The Optimal Live Video Quantity for Social Media

What is the perfect amount of time to go live on social media? What's the perfect amount of videos you post each week, each day, each month? This is a question so many experts, authors, consultants, small business people, large business people face every single day. And unfortunately, the answer for most people is, you know, when I'm invited or if there's something really big. And most people, in my view, do it too infrequently. Now, Gary Vaynerchuk, the social media guru, says the ideal thing to do would be to stream about 17 hours a day live and have that chopped up into 240 different distinct content segments. That may be too much. He says the only reason he doesn't do that is he has so many meetings with clients that have to be kept confidential. But if you are an author, if you're an expert, if you are a consultant, let me ask you this question. If the most respected, widely viewed television show in your country called you up today and said, we want to have you on our show tomorrow, prime time or the best time in the morning with the biggest audience to interview you about your book or your product, your service, for five minutes, are you available tomorrow? What would you say? My guess is you would actually say, sure, I'll be there. This is my chance to be seen by millions. So my next question is, what if tomorrow another really, really prominent TV network called you up and said, we want to interview you about your book, about your practice, about your consulting, about your expertise, about your business. Do you have five minutes for us tomorrow? What would you say? My guess is you'd probably say, well, sure, why not? This is free publicity. It's a chance for me to reach millions. Why not do it? Well, what about the third day? If that happens, are you really going to get to the point where you say no to a major prestigious media outlet, whether United States? If it's the Today show, cnn, Bloomberg, cnbc, a prominent major news network wants you on, are you going to say no? In my experience, speakers I know consultants, authors, experts would say, well, sure, I do that. So then my question to you is, well, what's holding you back from just going live yourself on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, what is in fact holding you back? You say, well, tj, you know, I don't have millions of followers on those platforms. I only have a few. Well, how do you think the people who have millions of followers got them? It's not necessarily going on every single day, but it is, in fact, by creating content and pushing it out on a regular basis, and it is by starting with 0 followers, by 0 views, and then it builds and builds and builds and builds. Look, I've been there. I've had periods in my own career where I said, eh, social media, video, it's overrated. Let me wait till CNN calls me. And it's fun to go on cnn. And they're very nice and the studios are big and the makeup artists are very professional. So I've been in that trap before. I've been there exactly where you are. But. But here's the modern reality TV stations, certainly newspapers are going out of business, traditional radio news stations, TV news stations are not going out of business or seeing their audiences plummet. I can't remember the last time I watched a local newscast and I've been a news junkie my whole life. And yet audiences and social media, specifically video, are going up and up and up. So what are you waiting for? Now you can make the case that I'm overdoing it because I post two shorts a day, one long a day, and I'm typically live with you for three hours a day. Gary Vaynerchuk would say I'm an underachiever because he recommends anyone who's not in high level meetings with clients all day to go live 17 hours a day. But still, I realize I'm more on one end of the spectrum, doing lots and lots of live video content and posting social media content. Again, my question to you is, why are you saying no to that and what are you replacing it with? Because I know so many authors, experts, consultants. If I said to them, hey, I've got a conference, major conference in your industry that is going to be meeting in your town, we're looking for an extra guest speaker. All you got to do is walk five blocks and you can speak to 300 prospects in your industry and you can pitch your product and talk about your successes. Pretty much everyone I know would say yes to that. They wouldn't ask for fees, they would just be like, well, yes, this is a great opportunity, why not? And yet we have that opportunity every single day on YouTube, on TikTok, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on Instagram, on Twitch, on Twitter. All of these platforms allow us to speak to audiences, people who could be prospects, people in our industry, and every single day. And it's free if you have an Internet connection and a cell phone. Now, maybe some days you don't hit 300 people, but if you do it often, you might hit 300, 3,000, 30,000. You could hit more. I guess my point is what does it matter if someone came to you right now and said, let me bring five prospects right into your office, you, you can tell them about all your successes and you don't have any booked billable hours this morning, would you do it again? In my experience, I know I would say yes. And most people I know would say yes. So what is holding us back? It's no longer the technology. We don't have to hire a big fancy production team. It's no longer the gatekeepers. We don't have to pitch cnn. We don't have to hire a big, fancy, expensive public relations firm to come up with press releases and then pitch it to all the major news networks getting us booked. Because you can get booked by hitting the play button, the record button, the go live button, whether it's on your cell phone, whether it is on your laptop, on any of the social media platforms. So we don't have those gatekeepers. Now when it comes to time, I do realize that if you are a lawyer and you're already billing 14 hours a day at $1,000 an hour. Yeah, time is money. Every single minute you have that you're not spent billing to a client, hey, you're losing money and you're already getting top dollar. So I do understand that. But even then, if you're a lawyer and you're billing that kind of amount of money, if you can go on national tv, build a national following, attract more clients, you can make a lot more than $1,000 an hour if you are a rainmaker and you attract high profile, major clients, whether it's corporate clients or individuals. So there's a case to be made that you can always walk your way up the value chain in any industry and, and any niche. The more you build your brand, the more you build your reputation. And traditionally that has been done by going in traditional media, getting a profile in the Wall Street Journal or Barron's or Forbes or a place like that. The Times are different. Your local newspaper that everyone used to read might be out of business. Now the Chamber of Commerce speech, attended by everyone and talked about and covered in the local news isn't covered in the local news anymore because there is no local news. The local news is right here. Your camera, your cell phone, and you could in fact be reaching out to people on a daily basis. So I'm not here to tell you there's one size fits all. And everybody has to go live for an hour a day or two hours a day or even five minutes a day. And I'm not here to tell you that you've got to post one 60 second video or one 8 minute video every single day or every single week. What I am telling you is a lot of your competitors are doing that and some of them know less than you and some of them have less experience than you do and some of them might not have the expertise you do, but they're getting more attention, they're getting more clients, they're getting more prospect, they're able to raise their fees because there is more demand for their time. So when you're not using your time that isn't already spent at maximum productivity, billing the maximum amount of being the maximum creative you can be if you're a novelist and writing those perfect six pages today, if you're not using your other time telling the world about what you do, you're letting opportunities slip through your fingers. That I do believe that that's a general rule that I think is very much applicable to so many people. Experts, authors, consultants, founders of small businesses, founders of startups that want to become big businesses and want to attract ideas attention. So that's my challenge to you. What are you willing to do differently to actually give yourself a schedule to create content, whether it's live. And I'm a big fan of live because anything you do live can be your rough draft for edited video content for social media platforms. So why not do it live? Oh, T.J. somebody might see me make a mistake. Guess what? Nobody cares. I make mistakes here every single day and no one's told me they'll never watch me again because they saw me make a mistake and have to do something over. So I would highly recommend you think about doing content live on a regular basis. It doesn't have to be every single day, but please do that. I'm so happy we have so many people from TikTok today who've joined us. I see more than 300 people have already come by or there's 300 hearts. Maybe some people are doing more than one heart. Hi, I'm TJ Walker. This is the TJ Walker Success Channel. And this is the channel that is designed to help you become more successful in life through one specific avenue, helping you improve your communication skills and helping you become more confident in your communication skills. SD Benson says. So I'm missing the comments. We have comments coming in on on TikTok, Facebook and a lot of other places. So live didn't lead to any good content for you, Right? So sd, the way I do my live content is in front of people. I Show them my workshop and I tell them exactly what I'm doing. You're watching on TikTok, which right now I can't live stream through Streamyard, so you're only seeing one camera angle. But I'm in a studio here in South Florida. I have three camera angles, different shots. So when I'm doing live daily, I make videos that can later be edited into short form and long form content. So it may be that any live video I do maybe only gets a hundred views, but something I did in that I may do half a dozen short form videos that average 1, 2, sometimes 3,000 views. So I get a lot more views from people who watch that. Plus I make long form content of 8 minutes or longer for my social media platforms as well. And many times those get a lot of views. Now some long form videos may get 50 views. I've had some get 100,000 views. So it really varies. What I find that's so exciting about this whole modern world we live in is there are no constraints, there's no gatekeeper. Let me ask you this. If you have your own business or your author, an essay expert, a small business, a startup, and cnbc, which is not everywhere in the world, but it's a pretty well known brand, and CNBC came to you and said, okay, we want to make you a contributor. We're going to pay you, let's say, $10,000 a month. We want you to show up every Monday for one of our roundtable shows and be a part of a discussion, give your insights about trends affecting your field. And you would have to take a car, we'd send a limo to you to come to our studio and whatever city you're in, and it would take a couple hours, would you do that? My guess is you'd say yes, sign me up. That you would somehow magically find time on your schedule to get in a car, go to cnbc, have them put makeup on you, sit on a set, answer questions, talk, and participate. You would figure out a way of doing that. That means there's absolutely no reason why you can't do the same yourself without waiting for CNBC to do it. I understand you're not going to make $10,000 a month when you first start creating social media content. I understand that I'm not promising get rich quick. I don't have some course to sell you saying, take my course for $5,000 and you'll be making 10,000 do a month. Creating social media videos in the first week doesn't exist. Beware of any snake oil salesman who tells you that. But it could lead to that. It's a start. It is reaching people. It is sharing your expertise. It is starting to build your brand right away without having to wait for that gatekeeper. Plus, when you do it yourself, and especially if you're spread across multiple social media platforms, you don't have to worry about the executive producer calling you up saying, hey, we're firing you today. Don't show up next week. Of course, any one platform could deplatform you. It's happened to me before on YouTube. But if you are spreading your ideas on as many social media platforms as possible, you lessen the risk for that. Speaking of platforms, I want to say hello to my friends today. Joining me on my personal Facebook page. I don't typically broadcast there, but I figured at once in a while why not let my so many friends and family see what I'm up to. You're probably not used to seeing me in a suit and tie or my pocket square sticking out so much. I'm typically broadcasting these on my business page, TJ Walker Success on Facebook, and one of my other pages on Facebook for Udemy students. And then I broadcast these on TikTok Live. We are today, and also on, really every major social media platform that accepts live streaming. So today we're on Twitter x, we're on TikTok, we're on Facebook, we're on Instagram, we're on Twitch, LinkedIn. I may have left a few others out, but typically I don't have you on my personal page. So if you're a personal friend of mine, thanks so much for taking a couple of seconds out. Post a comment, and if you want to join me live, you can do so right here. I've posted the link to streamyard. Streamyard is the application we use that allows me to be on more than one platform at a time. The only exception is we haven't quite yet connected all the dots to go live on TikTok, which is if you're watching me on TikTok, you'll see my eyes are looking over here. Why am I doing that? It's not because I'm reading a script or anything like that. It is because I'm looking at my main broadcast camera, which is a Sony A7C, in case you're interested. And we haven't yet integrated our Streamyard with our TikTok. But if you want to join me, I'm happy to talk to you on screen. Of course you can post a question, a comment on Anything related to communication skills, how to build communication skills, how to become more confident, how to deal with any problems you have. It is fascinating to me to see any basically anytime you, you go on a platform, the new the first time live or it's been a while, that platform typically feeds that out to a lot of people, hoping to stimulate more action. So it is it always fascinating to see when we're on a platform for the first time, how many different people come in, very excited to see how many hundreds of people they're not on all at the same time, how many hundreds of people hop on to say hello, even if for a few moments. On TikTok, I want to make sure I haven't missed any of the comments. Jake says they get paid a lot more by the network. Referencing what I said earlier about if a Network pays you $10,000 a month, would you go online?

