Tuning Into Your Rock Star Frequency with G Wright

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What do a backstage pass to a Whitney Houston concert and a boardroom presentation have in common? According to Greg “G” Wright, everything. In this episode, Tim sits down with the sound engineer-turned-public speaking coach to unpack what it really means to be a powerful communicator.

G’s journey from teenage radio DJ to coaching leaders on “rock star frequency” is a masterclass in confidence, mindset, and overcoming imposter syndrome. With over 25 years in the music industry, G shares how live performance principles translate into unforgettable public presentations. From manifestation to preparation, he shows us that effective communication isn’t a gift—it’s a skill anyone can develop.

You’ll hear how the shift from analog to digital mirrors the evolution in interpersonal skills, why authenticity beats perfection, and how to tap into your “why” to build connection with any audience. Whether you’re facing a mic or a meeting, this episode will help you show up like the rock star you already are.

What You'll Learn:

• Why the rock star frequency is the secret to Powerful Communication
• How imposter syndrome disguises itself and how to silence it
• The real reason fans scream at concerts, and how to create that in a speech
• Why mindset and visualization matter more than talent
• How to stop caring what others think and start owning your story
• Lessons from Whitney Houston, classic rock, and the art of rehearsal
• Why confidence isn’t born—it’s built

Tim + G Talk About:

• How to harness fear and turn it into fuel
• The emotional foundation of effective communication
• The power of storytelling in building relationships
• Why soft skills matter more now than ever
• Connecting with audiences across generations (even grandkids!)
• How to practice like a pro—even if you’re not one yet
• Getting past the “overnight success” myth in speaking and performance

Favorite Quote from G:

“It takes 10 years to create an overnight success. But when you show up with conviction, your audience can’t help but lean in.”

Links + Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorygwright/
G Wright Coaching: https://www.gwrightcoach.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/gwrightcoaching/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rockstarspeakers

Ready to command the stage with confidence? Grab your free resources at

Support the show

Want to be a guest on Speaking With Confidence? Send Tim Newman a message on PodMatch
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communication coach.
I'm thrilled to help you becomea powerful communicator.
I want to thank each and everyone of you for your support.
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Communicator, I want to thankeach and every one of you for
your support.
It truly means the world to me.
Please visit timnewmanspeakscomto get your free ebook the top

(00:29):
21 challenges for publicspeakers and how to overcome
them.
Today's guest is Greg Wright,but we'll just call him G.
G is a dynamic public speakingcoach with over 25 years in the
music industry.
As a driving force behindRockstar Speakers, coaching Gee
shows coaches, visionaries andthought leaders how to tune into

(00:51):
your Rockstar frequency andbecome a Rockstar on stage,
podcast and on camera.
Gee, welcome to the show bud.

G (00:59):
Thanks, tim, this is great.
I'm excited, I am too.

Tim (01:03):
You know, we spoke a couple weeks ago and you were telling
all kinds of stories and I loveit.
I love listening to storiesfrom professionals who have such
passion for their careers andthe things that they do.
And that really resonated withme because everybody knows rock

(01:25):
stars, right, everybody wants tobe a rock star, everybody wants
to, wants to live the rock starlife and the glam life and all
those types of things.
And you actually did it, yeah,but you started your career at
16, which to me, again, I lovethat.
You know you started early.
You started at 16 as a radio DJ.

(01:47):
Yes, talk about that and howthat boosted, you know, your
confidence with some of theother things that were going on
in your life at the time.

G (01:58):
Yeah.
So ever since I was five yearsold I wanted to be a radio DJ.
I had my Mickey Mouse recordplayer and I played my mom's
Barry Manilow and Beatlesrecords, probably scratched a
few Right.
And then at 16, I heard on thelocal top 40 station saying hey,
do you sound good on radio?
Do your friends say you soundgood on radio?

(02:19):
Come out and audition.
And it was just a part-timesummer gig and, um, I auditioned
.
There was about 20 or 30 otherpeople.
I got the gig at 16.

(02:39):
I was one of the youngest atthe time, one of the youngest in
school and always got picked onand nicknames and was always
picked on by people.
But something happened when Igot that radio gig because, well
, I became an instant localcelebrity overnight.
My first gig was dressing up asElvis in the summer parade.

(03:03):
And that's when I realized, Tim, the power of your voice and
the power of the microphone.
You know I'm, I'm sitting inthe back of this, uh, this, uh,
cadillac, right, and I'm, I'm ina whole Elvis get up and
everything.
And you know they're like let'sgo live to Elvis in the parade.
So you know, first time onradio, live, whatever you say is

(03:29):
live, right, there's no retakeand I go well and really
apologize in advance for the badElvis impersonation.
But I was like I thank you verymuch, I'm happy to be here, I
would love a jelly donut.
And instantly people arerunning out of Dunkin Donuts
with boxes of jelly donuts andI'm like I mean, I'm a 16 year
old kid and I'm like this iscool.
If I want something, I ask forit on radio and you know I did
that with pizza when I was thereand stuff.

(03:50):
But to move forward, so at 16,I thought I was going to go down
that road of following in myhero Casey Kasem and Rick Dees
and Shadow Stevens, and then itwas.

