors do. The reason that I do objective and action
is because let’s say you’re playing a serial killer
and method acting means you need to be in the mindset
and emotional state of a serial killer.

Now, when the director yells cut and you’re going home
and you’re with your family,
it’s really not healthy if you’re going home
as a serial killer. Fair point. So that’s why I practice objective and action,
which is a technique that you can turn on and off. And it is about playing the scene
with your partner in real time. Your objective, what do you want from your partner
in the scene?

And it could be simply,
you want them to walk from over there towards you. That could be your objective. How do you get them to do it is the action that you play. So as an actor, you always have an objective. It’s always what you want
and you have to go after it relentlessly.

And that means you might have to change your action. Now, here’s a very simple example. We as human beings are always playing objective and action. If you want your kids to go to bed, that’s your objective. That’s what you want.

How do you get them to do it? You play an action. You could storytell them, you could take them, you could bribe them. These are the actions that we as human beings unknowingly play every single day. And it’s not manipulation, it’s an action that we play.

Let’s say you want your partner to take out the trash, that’s your objective. How are you going to get them to do it? Well, you could seduce them, you could bribe them, you could pay them, you could ask them. And that’s your objective and action technique. So when you’re on stage, you have an objective.

My objective today with you, Stephen, is to connect with you
and to connect with your audience. That’s the simple objective. If you’re on stage, your simple objective that you should obviously always think about
is you want their attention. That’s your obvious objective. You want your audience’s attention.

What if you’re not getting their attention? Let’s say you’re up there and you’re using the actions, educate, teach, inspire. None of it’s working. They’re all sitting on their phones. They’re all talking to each other.

You’re not getting what you want. And as the speaker who is in command as a performer understands,
okay, they’re not giving me their attention. I better change my action. What am I going to do? The simplest thing you could do is wait.

If you stop talking, stand still and wait, and that is an action,
I guarantee everyone in that room is going to look up from their phones
because they’re going to wonder why you’re standing still not talking. You’re going to get what you want their attention. Oh, I love this so much. Okay, we’re going to talk more about that when we come back from our break. We’re going to just take a quick break and then we’re going to come back and talk more
about the objective and action and in particular, the waiting piece.

We’ll be right back. Okay, we’re back with Tricia. And right before the break, we were talking about objective or objectives,
excuse me, and actions. And then she ceded this piece about the waiting, which was really compelling. And so what I mentioned to her in the green room during the break was,
okay, we got to talk about that some more because that takes a lot of courage to do that.

So tell us a little bit more about how the speaker, when standing on stage,
should actually perform the action of waiting and then how long. And so tell us more about that. That sounds very compelling. Waiting means being comfortable enough in your skin and comfortable enough in your confidence
level so that when everybody’s eyes in that room is on you, you can hold space for that. Many speakers are so uncomfortable with stillness and with silence.

So they fill the silence. They are moving around aimlessly because if I’m just talking all the time and I’m moving around,
nobody can actually really see who I am underneath everything. The reality is it’s your responsibility going back to that and your job to be confident enough
to stand and allow everyone’s eyes to be on you and to hold space for them. This goes back to performing. I am very comfortable on stage.

I’ve been on thousands of stages from when I was seven years old. And I actually know energetically how to hold space in my body when I’m on a stage. And so energetically, it’s my responsibility and it’s also very much my pleasure. I love having all of that energy and being able to hold all of that energy because I
get to then reflect it back to everyone in that room. You’ve seen masterful speakers come up on stage and be able to hold the energy of the
entire audience.

You’ve also seen speakers who come up on stage and shrink and become small and they’re not
giving anybody the opportunity to experience them. So this goes back to also pre-production and preparation. You have to know how to hold the space energetically because you’re rehearsed, because you are
ready for anything to go wrong. You know how to handle anything that goes wrong because there’s always something that
goes wrong. You’re ready to deal with hecklers.

You’re ready to deal with people who are not giving you their attention so you know how
to get it back from them. And so it’s really, really important that you rehearse in a location where you can practice
stillness, where you can practice silence and you can command the audience’s attention
and you can rehearse that confidence loop so that I know how I’m going to respond when
I’m quiet. I know how my body’s going to respond. I know how the audience is going to respond. You want to eliminate all variables so that you are always doing your absolute best on
a stage.

I would have loved to have had you next to my business partner and I when, so we were
invited to a private event that one of our clients was hosting and they have a partnership
with Tony Robbins. And so it was a very intimate setting. There was only a few hundred of us, their employees and plus ones. I mean, it was very, very small. And so Tony comes in and Tony’s used to, you know, essentially playing big crowds, right,
for his events.

