October 27, 2025 • 47 mins
Have you ever wondered what it really takes to speak confidently in front of any audience—whether it’s a crowded boardroom, a theatre-stage packed with anticipation, or a busy hair salon at age twelve? In this episode of Speaking with Confidence, I welcome back the incredible Rachael Edmondson-Clarke for her second appearance—a rare privilege on this show! Rachael’s journey from sweeping floors in her mom’s beauty salon to leading professional speakers across the UK and Ireland is more than inspirational—it’s a masterclass in authentic communication, building trust, and continuous growth.
In this episode, we dive deep into how early experiences shape our ability to read nonverbal cues, remain genuine, and adapt our energy to truly connect with others. Rachael shares the story of working reception in her mom’s salon—juggling two telephones, a crowd of clients, and a team of stylists—all before she was sixteen! She reflects on how tuning into body language transformed not only her customer service skills but also her capacity to lead and build trust, skills that have served her throughout her career.
Rachael takes us on a whirlwind tour of her professional journey: from impactful presenting workshops, to drama stages, to corporate boardrooms, and finally to becoming vice president of the Professional Speaking Association UK & Ireland. She shares candid lessons from competing in the Speaker Factor competition, including her “banana and dark chocolate” ritual, and how even a tough performance can be the launchpad for real growth when you have the right community supporting you.
We talk about the crucial importance of congruence—making sure your words, body language, and tone all align to build trust and credibility. Rachael’s anecdotes highlight that storytelling isn’t just about big, heroic moments; it’s also about the everyday stories (including her infamous toothbrush battery saga!) that make you relatable and memorable to any audience.
Throughout our conversation, we emphasize how practice, resilience, and vulnerability are key to developing as a speaker. Whether it’s learning from an uncomfortable video replay or dusting off your presentation after setbacks, the journey to confident communication is ongoing—and full of opportunities to embrace humor, share truth, and connect authentically.
Here’s what we cover in this episode:
- How reading body language and energy can elevate your communication—starting at the salon reception desk
- Why being congruent (aligning words and actions) builds trust with any audience
- Rachael’s transition from corporate marketing roles to leading professional speakers—and what she learned along the way
- The value of continuous learning and putting your skills into practice (even if it means watching yourself on video!)
- Behind-the-scenes secrets of the Speaker Factor competition (including performance rituals, nerves, and bouncing back from setbacks)
- The pivotal role of storytelling—why everyday moments matter as much as big, dramatic stories
- Using humor (self-deprecating or otherwise) as a powerful connector and communicator
- Practical advice for anyone looking to build confidence: find your own style, practice, and seek feedback from a supportive community
Want to be a guest on Speaking With Confidence? Send Tim Newman a message on PodMatch
Speaking With Confidence
Formula for Public Speaking
Facebook
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:09):
Welcome back to Speaking with Confidence.
Podcast helps you build the softskills that lead to real
results.
Communication, storytelling,public speaking, and showing up
with confidence in everyconversation that counts.
I'm Tim Newman, a recoveringcollege professor turn
communication coach, and I'mthrilled to guide your own
journey to becoming a powerfulcommunicator.
Today, we've got a historicalepisode for you today.
(00:32):
We've got Rachel Edmondson Clarkback with us.
I'm sure you all remember shewas on with us last month, and
she's only the second person tohave a second episode with us.
So, Rachel, thank you so muchfor spending some time with us
again today.
I'm I'm looking forward to kindof finishing up what we started
uh uh a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
Tim, I'm so excited to be back with you, and thank
you for having me on the show.
I feel incredibly privileged tobe only the second person to
appear in your episodes twice.
So thank you for having me on.
SPEAKER_00 (01:05):
Oh, you've got you've got such a great story,
and you know, you you're such apersonable person, and the the
way you share your stories andthe way that you share
information to help and addvalue to to the listeners, it's
it's it it makes me happy, itmakes my heart happy, and I'm
and I'm sure that it that itcomes across because you know we
(01:26):
we've talked a little bit aboutthis.
It doesn't really matter what wedo.
I think it's our responsibilityto to make sure that we're
providing value to the peoplethat that we're serving.
It's not about us, it's abouthelp, it's about helping them,
you know, reach reach theirgoals and reach what what they
want to do.
SPEAKER_01 (01:41):
Oh, absolutely.
And when it's about somethingthen more than ourselves, it
feels a lot more meaningful andum rewarding, I think.
So and you leave your heart,Tim.
It's so clear and obvious to me.
SPEAKER_00 (01:56):
Thank you.
So let's pick up kind of wherewe left off.
You know, we didn't really getto talk too much about the the
communication piece and and howimportant that is in um
professional growth and andpersonal growth and and and what
that actually d does for us interms of of sharing a message.
And we did talk a little bitabout, you know, you you started
(02:16):
your your career in in yourmom's beauty salon.
SPEAKER_01 (02:21):
I did.
I did, yes.
SPEAKER_00 (02:24):
Yeah, so so talk about that from the
communication piece because youwere how old were you?
Were you you were 13, 14?
SPEAKER_01 (02:30):
Very yeah, I was I was I was young.
I started at the age of 12.
SPEAKER_00 (02:34):
Oh 12, okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:36):
12 to 21, pretty much.
Of course, at 12 I was sweepingthe floors, I was making teas
and coffees.
So it was a hair and beautysalon.
And by the age of 14, I'd saidto my mum, you know, gosh, I
really am bored of making teasand coffees and sweeping the
floor up.
Can you please train me to dosomething else?
And so the the thing that wasmost obvious was going to be the
(02:58):
reception, and it was a busysalon, so we had over 300
clients a week.
We would have, I think, morethan 20 staff, and I would be on
reception all day on a Saturday,which was an incredibly busy day
for the salon back then, and sobe managing multiple stylists'
(03:19):
columns for all of their work,as well as uh you know a large
volume of clients coming in from8:30 in the morning right
through up until 7 pm in theevening.
I had two telephone lines, so itwas it was the days before the
internet when people would phoneup for their hair appointments,
but that meant that I wouldsometimes be juggling two
(03:41):
telephone lines that would beringing, and sometimes a sea of
people in front of thatreception desk, as well as the
needs of the stylists and theother members of staff working
around me.
So uh I would say I yes, I hadto learn pretty quickly how to
deal with the public, how to getthe best out of the team that I
(04:04):
was helping to kind of um, Isuppose I was orchestrating
things in many, many respects,uh, and to balance, to balance
all of that.
SPEAKER_00 (04:13):
And so so what was your your big takeaway from that
point?
Because I'm sure uh that at thatage, you know, you're I wouldn't
say you're you're you're scaredor petrified, but you obviously
don't want to make mistakesbecause it's it's your mom, you
don't want to let your mom down,but you you you know the
importance of it.
So what what what was one of thetakeaways that that you came
away with?
SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Well, I don't know that I would have said this
straight away, but looking backat that time now, I think one of
the things that I learned to doquite instinctively, and we do
all naturally do this, but wasto read people's body language
and pick up on their energy andvibration.
(04:56):
So where the reception desk wasfor the salon, there were two
glass doors, one to the outside,then a small uh, you know, a
very short uh hallway orcorridor, and then a second door
with glass.
So I used to catch people asthey were walking in through
that first door, and it wouldgive me a few seconds to learn
to read their body language andmake some assessments of of how
(05:21):
they were by the time they'd gotto the front of my desk.
And bear in mind I might havebeen doing something else at
that time.
I could well have had twotelephones, one on each ear,
talking to people, and I'd alsobe, you know, eye out for them,
or somebody coming round who wascoming to pay, or perhaps
someone who'd been sat waitingin reception, uh, or a member of
(05:44):
the team coming towards me.
I really needed to be veryvigilant and hypersensitive to
like where are these people atso that I could match and mirror
with their energy.
If someone was coming in lookinga bit, you know, flustered and
and stressed and like theyneeded dealing with quickly, I
you know, that my my um, youknow, I would I I would I would
(06:07):
play I would play that back.
If somebody looked like theyneeded some empathy or some like
a cup of tea and calming down,then I would I would help with
that.
So it's um that reading of thenonverbal communication, I think
I uh really was able to build asensitivity to through through
(06:28):
that role.
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
Yeah, and that I'm I'm glad you brought that point
up because it's so important.
But body language, you know,tells us things before we even
open our mouths or before theyopen their mouths.
And and I used to to joke, and Istill joke with my kids on this,
when they were I've got twodaughters and they're older now.
I could tell when they came downthe steps in the morning, get
ready for school, whether Ishould talk to them or not, or
(06:53):
whether what what I should sayor what I shouldn't say.
And and I could I could tellalmost immediately, and it it it
took me a little bit to to getto that point, but um you know
if if you can notice thosethings, and and and I joked
about that, but but in inreality is is if you can notice
those things in the people thatyou're dealing with, that's
that's a big piece of buildingtrust and and building the that
(07:17):
connection so that you can youcan actually have that
conversation or or meet theirneeds without going through a
bunch of other stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (07:26):
Oh, absolutely.
And it's reminding ourselves,isn't it, that only 7% of our
communication is the words thatwe use.
The other 93% of communicationis how we say it, so through our
tone of voice and our nonverbaland our nonverbal communication.
SPEAKER_02 (07:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (07:44):
And and I think that's something to be mindful
of in today's world where wesend a lot of WhatsApp or text
messages or emails, that so muchof so much of the meaning behind
that communication is lost inthat in that in that written
word.
(08:05):
So um, and and the other thingthat I think you you you talking
there as well is that you youyou link this quite rightly back
to trust because we are verygood at reading people as human
beings.