Tim (04:03):
So let's put that in in context, because you know, I
know casey casey, I know rickdees and if you, if you look at
today, um you, at 16, were likean influencer today right, long
before cell phones.

G (04:20):
Yes, long before cell phones.

Tim (04:22):
Cell phones, I mean, and that's how radio DJs were looked
at, that's how television newswas looked at.
They were the people thateverybody wanted to be like,
everybody gravitated to,especially when you did a live
hit, just like you were justtalking about, right, if you
were in the radio business andyou were doing a live hit

(04:43):
somewhere, I mean it didn'treally matter where it was at a
restaurant, at a parade, at aball game, I mean, people would
flock there.

G (04:52):
Yes, Became a celebrity.
Everybody thought I was incollege.
They couldn't believe I was 16at the time, People calling up
hey.

Tim (05:00):
And so you know, keep going with your story, because I mean
, I love this, but I wanted tomake sure that we put it in
perspective for our audience tounderstand because, you know,
let's just say, somebody who'slistening here is 20 years old.
Okay, yeah, they hear DJs now,but a DJ today, a DJ today, is
not a DJ back when we grew up adj back when we grew up.

G (05:30):
It was, I mean, we're talking before cell phones, before the
internet was really.
I mean, aol was the first.
I don't even know if aol wasaround back then.
Um, there was something aboutthe power of just having your
voice on radio and people.
I think a lot of it has to dowith there was only so many ways
you could get information.
You could hear music on radio,you could see the news on TV or

(05:52):
read it in a newspaper and andwhoever was presenting that
people, they became thepersonality and like, like you
said, radio DJs back then.
I mean back to dick clark ohyeah, bandstand, like he
introduced new artists that arenow like some of our favorite
artists and that's what thepower of the radio dj had back

(06:13):
in the day of going and saying,hey, I, I just heard this band
last night.
They're really cool guys.
Here's their music, check itout if you like it, call me,
tell me what you think.
And they really were.
That's interesting.
You say they really were theinfluencers, powerful
influencers at the time, becausepeople be like, wow, if this

(06:34):
artist is on radio, they must besomething really special.
Because it was.
It was so selective, you know,and I was working in top 40
radio.
I was playing madonna's recordswhen they first came out and I
was, you know, playing davidbowie records and and saying
david bowie on air and in my, mypd's like no, it's bowie.
And I'm like, oh okay, you knowwhat I mean.

(06:55):
Like it was just fun.
It was like having a radio showwas really.
It was a lot of fun and it gaveme a lot of confidence.
I mean after that I didn't carewhat people thought about what
I said, you know.
I mean like I didn't.
The bullying stopped everythingbecause I was on radio.
It was so cool.

Tim (07:17):
And and that kind of leads into the next piece of the story
, which you know, stones man,big stones, which you know,
stones man, big stones, and I'mnot talking about the rolling
stones, you know, because tellthe story about the whitney
houston, oh yeah, and, and howthat really changed the changed

(07:38):
everything that was a secondchange of trajectory in your
career.

G (07:43):
Yeah, so from 16 on 16 to 18, when I was in high school I was
going to I was a radio DJ and Iwas going to go to college to
become a radio DJ and my PD islike no, just work here for five
years and you'll have moreexperience on on on air
experience.
But I got an opportunity to goout mixing sound for a uso type

(08:06):
group that was touring the usgoing to veterans hospitals and
it was kind of likea it was auso type production.
It was like up with people.
Do you remember up with yeah, Ido, it was something like that.
It was you know, four guys, fourgirls singing with wireless
mics, doing dancing and stufffor for our hospitalized
veterans.
And we went on tour and I gotto see all 48 of the 50 states,

(08:29):
everywhere but Alaska and Hawaii, and I was like, okay, but my
plan was I'll go do this tour,I'll see what it's like and then
I'll come back and I'll go workat the radio and I'll go be
like you know, casey Kasem.
But when we were out inOklahoma or Kansas or Texas I
don't know where it was I endedup sneaking into a Whitney

(08:50):
Houston concert because we werewalking home from having dinner
and we saw one night onlyWhitney Houston and I told the
group that I was with.
I said, ok, I'll see you inthere, I'll be at the front of
house at the soundboard and I'llwave to you and I'm like 18
years old, tim, and I'm like Idon't know how I'm going.
You in there, I'll be at thefront of house at the soundboard

(09:10):
and I'll wave to you and I'mlike 18 years old, tim, and I'm
like I don't know how I'm goingto do it.
I have no idea, I just know.
And I teach this with mycoaching, manifestation,
visualization.
First you have to see where youwant to go and then take action
.
So I come around the corner andI see this really big security
guy standing at the backstageand I'm like, ok, if I can get
past him, I can get in the venue.
I'm one step closer.
So, as I mentioned, to you off,and I talked my way in and then

(09:33):
I met the tour manager.
Um knocked on the door and Isaid I'm not here to meet
Whitney, sir, I'm here to meetyou.
He's like, well, that's goodkid, because you're probably not

(09:53):
going to meet Whitney.
And then he takes me tocatering.
I meet the front of house guy.
And it was just taking that onestep, that one action manifested
into the sound guy going.
The front house guy going hey,where's your seat?
Why don't you watch the showwith me at front of house?
So, and that when I heardWhitney's vocals, he put the
headphones on me and I heardWhitney's vocals in the

(10:14):
headphones.
That was that next fork in theroad.
That was like, ok, I love radio, this is fun, but my God, I
want to go on tour with thesebands.
And then that set up a 25 yearjourney of going out and touring
with the biggest artists arenas, stadiums, you name it.
And I never got to meet Whitney, but I did get to work with her

(10:36):
hero, queen of Soul, arethaFranklin, so that was kind of
cool too, you know.