And here we are, 300 people, whatever it was. small intimate group and and so when he came on stage he said oh my gosh this is
like you know people in my living room and but what’s interesting about what
you just said and this is why I would have loved to have had you next to me
because you’re trained I would have seen what he did I don’t know what he did but
you would have seen it and you would have been like oh you just did whatever
but when he came out everyone was flat there was no energy in the room and his
normal style of you know kind of rah-rah get everybody engaged and jumping around
and that kind of stuff that is a doorknob I mean nothing right it was it
was nothing so when you said preparation pre-production anything could go wrong
and it will he said you know hecklers you got to get their attention again I
don’t know what he did you would have spotted it but it was like 10 minutes
later 15 minutes later or whatever and then something went BAM and then
everybody was boom and then we were off and running and I’m like okay this is a
great Tony Robbins right yeah this is a really good example because whatever
happened he had to spend 10 minutes earning your trust nope and that is
really hard and that’s why you want to make you do not want to make the mistake
of going out there and not having the audience in the palm of your hand from
the second you walk on stage because it’s so hard it’s an uphill battle to
get them back I’m glad he got you back but that’s a really good example of what
happens yeah and again this I’m sure if you would have seen it happen you’ve
been like oh well he tried this and then he pivoted on stage and he knows his
stuff so well then he went to this and and I’m sure it went to with the
objections or objectives I don’t know why I’m struggling with that word
objectives and actions and he did it masterfully well and then the rest of
the day I mean everyone was on fire and I’m like wow okay so clearly it’s not
his first rodeo and and he had architected all of that masterfully well
it was like okay it didn’t work pivot to this seamless nobody even knew and bam
we’re off and running I’m like that’s what an expert does and but you can only
do that by following what you’re sharing with us so that we’re prepared and we
can then pivot to something so it was just it was masterful I wish we could
rewind 10 years and you could be standing next to me so you could point
out okay this is what he did here that would’ve been amazing okay so one of the
things that I want to make sure that we that we share with our audience is a
little bit of context around your master classes coming up because I want to make
sure that they know about it and and so they can get more details for it we’ll
mention this you know again when we say goodbye and prepare to kind of come in
for a landing here but would you mind sharing just a couple of nuggets about
the master class for sure the art of the big talk master class is really all
about helping people identify their big idea learn how to talk about it learn
how to perform it and give them the the support that they need in really trusting
that their voice matters it’s really everything we just talked about Steven
and it’s an opportunity for me to to really spend time with people and my
it’s a live virtual master class and it’s it’s something that I do twice a
year and why I love it is because we literally do it in a zoom room and I see
everyone and that’s super important that I can see everyone and that there’s a
lot of interaction and that people can actually get coaching from me and it’s
an opportunity for me to also kind of get a pulse of what people care about
and what they’re talking about because that’s important to me I want to know
what’s going on out there so I can fully support people’s missions amazing okay
so where can they learn more about it the art of the big talk calm okay
awesome I want to share this in in full transparency or audience probably knows
this but just in case somebody is new so in full transparency with any of our
audience excuse me not audience our experts who come on to the show like
Tricia is today or if they step into a Q&A or that kind of stuff we don’t have
any sort of financial affiliation with anyone the reason why I’m asking or
asked Tricia to share the how to learn more about her master class is because
it’s awesome and and that’s why we want you to learn more about it because it’s
awesome okay so let’s let’s press on things thanks very much for that so
let’s go back to when when we were just getting started in the conversation you
mentioned two words I highlighted him in my notes and you said mastery and
command so tell us a little bit more about and maybe the command piece goes
into the weight piece and having the confidence and so forth to be able to do
that but tell us a little bit more about how somebody gets to mastery and then
how somebody gets and arrives to command wonderful question and I love that
they’re connected in these two parts mastery is all about the rehearsal
process and understanding your material if you go on stage and wing it like you
mentioned early in this conversation you’re gonna lose the audience that’s
not mastery that is first of all not taking your audience seriously and
respecting them and it’s definitely not respecting yourself and when I talk
about rehearsal many speakers get nervous about this because they want to
go on stage and wing it with a slide deck
And you’re not really reaching your potential
if you continue to do that. And I’m from the world of theater. We have scripts and we rehearse, we memorize,
and then we deliver those talks through mastery
because we’ve rehearsed so much
that we’ve moved beyond that moment where it’s memorized
and we move into that place
where then you have freedom and you can play. If you think about the time that it takes
to write an incredible, powerful script
using this five-part structure,
why in the world would you wanna go on stage
and paraphrase your own beautiful content?

That’s what mastery is about,
working through the memorization process
so that you have the arc, you have the through line,
you understand exactly what the beat changes
are gonna be in this script. That’s the mastery and that’s why you can move
from being a good speaker to a great speaker
if you choose to. And that’s how I help my speakers. I’ve got a lot of good speakers,
now they’re great speakers. And the command over the audience is about performance.

