2365 - Enhancing Your Storytelling with Artificial Intelligence While Staying Authentically You with Aleya Harris

0:03Josh Elledge:Welcome to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur. If you're committed to growing your business by serving audiences with generosity and real expertise, you're in the right place. This is a daily 15-minute show featuring leaders who believe real impact comes from generosity, not hype, which means as a listener, you're going to get the good stuff. In fact, we created podverified.com to give thoughtful leaders like you free tools to show up better on podcast stages like this one. That includes your free podverified score, free podverified guest training, a free media kit builder, and so much more. It's the first ecosystem of its kind built by podcasters who genuinely want to help guests thrive and grow in podcasting.

0:46Josh Elledge:Visit podverified.com if you'd like to be featured as a future guest. I'm Josh Elledge. Let's get into it.

1:20Josh Elledge:Thank you so much, Josh. I'm so excited to be here with you today. Before we start talking about sparking the stage, I always love hearing what high-level leaders do for fun on the outside. Maybe something that you might be into currently. What have you been geeking out on?

1:36Aleya Harris:It is probably one of the most geeky things to geek out on, but I've gotten really into anime. I know it's so random. I stumbled over it one time on Hulu or something. And now it's like, if I don't watch like an episode of something like daily, like I feel like part of my life is not lifing right.

2:04Josh Elledge:So what's going on? Is it that they're just, is it just super, super engaging? Are they really good at cliffhangers or help me understand?

2:11Aleya Harris:No, it's not any of that. It's kind of basically like if you have like an isekai, I'm not Japanese. If I'm pronouncing that horribly, I'd like to apologize in advance. But I'm going to say an isekai kind of show where basically you're from one world and you get popped into this mythical, magical world. They all almost have the same plot. But it's interesting enough to keep your attention while you're just kind of relaxing after the day. but steady enough that you're not like using all of the brain cells to pay attention so it's it for me it was like a perfect blend and i did not think that i would be doing this but even my three-year-old now will see an anime out and be like oh it's mommy's show yeah we're like right

3:00Josh Elledge:now yeah if there's one show for a non-anime watcher to maybe dip their toe into it what would you recommend right now my favorite well i have a hard time with favorite favorites but

3:13Aleya Harris:one that i really like is the misfit at the demon academy um another one is the apothecary diaries those are two very different types you start there um and thank me later okay please email me so we can geek out together because i am the only person that i know that likes anime because i I didn't like join a club. I just kind of stumbled over it. And I'm a little nervous to like really jump into like the world. And because it's a thing, Comic-Con, like it's a whole thing. I'm just like a side anime lover. Yeah.

3:49Josh Elledge:Yeah. No, I know that world can get pretty, pretty heavy pretty quickly. So, well, Alea, let's talk about your world. And, of course, your book sparked the stage. Tell us about your superpowers.

4:01Aleya Harris:So my superpower is being able to use story and storytelling to help leaders lead, speakers speak, and in general, people to help others participate in their own transformation. So I use radically authentic strategic storytelling in the corporate environment to help build cultures and teams. And I also use it to train speakers how to use story structures to speak from the stage. It's not just, you know, here's a hero's journey, wham, bam, thank you, man. It goes all the way from your controlling idea through to how to use story to understand how you can feel more confident on the stage. how you should be reaching out to presenters.

4:47Aleya Harris:All of that is in the book because the way that I teach is three stages. You first get real, then you get clear, and then you get connected. When you get real, you're gonna rifle around in yourself, have a couple of existential crises or several, you know, depending on the day. And you're gonna figure out what your stories are that people actually wanna hear. And then you're gonna get clear because if you don't know how to tell those stories and it doesn't matter, So that's when you put them and you shape them into frameworks. And then you get connected by understanding your stagecraft, understanding how to pitch, understanding how to connect with audiences.

