Confident & Clear Storytelling Anytime, Anywhere with Rachel Hanfling

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Created with John Ushai. Today, we'll be breaking down how to be confident and clear with your storytelling anytime, anywhere. And to drop these value bombs, I brought to Rachel Hanfling into EO Fire Studios. Rachel is an Emmy-nominated former producer for Oprah and Anderson Cooper and has coached clients to become go-to media experts, land deals on Shark Tank, sell out QVC, nail workplace politics, and so much more.

0:33She is the creator of Own the Power of Your Story. shine and power your public presence in media on stage and beyond. And today at Foundation, we'll talk about becoming a confident, clear, connected speaker, why it matters. We'll talk about are people naturally born to be great speakers? We'll also talk about being afraid of public speaking, how to get over that, and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Rachel and our sponsors. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lands, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

1:07Matt and Nathan are leading AI creators in your guiding light in the AI and technology frontier. AI technology is transforming the way we do business and the media landscape is fragmented. The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply it to growing your business. Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts. Rachel, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with? All right. Well, first, thank you for having me back. I am thrilled to be back with you. And when I think about being successful, I think of it through the prism of what I teach.

1:48I teach people how to talk, to get what they want anywhere, anytime. And I believe the gap between where you are and where you want to be is how you speak. So when people come to me, they often believe that I'm going to start with what they're going to say. And actually, that isn't the first step in being successful. The first step in being successful is considering who you are speaking to, whether that's one person or millions of people, who is your audience? What does your audience care about? What does your audience want? What does your audience need? Not even know they need. That is what one needs to consider first to be most successful when they talk.

2:44Confidence in clear storytelling. Anytime, anywhere, Fire Nation. And Rachel, I'm not going to bury the lead. I want to dive into the focus of today's episode. So tell us why. Why does becoming a confident, clear, and connected speaker even matter? It matters because every day you have the opportunity to talk to achieve something. And the better you can speak, the more confidently you can speak, the more clearly, the more connected you can be, the greater impact you're going to have. Conversely, if you are not confident, clear, and connected, you likely are not going to have the impact that you want.

3:32So you want to set yourself up for success. And that's what I aim to do with anyone I teach. Now I hear a lot of people use excuses like, oh, they're just natural. I could never do that. So I want to answer the question once and for all, are some people just born as great speakers? I hear this a lot. I hear people say I'm shy. I'm an introvert. I'm just a in the background type person. I'm not a front and center person. I lack confidence. I hear so many permutations of the same insecurity. And it's understandable. I understand why people feel that way. The reality is, yes, like anything else, some people are born with more natural ability.

4:29Some people are better athletes. Some people are better, let's say it's math. However, Anybody can learn to become a confident, clear, and connected speaker. Anyone can learn how to make the way they speak an asset for themselves. It doesn't matter if you're shy or you're an introvert or anything else that you feel is holding you back. You can learn this. It's a skill. I'll tell you straight up, Fire Nation, I am an extrovert. And to be honest with you, I wasn't always an extrovert. I was very shy as a young child. Me too. Into junior high school, high school. It wasn't really until about the college timeframe that I started really breaking out of my shell and becoming an extrovert.

5:18And I have now been for well over 20 years a massive extrovert. But I'll tell you, when I started podcasting and kind of becoming an influencer and an authority figure in this space, I couldn't believe how many other unbelievably successful entrepreneurs identify 100 % as introverts. They are just like, I am an introvert. But guess what? They put in the reps. They did the work. They became great speakers, despite the fact that maybe they don't feel super comfortable in front of a lot of people or speaking to a lot of people. And this kind of bleeds into the next question I want to get into, which is a rumor that I've heard that at a funeral, people would rather be in a coffin than giving the eulogy.

5:59Now, of course, that's a little tongue in cheek. But I mean, I've heard that enough times to be like, wow, maybe there's some credence there because people are terrified of public speaking. So how the heck do we overcome our fear of speaking in public? I actually have never heard that. So that's super interesting. Rachel, number one, listen, give me credit the next two times you use it and then it's yours forever. Okay. I promise I will give you credit. I have never heard that, but it doesn't surprise me because I have had people come to me with such extreme fear. I remember a woman who came to me as a student who every time she was even called on in a group, I'm not talking about giving a speech.

