June 25, 2025 • 41 mins
Want to stop chasing one client at a time and start influencing hundreds with a single message? Public speaking may be the most overlooked growth tool in your business—and Robert Kennedy III is here to change that.
In this episode of Small Business Pivots, I sit down with Robert Kennedy III, professional speaker, coach, and Founder of Kennetik Kommunications, to talk about how small business owners can harness the power of public speaking to grow visibility, credibility, and revenue.
Robert shares how he went from unemployed—with three kids and zero speaking gigs—to building a business that trains leaders, business owners, and entrepreneurs to master their message and confidently communicate from any platform.
Inside the episode:
- How to turn public speaking anxiety into energetic delivery
- Why speaking is one of the most scalable marketing tools you’re not using
- The E.A.S.E. Framework: Energy, Ask, Story, Explain—your go-to system for crafting clear and powerful messages
- The 3 core stories every entrepreneur needs to have ready
- How video, livestreaming, and podcasts count as public speaking—and how to make them count for your business
- Why getting help before you need it is one of the smartest moves in entrepreneurship
Whether you're afraid of public speaking or ready to level up your voice, this episode will help you pivot from fear to influence. Tune in, take notes, and get ready to amplify your business.
Robert Kennedy III: Founder & CEO of Kennetik Kommunications
Website (company): https://kennetikkommunications.com/
Website (personal): https://robertkennedy3.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertkennedy3/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertkennedyiii
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/robertkennedy3
#RobertKennedyIII #KennetikKommunications #PublicSpeakingForBusiness #BusinessCommunication #SmallBusinessSuccess #SmallBusinessPivots #MichaelDMorrison #BusinessPodcast #EntrepreneurPodcast #OklahomaCity #BusinessGrowth #SpeakWithConfidence #StorytellingInBusiness #PresentationSkills #AmplifyYourVoice
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome to another Small Business, pivots,
where we have the mostincredible guests from around
the world.
But I know that only businessowners can say their name and
their business like the businessowner can.
So I always let you introduceyourself the way you like to be
introduced.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and where you're coming
to us from.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, I'm coming from Bellsville, Maryland, but let's
do this.
I'm a professional speaker.
That's one of the things that Ido.
We can do the introductions andthe other information in just a
moment, but I want you tointroduce me like a speaker
getting on stage.
Just say, ladies and gentlemen,introducing Robert Kennedy III.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Ladies and gentlemen, introduce the most amazing,
fantastic, world-renowned RobertIII.
I missed your last name.
It's going to be fun, it'sgoing to be fun.
You put me under pressure and Igot it all but one word your
(00:58):
last name.
See, that's why I let everybodyintroduce themselves, so I
don't mess it up.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Hey, no worries man, Listen.
Robert Kennedy III, rk3, that'sme.
I live in a town calledBellsville, maryland.
My office is in Laurel,maryland, about 20, 25 minutes
northeast of DC.
I'm the president of KineticCommunications, a communications
training firm out here where wework with small business
leaders, business owners,teaching them how to generate
(01:25):
more income and increase theirvisibility through the use of
communication, more confidentcommunication, public speaking,
storytelling and whatever weneed to do to connect with our
clients, customers and prospects.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Fantastic.
Well, I know every bit of thatyou just said leads to sales,
and that's what most businessowners want is more sales.
So let's introduce the showreal quick and we'll be right
back.
Welcome to Small BusinessPivots, a podcast produced for
small business owners.
I'm your host, michael Morrison, founder and CEO of Boss, where
(02:01):
we make business ownershipsimplified for success.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
Ownership simplifiedcom.
(02:23):
All right, rk.
The third.
I know that public speaking,speaking on stage, is probably
one of the most frightful thingsfor small business owners, so
let's just start there.
Looking at your website, you doa lot of everything, so how did
you get into this?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So there wasn't one moment.
It was an evolution.
I was a teacher in high schoolfor about seven years and then I
was an online faculty foruniversity for a couple of years
.
I was living in the state ofMassachusetts at the time, and
then it came time to move and wedecided we were going to move
(03:03):
from Massachusetts to Maryland,and 10 days after I got to
Maryland, I lost my job as anonline faculty, and at the time
I had three kids under the ageof five.
Oh wow, yeah.
So I did what everybody elsedoes.
I started to hop on Monster,indeed, simply Hired all of the
websites and started looking forjobs.
(03:25):
And I continued to do that andI was not getting any responses,
none at all.
And I would understand if I gotinterviews and it just didn't
work out, but I wasn't gettingthose either.
So after about five or sixmonths, I just said, listen, I
got to contribute to my family,to my household, a little bit
differently, and so I starteddoing some contracting.
(03:48):
I was able to develop someonline courses for a university,
started doing that more,started a company doing that,
and in the process of startingthat company, I got asked to do
some technical training.
And every time I did technicaltraining, the people said to me
hey, are you a speaker, are youa motivational speaker?
What else do you speak about?
What else do you do?
And I said what are you askingme?
(04:11):
I didn't understand.
I didn't know that people gotpaid for other things with
regard to speaking, and so I dida little bit of research, found
out that, yeah, people in factdo get paid to speak on a
regular basis, and so I foundthe National Speakers
Association I joinedToastmasters before that, but
found the National SpeakersAssociation to figure out how to
(04:34):
do the business of speaking,and so that's how I became a
speaker and I do a lot in thecommunication and leadership
space because of that,toastmasters is brought up a lot
.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
In fact, I've attended Toastmasters.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
But can you share that for our audience of how
impactful and powerful that canbe?
Yeah, so Toastmasters if you goto Toastmastersorg, you can get
a lot more information aboutwhat it is.
But Toastmasters essentially isan organization that was
created back in golly probablythe 50s, 60s somewhere
(05:17):
thereabouts and the reason thatwas created was because the
founder had some trouble withspeaking himself and decided
okay, let me figure out how todo this.
And so they eventually createda curriculum that people could
walk through, and now there areclubs all over the world.
As a matter of fact, there arecompetitions that they do every
year, culminating in the worldchampionship of public speaking.
So Toastmasters essentially isclubs of people.
(05:41):
Sometimes it's five, sometimesit's 10, sometimes it's 50.
Clubs of people that walkthrough a curriculum together,
practice public speaking.
They give each other feedbackand that could be practiced
public speaking, or what we callextemporaneous or on the spot
public speaking.
So that's a really good way tohone your chops and just get
some practice in.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, I encourage all business owners that's
listening to this.
That's your first action item,right?
We try to bring action itemsfor you If you're a little
hesitant, maybe a slightintrovert or a true introvert
look at Toastmasters.
I was growing up kind of thelack of self-worth, maybe a
little bit, and so I wasn'toutspoken at all.
(06:23):
And so I went to Toastmastersand they completely broke me of
those old habits that I had, andsome of the people I know now
probably wish I had some ofthose old habits because I speak
too much but I don't say andsand ums and ums and uhs and all
that good stuff.
They will break you of thosehabits fast.
(06:44):
So I encourage all of ourlisteners to do that.
So you got into public speaking.
I know working with businessowners as a business coach
speaking can make you money.
So let's talk about how tostorytell, how to most impact
audiences and get people'sattention.
Where would one start?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
audiences and get people's attention.
Where would one start?
Well, so I want to dig in justfor a moment where you said
speaking can help with sales,and I want to walk through why.
That is because when I startedmy first business, how did I get
, how did I get customers?
How did I get clients?
Well, I started to make calls,I started to send out emails, I
started to send out postcards.
I was in the real estateindustry, I was knocking doors.
(07:31):
I did what I needed to do inorder to have conversations with
people.
Now, if you have a business andyou're doing that, you can feel
the exhaustion.
After a while you come across alittle bit of fatigue.
Sometimes it can be a lot to gochasing after one person,
especially if you run a coachingbusiness or something like that
(07:51):
.
You're trying to get onecoaching client.
You're running after one person.
That can be challenging.
So when business owners come tome and they say, oh my gosh,
I'm so fatigued from chasingpeople, well I ask, what if you
didn't have to chase one personat a time?
What if you could have aconversation with 100, 150, 200
(08:13):
people at a time?
They would say, yeah, thatwould be good.
Yes, that is called a speech,that is called a talk, that is
called public speaking, and thebenefit there again is, instead
of one-to-one, it's one-to-many.