And when somebody is maskingsomething, or they're not being
(08:29):
congruent with what they'resaying and their body language,
they're telling you that theyreally believe in something, but
actually their body language issuggesting doubt, you're going
you're not going to build trustwith that individual.
So, you know, being congruent isalso I think really important.
SPEAKER_00 (08:48):
It it it is because I I I liken it back to to being
an educator, you know, if I'mstanding in front of a class or
if I'm standing in front of anaudience or or doing a keynote
or a team meeting, if I'm notbeing honest, if I'm not being
authentic, they're gonna seethrough it really, really quick.
And it's it's not it does itdoesn't take long, and whatever
(09:12):
uh whatever trust or w whateverwhatever authority you've built
can be lost in in seconds by bynot being by not being
congruent.
SPEAKER_01 (09:27):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (09:30):
So you go from uh from work working in in your
mom's salon and and then you youget to the point where you're
the president and vice presidentof the professional speaking
association association in theUnited Kingdom in Ireland.
What's walk us through your yourcareer from from that
perspective?
Because I I think that's numberone, I think I think it's
(09:50):
awesome because you know you gofrom you know uh a 12-year-old
to leading an organization thatis so important in terms of of
how we of of how we get thingsdone, right?
Communication is so important,and and now you're leading that
that organization.
How did that process happen?
SPEAKER_01 (10:10):
Oh gosh.
Well, there's a lot of time.
I'm an old fogey now, Tim.
So yes, there's there's a lot oflife that's been lived, a lot of
experience that's been gained umalong that along that journey.
But a very, a very quick rundownwas that I so I I finished
(10:32):
university uh when I was 21, 22,um, and went into my first role,
uh, which included somefantastic training on presenting
with impact because my firstrole out of university, I went
to work for Mars and I used tosell their vending machines
(10:54):
around the Midlands area in theUK.
And presenting with impact, ifyou're selling, was a really key
part of the role.
Um, and in fact, I still have tothis day the little framework
that they gave us.
I've got it in a tiny littlelaminated card and still put my
hands on it now underneath mydesk here, right where I'm at.
(11:17):
Um, and if you're if you're ifyour listeners would like to see
that, I am more than happy totake a photograph of that
because I still use some ofthose very simple practices
around how do we structurereally good presentations.
I still use it today.
So it's very old, um, but it'svery treasured and very loved.
And I'm happy to take a pictureof that and share that with the
(11:38):
listeners.
SPEAKER_00 (11:39):
Oh, please do, please do.
SPEAKER_01 (11:41):
Oh, so I will do that.
SPEAKER_00 (11:42):
Because it doesn't really matter.
I mean, those tried and trueprinciples last forever, right?
I mean, it it's there's nothingreally new.
SPEAKER_01 (11:53):
No, no, it's you know, really, really good,
really, really good, really goodstuff.
And I think the other thing justto share from a a speaking
perspective is that whilst I wasgrowing up, I was also part of
an amateur dramatics society.
So I really loved doing thestage and the theatre, and I'm
(12:15):
sure that helped in somerespects when I started in the
corporate world because I movedfrom sales eventually into
marketing, and then as in thosein the marketing roles that I
did, not only at Mars, but alsoat another chocolate company in
the UK called Thorntons, and Iultimately became their head of
(12:37):
product strategy for them, whereI was having to present on a
regular basis, whether that beideas to the board and to the
exec team, or whether it beselling ideas in from a brand
change perspective, new productideas to sometimes 300 members
of the factory team that weregoing to be executing it.
(13:00):
And so you wanted them to havethe same level of care and
compassion and um and passion,sorry, not compassion and
passion for what they weredoing.
And so that you know, thatthat's that was that I think my
some of my prior experience washelpful for that.
I always remember just onelittle story.
(13:24):
I had been working on a brandrelaunch for the biggest brand
in the company, and I reallywanted to engage with everybody
across the business with thelaunch, and so I had turned up
at the factory at six o'clock inthe morning to be able to
present to those that werestarting their shift at that
(13:46):
time, and all I could do was topresent was to beam some slides
up onto a really big blank wallin the factory, and I remember
at just before six o'clock, allthese people descending into the
factory in their white coats andhair nets and coming towards me.
It was like a sea of people.
(14:07):
There were so many people.
And for a for a moment, it feltlike I was back on those stages
again when I was doing theamateur dramatics.
And you know, those really bigstage lights with the, you know,
with the flaps that kind ofdirect the light.
I felt like this light was liketotally on me as all these
(14:29):
people were coming towards me.
And I had this slight moment ofuh of panic and dread and
thinking, oh my gosh, how am Igoing to do this?
And then this was the metaphorthat I used, and it's helped me
so many times since in speaking.
Instead of thinking of thatstage light on me, because
that's how it felt in thatmoment, it was like I it was
(14:53):
like I turned it round and Ipointed it on that audience.
And I said to myself in thatmoment, and I don't even know
where this came from, but inthat moment I said to myself,
this isn't about me.
This is about these people thatare showing up here at six
o'clock in the morning, and thisis about me connecting with them
in a way that they can feel aspassionate about this as us as I
(15:16):
do.
And all of a sudden, it didn'tbecome about me, it became about
my connection with those peoplethat were in front of me.
And all of a sudden, all thatfear, all that dread, it all
just disappeared because nowit's just it's me making
connection and talking to eachone of them.
And I'll never forget, I'llnever forget going into the
factory several months later,and we'd been we'd been making
(15:40):
so these were assortedchocolates, so in really
beautiful chocolate boxes, andthey and and and one of the
things that the team in thefactory had to do was to hand
position a bow, a um abeautiful, a beautiful ribbon on
the box, and I can remembersomebody calling me over saying,
Rachel, Rachel, am I gettingthis bow in just the right
(16:04):
place?
And she wanted to check with methat she was getting it right.
And I was like, this isbrilliant, because this is
several months after I've donethat presentation, and she's you
know, she's still thinking andwanting to make sure.
Can I just check?
Is this right?
Are you happy?
And yeah, just beautiful.
SPEAKER_00 (16:23):
And and I I love that.
I love that because it's such anillustration that I think people
truly, truly forget, you know,and especially in that
situation, um, the people thatare a brand's biggest
cheerleaders and supporters arethose frontline workers.
They take such pride in theirproducts or services, and
(16:44):
they're the ones that that aredoing this by word of mouth.
When they go go home, they'retalking about all these things
that are going on and thequality of the product, and and
they they own that internally.
And you made them feel like theybelonged, like they were were
truly a fabric of theorganization, and their role
(17:04):
truly, truly mattered in how thecustomers, you know, viewed and
consumed the product.
SPEAKER_01 (17:11):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
It was critical to me that therewas that level of engagement,
which hadn't been done in areally long time in the
organization.
And I think, as you say, it'sit's so so so important.
And and fast forward, you know,on from on from that, oh gosh,
(17:32):
another another 10 years,perhaps even more, to be honest,
maybe more like 12.
And I find myself out ofcorporate world.
I started my own training andcoaching business, and I I
(17:53):
happen to meet a wonderful ladywho we go out for hot chocolate
for, and she's the current vicepresident of the professional
speaking association, and shetells me about this wonderful
organization, and I think tomyself, well, if I'm on my feet
and I'm delivering training,there's got to be a thing or two
(18:15):
these professional speakers canteach me about how I can better
communicate with my training,and I'm interested to learn.
I'm a perpetual student andalways learning.
And I would say, albeit that,and I know Tim, you'll feel the
same way as me with this.
I mean, I'm I'm I'm here justsharing some experiences, but by
(18:36):
no means do I know it all.
And there are just some thingsI've picked up along the way
that I'm very happy to share.
And so that was how I gotinvited into the Professional
Speaking Association, and alittle over two years later, I
found myself running the EastMidlands region.
SPEAKER_00 (18:55):
That's awesome.
I mean, it's it's but you youbring up a a a critical piece
that I talk about a lot, andthat's that I whole idea of
continuous learning.
And I spoke with somebodyyesterday about, you know, she
was telling a story about howshe knows somebody who's going
to get more degrees, this, that,and the other thing.
That's great.
I'm not you know justdiscounting that, but we can be
(19:17):
continuous learners and gettingbetter at our craft every day,
whatever it is that we're doing.
And I think it's important thatI try and stress with with my
listeners, I I kind of take themon some of the journeys that
that that I go on to be a betterspeaker, to be a better
communicator, to be a betterpodcast host.
And like one of the things thatI'm working on now with with a
(19:38):
coach is telling three-minutestories, you know, taking a
story that has meaning or has apurpose that I may take five
minutes or have been taking fiveor six minutes to tell, to
getting it down to a succinctthree-minute story so that it
really comes across with the sothe point comes across quickly
and I don't lose that audience.
(20:00):
You know, so those that thatthat's what one of the things
I'm working on now.
But those are things that canhappen by by joining, like like
you said, the ProfessionalSpeaking Association.
What so what were some of thethings that that you learned and
uh was was there anything inthere that um you really found
fascinating about that process?
SPEAKER_01 (20:23):
Though there there are many so I'm still part of
the professional speakingassociation and I'm still
learning so much.
I I think back to your pointaround learning as as as well is
that you've got to put it intopractice.
It's great, you get fabulousideas, you see people that are
doing things, but if you're notactually practicing these
(20:46):
things, going back to thatpresenting with impact horse,
right at the start of my career,I can remember one of the most
uncomfortable things that theymade us do as young
20-somethings was video us doinga presentation and then to watch
it back.
I mean, toe-curlingly ohuncomfortable.
(21:07):
However, when we do thesethings, when we actually put it
into practice and we start toexperience that in our in our in
our in our bodies, that's whenit really kind of hits home.
And the professional speakingassociation has given me a
wonderful platform to be able topractice.