6:41I'm talking about just being called on. She had back spasms. And she learned through working with me how to overcome that and then how to go on to lead groups and give speeches and even get paid to do that. So it does not surprise me that that is a saying. So how do you overcome that? I don't think of it as overcoming it. Nerves can be good. Nerves can give you adrenaline, make you think more clearly. What you want to learn how to do is harness those nerves. And there are many ways we can do that. Where I often start is flipping the script that is usually going on in someone's head and in someone's heart when they're nervous.

7:35Usually they are thinking about themselves and how they feel and the fear that they have. If you think about your audience instead, then you think about how you can give your audience the most wonderful gift, like the kind of gift that they would really want and be delighted to open and use. If you think of it that way, it's hard to think about your own insecurity and gifting your audience at the same time. It takes you out of that insecurity mode and it puts you into the how can I give mode and you are more likely to feel confident. Fire Nation, I really hope you're understanding the concepts that are being dropped here.

8:27I mean, here we have Rachel. She is giving value bombs on this topic. This is, again, somebody who has been a former producer of Oprah, of Anderson Cooper. Like these are individuals that are at the top of their game and have been at the top of the game for a long time when they were there and making things happen. So think of the lessons learned, the people that she's seen. So, I mean, make sure you're listening to this content about confident and clear storytelling. And we're talking anytime, anywhere. And we have more to talk about when we get back from thanking our sponsors. The overwhelm that comes with choosing the right software and tools for growing your business is real.

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9:42Plus, with built-in AI to answer common customer questions, brainstorm and write marketing content, easily pull reports and more, your teams can slash their busy work. Meaning your marketers, sales reps and service teams actually have the time to be, well, marketers, sales reps and service teams. And when they grow, the sky's the limit for your business too. Grow better, faster with HubSpot's all-in-one intuitive customer platform. Visit HubSpot.com to learn more. Rachel, we're back and I want to talk about mistakes because listen, we learn from successes. Absolutely. I love learning from other people's successes.

10:19I actually believe that we are all standing upon the shoulders of giants. I've learned by studying people like Oprah. Honestly, I really have. I would watch her interview people. Larry King. These are important people that we learn from their successes, but we also learn from mistakes. So what is the biggest mistake that you see when it comes specifically to storytelling? I agree with what you're saying about learning from the greats. And I also feel we learn so much from our own mistakes. They can feel terrible at the time. They often do. But we learn so much from them. When I look at people telling stories, the biggest mistake that I often see people make is they are telling that story through their own prism.

11:09They're sharing what they care about, what's important to them. So sometimes a story is way longer than it needs to be, including details that are not necessary. What you want to do when you're sharing a story is start first by understanding your audience and what your audience is most going to resonate. And then you tell your story, your true story, your real story. But you tell them you you share that story through the prism of what is going to most deeply connect with your audience. and that is how you have the greatest impact. Fire Nation, value bombs being dropped but the reality is a lot of people spend countless hours memorizing speeches before presenting.

12:02I mean, let me take you back to 2013. I was at New Media Expo in Las Vegas. I'd only been podcasting at that point for about four months but because I kind of shot out of the gate and I had a very unique show which was daily, I was asked to speak at that conference and I was terrified. I was freaked out. And what did I do? I memorized my entire speech. I remember pacing the floor of the Airbnb back and forth, back and forth. I can still like picture the cracks in the floor as I'm memorizing the speech. And guess what? Like, man, it wasn't great. When I actually got up there, I was doing the same thing.

12:38I was pacing back and forth. I was just speaking monotone. Like I was like not able to even make eye contact because I might lose my place in my mental mind. That's not how you give a great performance, a great speech. Tell us exactly what you think we should do instead of memorizing. Often I do see people either coming up with a piece of paper and actually reading it or memorizing. Neither work very well. Why? Well, for starters, because it's boring. It's boring to watch someone read And also when someone's memorizing, even though they're not reading, there's a visceral sense that something feels robotic.

