The Walk-'n'-Talk and the Stumble-Through: Two Rehearsal Methods That Actually Work | Ch. 39

What was I saying? Oh my gosh. I'm so tired.

I'm done. My brain is done.

Oh my gosh.

We're here. We are actually here.

Unbelievable. We made it.

Made it, team.

You are on chapter 39 of our Speaking Story Walkthrough, this audiobook, free audiobook version. Of the book Speaking Story by me, Sally Koering Zimney, the author of the book and also a keynote speaker and coach. I'm so, so delighted that you're here on our final regular chapter. We've got one more part. Well, it's not really a part. It's one more story essentially that will come out next week if you're following with us week by week. But right now, And Nan, I cannot let you go without sharing two more little secrets of the trade we have in— that I share with you in Chapter 39. It's called the walk and talk and the stumble through. These are my favorite rehearsal techniques. They are grounded in science and they just get people ready faster and they get them ready having practiced the things that most people try to avoid. When I was in speech in high school, and you heard me talk a little bit about this last chapter, I was in speech in high school. We had so much fun at rehearsals, but we would kind of avoid— we'd like come in, we'd be chit-chatting and talking and having fun, fun, fun. Actually, the truth is this only happened with some coaches, not all the coaches. I kind of remember working with one coach who was brilliant and amazing, but we would get— we would just be kind of goofy and we'd be having so much fun and goofing around and laughing and talking. And then we'd be like, okay, start, start, start. Okay, we gotta start. I just— I did go, go, go, go, go.

But we were always sort of avoiding it because it's vulnerable.

You're trying new things. Your coach is going to be like, well, now try this, or "Let's try it this way," or "Stop right there," or, you know, like, you're getting feedback in real time. And so it's hard. It's challenging. And but the— we would not have been good in the performance if we have not sort of put ourselves through the wringer in the practice, in the rehearsal. So that's one of the results of doing the Stumble Through is that you, you put yourself through the wringer in a rehearsal, in the practice, which is so important. Because if you don't put yourself through the wringer in the practice, you won't believe that you can get through the random things that happen in the live theater of speaking. It's live theater. You have to build up your own resilience and capabilities and self-trust. This is how we get to et cetera, like doing preparation strategies that actually prepare you versus sitting at your desk, reading through your notes, running it in your head. Those will not get you to self-trust. Those get you deeper and deeper into your head and disconnected from the possibilities that can happen and are likely to happen when you stand up to speak. Okay, so most speakers rehearse. Really ineffectively. They might spend a lot of time rehearsing, but they're not rehearsing effectively. So the stumble through is gonna help you like really get prepared and put you through the wringer in the best kind of way. But the walk and talk is magical. It is magical. It's the thing that most often sticks with my speakers long after. Partly because there's some safety to it. It's like such a perfect way to begin your rehearsal process because it just, it's easy. You can't do anything wrong. You're literally walking while you're talking, but there's so much magic in it. In fact, just last week, this entrepreneurial group that I'm friends with, they were texting me and they were like, Sally Koering Zimney, oh my gosh, here's the science behind your walk and talk. You're talking about like With the bilateral movement of your body. So left brain and right brain as you're walking and you're talking and the movement of your body while you do that is actually, it like increases the connections across your brain in such powerful ways. And of, I'm like, well, of course it does. I just knew it worked. I didn't know the brain science behind it, but it was really fun. It was really fun to read about.

So.

Those are the two rehearsal strategies. You'll hear a little bit more about what they are and how to do them in this episode. I'm really excited for you to get this last little piece in the puzzle, how to actually bring this to life so that when the moment comes, when you get to press go, when you get to step in front of whatever audience that is, you'll know it's not gonna go perfectly. Because that is not the goal. But you will be open, you will be grounded, you will know that you belong, you will focus on connecting with the audience and bringing your full self into that moment so that you can lean into this opportunity to move the world with your story. Let's dive in.

Hey everybody, and welcome to This Moved Me, a podcast about creating talks that move the world, with me, your host, Sally Koering Zimney.