Tim (10:44):
And many other artists throughout my career.
Yeah, that's just amazing andkind of a little sidetrack here.
So this is during the analogtimes.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, there wasno digital back then, what was
it like to transition fromanalog to digital?
What was the learning curvethere?
Because to transition fromanalog to digital, what?

(11:07):
What was the learning curvethere?

G (11:09):
Because I mean, what, what I mean?
I remember those those days andthe setups 52 channel gamble.

Tim (11:12):
Oh my God.
Yeah, I have no idea what theydo to get to the top of the
console, yeah.
And now we've got digital andso for people like me, I mean,
I've got, I've got a mixingboard sitting right next to me.
I still don't know everythingthat it does, but I can use it
and I can make things sound goodand bad and those types of
things.
So what was it like forsomebody like you to go from

(11:33):
analog to digital?
What was that learning?

G (11:34):
curve At that Whitney show.
When the lights went down, Imean I saw he had two different
sound boards connected togetherand all I saw was all these
lights lighting up in a rack ofgear compressors, eq gates, all
that just lighting up and it wasjust.
It was really intimidatingbecause it was different than
radio Right Radio.
We had a board, but it wasmainly the music comes in, the

(11:57):
vocal comes in, some commercialscome in and you turn up the
volume and you turn it on andoff.
This was like reallyintimidating at first.
So he says well, if you want todo this as a career, you need
education.
So I went to a universitycalled Full Sail down in Orlando
and I learned how, how, whatall that meant.
And then my very first gig outof there was working at

(12:18):
Dollywood mixing 14 singers anddancers.
So what I loved about analogwas one is warmer than digital
in my opinion, and people candisagree about that.
But this 52 channel soundboard,that looked intimidating.
If you understood what onechannel did, you understood what
all the channels did.

Tim (12:39):
Okay.

G (12:39):
So it was a process, right.
And then when you understandsound and you know how you want
that kick drum to sound, how youwant that guitar to, you know
how you want that kick drum tosound, how you want that guitar
to sound, how you want thatvocal to sound, then you just
use the tools that are on theboard.
You know, now they got plugins,we got you know like all this.
You know everything thatauto-tune, yeah, plug-in we

(13:01):
didn't have that back then.
We we had compression, eq,reverb and delay and maybe a
little bit of pitch, so it wasanalog.
I found you really had to knowwhat you were doing.
You couldn't hide behind uh,plugins and already pre-made
settings.
Everything you did you manuallyhad to turn.
But also I found that it reallylet you really enjoy the music

(13:23):
and not get caught up on all thedigital aspect of it, the
flying faders having a scenewhere everything changes, like
if you wanted the guitar to comeup, you physically pushed the
guitar up and if you didn't likethe sound of it, you could
immediately go and go oh, that'stoo bright, let me take that
down and you'll appreciate this.
Having a board.
Let me take that down andyou'll appreciate this having a

(13:44):
board.
I was working at Dollywood andwe had a lot of older people.
The majority of the audienceseven shows a day was older
people.
So I had a fake EQ a spare EQ,really, but I had a fake EQ that
had all the letters and numbersof where people were seated.
So every day people would comeup to me and go is it going to
be loud?
If it's too loud, I can'thandle it and I go.

(14:06):
Where are you sitting, sir?
I'm over there and I go to theEQ, which you know from the
sound.
I'm not doing anything to thesound, but I pull it down just a
notch and go.
Okay, I turned that down foryou, sir, and they would walk up
to me at the end of the show.
I mixed it to the sameEverything was set, and they'd
be like that was the bestsounding show.
Thank you for turning that downthe vocal.
I could hear everything.

(14:27):
It was great.
And so that really is what ledme to the tour managing, because
tour managing was more of thepsychology, of how to deal with
artists and egos and attitudesthan the actual sound part.
You know what I mean.

Tim (14:42):
It's about that.
I mean, what you just talkedabout is about relationships you
know yeah.
It's all about relationships.
It's about that connectionright.

G (14:49):
Yeah.

Tim (14:49):
I mean that that that old guy who's me now, I mean felt,
listened to, right, I mean feltheard and respected and yeah.
And that's that's that's part ofwhat we do.
I's that's to me that's a bigpart of what we do is we, as we

(15:10):
connect with people, we, we, youknow we, we build relationships
, we build connection, um, andit doesn't take a whole lot, but
we have to be mindful of thatand we have to be actively doing
that and, and I think with allthe toys that we have now the AI
, the, you know everything onthe phone 15 seconds and stuff I
think in business we might belosing some of that.

G (15:34):
What was back in the day, before all that?
It was a handshake.
You hopped on a plane, you flewsomewhere, you met with
somebody.
It was a handshake.
It was understood like yeah,you're paying for this service
or this, this product, but I'mgoing to take care of you.
It was a a one-on-onerelationship and business
professionalism and I think wemay be losing with all the

(15:56):
automation and that's kind ofhow I felt about analog versus
digital I thought I thought welost some of the quality of the
show with all the automationdoing everything for us.

