March 4, 2025 • 45 mins
In this episode of Soulful Speaking, Lauri welcomes back Emily, a seasoned creative professional with a wealth of experience in video production, marketing, and sketch comedy.
Emily shares her journey of stepping out of the shadows of her directing role and embracing the challenge of being seen and heard. From navigating imposter syndrome to learning how to trust herself, this episode features valuable insights into what it takes to bring our authentic voices to the forefront. Along the way, Emily reveals how humor and vulnerability can be powerful tools in building connection, from marketing to public speaking.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone feeling that call to step into the spotlight for the sake of their calling.
TAKEAWAYS
1. Embrace Your Weirdness: Connection in speaking and marketing comes from letting your true self show, quirks and all.
2. Visibility Is a Muscle: Like any skill, being seen and heard takes practice. If it feels uncomfortable, that’s a sure sign you’re strengthening the new muscles.
3. Trust the Process in speaking (and in life.)
4. Humor Builds Trust: When it’s a part of your brand that aligns with your values, comedy is a great tool for creating rapport and building trust with your audience.
5. Vulnerability Invites Connection: People are more likely to connect with you when they see your imperfections and honesty.
6. Balance is Key to Creative Preparation. Be prepared, but don’t overthink. Balance your inner director and creator as you weave together preparation with the freedom to flow in the moment.
7. Silence is Powerful: Embrace pauses in speaking to create impact and allow space for deeper connection.
About Emily:
Emily is a seasoned creative with over 20 years of experience in video sketch comedy, marketing, and leading dynamic teams. As the founder of PenguinCat Creative, her copywriting agency, she has crafted hundreds of high-converting marketing funnels and campaigns. Her work has helped bestselling authors, top influencers, eCommerce giants, and industry-leading coaches achieve remarkable success—selling out events, tripling membership signups, and exceeding launch goals.
Previously, Emily served as VP of Production at Comediva, a comedic content studio, where she wrote and directed viral videos amassing millions of views, created branded content for major brands like Pepsi, and even sold a TV show to Amazon.
Today, she leverages her vast marketing expertise and scrappy filmmaking background to produce entertaining, high-value ads that deliver outstanding results for her clients.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lauri (00:00):
Welcome back listeners and welcome back Emily to the
Soulful Speaking podcast.
For those of you who don'tremember or missed her first
episode, Emily is a seasonedcreative with over 20 years of
experience in video, sketchcomedy, marketing and leading
dynamic teams.
On her last episode, shecourageously let me coach her,
(00:24):
and today we're going to hearmore of her story and also hear
a bit about where that went.
Welcome back, emily.
Emily (00:32):
Thank you so much, so happy to be here.
Lauri (00:34):
Yeah, let me ask you where your speaking journey
began.
Emily (00:41):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if it's even begun
necessarily.
I think my, my fear of speakingstarted, like when I was a
child and I really wanted to belike.
I was like, oh, I really wantto like act or like do
performancey things, and waslike told at a pretty young age,
(01:04):
like no, no, no, no, no, youshouldn't, you shouldn't do that
, and like I couldn't sing andmost things for children, you
know, like acting andperformance are very like song
based and so, um, I was kind ofdissuaded from that at a young
age.
So, yeah, I think like it'sbeen more of a journey of like
(01:27):
regaining my confidence andregaining like, oh, I could, I
could learn these skills, Icould, I do have things that are
of value to share.
Um, and figuring out like thatsource of confidence for myself
has been more of my focus in thelast a few years.
(01:47):
Um, I was just like, oh, I justdon't do that, it's fine, I
don't, I don't do that, otherpeople do that, but I don't do
that.
And now it's, I've been kind ofpushed in directions to be like
, oh, yeah, no, you, you, you doneed to do this and yeah.
Lauri (02:03):
Yeah, it sounds like you had a curiosity and an
attraction to it as a child andthen that got suppressed and
went dormant for a while andthen got reawakened.
Emily (02:17):
Yes, yes, and it's.
It's funny Cause even in, like,just going back to middle
school was like, oh, I'll dothis, I'll do this theater
performance thing after schooland I'll I'll get to act, we're
doing these little plays.
And then the teacher assignedme to be the director, which has
directed my life since quite abit, and I found out that I was
(02:38):
very good at that, um, but yeah,still wasn't.
It was like put in thedirector's seat then instead of
performing.
Lauri (02:47):
Instead of performing.
Yeah, and when it gotreawakened, what happened?
That reawakened it?
Emily (02:59):
I feel like with most things, when you're being pushed
out of your comfort zone, it'sjust, it's it's more out of
necessity.
My business was a little slowerthis year and it's like okay, I
do need to start doingvisibility.
I had been running on referraland repeat clients really
consistently.
I did not have to do my ownmarketing, even though I'm a
marketing firm.
It was wonderful.
(03:19):
Clients just showed up in myinbox like magic.
It was great.
Uh, 20.24 did not function likethat.
Um, and I'm like okay, I thinkI'm getting pushed into needing
to be more visible, needing todo some crazy, do some marketing
for my marketing company.
Um and and get in front of thecamera.
(03:42):
Stages haven't really come upas a necessity yet, but at least
getting on camera sharingthings being more visible, in
that sense being more visible inmessaging all of that.
So a friend recently was jokingabout imposter syndrome and how
needing to pay your mortgage isthe quickest way to get past
(04:05):
imposter syndrome.
Lauri (04:08):
I love that?
Emily (04:11):
Yeah, you're not wrong.
Lauri (04:15):
Yeah, there's the um, like when the risk of there's
some kind of quote that, likeyou know, we open when the risk
of staying the same becomes morepainful than the risk to change
.
And nothing like a mortgagepain to actually make the pain
or the fear of the pain of beingseen less than the fear of the
(04:37):
pain of paying the mortgageRight.
Emily (04:40):
So yes.
Lauri (04:42):
Especially in.
Emily (04:43):
Los Angeles.
That helps too, so yes,Especially in Los Angeles.
Lauri (04:46):
That helps too, yeah, and the universe really does always
kind of put us in thecircumstances to practice what
we preach, to embody thetransformation and kind of our
lifelong journey.
So for you, you're preaching orteaching to others, helping
(05:10):
others understand marketing.
Meanwhile, you're going throughone of those phases where it's
like having a line out the doorat an Apple store.
You don't really need to doanything, and then, all of a
sudden, the line dries up andyou're invited to do the very
things that you are askingothers to do, and be visible and
(05:31):
use your voice.
Emily (05:37):
Yep, somebody said like take your own medicine fairly
recently, and I was like, yeah,I'm excited about it, Mostly
excited yeah.
Lauri (05:48):
What have you been learning so far as you take your
own medicine?
Emily (05:55):
Yeah, I think it's.
It's been hard.
Well, it's been interesting.
So my husband is a performer.
He's been doing it his wholelife.
It comes very naturally to him.
He can like get up on a stageand just like improvise an
entire speech and like zeroanxiety about it just easy, um,
(06:18):
in front of a camera, no problem.
So, and we've been filming thesesketches together recently and
I think the hard part for me hasbeen like just like being in
the moment, I guess, and justkind of not putting so much
(06:38):
edifice on things, like reallybeing myself, and not like
putting on this I don't knowthis like weird fakeness, I
guess.
Um, that I have been so, yeah,like, even though it's like I'm
playing a character, you stillhave to be a grounded version of
(07:00):
that character, not like thisfake, weird version of that yeah
, like an, an intimate, realversion of that character,
rather than a caricature yeah,yeah, and even though we're
doing goofy sketches and it'snot like serious acting by any
means, but still like the sameprinciples all align and it's
(07:22):
funny because I direct and so Idirect other actors in doing
this, but then, oh God, makingmyself do it has been difficult.
Lauri (07:31):
Yeah, how.
I would imagine that being inthe director seat for so long is
potentially contributing tohaving your own inner critic
there instead of you know.
(07:51):
It's like you're relearning howto drop in and be present when
you're doing these sketches,because you've been the one
who's been the critical outsideeye for so long?