All right, team, quick question before we dive in, and I want you to answer it honestly. Do you have a message that you know is worth sharing, but you're not quite sure what to do with it next?

If you've said yes, even, um, yes, I want you to hear something first.

Here's Jenn Whitmer. She is a keynote speaker, award-winning author, and someone who was sitting right where you might be right now.

I remember my clicker here just hovering over the join button about 6 years ago with Sally Koering Zimney, and I am forever grateful that I clicked yes. I'm Jen Whitmer, keynote speaker, award-winning author, and all-around joy bringer. And since I tapped that little button, my business has continued to grow and expand and been on stages that I had never even considered dreaming about. And that's all because of the insights that I have gained from being a part of Sally's community, the skills, the cheerleaders, the referrals. If you are scared and you are hovering over that button, I'm telling you, now is the time.

Now is the time. That's what's on the other side of your yes. And the first step isn't a big commitment. It's a free one. At sally-zimney.com/path, you can grab 2 free resources. The Movers Roadmap, a short clarifying exercise that shows you exactly where you are in your speaking business right now, where the real gaps are, and what to actually do next. And I want to make sure you get your hands on our Power Pitching Push. This is a live audio series where I walk you through exactly how to pitch yourself as a speaker. No fluff, real next steps. It really hands you the roadmap to get more gigs. And if you're just like, I'm not sure exactly what to do or what my path is, you can get this all at sally-zimney.com/path. You can grab the Movers Roadmap there, the Power Pitching Push. You can learn more about the pathway that Jen took to get where she is right now. And when When you're ready to go all in, Movers Collective is where we are gonna take you from talented to the spotlight.

Amazing.

All right, now let's get into the chapter.

Chapter 39: The Walk and Talk and the Stumble Through. Now I wanna share two rehearsal strategies with you that lean into the body's wisdom. Both of these will help you get from 80% to close to 100%. Although to be fair, you may never quite get to 100%, and that's That's okay. Let's start with the walk and talk. When you get to about 80% done, and if you think you might be there but aren't really sure or afraid that you're not, it means you are probably there. The next thing I want you to do is what I call a walk and talk. The walk and talk is as simple as it sounds. You're going to walk while you talk out your content.

That's it.