Tim (16:07):
Yeah, I, I agree with you on that.
Um, now, my, my ear is notnearly as good as obviously it's
not nearly as good as yours,right?
I mean because you it's.
It just isn't because you.
You, I mean you've trained it,you've, you've been in've been
in there and you can tell thedifference.
You can tell little subtledifferences where me, you know I

(16:30):
may not, but you know exactlywhat, what we're looking for,
and you can hone in and you canreally kind of target that.

G (16:39):
Yeah, that was through repetition too.
The more shows I talk aboutthis with public speaking, going
on camera, going on a podcast,the more shows you do, the
better you get at it.
The same thing with mixing orperforming or, you know, open
heart surgery.

Tim (16:53):
I mean the more, the more you do.

G (16:55):
you're going to get better at it.
You're going to figure out well, that worked, that didn't work.
You know no offense, you knowwhat I'm saying.
Like exactly it's, it's and itbecomes a muscle and that's how.
That's how sound is is now LikeI watched the Grammy
performance and I knoweverything that's going on.
I know who's singing, who's notsinging, I know what I.

(17:18):
I don't know the notes they'replaying, I don't know the chords
they're playing, but I know thefeeling that they're putting
into it like right, you know,and I get that with people on
stage as well right.

Tim (17:25):
So let's get back to talking about, you know, the
whole idea of manifestation and,yes, and and mindset.
Because, yes, you know, I thinkthat's to me that's one of the
biggest issues that we have inin terms of of communication is
we don't come at it from arelationship mindset.
We come at it from a negativemindset, from a scared or a not

(17:56):
one to mess up mind.
So, you know, I don't know theword I'm specifically looking
for, but we don't come at itfrom a positive perspective.
And what could go right?
We're always looking at whatcould go wrong.

G (18:07):
Right, because I think we've been programmed.
I talk about this in my timemachine exercise.
I think what happens is we gointo our subconscious exercise.
I think what happens is we gointo our subconscious, into the
time machine, back to a momentthat happened in the past.
If it's a fear of publicspeaking, it was a moment that
maybe in the fifth grade, givena book report, somebody laughed
at you.

(18:27):
Or maybe in the corporate world, you had to get up in front of
your boss and all your coworkersand present a PowerPoint.
Somebody wasn't payingattention or made a joke or
something, and what we do is webring that into the present.
So if we can do that, we can gointo the future, visualize
exactly what we want.

(18:47):
See, this is what your favoriterock stars and pop stars do.
They visualize the successfulshow long before there's a crowd
to perform to.
We do this in pre-productionrehearsals over weeks and months
of going over the show over andover and there's no crowd there
.
There's not one fan in the roomin the soundstage when we're
doing that.
But it's that repetition andthat visualization what I talk

(19:10):
about as the rock star frequency.
When you're presenting at therock star frequency, you don't
care what they think, and it'sthat confidence that allows the
audience to really connect andgo wow, that was incredible.

Tim (19:25):
So it's kind of a reverse psychology, you know.
Yeah, but it's so to me, it'sso intuitive, right?
Yeah, yeah, again, I come fromthe sport background, background
and yes, yes, I want to talkmore about that I love, I love.

G (19:39):
I want to hear stories of that, but see that's the thing.

Tim (19:42):
You know.
Rock stars want to be athletes.
Athletes want to be rock stars,absolutely.
But I want to make it realclear I was never an athlete,
ever truly an athlete.
I'm just the, the guy on thesides helping go through.
But you know, no team orindividual athlete goes into any
competition without practicingright.
So how much practice goes into?

(20:03):
Let's just say you're going,you're going on a worldwide tour
.
How much practice do bands androck stars go through?
I mean to, to put that on to.

G (20:15):
To put it into perspective the bigger the tour, the smaller
the rehearsal space starts.
We go to bigger ones, but thefirst thing if a band is
learning brand new songs, werent a very tiny space where
it's just literally the bandthere, maybe a little PA, some
in-ears and that's it.
It's a very small room, there'sno crowd, there's nothing.

(20:36):
Because the first step is theyneed to learn the music and they
need to learn how they clickwith the music.
Before we involve production,before we bring in sound and
lights and moving stages anddancers and video walls and all
that, it starts with the corethat they know the music, they
love the music, they're in thepocket with each other.

(20:58):
Then it moves up to as the tourgets bigger and bigger.
You go to bigger rooms and youhave.
Then you bring in sound andlighting and video and some of
them are like you, uh, really,really big tours.
They'll just run an arena for aweek or a couple months,
especially if you're flying ineverything.
But I think, regardless of thesize of the production, how big
the artist is and that's what Ilove about working with these

(21:22):
artists is that even if it's abig production, there's always
that moment in the show whereyou feel like they're singing to
you in a club.
You feel like they're singingright to you, even if you're in
a stadium and can't even seeanything but a video wall, and
that is strategic.
This is rehearsed over and overagain, and where they really get

(21:43):
their rehearsal is by doingshows.
They do a show and they try theset list and they go nah, that
one didn't work.
Let's try moving this song.
Or you know, we tried it on thefirst show the sound.
No, that video doesn't work.
Let's try it.
This song.
Or you know, we tried it on thefirst show the sound.
No, that video doesn't work.
Let's try it, you know.
So it's just like I saidrepetition, right.

