163: Gillian Ferrabee - On Speaking With Our Bodies

With me, your host, Sally Koering Zimney. Together with some fabulous guests, we will have a casual conversation about the art of public speaking. Because a good talk can move the world. And it'll be fun. Yeah, I would think making alien cows meaningful, that's not a small task.

I love your giggle. Wow.

Oh my gosh, just waiting for everybody to figure out the alphabet. Hey everybody! Oh my gosh, it's been too long since I've been here and seen you. Because I can't see you, um, there's a podcast. You're listening to me. But, you know, as always, I wouldn't bring you people if I weren't excited about them. So of course I'm excited again about this show that I get to share with you today because, as she says in this podcast, we had an instant connection when I got to meet her at the Story Gathering this past fall. Her name is Jillian Farabee, and she is this unbelievable performer. I mean, she's had this incredible background as an actress and a dancer and doing clowning and improv, and then she worked for Cirque du Soleil and was kind of a talent scout for them and has done just all these really unbelievable things. But what struck me about her when I saw her speak at Story was this grounded sense of who she is. And like I told her, there was absolutely no filter. There was no wall between who she is and who she was giving herself to be to us as the audience. There was no pretense. And then she went on to talk about how to really be in our bodies. And that is what she was doing And so she was speaking from this really authentic, powerful place, and I found it— like, I just wrote "awesome" next to her picture in my storybook because I thought she was awesome. And so— and then afterwards we got to talking, and I was like, "Oh my gosh, we're having, like, mind-meld awesome fun conversations here." So I'm really excited to share her with you because she is insightful and deep and funny and such an artist and also can bring and gives us tangibles so that we can take them with us as we head out the door and whatever we're doing. So I love that combination. I think it's really powerful, and I hope you enjoy as much as I have. Here she is, Gillian Farabee. So the reason I'm so excited to bring you on the show is because exactly what we were just talking about, this— you bring this really interesting experience on stage and as an artist and a creative performer. And then as you're up there giving information, and because it— because you had a very informative talk at Story. Like, it was really rich with tangible takeaways, and it was really— it wasn't, you know, the adventurous story that some people brought to the stage. And I loved it because you were this three-dimensional human being, and it was about being in your body. Like, just the way you inhabited the space, I was like, Yes, of course she's been an actress and spent a lot of time on stage because there was no pretense. You were just up there, you, and I loved that. I just thought it was, it stood out to me. Everybody was amazing in kind of their own way, and what I loved about you is that you were in your body fully yourself on stage. I just felt like there was nothing in between us and you.

Wow, thank you. Yeah, that's what I'm aiming for. So I know, I know, nice to hear that. It's taken a couple of years to get there, but, um, thank you. That's what, for my own sake and for what I think really creates a current to communicate along between me and the audience, that's what I've found over the years, uh, is the overall best, is to be in my body, myself, in the moment, and also have clear content. That, that's one thing that's important to me, is that, um, I think as an entertainer, I— which means I know how to entertain, that's what I've done a lot of my life, and I'm aware not to get up on stage just to entertain. And which is a very valuable thing for people to just have fun and be entertained for a period of time. But I think as a performer, I could have a tendency to just do that. So I've trained myself to design structured content that has good examples and is relatable and gives a takeaway so that I feel better afterwards that people are taking something home that they can act on and not just going, she was so funny. Right, right.

And it's great, like, people who are funny, that's a gift and awesome. But yeah, when you can do both, right? Yeah, it's amazing. It'd be funny and offer a lot of insight and value for people. Well, um, so let's start there because we've kind of hinted at your background. You've done some really amazing things and have a long history of being on stage. So can you share with us a little bit about what that's looked like and, and kind of how you've wound your way to being a quote-unquote speaker?

