Finding Your Voice as a Speaker with Richmond Dinh | #Success - Ep. 95

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Hey, good morning everyone, this is Russell, and I had a chance to watch something this summer that was really, really cool. One of my friends who's in my inner circle, his name's Richmond Dinh, Richmond launched this product a program called The Next Top Speaker. And it was this, it was a competition, kind of like American Idol or, you know, a show like that, Dancing with the Stars, whatever your favorite version is, where you could sign up for free and then go and, and they basically learn how to become a speaker and learn how to give a presentation. And they let you give a 5-minute presentation. They have judges and all sorts of things. And I saw it, I was like, this is a really, really cool idea. And then I remember I was on vacation when the very first one happened and I got home late at night, we were boating with the kids. I get home, it's like 11 o'clock at night and I look down on my phone and I had a text message saying that the finals were happening. So I clicked on it, popped open, I had a chance to sit there and watch for like 3 or 4 hours in my bed. Everyone was asleep around me and I'm watching these speakers who had been practicing giving these presentations. And there are people who'd never been on stage before, maybe they wanted to but never felt comfortable, but they decided to do this challenge. And there were some that made me laugh, some that made me cry, and I was like, this is the coolest thing. So during the challenge, I'm screenshotting pictures of this, I'm sending it to Rich Brown, this is so cool, I wanna be part of this, what can I do? And he's like, we're planning on doing these every month or so, and training speakers, doing contests, giving away prizes. He's like, I'm also launching a magazine called Top Speaker Magazine, and a whole bunch of other cool things. And I was like, I love what you're doing, I wanna figure out how to be part of this, please, if there's a way, let me know. And so, a couple things, number one, they put me on the very first issue of the magazine, which was really cool, on the COVID In fact, I'm looking at the magazine right here in my hand. And then the next version of the challenge they did, I had a chance to actually speak on it.. And so I jumped on and just gave a presentation about speaking and stuff like that. It was really fun. In fact, that's what this podcast episode is going to be, is my presentation from that. So you can hear me talk about speaking and what it meant to me, why it's important and all sorts of stuff like that. And then afterwards they made me an official partner in the company, which has been fun. And we just ran another one. And it's just so fun seeing what's happening to these people who are going through the challenge or the contest and learning how to speak and getting all these cool opportunities. And it's just, Something I'm really excited for, really proud of, and I think that Richmond and Kaylee, my two partners in this now, just really proud of what they put together and excited about it. So I'm doing this for a couple reasons. Number one, for you to hear this presentation 'cause you weren't there probably, so hopefully you'll get some value listening to it and get you really excited about speaking and about all that kind of stuff. And number two is like, go sign up for the next challenge. The next challenge is happening in January. There's a $10,000 prize. You win $10,000. Best case, you win $10,000. Worst case, you learn some really cool speaking skills. You create a presentation, a bunch of other really cool things. Listen to this presentation and when it's done, then go to nexttopspeaker.com. So nexttopspeaker.com, go sign up and do the next challenge. Have some fun, learn how to speak, present. It'll probably be something that'll change your life. So I hope you enjoy it. I appreciate you guys listening and with that said, I'm gonna jump right over and have a chance for you to hear my presentation from the last Next Top Speaker Challenge.

This is the Russell Brunson Show.

