Quote: “There are no mistakes, only gifts!” Erin Diehl
I think it’s happened to all of us at one time or another…we get off stage and realize that we didn’t do as well as we would have liked to. We feel like we failed our audience, and that is a hard pill to swallow. How do we come back from a big failure? On this episode of The Wealthy Speaker Show, we’re thrilled to welcome Erin Diehl to share her own experience of failing on stage and how she got through it and how you can too.
Erin “Big” Diehl is a Business Improv Edutainer, Failfluencer, and Professional Zoombie. Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn, play, and grow. Among her many accolades, Erin is most proud of successfully coercing over 28,000 professionals to chicken dance.
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Jane Atkinson: Well welcome everyone to the wealthy speaker. Podcast. I'm. Your host, Jane Atkinson, and let me ask you a question. Have you ever suffered a failure
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Jane Atkinson: from the stage. thinking that anyone who has spoken for any length of time has suffered from what we call the F word failure, at least once in their career. My amazing client, Aaron Deal, speaks to audiences about just that the big app
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improve it! LLC: failure, and she's here to talk about her own experience from the platform. Aaron. Welcome! I'm so happy to have you back, Jane. I am here for you and this community always, and especially especially if I could be of service when it comes to the F work. You know what I mean.
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Jane Atkinson: Okay? Well, our last for our last episode that we did together on this show was about rocking your interactive presentations, and that's kind of like your comfort zone. These interactive presentations tell everybody about
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Jane Atkinson: what you do in your in the company that you've built what you do in your day to day and the you know you've You've built quite an empire there a girl! Oh, my God, stop! Keep going now I will tell you. Thank you for that, cause so it's nice to hear that sometimes, because you know
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everybody has good and bad days, and
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improve it! LLC: you know i'm just gonna keep it real for everybody. Jane. I'm having one of the F F word days today she's feeling some fails. So this is like par. The universe always brings you the things that you need to get through on the days that are the things that you need on the on the days that you need to get through things. So
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in my day to day I'm. The founder of a company called Improve it, and we use improv comedy to train professionals on power skills, and we do that through play, laughter, experiential learning. It's mostly workshop based.
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improve it! LLC: And now I am stepping out on that keynote stage and thank you, Jane, for the support and the help, because I need it.
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Jane Atkinson: So your comfort zone is when you're putting other people out of their comfort zone. Probably
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Jane Atkinson: we.
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Jane Atkinson: You're out there working with people, getting them up on the stage with you and and doing fun things and showing them how improv and laughter can help them in their day to day workplace situations. And I think that that's really interesting to kind of like. Let's just put that aside as your comfort zone, because now you're expanding into speaking, and you've got a few now under your belt, quite a few, actually.
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Jane Atkinson: and some good, and maybe one especially that i'm thinking of. Not so good. So why don't we talk about a bad day on the platform? What you would deem an F,
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Jane Atkinson: and start there. And hopefully, by the end of today's podcast. You're gonna remind yourself of what you're doing all of this, and and you're gonna feel better. This may be a coaching as well as we go. Yeah, Jade, You didn't know that this really is a coaching session. No, I'm just kidding.
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So the f bomb. So it's interesting. It's very meta the experience that we're talking about. I was actually talking about failure.
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improve it! LLC: and it was a failure. And i'm going to tell you. I've learned so many things through that One of the biggest
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rules of improv comedy is. There are no mistakes, only gifts.
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Jane Atkinson: so
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improve it! LLC: I have to take my own advice when these things happen, and one of those things is to, and i'll just give it away. It's called Move on it's a methodology I developed
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improve it! LLC: that
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improve it! LLC: truly has helped me through so many of my own personal failures. So the first piece of that move on method is to marinate.
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improve it! LLC: So I was in Austin, Texas. and I was speaking with a group of a 100 people. and this audience just happened to be predominantly male.
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improve it! LLC: I I had a little bit less of a connection with this audience than I do any type of workshop.
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I went into it, really amped and excited, which is just my general mentality.
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improve it! LLC: I did not meet this audience where they were, which was a huge learning for me.
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so I got off this stage thinking, Wow! It brought all the energy
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improve it! LLC: when I realized that no one in the audience connected with it, and it was almost way, too, out of their comfort zone. And here's just to even back up from there
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improve it! LLC: in the sale of this keynote. I was not a part of the sell. My team sold this.
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improve it! LLC: Oh, interesting! And and
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Jane Atkinson: and would you say it was a wrong fit audience that maybe, had you been more a part of this sale, so I want people to hear this, because so many people come to me and say, oh, I just really want somebody else to sell me.
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Jane Atkinson: This is maybe a reason why you should be a part of the process at some point
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Jane Atkinson: along the way. Would you say it was a wrong fit? Oh, for sure, for sure, and you know what was the first thing after the contract had been signed, that the client said to me when I got on the phone.
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Jane Atkinson: so that
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improve it! LLC: they said. We are a really hard group.
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improve it! LLC: That was the really
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improve it! LLC: hard group. Were they left Brainers? What kind of audience was this? So it's a group of people.
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improve it! LLC: Yeah, I'm: more analytical. I'm: not gonna. I feel like I can't give it all away, because if anyone to ever listen and know. you know. I'm sorry it was bad, you know it was bad. I know it was bad, but it was a group of analytical.
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improve it! LLC: more blue collar. If I'm. Being honest people
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improve it! LLC: predominantly male, and it was just not my fit. It was not the right audience.
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improve it! LLC: I was not the right speaker for them.
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Jane Atkinson: and I think that one thing we discussed after the fact also was the idea that you don't have to go and put on a show, never feeling that relief that when we had that discussion that it's not like
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Jane Atkinson: the Aaron deal show. It's like kind of like a I heard. I've heard it said years ago. It's like a ping pong game where it's back and forth and back and forth, or a tennis match where it's you and the audience, and you're just kind of in in.
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improve it! LLC: and I think that maybe took some relief off of your shoulders for knowing that you didn't have to be that Aaron show with all the lights flashing around you.
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improve it! LLC: and I will say if I if i'm looking back on this time
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improve it! LLC: I was going through my own sort of healing journey. At the time I had a lot of unprocessed emotions that I had not dealt with. When I was getting on this stage
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improve it! LLC: I was leading with my ego a 1,000%,
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Jane Atkinson: this thing. So
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Jane Atkinson: anybody who's ever had an F.
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Jane Atkinson: And I've had this happen in my client life over 20 years. probably a handful of times where i'm talking people kind of back onto the stage.
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Jane Atkinson: One of the really key tips, I think, or coming back from it, is to not make it about you, but to make it about that.
