In this episode of the "This Moved Me" podcast, host Sally Koering Zimney discusses the vital role of "cheerleaders"—people who provide last‑minute encouragement and coaching for public speakers. She shares a text‑exchange with a speaker named Josh who was nervous about a talk in Germany, illustrating how simple messages of support, reminders to bring joy, and confidence‑boosting advice can transform a speaker’s experience. Sally emphasizes that technology now enables real‑time, remote cheerleading through texts, livestreams, and emails, making support more accessible. She argues that joy is a speaker’s super‑power and that having a dedicated cheerleader can turn a potentially bumpy talk into a powerful story. Listeners are invited to identify and thank their own cheerleaders by tagging them (and the show’s Instagram @thismovedme) with #FindYourCheerleader and #thankyoucheerleader, and to download a printable "love note" from the show notes to express appreciation. The episode closes with a teaser for the next interview with Tony Lloyd, a TEDx speaker and social entrepreneur, promising a deeper conversation about storytelling on stage.
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Hey everybody, and welcome to This Moved Me, a podcast about creating talks that move the world. Episode 183 on finding your cheerleaders. You can do it. I know you can. 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, so waiting for everybody to figure out the alphabet. Hey movers, it's Sally Koering Zimney, and welcome back to another Mini Move Me here on This Move to Sally Koering Zimney. It is episode 183, Finding Your Cheerleaders, and I want to kind of get us in the mode. I want to share with you a little bit about this text exchange that I had with one of my speakers who was off in Germany giving a big talk that he was nervous about. So he says, he sends me a picture, he says, "I'm about to speak to a bunch of Germans in Germany. I'm a little nervous. Send me good vibes." give me sound encouragement. And I say, holy cow, do you speak fluent German? And I say, remember, bumpy talks make great stories, dot, dot, dot. Eventually— I'm not sure that was helpful. But he says, I don't want a bumpy talk. And everyone knows English, so that's good. I say, of course, then have fun. Joy is contagious. Most people forget to bring joy with them to the stage. Even talking about serious stuff, life is full of so much depth and joy, and we feel good remembering that. And then I say, plus joy might be your superpower. He says, okay, um, yeah, let me see. I'm nervous because are a bit serious and mostly hear about tech ideas. And I said to him, stick to what you do so well. Trust in that. Find a receptive face in the audience to connect with. You know how to meet their energies with yours. You do that every day. Adults can be tougher than kids. He talks to kids a lot because they're harder to read, but I can't tell you how many times I think I'm not connecting and then someone, a person I was sure wasn't connecting, comes up and says something really positive afterwards. You just never know. Okay, he says, "Thank you, I'm next." Go Josh! Okay, then he says to me— this is maybe too much detail, but I, but I think this is great— he says, OMG, thank you for the positive vibes. It was weird to be nervous about speaking. I got lots of tech 20-something people who said I connected to their heart. Your words were very important tonight. I want to thank you, thank you, thank you. And I said, you're so welcome. I'm so glad it went well. Way to go, Josh. Okay, I wanted to share that with you because Lately I've been so jazzed that my speakers have been reaching out to me like this, and as they're getting out into the world, I love being kept in the loop about how it's going, and I love giving the— having the opportunity to give some encouragement, because even if I cannot be with them in the moment, they're reaching out to me because We all need that last-minute kind of coaching and encouragement, what I call cheerleading. And though, like, last-minute coaching and support cannot be the only support that you get, it's powerful and it's needed. And I love that through technology we can really do this for each other without even being there. I mean, a few weeks back I got to livestream, watch livestream, one of my speakers give a huge talk out in DC that was shaping a new direction that her company was taking. That was moving for me. It was so exciting, and I could text her and her support team and be like, "I'm cheering you on. You got this. This is so great. That was awesome." Right? I got an email from a speaker who recently, who just totally rocked a talk, and he was really excited about it, and he wanted to share with me how good it felt and how different it felt, and we talked a little bit about why. Why did that feel so different? There's, there's a lot of power in these exchanges, right? I get to send and get texts from my speakers the day of their talks letting them know I'm thinking about them, and they let me know where they're at, how they're feeling, how it went, what happened. So we have the technology now to really cheerlead and support each other in ways that we, we didn't get to before. And we have to have support systems in this work. Speaking can be really isolating. It's a little scary, intimidating. It can be exhilarating. It can be really humbling. Really, I mean, it can be all of the feelings, all of the feelings. But the moment we're about to step on stage, my question for you is, who is the person who you can reach out to? And say, "Here I go, wish me luck," or, "I'm feeling nervous," or, "This just happened," right? Whatever. To reach out to and know that they are cheering you on wholeheartedly. That is your cheerleader, and I want you to find— if you don't have one, I want you to find one. And if you have one, I want you to make sure that they know that they are your cheerleader and how much you appreciate them. And I often end my sessions and interactions with my speakers by saying, "I'm cheering you on!" And I am. And for a while I felt like, "Oh, it's kind of fluffy." And like, especially— this is dumb— but as a blonde, sometimes I'm like, I kind of don't play into that whole thing. But I am just a very positive person, so I just gotta own it. And But I don't think it's fluffy or meaningless or just like, yay, easy. I don't see it that way and I don't mean it that way. I mean it in a I've got your back way and in an I believe in you way. And that is powerful. We all need somebody in our speaking lives. Well, I mean, we all need somebody in our lives Who is our go-to cheerleader? Who is your support person? Who is cheering you on? So I would like to know. Here's what I want to do. I want us to find our cheerleaders. And if you found a cheerleader and you have a cheerleader, I want you to recognize these— this person, these people. Okay, so here's what we're going to do. We are going to hashtag #FindYourCheerleader #thankyoucheerleader. You're gonna head over to your Instagram page, to my Instagram page @thismovedme, and we're gonna tag that person, okay? So tag This Moved Me, tag that person, and let them know that their cheering you on has made an impact on you and your speaking and that you appreciate them. And then I want you to head over to the show notes over on thismovedme.com for this episode, episode 183, and and you are gonna download a totally awesome love note for your cheerleader, okay? It's not like kissy-kissy love note. Like, I can't believe I just said that. It's not a kissy-kissy love note, but it's an I appreciate you love note because we could use some more love in this world, right? So let's do it. We're gonna cheer on our cheerleaders. And my movers, as I wrap this up, I want you to know that I am cheering you on. My hope is that you have somebody who you are reaching out to personally, but know that I am cheering you on as much as I can here virtually from afar. So let's do that. Instagram, tag your cheerleader, tag me. Let's do this. Let's bring some more love and appreciation into the world for these people who are supporting you in a big way. It's not a small thing. So let's not write this off. And then go download a little love note and send it to him. Woohoo! Okay, awesome, you guys. Okay, now next week we are hearing from Tony Lloyd, who is one of my speakers and host of the Social Entrepreneur Podcast. He's a friend of mine, he's a TEDx speaker, and he is one, honestly, one of the most thoughtful and kind leaders that I have met on this journey. And yes, I've had the privilege of coaching Tony, but honestly, I felt like, and still feel like, Tony is a mentor for me. So I'm really grateful for him and excited to share with you this honest, reflective, really emotive conversation about how we bring ourselves and our stories to the stage in the process of speaking. Especially in the TEDx context, because that is a goal for so many of us and it can really mess with our heads. So, so excited about this conversation and I cannot wait to see you over in that episode. See you then. On speakers, my movers, yeah, and on Instagram. Again, I'm trying. I'm, you know, not young and quite as hip as I like to think I am. But here we go. Alright, that's it for me. Honey.