Emily (08:04):
totally and I'm running like the edit in my head so I'm
like, oh, I know, my eye linewas off so I'm already like
doing that technical actingstuff that's quite high level
without any of the skillunderneath it.
So I don't have because I'mlike thinking of the technical
side of like, oh yes, it shouldbe here.
And if I make this?
(08:25):
movement.
The edit is better and you know, just thinking about that stuff
, which are very good actorthings if you have, like the
baseline emotionality, takingcare of verse yeah, yeah, and it
feels like you even have tolearn how to do those things
from the inside so that theybecome, instead of conscious
(08:46):
competence.
Lauri (08:46):
I can do it when I'm thinking about it.
You know how to do it from theinside out without thinking
about it.
Emily (08:56):
Right, right, like an act professional actor will just
know where their light is andnot be consciously thinking of
that necessarily and not beconsciously thinking of that
necessarily, but just will showup there or know that somebody
will tell them to move if theyare not there.
And it's fine to trust that.
Lauri (09:13):
Yeah, trusting the person who is actually out there being
the director, right, right.
What is it like for you totrust yourself and others?
Emily (09:28):
Ugh.
Lauri (09:35):
Tell me more what else goes with that.
Emily (09:47):
Um, yeah, I think it's uncomfortable.
I think it's like it's like asimilar feeling to like somebody
, like like taking care of youor somebody like doing a like I
have a hard time, maybe likereceiving gifts and compliments
and things like that.
I think that trust feelssimilar, that there's a similar
kind of discomfort.
Um, so that's, I don't know.
Lauri (10:09):
There's some link there, I don't know yeah, yeah, it's
being the center of attention,being worthy of receiving care
and attention oh, yeah, yeah.
Emily (10:27):
I mean, we were even doing the grounding exercise
before this podcast and I waslike, oh, this is, this is
really nice, like, oh, she'sdoing this nice thing to make
sure I'm comfortable before thisinterview and there was, I had
that.
I even felt like a moment ofthe like discomfort of receiving
yeah that's in service of thewhole, obviously show.
But you know, there was stilllike I had like a tinge of that
(10:50):
which I noticed.
Lauri (10:51):
But yeah, how did you recover and lean into the
receiving?
Emily (10:56):
uh, I think just more of the like reminding myself like
yeah, it's for, it's for theshow, and also like you're
wanting me to succeed and it'sokay to like receive that.
Lauri (11:16):
I guess, kind of reminding myself of yeah, yeah,
yeah, it's for the show, andwhat was going on in my head as
we were doing it, that was thatthis is one of those days where
I probably needed it more thanyou just being in all of the
chat and it's you know, it's whywe do it together, rather than
(11:36):
me just being like warm upbefore you come in Doing vocal
exercise yeah.
Yeah, and it's really nice to doit together because then we
also get connected and I reallyhad a voice in my head that was
like this, one of those dayswhere I could feel myself
shifting and grounding in apretty dramatic way as I was
(11:59):
doing the moment for us and forthe episode, and was like, well,
thank well, thank you forjoining me.
For that I need Right.
Yeah, that's funny, yeah, sohow much have you gotten out
there to be seen since you feltthat push for the mortgage or
(12:21):
the call?
Emily (12:23):
Right.
Um, fortunately it was going tobe so perfect.
I was supposed to be on twopodcasts on Monday, but I was
not feeling well.
I knew I wasn't going to be ina good place for them, so I had
to cancel last minute.
Those are scheduled in like amonth after the holidays, so I
(12:43):
would have had so much to report, but I did prepare for them,
which was even that was veryhelpful.
Um, so I'm going through aprocess of like redoing my
director website, um, with afriend who also does branding.
Even if you do it yourself,it's very hard to do it for
yourself.
(13:03):
Um, that's why I have a job, um, and so she's helping me work
through and like kind of owningmy expertise in a lot of ways,
which is filtering through kindof my whole career right now.
Um, so it was helpful to likestep back and at first I was
really intimidated by thesepodcasts.
(13:23):
So they're very high-endmarketing.
It's like very zero fluff.
Like they want things to feellike um master's levels course
in marketing, like kind of thing.
Um, so I had that intimidationand then talking through all the
background that I have and howI can talk about things, just
(13:45):
owning that I have something tocontribute to spaces like that
was honestly really exciting,caused me to make some tweaks to
my website and, and, like own,own some of my expertise a
little bit more.
So that was that exercise initself was super helpful.
Lauri (14:03):
Yeah, I love when that happens.
It feels like all of thesethings are kind of converging
from being able to receive,being able to step out and be
seen more, working with someoneon branding your own website.
It's like there's all thisinformation and experience
that's coming together.
That is building yourconfidence as you go out there
(14:29):
to be seen more.
Emily (14:31):
Yeah, and I think the yeah it's like it's converging
in like a natural, like howthings all come together because
everything is connected kind ofway.
And I've been wanting to fusethese two parts of myself
together for a long time the,you know, copywriting, marketing
, business side, and then thefilmmaking, production,
storytelling side.
And you know, I've had way morefinancial success in one side
(14:56):
than the other side and I alwayswas like, oh, how do I bring
that to this?
But it was more, how do I bringboth sides together?
Because I'm one human being andit's all the same thing, it
should all be together.
Lauri (15:07):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, and you are both a person who is
behind the camera and nowsomeone who is on the camera,
right, so it feels like thosetwo parts are coming together
again that have been separatesince the person said no, you're
not an actor, you're a director.
Emily (15:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, fun work.
You say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,fun.
Lauri (15:32):
I can't wait to see the new website and I could go on a
whole tangent.
And I want to ask, since youwere here last time, what have
you noticed about your voice andyour speaking since, since your
visit to the podcast where youwere coached?
Emily (15:54):
since, since your visit to the podcast where you were
coached.
Yeah, I mean, I hope people cantell that I'm a little slower.
I've been talking, I've beenslowing, trying to slow down a
little bit and I've been tryingto um, it's, it's funny that
coaching also coincided with,like another experience of
wanting to take space in amoment um and trying to practice
(16:16):
like trusting my gut and youknow when you're, you know, in a
negotiation or something withsomeone, and like being able to
claim that space and take thatpause and be like, well, hold up
, I don't know what's going onhere, but I'm, I want to stop.
Um, so that's like somethingI've been working on personally,
(16:38):
just in one-on-one interactions, but that also ties into the
coaching that we did um for forspeaking as well.
Lauri (16:47):
Yeah, it's like growing comfortable in the silence and
not feeling like you need tofill it Right, whether that's a
moment in your life where youstop everyone else in order to
have the silence, or in anegotiation.
You just made me flash on amoment actually in my own life,
(17:08):
where I asked for a raise and Iwas not as confident, not as
comfortable with silences as Iam now.
I was, I'll tell you this now,and I know because this boss
said it.
At that time I was the bestexecutive assistant he had had
(17:31):
in 25 years, the best one ever.
I was not trusting in my ownworth.
It had been a long time since Ihad been given a raise.
So I went in there to ask for araise and my I was masked up,
my um, heady hipster.
I had the heady hipster mask on, my heady hipster.
(17:54):
I had the heady hipster mask onand my soul suckers were in
charge.
They totally controlled how Iwas going to do it and then they
kicked into like working harder, and then my deranged mannequin
mask kind of came out.
So you know, I did a lot ofpreamble because it's like you
feel like you have to justifythat you're going to ask for the
raise.
And then you ask for the raiseand then you do a whole lot of
(18:16):
justifying after and I knowsilence, right, and he's, like
you know, trying to follow whatI'm saying and I don't look like
the person that he knows.
So he starts rifling for papersand I'm thinking he wants me to
leave his office.
At this point he finds the listof salaries.
(18:39):
He's got a spreadsheet thatsays what people's salaries were
and when they've had anincrease.
That is what he was actuallylooking for.
My mind was telling me like Ineed to talk faster and justify
so that he'll say yes or no, soI can get out of his office.
And he said I wish you'd askedme earlier.
And he gave me a ten thousanddollar increase in like 2001,
(19:06):
right on the spot.