And so when I talk about publicspeaking and stages, a lot of
people immediately freak out andthey say, oh my gosh, I'm
(08:34):
afraid of public speaking, Ican't get on stages.
I say, wait a minute, we're notjust talking about getting on
stages and ballrooms.
We may also be talking aboutvideo, because when you get on
video and you're speaking,you're speaking to an audience
of more than just one or twopeople.
And so if you're a businessowner, I'm recommending a couple
of things.
Number one get on stages infront of people, get in
(08:57):
boardrooms, get in front of the,in the front of the lectern at
the chamber of commerce sessionor meeting.
Stand up at a networkingmeeting and introduce yourself.
Give your 30 second, your 60second pitch.
That that that all counts aspublic speaking.
And if you can stand, livestreaming or getting on camera
or, as Michael Morrison is doing, getting on a podcast, a video
(09:20):
podcast all of those are avenuesto speak publicly, public
speaking.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I remember the first time I ever set foot on a stage
as an introvert, and it was whenone of our marketing people
were trying to take someprofessional pictures.
Just the thought of getting onthat stage, getting up there
with no one in the chairs, wasso intimidating.
So what?
What's some insider tips thatyou can give for people to get
(09:49):
over that anxiety?
Just to get started, cause Iknow that's where most people
struggle.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah.
So I have people that come tome for public speaking coaching
and one of the questions thatthey ask oh my gosh, robert, how
do I get rid of the butterflies?
Because every time I go tospeak, I just it starts to well
up in my belly and I just startto feel the anxiety and the
nerves start coming up.
And I respond I say listen, ourjob isn't to get rid of the
(10:17):
butterflies, it's to help themfly in formation.
What do I need to do with those?
That the energy that's coming,that I feel welling up in my
body?
How can I, instead of tellingit that it's nerves, how do I
tell it that it's?
Instead it's excitement andpreparation.
Because a science teacherbackground here, from a
(10:37):
scientific perspective, the samechemicals that cause anxiety,
the same chemicals that causenerve nervousness, are the same
chemicals that cause anxiety.
The same chemicals that causenervousness are the same
chemicals that cause excitement,right, and so the difference is
experience, prior knowledge andme telling my brain what to
(10:58):
interpret those feelings or thesecretion of those chemicals as,
and so when I go to speak, aslong as I've been speaking, I
still have the same butterflyfeelings.
But now, backstage, I'll do whatTony Robbins does.
When Tony Robbins gets ready togo out on stage, there's a
trampoline backstage and hejumps up and down on that
(11:20):
trampoline because he's gettinghis energy.
He's physiologically changingthe state that he's getting his
energy.
You know, he's physiologicallychanging the state that he's in
Right, and so that energy is nowtranslated or transmitted
outwards or transmitted towardsmy audience.
So I shadow box, I do somethingwith my energy because I'm
telling my body okay, you'reabout to be amazing, listen,
(11:41):
you're about to go serve thesocks off of these people.
You're about to do somethingphantasmic, something ridiculous
, right, and so you've got toget into this state, into this
energy space, so that what theyreceive from you is going to be
memorable and transformational.
So it's not about the nerves,it's about what you tell the
(12:01):
nerves to do.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
It's about what you tell the nerves to do.
I remember in Toastmasterswe're talking about stories, and
at least the club that I was inthe first speech that I had to
get up and tell everybody was mystory.
I think it had to be fiveminutes or less.
It was about me, and theyalways say you should know
yourself well enough to talkabout yourself.
(12:23):
But even that was intimidating,and so I bring that up because
even talking about ourselves canbe difficult for some, talking
about ourselves.
But let's use some practicaladvice, some situations like,
for instance, a networking eventor maybe.
How do you prepare for akeynote or what?
Maybe not a keynote, but justgetting up in front of people
(12:45):
for a keynote, or what?
Maybe not a keynote, but justgetting up in front of people?
How do you package thosedifferent stories so they're
applicable to the circumstances?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
I love it.
So a lot of times people, theyfreak out a little bit about
those speaking situationsbecause they visualize
themselves going up rambling,blanking and not knowing what to
say next.
Yes, Yep, I'm going to mess up.
Yeah.
Or they go to get up there andthey see this audience, the sea
(13:14):
of eyeballs out in front of them, and the eyeballs are looking
at him, like with expectation.
What do I say now?
Or what's this person going toshare?
Well, number one, the audiencethat you speak to, every
audience is rooting for you.
Every audience wants you tosucceed, and so them looking at
you with anticipation is not forjudgment.
(13:36):
They're looking for somethingexciting to happen there as well
.
So we put a lot of pressure onourselves because we try to give
the kitchen sink, we try togive everything I share with
public speaking clients.
What is the one thing that youwant your audience to remember
If they could leave with nothingelse?
What is one takeaway that youwant, even if you're telling
(13:58):
your personal story?
What is one thing that you wantthem to remember?
I've got this framework that Ishare with some of my clients.
It's called the EASE framework,e-a-s-e Energy ask, story,
explain, deliver it forwards,create it backwards.
So I'll say okay, what is onething?
If you're going to be telling astory about yourself, what is
(14:19):
one thing that you want youraudience to know?
Okay, I want them to know thatI'm resilient.
Okay, cool.
All right, what is a story inyour life that would share that
you're a resilient person?
The time that I was riding mybicycle and I fell off.
I had skinned my knee and Istill got back up and started to
(14:40):
ride my bicycle again and Ifell off three more times.
Okay, great story, cool.
What is a question that you canask to get them to that place?
Okay, so I gave you theframework, I gave you the
letters, but I didn't tell youwhat they meant.
Let me back up for a moment.
So E-A-S-E stands for energy.
Ask story, explain Energy, askstory.
(15:03):
Explain what I wanted toexplain, whether I wanted to
know or what I want to explainto them.
I wanted to explain to themthat I'm resilient.
What's the story?
I'm gonna tell them a storyabout me falling off my bicycle.
What's a question that I can askthem?
Okay, how many of you have everexperienced falling off your
bicycle?
How many of you have everexperienced pain?
(15:24):
How many of you have gonethrough the process of learning
to ride a bicycle?
Cool, that's a question that Ican ask.
Okay, what's the energy that Iwant them to feel?
Do I want it to be reflective?
Do I want it to be exciting.
What do I want?
Okay, and that energy that Iwant may determine the question
(15:45):
that I ask okay.
So I believe with a little bitof practice, anybody can put
together that framework reallyquickly.
As a matter of fact, I don'tbelieve it.
I've seen it.
I've done it over and overagain.
So if I now go up there andthey say, hey, tell me a story
about yourself, I'm simplysaying, okay, how many of you
(16:06):
have ever ridden a bicyclebefore?
Was it easy?
Was it hard?
People raise their hands Okay,cool.
Well, you know what?
When I was 10 years old, I waslearning how to ride my bicycle
and I had the same experiencethat most people do you get on,
it's wobbly and you fall over.
But this was back in the day,when parents believed that you
didn't need training reels toride a bicycle.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
So I drink out of a water hose.
All that, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So you know, I tell the story and at the end of the
story I say why am I sharingthis story with you?
Or what does this mean for you?
Well, it means that even insituations where challenges
occur, even when you skin yourknee, you can get back up.
And I've gotten back up againand again and again, and that's
(16:57):
why I believe I'm successful atwhat I do, because of the
resilience that I learned fromthat moment.
And there's a story about me.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, that's powerful and it's interesting, it's
impactful, it's relational yeah,right, because I know in sales,
people buy from those they know, like and trust, and so now we
have a connection, right?
Yep, absolutely so in the salesprocess.
How would one prepare a story?
(17:26):
Because we hear this all thetime the reason your content
isn't being found and no oneengages is because you're not
telling stories, tellcaptivating, you know all that
good stuff.
So how does one prepare fortheir business to be impactful
with their story?
Speaker 2 (17:43):
So it's not just me telling my story.
I'll say bluntly, your audienceusually doesn't care about you.
Thank you for saying that theycare about themselves.
Well, you know what's in it forme.
They want to know how you aregoing to solve the issue, the
challenge, the problem that ishappening in their world, that
(18:05):
they're focused on, that they'redealing with, until you so
rudely interrupted their space,right?
So if I am a business owner, Iknow that I've got a target
audience of some sort.
I know that I'm going to begoing after a certain group of
people.
So my question is what are thechallenges that this group of
people typically has?
(18:26):
What are the problems that theynormally go through?
I'll give an example.