(22:05):
Or you do anything, just likewith the athletes, right?
You know, tom Brady throws apass and it gets intercepted.
He doesn't quit, he doesn't saythat's it, he just goes.
Well, that didn't work.
Let's go to a different play.

Tim (22:18):
You know, and and again, let's.
We can correlate this to anumber of different industries,
right, like, yes, take comedians, for example, when, when
they're creating new material,yes, they go out and they do
private shows where they takeall the electronics right and so
nobody can record it and theypractice their delivery, they
practice the joke and there'ssomebody taking notes, right,
and they use a set list.

G (22:38):
Yep, and they go.
Well, that joke went over here,but it didn't go here.
Let's try this.
You're always there's no set.
This is how it's done.
I'm going on stage and this ismy set and this is what I say
and that's it, period.
It's you.
You have to really read theaudience, just like the athletes
on the field have to read theopponents and go.

Tim (22:57):
Well, let's try something different and see how that goes
and so in communication, we haveto do the exact same thing.
Yeah, we have to prepare, wehave to, we have to practice, we
have to know the material, wehave to rehearse, we have to
read the room.
Yep, we have to to to do allthose things.
So this is when we talk aboutcommunication, this't and I keep

(23:20):
saying it's not rocket science,until I actually talk to a
rocket scientist who talks aboutcommunication.
Nice, that was a fascinatingconversation, by the way.
But understand communication isit takes work, it's's nothing
worth doing, and doing wellcomes easy, it takes work and it

(23:43):
takes practice.
So how do you, in what you do,work with practice?
You know getting that rock starfrequency.
You know working on the mindset.
What are some of the techniquesthat you use?

G (23:57):
The first thing we have to do anyone who's going to go on on
stage and when I say stage Imean even going on video on
social media, going on a podcastor going on an actual stage
you've got to remove the fear,the self-doubt and the imposter
syndrome.
It has to go away.
You have to present to whereyou don't care what the audience

(24:18):
thinks and you're connectingwith your subconscious.
So the first part, the firstweek of the five-week program,
is all about removing theseblocks.
Because you can have the bestscript in the world, you can
have everything memorized, youcan have the best audience, but
if you don't believe 100% thatyou deserve to be on that stage,

(24:39):
there's a reason why they'repaying to see you Right, Because
even if they're just watchingyour video, they're paying with
time.
They're a client in my mind.
And then once we get theself-doubt gone, then we got to
replace it with confidence, andconfidence just comes in if
there's a reason why you startedyour business, there's a reason
why you have this passion to dothis in your, in this industry.

(25:03):
We've got to uncover what thatis, bring that out and then,
when you talk about it, you'regoing to light up and the
audience is going to light up,like when I talk about music.
It was my life for so long, Ilove sports.
I'd love to hear stories aboutsports and I light up whenever,
like when I talk about music.
It was my life for so long, Ilove sports.
I'd love to hear stories aboutsports, and I light up whenever
you go.
Oh yeah, I've been to like somany Super Bowls and I'm like,
oh my God, I want that liferight.

(25:25):
Well, this same thing whenyou're presenting your message.
If you're talking about howpassionate you are about the
business you started and thechallenges you overcame, your
audience is going to go I wantthat, I want to work with that
person because they get me.
I say this to the clients howdoes she know me so well?
That's the message that youraudience is giving back to you

(25:48):
and that creates that connection, the rock star frequency of
where they feel like they knowyou, they want to work with you.
And it's that reason why wehave favorite rock stars and pop
stars that we think we know butwe don't really know them
exactly.
We know what we see of them.
You know what I mean.

Tim (26:06):
Right, and and let's, let's let's just take I want to come
back to the empire syndrome herein a second, but let's take
that piece and a step further.
And now, full disclosure I, I'mnot a taylor swift fan, I don't
.
I don't dislike her, don't hateher and she's just, it's just
not my thing, right, and okay,everybody has their own thing.

G (26:28):
Everybody who's your favorite rock star?

Tim (26:30):
you say oh, oh, like, right , like, right, like right now
I'm stuck on Toby Keith kick.
I know he's passed, but I lovehis music, I love his sound.

G (26:43):
Yeah, okay, toby Keith, yeah.

Tim (26:45):
Yeah, you know I like that sound.
I'm going back to some of myroots here.
I love ACDC, I love Van Halen, Ilove the Scorpions there you go
I've actually, you know, I'vegot grandkids and um we, when
I'm with them, my, mygranddaughter and oldest

(27:07):
grandson, um, every time theysee me, they want to hear
thunderstruck, right, and andmoney talks.
That's those.
So they, as soon as they see me, can we?
Can we play Thunderstruck?
Can we play money talks?
Of course we can, you know, butbut those are the, those are
the.
You know things that that I,that I go back to, and again,

(27:30):
everybody has their own thing,right, so.
But if you look at the Swifties, I mean the, the Right, so, but
if you look at the Swifties, Imean the, the, the passion that
they have and the how quicklythey came up to me was it wasn't
an accident To me, it was.