Wow, and if I would have askedhim earlier I probably would
would have had like a 5,000 andthen another 5,000.
And that's a negotiation where,if I were to go do it again
today, I would probably say,john, it's been a while and I'd
like to ask you for a salaryincrease, and then, like, shut
(19:30):
up and wait for his answer andif I need to justify or
something he might have said,how long has it been since you
had one right?
Not since I've been hired andthat's it yeah yeah totally
(19:50):
yeah, it does feel it feels likewe're not even recording.
That's what I can say about.
Like my experience of you islike it doesn't feel like you
have that.
I'm on the spot.
I'm gonna speed up now.
Feeling it feels like we arehaving an amazing conversation.
Truly, this is what I want forthe podcast.
(20:10):
Like two people sitting in aare having an amazing
conversation.
Truly this is what I want forthe podcast.
Like two people sitting in acafe having an amazing
conversation that happens to berecorded that then other people
get to hear and get value andnuggets out of.
Are you aware of feeling moregrounded in your own skin, more
fluid breath, anything like that?
Emily (20:35):
in your own skin.
More fluid breath, anythinglike that.
Yeah, I feel less, um, likechoked, choked up in my throat,
Um.
So yeah, it feels.
I definitely feel more me thistime around, maybe not like a
hundred percent, but like 95,like pretty good.
Lauri (20:50):
Yeah, I, and I often say public speaking, whether it's
tiktok podcast, ted talk, it is.
If you're any good at it, it isnot going to feel like you're
laying on your couch watchingnetflix.
It's going to feel a bit morelike a roller coaster ride.
So there's going to be moreenergy there.
Otherwise you're probably notvery engaged.
Emily (21:16):
If you have Netflix couch energy, probably not a dynamic
speaker, yeah.
Lauri (21:21):
Yeah, yeah, and I've had it once, one performance when I
was like 25 years old.
It was supposed to be a brushup rehearsal, so my body was
like I'm going to show up, I'mgoing to be in street clothes,
we're going to bang this out,and then we're all going to go
home.
And the director was like, well, there were some people who
couldn't come to any otherperformance, so you have like a
(21:41):
four-person audience out there,which is just not.
I don't like performing infront of four-person audiences.
I have done it a lot, so thatwas, you know, kind of a weird
thing.
I'm also curious about thepreparation for the ones that
ended up not happening becauseyou were sick.
(22:02):
What felt different to youduring the preparation than
other times you've beenpreparing to speak?
Emily (22:12):
Yeah, I really I wish I wish they had happened, because
I would like to know if itworked.
I felt more comfortable.
I was happy that I wasdisappointed that they didn't
happen.
There wasn't relief, there wasactual disappointment and that
felt like Rome.
And, yeah, it felt like maybethe right balance of prep,
(22:34):
because I think in previoustimes I've like almost scripted
things.
Um, like there was one time wewent in to pitch this.
I went in to pitch this featurethat I was going to direct on.
Um, it didn't end up happeningat all, but I was.
I was so much, so much betterthan the other director, I was
(22:55):
so much better for this, thisposition, um, but the feedback
that I got from the producersafterwards were like, oh you,
they felt like you were tooprepared, like you were too
scripted, you were too likerigid almost in the presentation
of it, even though I had overprepared and done more of the
homework.
Um, the other director was likemore off the cuff and like
(23:19):
conversational and like casualabout it.
Um, I did end up getting thejob, but I was like, oh, it was
just like such a insight intolike, oh, okay, I'm not.
There's something about thisthat I'm not approaching in the
right way, or you know I'm doingit like a like a suckers, the
(23:40):
ones that scream the loudest,and they can do that.
Lauri (23:42):
It's like the kernel of the message is be prepared way
(24:14):
over, when, if you're an artist,there's kind of two things
going on at the same timethere's the craft and the
preparation, and then there'salso the creative spark and the
passion, and you don't want toprepare so much that the
creative spark and the passiongets hidden underneath all of
that preparation.
You want to prepare enough thatit allows that to shine through
(24:34):
.
And it sounds like that's thelevel of prepared you were,
which also is like, of course,when they said, well, when you
said I'm sick and it's got tomove to January, you're like, oh
, because the passion was stillthere, even for you.
Emily (24:53):
Yeah, no, that's true, yeah, and before any pitches in
the past or other times, likepublic speaking kind of things,
have fallen through pure relief,100% relief, no other emotion
other than relief.
But yeah, it's like that, thatweird balance, especially with
with with film pitching andstuff they want.
(25:14):
They want something moreconversational, they want
something that feels like it'sjust coming from within you,
even though they know you'vepracticed the hell out of this
thing.
They want it to feel likeyou're just, it's so inside of
you and you're so comfortablethere and you're just so
passionate and cool and coolartists that you can just speak
it on the spot.
Lauri (25:36):
That's what they're, that's what they're actually
looking for yeah, and everybodyknows the illusion that's
happening and they still we allstill would rather have it be
that way, a hundred percent.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I am.
I'm getting this urge to haveyou share some of the marketing
stuff that you would have sharedon the podcast that you went on
(25:58):
for a couple of differentreasons.
So you get to do it, so we seewhere you are.
Let's go ahead and and have youshare some of what you would
have shared had you done the twopodcasts earlier in the week
yeah, cool, um, so yeah.
Emily (26:15):
So I mean, one of the one of the main things I was going
to talk about on these podcastswas about how to create low
budget video campaigns, um, thatcompete with million dollar
campaigns.
The other one was about how to,like, train your brain to be a
Hollywood writer's room.
Lauri (26:33):
They're both so juicy I think I'm, since this is soulful
speaking.
Yeah, showing up on video ispart of what I mean by soulful
speaking.
Why don't you tell us a bitabout how to create videos that
compete with big budget videos?
Cool, cool.
Emily (26:54):
Yeah, we can also talk about like why comedy is the key
to marketing Awesome.
So, yeah, let's do how tocreate low budget video ads.
So the first, the first part,is really keeping in mind your
hook.
This can be an audio hook.
I think most people think abouta hook as just the text that
goes over the video.
(27:15):
You know, like create, ask aquestion or create some intrigue
.
We are seeing people fallinginto a little bit of hook
fatigue.
The more clickbaity stuff isn'tdoing as well because people
kind of know the game now.
So we're leaning into a littlebit more of the conversational
(27:37):
hooks that are still intriguingand click worthy, but not as
clickbaity.
The piece that people forgetabout a lot is the visual hook
and how that interplays with thetext.
So, like making sure that youhave a cohesive visual
storytelling frame.
(27:58):
For example, I saw a videorecently that the audio hook was
like what it's like to workfrom home during the holidays or
something, and the visual wasin the foreground a woman at her
computer and in the backgroundlike her dad, like coming
through the door, and so thatall really created sort of this
(28:20):
humorous.
You kind of know what the jokeis going to be, but it's enough
where you want to click andwatch because you relate to it
and you're seeing this wholevisual image.
Um, so, aside from just beinglike let me fill a cup of coffee
with the visual hook or thetext, like trying to keep all of
(28:41):
that context in mind, yeah,first tip yeah I.
Lauri (28:45):
I have a question brewing that is related to issues that
some of my clients have had.
When they're speaking, andthey're attempting to speak a
first sentence, that is a hook,totally yeah.
They often feel really, reallyawkward about it.
(29:06):
Sure, what advice do you have?
And, like, when you're the onedirecting, how do you help draw
that out of them so that theawkward version is not the one
that gets released?
Emily (29:18):
Right.
Well, there's a couple ofthings that you could do.
Um, actor props help you notfeel as awkward, so you know if
awkward, so you know if youbring something in frame, you're
creating a visual hook.
And if you bring, you know, oryou turn around or add some
movement, I mean movement canalso kind of be a prop.
(29:39):
Um, that can help theawkwardness.
Um, because it might get youout of your head a little bit
and it'll create a more visualstriking, like edit point.
The other option is write a fewlines before your first line,
so get the awkwardness out withsome preamble and then say your
first line, Like that might helpas well, and then just edit it.
