2127 - Navigating the Noise: Strategies for Effective Communication with Steve Gallegos

0:05Hey there, thoughtful listener. Are you looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, influencers, influencers, and clients? Well, I've had private conversations with over 2 ,000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video you can watch with no opt-in required where I'll share the exact steps necessary to be 100 % inbound in your industry over the next six to eight months with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for over 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments.

0:51Also, don't forget, the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for great guests. Go to upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. I'd love to have you.

1:05with us right now it's steve gallegos steve you are the president and founder of the stevie g success group you're found on the web at stevie g success.com steve it's great to have you thank you josh it's a pleasure to be here with who i consider the energizer bunny of podcasting Well, that's high praise, sir. And I'm so excited to talk about your area of expertise. Do you mind maybe just kind of giving us an intro to your superpowers? Yeah, absolutely.

1:40I've had the experience, I've had the joy of having many careers, starting as a U.S. Marine, then moving into law enforcement. I was a police officer for a number of years. From there, I moved into becoming a board-certified trial lawyer. And in between all of that, Josh, I was a singer, songwriter, and recording artist. I was going to be the modern day Julio Iglesias was my goal to be an international recording artist. And then through that process, I learned that the entertainment industry isn't all that it's cracked up to be, as many people are coming to find out. So I switched gears. I left the practice of law for a little bit and reinvented myself in Dallas, Texas as a commercial photographer.

2:20And then during that process, as I was building that business, I learned the art of networking and helping other people achieve their dreams. And so people would always come up to me and ask me questions and stuff, not necessarily related to photography, but I thought, well, there's got to be something to this. Why are you asking me about life and marriage and relationships and corporate stuff? And then, well, Steve, you seem to have it all together. You've done a lot of stuff. And And while it's true, I have, it's all interconnected. And I didn't know it then, but once looking back at it, I saw that being a Marine, police officer, lawyer, I was always in a position of leadership and to guide others.

3:06And as an entertainer, you know, I learned how to listen. As a photographer, I learned how to see. And so all of these skill sets I put together to what I do now, which is working with guiding busy professionals and public figures to help them become even more remarkable, Josh. Because by becoming more remarkable, your life, your career, your business, and your relationships become more satisfying and desirable. You earn more money and you're more vibrant and you experience what we're all looking for, which is fulfillment. just quick note um can you move the microphone maybe just another few inches away from you i'm still getting those popping peas and so a windscreen if you want in the future you can and they've got those kind that just pop right on i think those yeah it should be good we're good okay i do have one should i put it on right now i'll just stay i'll just stay yeah yeah we should be good okay so um steve let's talk about that a little bit um what does that um why is that valuable in today's business environment to, you know, be able to communicate better, to be able to present better, you know, some might look at that as kind of a nice to have, just kind of maybe work on that here and there.

4:22And then there are other people who take it very, very seriously and really like do a deep dive on that. What is the value in really taking a concerted effort in how we're presenting ourselves and certainly how we're communicating? That's a great question. Thank you for asking that. And yes, you're right. There are a lot of people, Josh, that view this as, oh, you know, that'd be nice, but I'm busy right now. Or, you know, I've got a business to attend to or company to run, a city to run, whatever it is. However, when you really look at it, communications, for example, is one of the three pillars that I teach.

5:00Communications is central to every single thing that you do. You want to get married? You got to communicate. You want to get a job? You got to communicate. You want to raise money from investors. You want people to vote for you. You want people to promote your book. You want everything involves communication. That means asking, knowing how to ask, knowing how to present, knowing how to ask for what you want, and more important, And knowing how to speak to yourself, because from a self-development standpoint, I think that schools have failed us miserably because they teach us how to memorize and move this widget and do this fast and those kinds of things.

5:38But the personal development end of things is the foundation of everything we do. Right. Truly. Steve, would you maybe talk a little bit about, I don't know if this is kind of baked in here, but I'm really curious about self-talk and how we communicate with ourselves. Do you have any thoughts on that? Yes, sir. I have hours and hours of thought. I thought you might. The question is, how many hours do you want on that? The idea of self-talk is, again, going back to communications. We think of communications, okay, what am I going to say when I get on stage? How do I overcome fears and those kinds of things?