Yeah, I like wound. It's like I'm seeing like, you know, the Wizard of Oz, her like yellow brick road. Um, uh, yeah, so I was I mean, in reflection, I realized that I've been a performer, which in a lot of ways means a communicator, you know, communicator through story, since I was a kid. Like, I think I wrote my first play at 9. I was in a creative arts alternative school. I remember telling my mom when I was 10 that I wanted to be Charlie Chaplin, which is, you know, it's these kind of things, they're sweet little anecdotes, but when you think about it more, As an adult, I was like, wow, why would a child say that? You know, why would I have said that? And I hadn't even seen that much of his films. I think I understood that he was funny and communicated in this universal way that was non-verbal, but also was saying occasionally very profound things about human beings in a way that a kid could understand, you know. So then I did that first play when I was 9, and I wrote it and cast it, and I It was sort of like Snow White mixed with Sleeping Beauty, and I remember I cast myself as Dopey. And so just to know that I was writing and thinking about performing and performing already at a young age. And then I played music for a long time, and then I went into dance as a career, ballet and then contemporary dance. And then I came into that milieu in Canada when this thing called dance theatre was starting to happen. Which is kind of physical theater mixed with dance, and there's lots of that out there now. And Cirque du Soleil became sort of an example of that mixed with circus arts. So that whole era of the '80s and '90s, it was happening in a couple places around the world. And then I got enough injuries that I wanted to stop depending on dancing and started acting. And then some, you know, those stories, someone stumbled into my acting class and cast me in a TV show. And then I did mostly TV and film and a little bit of stage for 10 years. And then I started working at Sook Tse Dei in their casting team, looking for artists and running auditions. And I did that for— worked at Sook for 12 and a half years, started in casting, and then eventually was creative director of a media company that Sook Tse Dei created in partnership with Bell Media, a Canadian company, and media company. And it was around that time that I got invited. Yeah, I got invited the first time to speak was a friend of mine was art directing an event in New York City called Feast on Good. And he was also art directing or part of the art direction team of the Future of Storytelling. And they ran out of a speaker, somebody canceled on Feast. So they invited myself and another person from Cirque to speak. And I mostly wanted to go to the conference, and we didn't have a big budget for that, so, in the company, for us to go to events. So I thought, well, I'll speak, and that'll be a way. And it was a really interesting moment, 'cause I watched the other speakers and realized that I, from my years of acting and performing, and I studied clowning as well when I was younger, that I could understand why different speakers were connecting in different ways with the audience. And I could understand their level of comfort and the impact that was having. And then I got up on stage with the person that was my boss at the time, who had done some speaking, but it was by no means her favorite thing to do or professional background, you know. And, um, and I noticed on stage that I was so comfortable, you know, from years and years and years of being on stage. So I knew what our text was, and I was just feeling the audience in the moment and having a great time.. And I could feel that she was more relying on what we'd rehearsed, you know. And so I had a moment of, "Oh, I remember how to do this, how to be on stage." And I could do this, and this is really fun to do this talking about different subjects rather than doing a text or no text as a dancer. And then from there, people just— it was actually I did the Future of Storytelling, I taught a workshop, and then Ben, who ran the original Story conference, Story Chicago, called me and invited me to go. And I only found out later that it was a cold call. I thought somehow someone had referred me to him, you know, but no. And then it really snowballed. And so for 2 and a half years, I did all kinds of talks. I never did the same talk Twice I accepted almost any invitation. I had just become really curious. Did I want to do this? What did I want to do? And mostly I really enjoyed attending the conferences. So it was a, it was a way to watch other people doing it. And then I think in the, over the last couple of years, I've understood that, that it's something I'm now committed to doing on purpose and what I like about it and what I would like to communicate, etc.

Cool. Well, it's funny listening to you talk. What I'm realizing is, as a talent scout or whatever you called yourself, as a person who went out and sought talent for these incredible shows with, with a really high bar for, um, for talent, obviously, that you would use the same sort of intuition and that like pulling together of analyzing people's approach, like how they're connecting, what that looks like, what it feels like, what works, what doesn't. You know, it's this really funny amalgamation of all kinds of different things that, that is resonating with me as a coach which is different than a talent scout, but it's that same sort of like, I see what's happening here. Something magical is happening here. What's working? And that ability to not just recognize that, but to start to identify what those things are. And just like, it's a kind of a cool superpower.

I do like that. Yeah.

How many people have that? That ability, um, because noted, like, I liked that, that felt good, or that person was great, but then digging a little bit deeper on what that is, I think that's, that's my jam too. So I'm like, oh, let's talk about that.