(30:02):
And then just edit it.
Lauri (30:04):
I am shocked that that has never occurred to me before,
probably because I do videosnow.
But I come from a world oftheater where you can't do that
you can't do that.
I mean, you can start imaginingwhat is the world, that my
character, that's what you do isyou moment before moment,
before you do all of that, butyou're not speaking yet, whereas
(30:28):
on video you can speak and then, like, by the time, you're in
flow, I have done a whole takemyself and then, just without
stopping, started again and thenchopped off the first one and I
and I did a thing where Iwanted everything to be live and
recorded live for such a longtime.
(30:49):
It took me a while to get tothat.
Emily (30:51):
The editing.
Yeah, I mean, that's the thingthat you do on set with actors
too.
If they feel a little in theirhead and the take seems instead
of like cut, reset, and thenthey have to get all nervous
again and pause, just like let'sgo again, let's just go again
right away, and like not stop inand pause, just like let's go
again, let's just go again rightaway and like not stop.
Lauri (31:08):
So, yeah, similar, similar, yeah, yeah, I just got
this image of you tellingyourself that but let's just go
again, just go again, like inyour own head, let's just go
again, right?
Emily (31:18):
back to one.
Let's just do it.
Yeah, totally, totally, um sotell me why comedy.
It's like so with marketing.
I'm sure everyone knows likethe no like trust kind of thing.
I believe, mark, comedy is likethe ultimate of the no like
(31:38):
trust.
I mean, think about anytime youmeet someone, if they're funny,
you automatically or they tella joke or they reveal something
about themselves, like usuallythat's telling them a little bit
more about themselves than youthan if they didn't do that.
Um, so you automatically knowthem a little bit more, tend to
(32:01):
like people that are funny.
It's just natural reaction, um,and we tend to trust them more
because it feels comedy feels alittle bit more vulnerable than
other kinds of communication.
So I feel like it's a way toshortcut some of that no like
and trust.
Um, and there's also there'salso a piece that if you're
making a joke about a pain point, that you understand that pain
(32:23):
point and it's such deeper levelthan if you're just saying it
and people feel really seen andlike, oh yeah, you, you get it
like.
You get it to the point whereyou can make a joke about it.
Um, and it didn't make you feelbad when you heard it.
You were able to laugh at yourown, your own pain.
Um, yeah, then trust, trust theperson more in the process.
Lauri (32:44):
So those are some big points um, is it important to be
funny?
In every video, says the personwho does not think of herself
as traditionally funny yeah, Imean, I think it depends on your
brand, right?
Emily (32:57):
like, if you don't have, like we have a funny brand, I
think it is important for us topretty much always put out stuff
that's at least, at least, atleast that we think is funny.
Um, but if you're, if that'snot your brand, like no, you
shouldn't, you shouldn't, andand there's also different kinds
of funny, right?
Like nobody has to be like I'mon snl level sketch funny, like
(33:23):
making a humorous observation,that's like, haha, chuckle funny
is also super effective.
Um, so I don't think, yeah, no,no pressure to be like I am now
going to be like doing stand-upon every saturday night on an
open mic, like yeah that wouldbe absurd, um, but still like
that's super helpful for mebecause I I don't think of
(33:47):
myself as a traditional kind offunny.
Lauri (33:51):
I did improv back in the day and back then I was trying
to be funny or I was being theperson that was reading what was
needed in the scene and mostoften was the one who gave all
of the things that other peoplecould yes and and did the yes
anding that was needed in thebeginning, and then other people
(34:13):
would get all the laughs right,I am funny when I'm not trying,
so, like funny is not a part ofmy brand.
However, seeing our humanity andbeing authentic and at peace
with our humanity is my brandand I'm like embrace the weird
within you.
So I think what you helped merealize is that, if I'm being me
(34:37):
, in my case, there are probablya lot of moments where other
people are chuckling like we'reI'm laughing at myself and
they're laughing at themselves,or we're laughing at ourselves
together and that's happeningand I don't really realize it
when I'm just embracing theweird.
And even back in the days whenI was in improv, I was like 22
(34:59):
years old at that point I woulddo something and when I got a, I
would like stop and look at thelike.
I wasn't trying to be funny.
How is this happening right nowand now that I'm 52, it's been
30 years I know, if I just be me, there will be times people
laugh.
It happens when I'm incharacter in a show where there
(35:21):
is a part of my brain that'shearing the laugh and kind of
going cool, I did it.
Emily (35:28):
Yeah, that's awesome when it's so true, like I think I
liked what you're saying about,like that communal laughter,
like it's not always aperformative laughter, it's like
an exchange, almost especiallylike, yeah, in the world of
speaking and using yourauthentic voice, I mean, there's
just so much funny, relatableexperiences with that kind of
(35:51):
work that I'm sure everyone'slike, oh my god, yeah, I did
that too yeah, yeah, awesome.
Lauri (35:57):
I want to ask you what?
What do you want peoplelistening to this to know?
In particular, I think aboutbeing seen and stepping into the
spotlight.
Emily (36:15):
Yeah, I mean, if I'm talking to clients, a lot of
what I do is like pulling peopleinto their weirdness kind of
what you were just saying.
Um is to to not hold back onthat.
Like I think people really wantto see how, how weird you can
(36:36):
get, and again, not like withinwithin your brand and your
messaging parameters, but likethey, they want to see those
like uncomfortable, not polishedpieces of you.
Um, because that's so relatable.
(36:56):
Um, again, I put caveatsbecause not every brand can do
things like this.
It doesn't make sense foreveryone, but um work mostly in
the coaches and consultant space.
So, um, yeah, seeing like abeautiful morning routine with
like a cup of coffee, with likea backlit light, is like I don't
(37:17):
, I don't know.
Lauri (37:18):
I don't know if I want to see that yeah, whereas the the
post of like here's the mess youknow, like here's, here's this
view, and then like here's thetornado pile of my creativity.
(37:39):
I don't actually have it rightnow.
It's relatively clean and Iknow I've posted at different
points, like when I was renamingmy company.
At one point I took a pictureof my house, because when I'm in
that kind of a creative state,it's like I lived alone then.
Now I live with my husband,which is part of why it's
cleaner behind me, although he'sout of town right now.
(38:00):
So 24 hours from now I mighthave the tornado the pile.
Yeah, hours from now I mighthave the tornado pile.
Yeah, there were pieces of paperall over my house because I had
been grabbing actual paper andkeeping things in a spreadsheet
and at a certain point I hadlike different logos and
different names and I took apicture and it was like there
(38:22):
was just paper all over my house.
Um, and when I was teachingtheater with like 38 different
students and a really bigtheater, at one point I was like
where's, where's my phone?
And the people were like yourjacket is over there, your water
bottle is over there, yourphone is over there, because
(38:43):
there's just something thathappens when it's like well,
this must've been a really goodday If, like the jacket, the
phone, the piece of paper that Inever even looked at again, and
the water bottle are all indifferent parts of the room.
It must've been a really goodclass.
Emily (39:02):
I relate to that so hard.
I would lock my keys inside mycar at least once every
directing project back.
When you could lock your keysin your car Every time.
Lauri (39:14):
This will be in the show notes and save verbally for
people driving cars andlistening.
Where can our listeners findyou if they've fallen in love
with you and they want to get toknow you even better and
potentially hire you?
Emily (39:28):
yes, so you can find me through my website,
penguincatcreativecom, alsoscrappyadsio, if you want to see
our video production work.
Um, and then we've just justnow, in the visibility journey,
uh been posting Instagram, whichis at penguincatcreative.
Lauri (39:47):
Nice, thank you.
Thank you All right.
Now let's go ahead and go intoour Pivo pivot.
Do your best to answer each onewith one word or a short phrase
.
Okay, what is your favoriteword?
Emily (40:05):
Delight.
What is your favorite word,delight?
Lauri (40:08):
What is your least favorite word?
Emily (40:13):
Wet.
Lauri (40:15):
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or
emotionally?
Emily (40:22):
Seeing other people exhibit their talents.
What turns you off?
Lauri (40:33):
Dishonesty.
