Vickie Poole: Guiding Others Out of Their Shell
17 Jul 2024 · 54 min
Podcast episode (host Stacey/guest Vickie Poole) focused on personal-development techniques to overcome public-speaking anxiety. Vickie, a transformational coach and hypnotist, shares her journey from hairstylist and health coach to podcaster and coach, and gives three core steps to build speaking confidence: (1) ground yourself physically and use a 5-5-7 breathing technique; (2) use positive visualization or 'pre-paving' to imagine the event going well; (3) start small with low-pressure venues and gradually expand. The episode also covers hypnosis, improv, daily affirmations/journal prompts (Facebook group 'Stand Up and Stand Out'), and an upcoming free masterclass that previews an 8-week program combining hypnosis and improv.
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I do really believe 100% from every part of me that everyone has the capacity to be able to do the things that they want and not to be held back by the mental baggage that's in our head that we want to push through.
Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. In each episode, we get down and personal with people who go after the things they want to make all their wildest dreams come true. Join us as we unveil and dissect a formula for what it takes to do the thing. Here is your host, Stacy Lauren. Hi, everybody that is watching while we're doing all this stuff.
Yeah, why don't you. I'm going to mute myself. Why don't you tell them who you are and a little bit about you? Because I feel like your story keeps evolving the more that we are in this journey together. And so. Yeah, I'd love you to share, and we can. And then I'll come back to you in a second.
Okay.
All right.
Well, for those that don't know me, my name is Vicki Poole, and I'm a master transformational coach and a hypnotist. And my story has changed a lot over the years. But one of the things that's really prevalent right now is the day I met Stacy, when I decided to sign up for the podcast challenge. Changed my life. Because I had wanted to do a podcast forever, and I didn't do it because it just seemed like such a daunting task. I couldn't figure out, I see podcasters, and it just looked way beyond my scope. And the reason I wanted to do it was because I felt like I had filtered my voice my whole life. And so I was really looking for a way that I could just speak out and just let my freak flag fly, I guess you'd say. And I just wanted to do that and couldn't figure out how. And then as the podcast challenge came up, it was like. It was. I can't believe it.
This is.
This is what I want to do. And since then, and it's been just, what, right at a year now? And so I have almost 100 episodes now on my podcast, and it's been amazing. And my whole coaching direction has completely changed in the process. And so now what I do is I help people that are maybe feel unable to speak their truth or feel unable to make that TED Talk that they want to do or go to networking events and actually speak to people. And the thing is, we can all speak to people, but it's feeling that you don't have that Angst. What are they going to think? Who are they going to think? I am all of those things. It's getting into a relaxed state to do it. And so that's what I help people with. And it has just been the most amazing journey in this process. And so I actually, I can help people with hypnosis to get over some of those limiting beliefs. And so it's just been an amazing journey.
Yeah, I love hearing that because it's amazing how just it goes back to confidence. Right. So for those of you that joining, Vicki and I are going to be talking to you about three steps to be able to speak with confidence.
And.
And it's almost like every part of your journey, you owned a hair salon forever. Right. There's probably this moment when you own that you're dealing with your clients. Right. There's this point where you're nervous probably there too. Right. And then you had to overcome that confidence, and then you learned how to podcast and you had to overcome that confidence. And now you're going in other people's audiences, you're bringing people into your community, and it's almost like you're finding that voice through there and getting confident.
And I did the find your voice challenge, too, remember?
Yeah. And so all these levels, and now what's so cool, and that's what I love about your story, is now because you've gone through this transformation yourself, you're speaking from a really embodied place of someone that's lived through this experience, and now you're able to move people through, which I love, too. Yeah.
Because one of the interesting thing is I started this journey because I had been a yo yo dieter my whole life, and I decided that the one way I could help myself was to spend a whole bunch of money and become a health coach. So I did that. And so I would love to share at some point the video that I did as a first starting health coach. And it was an intro thing that I was going to put on my website. And they gave us some descriptions, some how you format this. And I didn't even trust myself enough to take what they said and just change it into my words and speak.
Right.
No, I wrote down everything they said word for word, and had it taped up all over the place. So as I'm doing this intro, I'm looking here and here and here and here and reading the whole thing. And at the time I thought, well, that's pretty good. Oh, my gosh. So it's definitely different.
Yeah. Because I have a similar story with that When I owned my staffing company, I was really scared to be outside my company. I was fine when I was in my company. Although when I had company events, I would still still ask someone else to speak if I could, if it wasn't something I had to personally talk about. And so whenever anyone would ask me outside, though, I would usually say no, but I would have to kind of know what I was saying first. Whereas now, five minutes before we get on, I could be like, okay, what are we doing again? I mean, it's like, I know it's going to come out in a way that's meant to happen based on you and I and based on the energy of the people that are joining us. And it's that level of confidence, right?
Yeah. Yeah. And it's funny because I've done some speaking things at different places, and in the very beginning, I had a little stack of index cards. I would look at the index card and I'd kind of read it off, and I'd try to look up at people and I'd read it and I'd look up at people. And to even think about getting in front of people and just having a little basic outline, I want to make sure I talk about this, this, and this and this. And then you just go, oh, man. That would have brought me to my knees. I'd probably been throwing up in the back. And that reminds me, I joined a network marketing company at one point, many, many, many years ago, and I had to go. It was one of those where you go into people's homes and you do this presentation on a whiteboard and everything. So I practice and I practice and I practice. I went and did that. And before I would get up in front of people, I'd have to go to the bathroom and throw up and then come back and do my best. I didn't do very good at it. I really didn't sell that much. I didn't. But it was a great learning experience that it let me know that I did not want to be doing that, to be perfectly honest. But it's kind of funny to think about now because I hadn't thought about that in years.
Yeah, but it's so good.
It's.
The more you talk about this and the more you're learning and expanding. And I just want to say hi, Kimmy. Hey, Sarah. So good to see you. Yeah. Sarah said she does want to see that video. She said how far you have come. So, yeah, I'd love you to share. Thanks, you guys. I was asking for people to join us at YouTube because it's just easier now to see the comments that way. But we're also happy if you want to stay on Facebook.
It's okay.
I'll pop in over there. So. Oh, yay, Julie's here. Oh, my gosh. We just had the most amazing. Speaking of getting into that speaking with confidence, she has a podcast, Hidden Gifts of Loss. And we just had this magical hour, all of us together, about how speaking with confidence. Right. But being tapped into your purpose and what you're doing to be able to. To get to these other levels. So, yeah, I'm glad you're. So good to see you. She said this is so relevant. So. Oh, good. Sarah came on YouTube. Yay, Sarah. So exciting. Okay, so, Vicki, here we go. You've been at this now. I mean, you've been at this your lifetime. When I think about the hair salon and all the movements and things. But in terms of where you're kind of tying in your current journey of helping people, it's the podcast, which, by the way, for those of you that don't know, Vicki, when she joined the podcast challenge, was one of those, I can't do tech people. I don't know. Tech text was the thing that held you. It wasn't just the confidence, the tech, which I guess the confidence is the tech. And now Vicki is the one that I go to a lot of times, Streamyard, even. I learned Streamyard from you. And so anytime I have a tech thing now, Vicki's kind of the go to. So that's how. That's. I think that's even speaking with confidence is you're learning to unlock these things that you do, and then you're able to kind of take these micro steps, which now it's like, great. You have a question.
We're going to, Vicki, that is a reminder to me is that we normally, we have all the tools within us. We just have to practice it, or maybe we need to learn one more thing. But what ends up holding I know me back, like I said I wasn't a tech person, is that I felt like since I didn't know it, I just didn't know it. But nobody was born knowing it. It's something that you have to learn. So I've been more open to learning things. And you can say, you can attest to this. There's times I will send you a message, I can't make this work. I can't make this work. And then in a few minutes, I send you a message. Oh, I got it. Because then I start trying all kinds.
Of things, and it's like, in the past, you wouldn't have tried.
No, I would have just said, nope, I don't know. So that's it done.
No, I think that's so relevant to what we're talking about. So, yeah, let's just talk about. We talked about wanting to give people three steps to speak with confidence. So let's get started, because I'd love to help kind of the next place. And I wanted to point out, because I know several of you are here, are already podcasting, you're wanting to do TEDx talks, you're wanting to do things. Some of you maybe haven't done any of that yet. And this is for you, regardless of where you're at in the journey. Because every time you're reaching a new level, it's like, that imposter dude comes back up and is like, who do you think you are? Why do you think do this? I mean, trust me, that dude keeps coming for me right now, and then I keep having to kind of move, or as Jana would say, the mental monster. And so, yeah, I'd love to just hear. And I wanted to make sure everyone knows this is for them. Because if you've ever had that in your life, no matter what level you got to, it can come back again. And you have to know how to deal with it. So, yeah, so let's dive in. I'd love to.
Before we dive into this, I want to say that it is a perfectly normal thing that happens to all of us. And the reason is our subconscious mind's entire job is to keep us safe. The things that we've survived, we haven't died because of it. It knows what those are. And it's. I don't care if it feels uncomfortable. This we know you're not going to pass away from. We're going to do it. And so it constantly wants to keep you safe. And if you're stepping into something that is the unknown and you're having to learn you feel uncomfortable about, your subconscious mind, pops in and says, wait a minute, this is unfamiliar. We don't know will they survive this or not. Maybe we need to try to get them to go back over here, because we know they'll survive that no matter how uncomfortable it was. And so you have to really do different things to get your subconscious to stop fighting you on this forward movement. That's why every time you start doing something new and learning and growing a little bit more, one of the things that you would Say, was the new level, new Devil. And it is that your subconscious mind says, wait a minute, we're not so sure, so let's back up. And so it's really important that there's steps that you can go into to kind of quiet the subconscious mind a little bit. Yeah.
And I want to share, too, because I learned that for my lean, wilder, new level, New Devil. Because I didn't know. I didn't even know that was a thing as I was doing my next. That audience accelerator and that audience incubator. And so once I learned that, I feel like it did. It gave me permission. Right. And then what's cool is then, because I learned it from her, then I was able. We're connecting to it together. Right. Which is why now it's like all this expansiveness can happen for everyone, because every time one of us unlocks another piece, it's transformative, where it's almost like. I posted something about this today where I'm like. It's almost like the group kind of takes over. And any doubt that you've had, any insecurity that you've had, any procrastination that you've ever felt, it. It kind of the group takes over, and it's through all of that. And it's almost like a. I always call you a magician with the hypnosis, because a lot of people, when they first hear what you do, at least in the past, it was like, oh, hypnosis, Right. This one separate bucket. But what people don't realize, and that's where Vicki being able to really tap in and be able to share all of the magic tricks she has, there's this whole separate thing where the life coaching where you've married those two together, which then really dials in so deep to be able to, I don't want to say pull out all that stuff, but almost replace it and this magic fairy thing that you've got going on. So I just wanted to make sure people know that. Vicki, I'm going to have you do a thing with Vicki the magician.
Yeah, Yeah. I need to. I need to do one of those AI things where it creates something, right?
Oh, yes.
Yeah, I need to do that. I still have some credits on my AI thing. I'll probably do that. I'll do that. Yeah.
And I want to add one more thing because that's what I love about this new level thing of it being in the last year. And that's why I like that you're teaching this now, because when you met me, it's the same thing. I had just been doing it a year when we met, and I was scared to death when I started the podcast challenge. There's actually a post. I have to find it. Another group I was in where I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. I feel like I'm going to be leading, because, remember, hundreds of people were joining that thing. I'm like, I don't know these people. I was doing a singles thing before. I'm scared. What if they don't like me? I mean, literally all those same old patterns came up. And so I feel like it's so funny because you came right at that time, right? And now you're in. And now you're kind of following that in a different way. But it's. It's just cool. I just think this is so fun.
Yeah. Yeah, I do, too. Well, to kind of. Some of the things that I'm going to tell you to do are going to feel like it's not really that big a deal, I'll be honest. But sometimes the simplest things make the biggest difference. And so just so everybody knows that one of the things I talk about all the time is that it only takes a 1% change every day to create this exceptional expansion within you. And so it's not like you have to suddenly go from here to here. It's a smoother transition. And so the first thing that I recommend is that before you. You do a speaking, whether it's you're going on stage, you're going to a networking event, or you're going to talk to your child's teacher at school and you're uncomfortable, whatever the hell it may be, is that you kind of want to get present in your body. You want to get grounded. So it's like having your feet on the ground. It's giving yourself a moment to just imagine in your mind that there's roots coming out of your feet into the ground. And you can do this visual of just imagining that those roots are growing and growing and growing. They're going all the way to the core of the earth and just grounding you there and getting nourishment from. From the earth, right? And then as you're doing that, you're going to take a few moments to just do some deep breaths. And the magic thing about breathing is that we do it all the time, but when you do it with a purpose, it changes things. And so the. What I like to say is that you want to take in if you. I like to do a 5, 5, 7. Breath. And what that means is you're going to breathe in for a count of five, you hold it for a count of five, and then you breathe out for seven. And the reason you take that longer breath at the end is because that's the most important one, because that when you breathe out longer than you breathed in and longer than you held, you're actually physically releasing more anxiety than if you were to just do a breath in and a breath out. Or if you did a breath and you held it and then you breathe out. It's that longer breath that makes all the difference. And so those two things together create an amazing way for your body to just suddenly calm down.
I think that you did that. I mentioned this a few times in your private stuff when you have trainings. I don't know if everyone knows, but Vicki also helped me when I auditioned for the TEDx talk that I had gotten rejected for a year ago. And then I ended up doing some hypnosis with Vicki right before it. And there is something about that grounding right before. I love that you're giving people this skill right now because we could all do this anytime. I feel like I want to do that anytime. Yeah. I wanted to mention Kimmy said something on Facebook. She just said, I did speak public speaking in front of my peers two weeks ago, teaching part of my business class utilizing Vicki Pool's one affirmation on our superhero. And it made a difference.
I did not puke.
Give me my confidence. Thank you.
Yeah, that was a fun live that when I shared the affirmation with the superhero and everything and that one. We decided what our superhero name would be and what our superpower was. And so it was. It was a lot of fun.
Yeah. I wanted to add, Julie said, while I needed this today, I'd love to know is there a strategy for that? In addition, if you're feeling that panic come up, is that one skill going to help that or is there anything more that will help that kind of.
Panicked state depending before you're walking out on stage or presenting or whatever. And that will go a long way. Another thing that is really beneficial, and it's definitely been beneficial to me, is to get to before you go on stage because you want to make sure you're doing this prior to actually doing the presentation. You want to actually what Abraham Hicks calls pre paving. And you just go into this visualization place where you imagine how it's going to go. And you. And I did that with our hypnosis where under hypnosis we did this imagining and I told you some different things that you would imagine to happen. So it's a lot more powerful with the hypnosis. But you can do it on your own. And it's basically just imagining in your mind writing out a script or whatever. Not a script of what to say, but a script of what happens and how it's going to feel. And. And then you kind of practice that. And I give this example a lot of times about a. I used to go to this luncheon all the time and I would meet this group of people and there was one person that always grated my nerves. No matter what, she knew exactly what to say to just really tick me off. And so I would always practice on the way there when she says this, I'm going to say this and I'm going to. And I would practice all of that every single time. So I decided to play this game pre paving. And so I spent a couple of days beforehand and the morning of. And on the way there, I just imagined in my mind that the drive there and then I would be relaxed and calm and then when I got there, everybody to be outside and she would come over and say, hey, it's so good to see you, I'm glad you could make it. And then we would have these nice conversations. She not never in that imagination did she ever say anything that ticked me off, triggered me or anything. We sat next to each other in my imagination. We had this whole thing. And when we left, she actually in my mind gave me a hug and said, I'm so glad to connect with you today. And it was such a pleasant day, have a good afternoon. And I said the same thing. And then in my mind I left. So I did this for several days and on the way there and lo and behold, I mean it wasn't word for word, but the gist of the whole thing was exactly what I imagined. But what we typically do, especially if we're nervous or scared about something that we're going to do, we imagine that fall on the stage, that not being able to get the microphone working, or if we've got teleprompters, they don't work, somebody's going to heckle us. We imagine all the worst case scenarios because we normally are looking for the danger that's inherent from when we were cavemen. It was. We had to always be on lookout, right? Yeah. And so we still are. And so we're trying to take a little bit more control so that we do our breath and we do the Grounding. And then we just kind of imagine it going exactly as we want it to.
Wow.
Yeah. And another thing that helps, too, is to reframe things as far as how you're thinking about. Because when you think of the anxiety and the fear of speaking, and then you kind of separate and come over here and you think about how it feels when you're excited, when you're anticipating this amazing thing happening, you can still get those same butterflies. You can still get the part palpitations. You get the sweaty palms and everything from excitement for anticipation. So it is saying that those physical effects, the sweating of the palms, maybe the little bit of sweat on the brow. I know for me, I'll get a sweat on my lip. And the butterflies in the stomach. If you can start looking at those things as being an example of what it feels like to be excited. And you can. Instead of saying, I'm so scared. I'm so nervous, you can say, I'm so excited about this. Yeah. And then it also is talking to your subconscious mind so that it's thinking, okay, excitement, excitement, that's a good thing. That's a good thing. But if you're talking about the fear and the anxiety, and even if you're only saying it to yourself, your subconscious is listening. And so it may even start creating even more of those feelings of the anxiousness, the anxiety, the whatever it is that you normally feel when you're anxious. And everything will get magnified because that's your focus, and so it's changing your phrasing, even if it's just only to yourself.
Okay, we're ready. Number two.
That was number two. Number two was positive visualization.
Positive visualization. Cool. Yes. Great. And that stems from the Abraham Hicks kind of idea, right? Where you're almost like, what you did with me, where you were like, they're gonna be waiting to see what you say, and they're gonna. Yeah, they're gonna draw it. Be drawn in.
They're going to lean it, you know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.
And it's funny, because one of my clients that I did hypnosis with before she was going to a networking event, she would usually stand in the back, if she even went. And most of the time, she'd have to bring somebody with her, so she'd have somebody to talk to because she didn't want to talk to anybody. She just. She was supposed to be there. And so I even told her, when you get there, you're going to notice vibrations and people's energy, and you're going to know the first person to go talk to, your body's just going to know. You'll go talk to them. You're going to be relaxed, you're going to be able to just talk to anybody. Because only thing you're there for is just to connect. You're not there to sell yourself. You're not there to tell them who you are. You're just there to say, hey, who are you? And it changed everything to where she ended up raising her hand, got up on stage, she talked, people were high fiving her and when she left, people are saying, I hope to see you next time and all this stuff. And then she got in her car and the song that came on was girl, you're on fire. So she immediately called me and said, I've got to share this with Yona. So I actually have a video testimonial of that because it was so profound because it was the day before. So it was one hypnosis session and it made that big a difference. But it actually made a bigger difference than that because now instead of going to a coffee shop and standing in line looking down and making sure she didn't make eye contact and all that stuff, now she makes eye contact, she talks to people. She's even gotten business from some of these people and so it's amazing. And she's actually a keynote speaker. But she could get up on the stage and speak without a problem because it was all scripted, she had already memorized it, she knew exactly what she was going to say even though sometimes she went off script. But it was all known. And when she had the problem was when it was the unknown. So meeting a stranger, talking to them in line, sitting in the audience, she didn't want to sit in the audience and talk to people because they might say something she don't know how to answer.
That is such a good point. I found this recently too. I'm working through this also, which I need to reach out to you now that I'm thinking about it because I'm really good when I. And this is kind of a little back to speaking again. So I, I love that for the networking part. But there's also from a speaking point, I've gotten so comfortable with that whole control, I could run an expert panel I can have anyone on. And even if I go in your audience, it's still okay because just still a do the thing sister. But when it's someone's audience outside of mine, when I did the book club meeting with that other group right before I'M like, oh my gosh. You go back through all those old feelings and it comes from that uncertainty. Right. If I'm running it, then I'm in control. I don't. I get to control the conversation, but once it's out of my control, you're right. This is. That's really interesting. It's a whole nother thing.
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Okay, so we got step one, we got our roots in the ground breathing. We're doing the 557 technique. And then step two, we're pre paving through a, a visualization. What's next?
All right, so the next thing is that you're going to want to start small. So it's not. You don't want. If you've got these feelings. I know a lot of people say act as if and just go for it, but that can actually sabotage you in tremendous ways. Because we learn so much from the things that we're involved in, the things that we do, that if you step so far out of your comfort zone that you freaked out, your subconscious mind is going to be desperately trying to get you off the stage, desperately trying to get you back into your old comfort zone, and it's going to fight you tooth and nail. And so one of the things I talk about a lot in my group is that we want things to become your new normal. We want things to feel good. And like I told you that one client with the hypnosis, I was able to push her, not really push her, but pull her into a whole different level without any anxiety. Right. But when you're doing this on your own, you've got to take a little bit smaller steps just to ensure that you're not freaking out your entire system. And so one of the things that is helpful is, like I said, do it in a small step. So maybe if what you're wanting to do is speak on stage, go to a local library, go to a place that's more low keyed. They don't have all these expectations that you're going to be this professional that's been speaking for five, 10 years and you can command the stage and do the cell and you can do all of that stuff. Now you might be able to, I don't know. But the thing is, is that to start there and that way it's a smaller group, it's a little more low keyed and you can kind of get your feet wet, so to speak. So it's like being by the pool and you think the water might be really, really cold and you just Dip your toe in a little bit and that'll feel good. And then you put your foot in, then you can put your leg in. And then once you get immersed a little bit, then you can just dive on in and you feel fine, but you dive in completely right off the bat, and it's going to be a shock to your system. When people are looking for help with this, they're not usually wanting to dive in completely. They want to kind of gracefully get into that place. And like I said, when you can make that easier to just start. Because one of the things that's the most important is to actually start. Because if we thought that today we are scared to speak in front of 10 people, that tomorrow we were going to speak in front of thousands, then we would get so freaked out that we would not do it at all. We would just say, this is kind of like I did with the tech. Nope, don't know how to do it. Just not even going to bother. Yeah. And so I want it to be a. I love a slower, smoother transition so that your body can adjust.
Yeah. It makes me think even someone like Julie. Right where. Which I don't know. Julie, if you have experience yet. Speaking. But now that you're doing your podcast, starting smaller could be going to Al Anon keeps coming up of some kind of local group where either people have had some kind of loss or grieving and it doesn't have to be death. I think it could be. We talked about today in the group call, which is amazing. It's like it could be any kind of loss. Right. Loss of identity and going to one of those and just talking to them about the idea of hidden gifts. I can't remember if I said her podcast is Hidden Gifts of Loss, which is basically any gift that's outside that comes from the loss or even internal gifts that you discover. Anyway, that just makes me think that would be a really easy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Not.
Yeah, Well, I think that's one of the reasons why the podcast can be so amazing is because you get the ability to get your feet wet a little bit with no pressure. Because usually in the beginning with especially those are not live, so you're getting to kind of play. And I know a lot of people, they can't stand to look at themselves on the screen. And so there was somebody I had on my podcast one day, she said, oh, I can't stand looking at myself on the screen. What do I do? And I said, just take the picture. Move it over to where you're looking at Me. And you're off to the side. She's, oh, that is so much better. And so there's little things that you can do to just make it a little more comfortable for you. And then as you get acclimated in these smaller arenas, then you can gradually start getting out into bigger places, because, for one thing, you're getting in a little practice. You're starting to feel what it feels like and getting. And when you take my course, then you'll have even more ability. Because my thing that I want people to be able to do so much is to be able to just speak their heart and just speak. So that doesn't mean there's. It could be an outline, but you just have some little thoughts and then you can just speak about it. And it's being able to have a conversation with someone that you've just met. You don't usually have it all written out. I want to make sure I ask them where they live. I want to make sure I ask them this. I want to make sure you don't do that. It just comes to you as you're talking. And so when you're up on stage and you can feel the energy of the room and you have a topic, then you can just start talking. And the more you practice in the little places, smaller venues, smaller groups, the better you do with it. Right. Part of that is you're almost training your brain to realize how talented you are, how easy it is. And when you can flow into intuitive speaking to where you just kind of know the story you're going to tell. Here you might have. I know some people and I try to do this, but I don't really do it that much. But I try to have a little folder that I have, different stories that I have that I know are in my mind. And then when you have something like that and you go speaking, all of a sudden your mind will go through this mental Rolodex. That's the story I need to tell right now. I can tell by the way they're acting and what they're saying, how they're feeling. And it just flows.
Area of your mind.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So we got our roots in the ground. Five, five, seven, breathing. Step two. We're pre paving. Doing this pre visualization of how it's gonna go. And then we're starting small and then doing these little kind of steps until we're ready to go. Yeah.
Kind of like micro movements or macro, which micro movements, I guess is.
Yeah. Reminds me of even. I mean, because in My mind, I'm like, oh, I guess I shouldn't encourage someone to do standup comedy. But I think I still would because they're not going straight for the show. I don't think I would. I knew I was doing a show. You start off just being in a class.
You're just playing. That's totally different. Because then when you're just playing and having fun, then that really changes everything. That's why with my program, I partnered with Laura, because she does the improv. Because it's like some of the things that we end up working through can be. Feel a little daunting and serious, right?
Yeah.
And. But if you can put the play in there and loosen everybody up, then your creativity flows. It's like if you were to. Before you got on stage, you watched a cat video, for goodness sake. Or you did laughter, because laughter is contagious, right?
Yeah.
If you just did some laughter behind stage before you started, not only would the breaths make a difference, but a little bit of laughter, something that makes you feel like laughing will just relax your facial muscles, it will relax your body. And then when you go out on stage, you're so much better.
Yeah. I love that. I'm even thinking. Sarah said Toastmasters is the best place to practice great trainings, and they start slowly. I even did a podcast episode with some of the people I've done Toastmasters with because I wanted people to go. But what really I think is I don't. Interesting is the right word, but when I was the CEO of my company, 60 employees, I just say that because it sounds like a thing. Right. And I couldn't even go to Toastmasters. I kept hearing about Toastmasters, and I was like, oh, that sounds way too scary. Because sometimes even that is too much for someone. And when you're ready, I think that's such a great. I think Toastmasters is such a great. What did Paul say? Safe place to fail, you know, in front of people. And so. But that's where knowing someone like what you're doing with the training that you've got going on in the program, I feel like it's such a good starting place. Right. To then be able to have that safe space to go to all these things. That's this extra support network so that you can go to the speak at the blank blank, Blank and then go to. And all that.
Yeah.
Be fun. Yeah. I think you might be doing that, huh. Where you're helping them go to these different places and then you're supporting them. I would be really Interested in that too. From even that. Well, from the other people's audiences, but also from that social thing that I get anxiety from. So when I'm going to meet people for the first time and I'm heading to the bathroom when I first get there, because I like talk to people.
Yeah, that's what Michelle said she would do. She would either she would go to the bathroom first and then she would find a corner to hide in because she said she would break out in a sweat. She said they thought they were. She was menopausal or something because somebody start walking to her to speak to her. She would just start breaking out in the sweat. And it would be like she would. She would. Ah, my name is. She had a real hard time. But I was thinking one of the first times that I ever spoke, and this has been many, many years ago, and it's really funny to think about, but as a hairstylist, one of the things that we did sometimes was we would go to the high school and we would talk to. Because some of the high schools had a cosmetology department. And we would go and we would talk about being a hairstylist. And then the teachers, a lot of time would be there because we're trying.
To get them to come in and.
Get their hair done too. So it was a whole thing. And I would be so nervous that I wanted to be the assistant. I wanted to hand the comb, I wanted to change the mannequin. I wanted to be more of the behind the scenes. I didn't. It just scared the hell out of me to see all those faces. And so it's really funny when I think back on it. And then when I decided I really wanted to do more speaking, my next step, just a few. Couple of years ago was I went to the library and I asked them, do you have anything that were people coming and speaking? They said, yeah, what do you speak about? And I said, well, I'm a hypnotist. I can do this and this and this and this. And she said, well, I'll let you know. So then she called me and she said, okay, we want you to do a hypnosis speaking thing. We'll promote it and everything, and you can do it. And this is the subject. And I said, okay. But the funny thing was I prayed all the way there. I hope a lot of people don't show. I hope a lot of people don't show.
I was imagining that it was hard for you, and then now it's like nothing because it's Kind of what's happening now, right where now it's like, oh, I'm just gonna do a pod. Now you're at a hundred episodes. It's like, really? Yeah. And then, yeah, there's so much to this. I'm just like, man, this is game changing stuff that you're able to help people with. Okay, what's step four?
We were just doing three steps, weren't we?
Oh, three. Oh, we are. They're right. I'm like, I want more. Vicki, give me more.
Wait, that's longer.
Wait. I've got this perfect liaison into your, into your master class that four will be revealed.
Right, I did that. Yeah. Yeah. So, but one of the cool things about when the master class is on Monday. Monday, 7. 7pm Yep, 7pm But Laura will be there with me too, because she's the improv person. So the cool thing is we do and she takes us through this improv part and then we talk about a lot of the things that people go through. And then I'll do a. I usually do a visualization and just creating places for people to just kind of relax and experience a little bit of change.
Right.
And then when the program starts on July 1, we're going to be doing some really, really amazing work that she and I will both be doing the program instructions in one week. And then the second week is going to be a Q and A and implementation. Because one of the things that happens to most people, they take a course, they take the notes, they do things, but then they really don't implement stuff. So it's kind of like you do with the dares. You do this dare, you show that you've done it. And so it's not the same thing. But I have a. I created a workbook so that they have daily prompts of what they can do to kind of solidify the things that they just learned. And so it's actually an eight week program with four pillars and four separate weeks of implementation.
Wow, it sounds amazing. I would love to have you share what they could expect from and for anyone that wants to go to the master class, comment, invite. Yeah, yeah, that's good. Yeah. And Vicki will reach out to you and invite you personally to it. But do you want to share what they could expect on Monday when they join? And if they've gone before, can they go again?
Oh, yeah, yeah, you can come again. Because it's different energy, different day, different people. So everything is. We just have a little small outline. We want to make sure that we welcome everybody. We Want to make sure we do the improv, and we want to make sure that I do a visualization that's about as far as we have it. So everything's. Everything's different every. Every time. So we've done this twice before.
Yeah.
And it was very powerful both times. And so we will be taking people through the process of learning something about themselves that maybe they don't know. And that was one of the things that I got feedback from, both of those, was that it helped people see a limiting belief that they didn't even know that they had, and they had a way to move past it. And so we don't just help you find the spot. That's like saying, oh, you need a band aid there. Okay. And then you don't give them the band aid, you don't give them any medicine. We wouldn't do that to you. So we're going to help you see what one of your limiting beliefs may be and then what to do, and then we'll play some games with some improv. And the reason that that is so helpful is because when we can get into this playful place, it's almost like we can go back to our childhood roots to when things were just fun and not hard. Right? Yeah. And that may not be true for everybody, but generally childhood is that way. And so we're going to help you to remove a limiting belief, put something new in, and go back to your playful nature so that you can feel more confident stepping out in your life just speaking your truth. And it's just a little touch of some of the things that we'll be going through in the program, but it's definitely very powerful. Did I answer your question? Yeah, yeah, you did.
Yeah. Great. Yeah, I went to one. And yeah, you're. I think this. It's either this one, or you might have one more right before the program.
Yeah, yeah.
Get in on this while you can. Because it's free, Right. It's a whole free training that you're doing, which is amazing.
Yeah.
People that want to then get the implementation part, then you pay. But if you want to just learn what they're doing and get it.
Yeah. Because I have one person that she comes to almost every live that I do, and then she's been to the master classes, and she told me, she said she's been to both of them, and she said each time she's come away with some great epiphany and thing that's helped her. And so she's all the time sending somebody new into the group because she says, oh, my gosh. She said, I love you. And so I had somebody that just joined the other day, and I sent her the little welcome thing, and she came back and she said. She said, wendy just loves you. So I just had to be here. Yeah, yeah.
You're on the right path. Right. When people are just gravitating. Yeah. To you in that way. I wanted to just mention the synchronicity of something happening. So Julie commented about Jean starting her podcast on YouTube, and then Jean commented on Facebook, separate, oh, that's too funny. But, hi, Jean. Good to see you. Said, I. I want to say this because I feel like this is such an important thing from what we were saying earlier about social situations. She just said, I find myself showing up late because it's hard to make small conversations. That's such a common thread, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, it's. It's something that can be overcome that because we're not born with that trait. We learn and develop it over time from different things. And so it's a. It's a beautiful thing to actually get past, go through and get rid of. And so that's one of the things that I help do with. Make it faster with the hypnosis and all.
Yeah. That's why I think what you're doing with the masterclass and the program is so cool, because everyone's working on something. Right. You're either working on being a better speaker, wanting to be more comfortable on your podcast, wanting to be better in social situations, wanting to go and be in front of these other audiences, wanting to date. I know there's people in the community that are just using everything that you're doing to date better in terms of just being able to get out of that anxiety and knowing, really just being confident. Right. It's not dating advice, but it's just being confident in who you are anyway. It applies to everything. And that's what I love about what you're doing, because it's the standing up and standing out and not being scared of that.
Yeah, Yeah. I like to think of that. Once they go through the master class, they will get a lot of information from that. But once they go through the program, I really feel like then no matter where you're at, when somebody comes up and speaks to you, you just feel calm and relaxed. And if somebody were to come up to you, if you're wanting to be a speaker and they said, hey, Jane didn't show up, is she supposed to be doing the keynote? I Heard you're a speaker. Can you speak? You say, well, why, yes, I can. And you just get up there and you do it. And so it comes from not having all of those ideas in your head of not being good enough, not knowing enough, being judged, and constantly recording everything as a judgment or applied against you. And most of us go through life that way, and we learn it from a very early age because some kids can be pretty doggone cruel. And over time, it can get to the point where everywhere you go, you see people looking at you. You automatically assume that they're looking at you with disregard, with, oh, I can't believe them. And I did have one person that I worked with with hypnosis that comes to mind. That was one of her things, was she felt so judged all the time. If somebody was looking at her that they were judging what she was wearing, or they were judging her body or they were judging her voice or they were judging something.
Right?
And so we. I worked with her to the point where suddenly she's walking around, and when people are looking at her, she's thinking, oh, I need to wear this outfit again. Because everybody likes this. And they must like my hair. They like this when I'm talking, they're paying attention. And so it's just we get what we look for. And so if we're looking for how accepted and knowledgeable everybody feels we are. We feel we are, then that's what we'll find.
I love this. I love this, Vicki. I just love what you're doing. So excited. Me too. Excited. I'm so excited for you, and I'm so excited for the people that you are able to help. And like I said, you're this. I think I always tell you, the magician of all the things that you can do. I love you to share your Facebook community, too, because I don't know if people even know you're doing these daily journal prompts that even just that alone is changing people's lives. Just those lives that you're doing. If you want to share where they can find you there.
Yeah, it's. The group is called Stand up and Stand Out. And I go live in there every single day with an affirmation and a journal prompt. And I like to say, it's not like I get on there and I say, okay, here's your affirmation. Here's your journal prompt. Thank you. And then pop off. Some of those can be 30 minutes. Some of them can be an hour, because we have conversations about what it is, and I give them Some suggestions. Sometimes I'll do a little mini visualization. So there's all these different things that we do depending on who's there and what the energy is telling me is needed in the moment. So it's. It's beautiful. I love it.
Yeah. What I love too is because. So Vicki's in my audience accelerator program. And so when she first told me about these lives that she does, I was like, oh, you don't need to do that every day.
Just one a week, Just once a week.
That's it. And she's like, but I, I love it. I really love it. He's away from me. And so. So it's just cool. I love it when you meet someone that is on the path, right. That they've been called to do and that's you. Right. And now it's like you're just following every thing that you're meant for and you're following your own intuition. Right. And you're not afraid now to stand up.
It kind of makes me. You saying that kind of makes me think of my billboard story. Do you want me to share that?
Yeah, sure.
Okay. Some people may have already heard it, I don't know, but I had already started my podcast with Stacy, but I had a business coach and he told me that I needed to focus on the things he wanted me to focus on and let the podcast go because that was a distraction. I said, no, no, no, no, no. That's my self care. So I'm doing the podcast. And so he says, okay, okay. But he said, let's talk about this. So he starts telling me about my presence on Instagram and Facebook and everything. He said, you're basically a business without a billboard. I said, what the heck are you talking about? So he gave me this visual and I'm just going to share it with you guys. So he said, just imagine you're on a trip and you're driving down the highway and you're on one of those remote areas of the highway where there is nothing. It's black, there's not even any lights, it's just there. And suddenly your stomach starts growling and you gotta pee. And you have no idea how long it is to get to an exit where you can go to the bathroom or anything. And suddenly you see this billboard on the side of the road and it says, next exit. Ten miles out, Bob's Best Barbecue and clean Restrooms. And you think, hallelujah. So you get to the exit, you take it, you go to Bob's Best Barbecue. Best Barbecue. You Ever ate in your life. You go to the clean restroom. So then you leave. Your bladder is empty, your stomach is full, and you're ready to start the rest of your adventure. But just imagine that same scenario. You're driving down this dark road. You don't know where the next exit is. You got to go to the bathroom, and your stomach's growling, and there's no billboard. So you just keep going and going and going. You did not go to Bob's Best Barbecue because you didn't know it was there. And he said, basically, you don't have your billboard out. Nobody knows you're 10 miles down the road, and that you can help them with something because you're not telling them. And so that's when I started doing a lot more with my billboard. And then when I started working with Stacy in the business part, unfortunately, that coach, wonderful guy, but unfortunately, he passed away. And so three weeks into the program, he passed away. And so I had already had a little bit of a relationship with Stacy because of the podcast and everything, and so she's helped me with being aware of what my billboard can be.
There's so many things interesting about that, but the one that I just never noticed and I just picked up on is that me and him are both people that kind of helped you with your billboard. Right. And that helps you kind of come into your own. And each of us were like, no, you don't need to be doing that. Right. He said podcast.
That's true. That's true.
The lives every day, and you followed your own voice and your own intuition. Even though you trusted us, we helped you immensely. You still followed your own intuition. Oh, chills. I love that, Vicki.
Yeah. Yeah, that's true. I hadn't noticed that either. So that's pretty cool. That is so cool, right?
Yeah. Because, like.
Yeah.
And where everyone goes south is they're listening to everyone else. And it's okay. Mentors and coaches are great, but I think that's what you're so good at teaching people, too, right? Is following that own inner guidance, being.
In touch with your intuition. Because it's so important in all areas of life.
Right?
Yeah.
And no matter how much you're in my world, and you still were like, no, I'm not stopping this. And so you kept going. And that's the thing everyone talks about.
Is the I have had people show up to those morning lives with the affirmation and journal prompts. And the funny thing to me was it was supposed to only be the Monday thing. And so On Mondays, I wouldn't share the affirmation and journal prompt because it was supposed to be something different. And people started at the end of it. They'd say, well, where's the affirmation in the journal prompt? Oh, okay. So then I added it into the Monday lives. So it was really interesting that. That people were asking for that. They never said, where's the celebration?
I mean, yeah, when then say your Facebook community is Vicky Pool.com, right? They can get there still the Facebook group.
Yes, yes. VickyPo. Com. So it's V, I, C, K I, E. Oh, you can see it on the thing. Vicki Pool. Because you have to just make sure both have an E on it.
Okay, cool. So join Vicky's Facebook group and then also come to her masterclass on Monday. And if you're watching on replay, just put hashtag replay so we know you're here. Thank you so much, you guys, for coming. It was so good to see you. And Fern, I just noticed you were here too. I'm so excited you're able to make it. And let me just make sure. And Jamie, I see you too. So good to see you as well. And thank you guys so much. And do the thing. Don't wait for opportunity.
Create it. Thanks for listening to the do the Thing podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. But even more, we hope you'll be inspired to do the Thing. Do you have a burning question on Doing the Thing that you'd like answered? How about an inspiring do the Thing story of your own that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear all about it. Just leave us a voice message at dothething callcast. Co or email us@helloothethingpodcast.com.
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