When you understand choreography and blocking,
when you understand objective and action,
when you know how to deliver your material
because you have written in your script,
doing script analysis,
what’s my intention for this section? What’s my intention for this section
and how am I going to get it? The script should have cues all over it. When am I moving stage right and stage left? My intention in this section of the talk
is for the audience to smile.

How am I gonna get them to do it? Well, I could entertain them, I could tell a joke,
but really understanding my intention
in this section of the script
is for my audience to shake their heads yes. My intention for this section in the script
is for them to rise to their feet
and give me a standing ovation
because they have got it. And I wanna see them do that
because I’m not going to leave this theater
until they rise to their feet
in acknowledgement of what they have learned
because it’s that important to me that they go out
and they create a mission or a vision or a policy change. And it’s my job as the speaker
to go after my objective relentlessly.

That’s mastery and that’s command of your audience. Yeah, because, so I love how you approached this. You said my intention in this section of the script
is to, and then insert action,
going back to your book,
how can we possibly prove that we’re taking it seriously,
that we wanna create legacy
if we just get up on stage with happenstance
and we just wing it
and we don’t actually have intention
in this section of the script,
I want the audience to do this. How do we then believe
that our words are gonna be lasting, right? Absolutely.

And I’m a big fan of yours. I also highlight that you are such an influential voice
and everything you do has such intention behind it,
every single thing you do. And so I wanna thank you for modeling
what it means to be intentional
and to be an influential voice
and to fully understand what it means
to have this responsibility. Thank you for that too. So as we come in for a landing here,
I wanna make sure before we close out and say goodbye,
any final advice, any recommendations,
anything you think we might have missed
and then please do share with our audience again,
the best way to connect with you, Tricia.

Thank you for this incredible conversation. And I think the one thing
that I’d love for your listeners to remember
is that their voice matters
and that credibility as a speaker
does not mean you have to have a book or a PhD. It means that you feel strongly about something,
you’re clear on your point of view,
you understand how to share it in service of the audience
and you’re willing to put the audience first
and remember, it’s not about you. And I would love for your listeners
to join me at the Two Day Live Virtual Masterclass
on August 2nd and 3rd. It’s from 10 to four.

It’s two amazing days with me
and it’s at theartofthebigtalk.com. That was awesome. Okay, everyone, no matter how many notes you took
or how often you go back and re-listen
to Tricia’s words of wisdom, which I sure hope that you do,
the key is you have to take all of this, all of it
and break it down and apply it into what you’re doing,
into your cornerstone content,
because when you do, you will accelerate your results. And Tricia, we all have the same 86,400 seconds in a day
and I am grateful that we were able to go back and forth
and email the other day. I’m grateful that you said yes to come onto the show,
to be our mentor, to be our guide,
to help us move and raise the bar higher
in what we’re doing.

Thank you so much, my friend. It’s my absolute pleasure. Thank you, Stephen. Thank you. Complete transcription result saved to: /home/ubuntu/audio/thought_leader_storytelling_transcription_20260321_111321.json
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Snippet of transcribed content:
So as we come in for a landing here,
I wanna make sure before we close out and say goodbye,
any final advice, any recommendations,
anything you think we might have missed
and then please do share with our audience again,
the best way to connect with you, Tricia. Thank you for this incredible conversation. And I think the one thing
that I’d love for your listeners to remember
is that their voice matters
and that credibility as a speaker
does not mean you have to have a book or a PhD. It means that you feel strongly about something,
you’re clear on your point of view,
you understand how to share it in service of the audience
and you’re willing to put the audience first
and remember, it’s not about you.

And I would love for your listeners
to join me at the Two Day Live Virtual Masterclass
on August 2nd and 3rd. It’s from 10 to four. It’s two amazing days with me
and it’s at theartofthebigtalk.com. That was awesome. Okay, everyone, no matter how many notes you took
or how often you go back and re-listen
to Tricia’s words of wisdom, which I sure hope that you do,
the key is you have to take all of this, all of it
and break it down and apply it into what you’re doing,
into your cornerstone content,
because when you do, you will accelerate your results.

And Tricia, we all have the same 86,400 seconds in a day
and I am grateful that we were able to go back and forth
and email the other day. I’m grateful that you said yes to come onto the show,
to be our mentor, to be our guide,
to help us move and raise the bar higher
in what we’re doing. Thank you so much, my friend. It’s my absolute pleasure. Thank you, Stephen.

Thank you. Timestamped segments truncated to fit terminal limit (5000 chars). Completed transcription, JSON saved to /home/ubuntu/audio/thought_leader_storytelling_transcription_20260321_111321.json
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