Yeah.

Short term, getting a contract from a network can be nice. Long term, what would you rather be, Mr. Beast or a news anchor at CNBC who could be fired at any moment has a set salary? Mr. Beast has no set salary, although he did just get $100 million in a deal from Amazon. Now, we can't all be Mr. Beast, but why not become an entrepreneur if you're already an entrepreneur? If you're an author, expert, consultant, use those same entrepreneurial energies, creating content to share your expertise with the world. But Jake, fair, fair enough point. That is why some people, I think, justify not going live and not creating content. I happen to think it's short sighted. Again, if you're already filling your day with so many activities, you have all the clients you need, you're charging the full amount that you are ever want, then fine. Don't make content, don't promote yourself. And I just want to say hello to Nathaniel and Alvin Leak has joined us. Hakeem has joined us. I want to make sure I just didn't miss any comments coming in from our community on TikTok. Again, also special hello to my personal friends on Facebook. We've joined that page today, my own personal page. We don't typically do that, but I just wanted to say hello to my friends. Some of them haven't seen me in a while. Some of you think, gosh, teach, you've gotten old since I saw you last. Well, we do all age but I am am feeling good so thanks so much for stopping by. IDK says hello. Sonia, Annie says hello on TikTok. Others are joining us from across the platforms. SD Benson says zombie three piece not quite sure what that means. But I do appreciate you stopping by. I know I'm not wearing a three piece suit. I haven't done that in a long time. I find them a little too hot. But do appreciate people stopping by. SD says, I'm sure you look awesome in South Florida. Well, SD I don't walk around wearing a suit and tie in South Florida. I walk around wearing a linen shirt, short sleeve shirt, shorts and Crocs. And that's the, that's the look for South Florida. So this is really only for the live videos and the produced videos we have. But I just want to see if we have any other questions that relate to communication skills. Tony says can you tell us a little about yourself? I can figure you're an author from the book. So Tony, thanks so much for asking. My name is TJ Walker. I have been conducting public speaking training workshops, media training workshops for more than three decades all over the world. I do one on one coaching, small group coaching, large workshops, keynote speeches, all about communication skills. And I have 2 million online students all over the globe attend my communication skills, video based communication skills courses. So yes, I have books, you see several of them in the back and that's what I do. So what we're doing right here is I'm trying to share my expertise with the world on how to communicate more effectively and communicate more confidently. What I'm attempting to do is create the biggest place in the world, the most accessible place in the world for anyone, at least in the English speaking world, to come ask questions about some issue they're dealing with as it relates to communication, spoken communication. So I don't help people with writing. There are a lot of other experts there. So it's about spoken communication and that also involves the body language and nonverbal signals. Pretty much anything to do with communication that doesn't involve writing. So that's what we're about. I come to you live most days, Monday through Friday, nine to noon, and also have two short form videos every day on this channel and also a long form video each day. But for people who want more, I've got courses on my website on platforms like Udemy. I'm available for keynote speeches, workshops, seminars, that sort of thing. But I'm happy to have you and anyone else just come see if you can learn a couple of things. Yeah, even better, if you want to participate and you have a question and you want to talk about it, it's okay frankly to disagree with me from time to time. I did a post the other day, a Video saying please don't hold a pen when you're giving a speech. And it set off a rather strong reaction from a couple of people who said that was crazy. It's okay questioning me. I don't mind that we can have an honest debate about how people can really come across their best anytime they are communicating. A quick program now. We're going to do some exciting things today. I'm going to be going live on Amazon, Amazon Live. We have a best selling author, Jess Toddfeld, who's also a friend and close associate of mine that's going to be coming up. Jess will be joining us around 9:30 and we are going to be going live on Amazon. So that's going to be a lot of fun. Really my first time doing that. My colleague Barb has joined. Barb is sharing the the Streamyard address with everyone. So thanks so much for doing that. Always good to hear from Barb. I want to see any other comments have come in yellow Ranger says I practice before speaking, but at some times doesn't come out the way it does in my head. Well that's frankly the whole point of practicing. Because when you write a speech, when you write a presentation and you look at it on paper or a computer screen or the bullet points on a PowerPoint, it's going to look great. You know so much, you don't even know what doesn't make sense to other people. So you say it in your head. It's going to sound great. But then if you do what I ask you to do, which is to practice on video, pull your cell phone up, hit record, practice your presentation, watch. Better yet, have someone else watch it and get feedback. Typically, as you just mentioned Ranger, it doesn't come out the same way of your mouth as it does in your head. That is the beauty of practice because you can do it again and again and again until it matches. You want how you're actually doing, what it looks like when you're watching a video of yourself to be the same as your perception of how you're doing in your head, that's really what you want. There are plenty of people who don't like my speaking style. That's okay. But the one thing I have done by seeing so much of myself on video is I know exactly how I'm coming across. If I hit stop right now and watch the last 10 minutes, everything about how I look, how I sound is exactly as I intended it and it is how I perceived I was doing in real time. What makes so many people nervous is they are speaking and they're thinking, I don't really know how this is coming across. Am I too loud, too soft, too fast, too slow? The way to get things in sync is by practicing on video and watching on video till you know exactly how you're coming across. So, Ranger, I appreciate you practicing. Please practice more on video. The magic moment is when you do that and you look at the video of yourself and say, that is exactly how I wanted to come across. That's the message I wanted. That's the style I wanted. That's how I want to sound. When you rehearse a presentation, a talk and you get to that point, that's when you're filled with real confidence, legitimate confidence. It's not the phony confidence of visualize a standing ovation. That's not what you're trying to do. You want legitimacy. You want to actually know you're coming across your best. Wow. My colleague Ben is with us. Ben, I just realized I made a mistake then. I not only did I forget to hit record on my master switch and record the opening and super high definition 4K, I actually forgot to put my drive in. So I'm going to put the drive in right now because I do know that we are going to be doing a number of things today where we are trying to record. So I just have. I'm putting this in the back of my mixer. So we're relatively sophisticated here by a lot of standards of the Internet. I have a three camera shoot. Our folks on TikTok can't see it, but others here I am from a different camera angle. Here I am where you can see my entire body if you're watching on YouTube or Facebook. So it's relatively sophisticated and yet it's a simple operation. There's no one else here. I have colleagues in other parts of the world who assist me with editing, uploading, a number of technical issues. My colleague Ben is joining us today from other parts of the world to help me with our Amazon live feed. But I'm the only one actually right here in this studio. So occasionally you don't get everything right. Occasionally you forget something. Occasionally the input is the wrong one on the mic. It is a learning by doing. I am of the school of thought that says something beats nothing. And you do need to, in fact get going to learn. Okay, we're joined now by Jess Toddfeld. Jess, I'm going to take Ben, I'm going to take you off the screen a moment, but I do want you to stay with us, all right? Jess, so excited to have you with us today. I'm going to let me go ahead and hit record on the 4K version. So Jess has been nice enough to volunteer to be our guinea pig here today. We're going to do a number of things today, and I want feedback from all of. I want feedback from TikTok, I want feedback from Facebook, YouTube and other places. And by the way, I should say goodbye to my friends on my personal Facebook page in just a few minutes. We're going to sign off there because we're limited to pushing out our streamyard feed to eight platforms. And we're going to be signing on to the Amazon Live platform, which will be my first time there in just a moment. So, Jess, you're coming to us from the New York area today. Thanks so much for being with us.