The first thing that I did wasthat I signed up for a
(21:30):
competition that they runactually.
It's called the Speaker Factor.
SPEAKER_00 (21:35):
Well, I'm I'm so glad you brought that up because
I saw the video.
I saw that I did.
You did you did a phenomenal,phenomenal job of that.
You you truly, truly did.
SPEAKER_01 (21:48):
Oh, thank you so much.
Well, do you know that was thetruth is that was the product of
months of hard work.
So just for the listenerslistening in, the speaker factor
is a very odd animal in manyways because you have five
minutes to tell your story, um,to speak about something that
(22:11):
you care about to the audience,which and your audience are
professional speakers, you know,they are your peers.
And in many respects, uh that,you know, if if public speaking
is something that you're scaredof anyway, imagine doing it to a
bunch of people who are that'sactually what they do
professionally for their career.
(22:32):
And they're gonna judge you onit.
It's kind of there's anotherlevel of um of uncomfortableness
there, I think, for many, formany of us when we first start
out.
But it's a very warm andwelcoming uh organization, and
uh the the feedback and thingsis dealt with very, very, very
well.
(22:53):
So they would judge you onthings like your um your
stagecraft and your storytellingand your bookability.
And there's so to start with,there's regional heats, and then
then any each region has awinner, and those winners from
the from the 12 regional heatsgo through to the finals.
(23:14):
And the year that I did make itthrough to the final, we were
actually hosting the GlobalSpeakers Summit.
So the the Professional SpeakingAssociation in uh the UK and
Ireland is affiliated to theGlobal Speaking Association.
And we were we were hosting uhthe Global Speakers Summit that
(23:36):
year in Dublin.
And so we had people from we hadprofessional speakers from all
around the world watching thefinal.
So that video is of me at the umat the Global Speaker Summit in
Dublin uh several years ago.
And as I say, it really was theproduct of many, many months of
uh of hard work of thinkingabout how you could really
(24:00):
convey something of value withinwhat is a relatively short space
of time to be on stage uhtalking in that way.
And uh it was the it was one ofthe best things that I have done
in recent years.
So back to that, putting it intopractice, having a go.
If you are thinking that youwant to speak more confidently,
(24:22):
then get out there and do it.
Find the opportunities.
There are organizations andassociations that are desperate
for people to come and talk tothem about things, whether it's
the WI or um, you know, whetherit could be a scout, you know,
group, or there are there's somany people that would welcome
somebody who's passionate abouta topic or a subject to be going
(24:45):
and talking to them.
So just get out there andpractice.
SPEAKER_00 (24:48):
Right.
Right, and that that's that'sthe key.
You don't get better by notdoing it.
You only you only get better byby doing it.
And even if you even if youthink that you're not good,
you're going to get better bydoing it.
You know, because you're even ifyou don't have it somebody
telling you, you're gonna you'regonna be able to tell what you
need to work on a lot of times.
You know, like I I would say forme, four years ago, I I didn't
(25:10):
think stagecraft had really anybusiness in what I was doing.
I I I didn't even think about ituntil you know somebody said,
you know, your message wouldcome across so much better if
you would do this and stop doingthis.
You know, and it and it comesyou know, for for me, somebody
(25:32):
who's who's I'm I'm a creatureof habit that that that's work.
Change changing something that Ithat just comes natural to be
able to convey my message more.
I went kicking and screamingdown the road doing it, but I
did it and and they were right.
You know, but it's it's thingslike like that.
You know, learning learningthings, learning how to connect
with people, you're you're gonnayou're gonna do that just by
(25:54):
getting out there and talking topeople.
It's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01 (25:57):
Absolutely.
And you know what?
I left uh I left a bit of ajuicy bit out of that story of
my um my journey to the GlobalSpeaker Summit and that speaker
factor final.
So being completely transparent,I'm gonna share with you all now
that I didn't win the regionalheat.
(26:22):
In fact, I got up there and Ispoke at the regional heat and I
was utterly, utterlydisappointed with my
performance.
I ran over time, which forprofessional speakers is you
can't do it.
I was looking at the floor, Iwas trying to remember what I
was going to say.
It was awful.
(26:43):
Absolutely.
I could have I could havecrawled into a hole and you know
stayed there for a week.
Um and I was really fortunate inmany respects.
The guy who won, he wasn't ableto go to the final.
And so by default, theopportunity came to me to
(27:07):
represent the region at thefinal.
And so I having it that I thinkthis is the other big lesson.
I learned so much from, and itwasn't a failure that that
regional heat, but I learned somuch about what I needed to do
and how I was going to getthere.
(27:28):
And I had so much incrediblesupport to really help me up my
game by the time I got to theGlobal Speaker Summit.
Um, that that getting out there,giving it a go, and even if you
feel like I did, like youpost-performance anxiety, let's
call it that, we've allexperienced that from time to
(27:49):
time, you know, and just to getto then get you know, to learn
from that, dust yourself off.
And that's what the community inthe Professional Speaking
Association is really good foras well, because you've got
those people that will help pickyou back up and get you back out
there again.
And I can tell you that when Ifinished I didn't I didn't win
(28:09):
um at the finals, but when Ifinished my talk on that stage
that day, I looked down at thetimer, and as I said my last
word, the timer clock clickedzero, zero, zero, zero.
I was spot on my time.
I delivered it a hundred timesbetter than I had done at a
(28:32):
regional level, and I felt Icould be pleased with myself and
what I had achieved.
And so I walked off that stage,absolutely buzzing.
It didn't matter whether I wonor not, because of the journey
that I had been on to get there.
SPEAKER_00 (28:48):
That's awesome.
That's that's such a good storyof resiliency and and
vulnerabilities, admitting thatyou know we're not we're not
always one.
I mean, we there's there's bumpsin in the road, and it's how we
it's how we deal with them andhow we bounce back from it.
Um, I never would have knownthat you that that didn't
(29:10):
happen, uh but everybodystruggles.
It it doesn't I mean e even thebest people will have those
hiccups and it's okay.
And like you said, in thatscenario with other professional
speakers, they're not judgingyou, they've been there.
Every single one of those peoplehas been in your shoes, and they
(29:31):
want you to do well, and they'recheering for you, and and and
they want you to to to tosucceed, and they want to help
you.
That's that's the bottom line.
They're not that's the theopposite of judging you, which
is what what we tell ourselves.
SPEAKER_01 (29:44):
Yes, absolutely.
And I talk about all this helpthat I had along the way, and
and one little thing which Iwill share because it's a little
bit of fun, and whether whetherit helped me or not, I felt like
it helped me on the day.
And um and that was I spoke tohe was actually my old neighbor.
(30:05):
So where I grew up at home, um,he lived next door but one to
me.
And uh actually there's anAmerican connection here because
he now lives in America.
He's uh he's an actor on days oftheir lives, and um I think
that's a show you have.
Yeah, it is, it is.
So he's so he's an actor on theshow, and I said to him, right,
I've got to learn this word forword, because it's like five
(30:27):
minutes long, right?
You're learning lines every dayof the week.
Like, tell me how do you dothis?
And he's and his wife is uh inon Broadway, and uh so he helped
me with the lines, he helped mewith terms of how to remember
them, and then he said to me,uh, right, so you know, Rachel,
my wife, one of the things shealways does just before a brand
new Broadway opening, it's abouthalf an hour before she goes on.
(30:51):
She eats a banana and some darkchocolate.
I don't know.
So all the other contestants,half an hour before this Global
Speaker Summit, speaker factorfinal, were all kind of just
around the table, you know,getting mic'd up or what have
you.
And I'm there stuffing my facewith a banana and eating
chocolate, and they're alllooking at me, going, How can
(31:13):
you eat right now?
And I'm like, Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (31:18):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (31:21):
So um, yeah, anyway, I'm sure there's somebody who's
got better scientific knowledgethan I have that will possibly
tell us what the ingredients arein the uh or the you know, the
the the the things that a bananaand some dark chocolate can do
that might just help calm ournerves and does be in a good uh
you know, that maybe it's thoseendorphins that all come through
that will be in a good place forwhen you start.
(31:42):
So I just a bit of fun.
Wanted to share that as well.
SPEAKER_00 (31:46):
But I I I I think it's awesome.
You you you found what whatworks for you, and because I I'm
a pacer, I pace.
And I'm and I'm I'm havingthose, the, the conversation in
my head, and I and I'm you knowuh you know, r running down the
the the time, I you know, threeminutes and you gotta be here,
seven minutes, I gotta be here,15 minutes, I gotta be there.
And and running through that,you know, which may be helpful,
(32:09):
maybe not, but that's what worksfor for for me.
It may not work for somebodyelse.
But finding your way, that's I Idon't know that I can stress
that enough because you know, ofall the people that go out and
have to talk in front of people,we all have to find our own way
of doing it.
There's not one right way.
We can help you, we can guideyou, we can do these things, but
ultimately you've got to findwhat's actually gonna work for
(32:31):
you.
SPEAKER_01 (32:32):
Absolutely.
And uh another thing that Iabsolutely found super valuable
just before going on stage wasto take a few minutes outside
the main room and to do some ofthat power posing and
(32:54):
visualizing and just thinkingabout the audience, not about
me.
Uh and there was a str and thenwhen I walk back in the room,
it's almost strangely like a Ican completely feel it now.
I walk back into the room with aa completely different energy.
There was no nervous energy.
(33:15):
I stood at the back of the room,I watched the speaker that was
in the competition directlybefore me, and I stood from a
place of this is this is me hereto you know to learn, to
receive, to connect, uh, to bewith these people in this room.
That energy is quite umexpansive and open-armed and
(33:36):
that you know outward reaching,and it's not at all about you
know me and my performance.