I lived in Massachusetts and Iwas sitting in my living room
and my doorbell rang.
So I go to the door and I lookout.
There's a little hole, there'sa little window in my door.
So I look out and I see thisdude in my driveway and he's got
this big rectangular displayboard with these little square
(18:49):
pieces on it.
So I'm looking and I'm sayingwhat's that?
So I opened the door and hesays hey, my name is Mark, I'm
selling carpet.
I got all of the differentkinds of carpet here.
Come on and feel the carpet Igot, I got Berber, we got low
pile, high pile, middle pile,gomer pile.
Okay, if you've got that littlereference.
Okay, tells me how old you are,all right.
(19:10):
He's like, yeah, we got all thepiles, and come on and touch it
.
So I'm out there and I'mtouching the carpet, I'm
touching, I'm saying OK, yeah,it feels cool, ok.
And then after about three orfour minutes of me touching the
carpet and him just asking mehey, how's it feel?
Hey, how does this one feel,how does that one feel?
I open my door and floors andhe says oh, okay.
(19:37):
And he picks up his board andhe walks down the street.
So I tell the story and I'mlike he did not step into my
world at all.
How could he have done thatdifferently?
Well, he might've come to mydoor and said hey, my name's
Mark.
I just came from across thestreet, judy, I met your
neighbor and we were talkingabout her heating bill.
I noticed that she had an oiltank and I noticed that you've
got an oil tank out front.
(19:58):
How are you feeling about yourheating bill?
He's got my attention becausenow I'm like dude, this stinks.
I'm paying like $400 a monthfor my heating bill.
And I absolutely hate it, right,hate it Right.
Then he can say to me well,what if I were able to show you
(20:20):
or tell you about a way that youcould save some money on your
heating bill, right?
So now he's actually told me alittle bit of a story and I want
you to get this.
He's not telling me a storyabout when he was a kid, he's
telling me the story of myneighbor.
Judy Just came from across thestreet.
He's telling me about Judy andI'm like okay, I connect with
Judy.
I know and like and trust Judybecause Judy's my neighbor.
(20:41):
I know what Judy's situation isand I've got the same challenge
as Judy.
Oh my gosh, we got aneighborhood problem here High
oil bills.
So now he's like what if I wereto tell you a little bit about
this?
You know, I noticed that youhad hardwood floors, but I've
got some carpet here and I'veheard that or we have some
(21:02):
statistics or we've got somestuff that says, even if you
don't put carpet over yourentire house, if you put it
strategically in certain areaswithin this certain size, you're
guaranteed to save about thismuch per year on your oil bill,
right?
So he's gotten into my world.
He understands the challenge,he understands the problem that
I have and he's used a story,he's brought something or
(21:24):
someone in that I already know,that I like, I trust, and he's
made connection and now we canhave a conversation about the
solution that he's offering.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
How would one business owner prepare these
short, medium and long stories?
In other words, you'relistening to Small Business
Pivots.
This podcast is produced by mycompany, boss.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
(21:55):
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
Now let's get back to ourspecial guest.
How would one business ownerprepare these short, medium and
long stories?
(22:16):
In other words, you mentionedsomething that Toastmasters
helps with and I didn't do itvery long, but where you're
talking about always beingprepared for different
situations and I forget the termthat you used, but it's kind of
like having a script or a deckin your back pocket.
Oh, we're 30 second elevator,I'll just whip out this one or
(22:38):
this one or that one.
How does one prepare?
Because I'm sure you can bespeaking on the spot.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Well, so that happens .
It's not a magic pill that youswallow, it's not the matrix red
or blue that you swallow.
There's some practice, there'ssome stuff that you've got to do
to prepare.
There's a great book by a guynamed Matthew Dix, called
Storyworthy, and in that book hehas this process that he walks
through daily and he sits downat the end of the day and he
(23:06):
says okay, what were fiveexperiences or five things that
happened to me today?
He writes down five things.
It doesn't matter what it is.
I got some potato chips at thegas station today, okay cool.
What else I walked?
I ran into an old friend in theelevator, okay cool.
So he writes down five thingsOn the other side of the page.
Beside each of those stories,he then writes okay, what was a
(23:29):
lesson that I learned from thatstory?
What is he doing?
Lesson that I learned from thatstory?
What is he doing?
He's capturing stories and he'sadding lessons to those stories.
He's adding points, he's addingexplanations to those stories.
He's making connections betweenlife, emotions and real-time
stories.
What that does is it gets youin the habit of capturing
(23:52):
stories.
It gets you in the habit ofcapturing stories.
It gets you in the habit ofobserving and paying attention.
The more that you can do that,the easier it is going to be for
you to be able to grab a storythat is relatable to the people
who you're talking to.
So in business, there are acouple of stories that I want
you to have in your back pocketall the time.
Number one is your origin story.
(24:14):
How did your business getstarted?
Why did it get started?
What does that do?
It tells people the journey ofwhere you came from.
That's number one story.
Second story that I want you tohave is your why story.
Why do you do this?
Why are you passionate aboutthis particular business thing?
(24:35):
Why does this matter to you?
Why do you get hyper?
Why do you get excited when?
you start talking about this.
That's your why story.
The third story I want you tohave is a client story.
If you've walked throughbusiness or you've sold a
product process program to aclient and it's helped them in a
(24:55):
certain way, what was that likefor them?
How did you walk through them?
How did you journey with theclient through that situation?
If I'm a real estate agent Iwant to talk to, I want to share
some stories about, oh, theclient, the last first time home
buyer that I worked with.
(25:15):
I want to share a story about,oh, my gosh, a client that had
been burned by a bad sale orforeclosure before, but we got
together and now they are inthis home and they have this
beautiful home for their family.
Right, I want to have a clientstory so that people see, okay,
here's how this person's vibesand here's how they work with
people, here's how they connectwith people and here's how.
(25:38):
Here's why I can trust them,because they seem authentic and
real and they seem like somebodyI would like and maybe even
have a friendship with.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
No, I can trust, just can't say it enough.
Well, you do.
You have quite a few programsI'm seeing on your website, so
can you talk us through those,because I guarantee there's a
handful or a lot more that wantto know how you can help them
and what are these programs thatyou can help them with and how
(26:12):
can they take that and growtheir business?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Well, we just did a summit called the Amplify Voice
and Video Summit in April, andthat was about how you can use
your voice and video to improveyour sales, increase your
visibility, and so out of that,we are doing a two-day intensive
in August August 27th and 28thhere in DC, where day one is
(26:37):
going to be voice, day two isgoing gonna be video.
So day one, we're gonna bewalking through how you can pull
from your experiences andcreate a signature talk,
signature story, something thatyou can use on a regular basis
to get on stages, to get onpodcasts, to access media
opportunities, to get in frontof your ideal clients and know
(26:59):
how to connect with themeffectively.
Then, day two, we're gonna bewalking through how you can
create content around that andI'm gonna be doing some
interviewing and we're gonna bemaking sure I'm gonna share some
frameworks that people can useto create content pretty quickly
, easily connective, so thatwhenever they're on video
(27:19):
they're not just rambling,they're sharing a journey with
their, with their customers,with their prospects, that that
connects with the problem thatthey have.
So those are the.
That's the biggest thing thatwe're doing right now, but of
course we do have other courseslike studio savvy, how to set up
and get on camera.
We've got some stuff about howto create a talk in five minutes
(27:42):
, and then we've got some otherdownloads like how to how to
create hooks that grab people'sattention, questions that you
can ask in order to to to startout your talk in a way that
engages your audienceimmediately.
So yeah, there are a few ofthose there, man.
So, yeah, way that engages youraudience immediately.
So, yeah, there are a few ofthose there, man.
(28:05):
So, yeah, we'd love to help yoube a voice and video superstar.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Well, I know there's a lot of people out there, and
that kind of leads me to thenext question, and this is kind
of might be a little bitsubjective, but you know,
there's just some people thatget on stage and you can feel
the vibe right, like it's just anatural, authentic.
And then somebody else gets upon stage and you're like don't
do that, don't, don't.
That makes me uncomfortable.
(28:29):
Like that's not even yourpersonality and I don't even
know you.
So what?
Like I said, this might be thesubjective part, because some
people have that natural ability, but on average, do people
practice storytelling, gettingon stage daily, weekly, I mean,
how often or how much practicedoes it take to kind of get that
(28:50):
authentic?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
vibe, you got to practice as much as possible.