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Jane Atkinson: Let me just go back and serve this next audience. And so we have a contrast here in your story, because it started in Austin with what you would demon app, and maybe they would. Demon. I don't know, like
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Jane Atkinson: a lot of time. Speakers are so much harder on themselves than their clients ever are. And so i'm not gonna say it was an app. It was an F in your mind.
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Jane Atkinson: So let's talk fast forward. Okay. So you had a lot going on in your personal life, and you made it about you, and you thought it needed to be the Erin show, and and so we got all that gone.
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Jane Atkinson: And then you moved on to another engagement in Chicago, which I think was far more of a white right fit audience to begin with. Talk a little bit about. Set the stage for that one, and then I want to talk to you about how you felt after that 10, yeah, yeah. So that event
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improve it! LLC: was completely different. The client came to me
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improve it! LLC: personally on Linkedin. They followed me on Linkedin. and we had a great conversation. It felt immediately different from the Get-go from the first discovery call.
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improve it! LLC: I had also grown. I had also evolved, and you had helped me tweak this presentation and connect with my audience. So one thing I just want to mention
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improve it! LLC: is that in Austin I had the F.
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improve it! LLC: I had to go back and do that same
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improve it! LLC: event twice
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improve it! LLC: with a different audience, but same demographic.
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improve it! LLC: So I tweeted it from there. But then I took those notes and tweaked it even more to make it all about the audience less about me all about them, which are which is my go-to, and a workshop in a workshop. I'm guiding them the entire time. And there's nothing about me in there.
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improve it! LLC: So that was my comfort zone, and for whatever reason I had left it, and so, going into the Chicago event, the client from the get-go just felt supernatural we had great conversation. They booked in like 3 or 4 days.
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improve it! LLC: and we had a great relationship. I was a part of. I was the sales call, so I was definitely a part of it from beginning to end.
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improve it! LLC: The rapport was so wonderful. The event itself was a women's conference. It was a larger group of people. It was a university with a lot of alumni and corporate sponsors, and
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improve it! LLC: the event from start to finish was a success. It was amazing, and
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improve it! LLC: the connections and the camaraderie and the feeling that I felt giving
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improve it! LLC: the keynote felt completely different. because I tuned in to me, and I tuned in to them.
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Jane Atkinson: So
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Jane Atkinson: if we were to think about
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Jane Atkinson: if we were to dig down into the mindset, and the thoughts that might have been going on in your head. Talk about the Austin event, the the f event
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Jane Atkinson: going into that event. What do you think your thought was?
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improve it! LLC: You know I think it was actually really in my head, which is another which is a term we use on the improv stage. I wasn't present in my body. I was in my head. I was thinking negative at the attack. Thoughts.
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Jane Atkinson: Yeah, like what? What would have been some of your thoughts? I was taking that piece of information. The client told me that we are a hard audience.
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improve it! LLC: and I was thinking about it.
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Jane Atkinson: Okay. So
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Jane Atkinson: you are a hard audience. What your thought. And then, when you think that thought so, i'm kind of walking through the thought model right now, when you think oh, there are a hard audience. What feeling does that result in for you?
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improve it! LLC: So for me? And this is a part of you know my own journey of like being a human being
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improve it! LLC: that happens.
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improve it! LLC: I think I have to amp it up. So in my mind. I was like, I have to turn yeah over, compensate. and turn it up
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improve it! LLC: when actually.
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improve it! LLC: she shouted down.
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Jane Atkinson: That's really interesting. Okay? So then, the result was not a not a great outing from your perspective. So now let's flip it over to the Chicago event.
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Jane Atkinson: Your thought is more like man. This is a perfect fit for me. And when you think this is a perfect fit, what feeling does that give you?
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improve it! LLC: Yeah, it gives me just
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the sense of connection to my purpose, and
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improve it! LLC: honestly, it's yes, purposeful. I feel a sense of inner peace.
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Jane Atkinson: Hmm.
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improve it! LLC: And I know
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improve it! LLC: I I knew from the Get-go that I was going to change up the keynote.
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improve it! LLC: So the and you gave me this piece of advice, Jane. you said.
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improve it! LLC: put something at the top of the keynote that makes people but gets you up, but gets you out of your comfort zone. That brings you back, or actually brings me to my comfort zone, which is an activity interaction.
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improve it! LLC: I put that at the top of this keynote in Chicago.
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improve it! LLC: It changed everything everything.
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and then, because I got them connected in their bodies with me.
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improve it! LLC: They were with me from the beginning to the end, and i'm talking about writing down notes, taking pictures of slides. and i'll tell you the best. The very best
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improve it! LLC: compliment I ever received was after the keynote itself. A woman walked up to me, and she said this was the most
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improve it! LLC: tangible thing I've ever sat through.
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Jane Atkinson: Hmm, that's nice. That's the That's a nice compliment, you know something interesting.
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Jane Atkinson: A lot of times when people have high stakes
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improve it! LLC: keynote.
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Jane Atkinson: They throw out all their all material, and they start from scratch, and they build something brand new. And I've seen this happen a lot on the Influence stage at the National Speakers Association, where they don't
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Jane Atkinson: use any of their kind of tried and true go to material, and for you to just go back out. I don't know if this was your first one back, but after an F
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Jane Atkinson: to go back out like, let's just get you into a place where you feel really natural and comfortable, where you feel like your most authentic solve start from that, and then build
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Jane Atkinson: from there, and
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Jane Atkinson: I think it's really interesting. So you thought I am a trainer, and I now becoming a keynote. I need to throw out all things that I know about training, and I need to be the show, the keynote. And and so I think that that's really interesting
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Jane Atkinson: to recognize
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Jane Atkinson: that actually, what you needed to do is take a little bit of your training and kind of incorporate it in, because you and your energy and the in the interaction between you and the audience is probably a huge part of why people love you so much right?
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improve it! LLC: I and I think I make them feel confident in themselves. And so you're absolutely right, Jane, when I want when I do training in facilitation.
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improve it! LLC: I watched people walk in the room. you know. Negative energy siloed people.
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I watch them after 2 h walk out a cohesive ensemble of. However many people are in the room, the energy is high.
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improve it! LLC: It's transformational the work because I use this art form to do it because I use that art form to make somebody feel something in themselves.
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improve it! LLC: And you're absolutely right. I threw out almost everything I knew, and I created a keynote that had some elements of what I knew.
