Finding Your Voice: Secrets to Effective Speaking

Watch the episode here:

• Unlock the secrets to confident public speaking.
• Learn from Rick’s personal journey and experiences on stage.
• Discover the power of speaking about what truly excites you.
• Gain insights into effective communication, whether in a large hall or a small room.
• Transform your nervousness into excitement and passion.

Hey, what’s shakin”? Hey, I’m Rick Jordan. Today, we’re going all in. Public speaking, that’s one of the biggest fears that so many people have at least. So I read anyway. And I get this question asked all the time. It’s like podcasts, right? This show has almost 400 episodes. I’m on stages all over, I go on nationwide TV networks all the time too. I mean, Google may, I mean, last month prior to this episode publishing, I was on the news four times in August, and I don’t get nervous. And I was looking back because I was talking with somebody like, do you ever get nervous? And I get that question a lot. I’m like, No, I really don’t like, oh, well, what do you do to prepare? I mean, even when you like, go on TV, you know, what do you do to prepare around all that stuff? And like, I read the article that the producers sent me just so I’m up to speed on the actual topic. And they’re like, What are you talking about? I’m like, No, it takes me like three or four minutes. And then I’m good to go. I can speak about that. 

Like, it’s mind-blowing. Because I’m sure you’re listening to this right now. You’re like, How can anybody possibly do that, you know, when people prepare a talk or something like that, they’re going hours and preparing these pages in these bullet points. And some people even like, do word for word, which, by the way, I tried one time, when I hired a speaking coach five years ago, yeah, five years ago, I think 2018 Whatever that was when I hired a speaking coach in 2018. And he wanted me to go through this talk that I had word for word. So literally typed it out. I mean, he even wrote most of it for me, because that was what His thing was about. And then I had to deliver this, it was based off of a conversation with me, and coaching and trying to pull information out of me and all that. So it wasn’t written poorly, it was actually written pretty well. But when I started to try to rehearse this thing, it was like word for word, I’m like, This just does not compete with my brain. So then, what I did is I just took like, five points. 

That’s it and made those notes. As soon as I did that, I was able to just blast through this thing, telling the stories that I needed to tell and communicating all the information I needed to move the crowd. And that’s just the way that it’s been for me. And I’m going to tell you exactly why because I thought about this the other day, and I completely forgot, if this was the case, it’s like I haven’t been speaking publicly, since third grade. And I remember this vividly now when I was in third grade. And I’m going to tell you today, this is what I’m doing. I’m giving you tips today on how to become a better speaker, and a better communicator whether it’s on TV like me, whether it’s podcasts, like the show, whether it’s on stage somewhere, whether it’s a small group, I’m telling you from experience, sometimes a small groups, that can be a lot of fun. And at the same time, if you only have like six to 15 people in the room, it actually can be one of the more nerve-wracking times because it’s like, literally, you’re right there with those individuals, rather than being able to look over a vast audience.

And it’s much more difficult, I’m telling you, it’s much more difficult to get the entire room of a small group of 15 people to move their energy at the same time, much harder than it is for 1500 people. Because 1,500 people, there are more people that you can count on to catch on and, to move with the energy and create this wave and movements in the audience to help get them from point A to B to inspire them to move something in their hearts to make a shift in their life. It’s a lot easier when it’s a larger group of people a lot easier. When you’re, when it’s a small group, you actually almost have to like to target each individual person that’s there. And it’s, it’s more difficult. It’s more work. Now, when I was speaking in third grade, what happened to me and this is how, when I have conversations with people, it’s like all of a sudden, you get an idea. And this idea, maybe this has happened to you. This idea is almost like a download at the moment. 