So I read this article lastweek about Chris Rock.
So Chris Rock, for people whodon't know, is a comedian, the
dude that got slapped by WillSmith.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Okay, now everybody knows who that is.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Now they know who he is.
So Chris Rock is a comedian.
He's been a comedian for awhile and when he goes on tour I
mean sells out stadiums, hallsand a lot of people think just a
really funny guy.
Somebody asked him how does heprepare for his tours and he
(29:42):
said well, you know, before I goon tour, I do 40 or 50 shows at
some nondescript comedy clubs,just practicing and prepping
material, seeing what jokes hitand what don't, what jokes don't
.
So if you've seen a comedianlike Chris rock on TV, they're
up there for 30, 40 minutes justcracking jokes and you're like
whoa, they're pro at this.
Yeah, at some of these smallcomedy clubs it's been reported
by by people that were inattendance that sometimes he's
got notes and notebooks andpapers up there and he's kind of
(30:03):
fumbling through those andsometimes he'll say, yeah, that
one didn't work and he'll crossoff a note in a notebook, right,
yeah, so he's literallyworkshopping stuff, live, and he
doesn't even care how it looks,he doesn't care whether people
are.
Are you a professional?
What do you mean?
You got paper in your notebookand you're reading a joke out of
(30:23):
that.
What are you talking about,right?
So if I want to be a top notchsalesperson, if I want to be a
top notch storyteller, if I wantto be a top notch speaker.
What is my practice regimenlike?
Right, you're saying, does ithave to be every day?
Does it have to be every day?
Does it have to be every week?
Once a week?
Listen, I don't know what thefrequency is, because I don't
(30:45):
know what your talent level is.
I don't know what your ease ofacquisition of skill set is.
Whatever it is for you have,determine what it is and then
have consistency with it.
Right, malcolm Gladwell talksabout the 10,000 hours in the
book Outliers.
(31:06):
Yeah, right, you've got to havea certain level of practice in
order to achieve a certain levelof not just proficiency but
expertise.
So, if you want to be better atclosing, if you want to be
better at connecting with people, if you want to be better at
closing, if you want to bebetter at connecting with people
, if you want to be better atcommunicating, then it takes
work.
You've got to practice.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, I will say, coming from the strong introvert
that I had, I can still gobackwards.
In other words, I speak infront of people, probably not
stages like you, but I do speakin front of a lot of people.
No-transcript, you just have tostart.
(32:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly it.
And then do it again and againand even during COVID.
For me and I haven't sharedthis, but I'm in agreement with
you Myers-Briggs says thatRobert Kennedy III is an
introvert as well, right, okay.
And so when I tell a lot ofpeople, they're like no, no, I'm
like listen, yeah, introvertdoesn't mean I'm shy or I don't
(32:36):
like people.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
It just means that I've got a limit.
I'm going to use that.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
I've got a limit my people meter.
When it gets to a certain place, yeah, then I've got to exit
stage left, right.
If I'm speaking for a workshopor if I've done a certain amount
and people are, I come down andpeople are like, yay, let's go
to happy hour.
I'm like, no, I'm going to myhotel room Because I have poured
out all of the energy.
Introversion simply means thatpeople drain energy from you.
(33:10):
Extroversion is my gosh.
You pull energy from people.
My wife is the total opposite ofme.
She is a flaming extrovert.
We go to an amusement park.
She wants to shut the placedown.
She wants to stay until thelast firework has been lit and
they kick you out a couple hours, three hours.
I'm like, okay, let's go Right,I want to go.
(33:32):
So you know knowing who you areis is helpful and that doesn't
limit you from a speaking orgetting on stages and in the
pandemic man, I love thepandemic.
Outside of the pain, I enjoyedbeing online in my office in
here and just not really peoplearound, but I was still getting
(33:54):
in my reps because I was doing alot of live streaming and I was
going out to audiences andespecially when it's live and
you have that interaction withpeople.
That's an audience and thatkept me speaking in front of
people.
So whatever you can do topractice that and just get your
reps in yeah, repetition.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Well, let's pivot.
The show is called SmallBusiness Pivot.
Let's pivot a little bit to thebusiness side.
What are some things thatyou've learned growing your
business that you think everyoneshould know?
Maybe things not to do, ormaybe things make sure you do
this.
It wasn't until this that theneedle really moved.
(34:34):
Or share a little bit aboutyour business insights, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
So biggest advice or biggest thing that stuck with me
is get help before you thinkyou need it.
Yes, a lot of us try to buildbusinesses on our own.
Raise your hand if you'reguilty.
We try to build businesses onour own and we try to do all the
(34:59):
things.
And you know, I think in thebeginning of most
entrepreneurial journeys you arethe janitor, you're the admin,
you're the marketer, you're theyou know, you're the operations
person, you're the chiefeverything officer at that point
, and so you get used to doingthat.
But at some point, if you wanta sustainable business, if you
(35:22):
want a business that grows, ifyou want a business that scales,
if you want a business thatallows you to get on vacation
for a month without you know youhaving to freak out about the
bank account, then you've got toallow other people into that
space.
You've got to allow and getsome additional help and
resources even before you thinkyou can afford it.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Amen, my friend, amen , if people are listening to
this, when it uploads originally, all of our social media
content is on not being afraidto ask for help, and so we kind
of share stories of smallbusiness owners, possibly
because we offer business loans,also possibly not applying for
(36:07):
a business loan because they'reafraid of people seeing they
might need help, right, so itholds them back.
It holds their business back.
So I love that you share that,because that goes right in line
with what we're trying to getacross currently in our social
media.
Anything else in your businessthat you would say has been
impactful?
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Wow.
So, continuing on with the helpline of thinking, strategic
partnerships, right, because alot of times, we are encouraged
to view people or view otherbusinesses as competitors, and
the truth is that while ourworld is limited, it's still a
(36:52):
big space and there's a lot ofpie.
There's a lot of pie for a lotof people.
And if you are willing to sayyou know what, here's my zone of
genius, here's my expertise,I'm good at this thing, but I
know that Mike is good at thisother thing, and that really
fits right in with with, with,with what I do, right?
(37:14):
So, for example, if you makemake, if your business is making
pizza, but you happen to knowthat, um, someone makes drinks
and you're like, okay, cool, Igot people that need pizza, that
like that, come to come to myplace to get pizza, but after
they eat they're a little bitthirsty.
(37:36):
Okay, let me partner with Mikethe drink guy and see if we can
create a drive-through or we cancreate something where, okay,
you buy half a pizza, you get adrink free, or you buy a drink,
you get half a pizza free, orwhatever it is.
Look to create strategicpartnerships.
Partnerships, look to connectwith other businesses who you
(37:59):
might think are your competitorsin a space and see what you can
create together, because thatpower of the mastermind, the
power of strategic partnership,is amazing and those were some
things that I found out a littlebit later than I wanted to, but
it's those.
Some of those moments are havereally caused the growth in my
(38:21):
business.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Awesome.
Well, I know you've got a lotof people out here going.
I want to learn more.
Where can they find you?
Is there resources out there?
Where's the best social mediachannel to follow you and get to
know you more?
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Well, LinkedIn is where I land.
That's where I hang out mostly.
I've got other channels.
I'm RobertKennedy3 on allsocial channels except for
TikTok Real RobertKennedy3 onTikTok, because some dude took
the RobertKennedy3.
And he wasn't even active.
I was a little bit upset.
Tiktok wouldn't let me get that.
But anyway I digress.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Same.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
But, yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn.
If you go to robertkennedy3.me,you will see links to my
training site, my speakerwebsite and some of the other
programs that we have.
So that's where.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
That's where I can be found Fantastic, fantastic.
Well, I always end with onequestion, and that is, if, for
you this will be natural, butfor many not.
If you were in front of a lotof small business owners,
different seasons of business,some startups, some 20 years old
, different industries, what'sone tip that you could say is
(39:33):
applicable for all of them?
It could be a quote or a book,or just something that you've
learned.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Man.
We've been talking about thatthe entire episode.
Talk to people, get in front ofa crowd.
Get in front of a group ofpeople.
Stop chasing people one by one.
Get in front of a group ofpeople.
Even if you work with peopleone by one, even if you're a
coach and you're saying I justwant to coach people one by one,
well, talk to 50 people at thesame time and tell them about
(40:01):
the value and the benefits ofcoaching, or how coaching has
changed the trajectory of yourlife and business, and some
specific tips or some ideasabout how they can increase the
value of their life and businessas well, and then invite them
to have some conversations withyou after that.