What's your favorite cuss word?
Emily (40:39):
Fuck man, what sound or noise do you love?
Sound I love.
I don't know.
Lauri (40:51):
This is so cheesy, my husband's singing so cheesy it's
better that that's not theanswer to my next question what?
Emily (41:03):
sound or noise.
Lauri (41:04):
Do you hate my microwave beep?
I hate my freaking.
Emily (41:06):
That's not the answer to my next question what sound or
noise do you hate my microwavebeep?
I hate my freaking microwavebeep.
It's the worst beep.
Lauri (41:17):
It's so hard.
Emily (41:21):
What profession other than yours would be fun to try.
Lauri (41:26):
Like there's an alternate history or psychology.
What profession would you notlike to try?
Emily (41:33):
Anything with sports Sports.
Lauri (41:44):
And Emily what?
Emily (41:46):
do you hope people say about you on your 100th birthday
, she was just a blast to bearound.
Lauri (41:54):
Well, I have had a blast, yay.
Thank you so much.
Emily (41:58):
Yeah, thank you, this was really fun, really appreciate
it.
Welcome back listeners and welcome back Emily to the
Soulful Speaking podcast.
For those of you who don'tremember or missed her first
episode, Emily is a seasonedcreative with over 20 years of
experience in video, sketchcomedy, marketing and leading
dynamic teams.
On her last episode, shecourageously let me coach her,
(00:24):
and today we're going to hearmore of her story and also hear
a bit about where that went.
Welcome back, emily.
Emily (00:32):
Thank you so much, so happy to be here.
Lauri (00:34):
Yeah, let me ask you where your speaking journey
began.
Emily (00:41):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if it's even begun
necessarily.
I think my, my fear of speakingstarted, like when I was a
child and I really wanted to belike.
I was like, oh, I really wantto like act or like do
performancey things, and waslike told at a pretty young age,
(01:04):
like no, no, no, no, no, youshouldn't, you shouldn't do that
, and like I couldn't sing andmost things for children, you
know, like acting andperformance are very like song
based and so, um, I was kind ofdissuaded from that at a young
age.
So, yeah, I think like it'sbeen more of a journey of like
(01:27):
regaining my confidence andregaining like, oh, I could, I
could learn these skills, Icould, I do have things that are
of value to share.
Um, and figuring out like thatsource of confidence for myself
has been more of my focus in thelast a few years.
(01:47):
Um, I was just like, oh, I justdon't do that, it's fine, I
don't, I don't do that, otherpeople do that, but I don't do
that.
And now it's, I've been kind ofpushed in directions to be like
, oh, yeah, no, you, you, you doneed to do this and yeah.
Lauri (02:03):
Yeah, it sounds like you had a curiosity and an
attraction to it as a child andthen that got suppressed and
went dormant for a while andthen got reawakened.
Emily (02:17):
Yes, yes, and it's.
It's funny Cause even in, like,just going back to middle
school was like, oh, I'll dothis, I'll do this theater
performance thing after schooland I'll I'll get to act, we're
doing these little plays.
And then the teacher assignedme to be the director, which has
directed my life since quite abit, and I found out that I was
(02:38):
very good at that, um, but yeah,still wasn't.
It was like put in thedirector's seat then instead of
performing.
Lauri (02:47):
Instead of performing.
Yeah, and when it gotreawakened, what happened?
That reawakened it?
Emily (02:59):
I feel like with most things, when you're being pushed
out of your comfort zone, it'sjust, it's it's more out of
necessity.
My business was a little slowerthis year and it's like okay, I
do need to start doingvisibility.
I had been running on referraland repeat clients really
consistently.
I did not have to do my ownmarketing, even though I'm a
marketing firm.
It was wonderful.
(03:19):
Clients just showed up in myinbox like magic.
It was great.
Uh, 20.24 did not function likethat.
Um, and I'm like okay, I thinkI'm getting pushed into needing
to be more visible, needing todo some crazy, do some marketing
for my marketing company.
Um and and get in front of thecamera.
(03:42):
Stages haven't really come upas a necessity yet, but at least
getting on camera sharingthings being more visible, in
that sense being more visible inmessaging all of that.
So a friend recently was jokingabout imposter syndrome and how
needing to pay your mortgage isthe quickest way to get past
(04:05):
imposter syndrome.
Lauri (04:08):
I love that?
Emily (04:11):
Yeah, you're not wrong.
Lauri (04:15):
Yeah, there's the um, like when the risk of there's
some kind of quote that, likeyou know, we open when the risk
of staying the same becomes morepainful than the risk to change
.
And nothing like a mortgagepain to actually make the pain
or the fear of the pain of beingseen less than the fear of the
(04:37):
pain of paying the mortgageRight.
Emily (04:40):
So yes.
Lauri (04:42):
Especially in.
Emily (04:43):
Los Angeles.
That helps too, so yes,Especially in Los Angeles.
Lauri (04:46):
That helps too, yeah, and the universe really does always
kind of put us in thecircumstances to practice what
we preach, to embody thetransformation and kind of our
lifelong journey.
So for you, you're preaching orteaching to others, helping
(05:10):
others understand marketing.
Meanwhile, you're going throughone of those phases where it's
like having a line out the doorat an Apple store.
You don't really need to doanything, and then, all of a
sudden, the line dries up andyou're invited to do the very
things that you are askingothers to do, and be visible and
(05:31):
use your voice.
Emily (05:37):
Yep, somebody said like take your own medicine fairly
recently, and I was like, yeah,I'm excited about it, Mostly
excited yeah.
Lauri (05:48):
What have you been learning so far as you take your
own medicine?
Emily (05:55):
Yeah, I think it's.
It's been hard.
Well, it's been interesting.
So my husband is a performer.
He's been doing it his wholelife.
It comes very naturally to him.
He can like get up on a stageand just like improvise an
entire speech and like zeroanxiety about it just easy, um,
(06:18):
in front of a camera, no problem.
So, and we've been filming thesesketches together recently and
I think the hard part for me hasbeen like just like being in
the moment, I guess, and justkind of not putting so much
(06:38):
edifice on things, like reallybeing myself, and not like
putting on this I don't knowthis like weird fakeness, I
guess.
Um, that I have been so, yeah,like, even though it's like I'm
playing a character, you stillhave to be a grounded version of
(07:00):
that character, not like thisfake, weird version of that yeah
, like an, an intimate, realversion of that character,
rather than a caricature yeah,yeah, and even though we're
doing goofy sketches and it'snot like serious acting by any
means, but still like the sameprinciples all align and it's
(07:22):
funny because I direct and so Idirect other actors in doing
this, but then, oh God, makingmyself do it has been difficult.
Lauri (07:31):
Yeah, how.
I would imagine that being inthe director seat for so long is
potentially contributing tohaving your own inner critic
there instead of you know.
(07:51):
It's like you're relearning howto drop in and be present when
you're doing these sketches,because you've been the one
who's been the critical outsideeye for so long?
Emily (08:04):
totally and I'm running like the edit in my head so I'm
like, oh, I know, my eye linewas off so I'm already like
doing that technical actingstuff that's quite high level
without any of the skillunderneath it.
So I don't have because I'mlike thinking of the technical
side of like, oh yes, it shouldbe here.
And if I make this?
(08:25):
movement.
The edit is better and you know, just thinking about that stuff
, which are very good actorthings if you have, like the
baseline emotionality, takingcare of verse yeah, yeah, and it
feels like you even have tolearn how to do those things
from the inside so that theybecome, instead of conscious
(08:46):
competence.
Lauri (08:46):
I can do it when I'm thinking about it.
You know how to do it from theinside out without thinking
about it.
Emily (08:56):
Right, right, like an act professional actor will just
know where their light is andnot be consciously thinking of
that necessarily and not beconsciously thinking of that
necessarily, but just will showup there or know that somebody
will tell them to move if theyare not there.
And it's fine to trust that.
Lauri (09:13):
Yeah, trusting the person who is actually out there being
the director, right, right.
What is it like for you totrust yourself and others?
Emily (09:28):
Ugh.