And that I think really helpedme to deliver, to deliver on
that on that day.
SPEAKER_00 (33:51):
Are you gonna go through that process again?
SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
Uh well, well, so they have now that this so this
year's the first year thatthey're doing it.
They've they've they've doneanother competition.
So the speaker factor was alwaysfor new and emerging speakers.
SPEAKER_02 (34:09):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (34:10):
Now got a special competition for professional
speakers, which is the categoryI would now fall into.
So maybe Tim.
I'm not gonna give too much.
SPEAKER_00 (34:22):
You should.
You should, you should, youshould.
Uh and and uh so some some ofthe the stuff that I'm doing
with with the John Maxwellleadership team is you know is
going through the process ofstage time.
And I tell people, whether youwhether you've done it before,
whether you haven't done itbefore, it's you everybody
(34:44):
should do it because you getthat practice.
You get that practice of tellingthat story.
You get that, you get thecoaching of uh, you know,
figuring out what uh that bigstory is and then getting it
down to what it really means,what the piece that you really
want to say.
And then whether you get chosenfor stage time or whether you
get chosen for to to compete,that you you you now have
(35:07):
something in your toolbox thatyou can pull out at any time at
it for you know for for any forany for any any speaking
engagement, um maybe change alittle bit here or there, but
you you already have a apre-crafted story that you could
tell that's gonna you know makea point.
And so you for me right now I'mworking on uh five different
(35:31):
stories.
And just and just just thinkabout that for for the audience,
think about think about that,right?
You know, five minute five threeminute stories, that's 15
minutes.
And uh by the time by March,let's just say by March, those
five stories are gonna berefined to the point if I were
to go and do a keynote onsomething, maybe three of them
(35:56):
are gonna fit that keynote.
Okay.
I can I can insert them and it'sand and it will help build that
build that that whole keynoteand to and until whatever thing
you you want to do.
But that that's that's the piecewhy you should do it, Rachel.
I mean, because it's whatever wehave up here, uh they will coach
you to get it bound down to thepoint that is actually gonna
(36:16):
resonate and add value to theaudience.
SPEAKER_01 (36:19):
Absolutely, absolutely.
It's such a key thing, thatstorytelling, isn't it?
And and and even just thinkingabout and I think so.
One of the things that I'velearned through the Professional
Speaking Association is that thestories don't have to be all big
heroic stories.
(36:39):
And I think sometimes some of usas speakers can maybe get fooled
into thinking, well, I've notclimbed Everest, or I'm not a
Paralympian, or I've not got,you know, one of these huge
heroic stories to share.
But actually, they can havetheir limitations because if
your audience members aren't,you know, elite endurance
(37:03):
athletes or something like that,you know, then then you know,
all of a sudden you telling ahuge heroic story, whilst it can
be inspiring and incrediblyinteresting for them to make
that connection back, you know,kind of with with with well,
what well how how do I do thisthen?
How do I make that leap?
What do I do?
(37:23):
You know, you've got to really,you know, help connect the dots
with that.
So I think to remember that thestories can even be the little
tiny stories.
Like I tell a story about mytoothbrush battery running out.
SPEAKER_00 (37:40):
Oh that's the worst.
That's what are you gonna do?
SPEAKER_01 (37:43):
That's that's a mini, but it helps me illustrate
something that I that I talkabout.
That's a mini everyday kind ofscenario.
So um, yeah, I would just remindeverybody that those stories,
little ones, pub stories, as Iwould call them, because I'm
from the UK, of course, youknow, but little little everyday
stories, pub stories, and heroicstories, they all have their
(38:05):
place.
SPEAKER_00 (38:05):
They do.
SPEAKER_01 (38:06):
And uh they're they're all they're all super
valuable.
SPEAKER_00 (38:10):
All right, so I'm gonna tell you one.
So I'm working on one thatcombines where my my wife gave
me up for New Year's resolution.
I I gave her up for Lent, andwhen I asked her dad if I could
marry her, he said no.
So I'm working on a fun on afunny story about you know about
(38:33):
that, and now we've been marriedfor almost 30 years.
SPEAKER_01 (38:37):
Oh gosh.
SPEAKER_00 (38:42):
So it's you know it I d I'm I'm working on so I
don't I I don't really want totell it, but it's a funny story.
Uh but it's also a uh a storyabout you know, just because
somebody's uh says or doessomething, if you work on it, it
can it'll work.
You know, it it it everythingwill turn out.
Um but it it well anyway, we'llwe'll just leave it there and
(39:07):
and and we'll keep working onit.
SPEAKER_01 (39:08):
You are leaving us on a cliffhanger.
I want to hear the story.
I want to hear the story.
SPEAKER_00 (39:13):
Well, is essentially essentially, um I my current
wife is my second wife.
Um I I call her my forever wife.
My first wife was a starterwife, and um when I met her, I
told her I I'm never gettingmarried again.
And this is you know almost 30years ago.
And she said, Okay, okay, okay.
And when our our personalitiesare very different, are very,
(39:38):
very different.
And it's it's that that's whatkind of said, well, she said,
Well, I'm done with you.
I'm giving you up for for NewYear's.
It lasted about New Year'sresolution, it lasted about a
week, and then I I gave her upfor Lent, and then we moved in
together like a week after thatdidn't work out either.
Um her her grandfather is a wasa colonel in the army, and he
(40:03):
came to the house and said,Well, as long as you live with
him and not be married, youknow, I'm never gonna answer
your phone call, never gonna I'mnever going to receive a letter.
And I said, Well, I can't dothat.
I'm not doing that to you.
So I asked her dad to marry.
He said no.
And we eloped.
SPEAKER_02 (40:20):
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
And oh my god.
SPEAKER_00 (40:24):
Yeah.
Oh, when I asked her to marryme, she said she she had to
think about it.
I forgot about that piece.
Shit.
Yeah, she had to think about it.
SPEAKER_01 (40:34):
Oh, there's so there's so much in this, isn't
it?
Yeah.
And and and and you remind mebecause so we had a brilliant,
um, still there, brilliant womanjoin the professional speaking
association a couple of yearsago.
And I would um, yeah, peopleshould definitely look her up.
Her name's Beth Sherman.
(40:55):
She's a seven times EmmyAward-winning comedy writer, and
so she's written for the Oscars,for Tom Hanks, for Ellen
DeGeneres, for the DavidLetterman show.
And what she talks about is theincredible ability of humor to
connect.
And when we can connect throughour humor, we're in a much
(41:18):
better place to have theinfluence and the impact that we
want to have with our audiences.
And um, yeah, so uh she's oh sheshe honest and one of the things
she always says to me is truthis funny, Rachel.
Truth is funny, and um there'sso much, there's so much, so
(41:38):
much in that.
SPEAKER_00 (41:40):
It there there really is, and you've you've got
to give the the audience, I Ithink time to digest uh the the
the the humor as well.
So you can't just it's you can'tjust say something funny and
(42:00):
then just keep moving on.
You get you've gotta let themdive into it and and embrace it
because that's what really makesthat it makes that impact as
well.
SPEAKER_01 (42:08):
So I think the humor so I got caught I got caught
today.
So true story from my lifeearlier today.
I was due to be delivering atraining session to 25 senior
leaders, large corporateorganization.
(42:29):
I didn't realize it until I gotin the room today, but the CEO
of the company was also therelistening to this particular
training session that I wasgoing to be running for two
hours.
Half an hour before we're due togo live.
I'm on with the lady from thecompany who's brilliant at
helping me back of house.
And my computer's not runningproperly.
(42:51):
Brand new computer.
I say to her, I'm gonna turn itoff and turn it back on again
because yeah, often solveseverything, right?
SPEAKER_02 (42:57):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (42:58):
My computer would not switch back on again.
No word of a lie.
I tried it seven times.
I'm on the phone to Apple.
Like, what is going on?
Uh-oh.
I do have a laptop, but it likeis covered in dust because I
haven't like dusting it offbecause I haven't had it out for
ages.
And you can imagine startingthat up, downloading the
(43:18):
documents.
And you know, that uh instarting that meeting today with
that audience, because I was alittle bit late, and because the
senior leader who was sponsoringthe event needed to kick off
without me properly being thereand and all of the rest of it,
when I did come in and come on,it's like, well, you know, this
(43:39):
this whole technology thing isproof that even in inanimate
objects can hold a grudge, youknow, and and it's just, you
know, it just does feel somedays that that technology has
got a life of its own and it'scompletely against you.
Um you know, I'm just honestlysaying to people, you know,
(43:59):
this, you know, we worked reallyhard.
We met we met half an houryesterday and hot and this
morning to get things up andrunning, you know, believe it,
believe it or not.
And just something that is alittle bit sometimes
self-deprecate.
Um, or even just that lightlittle bit of humor, even when
things go wrong, because I thinkas a speaker, it can be easy to
(44:22):
get quite het up about that andcan cause you.
And I was concerned, of course Iwas, but just being able to keep
your cool in those moments, makea little bit of a joke and a
laugh about it, um, and then andthen and then move on.
SPEAKER_02 (44:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (44:38):
So humor, just absolutely amazing.
You've got so many humorous bitsin that story.
I cannot wait to to hear.
SPEAKER_00 (44:44):
Yeah, well that that's that's that's my style as
well.
You know, it's theself-deprecating humor, it's the
the dry deadpan stuff.
And um but you know, that'sthat's just my way.
It's just my style, and and itit I I think sometimes you know
being that conversational stylereally does disarm even the the
critics in the room um who maywho may not agree with what
(45:06):
you're saying, who may not likewhat you're saying.
That's that's really kind of disdisarming in in a way that that
kind of works for me.