And it’s not necessarily like a download of the words that you’re going to say. It’s a download. Now I know some of you I bet you’re nodding your heads like yeah, that’s what happens. Right? It’s not like point by point, everything you’re going to do. But it’s like when you allow your emotions to take over. Right? When you think about an idea, you allow your emotions to take over. Like this is what I’m going to communicate in a talk in a podcast on a TV appearance, whatever. This is what I’m going to communicate it like overtakes you. And the problem that people get stuck in is to begin to overthink this, you might begin to say, well, I need to say this here, and that they just start talking like in your mind, because all the way back to third grade as far as I can remember, this is how it’s happened with me. And I get this immediate download when I hear something and it’s like, Oh man, it’s just like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and it’s like I know the direction that I’m going to go. Now I’m going to tell you this, this is probably counterintuitive to most speaking coaches that are out there. 

But the biggest part that you need to understand before you go into a talk really like one of the only things that you need to know is where you’re going to end. Like what point that journey is, is stopping. What that final point is that fight. That final thing that you need to do with your audience. That final statement you want to deliver if it’s a word-for-word kind of thing, and I’m not going to say anything against people that want to do that, because some are amazing. I mean, look at like stand-comedians, right, I’ve even done stand-up on Broadway, literally. Right. And that was more word for word because I was a set, it was more like acting than it was actually delivering a talk. Now, as long as you know where to end, in whatever speech you have talk you have, you will do okay, in the middle part, as long as you don’t chase too many rabbits, because you can tend to do that. Now, when I was in third grade, there was actually a Bible study in Sunday school, actually, in this church that I was in, and we were going through Noah’s Ark. 

And at this moment, I got like, super excited over some of these fine details in the story. Because I don’t know if you, if you’ve ever been in that kind of a thing to where you’ve learned about this, maybe you’ve been in some kind of religious schooling when you were young. But the thing that blew my mind, right, whether you believe in God or not, you know, there are historical references to this. And this was just such a massive ship. And I started to think of the logistics and the end of the engineering undertaking of these things. When it started to be described in the Bible, the arc was X amount of qubits long, X amount of qubits wide. And then the thing that killed me was X amount of qubits high. cubits were a measurement of distance at that point in time, like inches or meters or whatever today. That’s what completely gripped me in that moment, and I got excited about this to where I went through the whole thing. 

So I actually went to the teacher, and I’m like, Hey, can I talk about this next week? And they were taken aback, I remember this was like, Well, sure, let’s do it. So I remember teaching this and that’s what got me super excited because this knowledge that I got pumped up over that I got excited about, is what I wanted to share with everybody else. Now, here’s another key to public speaking talk about what you’re excited about. Everybody gets excited about things whatever it is. And that’s a great place to start. Because as you get this think about, like the last time you got super pumped over something, maybe it was a new job, right? You thought about this career, maybe when you’re younger, you’re like. 

This is what my major is going to be in college, or you’re like, This is what I’m going to do for the next 10 years of my life, or women. I mean, when you’re gonna get married, right? You’ve been planning this thing, since you were like 12 years old, for the most part, and you’re thinking this is how it’s gonna be, you get excited, you get filled up with emotion, and your mind gets carried away, every human being I believe on the face of this planet gets excited over something. And that is what you are meant to share. That is what you were meant to teach. That is what you are meant to be able to bring others along this wave with you. A talk with the PowerPoint, when you’re just looking down and staring at bullet points or looking up at God, the thing I hate the most, right? When you’re looking up at a PowerPoint presentation, and you’re literally just reading the bullet points. We’ve all been there, right? Whether it’s a teacher in school, whether it’s at a conference, whatever we’ve seen those people read off of that, but teach what you get excited about. 

And you’re not going to need those bullet points. Because it’s just going to be in you. And then this is the best way to start. Because it no matter what I mean, my kids right now are in school. And it’s an online private school, right? Everybody says they like their homeschool, but I’ve made this distinction before it’s an online private school, and one of their requirements is a public speaking course. And I believe that I heard about that because they’re just doing it this year. I’m like, Oh my gosh, that’s brilliant. Everybody on the face of this planet needs to have good communication skills in order to be successful. Public speaking is the best way to hone in those skills. And it doesn’t have to be on a stage of 3000. If that’s something that you just like, I just don’t want to do that. But you do have to communicate with small groups of people your entire life. That’s what we’re talking about here. And the best way to communicate anything is to start with the things that you’re excited about. And then after years because you get I get asked these questions “How do you not need preparation time”? 