That's— yeah, because when I was— even before I was, um— so talent scout means— it's not what it would be in sports exactly, is at Cirque, we were running these 2-day workshop auditions all over the world for different kinds of artists and disciplines, and then occasionally going to theater events or other kinds of events and scouting for unusual stuff. So in that, you have less of a direct connection, or the artists are on stage, not necessarily performing in an audition. And before that, when I was an actor, I again stumbled into working in the casting room during auditions as a reader, which is where, you know, if somebody's coming in for a role in a film and the scene they've chosen for the audition is this, let's say, this man breaking up with his girlfriend, well, they hire a reader to play the girlfriend off camera. So, you know, you're, you're doing all kinds of roles because you're playing opposite different people auditioning for different roles. And I lived near a casting agency and their reader early in my career, didn't show up, was sick, and they called my agent and said, "Is there anybody that can get here in 10 minutes?" And so I went in and I started reading, and then I ended up doing it for 6 years, and regularly with 2 casting agencies in Montreal. So I've got—

What a fun job.

Yeah, I mean, it is if you're like you and I with that curiosity. Some actors might feel like, "I don't wanna watch other people get jobs all day." You know, like, so. I actually got a few jobs from it because the director and the producer often hear you in the room and think, wow, you're doing a good job, you know.

Yeah.

Um, but mostly what I saw was all my friends and colleagues coming in for auditions and how they navigated the whole process of before, during, and after their performance. And it is kind of a performance from the minute you come in the room, for sure, and meet the producer. But then when you actually shift into performing and So that was also like a lab, you know? Totally. And I know that when I was a performer, I was lucky in dance. When I've done live stage for many years, I was with companies that we performed a lot, like, you know, 300, 400 shows a year minimum. And so over time, the experience of stage you know, shifts and becomes refined as an experience. If you only do it 20 times a year, you're still in a certain level of newness and nervousness, you know. But if you do it all those times in theaters—Europe, you know, US, Canada—different contexts, coming onto stage from different moments in your own life, like one night you're coming after the best day visiting Paris, the next time you're performing you just got some kind of bad news from your life and you're trying to get your head into performing and, you know, so the things I think when you perform a lot that you learn a lot about is this shift, you know, because you and everyone in the audience had whatever day you had, but it's your job as a performer to create this moment and its container, you know, to say now when the lights go down We're the ones that make this now something other than just a regular evening. And so how do you shift into— how do you bring people into that? And then the other thing that happens when you perform a lot is you can leave yourself more because you know the material and you're not in memory or in self-consciousness so much. And my experience is then you begin to— it's as if you can sort of move your attention to the audience and back to yourself and then out to the audience and back to yourself. And then you begin to feel where the audience is at, you know, from one night to another. And that— a friend of mine calls it looping, like you're sort of looping your energy out and back. And then you really understand that you're in a conversation. And I think that's something that when you perform a lot, you have— you develop that ease to be able to move your attention away from just you, you know, like, "How am I doing?" and "Where are the lights?" and "Where's my clicker?" and, you know, that's normal if you only do it 5 times a year plus however many times you rehearse it. But rehearsing without an audience is never the same. So when you do it many times in front of an audience, eventually, you know, you're familiar with what you have to deal with on stage, and you've also probably dropped your clicker a few times and figured out how that isn't the end of the world, so you're not afraid to drop stop it anymore. And all of this becomes more comfortable, and then you can actually extend your awareness out to include everybody else who's there.