Hello everyone. Well, the time has come. We're gonna announce the top 10 very soon, but before that, You guys know that the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Russell Brunson himself is in the Zoom room right now. And kind of a pinch yourself moment because if someone said to me, wow, like 4 years ago, 5 years ago when I started this, that we'd be in the same Zoom room as Russell Brunson, the man who revolutionized the whole industry with ClickFunnels and the whole funnel industry and put through a billion dollars through funnels, he's in the Zoom room right now. It's funny, a bit of a backstory because when I was on a thinking day with Kaylee just last year, about a year ago, and she told me about this like speaking competition that she does, but it was just for fun though. And I thought, what's that? And then she told me a bit more about it and I thought, well, is there a business around that? She's not really, we're just doing it for fun. And I realized that there was something there and we could build a business around it. And that's when we partnered up to create what is now known as Next Top Speaker. And a couple of months ago, we looked up like, is there a domain called nexttopspeaker.com? And it was taken. And it was such a rigorous process to try to buy it. Like no one would respond to us and we almost gave up on it. And finally we secured the domain nexttopspeaker.com for over $40,000. And I posted it online. I did a little story and I hid the domain. I didn't reveal what it was. And I remember when I posted it online, Russell messaged me. He's like, what's the, what's the domain? Did you buy that? What did you buy? And I told him what we bought. It was nexttopspeaker.com. And he's like, what's that? And Then he heard about it, that's when he heard about it and it's like, wow, that is so cool. And so I'm so grateful that Russell is here today because he just fell in love with it straight away and that's why he's on this front cover here. So I don't know if you're here, Russell, if we can pin you up on stage here. So if you haven't subscribed to the magazine, this is the very first edition. It's gonna be released next month. Hey Russell, good to see you. Russell's had a long 3 days actually. He's done a massive OfferLab launch this week. If you've seen it online, get onto OfferLab and he's been up since I saw your story like really early. You worked out this morning before.

I haven't slept in a month or two.

It's been, it's been good though. I think us entrepreneurs are just delegating sleep now. We need to talk to Fearless about how do we delegate sleep. So Russell's like just, he's been back to back and I was with Russell like just last week, it's been running event after event after event. So, and it's 9 PM for him right now. So thank you, Russell. I know your time is precious, but I know you need to rest up as well. But thank you for believing in the mission. Thank you for believing in speakers. Thank you for believing in this platform for all of us here to share our voice. And so without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, please give Russell Brunson a big warm welcome to the stage.

Oh man, thank you guys. Thank you, thank you. Well, first off, Richmond, thanks for the introduction. And it's been, and you know this, you posted domain, I was like, what is it? And then I was watching you guys do the very first challenge and I was literally on my family vacation. It was like 11 o'clock at night. We'd just come back from boating with the kids. And I looked at my phone, it was happening. So I clicked on the button, I popped on, I was like watching all the speeches and the presentations. And I was like, Richmond, I wanna figure out how to be part of it. I don't know what that looks like, whatever I can do, I love this, I'm grateful for what you're doing, if I can help or anyway. So I'm trying to figure out how to be more and more involved 'cause I think what you guys are doing is so cool and just, and he's like, well, do you wanna jump on the next one we're doing? I was like, I would love to, it would be an honor for me. So, and so I just wanna jump on to kinda just tell you guys a little bit of my story because I never, I never wanted to be a speaker. Some of you guys are probably like, I wanna be a speaker, but I never had a desire to speak. When I