🎤 Authentic Speaking

Has it been a few months since you've used my courses? Visit the Orientation to see what's new: Click here to visit the orientation lessons. Once you're done visiting the above, click "Mark as Complete" below...

When you signed up for the course, you received a few months of live Q&A access: See the dates & sign up for the Q&A You can "mark as complete" below to acknowledge knowing about the Q&A calls :)

I do a lot of Q&A calls on various topics including: How to describe your offerings Creating authentic content Growing a true fan audience Joyful productivity tips Gentle Launches Recent Q&A video segments are located here: George Kao Bonus Q&A Segments Your access to those Q&A segments are only for the next 2 months. Enjoy them while you can :)

As you do the homework assignments (making videos) coming up, if you ever wonder: what if I'm rambling? how to remember what to say on camera? what if it's too raw or unfiltered? ...watch the above video to remind yourself of what we're really doing here. And yes, later in this course we'll talk about how you'll start/end your videos and how to remember what to say... but first and foremost is the foundation: authentic speaking :)

"I wish I could record videos with my laptop, but often when I'm inspired, I'm not near my laptop..." Inspiration is good, but consistency is required for the practice of authentic speaking. For most of us, inspiration is not sustainable for practice. In part because you'll often get discouraged if your inspiration isn't reciprocated by your audience's engagement. For sustained practice, see it as a sustained practice! How then to relate to inspiration? I would recommend habituating the writing down of ideas whenever inspiration comes... but then dedicate yourself to a consistent time/place when you record videos. During your planned time/place for making videos, take out those ideas you wrote down, and pick one that inspires you in that moment :)

A few years ago I talked with Masterheart member Eric Klein about how we can develop credibility authentically and he wrote these helpful notes: One: When wanting to use self-as-example in talking about “vulnerable” experiences like sense-of-credibility etc etc I find it useful to remember a true/example from my childhood. Using childhood stories is powerful because: You (as the teller) are not (as) identified with that event/age and so can have a sense of care/carefree-ness in the telling. You can have both empathy for your younger self and a loving sense of humor (which makes the audience relax, too). They (as listeners) can project their emotions into the story because it’s more of a metaphor than a “real life” adult-business-example of doing social media marketing (which may already be overwhelming to hear about). The part of them that is fearful/doubtful/reactive resides at an earlier age/stage - like the “you” in the story. So, there's a natural (though unconscious) connection. Two: The focus/reframe on shifting from "feeling credible" towards "cultivating/enjoying connection" is beautiful and it includes (at least) two dimensions: Connecting with the audience: Specifically their aspirations, needs, “problems”, and innate wisdom/spirit. Connecting with yourself: Specifically your aspirations, needs, “problems”, and innate wisdom/spirit. Combining these, we can curate the right focus, information, empathy, and stories. Three: Our sense of credibility is built on: Loving our subject. Caring for our audience. Caring for the parts in us that are feeling less-than-fully-credible. Making lots of videos while doing the above. Responding to the feedback/questions we get as key source of new material (which allows us to recycle through each of these bullet points).

I made a YT video about this

For much more, check out the YouTube Mastery course.