In this solo‑host episode of the LEAP series, Sally Koering Zimney urges listeners—her "Movers"—to treat risk as a compass for personal and speaking growth. She recounts a workshop at the Story Gathering where she challenged speakers to use risk during lunch, prompting them to take small, vulnerable actions such as sharing personal stories, sitting alone with strangers, putting phones away, and journaling. These anecdotes illustrate how intentional, modest risks sharpen authenticity and make talks memorable. Sally then invites the audience to identify their own "edge" for 2020, commit to a leap, and publicly declare their intention via a comment, while also encouraging subscription, rating, and review of the podcast. She previews the next episode, which will address how to cope when a leap doesn’t land as expected. The episode blends motivational storytelling, practical examples, and a clear call to action, positioning risk‑taking as a pathway to greater visibility, connection, and impact.
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Hey movers! It is week 2 of our LEAP series and I'm so excited that people are going to leap with me in 2020. I, I want to leap more. I need to leap more. My audience needs me to leap more. I cannot hide anymore. And whenever I need a message, I turn around and say my audience needs that same message too. So I know that there are those of you listening right now who you need a nudge, and this year is about showing up bigger, not hiding, getting more visible, sharing your voice, because you have something to say and we need your voice. So I am here to nudge you off the cliff to take that leap. So this week's episode is really all about risk, and not just risk as an idea, but using risk as your compass. So a few years back, I was doing this workshop for the Story Gathering, which is one of my all-time favorite— conference is really not the right word, but experiences, creative gatherings that happens every year. And I was super excited to to be asked to lead a workshop there. So there was like 50 people in the room and we were talking about the importance of risk in good speaking, right? Because of course the most memorable, interesting talks have an element of risk in them. We know that and we cheer speakers on who take some risk. It helps us lean in. We are just really drawn in towards something. Now, there is a point at which risk can go too far and it makes your audience nervous or uncomfortable. And every audience's zone of risk is a little bit different, but on the whole, the thing between a memorable talk and a forgettable one is the speaker's willingness to push themselves beyond what feels safe. Comfort zone and growth for the speaker and the audience, they just don't go together. And we know this. We as speakers need to be experts at sort of gently stepping into that growth zone towards the risk. So as a workshop, when we were in this workshop, as we moved to lunch, I challenged everybody in the room, all the speakers in the room, to do what I do with my speakers as we develop their talks. And I said, what I want you to do over lunch is to use risk as your compass. Not just take a risk and let's keep risk in mind, but what will happen over lunch? Let's see what happens when you use risk as your compass. When risk isn't something that we avoid, but risk is the thing that we move towards. What feels risky right now? That's what I'm going to do. And so off they went. That's what they did. And everyone was kind of a little nervous about it, a little like, oh, okay, I don't know what this is going to mean for me. And of course, that's exactly it. What will this mean? But they went off to lunch, used risk as their compass, and I couldn't wait to hear what happened. What an adventure life can be when we use risk as our compass. So after lunch, they came back and shared stories about sharing something really vulnerable with a partner that they they had been avoiding. Somebody asked a group of strangers if they could sit with them. You know, when you're at a conference and you might be there by yourself and you don't have anybody to eat with. That is a risk. For one person, she took the risk of sitting alone, that that felt risky and exposed and vulnerable for her. Another person put his phone away and just didn't get sucked into kind of the busyness of life that felt risky, but just tried to observe life, take life in. One woman was dealing with some really big things in life, and she journaled. She just said, "I've got to dig up some of these big feelings that I have been avoiding, and I need to process them." I was really moved by their risk-taking, and they took it very seriously and thoughtfully. And ultimately, I said to them, "I feel really heartened by this because your talks are going to be better because of your willingness to do that." How we push ourselves in real life is really how we show up in our speaking, and it really matters. So here we are in this week 2 of our Leap series, and we're talking about risk because before we can leap, we have to step towards the edge. We can't avoid the edge. We can't avoid the unknown. We have to begin orienting ourselves towards the edge of what we know, towards that risk. Now, each person's level of risk is really quite different, and that's okay. An edge for someone is not an edge for another person. And in fact, It's okay because audiences do recognize what's risky for you because our bodies behave differently when we are risking and it's very easy to sense. And as a speaker, you might even really honestly tell people when you're taking a risk. And I think that's all good. We don't have to hide the risk or pretend that it's not a risk because when we invite people into that risk with us, That is some really incredibly powerful audience juju. Like, it's just really like gold, this really powerful connecting point. So use risk as your compass. Go seeking the edge. Say yes to those opportunities and trust— this is not a new phrase, but I like it here— trust that your net will appear. Now, in the odd case where the net doesn't appear— sometimes that happens— we'll talk about how to handle that next week on Week 3 of this Leap Series. But for today, what I want you to be doing is orienting yourself to the risk. Go to the edge. Find the edge. That is where we will leap. We're connected online. I want to know, what is the edge for you this year as you're thinking about leaping bigger? Where— where are you gonna leap? What is that place where you're like, the heart is pounding, and you're like, "I don't know about this"? That's where I want you to go. Where is the edge for you this year? What feels like that stretch? What feels like you are really pushing yourself outside of that comfort zone? I want I'd love to hear. All right, my friends, that is it for me this week. Next week, we're on week 3 of this LEAP series, and we are going to talk about what to do in those moments where things don't work so well. All this risk, all the leaping, we trip, we fall, it happens, we fall on our face. Then what? We'll talk about it. No worries. I got you. And if you have not yet made your commitment to leap in 2020, I want you to leap with me, movers. Let's leap together. All you need to do is find a "This Moved Me" post somewhere out on the social interwebs about leaping and join in simply by signing your name to the comment, like saying something like, "Let's leap. I'm gonna leap. I'm with you." Leaping in 2020. That lets me know that you are leaping and I can support you in that effort because there is nothing I like more than to help push the little birdies out of the nest, to push you onto the next big risk, to help you understand that you got this. The world needs you to leap. We need your voice and you can do it. Awesome. Okay. The leap might flop sometimes, but it's all good, Movers. It's all good. We'll talk about what to do next week. Thanks, everybody. Have a great week. This moved me. What is moving you? Oh yeah. Hey, Movers! It's Sally, and I am so grateful that you listen to the show. Show and that you are staying connected here on This Moved Me. And if you are not yet a subscriber to this podcast, you know that that would be awesome, right? Because you don't want to miss anything. It's been quiet here in 2019, but 2020, big things are coming and I don't want you to miss it. So if you haven't yet hit that subscribe button, and if you haven't yet left a rating or review for This Moved Me, now is the time to to do it because things are growing and changing and I want more people to discover these resources. We need more speakers speaking with authenticity, clarity, courage, and connection. So let's do it. Thanks so much. See you soon. Check you later. How else can I say goodbye? This is moving me. What's moving you? Yeah.