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improve it! LLC: But there was ego there. I'm going to just say it. There was ego in there, and I think that was coming from this place of now. I have to tell a story about myself when actuality I can use storytelling, but I still needed to make the story about them, and as soon as that happened
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improve it! LLC: I could not tell you, and literally, when this woman gave me that feedback at the end. My team was all standing right there. My entire team was there, my internal team.
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improve it! LLC: I started crying, and they were like she's crying, and I was like. No, I'm. Because that was the feedback from the the one I did in Austin was that they needed more tangible, so that there was more that was about a personal story. They needed to relate it more.
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improve it! LLC: and I would say the industry I was working with. I don't think I I just think it was a completely wrong fit in general for me, but at the same time I could have done things to make it more about them, and that was the biggest takeaway.
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improve it! LLC: and it just it was such a light bulb moment for me when I realized I know how to do this.
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improve it! LLC: I just didn't think that's what I was supposed to do.
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Jane Atkinson: How often do we listeners get caught up in what we should be doing?
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Jane Atkinson: You know it's so frequent that I hear people say, oh, but you can't do that in a keynote.
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Jane Atkinson: Really, Who said, Who is the rules of keynote that said this thing or that thing. The one thing that I will say
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Jane Atkinson: is that when you flip things around and make it about that one of my most high profile clients had a very bad day, so much so that he wants to give a lot of money back to the client.
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Jane Atkinson: And so we talked several times during this very difficult time, because when you have a thought in your brain
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Jane Atkinson: that is causing a feeling that lacks in confidence, it's very difficult to get back out on the horse.
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Jane Atkinson: The thought in your brain is typically something about you. And so what you just said it was about Ego. It's about me when you flip it around and make it about serving an audience and not about you. Everything can change, and I think that's a great way to get unstock. If you ever feel stuck after
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something has gone wrong? I want to assign a piece of homework for our listeners.
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Jane Atkinson: Aaron has kind of walked us through what? A not perfect, an imperfect audience might look like. I would love for you all to make a list. If you're driving, you might do this on voice notes.
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Jane Atkinson: your perfect audience
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criteria.
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Jane Atkinson: your perfect audience criteria. You could also do a separate list for your perfect fire criteria when someone comes to you and says.
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Jane Atkinson: Oh, we're a really hard audience. They're not instilling, you know. They're not even saying that they have any faith in you that you can do it.
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Jane Atkinson: The next question to that should have been Well, why did you choose me, you know, and maybe that
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Jane Atkinson: formed something about. Well, we're trying to do this. So we're trying to achieve this. And I think that that's really interesting conversation to have your perfect audience. Criteria is going to be one set of things. So these are people who maybe
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Jane Atkinson: they show up, and they're ready to play If you've got an an audience full of armed cross people.
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Jane Atkinson: Maybe it's, you know, all male, and and that's not who your people are, you know, really be aware of who is perfect for you. The buyer from the buyer perspective things that go on that list are things like they pay gladly and on time. They make a decision quickly, because they know i'm the right fit. And you said some of that about on this be that you know they made a decision in 3 days that you were the right fit.
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Jane Atkinson: It's because they had confidence in that, that it was a good idea that you know you guys were all going to get along and have a really good conference. And
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Jane Atkinson: yeah, so
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Jane Atkinson: we're making your list.
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improve it! LLC: Can I? Can I say one thing to to that? And maybe you taught me this? There's an acronym that goes with it.
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improve it! LLC: Did you teach me, Elf?
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Jane Atkinson: No, it's not me. It's not
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improve it! LLC: You're not an acronym, but it. But I love what exactly what you said is this client? Easy. Are they lucrative, and are they fun?
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Jane Atkinson: Easy, lucrative fun? Those are your first 3 things that can go on your list for sure. and I think that that's so important.
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Jane Atkinson: If you're not going to have fun with that audience, then you know, I don't think you need to put yourself through that.
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Jane Atkinson: I I think sometimes we challenge ourselves to get out of our comfort zones. But just think about when you're punishing yourself when it's unnecessary for you to do that. Okay?
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Jane Atkinson: So you have client a: not so good. You have Client B, and it's a perfect fit, and everything goes. What did you start to think about your keynote
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Jane Atkinson: career after you had this, when
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improve it! LLC: after you turned it around. Yeah, it's funny. I think I said this to you.
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improve it! LLC: I have been a keynote speaker for the past year. A lot of it was virtually. I've had a few in-person moments besides these other 2, and I think I said this to you after Client B.
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improve it! LLC: I became a keynote speaker today.
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improve it! LLC: and I felt it, and every single aspect of my being. I was connected with myself connected with the audience.
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improve it! LLC: and I served them, and that is what I'm here to do, and I recognize the failure and the a. You know the a. Was a big F
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improve it! LLC: in my mind, but the bay was a big W.
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improve it! LLC: We're throwing around a lot of letters here, so
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Jane Atkinson: I think you're stepping fully into
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Jane Atkinson: becoming a keynote Speaker was perhaps what
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actually made me want to talk to you about this, because I think sometimes
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Jane Atkinson: maybe people aren't all in on it.
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Jane Atkinson: and as I've talked about in the speaking world, there are really only 2 things that you need.
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Jane Atkinson: Number One
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Jane Atkinson: is 100% commitment, and number 2 is consistent action.
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And so when you have commitment to being a keynote speaker.
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Jane Atkinson: that means that the actions that you're taking are every time I go out i'm going to get better. I'm gonna find out things that I can do to improve. And I think that's if if you've got those and and the all in mindset, I think now it's kind of locked down for you.
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improve it! LLC: Yeah, you're like
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Jane Atkinson: I I don't think there's any going back. You are going all in on being a keynote speaker, and I think that there's a reason why your company has already surpassed your goals
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for the year.
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Jane Atkinson: and that's only March. Hello! So I think that's really interesting. Talk a little bit about what your goals are, and where you'd like to see yourself go in the future.
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Jane Atkinson: because now that you're
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Jane Atkinson: keynote, speaker, you know
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improve it! LLC: Sky to limit.
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improve it! LLC: That's right. That's it. So from now on, as a keynote speaker, I will fully embrace that title.
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improve it! LLC: I want to connect with as many audiences as possible. That's the goal it's to be of service with the purpose and the mission that i'm here to talk about, and
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improve it! LLC: there's a special project in the works. It might involve a lot of words and typing.
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I don't want to say that one yet, because it's not. It's not coming to fruition just yet. But there's the behind the scenes
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improve it! LLC: things happening and it really took, and i'll say this to anybody listening to
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it
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improve it! LLC: as
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improve it! LLC: thinking of becoming a keynote speaker, or has any limiting beliefs.