SPEAKER_02 (45:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (45:14):
Well, Rachel, thank you so so much for spending some
time with us again.
Um I I can't tell you how much Iappreciate it.
I I love our conversations.
Um, but uh tell people againwhere they can connect with you.
SPEAKER_01 (45:26):
The best place to connect with me would be through
my website, which iselevar.co.uk, and that's spelt
E-L-L-E-V-A-R.
Or to connect with me onLinkedIn if anything that we've
been talking about has resonatedwith you here.
I would love for you to connect.
Drop me a message and let meknow.
And it's just Rachel EdmondsonClark.
(45:48):
And if there's an extra letterthat you can add to my name, be
sure to do it because thenyou'll get the spelling correct.
It's A-E-L for Rachel Clark withan E, and it's Edmondson.
So yes, there we go.
Rachel Edmondson Clark onLinkedIn or at elevar.co.uk.
SPEAKER_00 (46:03):
Awesome.
Thank you so much.
Take care, and I look forward totalking to you soon.
SPEAKER_01 (46:07):
Tim, thank you.
Take care too.
SPEAKER_00 (46:11):
Be sure to visit speakingwithconfidence
podcast.com to get your freeebook, the top 21 challenges for
public speakers, and how toovercome them.
You can also register for theForm for Public Speaking course.
Always remember your voice has apower to change a word.
We'll talk to you next time.
Take care.
Welcome back to Speaking with Confidence.
Podcast helps you build the softskills that lead to real
results.
Communication, storytelling,public speaking, and showing up
with confidence in everyconversation that counts.
I'm Tim Newman, a recoveringcollege professor turn
communication coach, and I'mthrilled to guide your own
journey to becoming a powerfulcommunicator.
Today, we've got a historicalepisode for you today.
(00:32):
We've got Rachel Edmondson Clarkback with us.
I'm sure you all remember shewas on with us last month, and
she's only the second person tohave a second episode with us.
So, Rachel, thank you so muchfor spending some time with us
again today.
I'm I'm looking forward to kindof finishing up what we started
uh uh a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
Tim, I'm so excited to be back with you, and thank
you for having me on the show.
I feel incredibly privileged tobe only the second person to
appear in your episodes twice.
So thank you for having me on.
SPEAKER_00 (01:05):
Oh, you've got you've got such a great story,
and you know, you you're such apersonable person, and the the
way you share your stories andthe way that you share
information to help and addvalue to to the listeners, it's
it's it it makes me happy, itmakes my heart happy, and I'm
and I'm sure that it that itcomes across because you know we
(01:26):
we've talked a little bit aboutthis.
It doesn't really matter what wedo.
I think it's our responsibilityto to make sure that we're
providing value to the peoplethat that we're serving.
It's not about us, it's abouthelp, it's about helping them,
you know, reach reach theirgoals and reach what what they
want to do.
SPEAKER_01 (01:41):
Oh, absolutely.
And when it's about somethingthen more than ourselves, it
feels a lot more meaningful andum rewarding, I think.
So and you leave your heart,Tim.
It's so clear and obvious to me.
SPEAKER_00 (01:56):
Thank you.
So let's pick up kind of wherewe left off.
You know, we didn't really getto talk too much about the the
communication piece and and howimportant that is in um
professional growth and andpersonal growth and and and what
that actually d does for us interms of of sharing a message.
And we did talk a little bitabout, you know, you you started
(02:16):
your your career in in yourmom's beauty salon.
SPEAKER_01 (02:21):
I did.
I did, yes.
SPEAKER_00 (02:24):
Yeah, so so talk about that from the
communication piece because youwere how old were you?
Were you you were 13, 14?
SPEAKER_01 (02:30):
Very yeah, I was I was I was young.
I started at the age of 12.
SPEAKER_00 (02:34):
Oh 12, okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:36):
12 to 21, pretty much.
Of course, at 12 I was sweepingthe floors, I was making teas
and coffees.
So it was a hair and beautysalon.
And by the age of 14, I'd saidto my mum, you know, gosh, I
really am bored of making teasand coffees and sweeping the
floor up.
Can you please train me to dosomething else?
And so the the thing that wasmost obvious was going to be the
(02:58):
reception, and it was a busysalon, so we had over 300
clients a week.
We would have, I think, morethan 20 staff, and I would be on
reception all day on a Saturday,which was an incredibly busy day
for the salon back then, and sobe managing multiple stylists'
(03:19):
columns for all of their work,as well as uh you know a large
volume of clients coming in from8:30 in the morning right
through up until 7 pm in theevening.
I had two telephone lines, so itwas it was the days before the
internet when people would phoneup for their hair appointments,
but that meant that I wouldsometimes be juggling two
(03:41):
telephone lines that would beringing, and sometimes a sea of
people in front of thatreception desk, as well as the
needs of the stylists and theother members of staff working
around me.
So uh I would say I yes, I hadto learn pretty quickly how to
deal with the public, how to getthe best out of the team that I
(04:04):
was helping to kind of um, Isuppose I was orchestrating
things in many, many respects,uh, and to balance, to balance
all of that.
SPEAKER_00 (04:13):
And so so what was your your big takeaway from that
point?
Because I'm sure uh that at thatage, you know, you're I wouldn't
say you're you're you're scaredor petrified, but you obviously
don't want to make mistakesbecause it's it's your mom, you
don't want to let your mom down,but you you you know the
importance of it.
So what what what was one of thetakeaways that that you came
away with?
SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Well, I don't know that I would have said this
straight away, but looking backat that time now, I think one of
the things that I learned to doquite instinctively, and we do
all naturally do this, but wasto read people's body language
and pick up on their energy andvibration.
(04:56):
So where the reception desk wasfor the salon, there were two
glass doors, one to the outside,then a small uh, you know, a
very short uh hallway orcorridor, and then a second door
with glass.
So I used to catch people asthey were walking in through
that first door, and it wouldgive me a few seconds to learn
to read their body language andmake some assessments of of how
(05:21):
they were by the time they'd gotto the front of my desk.
And bear in mind I might havebeen doing something else at
that time.
I could well have had twotelephones, one on each ear,
talking to people, and I'd alsobe, you know, eye out for them,
or somebody coming round who wascoming to pay, or perhaps
someone who'd been sat waitingin reception, uh, or a member of
(05:44):
the team coming towards me.
I really needed to be veryvigilant and hypersensitive to
like where are these people atso that I could match and mirror
with their energy.
If someone was coming in lookinga bit, you know, flustered and
and stressed and like theyneeded dealing with quickly, I
you know, that my my um, youknow, I would I I would I would
(06:07):
play I would play that back.
If somebody looked like theyneeded some empathy or some like
a cup of tea and calming down,then I would I would help with
that.
So it's um that reading of thenonverbal communication, I think
I uh really was able to build asensitivity to through through
(06:28):
that role.
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
Yeah, and that I'm I'm glad you brought that point
up because it's so important.
But body language, you know,tells us things before we even
open our mouths or before theyopen their mouths.
And and I used to to joke, and Istill joke with my kids on this,
when they were I've got twodaughters and they're older now.
I could tell when they came downthe steps in the morning, get
ready for school, whether Ishould talk to them or not, or
(06:53):
whether what what I should sayor what I shouldn't say.
And and I could I could tellalmost immediately, and it it it
took me a little bit to to getto that point, but um you know
if if you can notice thosethings, and and and I joked
about that, but but in inreality is is if you can notice
those things in the people thatyou're dealing with, that's
that's a big piece of buildingtrust and and building the that
(07:17):
connection so that you can youcan actually have that
conversation or or meet theirneeds without going through a
bunch of other stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (07:26):
Oh, absolutely.
And it's reminding ourselves,isn't it, that only 7% of our
communication is the words thatwe use.
The other 93% of communicationis how we say it, so through our
tone of voice and our nonverbaland our nonverbal communication.
SPEAKER_02 (07:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (07:44):
And and I think that's something to be mindful
of in today's world where wesend a lot of WhatsApp or text
messages or emails, that so muchof so much of the meaning behind
that communication is lost inthat in that in that written
word.
(08:05):
So um, and and the other thingthat I think you you you talking
there as well is that you youyou link this quite rightly back
to trust because we are verygood at reading people as human
beings.
And when somebody is maskingsomething, or they're not being
(08:29):
congruent with what they'resaying and their body language,
they're telling you that theyreally believe in something, but
actually their body language issuggesting doubt, you're going
you're not going to build trustwith that individual.
So, you know, being congruent isalso I think really important.
SPEAKER_00 (08:48):
It it it is because I I I liken it back to to being
an educator, you know, if I'mstanding in front of a class or
if I'm standing in front of anaudience or or doing a keynote
or a team meeting, if I'm notbeing honest, if I'm not being
authentic, they're gonna seethrough it really, really quick.
And it's it's not it does itdoesn't take long, and whatever
(09:12):
uh whatever trust or w whateverwhatever authority you've built
can be lost in in seconds by bynot being by not being
congruent.
SPEAKER_01 (09:27):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (09:30):
So you go from uh from work working in in your
mom's salon and and then you youget to the point where you're
the president and vice presidentof the professional speaking
association association in theUnited Kingdom in Ireland.
What's walk us through your yourcareer from from that
perspective?
Because I I think that's numberone, I think I think it's
(09:50):
awesome because you know you gofrom you know uh a 12-year-old
to leading an organization thatis so important in terms of of
how we of of how we get thingsdone, right?
Communication is so important,and and now you're leading that
that organization.
How did that process happen?
SPEAKER_01 (10:10):
Oh gosh.
Well, there's a lot of time.
I'm an old fogey now, Tim.