It doesn't matter where you walk or how you walk. You're not performing this and you're not supposed to have this integrated at this point at all. You are simply giving your body a chance to connect with and feel these words. We're syncing up your mind and your body. Does this feel kind of dumb? Sure, but it's not dumb. Can it feel pointless? Maybe, but it is not pointless. It is just step 1 in getting to know your content. The Stumble Through. Many years ago, I started working with a corporate client who would do these big high-stakes presentations that were worth millions of dollars. They took this process seriously, and they invested a lot of time and energy into truly transforming their approach to these presentations. It took us a bit to get there. Sometimes it's hard to change the idea of "this is the way we do it" in corporate culture. And one of the biggest strategies that helped us get there was the stumble-through. My clients and I would have these day-long rehearsals and sessions. I'd show up to dig in with them, And things had become more practiced, but not better. Eventually, I asked, "What's happening when I'm not here?" The client told me that to prepare for these rehearsals, they would spend time practicing. So I said, "I appreciate you wanting to be prepared, but the point of these rehearsals is for us to practice together. You're supposed to have it be really bad with me, and we'll make it better together." The client's practicing in order to show up and impress me at rehearsal was just reinforcing and solidifying the habits we were trying to change. They were doing all the bad habits they had brought me in to try and break. I mean, how awesome was this client? They were trying to do their homework and be prepared, but it was keeping them stuck in old habits. I realized we needed to rename our coaching session from "rehearsal" to stumble through, because that's exactly what I wanted them to show up and do with me. So as we shifted to our next delivery practice, I said, "As we do this for the first time on your feet, let it be where it's at. It's going to be brutal. You're going to fall on your face, but we are going to fall on our faces together. I want to be there with you when you fall on your face. I want to help you practice strategies for how to recover from those moments. I want to be there with you when you are working through the bumps so we can help break you from the habits you formed that are not helping you anymore. The stumble-through is the first time you're putting something truly on its feet, like for real. The first time you're putting the script down, or the first time you're trying the talk in front of other people, or the first time you're doing it with slides or trying it in the space. It's going to feel stumbly. In fact, we want it to feel stumbly. There's so much learning in the stumbling, and we're going to embrace it. Stumbling is great muscle development for handling challenging real-life scenarios. If we do not embrace the mindset of the stumble-through and instead think of our practicing as rehearsals, we end up wanting to rehearse the perfect version of it, or we avoid the discomfort of practicing at all. Because it never feels quite ready for it. We don't ever learn the skills and strategies of being really present and trusting ourselves despite it being uncomfortable or difficult. I think of it as earning our way to an authentic, grounded delivery. It's a brutal process, I'm not gonna lie. There tends to be a lot of swearing in the stumble-through, but I consider that a sign that you're doing it right. You're laying yourself bare, You're failing and climbing your way through it. In the stumble-through, you realize what you don't know well yet. You realize what's not working. It can feel kind of crappy, but that's okay. That's exactly the kind of muck you wanna move through because this is exactly how you earn integrated, embodied content and delivery. That's how it works. So get the idea of rehearsing out of your mind. At least until you're farther along in the process. Instead, embrace the concept of the stumble through. Stumble your way through, as painful as it may be, and what you will find is the freedom to show up and make mistakes. It'll give you the freedom to play. It will give you the freedom to try all kinds of different things that you wouldn't have tried to if you were trying to impress me with a rehearsal. No thank you. Let's play. Let's discover things. Let's fall on our faces. Let's find your way back up. And it will make you a stronger, more skilled speaker in the end. It won't feel like it in the moment, but I promise you, that's where you're going. Sparks Part 6: How to Bring Your Story to Life Summary. In Part 6, we explored the relationship between our bodies and our stories. How do we bring our stories to life in a way that is embodied, authentic, and intentional, and without becoming a robotic, uninspired speaker? We started with a focus on the mind, how to let go of most of the body rules we've heard about how to speak with impact and how to use the stage and space in a way that communicates clearly to our audience. And finally, we focused on a few strategies to help us rehearse in ways that lead us to more self-trust, so that we can be present and authentic in our delivery and embrace the vulnerable, powerful stance of speaking our stories. Exercises: Here are some reflection questions for you to journal about: How is your relationship with your body? Where do you feel uncomfortable being seen? What makes you feel more confident in your body? When was a time when you felt safe and happy in your body? Mantras: I turn to these mantras to remind myself that it's okay for me to show up as me, with all of my quirks and in the body that I have right now. People already don't like me, so I can let go of trying to convince them to like me. The audience is already used to me just as I am, even if I'm not. I get to take up space and show up as me. How to walk and talk. Number 1: Grab your script, outline, or whatever will guide you in your content. Number 2: Walk and talk 3 times in a row. There is something magical about doing it 3 times. And number 3, just pay attention to what comes up, like what you forget or leave out. Then come back and immediately make those adjustments or note them for the future. Pro tip: Take your script or outline with you, but don't read directly from it. No one's listening, so allow yourself to talk your way through it. You may discover some new material that is powerful and real. Because it came from your body. Tools and resources. In your Speaking Story Toolkit, you can grab the 5-day Get On Your Feet process to help you take your story from script to delivery in 5 days. You can find all this at speakingstory.com.

All right, everybody, that's a wrap on this chapter of Speaking Story.

You can find the full audiobook ad-free on Audible or just subscribe Subscribe, and the next chapter comes right to you. And hey, if Jen's story up at the top hit a bit of a nerve, if you've got your own clicker hovering, the Movers Roadmap is free. It takes about 20 minutes to go through, and it will tell you more about where you are and what you need than most paid programs will. So go grab it along with the Power Pitching Push at sally-zimney.com. /sally-koering-zimney.com/path. All right, movers. This moved me. What is moving you? See you next time.