5:25Josh Elledge:Well, in the age, Alaya, of AI, I think my, and I would really love your take on this. I feel like there is an appetite for real human connection, real human stories. I think AI absolutely is a wonderful part in entertainment and lots of other areas of our lives. But I think that there is quite an appetite for the real real. Tell me more about this. So I'm all about authenticity.

5:57Aleya Harris:Not authenticity as in trauma dumping. Not authenticity as I'm trying to just be seen. Look how authentic and aesthetic I am. Like not that, but truly coming from a place where you're telling a story that you almost don't want to tell. That's kind of how you know you're supposed to tell it. Like that's the one. Not the one where you're like, yes, I really like pumpkin spice latte. Like, come on, man.

6:21Josh Elledge:Yeah.

6:21Aleya Harris:Like no one cares. It's the story, like the stories I tell about my postpartum depression journey. How I made$250 ,000 in six months and then promptly lost it. Like those types of stories that you find the connection of the human experience within them. And that's why people are listening to you. I want to say, I love AI. I have free AI tools on my website that you can use that help you with outlines and finding stages. I use AI all day, every day. Because the smart storyteller isn't holding on to the things that AI can do. The smart storyteller and the smart business owner is using this time.

7:03Aleya Harris:We're in a second wave of a technological revolution to understand themselves and the unique value that only they can bring. And they automate the rest. So you have more time to dive more deeply into the gifts that you can give to other people.

7:18Josh Elledge:I love it. Um, Alaya, what are your rules of thumb then for, um, you know, I guess if someone really wants to invest in their own humanity, in being able to tell their authentic story first, what, you know, what can we use AI for versus, you know, what do you just need to do? What's your job versus what should you be systematizing or delegating?

7:43Aleya Harris:So your job is to have, well, first of all, live your life, right? That's the first thing. And AI can't do that for you. So you're going to live your life and then capture the stories that you have lived. The best way to do this, you could just like record it in an app and talk about the pain, the feelings, what you overcome, and the lessons that you learned. because nobody cares about your story if it doesn't help solve their problem. So how do you then understand how you went from point A to point B? And make sure you talk about the ugly parts because that's the part that people are really living in.

8:28Aleya Harris:That's how you are of your highest service. AI can't do any of that. However, from that point in time, you pretty much got it made. AI can then take that recording and that transcription and turn it into a talk outline. It can take that recording and transcription and turn it into a talk overview or a pitch email. All of that's great, but it can't live it for you. And it cannot determine your points of human connection. The point of the thing that you not only want to be known for, but your purpose for being. How can you and only you in the story that you have lived help someone transform their lives?

9:07Aleya Harris:So I was a private chef, right? I love cooking. I love food. I have all kinds of things. I am an onion, Josh. Many layers, many layers. I was a private shepherd for several years. And yes, I can talk all about that. But that's not why I'm here on this earth. My purpose is to love people into the highest versions of themselves, no matter how they come in front of me. And I'm going to go with you through the nasty bit, through the muck, through the, this is not love and light. This is like love and Luxapro over here. Like I am in it with you. That is why I'm here. So I tell stories about that, to connect with people on that level.

9:46Aleya Harris:And then my services all center around that. So then I can monetize connecting with people on that level, right? That's what you can do versus what AI can do.

9:56Josh Elledge:Where are we, Alaya, for the speaking world right now? How has for someone maybe hasn't been actively speaking for a handful of years. Think about where we were before COVID, way back when, where we are today. We're now into 2026. If someone is saying, you know what, I wonder if I should start, you know, doing more speaking. What is that world like? Like, give us an overview of, you know, where this fits in business and where this fits in, you know, our ability to make the impact that we want to make in the world.

10:28Aleya Harris:Absolutely. First of all, the answer is yes. Should I start speaking? Yes. Remember that$250 ,000 I told you about that I made in six months? That was from speaking for free. I spoke for free and the audience has paid me$250 ,000 in consulting money. Now, me losing it had nothing to do with speaking. That was all me. That was all my special.

10:47Josh Elledge:I did that one on myself, on my own.