But it's easier to do thatone-to-many as opposed to doing
(40:23):
it one-to-one, because that's alot of gas.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Fantastic advice.
Well, you've been a wealth tomany and I appreciate you.
Rk3.
Yes, sir, I didn't forget yourlast name.
This time Got you.
Well, you have a great one andwe'll see you around.
Thank you, michael.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Well, you have a great one and we'll see you
around.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Thank you, michael.
Thank you for listening toSmall Business Pivots.
This podcast is created andproduced by my company, boss.
Our business is growing yours.
Boss, offers flexible businessloans with business coaching
support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
(41:03):
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
If you need help growing yourbusiness, email me at michael at
michaeldmorrisoncom.
We'll see you next time onSmall Business Pivots.
All right, welcome to another Small Business, pivots,
where we have the mostincredible guests from around
the world.
But I know that only businessowners can say their name and
their business like the businessowner can.
So I always let you introduceyourself the way you like to be
introduced.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and where you're coming
to us from.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, I'm coming from Bellsville, Maryland, but let's
do this.
I'm a professional speaker.
That's one of the things that Ido.
We can do the introductions andthe other information in just a
moment, but I want you tointroduce me like a speaker
getting on stage.
Just say, ladies and gentlemen,introducing Robert Kennedy III.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Ladies and gentlemen, introduce the most amazing,
fantastic, world-renowned RobertIII.
I missed your last name.
It's going to be fun, it'sgoing to be fun.
You put me under pressure and Igot it all but one word your
(00:58):
last name.
See, that's why I let everybodyintroduce themselves, so I
don't mess it up.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Hey, no worries man, Listen.
Robert Kennedy III, rk3, that'sme.
I live in a town calledBellsville, maryland.
My office is in Laurel,maryland, about 20, 25 minutes
northeast of DC.
I'm the president of KineticCommunications, a communications
training firm out here where wework with small business
leaders, business owners,teaching them how to generate
(01:25):
more income and increase theirvisibility through the use of
communication, more confidentcommunication, public speaking,
storytelling and whatever weneed to do to connect with our
clients, customers and prospects.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Fantastic.
Well, I know every bit of thatyou just said leads to sales,
and that's what most businessowners want is more sales.
So let's introduce the showreal quick and we'll be right
back.
Welcome to Small BusinessPivots, a podcast produced for
small business owners.
I'm your host, michael Morrison, founder and CEO of Boss, where
(02:01):
we make business ownershipsimplified for success.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
Ownership simplifiedcom.
(02:23):
All right, rk.
The third.
I know that public speaking,speaking on stage, is probably
one of the most frightful thingsfor small business owners, so
let's just start there.
Looking at your website, you doa lot of everything, so how did
you get into this?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So there wasn't one moment.
It was an evolution.
I was a teacher in high schoolfor about seven years and then I
was an online faculty foruniversity for a couple of years
.
I was living in the state ofMassachusetts at the time, and
then it came time to move and wedecided we were going to move
(03:03):
from Massachusetts to Maryland,and 10 days after I got to
Maryland, I lost my job as anonline faculty, and at the time
I had three kids under the ageof five.
Oh wow, yeah.
So I did what everybody elsedoes.
I started to hop on Monster,indeed, simply Hired all of the
websites and started looking forjobs.
(03:25):
And I continued to do that andI was not getting any responses,
none at all.
And I would understand if I gotinterviews and it just didn't
work out, but I wasn't gettingthose either.
So after about five or sixmonths, I just said, listen, I
got to contribute to my family,to my household, a little bit
differently, and so I starteddoing some contracting.
(03:48):
I was able to develop someonline courses for a university,
started doing that more,started a company doing that,
and in the process of startingthat company, I got asked to do
some technical training.
And every time I did technicaltraining, the people said to me
hey, are you a speaker, are youa motivational speaker?
What else do you speak about?
What else do you do?
And I said what are you askingme?
(04:11):
I didn't understand.
I didn't know that people gotpaid for other things with
regard to speaking, and so I dida little bit of research, found
out that, yeah, people in factdo get paid to speak on a
regular basis, and so I foundthe National Speakers
Association I joinedToastmasters before that, but
found the National SpeakersAssociation to figure out how to
(04:34):
do the business of speaking,and so that's how I became a
speaker and I do a lot in thecommunication and leadership
space because of that,toastmasters is brought up a lot
.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
In fact, I've attended Toastmasters.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
But can you share that for our audience of how
impactful and powerful that canbe?
Yeah, so Toastmasters if you goto Toastmastersorg, you can get
a lot more information aboutwhat it is.
But Toastmasters essentially isan organization that was
created back in golly probablythe 50s, 60s somewhere
(05:17):
thereabouts and the reason thatwas created was because the
founder had some trouble withspeaking himself and decided
okay, let me figure out how todo this.
And so they eventually createda curriculum that people could
walk through, and now there areclubs all over the world.
As a matter of fact, there arecompetitions that they do every
year, culminating in the worldchampionship of public speaking.
So Toastmasters essentially isclubs of people.
(05:41):
Sometimes it's five, sometimesit's 10, sometimes it's 50.
Clubs of people that walkthrough a curriculum together,
practice public speaking.
They give each other feedbackand that could be practiced
public speaking, or what we callextemporaneous or on the spot
public speaking.
So that's a really good way tohone your chops and just get
some practice in.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, I encourage all business owners that's
listening to this.
That's your first action item,right?
We try to bring action itemsfor you If you're a little
hesitant, maybe a slightintrovert or a true introvert
look at Toastmasters.
I was growing up kind of thelack of self-worth, maybe a
little bit, and so I wasn'toutspoken at all.
(06:23):
And so I went to Toastmastersand they completely broke me of
those old habits that I had, andsome of the people I know now
probably wish I had some ofthose old habits because I speak
too much but I don't say andsand ums and ums and uhs and all
that good stuff.
They will break you of thosehabits fast.
(06:44):
So I encourage all of ourlisteners to do that.
So you got into public speaking.
I know working with businessowners as a business coach
speaking can make you money.
So let's talk about how tostorytell, how to most impact
audiences and get people'sattention.
Where would one start?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
audiences and get people's attention.
Where would one start?
Well, so I want to dig in justfor a moment where you said
speaking can help with sales,and I want to walk through why.
That is because when I startedmy first business, how did I get
, how did I get customers?
How did I get clients?
Well, I started to make calls,I started to send out emails, I
started to send out postcards.
I was in the real estateindustry, I was knocking doors.
(07:31):
I did what I needed to do inorder to have conversations with
people.
Now, if you have a business andyou're doing that, you can feel
the exhaustion.
After a while you come across alittle bit of fatigue.
Sometimes it can be a lot to gochasing after one person,
especially if you run a coachingbusiness or something like that
(07:51):
.
You're trying to get onecoaching client.
You're running after one person.
That can be challenging.
So when business owners come tome and they say, oh my gosh,
I'm so fatigued from chasingpeople, well I ask, what if you
didn't have to chase one personat a time?
What if you could have aconversation with 100, 150, 200
(08:13):
people at a time?
They would say, yeah, thatwould be good.
Yes, that is called a speech,that is called a talk, that is
called public speaking, and thebenefit there again is, instead
of one-to-one, it's one-to-many.
And so when I talk about publicspeaking and stages, a lot of
people immediately freak out andthey say, oh my gosh, I'm
(08:34):
afraid of public speaking, Ican't get on stages.
I say, wait a minute, we're notjust talking about getting on
stages and ballrooms.
We may also be talking aboutvideo, because when you get on
video and you're speaking,you're speaking to an audience
of more than just one or twopeople.
And so if you're a businessowner, I'm recommending a couple
of things.
Number one get on stages infront of people, get in
(08:57):
boardrooms, get in front of the,in the front of the lectern at
the chamber of commerce sessionor meeting.
Stand up at a networkingmeeting and introduce yourself.
Give your 30 second, your 60second pitch.
That that that all counts aspublic speaking.
And if you can stand, livestreaming or getting on camera
or, as Michael Morrison is doing, getting on a podcast, a video
(09:20):
podcast all of those are avenuesto speak publicly, public
speaking.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I remember the first time I ever set foot on a stage
as an introvert, and it was whenone of our marketing people
were trying to take someprofessional pictures.