Lauri (09:35):
Tell me more what else goes with that.
Emily (09:47):
Um, yeah, I think it's uncomfortable.
I think it's like it's like asimilar feeling to like somebody
, like like taking care of youor somebody like doing a like I
have a hard time, maybe likereceiving gifts and compliments
and things like that.
I think that trust feelssimilar, that there's a similar
kind of discomfort.
Um, so that's, I don't know.
Lauri (10:09):
There's some link there, I don't know yeah, yeah, it's
being the center of attention,being worthy of receiving care
and attention oh, yeah, yeah.
Emily (10:27):
I mean, we were even doing the grounding exercise
before this podcast and I waslike, oh, this is, this is
really nice, like, oh, she'sdoing this nice thing to make
sure I'm comfortable before thisinterview and there was, I had
that.
I even felt like a moment ofthe like discomfort of receiving
yeah that's in service of thewhole, obviously show.
But you know, there was stilllike I had like a tinge of that
(10:50):
which I noticed.
Lauri (10:51):
But yeah, how did you recover and lean into the
receiving?
Emily (10:56):
uh, I think just more of the like reminding myself like
yeah, it's for, it's for theshow, and also like you're
wanting me to succeed and it'sokay to like receive that.
Lauri (11:16):
I guess, kind of reminding myself of yeah, yeah,
yeah, it's for the show, andwhat was going on in my head as
we were doing it, that was thatthis is one of those days where
I probably needed it more thanyou just being in all of the
chat and it's you know, it's whywe do it together, rather than
(11:36):
me just being like warm upbefore you come in Doing vocal
exercise yeah.
Yeah, and it's really nice to doit together because then we
also get connected and I reallyhad a voice in my head that was
like this, one of those dayswhere I could feel myself
shifting and grounding in apretty dramatic way as I was
(11:59):
doing the moment for us and forthe episode, and was like, well,
thank well, thank you forjoining me.
For that I need Right.
Yeah, that's funny, yeah, sohow much have you gotten out
there to be seen since you feltthat push for the mortgage or
(12:21):
the call?
Emily (12:23):
Right.
Um, fortunately it was going tobe so perfect.
I was supposed to be on twopodcasts on Monday, but I was
not feeling well.
I knew I wasn't going to be ina good place for them, so I had
to cancel last minute.
Those are scheduled in like amonth after the holidays, so I
(12:43):
would have had so much to report, but I did prepare for them,
which was even that was veryhelpful.
Um, so I'm going through aprocess of like redoing my
director website, um, with afriend who also does branding.
Even if you do it yourself,it's very hard to do it for
yourself.
(13:03):
Um, that's why I have a job, um, and so she's helping me work
through and like kind of owningmy expertise in a lot of ways,
which is filtering through kindof my whole career right now.
Um, so it was helpful to likestep back and at first I was
really intimidated by thesepodcasts.
(13:23):
So they're very high-endmarketing.
It's like very zero fluff.
Like they want things to feellike um master's levels course
in marketing, like kind of thing.
Um, so I had that intimidationand then talking through all the
background that I have and howI can talk about things, just
(13:45):
owning that I have something tocontribute to spaces like that
was honestly really exciting,caused me to make some tweaks to
my website and, and, like own,own some of my expertise a
little bit more.
So that was that exercise initself was super helpful.
Lauri (14:03):
Yeah, I love when that happens.
It feels like all of thesethings are kind of converging
from being able to receive,being able to step out and be
seen more, working with someoneon branding your own website.
It's like there's all thisinformation and experience
that's coming together.
That is building yourconfidence as you go out there
(14:29):
to be seen more.
Emily (14:31):
Yeah, and I think the yeah it's like it's converging
in like a natural, like howthings all come together because
everything is connected kind ofway.
And I've been wanting to fusethese two parts of myself
together for a long time the,you know, copywriting, marketing
, business side, and then thefilmmaking, production,
storytelling side.
And you know, I've had way morefinancial success in one side
(14:56):
than the other side and I alwayswas like, oh, how do I bring
that to this?
But it was more, how do I bringboth sides together?
Because I'm one human being andit's all the same thing, it
should all be together.
Lauri (15:07):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, and you are both a person who is
behind the camera and nowsomeone who is on the camera,
right, so it feels like thosetwo parts are coming together
again that have been separatesince the person said no, you're
not an actor, you're a director.
Emily (15:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, fun work.
You say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,fun.
Lauri (15:32):
I can't wait to see the new website and I could go on a
whole tangent.
And I want to ask, since youwere here last time, what have
you noticed about your voice andyour speaking since, since your
visit to the podcast where youwere coached?
Emily (15:54):
since, since your visit to the podcast where you were
coached.
Yeah, I mean, I hope people cantell that I'm a little slower.
I've been talking, I've beenslowing, trying to slow down a
little bit and I've been tryingto um, it's, it's funny that
coaching also coincided with,like another experience of
wanting to take space in amoment um and trying to practice
(16:16):
like trusting my gut and youknow when you're, you know, in a
negotiation or something withsomeone, and like being able to
claim that space and take thatpause and be like, well, hold up
, I don't know what's going onhere, but I'm, I want to stop.
Um, so that's like somethingI've been working on personally,
(16:38):
just in one-on-one interactions, but that also ties into the
coaching that we did um for forspeaking as well.
Lauri (16:47):
Yeah, it's like growing comfortable in the silence and
not feeling like you need tofill it Right, whether that's a
moment in your life where youstop everyone else in order to
have the silence, or in anegotiation.
You just made me flash on amoment actually in my own life,
(17:08):
where I asked for a raise and Iwas not as confident, not as
comfortable with silences as Iam now.
I was, I'll tell you this now,and I know because this boss
said it.
At that time I was the bestexecutive assistant he had had
(17:31):
in 25 years, the best one ever.
I was not trusting in my ownworth.
It had been a long time since Ihad been given a raise.
So I went in there to ask for araise and my I was masked up,
my um, heady hipster.
I had the heady hipster mask on, my heady hipster.
(17:54):
I had the heady hipster mask onand my soul suckers were in
charge.
They totally controlled how Iwas going to do it and then they
kicked into like working harder, and then my deranged mannequin
mask kind of came out.
So you know, I did a lot ofpreamble because it's like you
feel like you have to justifythat you're going to ask for the
raise.
And then you ask for the raiseand then you do a whole lot of
(18:16):
justifying after and I knowsilence, right, and he's, like
you know, trying to follow whatI'm saying and I don't look like
the person that he knows.
So he starts rifling for papersand I'm thinking he wants me to
leave his office.
At this point he finds the listof salaries.
(18:39):
He's got a spreadsheet thatsays what people's salaries were
and when they've had anincrease.
That is what he was actuallylooking for.
My mind was telling me like Ineed to talk faster and justify
so that he'll say yes or no, soI can get out of his office.
And he said I wish you'd askedme earlier.
And he gave me a ten thousanddollar increase in like 2001,
(19:06):
right on the spot.
Wow, and if I would have askedhim earlier I probably would
would have had like a 5,000 andthen another 5,000.
And that's a negotiation where,if I were to go do it again
today, I would probably say,john, it's been a while and I'd
like to ask you for a salaryincrease, and then, like, shut
(19:30):
up and wait for his answer andif I need to justify or
something he might have said,how long has it been since you
had one right?
Not since I've been hired andthat's it yeah yeah totally
(19:50):
yeah, it does feel it feels likewe're not even recording.
That's what I can say about.
Like my experience of you islike it doesn't feel like you
have that.
I'm on the spot.
I'm gonna speed up now.
Feeling it feels like we arehaving an amazing conversation.
Truly, this is what I want forthe podcast.
(20:10):
Like two people sitting in aare having an amazing
conversation.
Truly this is what I want forthe podcast.
Like two people sitting in acafe having an amazing
conversation that happens to berecorded that then other people
get to hear and get value andnuggets out of.
Are you aware of feeling moregrounded in your own skin, more
fluid breath, anything like that?
Emily (20:35):
in your own skin.
More fluid breath, anythinglike that.