10:49Aleya Harris:I did that one all on my own. The gaining it came from stages because when you're on stage, it's a unique medium. It's the only time when people can feel your energy in the room, but you're still elevated as an expert, but you still feel touchable. You feel tangible. There's an experience that they're participating in with you. It's not reading a blog post. It's not even listening to a podcast. It is unique. And there's something about people being on stage where people build a stronger connection than any other medium besides one-on-one conversation for me. So the speaking world right now is one to get into if you want to do one of two things.

11:31Aleya Harris:One, you want to speak for sales and marketing. You want to speak to sell your thing. You want to make sure you're in front of the right audience who's going to buy your thing, whether you're getting paid or not. Two, you want to speak to get paid. now i want the people on the back to listen to me you will not start making 10 million dollars when you first get on a stage speaking is not get rich quick i hope everyone heard me i hope they did but you can make good money but you do have to work up to it and you have to like show that you did the thing like write the book do the dead x you have to give yourself raises by being accomplished in those areas.

12:18Aleya Harris:Other than that, if you are speaking for free in front of an audience that is not your audience, that's your fault. You did it. Nobody told you to say yes to that. You're not going to make money off of that as a marketing thing. They're not paying you, so why are you there? You have to be very intentional about what you're going to do, realizing that speaking is the wild, wild west. How much should you charge? I don't know. I do it for free and then my rates go up to$15 ,000. That's where I'm at right now. But it depends.

12:51Josh Elledge:None of us have our pricing on it. Right?

12:56Aleya Harris:Or it's a large range. So if you want to get into speaking, the best thing that you can do right now is to figure out the core controlling idea that is at the center of your business. The thing that people need to understand, know or believe before they buy from you, create a talk around that and then pitch it consistently to as many people as possible where you have your ideal audience with their butts in the seats. That's how no matter how wild, wild west the speaker world is because it was wild before COVID, wild now, at least now we're in person more. You will always win with a clear message that's to a targeted niche audience.

13:40Josh Elledge:alaya your website is alaya harris.com i suspect you've got some resources it sounds like you

13:46Aleya Harris:already teased that out and then of course yes and and and of course you know someone who's like

13:52Josh Elledge:listen i i just want to i don't want to i just want to go straight to go right i just i want to advance the boardwalk and so uh you know if that person just wants to connect with you personally

14:02Aleya Harris:give give us the next steps the next step would be to talk to me that's what i really want you to do because you can go and download my free tools and you can do the GPTs or you could just talk to me and I'll answer your questions for you. You could, I mean, that's simple. It's a lot simpler. Plus like I'm cool peeps. Like we could really like chop it up and have a good time. So you can go to leaharris.com and there are several, several, several buttons all over that shebang that say schedule a call. Do that. Schedule a call with me. If you're like, you're still not sure about me, you want to do some light stalking on the internet, that's fine.

14:39Aleya Harris:I get it. You can go ahead and go to my free resources. I have several at the very top of my website. It says free resources. My favorite one is the Spark Your Story virtual coach. That is where I give you the exact Radical Spark signature talk framework that's inside of my Spark the Stage course. And you are able to use it and the GPT will coach you through as if it were me, it kind of sounds like me. So in the end, you will have your own framework that you can then turn into a compelling and converting keynote. So you can do that directly at alayaharris.com slash spark dash coach.

15:22Josh Elledge:Alayaharris, your website, alayaharris.com. Thank you so much, Alayah, for joining us. I love the conversation.

15:28Aleya Harris:Thanks, Josh. I appreciate being here.

15:32Josh Elledge:Thanks for listening to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. If your goal is to grow your business, increase revenue, and build authority without gimmicks, this show is designed for you. Each episode gives you practical insight from leaders who have turned trust and credibility into real business results. If you value short, thoughtful conversations that respect your time, make sure you're subscribed. We publish daily 15-minute episodes focused on growth that actually compounds. And if you're interested in being a guest or you want to turn podcast appearances into measurable business growth, visit podverified.com.

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