A pleasure. Yes, it's very nice day. Okay, it's raining here in New York, but we have some good content planned for everybody.

Great. Okay, so here's what we're going to do today. We are attempting to do a number of things. We are going to produce essentially the first podcast of this channel. And by podcast, it's going to be a video podcast where it's an edited video interview of what I'm doing with Jess. We're also going to be pulling out the audio, turning it into an audio podcast, and putting that on Spotify, itunes, Stitcher, all of those places to reach more of an audience. We are also going to be going live on Amazon because we're going to be selling and promoting this particular book, Media Secrets by Jess Toddfeld, which you can buy, you'll be able to buy without having to leave our stream today. So that'll be the first time we've done that Amazon Live. So that's exciting. So let me be very transparent with everyone here. What I'm trying to do and I'm trying to do is not look like Cliff Barnes from 1980s Dallas, where my pocket square is popping out. So we're not having a great pocket square day, but we have no wardrobe consultants standing by, so I'm going to have to fix that myself. Okay, that's a little less obtrusive. Okay, so here's my plan, and I'm being transparent with all of you exactly what I'm doing, and I want Jess's input on this. What I'm trying to do is create great content that relates to communication skills to help as many people around the world. So I've been doing my own tips, tricks, tools, that sort of thing. For a while. Now I want to bring in other well known, recognized experts on some aspect of communication. They could be media trainers, they could be body language experts, they could be negotiation experts, they could be small talk experts. We're going to be bringing in lots of experts who also have written books. Typically they don't have to have written books, but these days most experts write books. So what I'm going to do is a live interview with them. I hope a little more than an hour that will be content for our live feed. We're going to edit that video down to a more slimmed down, maybe a 50 minute version that's clean, simple, gets rid of the boring parts, does it in a style of the diary of his CEO where the first 30 seconds you hear these fantastic sound bites and it cuts it off and you're leaning in saying, wow, that sounds amazingly provocative. I've got to listen to this podcast or I've got to watch this podcast. So that'll be a video podcast distributed across social media. We're then going to pull the audio out of that distributed as an audio podcast because that's a whole different universe of people. We are going to have probably a 20 to 30 minute segment that is just on Amazon Live. And I'll tell you why I'm doing that in a moment. And then typically what I imagine doing is pulling out at least two, maybe three short form soundbite snippets from the guest where we're putting a spotlight on them, not much on me, but promoted on our channel with a link to their book. So here's my goal and I'd love to get feedback from anyone watching. This is if I want a really big name expert, you know, a James Clear of Atomic Habits, who probably has 10,000 interview requests a day and says no to most of them. I want to be able to say to them, look, I'm going to have you on Amazon Live. Amazon's the biggest bookseller in the world and you're going to be live. We're going to be promoting your book live. And you'll be in a video podcast and you'll be live with your friends and your fans can ask you questions. And we're going to be promoting your content in short form with a link to your book. My hope is, my strategy is that's going to make this show a lot more attractive to people who would otherwise maybe look at my channel and say, Ah, TJ only has 16,000 subscribers. I'm only going to say yes to channels that have at least A million. So I'm hoping the fact that I'm giving them a lot of bites of the apple. There's the live, there's the video, there's the Amazon live, there's the podcast, there's the shorts, that they see this as something as really compelling and worth their time. So that's my strategy. Jess, we've talked about this a little bit, but I'm wondering if you have any other insights for me. And I'm also going to let you talk about that for a moment while I put some more powder on. I see that I'm actually getting shiny.

I actually waited to put makeup on. I figured it would be something that we could do during the interview. Yeah, I mean, the biggest thing that I know that we should do is give important, detailed, unique content. I know you speak often on this platform or you have seven or eight platforms that you're talking and you never know how many people are watching the same piece. So sometimes there needs to be some repetition. But ideally, today, what we'll do.

Apologies, Jess. We were getting a little bit of feedback in the audio. Oh, and I had. I had planned on giving higher quality audio for the podcast. So I had to do one unfortunate thing. I'm gonna have to say goodbye to our good friends on TikTok. If you want to watch this, please come on over to the YouTube channel. It's. It's TJ Walker Success. For that matter, if you type in TJ Walker Success on pretty much any social media platform, you will see this live stream. I'm going to sign off now because I got to put my earpiece in to create better quality audio for our podcast interview. And so that's why I'm going to have to turn you off. Because if I put my earphone, my earpiece in, you'll no longer hear our guest and you can't even see him right now. So I'm going to say goodbye to our friend. Please come on over to the YouTube channel. It's TJ Walker Success. And thanks so much for joining. I do very much appreciate it. Okay, so we've signed off there and now I'm gonna check the audio. I'm gonna use some earpieces. And Jess, I know you have an appreciation for things like this because it's a black earpiece, but I didn't want black showing up. There's too much contrast when I'm doing an interview. So I took my daughter's magic Marker and I did it more or less flesh colored. It's really a little bit Lighter than I am. So now when I put this earpiece in, it attracts much less attention. It's still visible, but there's much less contrast. So now what I'm going to do is change my settings and going to have the audio come through my earpiece. And this way we should have cleaner audio. Oh, now it says it's connected. Jess, can you say something?

Yeah. Hopefully you can hear me.

All right, I'm not hearing it. So I've got to check one other setting on my computer. Sometimes we get a little too fancy here.

This is where I'll share. And we don't get everything right because I know.

But over time you do learn, you do get better. And if you wait until everything is perfect, you can do that sometimes. If you're with a huge TV network, lots of resources and time and money is budgeted for rehearsal. But most people, certainly smaller individuals, small companies, entrepreneurs, experts, don't have that. So the result is you just wait and nothing, nothing ever happens. Okay, now let's do a quick test. Jess, if you could speak to us.

Hopefully you can hear me. All right.

Wow. And now I'm not hearing Jess at all. My colleague Ben is in our production suite back and I'm wondering if Ben knows what I've done wrong because I'm hearing it when I do test. I've changed the settings on my computer to play through the audio of my avantry and get to see the behind the scenes. I changed the settings on streamyard to play the audio through Aventry. Jess, if you could do me a favor, Hit mute and then unmute your mic and then talk again.