Yeah, I feel less, um, likechoked, choked up in my throat,
Um.
So yeah, it feels.
I definitely feel more me thistime around, maybe not like a
hundred percent, but like 95,like pretty good.
Lauri (20:50):
Yeah, I, and I often say public speaking, whether it's
tiktok podcast, ted talk, it is.
If you're any good at it, it isnot going to feel like you're
laying on your couch watchingnetflix.
It's going to feel a bit morelike a roller coaster ride.
So there's going to be moreenergy there.
Otherwise you're probably notvery engaged.
Emily (21:16):
If you have Netflix couch energy, probably not a dynamic
speaker, yeah.
Lauri (21:21):
Yeah, yeah, and I've had it once, one performance when I
was like 25 years old.
It was supposed to be a brushup rehearsal, so my body was
like I'm going to show up, I'mgoing to be in street clothes,
we're going to bang this out,and then we're all going to go
home.
And the director was like, well, there were some people who
couldn't come to any otherperformance, so you have like a
(21:41):
four-person audience out there,which is just not.
I don't like performing infront of four-person audiences.
I have done it a lot, so thatwas, you know, kind of a weird
thing.
I'm also curious about thepreparation for the ones that
ended up not happening becauseyou were sick.
(22:02):
What felt different to youduring the preparation than
other times you've beenpreparing to speak?
Emily (22:12):
Yeah, I really I wish I wish they had happened, because
I would like to know if itworked.
I felt more comfortable.
I was happy that I wasdisappointed that they didn't
happen.
There wasn't relief, there wasactual disappointment and that
felt like Rome.
And, yeah, it felt like maybethe right balance of prep,
(22:34):
because I think in previoustimes I've like almost scripted
things.
Um, like there was one time wewent in to pitch this.
I went in to pitch this featurethat I was going to direct on.
Um, it didn't end up happeningat all, but I was.
I was so much, so much betterthan the other director, I was
(22:55):
so much better for this, thisposition, um, but the feedback
that I got from the producersafterwards were like, oh you,
they felt like you were tooprepared, like you were too
scripted, you were too likerigid almost in the presentation
of it, even though I had overprepared and done more of the
homework.
Um, the other director was likemore off the cuff and like
(23:19):
conversational and like casualabout it.
Um, I did end up getting thejob, but I was like, oh, it was
just like such a insight intolike, oh, okay, I'm not.
There's something about thisthat I'm not approaching in the
right way, or you know I'm doingit like a like a suckers, the
(23:40):
ones that scream the loudest,and they can do that.
Lauri (23:42):
It's like the kernel of the message is be prepared way
(24:14):
over, when, if you're an artist,there's kind of two things
going on at the same timethere's the craft and the
preparation, and then there'salso the creative spark and the
passion, and you don't want toprepare so much that the
creative spark and the passiongets hidden underneath all of
that preparation.
You want to prepare enough thatit allows that to shine through
(24:34):
.
And it sounds like that's thelevel of prepared you were,
which also is like, of course,when they said, well, when you
said I'm sick and it's got tomove to January, you're like, oh
, because the passion was stillthere, even for you.
Emily (24:53):
Yeah, no, that's true, yeah, and before any pitches in
the past or other times, likepublic speaking kind of things,
have fallen through pure relief,100% relief, no other emotion
other than relief.
But yeah, it's like that, thatweird balance, especially with
with with film pitching andstuff they want.
(25:14):
They want something moreconversational, they want
something that feels like it'sjust coming from within you,
even though they know you'vepracticed the hell out of this
thing.
They want it to feel likeyou're just, it's so inside of
you and you're so comfortablethere and you're just so
passionate and cool and coolartists that you can just speak
it on the spot.
Lauri (25:36):
That's what they're, that's what they're actually
looking for yeah, and everybodyknows the illusion that's
happening and they still we allstill would rather have it be
that way, a hundred percent.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I am.
I'm getting this urge to haveyou share some of the marketing
stuff that you would have sharedon the podcast that you went on
(25:58):
for a couple of differentreasons.
So you get to do it, so we seewhere you are.
Let's go ahead and and have youshare some of what you would
have shared had you done the twopodcasts earlier in the week
yeah, cool, um, so yeah.
Emily (26:15):
So I mean, one of the one of the main things I was going
to talk about on these podcastswas about how to create low
budget video campaigns, um, thatcompete with million dollar
campaigns.
The other one was about how to,like, train your brain to be a
Hollywood writer's room.
Lauri (26:33):
They're both so juicy I think I'm, since this is soulful
speaking.
Yeah, showing up on video ispart of what I mean by soulful
speaking.
Why don't you tell us a bitabout how to create videos that
compete with big budget videos?
Cool, cool.
Emily (26:54):
Yeah, we can also talk about like why comedy is the key
to marketing Awesome.
So, yeah, let's do how tocreate low budget video ads.
So the first, the first part,is really keeping in mind your
hook.
This can be an audio hook.
I think most people think abouta hook as just the text that
goes over the video.
(27:15):
You know, like create, ask aquestion or create some intrigue
.
We are seeing people fallinginto a little bit of hook
fatigue.
The more clickbaity stuff isn'tdoing as well because people
kind of know the game now.
So we're leaning into a littlebit more of the conversational
(27:37):
hooks that are still intriguingand click worthy, but not as
clickbaity.
The piece that people forgetabout a lot is the visual hook
and how that interplays with thetext.
So, like making sure that youhave a cohesive visual
storytelling frame.
(27:58):
For example, I saw a videorecently that the audio hook was
like what it's like to workfrom home during the holidays or
something, and the visual wasin the foreground a woman at her
computer and in the backgroundlike her dad, like coming
through the door, and so thatall really created sort of this
(28:20):
humorous.
You kind of know what the jokeis going to be, but it's enough
where you want to click andwatch because you relate to it
and you're seeing this wholevisual image.
Um, so, aside from just beinglike let me fill a cup of coffee
with the visual hook or thetext, like trying to keep all of
(28:41):
that context in mind, yeah,first tip yeah I.
Lauri (28:45):
I have a question brewing that is related to issues that
some of my clients have had.
When they're speaking, andthey're attempting to speak a
first sentence, that is a hook,totally yeah.
They often feel really, reallyawkward about it.
(29:06):
Sure, what advice do you have?
And, like, when you're the onedirecting, how do you help draw
that out of them so that theawkward version is not the one
that gets released?
Emily (29:18):
Right.
Well, there's a couple ofthings that you could do.
Um, actor props help you notfeel as awkward, so you know if
awkward, so you know if youbring something in frame, you're
creating a visual hook.
And if you bring, you know, oryou turn around or add some
movement, I mean movement canalso kind of be a prop.
(29:39):
Um, that can help theawkwardness.
Um, because it might get youout of your head a little bit
and it'll create a more visualstriking, like edit point.
The other option is write a fewlines before your first line,
so get the awkwardness out withsome preamble and then say your
first line, Like that might helpas well, and then just edit it.
(30:02):
And then just edit it.
Lauri (30:04):
I am shocked that that has never occurred to me before,
probably because I do videosnow.
But I come from a world oftheater where you can't do that
you can't do that.
I mean, you can start imaginingwhat is the world, that my
character, that's what you do isyou moment before moment,
before you do all of that, butyou're not speaking yet, whereas
(30:28):
on video you can speak and then, like, by the time, you're in
flow, I have done a whole takemyself and then, just without
stopping, started again and thenchopped off the first one and I
and I did a thing where Iwanted everything to be live and
recorded live for such a longtime.
(30:49):
It took me a while to get tothat.
Emily (30:51):
The editing.
Yeah, I mean, that's the thingthat you do on set with actors
too.
If they feel a little in theirhead and the take seems instead
of like cut, reset, and thenthey have to get all nervous
again and pause, just like let'sgo again, let's just go again
right away, and like not stop inand pause, just like let's go
again, let's just go again rightaway and like not stop.
Lauri (31:08):
So, yeah, similar, similar, yeah, yeah, I just got
this image of you tellingyourself that but let's just go
again, just go again, like inyour own head, let's just go
again, right?