was growing up, I was, I was awkward. I remember just all the normal things like speaking was like my number one fear. Just like most people, they'd rather be dead than— death is like— more people are more scared of public speaking than death, right? That's what I was. I was scared to death. I remember taking a college class where I had to speak and I was just like, this is horrible. I never wanted— it was never a dream of mine at all. But then I remember I started my internet business. I was sitting behind a computer. I'm like, this is so cool. I can make money without talking to people. Eventually, after doing this for a couple years, there were some people online who were having an event. There was a guy named Armand Morin, and he had this event called The Big Seminar. And it was supposed to be all these internet guys getting together to talk about internet marketing. And I was like, you know, up to that point it was just me in my house by myself. I had no friends that knew this. I was just like, I'm gonna go meet these other people. So I remember buying a ticket and flying to this event, being very nervous, putting on a suit and a tie, 'cause I thought that's what you had to wear if you were gonna be a business person. And I go to this event and I had no idea what to expect. And the first speaker got on stage and remember he gave a presentation and spoke and he sold something and it was just like, it was the coolest thing. I remember feeling like, I remember feeling moved. I was inspired. And then the guy sold something at the end. I remember watching him sell and the next guy did. And I started watching this happening over a couple days and I was like, this is crazy. I watched it for 3 days, like speaker and the speaker would sell, speaker would sell. And I remember just realizing in that moment, I was like, I have to learn learn this skill set because speaking is everything, right? And back then, there was less video. There weren't webinars. The internet was a lot different back 20 years ago, but I just felt like I needed to learn how to do this skill. And I would say of the people I've met who want to be speakers, I was probably the least qualified, probably the worst, probably the most shy, probably the most awkward, but I felt like I should do it. And so, a little while later, one of the guys who were at the event I'd met at the event, he was doing a little event. It wasn't that big, but he was like, "Hey, do you want to come speak at my event?" And I was like, sure, I'd love to speak at your event. I didn't know what that would look like. And he invited me and I was so scared and excited and all the different feelings, you know. I remember trying to get ready, putting on my tie and like, I had glasses on. I was just trying to be all professional like a business person. I got there and got on stage. I was so scared. I was just like so nervous. And actually, if you guys want, I pulled two clips. Some of you guys may have seen these clips before if you follow me, but I pulled two clips of me actually my very first speaking thing I ever did. You guys wanna see what, how bad I actually was? And so, I'll just show you real quick. It's kind of embarrassing, but you know. If they're like, let's see. Alright, so this is Russell Brunson, 21 years old, scared to death, my first time speaking in front of other human beings about a topic I was passionate about, and here we go. But what I wanted to talk about tonight is kind of a broad overview, better, hopefully help you to better to get better information out of the whole internet marketing business. This is a lot bigger group than I had planned. You guys able to hear that at all? It's pretty quiet. You guys able to hear that? Yeah? Okay, cool. I got one-on-one. This is the next day, I think, and it was the first time they wanted me to speak and then sell something at the end of it. You can see how scared I was in this video because I had never sold anything and I was like, anyway, I was so scared. But here's my second presentation on day number 2 of the event. Okay, I've got Am I getting close on time? If you do join the affiliate boot camp, it'll give you lifelong training. It's a $47 a month value. You'll get it for free. Who would like a piece of that? Here's my irresistible offer. And hopefully you guys learned a lot from this presentation.