G (27:48):
It was very deliberate, right , very, very, very smart.
She started.
She started performing as ateenager doing state fairs.
So this wasn't, this didn'thappen overnight.
We always say in the musicbusiness it probably in the same
as sports it takes 10 years tocreate an overnight success.
And that's real 10 years ofdoing the same thing every day.
Jerry Seinfeld said comedians,it takes 30 years to create an

(28:10):
overnight success.
So think about that.

Tim (28:13):
It's crazy, but the passion that the Swifties have for her
and that following because theythey feel that every single song
that she sings, everything thatcomes out of her mouth, is
resonates with those fans at anentirely different.

G (28:33):
that's what I talk about with the rock star frequency she is
presenting at a different whenshe walks out on stage or any
artist that's presenting likethat, they do not put the
success of their show in thehands of their fans.
They may say that, oh, we lovethe fans, this is the best show,
you guys are the best citywe've ever had.
They may say that, but theyknow when they go on stage

(28:58):
they're going to have a kick-assshow, right?
If they don't, they don't walkout on stage.
It's a mindset, and becausethey're presenting at such this
high frequency, the audiencethen has to work.
Believe it or not, I know people, it goes against what
everyone's saying, but I believethe audience has to work to
match that.
And then that's what they do.
They bring it up, bring theaudience up to that level.
We use sound, we use lighting,video, stage movement, dressing.

(29:18):
You know dancers, whatever itis but the core that I see most
people connect with is when theygo out with an acoustic guitar
or they're sitting behind apiano and they just sing from
their heart.
That's what makes people cry,that shows, and that's what I'm
talking about.

Tim (29:33):
Yes, and now I don't go to as many concerts as I used to
yeah but, but you know, thoseare things that you saw a lot of
.
You know, I think I'm a drumguy.
Oh yeah, oh, I love it so when?
so when I go to concerts or I'mwatching, I'm watching the
drummer, I think, because theguitar guy's great, love it.

(29:54):
Vocalist is great, love it.
The bass player is great, loveit.
Keyboard is great, but to meit's the drums.
To me, it's the drums that Imean.
You feel it, you, you feel itin your chest, you feel it, yes,
and um, you could be in theupper rafters and you can feel
it.
Right, yes, and I love thedrums, and so you know that

(30:17):
that's kind of what I focus on.
And when we talk about solos orthe acoustic guitar or the the,
you know the uh guitars, eddievan halen, or you know the oh my
god eddie.
Oh, you know what I'm talkingabout, right yeah again, you
think he's free-formative, buthe's practiced that.
The the drummer's practicing it.
It's not, but we think it's inthe audience.

(30:40):
We're meant to think that he istruly free forming.
That he's.
He's in the flow, he's.
The next note is just coming tohim and he's right.
That's not how it works andthat's not how that's not how
communication works.

G (30:52):
Right, there's a balance, though they may be playing the
notes, communication works.
Right, there's a balance,though they may be playing the
notes, but when he gets thatfeeling, when a musician gets
that feeling, they may beplaying the notes, but the
audience feels the notes Likethat's.
They're not reading.
Sheet music is what I'm tryingto say.
That's how it kind of they'renot going like oh, I missed a
note.
They just get into that feeling.

(31:13):
Sometimes the guitar solo goeson for five minutes and they
just go off.
And, like you were saying aboutthe drums, I feel the drums and
bass are the foundation of themix.
If you took the kick drum andthe bass out of the mix, the
audience doesn't know whathappened.
It's the foundation, and thatin public speaking, that's, I
believe, that's your why, that'sthe foundation of why you're

(31:33):
speaking in the first place.
So you've got to have a veryfirm foundation.
If you take the drums and bassout of the mix, you've got
guitar and keyboards.
You lose that momentum from thecrowd and drummers run the band
.
Believe it or not, they keepthe band on time.

(31:53):
I love when we didn't haveclick track.
Oh my God, now everyone's onclick track and everything's
dialed into their ears Back lovewhen we didn't have click track
.
Oh my God, now everyone's onclick track and everything's
dialed into their ears.
Back then they didn't haveclick track.
The drummer just counted offand away we go, and if it was
too fast or too slow, no one inthe audience cared.
You know, that's awesome, yeah.

Tim (32:12):
And you know I'm I'm a guy that likes I yeah, and you know
I'm a guy that likes to have fun.
I don't take myself veryseriously.
I take what I do seriously.
I like to have fun and I knowI'm going to get some hate from
this from some of my listeners.
One of my favorite movies isthe Rocker.

G (32:29):
It's a what I'm sorry it's called the Rocker with Rainn
Wilson.

Tim (32:32):
The Rocker?
Yeah, he plays a drummer um itit's.

G (32:36):
I gotta write that down.
I'm gonna look that up.
The rocker okay, yep, okay, I'mgonna look that up.

Tim (32:43):
Yeah, it's got christina applegate in it rain wilson um,
it's, it's funny, it's uh anyway, but it's about.
It's about a, about a drummerwho got kicked out of a band,
wasted his whole life worriedbecause he got kicked out of a
band and started a new band.
Anyway but it's funny and I loveit.