Just the thought of getting onthat stage, getting up there
with no one in the chairs, wasso intimidating.
So what?
What's some insider tips thatyou can give for people to get
(09:49):
over that anxiety?
Just to get started, cause Iknow that's where most people
struggle.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah.
So I have people that come tome for public speaking coaching
and one of the questions thatthey ask oh my gosh, robert, how
do I get rid of the butterflies?
Because every time I go tospeak, I just it starts to well
up in my belly and I just startto feel the anxiety and the
nerves start coming up.
And I respond I say listen, ourjob isn't to get rid of the
(10:17):
butterflies, it's to help themfly in formation.
What do I need to do with those?
That the energy that's coming,that I feel welling up in my
body?
How can I, instead of tellingit that it's nerves, how do I
tell it that it's?
Instead it's excitement andpreparation.
Because a science teacherbackground here, from a
(10:37):
scientific perspective, the samechemicals that cause anxiety,
the same chemicals that causenerve nervousness, are the same
chemicals that cause anxiety.
The same chemicals that causenervousness are the same
chemicals that cause excitement,right, and so the difference is
experience, prior knowledge andme telling my brain what to
(10:58):
interpret those feelings or thesecretion of those chemicals as,
and so when I go to speak, aslong as I've been speaking, I
still have the same butterflyfeelings.
But now, backstage, I'll do whatTony Robbins does.
When Tony Robbins gets ready togo out on stage, there's a
trampoline backstage and hejumps up and down on that
(11:20):
trampoline because he's gettinghis energy.
He's physiologically changingthe state that he's getting his
energy.
You know, he's physiologicallychanging the state that he's in
Right, and so that energy is nowtranslated or transmitted
outwards or transmitted towardsmy audience.
So I shadow box, I do somethingwith my energy because I'm
telling my body okay, you'reabout to be amazing, listen,
(11:41):
you're about to go serve thesocks off of these people.
You're about to do somethingphantasmic, something ridiculous
, right, and so you've got toget into this state, into this
energy space, so that what theyreceive from you is going to be
memorable and transformational.
So it's not about the nerves,it's about what you tell the
(12:01):
nerves to do.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
It's about what you tell the nerves to do.
I remember in Toastmasterswe're talking about stories, and
at least the club that I was inthe first speech that I had to
get up and tell everybody was mystory.
I think it had to be fiveminutes or less.
It was about me, and theyalways say you should know
yourself well enough to talkabout yourself.
(12:23):
But even that was intimidating,and so I bring that up because
even talking about ourselves canbe difficult for some, talking
about ourselves.
But let's use some practicaladvice, some situations like,
for instance, a networking eventor maybe.
How do you prepare for akeynote or what?
Maybe not a keynote, but justgetting up in front of people
(12:45):
for a keynote, or what?
Maybe not a keynote, but justgetting up in front of people?
How do you package thosedifferent stories so they're
applicable to the circumstances?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
I love it.
So a lot of times people, theyfreak out a little bit about
those speaking situationsbecause they visualize
themselves going up rambling,blanking and not knowing what to
say next.
Yes, Yep, I'm going to mess up.
Yeah.
Or they go to get up there andthey see this audience, the sea
(13:14):
of eyeballs out in front of them, and the eyeballs are looking
at him, like with expectation.
What do I say now?
Or what's this person going toshare?
Well, number one, the audiencethat you speak to, every
audience is rooting for you.
Every audience wants you tosucceed, and so them looking at
you with anticipation is not forjudgment.
(13:36):
They're looking for somethingexciting to happen there as well
.
So we put a lot of pressure onourselves because we try to give
the kitchen sink, we try togive everything I share with
public speaking clients.
What is the one thing that youwant your audience to remember
If they could leave with nothingelse?
What is one takeaway that youwant, even if you're telling
(13:58):
your personal story?
What is one thing that you wantthem to remember?
I've got this framework that Ishare with some of my clients.
It's called the EASE framework,e-a-s-e Energy ask, story,
explain, deliver it forwards,create it backwards.
So I'll say okay, what is onething?
If you're going to be telling astory about yourself, what is
(14:19):
one thing that you want youraudience to know?
Okay, I want them to know thatI'm resilient.
Okay, cool.
All right, what is a story inyour life that would share that
you're a resilient person?
The time that I was riding mybicycle and I fell off.
I had skinned my knee and Istill got back up and started to
(14:40):
ride my bicycle again and Ifell off three more times.
Okay, great story, cool.
What is a question that you canask to get them to that place?
Okay, so I gave you theframework, I gave you the
letters, but I didn't tell youwhat they meant.
Let me back up for a moment.
So E-A-S-E stands for energy.
Ask story, explain Energy, askstory.
(15:03):
Explain what I wanted toexplain, whether I wanted to
know or what I want to explainto them.
I wanted to explain to themthat I'm resilient.
What's the story?
I'm gonna tell them a storyabout me falling off my bicycle.
What's a question that I can askthem?
Okay, how many of you have everexperienced falling off your
bicycle?
How many of you have everexperienced pain?
(15:24):
How many of you have gonethrough the process of learning
to ride a bicycle?
Cool, that's a question that Ican ask.
Okay, what's the energy that Iwant them to feel?
Do I want it to be reflective?
Do I want it to be exciting.
What do I want?
Okay, and that energy that Iwant may determine the question
(15:45):
that I ask okay.
So I believe with a little bitof practice, anybody can put
together that framework reallyquickly.
As a matter of fact, I don'tbelieve it.
I've seen it.
I've done it over and overagain.
So if I now go up there andthey say, hey, tell me a story
about yourself, I'm simplysaying, okay, how many of you
(16:06):
have ever ridden a bicyclebefore?
Was it easy?
Was it hard?
People raise their hands Okay,cool.
Well, you know what?
When I was 10 years old, I waslearning how to ride my bicycle
and I had the same experiencethat most people do you get on,
it's wobbly and you fall over.
But this was back in the day,when parents believed that you
didn't need training reels toride a bicycle.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
So I drink out of a water hose.
All that, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So you know, I tell the story and at the end of the
story I say why am I sharingthis story with you?
Or what does this mean for you?
Well, it means that even insituations where challenges
occur, even when you skin yourknee, you can get back up.
And I've gotten back up againand again and again, and that's
(16:57):
why I believe I'm successful atwhat I do, because of the
resilience that I learned fromthat moment.
And there's a story about me.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, that's powerful and it's interesting, it's
impactful, it's relational yeah,right, because I know in sales,
people buy from those they know, like and trust, and so now we
have a connection, right?
Yep, absolutely so in the salesprocess.
How would one prepare a story?
(17:26):
Because we hear this all thetime the reason your content
isn't being found and no oneengages is because you're not
telling stories, tellcaptivating, you know all that
good stuff.
So how does one prepare fortheir business to be impactful
with their story?
Speaker 2 (17:43):
So it's not just me telling my story.
I'll say bluntly, your audienceusually doesn't care about you.
Thank you for saying that theycare about themselves.
Well, you know what's in it forme.
They want to know how you aregoing to solve the issue, the
challenge, the problem that ishappening in their world, that
(18:05):
they're focused on, that they'redealing with, until you so
rudely interrupted their space,right?
So if I am a business owner, Iknow that I've got a target
audience of some sort.
I know that I'm going to begoing after a certain group of
people.
So my question is what are thechallenges that this group of
people typically has?
(18:26):
What are the problems that theynormally go through?
I'll give an example.
I lived in Massachusetts and Iwas sitting in my living room
and my doorbell rang.
So I go to the door and I lookout.
There's a little hole, there'sa little window in my door.
So I look out and I see thisdude in my driveway and he's got
this big rectangular displayboard with these little square
(18:49):
pieces on it.
So I'm looking and I'm sayingwhat's that?
So I opened the door and hesays hey, my name is Mark, I'm
selling carpet.
I got all of the differentkinds of carpet here.
Come on and feel the carpet Igot, I got Berber, we got low
pile, high pile, middle pile,gomer pile.
Okay, if you've got that littlereference.
Okay, tells me how old you are,all right.
(19:10):
He's like, yeah, we got all thepiles, and come on and touch it
.
So I'm out there and I'mtouching the carpet, I'm
touching, I'm saying OK, yeah,it feels cool, ok.
And then after about three orfour minutes of me touching the
carpet and him just asking mehey, how's it feel?