So yes, there's there's a lot oflife that's been lived, a lot of
experience that's been gained umalong that along that journey.
But a very, a very quick rundownwas that I so I I finished
(10:32):
university uh when I was 21, 22,um, and went into my first role,
uh, which included somefantastic training on presenting
with impact because my firstrole out of university, I went
to work for Mars and I used tosell their vending machines
(10:54):
around the Midlands area in theUK.
And presenting with impact, ifyou're selling, was a really key
part of the role.
Um, and in fact, I still have tothis day the little framework
that they gave us.
I've got it in a tiny littlelaminated card and still put my
hands on it now underneath mydesk here, right where I'm at.
(11:17):
Um, and if you're if you're ifyour listeners would like to see
that, I am more than happy totake a photograph of that
because I still use some ofthose very simple practices
around how do we structurereally good presentations.
I still use it today.
So it's very old, um, but it'svery treasured and very loved.
And I'm happy to take a pictureof that and share that with the
(11:38):
listeners.
SPEAKER_00 (11:39):
Oh, please do, please do.
SPEAKER_01 (11:41):
Oh, so I will do that.
SPEAKER_00 (11:42):
Because it doesn't really matter.
I mean, those tried and trueprinciples last forever, right?
I mean, it it's there's nothingreally new.
SPEAKER_01 (11:53):
No, no, it's you know, really, really good,
really, really good, really goodstuff.
And I think the other thing justto share from a a speaking
perspective is that whilst I wasgrowing up, I was also part of
an amateur dramatics society.
So I really loved doing thestage and the theatre, and I'm
(12:15):
sure that helped in somerespects when I started in the
corporate world because I movedfrom sales eventually into
marketing, and then as in thosein the marketing roles that I
did, not only at Mars, but alsoat another chocolate company in
the UK called Thorntons, and Iultimately became their head of
(12:37):
product strategy for them, whereI was having to present on a
regular basis, whether that beideas to the board and to the
exec team, or whether it beselling ideas in from a brand
change perspective, new productideas to sometimes 300 members
of the factory team that weregoing to be executing it.
(13:00):
And so you wanted them to havethe same level of care and
compassion and um and passion,sorry, not compassion and
passion for what they weredoing.
And so that you know, thatthat's that was that I think my
some of my prior experience washelpful for that.
I always remember just onelittle story.
(13:24):
I had been working on a brandrelaunch for the biggest brand
in the company, and I reallywanted to engage with everybody
across the business with thelaunch, and so I had turned up
at the factory at six o'clock inthe morning to be able to
present to those that werestarting their shift at that
(13:46):
time, and all I could do was topresent was to beam some slides
up onto a really big blank wallin the factory, and I remember
at just before six o'clock, allthese people descending into the
factory in their white coats andhair nets and coming towards me.
It was like a sea of people.
(14:07):
There were so many people.
And for a for a moment, it feltlike I was back on those stages
again when I was doing theamateur dramatics.
And you know, those really bigstage lights with the, you know,
with the flaps that kind ofdirect the light.
I felt like this light was liketotally on me as all these
(14:29):
people were coming towards me.
And I had this slight moment ofuh of panic and dread and
thinking, oh my gosh, how am Igoing to do this?
And then this was the metaphorthat I used, and it's helped me
so many times since in speaking.
Instead of thinking of thatstage light on me, because
that's how it felt in thatmoment, it was like I it was
(14:53):
like I turned it round and Ipointed it on that audience.
And I said to myself in thatmoment, and I don't even know
where this came from, but inthat moment I said to myself,
this isn't about me.
This is about these people thatare showing up here at six
o'clock in the morning, and thisis about me connecting with them
in a way that they can feel aspassionate about this as us as I
(15:16):
do.
And all of a sudden, it didn'tbecome about me, it became about
my connection with those peoplethat were in front of me.
And all of a sudden, all thatfear, all that dread, it all
just disappeared because nowit's just it's me making
connection and talking to eachone of them.
And I'll never forget, I'llnever forget going into the
factory several months later,and we'd been we'd been making
(15:40):
so these were assortedchocolates, so in really
beautiful chocolate boxes, andthey and and and one of the
things that the team in thefactory had to do was to hand
position a bow, a um abeautiful, a beautiful ribbon on
the box, and I can remembersomebody calling me over saying,
Rachel, Rachel, am I gettingthis bow in just the right
(16:04):
place?
And she wanted to check with methat she was getting it right.
And I was like, this isbrilliant, because this is
several months after I've donethat presentation, and she's you
know, she's still thinking andwanting to make sure.
Can I just check?
Is this right?
Are you happy?
And yeah, just beautiful.
SPEAKER_00 (16:23):
And and I I love that.
I love that because it's such anillustration that I think people
truly, truly forget, you know,and especially in that
situation, um, the people thatare a brand's biggest
cheerleaders and supporters arethose frontline workers.
They take such pride in theirproducts or services, and
(16:44):
they're the ones that that aredoing this by word of mouth.
When they go go home, they'retalking about all these things
that are going on and thequality of the product, and and
they they own that internally.
And you made them feel like theybelonged, like they were were
truly a fabric of theorganization, and their role
(17:04):
truly, truly mattered in how thecustomers, you know, viewed and
consumed the product.
SPEAKER_01 (17:11):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
It was critical to me that therewas that level of engagement,
which hadn't been done in areally long time in the
organization.
And I think, as you say, it'sit's so so so important.
And and fast forward, you know,on from on from that, oh gosh,
(17:32):
another another 10 years,perhaps even more, to be honest,
maybe more like 12.
And I find myself out ofcorporate world.
I started my own training andcoaching business, and I I
(17:53):
happen to meet a wonderful ladywho we go out for hot chocolate
for, and she's the current vicepresident of the professional
speaking association, and shetells me about this wonderful
organization, and I think tomyself, well, if I'm on my feet
and I'm delivering training,there's got to be a thing or two
(18:15):
these professional speakers canteach me about how I can better
communicate with my training,and I'm interested to learn.
I'm a perpetual student andalways learning.
And I would say, albeit that,and I know Tim, you'll feel the
same way as me with this.
I mean, I'm I'm I'm here justsharing some experiences, but by
(18:36):
no means do I know it all.
And there are just some thingsI've picked up along the way
that I'm very happy to share.
And so that was how I gotinvited into the Professional
Speaking Association, and alittle over two years later, I
found myself running the EastMidlands region.
SPEAKER_00 (18:55):
That's awesome.
I mean, it's it's but you youbring up a a a critical piece
that I talk about a lot, andthat's that I whole idea of
continuous learning.
And I spoke with somebodyyesterday about, you know, she
was telling a story about howshe knows somebody who's going
to get more degrees, this, that,and the other thing.
That's great.
I'm not you know justdiscounting that, but we can be
(19:17):
continuous learners and gettingbetter at our craft every day,
whatever it is that we're doing.
And I think it's important thatI try and stress with with my
listeners, I I kind of take themon some of the journeys that
that that I go on to be a betterspeaker, to be a better
communicator, to be a betterpodcast host.
And like one of the things thatI'm working on now with with a
(19:38):
coach is telling three-minutestories, you know, taking a
story that has meaning or has apurpose that I may take five
minutes or have been taking fiveor six minutes to tell, to
getting it down to a succinctthree-minute story so that it
really comes across with the sothe point comes across quickly
and I don't lose that audience.
(20:00):
You know, so those that thatthat's what one of the things
I'm working on now.
But those are things that canhappen by by joining, like like
you said, the ProfessionalSpeaking Association.
What so what were some of thethings that that you learned and
uh was was there anything inthere that um you really found
fascinating about that process?
SPEAKER_01 (20:23):
Though there there are many so I'm still part of
the professional speakingassociation and I'm still
learning so much.
I I think back to your pointaround learning as as as well is
that you've got to put it intopractice.
It's great, you get fabulousideas, you see people that are
doing things, but if you're notactually practicing these
(20:46):
things, going back to thatpresenting with impact horse,
right at the start of my career,I can remember one of the most
uncomfortable things that theymade us do as young
20-somethings was video us doinga presentation and then to watch
it back.
I mean, toe-curlingly ohuncomfortable.
(21:07):
However, when we do thesethings, when we actually put it
into practice and we start toexperience that in our in our in
our in our bodies, that's whenit really kind of hits home.
And the professional speakingassociation has given me a
wonderful platform to be able topractice.
The first thing that I did wasthat I signed up for a
(21:30):
competition that they runactually.
It's called the Speaker Factor.
SPEAKER_00 (21:35):
Well, I'm I'm so glad you brought that up because
I saw the video.
I saw that I did.
You did you did a phenomenal,phenomenal job of that.
You you truly, truly did.
SPEAKER_01 (21:48):
Oh, thank you so much.
Well, do you know that was thetruth is that was the product of
months of hard work.
So just for the listenerslistening in, the speaker factor
is a very odd animal in manyways because you have five
minutes to tell your story, um,to speak about something that
(22:11):
you care about to the audience,which and your audience are
professional speakers, you know,they are your peers.
And in many respects, uh that,you know, if if public speaking
is something that you're scaredof anyway, imagine doing it to a
bunch of people who are that'sactually what they do
professionally for their career.
(22:32):
And they're gonna judge you onit.
It's kind of there's anotherlevel of um of uncomfortableness
there, I think, for many, formany of us when we first start
out.
But it's a very warm andwelcoming uh organization, and
uh the the feedback and thingsis dealt with very, very, very
well.
(22:53):
So they would judge you onthings like your um your
stagecraft and your storytellingand your bookability.
And there's so to start with,there's regional heats, and then
then any each region has awinner, and those winners from
the from the 12 regional heatsgo through to the finals.