(33:03):
But let's get back to impostersyndrome, because, gee, I could
go down this track, go down thishole, and we'd get way off
track.
But when you talk aboutimposter syndrome, um, and the
things that that we clog ourmind with right with, with the

(33:23):
fear of speaking, the, the fearof talking to people getting on
stage, whatever it is, you knowthere's to me there are so many
things that go into that and weneed really need to hone in on
whoever it is that we're workingwith individually and figure
out what that is right, you know, um, when you get hired for a
job and I say this a lot theydon't hire you to make fun of

(33:45):
you, right?
They hired you because you'vegot knowledge, skills and
abilities and they want you tocome in and add value to the
organization.
So when they, when you're in ateam meeting and you're asked to
give a report on whateverproject you're doing, they
didn't call you up, they didn'thire you.
It was some grand, elaborateplan to bring you into a team
meeting and make fun of you.
It just doesn't happen.

(34:07):
They want you to add value andthe reality is, I don't think
that that the majority of peopleare are caring about what
you're wearing, what you looklike.
Anyway, they're worried aboutthey're worried about other
people worrying about them.
You just share your share, yourknowledge, yeah.

G (34:26):
I think it's the most ironic thing is if, if you're given a
presentation or you're going onvideo or on a podcast and
someone's making a comment aboutit or laughing at you or
whatever, that, to me, is theirbiggest insecurity.
They're the one that's insecure, that can't do what you're
doing.
That's why they feel that needto put somebody down, because 90

(34:51):
percent of the people in theroom will not get up in front of
the audience and present likeyou are the real professionals.
I said this off camera to you.
I think the ego to talent ratiothe higher the ego, the lower
the talent.
The higher the talent, thelower the ego.

(35:11):
The people that areprofessional, that understand
that you standing up there andpresenting in front of this
audience is probably the mostnerve wracking, Probably the
most like.
I mean, there's so much goingon, but it also shows that you
have confidence and you aretaking action.
Those are the people that arenot going to laugh at you, that
are not going to put you down.
It's the ones that are tooinsecure to get up there in the
first place.

(35:31):
Yes, With bands they get a badreview and I'm like this music
critic is pissed off.
He can't be a guitar player ina band.
That's why he's putting downevery band.
Forget it.
Your fans love you.
Go out there, Kick ass on stage.
Forget about what the musiccritic said.
That's one person's opinion.
Be you, you know, and be you,yeah, exactly yeah.

Tim (35:59):
So we need to help people get over that and I think the
quicker that we get over that,help them get over that, the
quicker we're going to seeimprovements, the quicker we're
going to see success.
And I go back to the whole ideathat it's not overnight and it
takes work.

(36:19):
I don't care who you are.

G (36:22):
It takes work.

Tim (36:23):
It takes work, it takes refinement and it's never going
to be perfect.
No, that's the point, right?
It never is.

G (36:29):
It never is In sports they never have to be perfect.
No, that's the point, right, itnever is.
It never is.
In sports, they never have aperfect game, never.
I'm sure there's something oneperson on the team wants to do
different.
Even if they had a 50 to 0 game, they're like well, I screwed
that up.

Tim (36:45):
Take bowling as an example.
Bowling, oh my God, yes, whereyou can bowl a perfect game, oh
okay, yes, but that doesn't.
But that doesn't mean you wereperfect.
Right, that means your scorewas perfect, but that doesn't
mean that you were perfect.
That doesn't mean your deliverywas perfect.
That doesn't mean yourtechnique was perfect, so let it

(37:08):
go.

G (37:10):
Take away the this perception of perfection, Cause it doesn't
exist.
Go on stage, go on, go bowling,go on the football field or
baseball diamond, have fun, havea blast doing what you do and
you love what you do.
And so what?
If you strike out?
Then you, you learn somethingfrom it.
You try again, Exactly yeah,and you have to do it over and

(37:31):
over again, Repetition Always.
And they spend more timepracticing off the field than
people ever see.
And that's the same thing, Ithink, with public speaking More
people that make it looknatural like, oh wow, that
person just is talking fromtheir heart.
Yes, they are, but they spend alot of time off stage, just
like your favorite rock stars,pop stars.
They spend more time inrehearsal than they ever do on

(37:54):
stage.

Tim (37:55):
Absolutely yeah.

G (37:56):
So that's the key.

Tim (37:59):
Yeah, if you could, if you could give advice, and what are
two pieces of advice that youwould give to somebody that they
could put into action today tobe better?

G (38:14):
my first one and it'll sound kind of general and people, okay
, but you really have to stopcaring what anybody thinks.
If you're doing what you love,you're talking about your story,
you're sharing what you.
This is, this is who you areand you're not putting other
people down, you're not doinganything to cause harm to
anybody else.

(38:34):
Like you know, I don't not fanof that.
I'm saying then, you know, youjust got to stop caring what
people think.
And number two is you've got toget to the root of why you're
presenting to people in thefirst place.
Why, what's the root of it?
Oh, I get paid to go on stage.
No, we get paid to performfront.
No, that's not the why.
What's the why?

(38:55):
Because 25 years ago, when Iwas sitting there and watching
this person perform, I had thismoment.
You know, whatever the story,mine is the Whitney story.
The Whitney story is my why.
I decided that this is what I'mgoing to do with my life and
and nobody was going to say no,no one was going to stop me.
So if the two is, you know,forget about what people think

(39:16):
and really embrace your why andand share that story and don't
be afraid of what people say orthink.
That's awesome.