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improve it! LLC: It's a mindset. It's literally a mindset, and for me it has been a
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improve it! LLC: exercise in telling myself that I can do this because our thoughts create our words and our words create our actions. And so it starts with putting positive energy in your own mind telling yourself you could do this and for me. That's what i'm gonna keep doing, and I have to do that, because that's the message that I spread is laughter, levity, positivity.
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improve it! LLC: through the length of failure, and also of of keeping people interested in their culture and helping them feel like they are seen, heard, and valued through this art form of improv. So.
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continuing the keynote route and some special projects where i'm at Jane.
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Jane Atkinson: love it, and I just for those listening and not viewing this on Youtube. If you can't see the video, Aaron has a big sign behind her that says, fail. Yeah.
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and I love it
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Jane Atkinson: that it's a beautiful, you know. That's your podcast frame, and I love it.
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Jane Atkinson: Not that long ago. Actually, it was just a couple of weeks ago I went out and did my first session workshop, I guess i'll call it since Pre Covid live.
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Jane Atkinson: I hadn't done anything in person, and people had asked me to come out to their chapters of speakers, and I said no, and so finally I was already in Florida. I said, i'll come and do the Florida Speakers Association, and so leading up to it.
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Jane Atkinson: I could have had a lot of thoughts like, oh, i'm really rusty! And oh, I don't know if I have it anymore, and i'm sure those actually did float around in there.
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Jane Atkinson: But when I just said to myself.
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Jane Atkinson: Hey, i'm just there to share with them some ideas. Hopefully, they'll like them. And I had someone who had been in the
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Jane Atkinson: industry for 25 years sitting in the front row seriously taking notes, and it just made me feel I got a standing ovation which I wasn't expecting at all.
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Jane Atkinson: and it just made me realize, okay when you flip it around, and just really make it about service. It changes the game. I mean it wasn't about me and my silly ego. It was about just here. Here are some things that I think you could use.
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Jane Atkinson: and I went in. There. Really, Co: calm as you come as a cucumber. That's not exactly right. But I went in there really calm, and it worked out really well. And I think that that's why is just because it wasn't really about me. In the first place, that's the message.
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Jane Atkinson: Okay, real quick. Have we covered
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Jane Atkinson: You've talked about some of your rules of coming back from failure that you teach on the daily. There are no mistakes. We've got that move on.
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Jane Atkinson: Talk more about what some of your rules of failure are, and how people can apply them.
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improve it! LLC: So the M. Stands for marinade. You have to feel the feelings you have to process these emotions.
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improve it! LLC: The oh, yeah, you have to before you can move on to any of these next letters, so the O. Is to own it. which means place blame on no one
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improve it! LLC: and forgive yourself. Okay. V. Is to verify the lessons learned. So what what are the 2 to 3 things that you're going to take from this experience?
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improve it! LLC: E is evaluate next steps. What is your action plan coming out of this? Here's one of my favorites. The second. Oh.
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improve it! LLC: is that
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Jane Atkinson: okay?
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improve it! LLC: Get quiet. Sit with everything that you've just processed. You've processed. Now you've you've taken some action, and you've learned some things. Sit with that because the in is your next failure.
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improve it! LLC: because there's going to be another one, and you're going to have this methodology and your back pocket
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improve it! LLC: the next time it happens. Because that's just life we're here to learn. We're learning these lessons all the time, and it has to happen, unfortunately, through things that feel like failure. So
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improve it! LLC: that methodology helped me get from a to B in this conversation.
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improve it! LLC: and it's what I teach, and it really does. I go into depth in this, and my keynote efforts at work.
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improve it! LLC: but it definitely has shaped my life and helped me shape and think of failures as gifts
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improve it! LLC: celebrate them and do it frequently, which ultimately leads to success. There's so many people out there who have failed way more than they've succeeded very successful people. And so, keeping this in mind, if you feel at any point like you have failed.
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improve it! LLC: Move on and apply it.
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Okay.
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Jane Atkinson: I love that. I especially love the marinade part.
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Jane Atkinson: because I think people try to pop themselves up and out of bad feelings very, very quickly, and sometimes you just gotta feel it feels man
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Jane Atkinson: had to upset like decide. I really love. Oh, I shouldn't talk about this.
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Jane Atkinson: There's this apple TV series called Shrinking, which is very a lot of foul language. So you're if you're at all sensitive to that Don't. Look at it. But it's really really funny and really really good. And their therapist. And they have this idea
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Jane Atkinson: that you're gonna grieve for 15 min a day, and you set a timer and you ball your eyes out for 15 min, and then the timer goes off and like, okay, i'm carrying on about my date. I thought, oh, that's
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Jane Atkinson: yeah, I really like it. And it's funny funny show.
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marinade, though I think sometimes we do try to pop ourselves up and out of it even in storytelling.
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Jane Atkinson: I think we don't let people.
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Jane Atkinson: you know, sit in the muck for too long. We like to pop up and out of you know. All I, you know, went through cancer for 5 years, and then, you know. Then you're on to the next part of the conversation and the story, and it's okay to kind of sit in it for a minute. I think that's a really important part of telling the story.
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Aaron.
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Jane Atkinson: I cannot thank you enough for being here, and being just so willing and vulnerable to share what works and what doesn't work in your business. Tell everybody where they should connect with you if they would like to find out more. And you have a
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improve it! LLC: something that you give away or a newsletter. Okay, so it's just gonna mention that.
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improve it! LLC: So we're actually taking a really hard stance with mental health and wellness at work. And we're using this
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to help people just show up better for themselves, so they can show it for their teams. If you go to our website, learn to improve it.com a pop-up will come, and it's called the play your way into wellness workbook. It starts with a quiz. So you find out how well you take care of yourself. It gives you an avatar.
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and then it gives you helpful techniques, daily rituals and energy boosters for your specific type of wellness. Avatar. So get that. Learn to improve it.com, and then you can connect to me on linkedin Aaron, Deal it, improve it, or keep in it real deal that's d I e h l
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improve it! LLC: on the Graham, the Grammy Graham. I like both platforms, so
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improve it! LLC: either of those
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improve it! LLC: your podcast 2. What's your podcast called? Yes, the improve it Podcast check it out. It. It helps you use improv to show up as your best self personally, professionally
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Jane Atkinson: love it. Listen. I'm hoping you wrote down
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Jane Atkinson: the move on approach to failure, because I think it's really really important that we follow this strategy and pick ourselves up and move on to the next thing. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for being here, Aaron. With that we'll say, see you, said multi speakers bye, for now.