It’s like, Oh, I’d get so much anxiety. You know, I’ve been asked by people who work with me, it’s like, cool. What are you speaking about tomorrow? You’ve got your, your your 30 Minute keynote at the event tomorrow? I’m like, no, no Like, seriously, you don’t know, like, I’ve got a topic that I’m excited about. And that’s it, right? It’s, I can go up. And even if somebody called on me in, in a moment’s notice, which has happened many times, to where it’s like, hey, this person canceled, can you fill in the form like, absolutely teed me up, let’s roll. The reason I can do that is because I’ve been doing this over and over and over and over and over again. Now this show all in, I love doing this for you. I love doing this for everybody who’s been listening over the years and all the future listeners. And that’s how it’s grown so much. I know, you can always hear the excitement in my voice about this. .

Even if I didn’t want to do that for the point of reaching an audience anymore. And I’m not saying that’s ever gonna happen. Because that is like, ingrained in my DNA to love doing that. This show has given me so much speaking practice, to where I’m constantly talking and communicating, just like playing a musical instrument, even though you know the notes. Even though you know the notes and you’ve known them, you can read the music, and you can play it technically proficiently, after you’ve played that piece 100 times, in just two weeks to get ready for performance. Now you start to put in the flair and the emotions and the character in the music for anybody that’s ever played an instrument I know you know what I’m talking about right now, after you do it so many times, now, you can just pick up that guitar, pick up the saxophone, pick up those drumsticks, flip open the cover to the piano, and just go to town. Because you’ve been doing it for so long. 

And you’ve put in the time and the practice to build up that muscle memory and that neurological memory to where it’s just in you now and you can do it. That’s the same thing with public speaking. It’s identical to that. So the first thing is to get excited about something. And that’s what you should start teaching. Everybody has that thing. And then over the course of time, you want to cultivate that ability. Even if you didn’t like it, and you were nervous AF when you got up there, which you probably will be. But that’s a way that I’m telling you. This is like the secret. This is the secret sauce right here the way to get over your nervousness is to just start talking about stuff that you’re excited about. Because it’s like it’s a battle of emotions, right? And I guarantee you that the excitement, the excitement, and the emotion will win every single time over the nervousness and over the anxiety. It always does. Especially after you get rolling for just like 30 seconds or a minute or something like that. 

Even if you walk up there. Do I get nervous? Now, I can’t remember the last time that I was. Now when it comes up to where it’s like a big show, like a couple of years ago, the first time I was on Bloomberg, right? Like, oh, man, this was like a big deal. You know what I’m thinking about? I’m like, But then I’m like, I’m talking about some stuff. And I’m excited about so this is gonna go just fine. And you know, what’s funny is that the times that I actually think that I really, really suck. This is ironic to me. The times I think that I actually really suck on stage are the times when the majority of the people call them like, Dude, you crush it. Thanks for that this is going to change my life. Man, I had tears in my eyes with the story you told thank you for coming here today and giving me some pieces of wisdom. And I’m thinking that’s like, Man, I thought I was really sucking it up. 

But that’s because time and time again, I’ve done this all the way back to the first time when I was in third grade. Right? And we’re talking like 30 years ago now. Just talking about something that I was excited about. That is the biggest secret to being proficient or at least getting started as a proficient public speaker or even just a proficient and effective communicator, and on stages on TV, or even just down to an office conference room where you have to get an idea crossed to get the team moving in a certain way or contributes in a meaningful and impactful way to whatever it is that you’re involved in right now. I know this is going to help some people but just talk about what you’re excited about. It’ll make things a lot easier when you communicate