Give him a standing ovation.

He did a great job.

All right, that was it. Nobody stood up. Nobody gave me an ovation. It was like the most awkward thing. And I remember after that I was like so embarrassed. I was just like, oh, I will never do this again. In fact, I remember like going up to my hotel room that night and I was too scared to go back down because I didn't want to see the other attendees. I didn't want to see the speakers. I was like so embarrassed. And I remember I sat in the hotel room for the next like 3 days of the event. I sat there. I remember I ordered Häagen-Dazs ice cream and coconut shrimp and I ate those while I watched movies all day long. I was like, I'm not leaving this hotel until my flight leaves. And it was like so painful. I was like, oh, I wanted, I saw people doing it. I was like, I feel like I should be doing that. I saw how a really good presentation could change someone's life. It could change their future. It could change everything. I remember times, I served a mission for my church. I remember times where I would watch some of the great speakers and teachers. They'd speak and they would make me feel something where I wanted to change my life. I wanted to do better. I wanted to be better. And I was just like, I had so much respect for people who could do that. And I was like, I have to learn how to do this. Like, if I want to influence people and to help people and to actually change their lives, I can't just do it hiding behind a computer. I have to learn how to speak. And so, I started trying to learn. I started buying courses and doing, you know, going through people's public speaking training and I never got polished where like, you know, I'm not a professional speaker. Like, whenever I speak somewhere, they felt the reviews, people always like, he said, um, too much. He talks too fast. And like, I never became like, I became me as a speaker, right? I found my voice, I found out how I want to tell stories, I found out how to inspire people, how to move people, how to motivate people, and how to share my voice in a way where my people would hear me and they would follow me and I could actually serve them and I could change their lives. And you fast forward now, man, 20 years ago from that awkward shy kid who was scared to death, and look at myself now 20 years later where, like Richman said, I'm on day 3, tomorrow's day 4 of an event that we've been doing with, you know, 40,000, 50,000 people around the world who are watching this event, right? I've been on stage every single day and then on Monday, Tuesday, I have a 2-day event and last week I had 2 2-day events last week and I look at where I have the most impact in people's lives now and it's typically not me behind a computer doing internet marketing stuff, it's me speaking and sharing my voice and being able to take the ideas and thoughts I have and try to give them to other people so they can change their lives. And I can tell you it's one of the most, one of the most fulfilling things in my entire life. And every time I'm planning and preparing for an event, I get stressed and anxiety. I'm sure a lot of you guys who are doing your presentations probably felt that. But then when I get done with it, always I'm just like, that was the best feeling to see how, like what I said, how it changed someone, how it moved them. And so for any of you guys, you know, I know everyone here is on different journeys. Some of you guys are very young kids, I know, who are participating. Some of you guys are older in life. Some of you guys, you've spoke a lot. Some of you kind of beginners. But I'm hoping that kind of gives you some inspiration, just like, Anybody can learn this. It's a learnable skill. If you practice, you can get better, right? And the more you practice, the better you can get to the spot where you can be doing this every single day and you can have this as your career. And you'll find that there's always gonna be a percentage of people who don't like you, who, for me, they think I talk too fast or they don't like me for whatever reason. But if you are willing to continue to do it and you learn how to find your voice, then like your people will find you 'cause they'll be the ones that you are called to serve and called to change their lives. And so tonight as I was watching that video, I was like thinking about, man, I wish I could go back 20, was it 20, 22, 23 years ago to that Russell that was in the audience, was so scared. And I think like, what would I say to him? Like if I could go next to him and just be like, hey Russell, you don't, you know, we look different, but like I'm your, I'm future you. This is your future, man. I wish I could grab and just be like, I know like you're scared and you're awkward and you're like, you don't know if this is the right path. Is even worth trying or learning, and I would grab and just be like, dude, like, I promise you, if you stay on this path, if you keep trying to find your voice, and keep sharing your message, and keep doing it, despite your own flaws, your own inadequacies, the fact that nobody's listening to you for so long, year after year after year, nobody would listen to me, but if you continue to do that, eventually your people will find you, and you will literally change their life, and you will have people for the rest of your life, every time you see them, come to you like, man, Russell, you changed my life, you changed my life, you changed my life, because you're willing to sacrifice now when you're scared and now when you're nervous, now when you're worried. And I hope that is inspiring for any of you guys wherever you are in your journey, because it's like learning how to speak and how to persuade and influence and help people. I don't think there's much of a greater gift that God's given any of us. And if you have it on your heart to do it, which obviously you're here, you have it on your heart to do it, man, it's like just lean into it and practice it. It's a learnable skill. And the more you do it, the more success you'll have and the more people's lives you'll change and you'll get addicted to it. People ask me all the time like, Russell, why don't you retire now? You have enough money, you can retire. And I always tell them like, there's this feeling for me when I'm on stage, I'm sharing something and I see how it affects somebody where like they have that aha or that shift for a moment. Like that feeling is one of the most powerful feelings in the world. The best way I can describe it is, for most