Mute. And now unmute.

Ben, if you could hit unmute on your mic and talk and see if I can hear you.

We'll see.

And I'm not hearing anything at all.

And I can see that it is definitely receiving.

Let me go to my settings again because clearly something is a little bit is askew. Let me put my other earpiece in. I typically only use one earpiece to be less distracting, and I guess there's always the possibility that it didn't sync. But when I did the test, I did in fact hear the sync. So I'm, I'm going to audio. I hear my speakers. I'm hitting test. I'm testing the speakers on Stream yard and it's going right through my earpiece. I am again going to check the settings for my entire computer and the sound there is through my earpieces as well. You know, in fact, let me unclick that and Click it again. Sometimes that alone is enough. And Jess, if you could say something again. Okay.

Yeah. This is the pre show.

Ben, are you able to hear Jess? Let's bring. Let's bring Ben. Ben, are you able to hear Jesse?

Yes, I can hear you.

So, Ben, you can hear me.

Nice to meet you.

Boy, you're saying all sorts of horrible things about me right now and I wouldn't know. Okay, so what we're gonna have to do here is make compromises. We're not going to make the perfect. The enemy of the good. So what I'm gonna do now is simply remove my earpieces. We're gonna have it on speaker, which means we could have had our friends from. From TikTok join us. It will be less than ideal audio quality. So now I've got to change my you can hear settings back to the speakers on my computer.

Yeah. And hopefully you'll be able to hear me now. I hear you.

So don't say anything too mean or nasty. And now just to make sure things are in sync.

That's lesson number one. Don't go on someone's show and say terrible things about them unless you want it just to be your last show.

Well, it does. It does remind me of a scene from one of my two favorite movies of all time. And this was A Face in the Crowd starring none other than Andy Griffith, who was like a Rush Limbaugh style character in 1957. So it was way ahead of the crowd. And his whole career was destroyed in the movie because it was the end of the credits. And what was supposed to be fed out to the audience and live national TV to tens of millions of people was just music, the opening credits. And instead he's saying on the mic, you know, that ought to make these stupid suckers happy. The idiot. He was just saying all sorts of nasty, obscene things about his own fans. And someone, an editor in the sound booth, hated him and said, I'm going to destroy his career. And he boosted the audio on and everyone heard it. It destroyed his career. You know, these days that probably only help you, I guess, but it does remind me of be aware of microphones when they're on and off.

Okay, that's a good topic for us to talk about at some point today.

Yeah.

Which is just going the opposite direction of what you'd expect would be the right thing to do.

Yeah. So let's. We're going to hop right in here with the pre interview. I'm going to go ahead and record this. This is designed. Note to editor, don't use what I'm saying this second, but in a moment you'll use what we're doing now, the pre interview. We're going to tack that on to the end of the video in it's to the end of the end of the interview after everything else is done. Kind of like what they do in movies where they show outtakes and sort of things. So, so I'm going to ask you questions now that I can. I'm going to use your answers for when we're doing this thing so called for real for the thing that's going to be edited and ideally we'll have a lot more viewers than our live following right now. Jess so my first question for you is what needs to happen in this interview for you to feel like this was a true benefit to you, worth your time. And potentially this interview is one you would have on your media page, your bio page for the next five years because you feel like it showcases your unique talents, skills more than anything else.

I guess it would be us talking about the pain that people have in 2024 when it comes to presentations or media and how the two are mixed together. But the biggest pins so they know next step to take. And the next step could be go get the book. And I might actually say to them if they sign up for the bonus, which they get the book, they go over to the bonus site, I'll give them a 2024 update. Something I'm going to you mentioned the book.

We are going to be talking about this. It's Media Secrets, a media training crash course. We'll be talking about this. We will be promoting it on Amazon Live if we get all our technology straight. What I mean you do a lot of interviews and we're going to go into your background in a moment but tell us a little more about what would help you, frankly, because I try to make every interview win, win, win, win for my guest, win for win for me and win for the audience. What else will make this interview a win for you beyond your typical podcast appearance? Because you do national tv, you do podcast all the time interviews. What else needs to happen in this interview really worthwhile?

We're talking about the book. Of course we can measure book sales. I mean the best outcome is that somebody goes to one of our sites and signs up for a conversation or wants to take part in training. So what is it that I do and what do I sell as training for media or speaking presentation skills? So that would be the perfect outcome. But how do we take one step back. It would be for people to realize how this can be life changing for them in their job and the rest of their life. So for us to really focus on how can change their life, it's not. I don't even use the word tips. I say strategies because tips are throwaways. Oh, this would be nice to do. A strategy is something that can really change the course of where somebody is. So that's my take. That would be the outcome that somebody takes a step, connects with me in some way. They don't necessarily have to get the book, but if they sign up in one of the various spots to be able to take a next step.

Okay, so one of the things that is a pet peeve of mine and I'm certainly not going to do it. I sure, I'm sure you've seen so many podcasters have a guest on they say so tell your Tell our audience about yourself. I hate that. It seems incredibly lazy.

Lazy.

I'm going to do a rough draft here. Again, we're in our pre interview stage where I'm going to tell people about you. Then I want you to sift through that and then tell me how you'd really like me to interview you. Once we do our official beginning, that that is going to be used in the final audio and video podcast. So our special guest today is Jess Toddfeld. He is an internationally renowned communications expert. He has trained CEOs, top tech leaders, professional athletes, beauty queens around the globe for decades. And he does this based on real world experience. He's worked at NBC, abc, Fox, multiple networks as a high level producer. He's been there in the green room moments before some of the top celebrities in the world are about to go on air and he's seen them nervous and he's given them coaching. He is a Guinness Book record holder. He's appeared on more talk shows in a 24 hour period than anyone in the world. He has written numerous books. His latest book is Media Secrets. We're so happy to have with us Jess Toddfeld. Okay, that's a rough draft.

Yeah, that's a good.

I want to know good intro. What how would you really like to be interviewed? What would you like spotlighted more? And what do you think is going to whet the appetite the most of an audience on a podcast? And this is likely to be the first interview ever on the audio version of this podcast. What is going to whet the appetite of people who have some interest in communication skills but have frankly never heard of you or me Let me hear your version of how if you were interviewing you, you would introduce yourself.

I would probably start with, what is different in 2024? What do people need to know? So it's playing on the fomo, the fear of missing out, that, oh, if I don't know this, I'm going to fall behind in my career and my life in some way. We've spent the last few years since COVID started being on camera every single day. You and I are doing it at this exact moment. People go on zoom every day. What do people need to know? Whether they're planning on giving a big speech or.

And I apologize for interrupting Jess. And that's one of the things I'm going to try to work on as a podcast interviewer. Not interrupting. That's interesting substance. I just want to know, if people say, who the heck is Jess Todd Feld? Why would I possibly want to listen? I just want to know Krystal's background, experience your past. So we even have an interest in knowing your theories about the present and the future. Can you tell me b, you know, pulling anything I said, but also what you would like to see?

I mean, I like that intro. I mean, if you wanted to pull something exciting like that, I mean, talking about politicians who go on the air, I know you and I are probably. Probably keeping it down the middle. Although I'm not against if you want to bring up politics and what certain people are doing right or wrong. But we can talk about people in the news who are doing something, who are out there. Is it something that people can emulate or not? There are some people in the news who are in a category of one and some that the rest of us could emulate. So, yeah, I mean, I think that's kind of edgier if there's something out of the news, you know, what do we make of something? Those are YouTube videos I was just watching. Getting ready today, brushing my teeth and getting dressed, listening to people talking about public figures. So that might be a good place to go. And then, of course, it's what you know, how does that analysis affect people who are listening in? Okay.