Tim (39:24):
Awesome advice, and I do think that we can start there.
How much better we can be right.

G (39:35):
We have to support each other and stop putting each other
down too.
I think that's a generationalthing.
I don't think the bullying backwhen I was growing up was one
or two people, but now, with thetechnology, the bullying goes
globally and is inundated 24-7.
I think we need to do somethingto stop this.
Start helping people, you know.
Encourage people.

Tim (39:54):
Yeah, because I know that it's hard and you know, I'm the
person that I've never reallycared.
Yeah, I just I've never reallycared about what other people
say or think about me.
Now let me qualify Outside ofmy inner circle, right?

G (40:09):
Right Outside of my circle, right, right Outside of my.

Tim (40:10):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean because those people are going
to be truthful and honest withyou.
They're going to tell you.
When you're good, they're goingto tell you.
when you're bad, they're goingto tell you when you're being a
jerk or whatever it is, and youshould listen to your inner
circle.
Yes, but I don't really care,because you know I'm just going
to be me and just because youmay not know me, you don't

(40:33):
understand why I'm doing whatI'm doing.
I'm not going to change the wayI do things based on that To
please you.
Exactly, exactly, and justdrive on and go on from there.
All right, I got a question foryou because I'm hoping you're
going to have a good answer forme on this one.
Okay, so, um, what I try andteach people is you know when

(40:56):
you're, when you're gettingready to go up.
You know, for whatever it is,whatever meeting, job interview,
on the stage what have you justlike?
In baseball, you got to havewalk-ups on and I've got three.
I've got three of them,depending on what I'm doing.

G (41:09):
Yes.

Tim (41:10):
They are in no particular order.
I don't know if you've everheard of this band.
It's called Gunner and theGrizzly Boys.
Gunner and the Grizzly BoysOkay, they're out of Michigan.
Okay, oh man, they're great,they're country rock and the
song is Standard American Okay.
The other one is I know you'veheard of them Low Cash.

(41:32):
I Love this Life.
And the third one, I knowyou've heard of this guy.
It's Colt Ford and Crank it Up.
Oh yeah, all of them arepowerful, get them going.
And whether I'm going out onstage and I request this playing
, or I have it playing in myhead and 99% of the time it's in
my head getting myself ready togo, yep, ready to to come out

(41:54):
and me yes, deliver that,deliver it with enthusiasm,
deliver it with, with, whatever.
What about you?
Do you have?

G (42:05):
Yes, I have a song in my head all the time.
That's like it's annoying.
I have a soundtrack going.
That's why, when I talk incertain um verses and choruses
and things, but the song thatalways pumps me up and is my
walkout song and what I do uh,even a public speaking event
based around this song is ohyeah, oh yeah, queen Queen, we

(42:31):
will rock you.
Or ACDC you know what I meanTears for Fears, I mean just,
you know any, but Queen, queendoes it.
I do that in my head every timebefore I go on camera, right,
and that is like I've got thatin the background and it sets
the tone.
Yes, because that's the messagewe will rock you, I'm going to

(42:51):
rock you.
Right, that's, that's how, yeah.

Tim (42:55):
And it's, and it goes back to one of the very first thing
we talk about is mindset.

G (42:59):
Yes, it puts you immediately into that Talk about with.
When you're in that mindset,nothing can take you out of it.

Tim (43:06):
Well, this has been great no-transcript.

G (43:25):
Awesome.
I've got the five-week RockstarSpeakers Program.
I only work with five people ata time, so it's one-on-one
coaching.
It's very hands-on.
It's very much like you're justgoing to get to the root of it
and you're going to feel like arock star every time you go on
stage, on camera or on a podcast, like today.
Yeah.

Tim (43:44):
That's awesome and I'll make sure I put all those links
in the show notes for everybody.
But, but, gee, thank you somuch for for sharing with us,
speaking with confidencecommunity today.
It's been awesome.
You know, I love your message,I love your background, it's,
it's, it's one of those thingsthat that that touches me.

(44:20):
I mean, you know what I'mtalking about there.
It's yeah, yeah, I know, I knowwe're on the same frequency.
That's one of the things I loveabout podcasting is the people
that that you're meeting and theconnections that you're
building.
And when I talk about, you know, uh, building relationships.
This is part of it because youknow, without this, you and I

(44:43):
probably would have never metRight, and now that we did me
cause this is this is one of thebest conversations.
This is so much fun and so itcomes from stepping outside the
comfort zone, reaching out andjust doing the thing.
Come on, guys, just do it Right.
Just do it, we will rock youAll.
Right, g, you take care ofyourself again.

(45:05):
Thanks so much, and we'll talkto you soon.
Absolutely Thanks, tim, ciao.

G (45:08):
Thanks so much and we'll talk to you soon?

Tim (45:10):
Absolutely.
Thanks, tim.
Ciao, be sure to visitspeakingwithconfidencepodcastcom
to download your free e-bookTop 21 Challenges for Public
Speakers and learn how toovercome them.
You can also register for theForm of Public Speaking course.
While you're there, alwaysremember that your voice has the
power to change the world.
We'll talk to you next time,take care.