Hey, how does this one feel,how does that one feel?
I open my door and floors andhe says oh, okay.
(19:37):
And he picks up his board andhe walks down the street.
So I tell the story and I'mlike he did not step into my
world at all.
How could he have done thatdifferently?
Well, he might've come to mydoor and said hey, my name's
Mark.
I just came from across thestreet, judy, I met your
neighbor and we were talkingabout her heating bill.
I noticed that she had an oiltank and I noticed that you've
got an oil tank out front.
(19:58):
How are you feeling about yourheating bill?
He's got my attention becausenow I'm like dude, this stinks.
I'm paying like $400 a monthfor my heating bill.
And I absolutely hate it, right,hate it Right.
Then he can say to me well,what if I were able to show you
(20:20):
or tell you about a way that youcould save some money on your
heating bill, right?
So now he's actually told me alittle bit of a story and I want
you to get this.
He's not telling me a storyabout when he was a kid, he's
telling me the story of myneighbor.
Judy Just came from across thestreet.
He's telling me about Judy andI'm like okay, I connect with
Judy.
I know and like and trust Judybecause Judy's my neighbor.
(20:41):
I know what Judy's situation isand I've got the same challenge
as Judy.
Oh my gosh, we got aneighborhood problem here High
oil bills.
So now he's like what if I wereto tell you a little bit about
this?
You know, I noticed that youhad hardwood floors, but I've
got some carpet here and I'veheard that or we have some
(21:02):
statistics or we've got somestuff that says, even if you
don't put carpet over yourentire house, if you put it
strategically in certain areaswithin this certain size, you're
guaranteed to save about thismuch per year on your oil bill,
right?
So he's gotten into my world.
He understands the challenge,he understands the problem that
I have and he's used a story,he's brought something or
(21:24):
someone in that I already know,that I like, I trust, and he's
made connection and now we canhave a conversation about the
solution that he's offering.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
How would one business owner prepare these
short, medium and long stories?
In other words, you'relistening to Small Business
Pivots.
This podcast is produced by mycompany, boss.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
(21:55):
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
Now let's get back to ourspecial guest.
How would one business ownerprepare these short, medium and
long stories?
(22:16):
In other words, you mentionedsomething that Toastmasters
helps with and I didn't do itvery long, but where you're
talking about always beingprepared for different
situations and I forget the termthat you used, but it's kind of
like having a script or a deckin your back pocket.
Oh, we're 30 second elevator,I'll just whip out this one or
(22:38):
this one or that one.
How does one prepare?
Because I'm sure you can bespeaking on the spot.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Well, so that happens .
It's not a magic pill that youswallow, it's not the matrix red
or blue that you swallow.
There's some practice, there'ssome stuff that you've got to do
to prepare.
There's a great book by a guynamed Matthew Dix, called
Storyworthy, and in that book hehas this process that he walks
through daily and he sits downat the end of the day and he
(23:06):
says okay, what were fiveexperiences or five things that
happened to me today?
He writes down five things.
It doesn't matter what it is.
I got some potato chips at thegas station today, okay cool.
What else I walked?
I ran into an old friend in theelevator, okay cool.
So he writes down five thingsOn the other side of the page.
Beside each of those stories,he then writes okay, what was a
(23:29):
lesson that I learned from thatstory?
What is he doing?
Lesson that I learned from thatstory?
What is he doing?
He's capturing stories and he'sadding lessons to those stories.
He's adding points, he's addingexplanations to those stories.
He's making connections betweenlife, emotions and real-time
stories.
What that does is it gets youin the habit of capturing
(23:52):
stories.
It gets you in the habit ofcapturing stories.
It gets you in the habit ofobserving and paying attention.
The more that you can do that,the easier it is going to be for
you to be able to grab a storythat is relatable to the people
who you're talking to.
So in business, there are acouple of stories that I want
you to have in your back pocketall the time.
Number one is your origin story.
(24:14):
How did your business getstarted?
Why did it get started?
What does that do?
It tells people the journey ofwhere you came from.
That's number one story.
Second story that I want you tohave is your why story.
Why do you do this?
Why are you passionate aboutthis particular business thing?
(24:35):
Why does this matter to you?
Why do you get hyper?
Why do you get excited when?
you start talking about this.
That's your why story.
The third story I want you tohave is a client story.
If you've walked throughbusiness or you've sold a
product process program to aclient and it's helped them in a
(24:55):
certain way, what was that likefor them?
How did you walk through them?
How did you journey with theclient through that situation?
If I'm a real estate agent Iwant to talk to, I want to share
some stories about, oh, theclient, the last first time home
buyer that I worked with.
(25:15):
I want to share a story about,oh, my gosh, a client that had
been burned by a bad sale orforeclosure before, but we got
together and now they are inthis home and they have this
beautiful home for their family.
Right, I want to have a clientstory so that people see, okay,
here's how this person's vibesand here's how they work with
people, here's how they connectwith people and here's how.
(25:38):
Here's why I can trust them,because they seem authentic and
real and they seem like somebodyI would like and maybe even
have a friendship with.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
No, I can trust, just can't say it enough.
Well, you do.
You have quite a few programsI'm seeing on your website, so
can you talk us through those,because I guarantee there's a
handful or a lot more that wantto know how you can help them
and what are these programs thatyou can help them with and how
(26:12):
can they take that and growtheir business?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Well, we just did a summit called the Amplify Voice
and Video Summit in April, andthat was about how you can use
your voice and video to improveyour sales, increase your
visibility, and so out of that,we are doing a two-day intensive
in August August 27th and 28thhere in DC, where day one is
(26:37):
going to be voice, day two isgoing gonna be video.
So day one, we're gonna bewalking through how you can pull
from your experiences andcreate a signature talk,
signature story, something thatyou can use on a regular basis
to get on stages, to get onpodcasts, to access media
opportunities, to get in frontof your ideal clients and know
(26:59):
how to connect with themeffectively.
Then, day two, we're gonna bewalking through how you can
create content around that andI'm gonna be doing some
interviewing and we're gonna bemaking sure I'm gonna share some
frameworks that people can useto create content pretty quickly
, easily connective, so thatwhenever they're on video
(27:19):
they're not just rambling,they're sharing a journey with
their, with their customers,with their prospects, that that
connects with the problem thatthey have.
So those are the.
That's the biggest thing thatwe're doing right now, but of
course we do have other courseslike studio savvy, how to set up
and get on camera.
We've got some stuff about howto create a talk in five minutes
(27:42):
, and then we've got some otherdownloads like how to how to
create hooks that grab people'sattention, questions that you
can ask in order to to to startout your talk in a way that
engages your audienceimmediately.
So yeah, there are a few ofthose there, man.
So, yeah, way that engages youraudience immediately.
So, yeah, there are a few ofthose there, man.
(28:05):
So, yeah, we'd love to help yoube a voice and video superstar.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Well, I know there's a lot of people out there, and
that kind of leads me to thenext question, and this is kind
of might be a little bitsubjective, but you know,
there's just some people thatget on stage and you can feel
the vibe right, like it's just anatural, authentic.
And then somebody else gets upon stage and you're like don't
do that, don't, don't.
That makes me uncomfortable.
(28:29):
Like that's not even yourpersonality and I don't even
know you.
So what?
Like I said, this might be thesubjective part, because some
people have that natural ability, but on average, do people
practice storytelling, gettingon stage daily, weekly, I mean,
how often or how much practicedoes it take to kind of get that
(28:50):
authentic?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
vibe, you got to practice as much as possible.
So I read this article lastweek about Chris Rock.
So Chris Rock, for people whodon't know, is a comedian, the
dude that got slapped by WillSmith.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Okay, now everybody knows who that is.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Now they know who he is.
So Chris Rock is a comedian.
He's been a comedian for awhile and when he goes on tour I
mean sells out stadiums, hallsand a lot of people think just a
really funny guy.
Somebody asked him how does heprepare for his tours and he
(29:42):
said well, you know, before I goon tour, I do 40 or 50 shows at
some nondescript comedy clubs,just practicing and prepping
material, seeing what jokes hitand what don't, what jokes don't
.
So if you've seen a comedianlike Chris rock on TV, they're
up there for 30, 40 minutes justcracking jokes and you're like
whoa, they're pro at this.