And some of the other questions, because I've been getting a lot of thought in the last month or so. I've got to have a podcast that's different. I can't just be another Tim Ferriss wannabe where people try to get the same successful entrepreneurs and rich people and ask the same questions. So everything I'm trying to do on this show, this podcast, audio and video, is going to be looked at through the lens of communication skills. So I'm trying to think of regular recurring questions that will be highly relevant and interesting to people. So one of the things I'm going to ask you once we start is tell me about one of the most successful speeches you ever gave and why, but also one of the worst speeches or mis media interviews that ever happened to you and why. I do want you to start thinking about that. I want you to share any unusual tips because, you know, you and I have been living in this world of tips, public speaking tips, for years and years and years. But every so often we stumble across one that really resonates with our clients or think, wow, I hadn't heard that before. So if you have anything at all surprising to our audience for presentations, I want you to be thinking about that. And I also would really like to know who your role models were growing up. I mean, you know, I was a very shy kid. I was the quietest kid in the class. I was not anyone someone would have picked out and said, this guy's going to be a communications consultant and a speaker when he grows up. So I want to know, was it a parent, a family member, a teacher, who were your only someone in the media? I mean, for me, it was Jesse Helms. I had nothing to do with him politically, but I was fascinated with his use of television, radio and newspapers to rise to power as a kid growing up in North Carolina. So I'm going to be asking you that. Give some thought and you touched on.

Something and I'll let you keep going, which is you said tell a story about a great presentation or speech and one about a terrible. And this is how we would always hear how the Tonight show would pre interview guests. They, they sit around getting people to come up with stories. And for people tuning in, I mean, stories are the currency of life. It's what really connects with people. And I think that's our sweet spot, which is the story that goes along with every one of these. And of course, what we teach is every story should have a point or a message that goes along with it too.

Yeah. Before we really hop in, seriously, let's let me bring in Ben, who helps me with, with not just all technical matters, but all matters. Ben, is there anything we can do? I'm hearing a little crackle with Jess's audio and I do want to make sure we have the highest quality audio.

Let's make sure.

What microphone are you on today?

I am on the Shure MV7 and.

And those are great Microphones, usually it.

Sounds really nice, even if I bring it up nice and close. Over here. Ben, do you hear a crackling? Yes, I'm hearing. Let's see.

So, Jess, I would ask you if you could check your settings, maybe turn it off, Turn it on. I know with my shure microphone, sometimes I accidentally have the settings wrong, where it's set for. For a distance and I'm an inch away, or it's set for the. The 2 inches away, and I'm now 18 inches away. So I would ask if you could just take one moment to check your settings or to uncheck and check them and make sure it. Because I'm just hearing a little bit of a crackle, and I want to make sure we. We make you look and sound your absolute best.

And I did notice that the microphone has its own program that closed. So I'm going to open that and tweak those settings.

And if you're watching this and you have a question for Jess, go ahead and post it right in the comment section, Whether you're on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, you can post them. We'll see them. It's all filtered into the Streamyard app, so we'll see them here. So we will be taking questions from people. And again, what we're doing here is sort of taking you behind the scenes. This is the sort of thing that's all edited out from most podcasts. We're taking you behind the scenes so you can see the process. Some of it technical, some of it tedious, some of it just procedural, almost bureaucratic. All of these things have to happen in order for the final product to get out there and to be in a. A palatable format for people to use and enjoy. Okay, let's hear the audio again.

Yeah, I'm clicking on a few different settings. There's one particular setting, and that sounded.

A little better to me.

Yeah.

Did that sound okay to you?

So, yeah, that seems to be okay. I'm just gonna click on. Now, this is a slightly different setting. That's the. Supposed to be the opposite of what I just clicked on. But if you like the original version.

That sounds pretty good, too. Ben, do you have a preference between those two settings?

I think it sounds better now. Yeah, it sounds better. Okay. Yeah. It might have also just been that I opened up. And for people at home, every time you add a piece of technology, a camera or microphone, there's a program that goes along with it to tweak some of the settings. So this is the way you do it correctly.

Okay, now, since we are in full disclosure, we're doing this for the first time where we're going on live with Amazon and we will be able to promote Jess's latest book. He's the author of many books. And I will be holding up the. The copy so people can see it. We'll also have it a carousel, but we'll be showing media secrets and you can go ahead and buy a copy.

Who. Right there.

I'd highly recommend you do buy a copy. It should be a part of your library. But, Ben, are you. Will you be able to just click a button and we'll be live on Amazon? Or how does this actually work? Because we are doing. This is our test here. We're testing it live in front of everyone. And this will be our first time as an Amazon influencer. Going live on Amazon Live.

Yes, I'll be able to click a button to get you live, but I need to take down your Facebook channel now.

Sure.

So we're.

Oh, we're going to say goodbye to my Facebook friends. This is my personal account. So you don't. I don't normally stream here if you're one of my Facebook friends, but I wanted to just say hello today, let some of you know some of the fun things I'm up to. So we're going to say let's go ahead and. And take off my personal Facebook feed right now and please feel free to join us on my business Facebook page, which is TJ Walker. Success on Facebook, even easier. Just hop on over to YouTube and you can watch and participate and even come on screen and ask Jess a question if you want. Okay, so we've taken that one off and you'll now be able to add the Amazon Live feed. Is that correct? Okay.

Yes, correct.

And just take a moment. You want to get water or stretch, now's a good time to do it. Okay. And so again, this is going to be an experiment. We don't know exactly how this works. My understanding is we'll see a carousel underneath us and we can see the book and people can actually click on it, make a purchase. Okay, so let's do. Let's do this. Let me have sort of an introduction.

That I was a good intro.

Well, that was just the rough draft. That was just the rough draft. You know what, let's just hop in live to Amazon and then. And then after, I think about a half an hour, I will say, or 20 minutes, I'm going to say we're going to sign off for our friends on Amazon Live. And then we'll go into a deeper interview that's not really about the book, but it's just about Jess, his life and his secrets and everything he wants to tell people as it relates to communication skills. So let's do it that way, Ben. So just be. I'm going to take you off camera, Ben, but you're with us, obviously, and you see if there's a way of doing. So I'm taking you off, Ben. Actually, I'll start and then I'll add Jess. So I'm taking both of you off, but I'm going to remove Ben from the stage. Jesse is on the stage. Okay. Oh, but before I do that, Ben, how will I know when I'm live on Amazon? Oh, now I've lost your audio. Your microphone is off, Ben.

Okay, sorry about that. I. I will. I'm almost done. I will have the Amazon live now and let you know when we are live.

So you'll let us know. Okay. So we have a moment or two to kill. And, you know, full disclosure for folks. Jess and I have known each other for, if not a quarter century, close to it. And we have worked together directly, indirectly partnered, worked full time together, and all sorts of other things. So we do know a lot about each other. And I'm really trying to learn some new things myself this time because sometimes you can know someone and never ask them certain questions. And that's part of the beauty of being able to do a podcast, is you can ask questions you might not normally think of with someone you work with every day or a friend.

Okay, Ben, any update? Yeah, I know we've. Right. We've known each other at least 20 years, if not probably a little bit longer than that. And I am sure we haven't had everything come up. And it'll be an interesting time to bring up some good stories today. And hopefully I have some good stories and think back on things I've seen along the way, either as a producer or hosting or as a consultant working with people. I may not say what their real name is, but I'll talk about some of the issues and troubles that they face that we all do.

Okay, great.

All right, Ben, where are we now? Yes, what's that? We are ready to go live now.

Okay, so will I see a countdown? Does Amazon give us a countdown or it just boom. I'll see my face on it.

I think I'll give you a signal to let you know we are live. I've not tried.

Okay, so I'm going to put just myself on, but I can see you in our green room and actually I'll be able to hear you. So why don't you try to give me a countdown if you could. Okay, so let's go ahead and do it. Oh, I'm going to hit record on my end as well. Okay.

Yeah. One, two, zero. We are live.

We have a special guest for you today, ladies and gentlemen. He's one of the most renowned media trainers, communications consultants in the entire world. He has trained major political leaders, sports figures, figures well known in pop culture and celebrities around the globe. He's worked at abc, NBC, Fox. He has tremendous experience. He even once set the Guinness Book of Records for most talk show appearances in a 24 hour period in the history of the world. He is a consummate, consummate communicator and coach. Our special guest today is Jess Toddfeld.

Thank you very much.

Jess, so good to see you. Thanks for being with us today.

It's great to be here and sharing today.