6:18But all of that has to do with yourself. Talk to is like we we believe we're imposters. We believe we're not worthy. We believe in many respects that we're not qualified. And so we tell ourselves these things, if not verbally, we certainly think them. And we know that from a in our subconscious, we've got these programs built into us when we were before seven years old. Remember when you were in school, Josh, and you raised your hand to speak and the teacher says, not yet, or sit down and be quiet, little Josh, or, you know, somebody said to you, shut up, you're stupid. And so all of a sudden, you get these ideas that you're not worthy, that you're not smart, that you're not intelligent, and that what you have to say isn't worth sharing.

7:03And so you bring these ideas and these perceptions, incorrect perceptions with you into adulthood. And this is why you fail at a job interview. This is why you go on a first date and you don't know what to say. You don't know what to ask. You don't know all these things because you're playing this tape in your mind. I'm stupid. I'm not good with women. I don't know what to say. I'm going to make a fool out of myself, etc., etc. And so communication starts with knowing how to speak to yourself in a way that allows you and enables you to shine when you need to.

7:41Yeah. And in leadership today, I would imagine, do you mind maybe just sharing a little bit, Steve, about who you generally work with and what that usually looks like? Certainly. And that's another great question. Thank you. I work primarily when it comes to, I work with a lot of individuals and public figures, but with companies, they hire me to come in and work with their sales teams or with their executives. And a funny thing is, Josh, they usually come to me because, hey, sales are down, clients are not returning, you know, these kinds of things. And while those are symptoms of an underlying foundational problem, which is your people aren't knowing what to say, right, in a crisis situation.

8:22Your people don't know how to generate the sale because they're focused too much on, oh, I got to meet my year, my month end numbers. And so I'm just going to push, push, push and try and get the sale. And they chase the customer away, right? Or they give too much information or they don't give enough information or they don't give information that is speaking to the client, to the prospect from their point of view. And so these are the things that I'm called upon to bring in to the companies to help them. And again, it does add to their bottom line, but it's not as easy as taking someone and teaching them with and saying, okay, do this faster, right?

9:01Here's the process to do this faster and we'll sell more. The idea is that companies must work on and develop their people first. And when you put your money in your people, your people will automatically produce more, they'll become more efficient, they'll be so much more excited to come to work each day, right? Because you're co-creating this company together. Yeah. And that gets to something that I know that you shared around presenting, getting back to a little bit of communication. Obviously, we're presenting all of the time. But I think one of the biggest challenges that you rightly point out is that the number one mistake that a lot of presenters make.

9:43And I listen, I would, I would argue that this mistake carries over in so many other areas is that we are far too focused on ourselves. In fact, I'll just share with you, you and I both had the opportunity to serve. And in the Navy, I learned from Staff Sergeant Adrian Cronauer from, you know, Robin Williams played in Good Good morning, Vietnam. And that was the biggest, I mean, that moment changed my life. When he spoke to us, he said, listen, you have a sacred obligation when you're behind a typewriter, behind a microphone, behind a camera. And it's not about you. It's about advocating for and championing that audience and always being transparent and honest with them.

10:29Indeed, indeed. And that's just such valuable information. And it sounds so simple. but when you think about it if you invite people to your home for dinner what's the first thing you do sit down make yourself comfortable can i get you something to drink can i get you a snack can i get you put your feet up when let me take your coat you serve the people but yet when we get on stage or we have this other opportunity all of a sudden we're self-focused like oh what are they going to think is my tie correct is my makeup on correct am i wearing the right clothes um are they going to laugh at my shoes?

11:04Do you know, does my accessories fit? And all of a sudden, you're in your head and no longer concerned about what the audience is. And your talk is going to flop. And now, again, it goes into your into your self talk. I knew it. I knew I was going to fail. I knew I was going to make a mistake. I knew this was the wrong thing to do. I knew that this was the wrong thing to say, etc, etc, when none of that is correct. If you look at what your audience needs, why are they there? And Josh, as you know, this as an expert, I mean, you are like the ultimate expert in your field as a journalist and as a podcast.

11:40I mean, you've been featured in over 2 ,500 podcasts. Very kind of you to say, but moving on. But you are, I'm not just saying it to say it. It's like you, you are unique. You are a standout in this very crowded field, right? Because you know, the way you serve your guests. I mean, when I received the emails from you to be invited on your show, and thank you so much for inviting me, you didn't just invite me and say, hey, Steve, come on our show and share your brilliance. No, you guided me, whether I needed it or not, that's relevant. You gave me videos on who your audience is, how my mic setup should be, how my background should be, how my lighting should be, and all these things, which are so, so helpful.