Yeah, at some of these smallcomedy clubs it's been reported
by by people that were inattendance that sometimes he's
got notes and notebooks andpapers up there and he's kind of
(30:03):
fumbling through those andsometimes he'll say, yeah, that
one didn't work and he'll crossoff a note in a notebook, right,
yeah, so he's literallyworkshopping stuff, live, and he
doesn't even care how it looks,he doesn't care whether people
are.
Are you a professional?
What do you mean?
You got paper in your notebookand you're reading a joke out of
(30:23):
that.
What are you talking about,right?
So if I want to be a top notchsalesperson, if I want to be a
top notch storyteller, if I wantto be a top notch speaker.
What is my practice regimenlike?
Right, you're saying, does ithave to be every day?
Does it have to be every day?
Does it have to be every week?
Once a week?
Listen, I don't know what thefrequency is, because I don't
(30:45):
know what your talent level is.
I don't know what your ease ofacquisition of skill set is.
Whatever it is for you have,determine what it is and then
have consistency with it.
Right, malcolm Gladwell talksabout the 10,000 hours in the
book Outliers.
(31:06):
Yeah, right, you've got to havea certain level of practice in
order to achieve a certain levelof not just proficiency but
expertise.
So, if you want to be better atclosing, if you want to be
better at connecting with people, if you want to be better at
closing, if you want to bebetter at connecting with people
, if you want to be better atcommunicating, then it takes
work.
You've got to practice.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, I will say, coming from the strong introvert
that I had, I can still gobackwards.
In other words, I speak infront of people, probably not
stages like you, but I do speakin front of a lot of people.
No-transcript, you just have tostart.
(32:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly it.
And then do it again and againand even during COVID.
For me and I haven't sharedthis, but I'm in agreement with
you Myers-Briggs says thatRobert Kennedy III is an
introvert as well, right, okay.
And so when I tell a lot ofpeople, they're like no, no, I'm
like listen, yeah, introvertdoesn't mean I'm shy or I don't
(32:36):
like people.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
It just means that I've got a limit.
I'm going to use that.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
I've got a limit my people meter.
When it gets to a certain place, yeah, then I've got to exit
stage left, right.
If I'm speaking for a workshopor if I've done a certain amount
and people are, I come down andpeople are like, yay, let's go
to happy hour.
I'm like, no, I'm going to myhotel room Because I have poured
out all of the energy.
Introversion simply means thatpeople drain energy from you.
(33:10):
Extroversion is my gosh.
You pull energy from people.
My wife is the total opposite ofme.
She is a flaming extrovert.
We go to an amusement park.
She wants to shut the placedown.
She wants to stay until thelast firework has been lit and
they kick you out a couple hours, three hours.
I'm like, okay, let's go Right,I want to go.
(33:32):
So you know knowing who you areis is helpful and that doesn't
limit you from a speaking orgetting on stages and in the
pandemic man, I love thepandemic.
Outside of the pain, I enjoyedbeing online in my office in
here and just not really peoplearound, but I was still getting
(33:54):
in my reps because I was doing alot of live streaming and I was
going out to audiences andespecially when it's live and
you have that interaction withpeople.
That's an audience and thatkept me speaking in front of
people.
So whatever you can do topractice that and just get your
reps in yeah, repetition.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Well, let's pivot.
The show is called SmallBusiness Pivot.
Let's pivot a little bit to thebusiness side.
What are some things thatyou've learned growing your
business that you think everyoneshould know?
Maybe things not to do, ormaybe things make sure you do
this.
It wasn't until this that theneedle really moved.
(34:34):
Or share a little bit aboutyour business insights, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
So biggest advice or biggest thing that stuck with me
is get help before you thinkyou need it.
Yes, a lot of us try to buildbusinesses on our own.
Raise your hand if you'reguilty.
We try to build businesses onour own and we try to do all the
(34:59):
things.
And you know, I think in thebeginning of most
entrepreneurial journeys you arethe janitor, you're the admin,
you're the marketer, you're theyou know, you're the operations
person, you're the chiefeverything officer at that point
, and so you get used to doingthat.
But at some point, if you wanta sustainable business, if you
(35:22):
want a business that grows, ifyou want a business that scales,
if you want a business thatallows you to get on vacation
for a month without you know youhaving to freak out about the
bank account, then you've got toallow other people into that
space.
You've got to allow and getsome additional help and
resources even before you thinkyou can afford it.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Amen, my friend, amen , if people are listening to
this, when it uploads originally, all of our social media
content is on not being afraidto ask for help, and so we kind
of share stories of smallbusiness owners, possibly
because we offer business loans,also possibly not applying for
(36:07):
a business loan because they'reafraid of people seeing they
might need help, right, so itholds them back.
It holds their business back.
So I love that you share that,because that goes right in line
with what we're trying to getacross currently in our social
media.
Anything else in your businessthat you would say has been
impactful?
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Wow.
So, continuing on with the helpline of thinking, strategic
partnerships, right, because alot of times, we are encouraged
to view people or view otherbusinesses as competitors, and
the truth is that while ourworld is limited, it's still a
(36:52):
big space and there's a lot ofpie.
There's a lot of pie for a lotof people.
And if you are willing to sayyou know what, here's my zone of
genius, here's my expertise,I'm good at this thing, but I
know that Mike is good at thisother thing, and that really
fits right in with with, with,with what I do, right?
(37:14):
So, for example, if you makemake, if your business is making
pizza, but you happen to knowthat, um, someone makes drinks
and you're like, okay, cool, Igot people that need pizza, that
like that, come to come to myplace to get pizza, but after
they eat they're a little bitthirsty.
(37:36):
Okay, let me partner with Mikethe drink guy and see if we can
create a drive-through or we cancreate something where, okay,
you buy half a pizza, you get adrink free, or you buy a drink,
you get half a pizza free, orwhatever it is.
Look to create strategicpartnerships.
Partnerships, look to connectwith other businesses who you
(37:59):
might think are your competitorsin a space and see what you can
create together, because thatpower of the mastermind, the
power of strategic partnership,is amazing and those were some
things that I found out a littlebit later than I wanted to, but
it's those.
Some of those moments are havereally caused the growth in my
(38:21):
business.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Awesome.
Well, I know you've got a lotof people out here going.
I want to learn more.
Where can they find you?
Is there resources out there?
Where's the best social mediachannel to follow you and get to
know you more?
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Well, LinkedIn is where I land.
That's where I hang out mostly.
I've got other channels.
I'm RobertKennedy3 on allsocial channels except for
TikTok Real RobertKennedy3 onTikTok, because some dude took
the RobertKennedy3.
And he wasn't even active.
I was a little bit upset.
Tiktok wouldn't let me get that.
But anyway I digress.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Same.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
But, yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn.
If you go to robertkennedy3.me,you will see links to my
training site, my speakerwebsite and some of the other
programs that we have.
So that's where.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
That's where I can be found Fantastic, fantastic.
Well, I always end with onequestion, and that is, if, for
you this will be natural, butfor many not.
If you were in front of a lotof small business owners,
different seasons of business,some startups, some 20 years old
, different industries, what'sone tip that you could say is
(39:33):
applicable for all of them?
It could be a quote or a book,or just something that you've
learned.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Man.
We've been talking about thatthe entire episode.
Talk to people, get in front ofa crowd.
Get in front of a group ofpeople.
Stop chasing people one by one.
Get in front of a group ofpeople.
Even if you work with peopleone by one, even if you're a
coach and you're saying I justwant to coach people one by one,
well, talk to 50 people at thesame time and tell them about
(40:01):
the value and the benefits ofcoaching, or how coaching has
changed the trajectory of yourlife and business, and some
specific tips or some ideasabout how they can increase the
value of their life and businessas well, and then invite them
to have some conversations withyou after that.
But it's easier to do thatone-to-many as opposed to doing
(40:23):
it one-to-one, because that's alot of gas.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Fantastic advice.
Well, you've been a wealth tomany and I appreciate you.
Rk3.
Yes, sir, I didn't forget yourlast name.
This time Got you.
Well, you have a great one andwe'll see you around.
Thank you, michael.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Well, you have a great one and we'll see you
around.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Thank you, michael.
Thank you for listening toSmall Business Pivots.
This podcast is created andproduced by my company, boss.
Our business is growing yours.
Boss, offers flexible businessloans with business coaching
support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
(41:03):
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
If you need help growing yourbusiness, email me at michael at
michaeldmorrisoncom.
We'll see you next time onSmall Business Pivots.
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