Yeah, Jess, this is our inaugural experience on Amazon Live. So happy to be a part of the Amazon family as an Amazon influencer. You've got a fantastic book that continues to make major sales and has fantastic reviews on Amazon. Let me show the book for everyone. We are in Amazon Live so you can go ahead and buy it right on Amazon. And my colleague, our producer Ben is with us. Ben, my understanding is we can show that right on the carousel. I don't know how to do that, so we're trying to figure that out. But this is the book Media Secrets, a Media Training Crash Course, which is a fantastic book and it shares a lifetime of experiences, anecdotes, incredible stories about Jess's journey as one of the premier media trainers not just in the United States, but in the entire world. So, Jess, there are a number of books about media training out there. What's the one thing that people tell you after reading your book? Wow, I thought I knew a lot about media training, but that one really brought in new insights that I had not seen before.

I mean, the one I'm hearing a lot lately is about practicing and practicing on video. Where the old school method was stand in front of a mirror and look at yourself and try to do what you're doing and analyze yourself at the same time. Too much, Too much to do. But I have, I just had a client again yesterday say to me, past client say, wow, really? The best way is to record yourself and then look at it and if you don't like it, do it again. How simple does that Sound and the fact that we all have a video recording device in our pockets and built into everything, that's the biggest Aha. That I see. And I'm talking right now not just about being on the video or TV or social media, but giving any kind of presentation, anything that's important. Talking to your boss about something really important. Why wouldn't you practice anything in life that's important you would practice now, Jess.

These days there are sometimes people who are 22, finish college and say, I don't know, I think it would be fun to be a media consultant. Seems glamorous, and they hold out their shingle. You actually worked in the media for decades at major TV news networks. What are the things you really learned behind the scenes in the green room and seeing celebrities who everyone thinks is supremely confident, but you can actually see them shaking before they went out on the air?

Yeah, often I had celebrities who would start freaking out and saying, what are they going to ask me? And I'd say, well, we don't have a script of questions. I said, I did actually suggest questions about your new movie or whatever it is. But they're all basic. Who, what, when, where, why and how. Those are. Those are the most basic questions. Yeah, but are they going to give me a hard time? Are they going to talk and bring this up? Oh, well, I mean, now you're asking me with one minute to go, and it happens to be a news channel or a new show at a number of places I worked. So they could. But it's not the. I'm just telling you, it's not the plan. And sometimes they'd say, I don't believe you. Oh, now what are we doing? Right? I mean, you can believe or not, but I don't know what to say. So. But people, people are people. They have insecurities, even if they're at a high, high level. Not you. It wasn't usually politicians who would do something like that, but they worry about the questions. And I know something you and I have talked about is we, instead of worrying and obsessing over the questions people might ask us, whether it's a media interview or it's being on a panel or going into a job interview, we should focus on the answers that we're going to give and play a matching game. That's a recipe for success, to be able to flip over the equation. We don't have control over the questions. We have 100% control over the answers. So we can ready the perfect answer. But, yeah, I would say.

Again, the Book is Media Secrets, a media training crash course by renowned media training expert Jess Toddfell. It's available right now. You don't have to go anywhere. You don't have to get in a car right here on Amazon Barnes and Noble. You can buy the book right now on Amazon. Those of you watching us on Amazon live, so happy to be a part of the Amazon influencer community. I've joined Amazon about three months ago as an Amazon influencer. This is our first live stream and very excited to be a part of it and to be able to put a spotlight on major renowned experts and authors like Jess Todfeld. So we very much appreciate him.

And this is my first time being live on Amazon. I feel like I should be shilling for Amazon. Everybody go buy yourself some glasses to see the total solar eclipse.

Well, we are shilling for Amazon today in a good way. We're encouraging people to buy your book, which is a great thing. A lot of times people forget Amazon. That's all they did for many, many years. And to me, it's a classic example. Focus on one thing you do well. Don't try to be all things to all people. People get so dominant at that before you expand out. And that's, that's a lesson that we all need reminding in from time to time. Now, Jess, you have had so many different experiences in different parts of the world training. Tell our audience about one of the worst media training experiences you ever had. Something where things went wrong or the person just didn't quite cope. I know I've had clients fall down on the floor going in the fetal position crying. Tell us about some of your experiences conducting actual media trainings.

A few pop up in my head. I mean, I've been doing this for more than 20 years and it would be the exception to the rule. But I'm going to start with the crying one because you brought it up and there's two crying stories. One is I was training a colleague, somebody that you and I both know, but somebody who was going to be doing a media training for the first time. And I explained a great way to really connect with people is to use examples of past people you might have worked with. And they said, but I have never worked with anybody. And they basically had worked with somebody one time. And they said, well, those are your stories about the one. Just don't say it was last week. And anyway, they were doing a decent job, but the person they were training just happened to be a woman, in this case was so worried and brought baggage from, say, childhood that the very first interview was too much and she started crying. So here, this person brought someone to tears. On the very first media training. Teaching someone to be in front of the camera, that's a rough media training. I mean, I, I, and then just had to, you know, really just kind of, you know, make things calm and try to build up their feeling of, it's okay. This is all practice and, and you should be able to try things out. It was probably 15 years before I hit somebody who cried. But I did have, I'm going to bring that up, which is I had a husband and wife team. They had a book that they were promoting. They were going to be on, you know, on TV interviews. And again, it was something left over from childhood. And I have seen this even with some CEOs where they were laughed at or there was some moment that just sticks in their head. And to be able to get over a moment like that, we have to talk about it, you know, so did I ever expect that I needed to somehow be a psychologist to help people be better on camera? Never expected that. But I have, over time, had to look into what to say and what to do and of course, be empathetic and compassionate. So in this situation, husband and wife team, I'm recording them, and the wife had had an experience where she froze as a child once. I only saw that on sitcoms. I saw that on the Brady Bunch where Cindy Brady, that's kind of going back a little while, that reference. But Cindy Brady was stuck and she was, you know, frozen in the camera. I had really never seen people do that in real life. One time, when I was a TV producer, we had a guest who was on to talk about ostrich meat and, and how it's the next big thing. And when the interviewer said, so what part of the ostrich is it from? She froze like this. Which also reminds me of Ralph Cramden, by the way. He froze on camera when he was on television. But anyway, this training, this woman remembered freezing as a kid when she was up in front of the class, people laughed at her. And, you know, goes back, it's, it's like those pieces of us, the fight and flight. Flight. Freeze. Fight or flight. So the freeze is one of those things. How do we deal with tough situations? So just to give people, you know, a sense of, you know, what happened next, we have to slow down and work through it. If you, all of you have ever had something like that, working with a coach is obviously going to get you past it faster. But we have to break apart. What. And I try to say this quickly so I could throw it back to TJ what caused it. And then we need to let go of an operating system that a six year old came up with. So if our body runs on, if our phone runs on an operating system that a six year old came up with, it's not the case. It's whatever I updated recently, but that would be a problem. But sometimes we're running on an operating system that a much younger person came up with. So we can break past that again.

The book is Media Secrets. I'm actually now looking at it on Amazon. I got to take my face out of it.

So there we are, we have the double screening. Hello, Amazon people.

We're on the Amazon app. You can see us chatting away. I guess there's a few second delay and there you see the book right at the bottom. So Amazon is really quite masterful at selling stuff. You have to give Amazon and Jeff Bezos tremendous credit. So if you're watching on Amazon live now and you can see it looks like about a 30 second delay because you saw me backing it out. But you can purchase the book right there below. So I would urge you, whether you like paper version, the real thing, whether you like the digital version. I've gone back and forth over the last 10 years of what I prefer most. I'm sort of so in love now with my, with my Kindle Paperwhite. I've gone back to digital. But the book is a fantastic read at every single level. Jess, let's go back a little bit. How did you, how did you even get into this? Who were your role models as a child growing up as a communicator?

Well, I know sometimes when we people who end up doing something with public speaking, they look at Winston Churchill or politicians or presidents. I would watch comedians very closely. Jackie Gleason in the Honeymoon. Big, big influence. Just looking at timing or what made people laugh. You know, Robin Williams as a comedian, a very physical comedian. Abbott and Costello. So you might think. But Jess, So does that mean you teach people to go out and do pratfalls and use their, their face?

You can't do that anymore to family members.