(23:14):
And the year that I did make itthrough to the final, we were
actually hosting the GlobalSpeakers Summit.
So the the Professional SpeakingAssociation in uh the UK and
Ireland is affiliated to theGlobal Speaking Association.
And we were we were hosting uhthe Global Speakers Summit that
(23:36):
year in Dublin.
And so we had people from we hadprofessional speakers from all
around the world watching thefinal.
So that video is of me at the umat the Global Speaker Summit in
Dublin uh several years ago.
And as I say, it really was theproduct of many, many months of
uh of hard work of thinkingabout how you could really
(24:00):
convey something of value withinwhat is a relatively short space
of time to be on stage uhtalking in that way.
And uh it was the it was one ofthe best things that I have done
in recent years.
So back to that, putting it intopractice, having a go.
If you are thinking that youwant to speak more confidently,
(24:22):
then get out there and do it.
Find the opportunities.
There are organizations andassociations that are desperate
for people to come and talk tothem about things, whether it's
the WI or um, you know, whetherit could be a scout, you know,
group, or there are there's somany people that would welcome
somebody who's passionate abouta topic or a subject to be going
(24:45):
and talking to them.
So just get out there andpractice.
SPEAKER_00 (24:48):
Right.
Right, and that that's that'sthe key.
You don't get better by notdoing it.
You only you only get better byby doing it.
And even if you even if youthink that you're not good,
you're going to get better bydoing it.
You know, because you're even ifyou don't have it somebody
telling you, you're gonna you'regonna be able to tell what you
need to work on a lot of times.
You know, like I I would say forme, four years ago, I I didn't
(25:10):
think stagecraft had really anybusiness in what I was doing.
I I I didn't even think about ituntil you know somebody said,
you know, your message wouldcome across so much better if
you would do this and stop doingthis.
You know, and it and it comesyou know, for for me, somebody
(25:32):
who's who's I'm I'm a creatureof habit that that that's work.
Change changing something that Ithat just comes natural to be
able to convey my message more.
I went kicking and screamingdown the road doing it, but I
did it and and they were right.
You know, but it's it's thingslike like that.
You know, learning learningthings, learning how to connect
with people, you're you're gonnayou're gonna do that just by
(25:54):
getting out there and talking topeople.
It's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01 (25:57):
Absolutely.
And you know what?
I left uh I left a bit of ajuicy bit out of that story of
my um my journey to the GlobalSpeaker Summit and that speaker
factor final.
So being completely transparent,I'm gonna share with you all now
that I didn't win the regionalheat.
(26:22):
In fact, I got up there and Ispoke at the regional heat and I
was utterly, utterlydisappointed with my
performance.
I ran over time, which forprofessional speakers is you
can't do it.
I was looking at the floor, Iwas trying to remember what I
was going to say.
It was awful.
(26:43):
Absolutely.
I could have I could havecrawled into a hole and you know
stayed there for a week.
Um and I was really fortunate inmany respects.
The guy who won, he wasn't ableto go to the final.
And so by default, theopportunity came to me to
(27:07):
represent the region at thefinal.
And so I having it that I thinkthis is the other big lesson.
I learned so much from, and itwasn't a failure that that
regional heat, but I learned somuch about what I needed to do
and how I was going to getthere.
(27:28):
And I had so much incrediblesupport to really help me up my
game by the time I got to theGlobal Speaker Summit.
Um, that that getting out there,giving it a go, and even if you
feel like I did, like youpost-performance anxiety, let's
call it that, we've allexperienced that from time to
(27:49):
time, you know, and just to getto then get you know, to learn
from that, dust yourself off.
And that's what the community inthe Professional Speaking
Association is really good foras well, because you've got
those people that will help pickyou back up and get you back out
there again.
And I can tell you that when Ifinished I didn't I didn't win
(28:09):
um at the finals, but when Ifinished my talk on that stage
that day, I looked down at thetimer, and as I said my last
word, the timer clock clickedzero, zero, zero, zero.
I was spot on my time.
I delivered it a hundred timesbetter than I had done at a
(28:32):
regional level, and I felt Icould be pleased with myself and
what I had achieved.
And so I walked off that stage,absolutely buzzing.
It didn't matter whether I wonor not, because of the journey
that I had been on to get there.
SPEAKER_00 (28:48):
That's awesome.
That's that's such a good storyof resiliency and and
vulnerabilities, admitting thatyou know we're not we're not
always one.
I mean, we there's there's bumpsin in the road, and it's how we
it's how we deal with them andhow we bounce back from it.
Um, I never would have knownthat you that that didn't
(29:10):
happen, uh but everybodystruggles.
It it doesn't I mean e even thebest people will have those
hiccups and it's okay.
And like you said, in thatscenario with other professional
speakers, they're not judgingyou, they've been there.
Every single one of those peoplehas been in your shoes, and they
(29:31):
want you to do well, and they'recheering for you, and and and
they want you to to to tosucceed, and they want to help
you.
That's that's the bottom line.
They're not that's the theopposite of judging you, which
is what what we tell ourselves.
SPEAKER_01 (29:44):
Yes, absolutely.
And I talk about all this helpthat I had along the way, and
and one little thing which Iwill share because it's a little
bit of fun, and whether whetherit helped me or not, I felt like
it helped me on the day.
And um and that was I spoke tohe was actually my old neighbor.
(30:05):
So where I grew up at home, um,he lived next door but one to
me.
And uh actually there's anAmerican connection here because
he now lives in America.
He's uh he's an actor on days oftheir lives, and um I think
that's a show you have.
Yeah, it is, it is.
So he's so he's an actor on theshow, and I said to him, right,
I've got to learn this word forword, because it's like five
(30:27):
minutes long, right?
You're learning lines every dayof the week.
Like, tell me how do you dothis?
And he's and his wife is uh inon Broadway, and uh so he helped
me with the lines, he helped mewith terms of how to remember
them, and then he said to me,uh, right, so you know, Rachel,
my wife, one of the things shealways does just before a brand
new Broadway opening, it's abouthalf an hour before she goes on.
(30:51):
She eats a banana and some darkchocolate.
I don't know.
So all the other contestants,half an hour before this Global
Speaker Summit, speaker factorfinal, were all kind of just
around the table, you know,getting mic'd up or what have
you.
And I'm there stuffing my facewith a banana and eating
chocolate, and they're alllooking at me, going, How can
(31:13):
you eat right now?
And I'm like, Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (31:18):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (31:21):
So um, yeah, anyway, I'm sure there's somebody who's
got better scientific knowledgethan I have that will possibly
tell us what the ingredients arein the uh or the you know, the
the the the things that a bananaand some dark chocolate can do
that might just help calm ournerves and does be in a good uh
you know, that maybe it's thoseendorphins that all come through
that will be in a good place forwhen you start.
(31:42):
So I just a bit of fun.
Wanted to share that as well.
SPEAKER_00 (31:46):
But I I I I think it's awesome.
You you you found what whatworks for you, and because I I'm
a pacer, I pace.
And I'm and I'm I'm havingthose, the, the conversation in
my head, and I and I'm you knowuh you know, r running down the
the the time, I you know, threeminutes and you gotta be here,
seven minutes, I gotta be here,15 minutes, I gotta be there.
And and running through that,you know, which may be helpful,
(32:09):
maybe not, but that's what worksfor for for me.
It may not work for somebodyelse.
But finding your way, that's I Idon't know that I can stress
that enough because you know, ofall the people that go out and
have to talk in front of people,we all have to find our own way
of doing it.
There's not one right way.
We can help you, we can guideyou, we can do these things, but
ultimately you've got to findwhat's actually gonna work for
(32:31):
you.
SPEAKER_01 (32:32):
Absolutely.
And uh another thing that Iabsolutely found super valuable
just before going on stage wasto take a few minutes outside
the main room and to do some ofthat power posing and
(32:54):
visualizing and just thinkingabout the audience, not about
me.
Uh and there was a str and thenwhen I walk back in the room,
it's almost strangely like a Ican completely feel it now.
I walk back into the room with aa completely different energy.
There was no nervous energy.
(33:15):
I stood at the back of the room,I watched the speaker that was
in the competition directlybefore me, and I stood from a
place of this is this is me hereto you know to learn, to
receive, to connect, uh, to bewith these people in this room.
That energy is quite umexpansive and open-armed and
(33:36):
that you know outward reaching,and it's not at all about you
know me and my performance.
And that I think really helpedme to deliver, to deliver on
that on that day.
SPEAKER_00 (33:51):
Are you gonna go through that process again?
SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
Uh well, well, so they have now that this so this
year's the first year thatthey're doing it.
They've they've they've doneanother competition.
So the speaker factor was alwaysfor new and emerging speakers.
SPEAKER_02 (34:09):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (34:10):
Now got a special competition for professional
speakers, which is the categoryI would now fall into.
So maybe Tim.
I'm not gonna give too much.
SPEAKER_00 (34:22):
You should.
You should, you should, youshould.
Uh and and uh so some some ofthe the stuff that I'm doing
with with the John Maxwellleadership team is you know is
going through the process ofstage time.
And I tell people, whether youwhether you've done it before,
whether you haven't done itbefore, it's you everybody
(34:44):
should do it because you getthat practice.
You get that practice of tellingthat story.
You get that, you get thecoaching of uh, you know,
figuring out what uh that bigstory is and then getting it
down to what it really means,what the piece that you really
want to say.
And then whether you get chosenfor stage time or whether you
get chosen for to to compete,that you you you now have
(35:07):
something in your toolbox thatyou can pull out at any time at
it for you know for for any forany for any any speaking
engagement, um maybe change alittle bit here or there, but
you you already have a apre-crafted story that you could
tell that's gonna you know makea point.