And that's where the magic happens. When— I loved how you put it— you begin to feel where the energy is, and it is such a cool experience if you can get to that place. Where you're not thinking, you're not bouncing around in your own head and thinking about 12 different things while you're also trying to make something meaningful come out of your mouth and have it be meaningful to the people who you're talking to. Like, it's a really hard task. And I think, you know, we undervalue how challenging it is to be really fully present in your body and to just do— be in that loop that's happening between you and the audience. And one time I saw Rob Bell speak. Have you ever seen Rob Bell or heard of Rob Bell? No. I've had him on the show. He's, he's this really incredible author and he's— he used to be a pastor, so he's done tons of speaking and um, I, I got to see him live, and at one point he, he just, he loops. That is what he does. He really feeds off what people are giving him, and he kind of has a very loose connection to his agenda, right? And in a, in a really beautiful way. And at one point I just kind of raised my hand because there was maybe 150 people in the room. It wasn't a ton of people, so it had this intimate feel to it. And I raised my hand, I was like, can we talk about what's happening in the room right now? Can we talk about what, what we're creating here? And he was like, yeah, yeah, right, because it was— I was like, this is crazy. This is like— because the energy that you create together, that's what it's all about, is life, you know, like That's why the TEDx videos, I mean, I love, they could be awesome, but they can't possibly replace what's happening in the room.

You know? Yeah. Well, that's— it's interesting because that brings me to one of the things that I became curious about when I started speaking 2 years ago, which is like a, you know, coming back to stage in that context after 10 years of not performing, you know? And two things stood out to me. One was what you just said where how— so it's me realizing as soon as I began speaking that it's different than 10 years ago or 15 years ago because there's this virtual audience that will have access to this sometimes at the same time streaming or at any point in time afterwards. And so as a performer, I was like, how do I actually loop out, or what, what do I need to do, if anything, in my performing or in my moment on stage that will read to them or play to them, if you like, you know? And what I noticed is there's a tendency— when I first started, it was maybe more prevalent in everybody back then— to play mostly to that, you know? That's what we were briefly talking about before with the TED Talks. If there's a sense that this talk could have a a wide virtual reach, then some people are actually feel like they're performing more to that eventual virtual audience than to who's in the room.

Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's a, it's a difficult thing. And I just did some writing about it because the truth is more people will see it via video than will, or in the, you know, people who are in the room. And so you do feel a sense of responsibility towards the the video.

Yeah. And also for me, as, as a lifelong performer, I always feel responsibility for who's in the room because bottom line, these people showed up today. So I don't want to, you know, not play for them. But I became curious, as you said, because I've thought about it for a long time. So it's almost a science to me. You know, I thought, so how, how do I include that for myself? The awareness either because I choose to, or if someone professionally really does need to think about that second and third and fourth and hundredth life of the content, how do I, first of all, create something happening in the room that is so alive that somebody watching it later will still get that feeling? Because, you know, we've all seen that more in like music, maybe a jazz improvisation or some performances we see. And so one thing I realized is when any time in life, and this, you know, we learn this in improvisation and you learn this in music improvisation, that when the audience knows that you are actually discovering something in the moment or coming up with something in the moment, when they know that, that's an even stronger connection because they love watching you in the moment for real, right? And if you know how to do that because you're comfortable with your craft, that's something I think does read even beyond your physical presence. Like, virtually people can feel that moment happen, you know, because the way people laugh and the way the person in Discovery on stage is responding on a human level, we all recognize that. And it's, and it's also a great thing to do anyway, but it's also one of those things that reads even beyond, strangely enough, the moment.

I mean, people love to watch babies on stage. Yes, animals, mistakes.

And what I found is there's no— you know, from years of doing improvisation and other stuff, there's a way to set up for yourself something that will create that for yourself comfortably. And it sounds— because what's coming to my mind now also is, so that was the one thing about the extra virtual, you know, audience. And the other was, as I stepped into this world, there was like this buzz. So this is maybe 3 or 4 years ago about this word authenticity. Yeah. And I was like, what you just described, people who are learning to speak, speaking maybe for, you know, they're experts in a field, but they're speaking for the 5th time or 10th time in their life. Because their expertise is so interesting, but they're not performers, you know. So they're given some training or guidance and then they're told, "Oh, by the way, be authentic too," you know, which is like the hardest thing.

Just go ahead and be that.