Emily (31:18):
back to one.
Let's just do it.
Yeah, totally, totally, um sotell me why comedy.
It's like so with marketing.
I'm sure everyone knows likethe no like trust kind of thing.
I believe, mark, comedy is likethe ultimate of the no like
(31:38):
trust.
I mean, think about anytime youmeet someone, if they're funny,
you automatically or they tella joke or they reveal something
about themselves, like usuallythat's telling them a little bit
more about themselves than youthan if they didn't do that.
Um, so you automatically knowthem a little bit more, tend to
(32:01):
like people that are funny.
It's just natural reaction, um,and we tend to trust them more
because it feels comedy feels alittle bit more vulnerable than
other kinds of communication.
So I feel like it's a way toshortcut some of that no like
and trust.
Um, and there's also there'salso a piece that if you're
making a joke about a pain point, that you understand that pain
(32:23):
point and it's such deeper levelthan if you're just saying it
and people feel really seen andlike, oh yeah, you, you get it
like.
You get it to the point whereyou can make a joke about it.
Um, and it didn't make you feelbad when you heard it.
You were able to laugh at yourown, your own pain.
Um, yeah, then trust, trust theperson more in the process.
Lauri (32:44):
So those are some big points um, is it important to be
funny?
In every video, says the personwho does not think of herself
as traditionally funny yeah, Imean, I think it depends on your
brand, right?
Emily (32:57):
like, if you don't have, like we have a funny brand, I
think it is important for us topretty much always put out stuff
that's at least, at least, atleast that we think is funny.
Um, but if you're, if that'snot your brand, like no, you
shouldn't, you shouldn't, andand there's also different kinds
of funny, right?
Like nobody has to be like I'mon snl level sketch funny, like
(33:23):
making a humorous observation,that's like, haha, chuckle funny
is also super effective.
Um, so I don't think, yeah, no,no pressure to be like I am now
going to be like doing stand-upon every saturday night on an
open mic, like yeah that wouldbe absurd, um, but still like
that's super helpful for mebecause I I don't think of
(33:47):
myself as a traditional kind offunny.
Lauri (33:51):
I did improv back in the day and back then I was trying
to be funny or I was being theperson that was reading what was
needed in the scene and mostoften was the one who gave all
of the things that other peoplecould yes and and did the yes
anding that was needed in thebeginning, and then other people
(34:13):
would get all the laughs right,I am funny when I'm not trying,
so, like funny is not a part ofmy brand.
However, seeing our humanity andbeing authentic and at peace
with our humanity is my brandand I'm like embrace the weird
within you.
So I think what you helped merealize is that, if I'm being me
(34:37):
, in my case, there are probablya lot of moments where other
people are chuckling like we'reI'm laughing at myself and
they're laughing at themselves,or we're laughing at ourselves
together and that's happeningand I don't really realize it
when I'm just embracing theweird.
And even back in the days whenI was in improv, I was like 22
(34:59):
years old at that point I woulddo something and when I got a, I
would like stop and look at thelike.
I wasn't trying to be funny.
How is this happening right nowand now that I'm 52, it's been
30 years I know, if I just be me, there will be times people
laugh.
It happens when I'm incharacter in a show where there
(35:21):
is a part of my brain that'shearing the laugh and kind of
going cool, I did it.
Emily (35:28):
Yeah, that's awesome when it's so true, like I think I
liked what you're saying about,like that communal laughter,
like it's not always aperformative laughter, it's like
an exchange, almost especiallylike, yeah, in the world of
speaking and using yourauthentic voice, I mean, there's
just so much funny, relatableexperiences with that kind of
(35:51):
work that I'm sure everyone'slike, oh my god, yeah, I did
that too yeah, yeah, awesome.
Lauri (35:57):
I want to ask you what?
What do you want peoplelistening to this to know?
In particular, I think aboutbeing seen and stepping into the
spotlight.
Emily (36:15):
Yeah, I mean, if I'm talking to clients, a lot of
what I do is like pulling peopleinto their weirdness kind of
what you were just saying.
Um is to to not hold back onthat.
Like I think people really wantto see how, how weird you can
(36:36):
get, and again, not like withinwithin your brand and your
messaging parameters, but likethey, they want to see those
like uncomfortable, not polishedpieces of you.
Um, because that's so relatable.
(36:56):
Um, again, I put caveatsbecause not every brand can do
things like this.
It doesn't make sense foreveryone, but um work mostly in
the coaches and consultant space.
So, um, yeah, seeing like abeautiful morning routine with
like a cup of coffee, with likea backlit light, is like I don't
(37:17):
, I don't know.
Lauri (37:18):
I don't know if I want to see that yeah, whereas the the
post of like here's the mess youknow, like here's, here's this
view, and then like here's thetornado pile of my creativity.
(37:39):
I don't actually have it rightnow.
It's relatively clean and Iknow I've posted at different
points, like when I was renamingmy company.
At one point I took a pictureof my house, because when I'm in
that kind of a creative state,it's like I lived alone then.
Now I live with my husband,which is part of why it's
cleaner behind me, although he'sout of town right now.
(38:00):
So 24 hours from now I mighthave the tornado the pile.
Yeah, hours from now I mighthave the tornado pile.
Yeah, there were pieces of paperall over my house because I had
been grabbing actual paper andkeeping things in a spreadsheet
and at a certain point I hadlike different logos and
different names and I took apicture and it was like there
(38:22):
was just paper all over my house.
Um, and when I was teachingtheater with like 38 different
students and a really bigtheater, at one point I was like
where's, where's my phone?
And the people were like yourjacket is over there, your water
bottle is over there, yourphone is over there, because
(38:43):
there's just something thathappens when it's like well,
this must've been a really goodday If, like the jacket, the
phone, the piece of paper that Inever even looked at again, and
the water bottle are all indifferent parts of the room.
It must've been a really goodclass.
Emily (39:02):
I relate to that so hard.
I would lock my keys inside mycar at least once every
directing project back.
When you could lock your keysin your car Every time.
Lauri (39:14):
This will be in the show notes and save verbally for
people driving cars andlistening.
Where can our listeners findyou if they've fallen in love
with you and they want to get toknow you even better and
potentially hire you?
Emily (39:28):
yes, so you can find me through my website,
penguincatcreativecom, alsoscrappyadsio, if you want to see
our video production work.
Um, and then we've just justnow, in the visibility journey,
uh been posting Instagram, whichis at penguincatcreative.
Lauri (39:47):
Nice, thank you.
Thank you All right.
Now let's go ahead and go intoour Pivo pivot.
Do your best to answer each onewith one word or a short phrase
.
Okay, what is your favoriteword?
Emily (40:05):
Delight.
What is your favorite word,delight?
Lauri (40:08):
What is your least favorite word?
Emily (40:13):
Wet.
Lauri (40:15):
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or
emotionally?
Emily (40:22):
Seeing other people exhibit their talents.
What turns you off?
Lauri (40:33):
Dishonesty.
What's your favorite cuss word?
Emily (40:39):
Fuck man, what sound or noise do you love?
Sound I love.
I don't know.
Lauri (40:51):
This is so cheesy, my husband's singing so cheesy it's
better that that's not theanswer to my next question what?
Emily (41:03):
sound or noise.
Lauri (41:04):
Do you hate my microwave beep?
I hate my freaking.
Emily (41:06):
That's not the answer to my next question what sound or
noise do you hate my microwavebeep?
I hate my freaking microwavebeep.
It's the worst beep.
Lauri (41:17):
It's so hard.
Emily (41:21):
What profession other than yours would be fun to try.
Lauri (41:26):
Like there's an alternate history or psychology.
What profession would you notlike to try?
Emily (41:33):
Anything with sports Sports.
Lauri (41:44):
And Emily what?
Emily (41:46):
do you hope people say about you on your 100th birthday
, she was just a blast to bearound.
Lauri (41:54):
Well, I have had a blast, yay.
Thank you so much.
Emily (41:58):
Yeah, thank you, this was really fun, really appreciate
it.
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