And so you for me right now I'mworking on uh five different
(35:31):
stories.
And just and just just thinkabout that for for the audience,
think about think about that,right?
You know, five minute five threeminute stories, that's 15
minutes.
And uh by the time by March,let's just say by March, those
five stories are gonna berefined to the point if I were
to go and do a keynote onsomething, maybe three of them
(35:56):
are gonna fit that keynote.
Okay.
I can I can insert them and it'sand and it will help build that
build that that whole keynoteand to and until whatever thing
you you want to do.
But that that's that's the piecewhy you should do it, Rachel.
I mean, because it's whatever wehave up here, uh they will coach
you to get it bound down to thepoint that is actually gonna
(36:16):
resonate and add value to theaudience.
SPEAKER_01 (36:19):
Absolutely, absolutely.
It's such a key thing, thatstorytelling, isn't it?
And and and even just thinkingabout and I think so.
One of the things that I'velearned through the Professional
Speaking Association is that thestories don't have to be all big
heroic stories.
(36:39):
And I think sometimes some of usas speakers can maybe get fooled
into thinking, well, I've notclimbed Everest, or I'm not a
Paralympian, or I've not got,you know, one of these huge
heroic stories to share.
But actually, they can havetheir limitations because if
your audience members aren't,you know, elite endurance
(37:03):
athletes or something like that,you know, then then you know,
all of a sudden you telling ahuge heroic story, whilst it can
be inspiring and incrediblyinteresting for them to make
that connection back, you know,kind of with with with well,
what well how how do I do thisthen?
How do I make that leap?
What do I do?
(37:23):
You know, you've got to really,you know, help connect the dots
with that.
So I think to remember that thestories can even be the little
tiny stories.
Like I tell a story about mytoothbrush battery running out.
SPEAKER_00 (37:40):
Oh that's the worst.
That's what are you gonna do?
SPEAKER_01 (37:43):
That's that's a mini, but it helps me illustrate
something that I that I talkabout.
That's a mini everyday kind ofscenario.
So um, yeah, I would just remindeverybody that those stories,
little ones, pub stories, as Iwould call them, because I'm
from the UK, of course, youknow, but little little everyday
stories, pub stories, and heroicstories, they all have their
(38:05):
place.
SPEAKER_00 (38:05):
They do.
SPEAKER_01 (38:06):
And uh they're they're all they're all super
valuable.
SPEAKER_00 (38:10):
All right, so I'm gonna tell you one.
So I'm working on one thatcombines where my my wife gave
me up for New Year's resolution.
I I gave her up for Lent, andwhen I asked her dad if I could
marry her, he said no.
So I'm working on a fun on afunny story about you know about
(38:33):
that, and now we've been marriedfor almost 30 years.
SPEAKER_01 (38:37):
Oh gosh.
SPEAKER_00 (38:42):
So it's you know it I d I'm I'm working on so I
don't I I don't really want totell it, but it's a funny story.
Uh but it's also a uh a storyabout you know, just because
somebody's uh says or doessomething, if you work on it, it
can it'll work.
You know, it it it everythingwill turn out.
Um but it it well anyway, we'llwe'll just leave it there and
(39:07):
and and we'll keep working onit.
SPEAKER_01 (39:08):
You are leaving us on a cliffhanger.
I want to hear the story.
I want to hear the story.
SPEAKER_00 (39:13):
Well, is essentially essentially, um I my current
wife is my second wife.
Um I I call her my forever wife.
My first wife was a starterwife, and um when I met her, I
told her I I'm never gettingmarried again.
And this is you know almost 30years ago.
And she said, Okay, okay, okay.
And when our our personalitiesare very different, are very,
(39:38):
very different.
And it's it's that that's whatkind of said, well, she said,
Well, I'm done with you.
I'm giving you up for for NewYear's.
It lasted about New Year'sresolution, it lasted about a
week, and then I I gave her upfor Lent, and then we moved in
together like a week after thatdidn't work out either.
Um her her grandfather is a wasa colonel in the army, and he
(40:03):
came to the house and said,Well, as long as you live with
him and not be married, youknow, I'm never gonna answer
your phone call, never gonna I'mnever going to receive a letter.
And I said, Well, I can't dothat.
I'm not doing that to you.
So I asked her dad to marry.
He said no.
And we eloped.
SPEAKER_02 (40:20):
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
And oh my god.
SPEAKER_00 (40:24):
Yeah.
Oh, when I asked her to marryme, she said she she had to
think about it.
I forgot about that piece.
Shit.
Yeah, she had to think about it.
SPEAKER_01 (40:34):
Oh, there's so there's so much in this, isn't
it?
Yeah.
And and and and you remind mebecause so we had a brilliant,
um, still there, brilliant womanjoin the professional speaking
association a couple of yearsago.
And I would um, yeah, peopleshould definitely look her up.
Her name's Beth Sherman.
(40:55):
She's a seven times EmmyAward-winning comedy writer, and
so she's written for the Oscars,for Tom Hanks, for Ellen
DeGeneres, for the DavidLetterman show.
And what she talks about is theincredible ability of humor to
connect.
And when we can connect throughour humor, we're in a much
(41:18):
better place to have theinfluence and the impact that we
want to have with our audiences.
And um, yeah, so uh she's oh sheshe honest and one of the things
she always says to me is truthis funny, Rachel.
Truth is funny, and um there'sso much, there's so much, so
(41:38):
much in that.
SPEAKER_00 (41:40):
It there there really is, and you've you've got
to give the the audience, I Ithink time to digest uh the the
the the humor as well.
So you can't just it's you can'tjust say something funny and
(42:00):
then just keep moving on.
You get you've gotta let themdive into it and and embrace it
because that's what really makesthat it makes that impact as
well.
SPEAKER_01 (42:08):
So I think the humor so I got caught I got caught
today.
So true story from my lifeearlier today.
I was due to be delivering atraining session to 25 senior
leaders, large corporateorganization.
(42:29):
I didn't realize it until I gotin the room today, but the CEO
of the company was also therelistening to this particular
training session that I wasgoing to be running for two
hours.
Half an hour before we're due togo live.
I'm on with the lady from thecompany who's brilliant at
helping me back of house.
And my computer's not runningproperly.
(42:51):
Brand new computer.
I say to her, I'm gonna turn itoff and turn it back on again
because yeah, often solveseverything, right?
SPEAKER_02 (42:57):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (42:58):
My computer would not switch back on again.
No word of a lie.
I tried it seven times.
I'm on the phone to Apple.
Like, what is going on?
Uh-oh.
I do have a laptop, but it likeis covered in dust because I
haven't like dusting it offbecause I haven't had it out for
ages.
And you can imagine startingthat up, downloading the
(43:18):
documents.
And you know, that uh instarting that meeting today with
that audience, because I was alittle bit late, and because the
senior leader who was sponsoringthe event needed to kick off
without me properly being thereand and all of the rest of it,
when I did come in and come on,it's like, well, you know, this
(43:39):
this whole technology thing isproof that even in inanimate
objects can hold a grudge, youknow, and and it's just, you
know, it just does feel somedays that that technology has
got a life of its own and it'scompletely against you.
Um you know, I'm just honestlysaying to people, you know,
(43:59):
this, you know, we worked reallyhard.
We met we met half an houryesterday and hot and this
morning to get things up andrunning, you know, believe it,
believe it or not.
And just something that is alittle bit sometimes
self-deprecate.
Um, or even just that lightlittle bit of humor, even when
things go wrong, because I thinkas a speaker, it can be easy to
(44:22):
get quite het up about that andcan cause you.
And I was concerned, of course Iwas, but just being able to keep
your cool in those moments, makea little bit of a joke and a
laugh about it, um, and then andthen and then move on.
SPEAKER_02 (44:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (44:38):
So humor, just absolutely amazing.
You've got so many humorous bitsin that story.
I cannot wait to to hear.
SPEAKER_00 (44:44):
Yeah, well that that's that's that's my style as
well.
You know, it's theself-deprecating humor, it's the
the dry deadpan stuff.
And um but you know, that'sthat's just my way.
It's just my style, and and itit I I think sometimes you know
being that conversational stylereally does disarm even the the
critics in the room um who maywho may not agree with what
(45:06):
you're saying, who may not likewhat you're saying.
That's that's really kind of disdisarming in in a way that that
kind of works for me.
SPEAKER_02 (45:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (45:14):
Well, Rachel, thank you so so much for spending some
time with us again.
Um I I can't tell you how much Iappreciate it.
I I love our conversations.
Um, but uh tell people againwhere they can connect with you.
SPEAKER_01 (45:26):
The best place to connect with me would be through
my website, which iselevar.co.uk, and that's spelt
E-L-L-E-V-A-R.
Or to connect with me onLinkedIn if anything that we've
been talking about has resonatedwith you here.
I would love for you to connect.
Drop me a message and let meknow.
And it's just Rachel EdmondsonClark.
(45:48):
And if there's an extra letterthat you can add to my name, be
sure to do it because thenyou'll get the spelling correct.
It's A-E-L for Rachel Clark withan E, and it's Edmondson.
So yes, there we go.
Rachel Edmondson Clark onLinkedIn or at elevar.co.uk.
SPEAKER_00 (46:03):
Awesome.
Thank you so much.
Take care, and I look forward totalking to you soon.
SPEAKER_01 (46:07):
Tim, thank you.
Take care too.
SPEAKER_00 (46:11):
Be sure to visit speakingwithconfidence
podcast.com to get your freeebook, the top 21 challenges for
public speakers, and how toovercome them.
You can also register for theForm for Public Speaking course.
Always remember your voice has apower to change a word.
We'll talk to you next time.
Take care.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!