That'd be great. And you can't be authentic when you're trying to be authentic, you know. So you were saying, you know, this— you're in your bubble and then people are like, "No, just be authentic," and then you're— that just becomes another another task you're trying to accomplish along with the clicker and the text you've memorized, and now I have to try to be authentic, you know? So that was— and then people, there's a little bit of cliché authentic stuff happening, you know? But the art of it is, I mean, I think it happens at Story and where— I'm trying to think of Yeah, like I remember a story, I was standing outside and I mean backstage, and then I knew I had realized I had to wear these new glasses I had because of the distance of the, you know, the, what do you call it? The screen that we look at. Yeah. The monitor. Yeah. And I thought I could, what I've learned is like, this is any small thing that is happening to you that would normally distract you. If you include that and tell people about it, That puts you in the moment because that's the thing that's taking me out of the moment. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to just tell everyone about this glasses thing because then they will be with me in this discovery of how to use these glasses on stage. And so that's something you learn in improvisation is something that is anything that's happening to you that's relatively new, that potentially could distract you if you include that and then tell people that it's happening, that puts you back in the moment fully. And so these are the kinds of things that, and it often for me, nothing, I was also speaking at a talk in Milan and before going on stage, I could see the audience when the previous speaker was out and they were like asleep. It was 9 in the morning in Italy. They obviously all had their espresso, but for whatever reason, they were fighting to stay awake, you know?. And I just could feel like I can't just go out and add— it was a 40-minute talk and the previous one was 40 minutes. And I thought, I'm just going to lose everybody. I'm just going to look out at people trying not to sleep, you know? And so I decided to add an exercise that I knew would help, or more interactive exercise. And I could have just acted like I'd planned it all along, but I went in and said, okay guys, um, I feel like I have some really exciting content and I can, It appears to me that the room's having a hard time staying awake this morning. So I added an exercise. We just moved our bodies every few minutes and, and took deep breaths and some things that people shared, asked people to share information that took the energy into the room. But I told them, like, I'm just going to add this now so that we can all stay more present. And so those to me, Authenticity really always comes down to where are you at, what's happening in your own mind. And you can add that to your existing content in a way that people realize you're going to talk about something you know well that you've talked about before, but you're also going to add your reality. Yeah. Yes.

It cannot be the same thing every time. I mean, I remember you and I talking about how And you said this in the conversation already, that you create something new every time you speak. And I think that's so important, right? That it is not cookie cutter, which it puts a lot of onus on us as speakers that we not just show up and do the same thing because these are different people. It's a different context. You know, they're asking themselves different questions. They need something a little bit different from us every time. Um, you know, that I'm sure you're pulling from some basic things that translate from talk to talk, but to be able to personalize it, I feel like that's part of what helps us be fully present and, you know, authentic, dare I say it.

Yeah, because like, I— what's interesting is the two examples I just gave you, I had kind of thought of them for our conversation, like, oh, I could use those as examples. And they already felt less alive when I told you, because I was like, I already told myself these an hour ago, you know? So it's interesting how that happens, you know? And how do we, how do we keep things? So I caught myself partway through telling the story and thought, okay, why don't I just put myself back in the situation and tell it as I'm feeling now, rather than how I planned an hour ago to tell it when I got here. Right. You know, I think it also, as you said, it keeps us more present, more alive, curious ourselves, because we're wondering about how we want to deliver this content in this room today, and that keeps us present. I think it's also important, I've noticed, whenever you can be there for the other speakers in the sequence of a conference, So that, that's, I mean, I know we don't always have time, but that's one of my priorities is try to do at least the day that I'm in, everybody before me, and sometimes the day before, because then also you'll find out I might've had a piece of content I was going to deliver this way, but the speaker before me covered some of that. And so I can actually take mine farther into my knowledge, or I can adjust it in reference to what they said. Rather than when I've been in the audience, sometimes someone gives content and then the next speaker or one or two later gives the same content, not referencing, right? Which just tells you this must be very valuable content. But it's more interesting for everybody if you can piggyback. Right.

Yeah. Build and expand and like bring a different point of view to it because those are the conversations that they're having as an audience too, is putting all of those pieces together. So what's striking me as we're talking about this is, you know, 15 minutes ago we were talking about finding that loop, right? That finding, mastering your content well enough that you can let go of it, that you can be open to, right, what we're creating in the room. So how do we do that? How do we master the content but also create new content? Right. Like finding that middle space is hard.