12:24And these are the little things you weren't worried about. Is Josh going to look good on this show? No, you all you're focused on. I want Stevie to look good on this show, because if Stevie looks good, he's going to show the heck out of this program. And that's going to elevate me right without you having to ask for anything. And so this is the kind of message. That's the kind of example that you are to the world. And that's how other leaders need to be. Yeah. Thank you so much. And that has application, whether we're on stage or whether we are in the boardroom or in front of some shareholders, we're in front of our team, we're doing a stand up or, you know, communicating on Zoom virtually to our team.

13:09You know, when folks can tell that our focus is genuinely on them, they feel it. In fact, like you don't have to worry as much about your language or your wording because it's just naturally people will know. It's like, you know, and in sales. Oh, my gosh. Are you kidding? Oh, man, a great salesperson lives and dies by their ability to empathize, you know, be a great empathizer and to truly put the needs of their clients or their guests first. Exactly. But many of them don't know that or they do know it, but they don't practice it because they see themselves as the ones in need. I need a sale.

13:50My job is on the line. My numbers are short this month. I'm competing for, you know, salesman of the year or the quarter, whatever it is. I want that gold record, whatever it is. It's that me, me, me, me, me. And that's completely incorrect. You have to be there for the audience, whether it's an audience of one or an audience of 20, 30, 40 ,000. Indeed. Steve, would you mind maybe just sharing a little bit about how you engage with folks. Are folks able to hire you? I know you're a published author. I'm curious about, to our friend that's listening as well, they might be listening to this conversation, oh, I want more Steve.

14:32How might they engage with you? Thank you for that. I've had people tell others, you need some Stevie in your life. You need to get yourself some Stevie. But thank you for that opportunity. people yes you can certainly hire me in fact my wife would ask you to hire me please hire this guy get him out of here get him out of my hair right but yes going to my website stevegsuccess.com well first of all you don't have to sign up for anything there's go to the learning lounge section of my website where you can access audio recordings that I've produced that will help tell you about your self-mastery.

15:14I've got a funny one that talks about how to make sure your presentation sucks in order so that you're not invited back. But, you know, but I deliver the reverse message. I'm not going to give it away. And then some other really, really cool recordings there for you that you can learn from and get to know more about me and we can and we can connect. But ideally, I work one on one with individuals. And I'm not one of these coaches, Josh, that'll put you on a 12-month program. Oh my goodness, I hate those. You know, 12 months and you'll be where you want to be. No. My clients want results now because they're in crisis now.

15:51Their marriage needs help. Their job is in jeopardy. Their careers, they want to make transitions into a new profession. They want answers. They want change. They want transformation now. And that's what I give them. I have a program where in 90 minutes, I can take you from A to Z, right? And yes, there's a lot of work to go that goes on there afterwards but we can do that in 90 minutes or we can do that in a day or we can do that in a over time in a six-week what I call consultation or coaching program but I don't do any long-term plays and then companies hire me and we go in we create a plan for their teams and we'll set a schedule and we'll go in and set a two three-day trainings along with follow-up feedback trainings and those kinds of things.

16:40So everything is adjustable. Everything is, what's the word I'm looking for? Customizable? Customized to each client. Yeah. Yeah. Your website is stevigsuccess.com. When somebody goes to visit you, what would you recommend their next steps be? Whether or not they're ready for a conversation with you or not. Yeah. You'd mentioned the learning library. Yes. Go to the resources tab or services rather. So you see home, you'll see services as a second button. Click on that and that'll take you to, you know, the training programs, books, but click on the learning lounge because that's the, the, the free resources.

17:21And again, you just click on them and listen, download them, share them, sell them, whatever you want to do with them. there's a couple in particular. I like this, uh, how to give a lousy talk. Part one, part two. Absolutely. You want to learn what not to do. There it is. All listed out. Absolutely. You're, uh, Steve, again, it's been wonderful having you Steve Gallegos, uh, again, founder of, um, Stevie G, uh, success group. And again, the website, Stevie G success.com. Steve, thank you so much for joining us. Josh, it's been my pleasure. And thank you for what you do. I know it's not easy. It's time consuming, but you love it more than anyone I know.

18:05So thank you again for doing that.

18:13Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day. Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from.

18:54I've got a free video that you can watch right now with no opt-in or email required where I'm going to share the exact steps necessary to be 100 % inbound in your industry over the next six to eight months with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for more than 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments. Make sure to hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning, that's right, seven days a week, you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed.

19:36I promise to bring positivity and inspiration to you for around 15 minutes every single day. Thanks for listening and thank you for being a part of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Movement.