Susquehanna Hat Company. That's an Abbott and Costello reference. But I don't say that. But we can be expressive in a certain way and convey in a certain way and tap into people's emotions. So the thing that really I focused on as a kid were all of these comedians because it can get you to have an involuntary response now as an adult, I wish I also pair that with what can get people to the opposite of laughing, which would be crying or an emotion. And I always joke with my kids when I give my mother a birthday card or a Mother's Day card, that I've done it right if she cries. So I really write something, you know, extra emotional. I go like that. She starts tearing. And I look at my two kids and I'm like, I did it. And they're like, oh, my gosh, this is crazy. But that's another interesting technique. But yes, it was the comedians, those few people. I mean, Jerry Seinfeld at a certain point, but I wasn't as. I mean, I liked his sitcom. I didn't like a stand up as much as the sitcom. But looking at how people use their bodies or word choice to create an emotion in the people who are watching.

Do you remember your first speech that was to more than five students in your classroom?

I remember an early speech that I did not prepare for. I was running for cla. It wasn't class president. Apparently if I do this, I get a thumbs up on the screen. I was running for president of just my fifth grade class, just the 30 kids, not, not the whole, you know, fifth grade group. And I did not prepare. I figured I'd wing it. I don't know why. I just couldn't bring myself to write anything down. And the kid who went up before me, they all had good points. And I was thinking, those are great points. But I had no game plan of where to go. And one kid went up and said, I have great muscles. And then he used his hand to push up muscles to see how it would get up. And I was thinking, okay, well that's. That part's ridiculous. But then I went up and I.

Said, really did get a laugh when he did that.

Got a huge laugh. And I think it even pushed him closer to being one of the top couple people. Maybe there were five of us. But I went up saying, well, I pretty much agree with Megan and John. Amy had some good points and I reiterated what they said, but I did not stand out in any way. So I got one of the lowest amounts of votes that you can get because I had nothing to say. But it was a good eye opener for me that you can't just go out. You winging it is not a strategy because it has very shaky results. You go out there and you're saying, I don't know what I'm going to say. And I wasn't embarrassed for some reason. So, I mean, I guess that's helpful if you're going to be in front of people in the future. I mean, I was, you know, dust myself off and I was fine and. But it helped me in the future whether I was running for a position. And I did get certain positions.

And it's not like the next day people were pointing at you in the hallway and laughing. Nothing really bad happened from it. Correct?

Yeah. Although. Right. They didn't. But it was pre social media. Can you imagine kids nowadays? I mean, if they're recording and then you say, like, this is the moment where Jess ate it. Wow, this is terrible. I mean, we see the politicians who have that one moment. And I think it was Howard Dean, who was running for president in the primaries here in the US I know that Amazon goes elsewhere. And he. They called it the Dean Scream. And he was kind of excited, like almost. He got into professional wrestler mode, I think. But he said, we're gonna take Wisconsin, and then we're gonna take Michigan, and we're gonna take this one. We're gonna take. And he got higher and higher until he went. And if that were just in a rally, you just say, okay, great. Pulled out and just put on television. He seemed unhinged because he was screaming and yelling. Yeah, he was at a rally, but it ended his run. So it's interesting to watch. Anyway, so we're talking about kids. I'm lucky that I did not have social media to destroy my whole childhood. If they had taken a piece of who knows what I had said, or if I were the kid who was pushing my muscle up as my only platform.

That is a good. Yet another good reason to keep phones out of schools. I was just watching Jonathan Haight, the social psychologist on Bill Maher this week, and he has a new book out recommending absolutely no, no cell phones for any kid below 16. And no cell phones in schools would solve a problem like that. Our guest today is not only the author of Media Secrets, which you can buy below with one click if you're watching this on Amazon Live. He's also a certified professional speaker, renowned around the country through the National Speakers association and their certification process. Just tell us about one of the most effective speeches you've ever given. Everyone's had good days, bad days, things you think are going well and it doesn't. But tell us about one of the best speeches you ever gave, what you think worked, and what kind of response you got from people afterwards.

Well, the word effective is what I should really zoom in on because what when you first said, hey, we should talk about one of your best speeches, well, my head went to. I was in a room of maybe 2,500 people, 3,000 people, it was in Aruba. Group reached out and said, we want you to speak on communication styles and what people can do better and actually how they can even get some media attention. And great. I have plenty of content for that and I can make it fun and interactive. And it was. I was focusing on making it fun, fun and interactive. And as people, as speakers or performers, we can dial up the fun part or the content. And obviously we should have a nice mix of both and be going back and forth. But everybody really was into it and they were laughing at the right moments, so they were nodding at the right moments. But that went well for me, noticing that the audience was engaged and focused. But you asked the question of what was most effective. And a lot of times the smaller groups of five people are under. When I've said, try this one thing. You want to be a better speaker, you need to practice coming up with these points, tell a story. It doesn't have to be the perfect story. I want you to have a point and we're going to record it. I just happen to have one of my fancy video cameras right next to me over here and. And I said, we're going to record it, we're going to play it back. And watching them get better and better, which I've. I've had many times. But having them say, okay, now I get it. I'm seeing myself do it. I should do that. Beyond here, when you use the word effective, I know it's effective because people, months later, when we've interacted or years later have said, I still do that. That's how I judge if it's effective or not. If what I shared was actually implemented, did they act on what it is that I said? Most people, when they speak, the group forgets what they said. Think about somebody, all of you people who listening today, anybody who you thought, whether it was a politician or your boss or the head of a company that you worked for, they were interesting. But what do you really remember afterwards? And I mean a day later or five years later, a lot of times, not much. So I know for me, it's a huge success. If somebody says, and this is a conversation I had with a past client the other day where they said, hey, I still record myself, Hey, I remember this thing you said, and I do it, that is, is how I. I figure out if something is effective. And for Everybody else, think about how what people remember. Are you memorable or are you just a data dumper?

Do you have any. Do you have any speech that really stands out that you remember years, decades later? I mean, I. I do remember. I believe it was 1968 or 60 snow would have been 1967. Mr. Rogers came to my school, my elementary school, my kindergarten. And I remember being in such a awe. I remember when I was getting my Eagle scout in the 70s and the mayor came and his name was John Belk. And he. He started his presentation by saying, you know, I love it when my constituents come up and call me an SOB I said, oh, that's so nice of you. That stands for sweet old Belk. And it was a. Got a little chuckle. Is not the funniest joke in the world. But for some reason that sticks in my memory now, you know, 45 years later. Are there any speakers that you remember decades later in a similar way?

Yeah, and it would be Tony Robbins. I had been in this field as a communication professional for 10, 15 years, and I went to a Tony Robbins event. I figured people always bring him up. I need to go and see him do his thing in person. I had seen clips he was on infomercials from growing up. So that made him not as cool in some way. But what I was amazed by was something that he teaches, which is using every modality and tapping into every type of emotion and feeling and captivating people through sight and touch and feel and smell. So. So when you say smell as a speaker. Well, as far as touch, I mean, he lowered the lights and now this seems like an HR issue. But I remember. Well, I was about to say he had everyone.

That's the person next to you. He used to the person next to you.

So you're like, well, that actually feels kind of nice. But I'm sure some people probably didn't want to be touched. But he also turned the lights down and kind of made it a dance party. And he used sound. And so nobody can really see in the dark. So you're like, I'll move around. I can dance however I want. Nobody can really see me and use sound. They use certain songs that really pumped people up. And everybody who's watching right now has had been driving in the car, had music that's the soundtrack of your life that pumps you up and puts you in a different state. So I was amazed to see a speaker who was demonstrating for three days, three, four days, however long it was, how to put people in a different state. He was Teaching how to do it for everybody, but using all of these techniques and it made me realize I could use music, I could use lighting, I could use all of the different methods of getting people to feel something. And do I do it as much? I mean, not quite on the level that, that he does. I don't think I've turned the lights down all the way, but I have had it where people come in and there's fun music playing, depending on the right group. And then people say, oh, this is going to be fun, this is going to be great. They're already kind of excited in the day instead of coming in and there's nothing. And then I okay, let's start. It's a lecture, which is not how I would do it anyway, so that was the most exciting one for me. Who, I'm curious, T.J. walker, who you think influenced you? Who you think was one of the, I mean you mentioned, I guess you mentioned the mayor, that stands out. But someone who influenced you as a speaker.