Yeah, and I think depending on the personality, your personality as a speaker, I've coached lots of performers over the last 20 years. And so as you said, mastering it so that you're comfortable, but for many performers, not taking it so far that it's not alive anymore, you know, over, over-rehearsing almost. And I found that there's a lot of good material out there about being succinct because I'm a storyteller that can start a story and then start another story. And I think it's the comedian Sarah Silverstein who has a, she's, you know, has one of her shows that's on Netflix, I believe, and she keeps saying, she starts a story and says, okay, put a pin on that. And she goes and tells another story. Okay, put a pin on that. Maybe she's coming back, but actually never comes back. And so I can have that tendency. So learning to, um, people really practicing it in front of people who don't know the content and saying to me, okay, you lost me. Because we know it so well, right? Right. And so having your beginning, middle, and end. And a friend taught me con ex con, which is your concept and then an example of it and then back to the concept. But I think for the performer, for the speaker, what keeps it mastered, you know, rehearsed and masterful and also alive for you is how much you really care about the content. I've learned that. Like, if I kind of— I'm not going to say fake it, but fake is wrong. But let's say if I— the few times someone invited me to talk about something that I was interested enough to be able to talk about it, but I didn't really have enough of my own experience to feel masterful about the content. That's when I would be more nervous and wonder kind of where I was going. So I think you— it has to be something, you know, well, you've been passionate about for a long time and you're passionate about delivering this to people. You know, in my case, I like, I like, I'm passionate about what I deliver being useful to people. That's really my, the payback for me is if someone comes up to me afterwards and says, this is great, I can, like at Story, a woman came up to me and said, I just need a minute of your time, I want to tell you this was life-changing. And she said, I don't mean that in a grandiose way, I mean, you've taught me how to move through fear. And I'm going to use this. It makes sense to me. And I'm going to teach my kids. And I was like, duh, you know, that's awesome. Thank you. The whole day's been worth it. It was worth it anyway. But, um, so that's one of my things. And so when I'm designing the content and practicing it, I look first, do I feel like it's going to be applicable and practical, practicable within, you know, a minute of leaving the room? When a person's had the talk, can they use this right away? And when I'm on stage, I feel like that's what's keeping me connected to the content is, as you said, looping out to these people and to whoever else might get it later and feeling like I could actually really give some people something today that they'll be able to use and it will change how they are being in their life, which I've received many times in my life. You know, that kind of information from people. And it's one of the things I'm most grateful for.

Awesome. I wish if we had more time— and Jillian, maybe we'll just have to do this again sometime— I would love to share and have you share the 4 ways that fear shows up in, in our bodies and how we can physically respond to them. Because like this woman, right, I was like, whoa, this is so cool! Because as a coach, I'm always working with people on how do they battle back their fears. And the way that you framed it up and put it and made it so tangible and, and gave us tools to handle it, I was like, this is cool, this is great. So that was a little tease. Cause I don't have time. I don't think we have time. That's like a whole thing.

The one that, um, so it would be great. So I'll be able to reference Katie Hendricks, who taught me the physical moves you can do. And that this was a, when I was talking about people giving you information, that's a deal breaker, life changer, whatever expression. When I really understood that it happens in your body first and you can't just override it. Like it never, that's actually what creates the loop of anxiety is trying not to have the fear. And, you know, so it didn't, it just flies around in our mind, but we're actually in fear and adrenaline in our body. So then our mind just zips it, you know, and we just feel more and more nervous. But that was a really big one to me that like, when, when I'm doing this call with you, I'm here, I'm moving around in my office and doing some of the moves when I feel myself getting kind of like in a little fear jam, which is where I'm talking to you, but I'm also evaluating myself. That's when I'm like, oh, fear jam, you know. That's amazing.

I gotta do a 'this moved me' moment.

Oh yeah, so something that has moved you lately. Um, I'm moved often.

Uh, I love your Instagram account, by the way. Oh, Thank you. I think you take beautiful pictures and you just find these beautiful moments. That's my This Moved Me moment. There it is. Jillian's Instagram account. Wow. Love your point of view in the world. And you kind of find these, you find this picture in the everyday. That's what I love about it.