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Jane Atkinson: Well welcome everyone to the wealthy speaker. Podcast. I'm. Your host, Jane Atkinson, and let me ask you a question. Have you ever suffered a failure
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Jane Atkinson: from the stage. thinking that anyone who has spoken for any length of time has suffered from what we call the F word failure, at least once in their career. My amazing client, Aaron Deal, speaks to audiences about just that the big app
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improve it! LLC: failure, and she's here to talk about her own experience from the platform. Aaron. Welcome! I'm so happy to have you back, Jane. I am here for you and this community always, and especially especially if I could be of service when it comes to the F work. You know what I mean.
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Jane Atkinson: Okay? Well, our last for our last episode that we did together on this show was about rocking your interactive presentations, and that's kind of like your comfort zone. These interactive presentations tell everybody about
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Jane Atkinson: what you do in your in the company that you've built what you do in your day to day and the you know you've You've built quite an empire there a girl! Oh, my God, stop! Keep going now I will tell you. Thank you for that, cause so it's nice to hear that sometimes, because you know
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everybody has good and bad days, and
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improve it! LLC: you know i'm just gonna keep it real for everybody. Jane. I'm having one of the F F word days today she's feeling some fails. So this is like par. The universe always brings you the things that you need to get through on the days that are the things that you need on the on the days that you need to get through things. So
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in my day to day I'm. The founder of a company called Improve it, and we use improv comedy to train professionals on power skills, and we do that through play, laughter, experiential learning. It's mostly workshop based.
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improve it! LLC: And now I am stepping out on that keynote stage and thank you, Jane, for the support and the help, because I need it.
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Jane Atkinson: So your comfort zone is when you're putting other people out of their comfort zone. Probably
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Jane Atkinson: we.
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Jane Atkinson: You're out there working with people, getting them up on the stage with you and and doing fun things and showing them how improv and laughter can help them in their day to day workplace situations. And I think that that's really interesting to kind of like. Let's just put that aside as your comfort zone, because now you're expanding into speaking, and you've got a few now under your belt, quite a few, actually.
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Jane Atkinson: and some good, and maybe one especially that i'm thinking of. Not so good. So why don't we talk about a bad day on the platform? What you would deem an F,
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Jane Atkinson: and start there. And hopefully, by the end of today's podcast. You're gonna remind yourself of what you're doing all of this, and and you're gonna feel better. This may be a coaching as well as we go. Yeah, Jade, You didn't know that this really is a coaching session. No, I'm just kidding.
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So the f bomb. So it's interesting. It's very meta the experience that we're talking about. I was actually talking about failure.
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improve it! LLC: and it was a failure. And i'm going to tell you. I've learned so many things through that One of the biggest
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rules of improv comedy is. There are no mistakes, only gifts.
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Jane Atkinson: so
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improve it! LLC: I have to take my own advice when these things happen, and one of those things is to, and i'll just give it away. It's called Move on it's a methodology I developed
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improve it! LLC: that
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improve it! LLC: truly has helped me through so many of my own personal failures. So the first piece of that move on method is to marinate.
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improve it! LLC: So I was in Austin, Texas. and I was speaking with a group of a 100 people. and this audience just happened to be predominantly male.
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improve it! LLC: I I had a little bit less of a connection with this audience than I do any type of workshop.
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I went into it, really amped and excited, which is just my general mentality.
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improve it! LLC: I did not meet this audience where they were, which was a huge learning for me.
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so I got off this stage thinking, Wow! It brought all the energy
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improve it! LLC: when I realized that no one in the audience connected with it, and it was almost way, too, out of their comfort zone. And here's just to even back up from there
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improve it! LLC: in the sale of this keynote. I was not a part of the sell. My team sold this.
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improve it! LLC: Oh, interesting! And and
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Jane Atkinson: and would you say it was a wrong fit audience that maybe, had you been more a part of this sale, so I want people to hear this, because so many people come to me and say, oh, I just really want somebody else to sell me.
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Jane Atkinson: This is maybe a reason why you should be a part of the process at some point
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Jane Atkinson: along the way. Would you say it was a wrong fit? Oh, for sure, for sure, and you know what was the first thing after the contract had been signed, that the client said to me when I got on the phone.
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Jane Atkinson: so that
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improve it! LLC: they said. We are a really hard group.
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improve it! LLC: That was the really
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improve it! LLC: hard group. Were they left Brainers? What kind of audience was this? So it's a group of people.
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improve it! LLC: Yeah, I'm: more analytical. I'm: not gonna. I feel like I can't give it all away, because if anyone to ever listen and know. you know. I'm sorry it was bad, you know it was bad. I know it was bad, but it was a group of analytical.
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improve it! LLC: more blue collar. If I'm. Being honest people
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improve it! LLC: predominantly male, and it was just not my fit. It was not the right audience.
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improve it! LLC: I was not the right speaker for them.
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Jane Atkinson: and I think that one thing we discussed after the fact also was the idea that you don't have to go and put on a show, never feeling that relief that when we had that discussion that it's not like
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Jane Atkinson: the Aaron deal show. It's like kind of like a I heard. I've heard it said years ago. It's like a ping pong game where it's back and forth and back and forth, or a tennis match where it's you and the audience, and you're just kind of in in.
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improve it! LLC: and I think that maybe took some relief off of your shoulders for knowing that you didn't have to be that Aaron show with all the lights flashing around you.
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improve it! LLC: and I will say if I if i'm looking back on this time
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improve it! LLC: I was going through my own sort of healing journey. At the time I had a lot of unprocessed emotions that I had not dealt with. When I was getting on this stage
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improve it! LLC: I was leading with my ego a 1,000%,
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Jane Atkinson: this thing. So
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Jane Atkinson: anybody who's ever had an F.
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Jane Atkinson: And I've had this happen in my client life over 20 years. probably a handful of times where i'm talking people kind of back onto the stage.
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Jane Atkinson: One of the really key tips, I think, or coming back from it, is to not make it about you, but to make it about that.
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Jane Atkinson: Let me just go back and serve this next audience. And so we have a contrast here in your story, because it started in Austin with what you would demon app, and maybe they would. Demon. I don't know, like
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Jane Atkinson: a lot of time. Speakers are so much harder on themselves than their clients ever are. And so i'm not gonna say it was an app. It was an F in your mind.
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Jane Atkinson: So let's talk fast forward. Okay. So you had a lot going on in your personal life, and you made it about you, and you thought it needed to be the Erin show, and and so we got all that gone.
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Jane Atkinson: And then you moved on to another engagement in Chicago, which I think was far more of a white right fit audience to begin with. Talk a little bit about. Set the stage for that one, and then I want to talk to you about how you felt after that 10, yeah, yeah. So that event
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improve it! LLC: was completely different. The client came to me
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improve it! LLC: personally on Linkedin. They followed me on Linkedin. and we had a great conversation. It felt immediately different from the Get-go from the first discovery call.
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improve it! LLC: I had also grown. I had also evolved, and you had helped me tweak this presentation and connect with my audience. So one thing I just want to mention
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improve it! LLC: is that in Austin I had the F.
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improve it! LLC: I had to go back and do that same
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improve it! LLC: event twice
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improve it! LLC: with a different audience, but same demographic.
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improve it! LLC: So I tweeted it from there. But then I took those notes and tweaked it even more to make it all about the audience less about me all about them, which are which is my go-to, and a workshop in a workshop. I'm guiding them the entire time. And there's nothing about me in there.
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improve it! LLC: So that was my comfort zone, and for whatever reason I had left it, and so, going into the Chicago event, the client from the get-go just felt supernatural we had great conversation. They booked in like 3 or 4 days.
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improve it! LLC: and we had a great relationship. I was a part of. I was the sales call, so I was definitely a part of it from beginning to end.
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improve it! LLC: The rapport was so wonderful. The event itself was a women's conference. It was a larger group of people. It was a university with a lot of alumni and corporate sponsors, and
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improve it! LLC: the event from start to finish was a success. It was amazing, and
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improve it! LLC: the connections and the camaraderie and the feeling that I felt giving
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improve it! LLC: the keynote felt completely different. because I tuned in to me, and I tuned in to them.
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Jane Atkinson: So
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Jane Atkinson: if we were to think about
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Jane Atkinson: if we were to dig down into the mindset, and the thoughts that might have been going on in your head. Talk about the Austin event, the the f event
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Jane Atkinson: going into that event. What do you think your thought was?
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improve it! LLC: You know I think it was actually really in my head, which is another which is a term we use on the improv stage. I wasn't present in my body. I was in my head. I was thinking negative at the attack. Thoughts.
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Jane Atkinson: Yeah, like what? What would have been some of your thoughts? I was taking that piece of information. The client told me that we are a hard audience.
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improve it! LLC: and I was thinking about it.
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Jane Atkinson: Okay. So
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Jane Atkinson: you are a hard audience. What your thought. And then, when you think that thought so, i'm kind of walking through the thought model right now, when you think oh, there are a hard audience. What feeling does that result in for you?
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improve it! LLC: So for me? And this is a part of you know my own journey of like being a human being
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improve it! LLC: that happens.
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improve it! LLC: I think I have to amp it up. So in my mind. I was like, I have to turn yeah over, compensate. and turn it up
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improve it! LLC: when actually.
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improve it! LLC: she shouted down.
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Jane Atkinson: That's really interesting. Okay? So then, the result was not a not a great outing from your perspective. So now let's flip it over to the Chicago event.
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Jane Atkinson: Your thought is more like man. This is a perfect fit for me. And when you think this is a perfect fit, what feeling does that give you?
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improve it! LLC: Yeah, it gives me just
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the sense of connection to my purpose, and
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improve it! LLC: honestly, it's yes, purposeful. I feel a sense of inner peace.
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Jane Atkinson: Hmm.
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improve it! LLC: And I know
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improve it! LLC: I I knew from the Get-go that I was going to change up the keynote.
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improve it! LLC: So the and you gave me this piece of advice, Jane. you said.
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improve it! LLC: put something at the top of the keynote that makes people but gets you up, but gets you out of your comfort zone. That brings you back, or actually brings me to my comfort zone, which is an activity interaction.
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improve it! LLC: I put that at the top of this keynote in Chicago.
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improve it! LLC: It changed everything everything.
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and then, because I got them connected in their bodies with me.
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improve it! LLC: They were with me from the beginning to the end, and i'm talking about writing down notes, taking pictures of slides. and i'll tell you the best. The very best
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improve it! LLC: compliment I ever received was after the keynote itself. A woman walked up to me, and she said this was the most
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improve it! LLC: tangible thing I've ever sat through.
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Jane Atkinson: Hmm, that's nice. That's the That's a nice compliment, you know something interesting.
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Jane Atkinson: A lot of times when people have high stakes
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improve it! LLC: keynote.
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Jane Atkinson: They throw out all their all material, and they start from scratch, and they build something brand new. And I've seen this happen a lot on the Influence stage at the National Speakers Association, where they don't
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Jane Atkinson: use any of their kind of tried and true go to material, and for you to just go back out. I don't know if this was your first one back, but after an F
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Jane Atkinson: to go back out like, let's just get you into a place where you feel really natural and comfortable, where you feel like your most authentic solve start from that, and then build
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Jane Atkinson: from there, and
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Jane Atkinson: I think it's really interesting. So you thought I am a trainer, and I now becoming a keynote. I need to throw out all things that I know about training, and I need to be the show, the keynote. And and so I think that that's really interesting
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Jane Atkinson: to recognize
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Jane Atkinson: that actually, what you needed to do is take a little bit of your training and kind of incorporate it in, because you and your energy and the in the interaction between you and the audience is probably a huge part of why people love you so much right?
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improve it! LLC: I and I think I make them feel confident in themselves. And so you're absolutely right, Jane, when I want when I do training in facilitation.
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improve it! LLC: I watched people walk in the room. you know. Negative energy siloed people.
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I watch them after 2 h walk out a cohesive ensemble of. However many people are in the room, the energy is high.
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improve it! LLC: It's transformational the work because I use this art form to do it because I use that art form to make somebody feel something in themselves.
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improve it! LLC: And you're absolutely right. I threw out almost everything I knew, and I created a keynote that had some elements of what I knew.
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improve it! LLC: But there was ego there. I'm going to just say it. There was ego in there, and I think that was coming from this place of now. I have to tell a story about myself when actuality I can use storytelling, but I still needed to make the story about them, and as soon as that happened
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improve it! LLC: I could not tell you, and literally, when this woman gave me that feedback at the end. My team was all standing right there. My entire team was there, my internal team.
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improve it! LLC: I started crying, and they were like she's crying, and I was like. No, I'm. Because that was the feedback from the the one I did in Austin was that they needed more tangible, so that there was more that was about a personal story. They needed to relate it more.
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improve it! LLC: and I would say the industry I was working with. I don't think I I just think it was a completely wrong fit in general for me, but at the same time I could have done things to make it more about them, and that was the biggest takeaway.
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improve it! LLC: and it just it was such a light bulb moment for me when I realized I know how to do this.
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improve it! LLC: I just didn't think that's what I was supposed to do.
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Jane Atkinson: How often do we listeners get caught up in what we should be doing?
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Jane Atkinson: You know it's so frequent that I hear people say, oh, but you can't do that in a keynote.
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Jane Atkinson: Really, Who said, Who is the rules of keynote that said this thing or that thing. The one thing that I will say
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Jane Atkinson: is that when you flip things around and make it about that one of my most high profile clients had a very bad day, so much so that he wants to give a lot of money back to the client.
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Jane Atkinson: And so we talked several times during this very difficult time, because when you have a thought in your brain
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Jane Atkinson: that is causing a feeling that lacks in confidence, it's very difficult to get back out on the horse.
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Jane Atkinson: The thought in your brain is typically something about you. And so what you just said it was about Ego. It's about me when you flip it around and make it about serving an audience and not about you. Everything can change, and I think that's a great way to get unstock. If you ever feel stuck after
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something has gone wrong? I want to assign a piece of homework for our listeners.
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Jane Atkinson: Aaron has kind of walked us through what? A not perfect, an imperfect audience might look like. I would love for you all to make a list. If you're driving, you might do this on voice notes.
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Jane Atkinson: your perfect audience
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criteria.
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Jane Atkinson: your perfect audience criteria. You could also do a separate list for your perfect fire criteria when someone comes to you and says.
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Jane Atkinson: Oh, we're a really hard audience. They're not instilling, you know. They're not even saying that they have any faith in you that you can do it.
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Jane Atkinson: The next question to that should have been Well, why did you choose me, you know, and maybe that
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Jane Atkinson: formed something about. Well, we're trying to do this. So we're trying to achieve this. And I think that that's really interesting conversation to have your perfect audience. Criteria is going to be one set of things. So these are people who maybe
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Jane Atkinson: they show up, and they're ready to play If you've got an an audience full of armed cross people.
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Jane Atkinson: Maybe it's, you know, all male, and and that's not who your people are, you know, really be aware of who is perfect for you. The buyer from the buyer perspective things that go on that list are things like they pay gladly and on time. They make a decision quickly, because they know i'm the right fit. And you said some of that about on this be that you know they made a decision in 3 days that you were the right fit.
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Jane Atkinson: It's because they had confidence in that, that it was a good idea that you know you guys were all going to get along and have a really good conference. And
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Jane Atkinson: yeah, so
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Jane Atkinson: we're making your list.
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improve it! LLC: Can I? Can I say one thing to to that? And maybe you taught me this? There's an acronym that goes with it.
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improve it! LLC: Did you teach me, Elf?
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Jane Atkinson: No, it's not me. It's not
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improve it! LLC: You're not an acronym, but it. But I love what exactly what you said is this client? Easy. Are they lucrative, and are they fun?
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Jane Atkinson: Easy, lucrative fun? Those are your first 3 things that can go on your list for sure. and I think that that's so important.
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Jane Atkinson: If you're not going to have fun with that audience, then you know, I don't think you need to put yourself through that.
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Jane Atkinson: I I think sometimes we challenge ourselves to get out of our comfort zones. But just think about when you're punishing yourself when it's unnecessary for you to do that. Okay?
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Jane Atkinson: So you have client a: not so good. You have Client B, and it's a perfect fit, and everything goes. What did you start to think about your keynote
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Jane Atkinson: career after you had this, when
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improve it! LLC: after you turned it around. Yeah, it's funny. I think I said this to you.
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improve it! LLC: I have been a keynote speaker for the past year. A lot of it was virtually. I've had a few in-person moments besides these other 2, and I think I said this to you after Client B.
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improve it! LLC: I became a keynote speaker today.
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improve it! LLC: and I felt it, and every single aspect of my being. I was connected with myself connected with the audience.
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improve it! LLC: and I served them, and that is what I'm here to do, and I recognize the failure and the a. You know the a. Was a big F
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improve it! LLC: in my mind, but the bay was a big W.
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improve it! LLC: We're throwing around a lot of letters here, so
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Jane Atkinson: I think you're stepping fully into
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Jane Atkinson: becoming a keynote Speaker was perhaps what
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actually made me want to talk to you about this, because I think sometimes
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Jane Atkinson: maybe people aren't all in on it.
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Jane Atkinson: and as I've talked about in the speaking world, there are really only 2 things that you need.
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Jane Atkinson: Number One
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Jane Atkinson: is 100% commitment, and number 2 is consistent action.
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And so when you have commitment to being a keynote speaker.
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Jane Atkinson: that means that the actions that you're taking are every time I go out i'm going to get better. I'm gonna find out things that I can do to improve. And I think that's if if you've got those and and the all in mindset, I think now it's kind of locked down for you.
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improve it! LLC: Yeah, you're like
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Jane Atkinson: I I don't think there's any going back. You are going all in on being a keynote speaker, and I think that there's a reason why your company has already surpassed your goals
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for the year.
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Jane Atkinson: and that's only March. Hello! So I think that's really interesting. Talk a little bit about what your goals are, and where you'd like to see yourself go in the future.
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Jane Atkinson: because now that you're
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Jane Atkinson: keynote, speaker, you know
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improve it! LLC: Sky to limit.
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improve it! LLC: That's right. That's it. So from now on, as a keynote speaker, I will fully embrace that title.
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improve it! LLC: I want to connect with as many audiences as possible. That's the goal it's to be of service with the purpose and the mission that i'm here to talk about, and
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improve it! LLC: there's a special project in the works. It might involve a lot of words and typing.
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I don't want to say that one yet, because it's not. It's not coming to fruition just yet. But there's the behind the scenes
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improve it! LLC: things happening and it really took, and i'll say this to anybody listening to
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it
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improve it! LLC: as
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improve it! LLC: thinking of becoming a keynote speaker, or has any limiting beliefs.
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improve it! LLC: It's a mindset. It's literally a mindset, and for me it has been a
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improve it! LLC: exercise in telling myself that I can do this because our thoughts create our words and our words create our actions. And so it starts with putting positive energy in your own mind telling yourself you could do this and for me. That's what i'm gonna keep doing, and I have to do that, because that's the message that I spread is laughter, levity, positivity.
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improve it! LLC: through the length of failure, and also of of keeping people interested in their culture and helping them feel like they are seen, heard, and valued through this art form of improv. So.
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continuing the keynote route and some special projects where i'm at Jane.
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Jane Atkinson: love it, and I just for those listening and not viewing this on Youtube. If you can't see the video, Aaron has a big sign behind her that says, fail. Yeah.
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and I love it
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Jane Atkinson: that it's a beautiful, you know. That's your podcast frame, and I love it.
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Jane Atkinson: Not that long ago. Actually, it was just a couple of weeks ago I went out and did my first session workshop, I guess i'll call it since Pre Covid live.
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Jane Atkinson: I hadn't done anything in person, and people had asked me to come out to their chapters of speakers, and I said no, and so finally I was already in Florida. I said, i'll come and do the Florida Speakers Association, and so leading up to it.
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Jane Atkinson: I could have had a lot of thoughts like, oh, i'm really rusty! And oh, I don't know if I have it anymore, and i'm sure those actually did float around in there.
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Jane Atkinson: But when I just said to myself.
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Jane Atkinson: Hey, i'm just there to share with them some ideas. Hopefully, they'll like them. And I had someone who had been in the
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Jane Atkinson: industry for 25 years sitting in the front row seriously taking notes, and it just made me feel I got a standing ovation which I wasn't expecting at all.
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Jane Atkinson: and it just made me realize, okay when you flip it around, and just really make it about service. It changes the game. I mean it wasn't about me and my silly ego. It was about just here. Here are some things that I think you could use.
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Jane Atkinson: and I went in. There. Really, Co: calm as you come as a cucumber. That's not exactly right. But I went in there really calm, and it worked out really well. And I think that that's why is just because it wasn't really about me. In the first place, that's the message.
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Jane Atkinson: Okay, real quick. Have we covered
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Jane Atkinson: You've talked about some of your rules of coming back from failure that you teach on the daily. There are no mistakes. We've got that move on.
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Jane Atkinson: Talk more about what some of your rules of failure are, and how people can apply them.
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improve it! LLC: So the M. Stands for marinade. You have to feel the feelings you have to process these emotions.
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improve it! LLC: The oh, yeah, you have to before you can move on to any of these next letters, so the O. Is to own it. which means place blame on no one
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improve it! LLC: and forgive yourself. Okay. V. Is to verify the lessons learned. So what what are the 2 to 3 things that you're going to take from this experience?
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improve it! LLC: E is evaluate next steps. What is your action plan coming out of this? Here's one of my favorites. The second. Oh.
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improve it! LLC: is that
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Jane Atkinson: okay?
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improve it! LLC: Get quiet. Sit with everything that you've just processed. You've processed. Now you've you've taken some action, and you've learned some things. Sit with that because the in is your next failure.
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improve it! LLC: because there's going to be another one, and you're going to have this methodology and your back pocket
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improve it! LLC: the next time it happens. Because that's just life we're here to learn. We're learning these lessons all the time, and it has to happen, unfortunately, through things that feel like failure. So
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improve it! LLC: that methodology helped me get from a to B in this conversation.
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improve it! LLC: and it's what I teach, and it really does. I go into depth in this, and my keynote efforts at work.
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improve it! LLC: but it definitely has shaped my life and helped me shape and think of failures as gifts
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improve it! LLC: celebrate them and do it frequently, which ultimately leads to success. There's so many people out there who have failed way more than they've succeeded very successful people. And so, keeping this in mind, if you feel at any point like you have failed.
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improve it! LLC: Move on and apply it.
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Okay.
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Jane Atkinson: I love that. I especially love the marinade part.
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Jane Atkinson: because I think people try to pop themselves up and out of bad feelings very, very quickly, and sometimes you just gotta feel it feels man
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Jane Atkinson: had to upset like decide. I really love. Oh, I shouldn't talk about this.
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Jane Atkinson: There's this apple TV series called Shrinking, which is very a lot of foul language. So you're if you're at all sensitive to that Don't. Look at it. But it's really really funny and really really good. And their therapist. And they have this idea
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Jane Atkinson: that you're gonna grieve for 15 min a day, and you set a timer and you ball your eyes out for 15 min, and then the timer goes off and like, okay, i'm carrying on about my date. I thought, oh, that's
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Jane Atkinson: yeah, I really like it. And it's funny funny show.
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marinade, though I think sometimes we do try to pop ourselves up and out of it even in storytelling.
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Jane Atkinson: I think we don't let people.
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Jane Atkinson: you know, sit in the muck for too long. We like to pop up and out of you know. All I, you know, went through cancer for 5 years, and then, you know. Then you're on to the next part of the conversation and the story, and it's okay to kind of sit in it for a minute. I think that's a really important part of telling the story.
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Aaron.
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Jane Atkinson: I cannot thank you enough for being here, and being just so willing and vulnerable to share what works and what doesn't work in your business. Tell everybody where they should connect with you if they would like to find out more. And you have a
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improve it! LLC: something that you give away or a newsletter. Okay, so it's just gonna mention that.
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improve it! LLC: So we're actually taking a really hard stance with mental health and wellness at work. And we're using this
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to help people just show up better for themselves, so they can show it for their teams. If you go to our website, learn to improve it.com a pop-up will come, and it's called the play your way into wellness workbook. It starts with a quiz. So you find out how well you take care of yourself. It gives you an avatar.
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and then it gives you helpful techniques, daily rituals and energy boosters for your specific type of wellness. Avatar. So get that. Learn to improve it.com, and then you can connect to me on linkedin Aaron, Deal it, improve it, or keep in it real deal that's d I e h l
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improve it! LLC: on the Graham, the Grammy Graham. I like both platforms, so
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improve it! LLC: either of those
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improve it! LLC: your podcast 2. What's your podcast called? Yes, the improve it Podcast check it out. It. It helps you use improv to show up as your best self personally, professionally
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Jane Atkinson: love it. Listen. I'm hoping you wrote down
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Jane Atkinson: the move on approach to failure, because I think it's really really important that we follow this strategy and pick ourselves up and move on to the next thing. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for being here, Aaron. With that we'll say, see you, said multi speakers bye, for now.
Highlights you won’t want to miss:
- Erin’s improv offerings. [1:30]
- What is considered an “F”? [3:30]
- Getting back on stage. [9:00]
- Connecting to your audience. [16:00]
- Regaining your confidence. [22:30]
- A keynoting mindset. [25:00]
- M.O.V.E. O.N. [29:00]
Erin is a graduate of Clemson University, and a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional, as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater and The Annoyance Theatre. She has spoken on global stages both virtually and in person – with companies like Uber Freight, Walgreens, Motorola, LinkedIn and The Obama Foundation (to name a few)! She is also the proud host of The improve it! Podcast, which you can find anywhere you listen to pods!
If you want some great tips on how to bounce back after experiencing a failure (on stage or off), you simply can’t afford to miss this episode!
I hope you’ll listen and learn.