people, especially if you're speaking, I'm assuming, is like you've accomplished something in your life, right? And you felt like you felt that feeling. It's like the best feeling in the world, right? How many of you guys know that feeling? You've done something, you accomplished it. For me, when I was growing up, I was a wrestler. So for me, it was like wrestling, when you would win a match, the ref, like you shake hands and the ref raises your hand. And for me, that was my whole life, that was the greatest feeling I ever felt. I was like, there's nothing that'll ever match that feeling for me. It's like the best feeling in the whole world. And I wrestled competitively in high school and college. I tried to compete in the Olympics for a little while. It's like, so I wrestled at a pretty high level and every time I'd win and get my hand raised, I was like, this is the greatest feeling in the world. And, but it was interesting 'cause it wasn't until I had my kids, I've got 5 kids and I have twin boys now who just graduated. And like one's on a mission for my church, one's working. And anyway, when they were born, growing up, I wanted them to be a wrestler like me. And when they got into middle school, I started them wrestling. And one of the twins like was a little more, he kind of picked it up a lot faster The other one just really struggled. And I remember, in fact, after 2 or 3 days of wrestling practice, he was like, he did not like it. He's like, "I wanna quit." He's like, "I don't like this, Dad." And I remember one of the wrestling coaches said something like, you know, "It's better than being a ballerina," or something. He's like, "I'd rather be a ballerina than a wrestler, and this is my son." I'm like, "No." And then we kept practicing and practicing, and he'd go start going to matches, and like, he lost his first match and his second match and his third match, and he lost. Week after week, he lost match after match. He like, and after practice we'd sit down, I'd work with him and we'd drill and we'd practice and we'd drill and we'd practice and we'd drill and we'd practice. And then he'd go to the next match and he'd lose again. And it was just this like the most brutal season. Like he wanted to win and he was just having such a hard time. And we worked so hard between every single thing. And then I remember the very last match of the season, we're at the high school or at the middle school and we're warming up, me and him are drilling. He was a little tiny guy. Me and him were drilling, getting ready for his match. And he goes out there And he wrestles this match and when the match was done, he wins. He wins the match and he jumps up and he runs over and the ref has him shake hands and Bowen's hand gets raised. And he like, after he jumps off and he does this little skip, he runs over and gives me a hug and I'm just bawling my eyes out. And I remember in that moment I was like, that was the greatest feeling in the world. It wasn't watching my hand get raised. It was watching the hand of someone I'd been working with get their hand raised. And what you're gonna find as a speaker is like, the reason why you wanna speak is you have a message, right? You had your hand raised for something and it meant the world to you. But what you're gonna find is when you start sharing your message and you see it affect somebody else's life and you see their hand get raised, it'll be infinitely better than the best feeling you've had of this day. Like me, when I started my entrepreneurial journey and I'm teaching entrepreneurs and like, you know, I'd done all these offers, we made $1 million, we made $10 million, all these things, and like, it always felt good, my hand getting raised. But when I show somebody something and the light bulb goes off in their head and they do it and then they make money and they come back like, Russell, we did this, like 100% always feels better. And that's for me the addicting part. So I will continue to do this for as long as I have the ability to speak. And hopefully you guys will as well, because I believe that all of you guys have a message from God. You've been called to serve a group of people. And if you're willing to step into that calling, you will literally change their lives. And by doing that, it's going to change your life. So, that's my hope for you guys today. So I love what you're doing, I love this challenge, I love everything about it. Most of you guys are probably gonna be more polished speakers than me, but man, if you dive into it and love it as much as I do, you'll have a chance to speak on some of the biggest stages in the world, and I've had, again, the craziest opportunities I've spoken on. I spoke on a stage in front of 35,000 people in this baseball stadium. I've been on Facebook Lives with Tony Robbins, I had a million people live on it, I was speaking, just the craziest opportunities because I jumped right in and just gave it my all and tried my best despite my flaws, despite the fact that I talk too fast and I slur my words half the time. Because I'm just passionate about what I have to share and I love it and I'm just going to keep sharing it until I'm not able to ever again. So I hope that helps you guys and you're on a fun part of the journey. Dive in. What these guys are teaching you along the way is the foundation for you guys to become great speakers and we're looking for the next top speaker. So anyway, Richmond, thanks for letting me be here. I appreciate you guys. And I hope that was helpful for somebody.

Super helpful, Russell, and appreciate the story too. I haven't heard the hand-raising story too. And I'm so glad you kept all your original videos of you speaking because it's so tempting for anyone watching here just to delete them all. Yeah. And so I'm so glad just so everyone can understand that we've got to start somewhere also. But also when you look back and say, well, I'm I've grown so much too. So thank you for sharing that and your beautiful story too. And again, sincerely, thank you so much for giving up your time. I know you're super busy as well, and everybody here has, um, got an extra sense of, I guess, belief and confidence and faith that this can all happen for them as well. So ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Russell Brunson one more time.

And thank you, Richmond. Thank you, Kaylee. Appreciate you guys. Thanks for letting me be here. I appreciate it. Have fun tonight with the rest of the competition, you guys.

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