It's just like, here's, here's this thing I walked by and it's, you know, Thank you for saying that, because my brain tells me all the time, "Oh, you shouldn't be marketing something," or just like that I should be looking for a point of view, but actually I'm just giving my point of view. I would say there are two moments that come to mind. One is Brad Montague, I think his last name, his closing talk at Story. Yeah, my God. I know, wasn't that so good? Just tears. It was so beautiful. And Jason Jaggard and I had gone in, we were talking backstage and we heard Brad and said, "Oh, quick, let's go into the audience to hear him." We were saying he's such a delight, such a lovely person just to be around, you know. And then during the talk, I turned to him, I said, "I think he might also be enlightened," as a joke, because it was so human. So, you know, gathering, like it just brought the whole room into a sort of temporal community in a way I've rarely seen, that I can remember. And the other one, I was in Auckland, New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, went to see the orchestra there, and there was a soloist, a violinist, and she performed a solo, a Mendelssohn, one of Mendelssohn's violin concertos, stunning. And then she came back out after and said, I was so— she said, I was so touched by the presence of the audience tonight. Everyone was so leaned in to my performance. I want to share— it's like a German folk song, and she just stood on stage and played it by herself. Of course, on the skill level, you know, through the roof. She's a world-class violinist. But this moment moment was, it was everything, you know, it was the music, it was this astonishment that a human being can do this with a piece of carved wood and some hair tail and that we're all here sharing this and that she can remember it and that she's able to create this moment with us. It was really, and I was there with a friend and we came out, she said, it's like the best of human nature. That moment, she said, that was like, gives you hope that we're also capable of that, you know, as well as all the other terrible things that we're aware right now we're capable of. And so those were my two.

You know what I love about both of those is they are about us being physically present with each other in the same space and what happens when we like offer ourselves to each other in that way, in this, I don't know, sharing our gifts and talents and just like being together.

Yes, the two things you just said, being— it's almost like a frequency can happen that everybody gets on the same frequency, you know. So that experiencing that togetherness with such a large number of people in such a safe and lovely way. And then, as you said, one or several people sharing this, their unique talent that's at a high level, you know, we just, we find that beautiful. Look what people can do, how amazing, you know. And those two things are also one of my favorite things in the world.

So cool. It's been so fun to just dig a little deeper with you and talk about these things that we both love so much and to have a little mind meld here, Jillian. It was really great.

And thank you so much for having me. We had an instant connection, literally instant backstage, and I'm— I feel really blessed and grateful that you invited me on and that we can talk more about this and share it with other people. Yeah, we'll keep the connection going.

I really Hey everybody, thanks for listening to another episode of This Moved Me, and I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Gillian Farrabee. She is brilliant, and it was so fun to connect with her, and I love her Canadian accent. Yay! That's just a fun little bit right there too. So next week on the show, is another brilliant person I met at the story conference named John Booker. And John talks about story and mythology and, and how we as, uh, as artists really use these ideas in our work and how to craft better stories. And the wonderful thing about John Booker, he is forever now just tied so close in my heart because when John and I were at the Story Conference together, he willingly, without— after knowing me for maybe 45 seconds, volunteered to be the example speaker in my live coaching workshop, which is really saying something because he had no idea if I was going to be brutal, if I was going to humiliate him, which of course I was not going to do, but he didn't know that. And he so openly and courageously stepped into that, and so I am forever indebted to John Booker. He was brilliant and has an incredibly powerful voice and powerful ideas that I'm so excited to share with you. So that's next week, be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, you guys head over to thismoveme.com. I'd love to see you over there. I've got all kinds of Good stuff happening, and I'm working on a new website. I don't know if it'll be up by the time you go over there. I don't know, go check it out. Maybe it's up there, maybe not, but I'm working on this wonderful— I think it's wonderful, I think it's so cool— this great checklist. It's really even more than a checklist. It is this meaty step-by-step process. If you are working on a talk, you've got to download this and check it out because it'll help walk you through from beginning to end all the different process and all the parts that we need to tackle to make sure that at the end of this we feel like, "Yes, I just kicked some butt and I feel really good about what I did." And you don't have to walk through it alone. I can walk through with you. So go check that out. Alright, thanks guys. See you next week.