13:22It doesn't feel present and connected the way an audience wants to feel with the person who's speaking. So what do I advise you do instead? I advise you do something that I call internalizing, which is kind of the close cousin of memorization, but it is not memorization. It is understanding what you want to say and rehearsing what you want to say, getting it out of your mouth over and over again. you can even do this silently too. It doesn't always have to be out loud. Rehearsing what you want to say so that when you actually get up to deliver, it is coming from you. You are present in the moment and you are going to be so much more impactful.

14:20The other reason why you don't want to memorize is let's say somebody asks you a question that is unexpected. I want you to be prepared for the expected and the unexpected. And if all you have done is memorize talking points, let's say, you are going to be stumped when someone asks you something that you didn't prepare for. So you really want to have an understanding of how you are going to express whatever it is you want to share so that you can bob and move in the moment. Fire Nation, wise words with somebody that has been there, has done that, has taught countless people the same. And I will say with all of this, there's still going to be those people that ask, can you outsource your speaking?

15:18So at the end of the day, listen, I really am a believer in getting up and putting in the reps. That's why I was so obsessed with doing a daily podcast, because I knew I was going to be a bad podcaster when I started. I was not going to be good at speaking, communicating, facilitating conversations, but I wanted to put in the reps. But at some point, when you become good at something, can you outsource it? Can you outsource speaking? Here's why I don't recommend outsourcing your speaking. And when I say you're speaking, I mean, your messaging, your communication, all of it. The way you put yourself out there into the world is personal.

15:53And it can be your greatest asset. You do not want to outsource that. Now, of course, I understand if it is really uncomfortable to you that you would want to outsource it. Who wouldn't want to outsource something that isn't comfortable to them? That said, I promise you that you can learn this no matter how uncomfortable it might feel to you at the beginning. And over time, when you begin to get good at it, you are going to feel so empowered by your ability to show up anywhere, whether it's in media, on a stage, with a client, wherever you are, you are going to feel so empowered that you can do that successfully, that you can tell your own story, you can make your own arguments.

16:56You are there to show up and present your best self for the benefit of your audience. Fire Nation, we've been talking all day about the very important focus topic point of being confident and clear with your storytelling anytime, anywhere. We've talked about, are people born as great speakers? Talk about overcoming fear of speaking in public. Talk about the biggest mistake people make when it comes to storytelling. Outsourcing, eh, not so much. Rachel, what's the one thing you want to make sure Fire Nation really gets from our conversation today? The one thing I want to make sure everybody walks away from this podcast understanding is that it is possible for you to learn to become your own greatest asset, your business's own greatest asset when you learn how to speak powerfully.

17:58And you can do that no matter where you are starting, no matter what fears you may have. This is a skill that you can learn like any other. And I know in the very depths of my soul that this is possible for you. Fire Nation, in the depths of her soul, Rachel's breaking it down for you. And give us a call to action. if Fire Nation wants to connect with you, wants to learn from you, what is your call to action for our listeners today? Okay, I actually have a gift for your listeners. If you go to rachelhanfling.com slash five minutes, rachelhanfling.com slash five minutes, that's R-A-C-H-E-L-H-A-N-F-L-I-N-G.com slash five minutes.

18:55I have a really hard name, so apologies for needing to spell it. If you go there, you are going to get a five-minute video on how to be a confident, clear, and connected speaker. And in case you're wondering, no, it is not exactly what you heard in this podcast. It's new information because I want you to be as successful as you can be. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with, and you've been hanging out with RH and JLD today, so keep up the heat. and for links to everything we talked about, go to eofire.com. Just type Rachel in the search bar and the show notes page will pop right up.

19:31And by the way, an episode that we did back in June of 2014 will also come up if you want to listen to another amazing episode of a slightly younger version of both Rachel and myself, you know, about a decade, but we're still rocking it. Here we are. And Rachel, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. I salute you. Thank you. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Rachel for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, are you ready to rock your very own podcast? Check out our free podcasting course where I will teach you how to create and launch your podcast for free.

20:08Freepodcastcourse.com and I will catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lanz, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Matt and Nathan are leading AI creators in your guiding light in the AI and technology frontier. AI technology is transforming the way we do business and the media landscape is fragmented. The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply it to growing your business. Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts.