Get Better At Speaking With These 5 Tips

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[Welcome] to Chase the Vision [with] Isaac. Yo, yo, yo, yo. What is going on, everybody? Isaac Mashman here. You are listening to another episode of Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, the podcast that is all about helping you become a more capable individual through me sharing my experiences and knowledge in business, life, and personal growth. Welcome to today's episode. Today I'm going to be sharing five ways, five tips, five strategies, whatever the hell you want to call it, that you can use in your own life to get better at speaking. I'm not just talking about public speaking. I'm talking about speaking, yes, on stage, but also on podcasts and in your content, whenever you're doing content creation on video, or even your podcast or audio clips, or social audio like Clubhouse.

I'm also going to be sharing things that are going to help you on your one-on-one calls, your consultations, your sales calls, and all of the above.

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Now, before I jump into these five tips, and I'm super excited to be sharing these with you, I want you guys to understand the fee. The fee for the show isn't monetary. I'm not going to be blasting advertisements down your throat or into your ears every single time you listen to the show. I never run an ad. If I do run an ad, it's for myself. So when I say I never run an ad, I mean external advertisements. But the fee for the show is super simple. All you need to do to give me value, if this episode gave you value, is to share it with a friend, a family member, a business partner, somebody in your life, or share the podcast episode on social media. That's the way that we grow.

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That's the way we get in front of more eyes, more attention, into more homes and onto more stereos. So anyways, let's go ahead and talk about speaking and how you can get better at it. This is something that is a huge fear for people, and something that a lot of people know consciously that they need to improve upon. It's also something that can be extremely daunting, because the center of attention is always going to be on you when you're speaking. So that means that in your mind, people are going to be ripping you apart. People are going to be paying attention to every minor mistake, every single breath, every single thing.

And to a degree, yes, you are the center of attention when you are speaking. I hope so, at least. I don't like people talking over you.

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But it's not that complicated. With these five strategies, these five tips that I'm sharing with you today, I want you to understand that they are relatively simple, but they're overlooked. And because they're overlooked, it really is going to inhibit your own success whenever you're on a call, whenever you're creating content. You're not going to be seeing the results that you really want. By actually applying these five things to start with, I have no doubt in my mind that you're going to see your results improve. So without further ado, let's go and jump into it. The first thing is to be present. This is probably the most difficult thing on this list for me personally, so I wanted to start with it, because whenever I'm on a call especially (creating a piece of content, not so much), I have to be present.

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But whenever I'm on a sales call or whatever, whenever I'm talking, or maybe doing a video call, or even a podcast where I'm being interviewed or I'm the one doing the interviewing, or doing a consultation, it's super easy to veer off into nowhere land, and you're thinking about everything you need to do. You're thinking about social media posts that you need to make. You're thinking about the other content you need to create. You're thinking about the other interview. Oh, I have to edit this podcast and then I have to publish it, and now am I going to close this person on this sales call? Am I going to do X, Y and Z? And you're being pulled in so many freaking directions.

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You don't know what direction to go in. The direction that you need to go in is very simply being present and going in the direction of presence. All right, I said presence, [not] presents like Santa Claus. But you need to go and be present, especially when another person is on the other end of the phone, the Zoom chat, whatever it is, and especially in person too. You can get distracted, you daydream. Social media has done an exceptional job ruining our attention spans. A goldfish has a higher attention span than a freaking human being. How wild is that? But it's true. So if you really want to command more respect, and also be doing what you know you should be doing out of respect for the other person that you're talking to, or who is paying you for a consultation, for example, you owe it to that individual to be there 100%, to not be thinking about everything else but to be in the conversation.

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This has been a challenge for me too, because I'll feel drawn to pick up my phone and check something. I'm not saying I'm going full blown out scrolling through social media, but even something as simple as checking an email means my attention is being directed to something other than the conversation at hand. That can be disrespectful without you even realizing it. So tip number one is to be present. Tip number two is to study other people. Now, I'm not saying that you need to go out and get a mentor to be better at speaking. If you're a public speaker and that's the career you want to have, then I would say, sure, maybe you want to have some other public speakers in your corner, a mentor who's spoken on hundreds of stages.

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But when it comes to getting better at speaking, being a better podcaster or being a better content creator, study other people who have the results. You don't have to just study people who are on audio to learn how to be better at speaking. You can also study people on stage. Now, I would recommend going and looking into Earl Nightingale and some of the other greatest radio broadcasters of our time, and of times forgotten, a couple of decades ago. I recently acquired some of the actual vinyl records of Earl Nightingale from the 60s, The Strangest Secret, and audios that I didn't even know existed too. I've listened to The Strangest Secret dozens of times, but these are lesser known audios, and I'm like, wow, now I have a physical copy.

But if you pay attention to Earl Nightingale's tonality and how he speaks and the vocabulary and how his conversations flow, and how he uses examples in order to break down normally complex conversations and subject matter in an easily understandable and digestible way, it's really impressive actually, once you go and dissect it like it's a science.

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Then you have the other side of the equation, where you're looking at how somebody is speaking, but you're also looking at how they are moving on stage, their body posture, and how their hands are moving. Certain people, some of the best public speakers, if you pay attention to them, move their hands. That's to engage the audience, rather, not the conversation, to get the audience to interact more with what they are saying, with the subject matter at hand. I also think that sometimes public speakers move their hands a lot to keep track of their own thoughts. I'm thinking about Jordan B. Peterson. He's an exceptional public speaker, in my opinion. Now, sometimes his vocabulary can be quite complex, to where you definitely have to be present to even listen to him.

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I can only imagine what's going on through his head at the times when he's delivering his speech. But he moves his hands, and I think that it helps him keep track of things. So as I'm speaking right now, and you can't see it because I'm not on video, I am moving my hands. I recently hosted a webinar through Mashman Ventures, and it was the first webinar we have ever self-hosted. If you go and watch the replay that's up on the YouTube channel, by going to youtube.com, Mashman Ventures, you'll see the Unrivaled Personal Branding replay from March 25th. I moved my hands a lot. It's not even for the person on the other end.

It's for me. It helps me keep track, and so finding the ways that you can stay on track with a conversation, or with directing an interview, in your own life and in your mind is going to be essential. Number three is to read and continue developing your vocabulary. I think that this is essential for long-term growth and for learning new information, because I've also seen some speakers who talk about the same thing in every single speech. What's the diversification of content at that point? Where can somebody learn something new from you if all you're doing is repeating the same speech over and over and over again?

Now granted, every single time you listen to something, you are going to be paying attention and learning something new, not because the content necessarily changed, but because you're paying attention more and your perspective is different. You've learned more, you're in a different situation. So there's always value that can be had, but I'm talking about really going and improving your subject matter and improving your vocabulary, being able to use higher level and higher caliber words. Think about one of the things that we had to do in middle school and high school, which was taking vocabulary tests.

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That wasn't by accident. It was so we can speak with more confidence, and so we can speak on a higher intellectual level. I'm not saying that you need to be Albert Einstein, or be Sheldon from The Big Bang [Theory], and use a bunch of these large words to try to appear more confident and to appear like an expert. But it can never hurt to be able to get your message across in a succinct way, and to be able to get your conversation and your thoughts across in a manner that makes somebody stop and think and reflect and study. So by reading, you're also digesting information, and if you are anything like me, I read how I expect the words to be spoken, to where if I am speaking, or if somebody else is speaking, I am reading it in that manner.

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If you have ever read my book, Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, I've had a couple of people message me and be like, Isaac, I've noticed some grammar issues. And I'm like, if you read it in my tone of voice and how I typically speak, you're going to notice that it flows. That's not by accident. A lot of people write how they speak. I personally like understanding how conversations flow, how sentences flow, when there are pauses, when there are gaps in the conversation, when the subject matter transitions from one subject to another, or maybe there's a break and now it goes into the next section.

There are so many different things that you can learn by reading that can actually help you be a better speaker and be better at speaking in the long haul.

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You can also listen to podcasts. This doesn't just come down to reading and studying other speakers. Podcasts are a great way of breaking down how a conversation flows between two people, going and listening to different shows that are known for having exceptional interviews, like The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes or even The Joe Rogan Experience. You can love him or hate him, but he has some of the best conversations and podcasts with people, lasting two or three hours, because he is present, because he is interested in the other person, and because, look, he's there. He is there for that entire span, and that is a great example of somebody that you might want to study if you want to get better at podcasting, or go back and listen to some of the interviews that I have done on my own show.

So up until this point, we've had number one, to be present in conversation. Number two is to study other speakers and other people who are known for what they're doing. Number three is to read and continue developing your vocabulary, and number four is to not obsess over the little things. I remember when I first got started with podcasting, I would literally go back and edit every breath, every pause, every single freaking thing about my show. I've already stumbled over myself five times in this podcast, at least, and you guys haven't caught one of them, because you are not listening for the flaws. You are listening for the juice, for the information, for the meat.

You're not paying attention to the times that I stumble over my words, or maybe have one of those moments where I completely butcher the pronunciation of a word. You're not paying attention to that. You're not looking for that, because your brain is automatically picking up on the things that you know are providing value and overlooking those small things. In conversations face to face, if you actually pay attention to how you speak and how the conversations happen, and look, if you're looking somebody in the eyes, one of you is going to stumble.

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You're going to stumble over it yourself. That's okay. So don't obsess over the little things, especially when you're starting out with a show, and expect it to suck. Expect it to literally be God awful. But I can tell you that as you progress, you do one, and then you do two, and then you do three, and now you've done 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 different interviews, 90 different conversations and podcasts and monologues, and there is bound to be growth. That leads into the fifth tip of today, and that is to do more of it. If you really want to improve, take these four things that I've told you previously, apply them, and do more speaking.

Get on more podcasts, speak on more stages, create more content and speak on camera, go and have more sales calls and talk to more people, and continue to practice what it is you're preaching and what it is you know you could use some work in.

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If you know that you need some help with public speaking, you know what to do: speak in front of a crowd, speak in front of two people, engage in a conversation. That is one of the best things, because by actually going and applying yourself and taking the action steps, it's like a muscle. You're growing your speaking ability, and that is going to require a time investment. It might not happen overnight, so don't get discouraged, but know that with time, you're definitely going to get better at it. I've seen people go from literally being so concerned and self-conscious and having this lack of confidence, to starting a podcast and doing 20 episodes, and I'm doing a call with them and I'm like, yo, you sound entirely different. Guess what? He got out of his comfort zone, he did more of it, and he got better at it.

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It'll take time, but it'll be worth it, especially if you're moving into the realm of business and other forms of content. It's just a part of life. You grow. You grow. Some people aren't born with a natural ability to speak, or they don't have the confidence, or they don't have the ability to keep the conversation flowing just yet. Don't sweat it, keep going, keep growing. So let me sum up the five things up until this point, the five ways, the five tips, the five strategies that you can use in your own life to get better at speaking, and not just in public speaking, but in every single case and circumstance in your life where the attention is on you. Number one, we have to be present. Number two is to study other speakers.

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Next, we have read and continue developing your vocabulary. Number four is to not obsess over the small little things, the times that you trip over yourself, and finally, to do more of it. Take these five different things. Rewind this back. Listen to this a few different times. Be present, study other speakers, read and continue developing your vocabulary, don't obsess over the little things, and do more of it. I guarantee that if you do this for 30 days or 60 days or 90 days or a year, and you come back to me and I were to ask you, well, how are you today, I'm not even going to recognize the person that I spoke to previously, because of how much growth you've had.

So guys, if you've got any ounce of value from this podcast, and if you don't know whether these things that I'm telling you will work, go out and apply them. Then come back to me and share this episode after you've seen the results, but I'm confident that you will. So feel free to share this with your friends, and with that being said, go ahead and be on the lookout for more episodes coming very, very soon. Every Monday, every Friday. See what I did there? I literally just stumbled while talking about practicing what I'm preaching. I'm not going to edit this out. I believe in this, baby. Anyways, I'm going to shut up. You continue chasing after your vision, and may your coffee be strong. Much love.