So the mayor was somebody, I remember a joke. He wasn't really known as a compelling speaker. Yeah, I had a junior high school principal who went on every single day and ended with a little motivational saying, remember shoot for the stars, you at least hit the moon. So he was someone who kind of inspired me. As I got, I got more interested in speaking. For me it was more media personalities and I was more interested in politicians. So I was very much inspired by William F. Buckley. I was not a conservative, but he was someone who had his own show, Firing Line, and giving speeches and books and magazines, very much a part of American intellectual life from really the 1950s till he passed away about a decade ago. So I was fascinated by political commentators and talk show hosts, including some of the all time greats like Paul Harvey, who had a career that was 60 years long until he passed away, I guess about 15 years ago. And we're speaking to Jess Todd Bell. The book is Media Secrets. You can see it right here. If you're watching us on Amazon live, click below in the carousel and with one click you can buy that book right now. Now, Jess, you are a certified professional speaker. You speak on stages around the globe. You've had successes, but if you're like most people and like me, you've had some failures too. Can you think of that particular speech that didn't go well? I've been practically booed off stages at one point. And are there any types of speaking situations? And you've been brave enough, unlike me, to do real stand up comedy in front of audiences. So we'd love to hear about that particular aspect of communication. Are there any other cases where you're like less than completely proud of presentations? And I know and I don't say this very often, in 1980 I was a timeshare salesman. So I was one of these guys on the phone doing the huckstering for timeshare, which was a type of speaking presentation. Tell us about some of your less than huge success speaking situations.

Well, I am going to bring up a time that I was doing stand up where was just absolutely awful and almost had my face rearranged. But as I lead into that, I'm going to first tell you a non comedy story or that was stand up one where I had give, was giving a presentation that I had given many times before. It was called Speak to Close. And it's basically where presentation skills meet sales. So it's how do you speak in a way that is compelling and can get people to take action? And in this situation, it's a buying action. So I was speaking to the New Jersey, Northern New Jersey group of Ashley Furniture employees. Ashley Furniture makes, you know, basic furniture you get in your home. Beds, desks, dressers. And these were people who just work in their office, work there either selling, but many of them just work behind the register. Customer service representatives, they're called. And they do this, this little retreat once a year. And in between the speakers, they win prizes. Hey, you're going to get a tempur Pedic pillow. Yay. And they were, these people were so lit up about the prizes, very excited, like they're going to lose their mind. They're on a game show. But then the speakers came on and they were like, ugh, when is this? When are these people going to be done? I want to win prizes. So you saw people kind of lean back into, into their seat and I only just walked up there. They're kind of like, how long is this going to be? And that's how long it's going to be. So. But I didn't say that. I mean, I went into my thing, so I have a presentation that works. Most places people laugh. In certain spots people say, I aha. In certain spots people interact and do an exercise. This group wanted no part of it. I'm bringing this story also up because, you know, some people say like, oh, well, that thing didn't work. You have to sometimes test on multiple audiences to really figure out what worked, what didn't. Even having a video, not just of you, but where you can see some of the audience. Are they being fidgety in certain spots where you think it's working and they're checking their phone. You need to see those things. So anyway, this audience did not want me there. They. Well, they didn't want anybody there, I think. And I was pulling out all the stops and I said, here comes an exercise. You're going to pair up people, like any time they get to talk to their colleagues. So it was an opportunity. I said, tell the other, the other person about your weekend. That's all I'm going to say. Talk about your weekend. And it's an exercise designed for people to realize that they are natural born storytellers. They don't get up and say, I got up and I took my toothbrush out and I went this way and that way, and then I put water on my face. I went to the next room and I took a bowl and I took a spoon. They don't do that data dump. They tell a story about their weekend. Oh, you're not going to believe what happened. Oh, man. I met up my cousin and my cousin's so crazy and this happened. So they tell stories. Anyway, I said, let's pair up. And they just kind of sat there staring at me. I said, no, no, turn toward your. Turn toward it. You guys get to talk about your weekend. Yeah. Nah, I don't feel like it. And I say, well, you know, indulge me here, try this thing out. And I know I had another exercise. You jump up and you hold your hands up in the hero pose. You'll feel better. And it's based on some study that you and I know about that Amy Cuddy did a TED Talk on. Anyway, they want no part of it. The person, the organizer who paid me to be there at the end said, thank you, I appreciate you being here. I apologize the audience, I mean, this is one occasion they were apologizing for the audience. I know they were just not that into it today. So you know what I learn? Sometimes it really is the audience in comedy. You're told that you really shouldn't blame the audience. And I've been brought up that way. And if we have time, tj, I'll tell you the comedy story with my face.

I do want to talk about comedy because I view stand up comedy is really the highest level of public speaking. Because when most situ, the average business person speaks for 10 minutes. And if you get one tiny laugh and you don't bore the audience to death, they love you. They think, my God, that was the best speaker we've seen all day or all week. In stand up comedy, quite often the audience is sitting there like, make me laugh every two seconds or I'm going to be angry and throw things at you. So I view it as really the highest form. It's frankly one of my areas of failure. I think I've tried to speak in so many different ways. I failed at stand up comedy. I did take a stand up comedy class about 25 years ago and never even got to the point where I thought or felt this is even mildly plausible for an open mic. So I, I bow down to people like you who've taken the leap and actually performed in front of people. Tell us more about what's unique with respect to speaker speaking in a stand up comedy situation and what you learned from your time doing that.

Yeah, I learned a lot. And for everyone out there who gives a normal speech or you speak in a conference room to your colleagues, you don't have to be funny when it comes to professional speaking. They say, well, being funny is very helpful if you want to be paid more. Meaning that you're not only connecting with people intellectually but you're making it fun and accessible, exciting and you're actually moving them in some way to laugh or cry and it'd be helpful. That's why I said the crying part is the part that I, I have not done so much or on purpose as I told that story earlier. You don't want I would be able to cry, not on purpose. But the thing that's unique, I, one thing I want to bring up along these lines is Judd and your own story. Judd Apatow the produce, the writer, producer, producer A director of the 40 Year Old Virgin knocked up a lot of other movies. This is 40. He had said when he, he heard, when he was doing stand up, someone came up to him and said, just so you know, at least the first two years you do this, it's not going to be good. It's going to be bumpy all over the place. You're not, you don't even have your voice yet. And I wish someone had told me and I had done an on and off over, over maybe three and a half years. And I, I had a day job, I was a TV producer so I had to stay out really late. It was hard for me. I had a, a one year old baby at home and I wanted to be present in his life and trying to juggle it. I, I would perform maybe once a week and then I, I had somebody say you need to be doing this five or six times a week. Holy cow. How would I ever do that? And that was, you know, the beginning, me doing it less. But as far as, you know, what's unique and what can people learn? I think getting up over and over, being willing to be vulnerable and be not good in front of people. And how do you save it? I always tell people when we're doing training for presentation skills and public speaking or media skills, that when something doesn't go right, this is your opportunity to shine. Something goes wrong. Everyone wants to see what will you do. So comedy is, something's going wrong. I don't know, every 20 seconds. I mean, if you're brand new. Meaning I said the thing, it didn't work. How do I play it off? So, you know, I said, who? You asked me who early speakers are, who I wanted to emulate or watch closely. I really watched. Also late night talk show hosts Johnny Carson and, and David Letterman and any of the other ones that were peppered in there, those being the two biggest ones. When I was a kid, Johnny Carson, a joke didn't go well and he kind of go on his toes and kind of like, oh, you know, like fall, like stumble over, like the audience not liking that one. Which is what's sometimes even funnier than the joke. Him, you know, looking to the side, you know, like, oh, am I the. You know, is this thing on, you know, watching how somebody deals with those situations, we can all take something from that, which is, how do you, you know, improvise? Now, everybody else does not have to be funny every, you know, joke after joke after joke or every few seconds. But it's nice when there's some moments of levity. I just say this for people who are speaking at work, you know, if it's a jokey joke, you know, I'm going to tell a joke. Three guys walk into a bar. Don't do it. Just don't, don't do it. If there's a moment for levity, it's nice, but if in doubt, leave it out. If you're thinking, do this, get me fired. Should I not talk about the, the shapely figure of Jennifer in, you know, hr? Yeah, don't do it. Keep that to yourself. Let's not even bring this up. And I've seen people do that. Like, I probably shouldn't say this, but yeah, I'm gonna agree. You probably should be.

Not a good way of starting off right.

Like this is gonna be a problem, compelling for everyone else. And they're like can you believe that Bob just said that? But yeah, so, but as far as to tie bow on some of this stuff, stand up. You're being as vulnerable as possible. And, and you don't know if certain jokes work until you're out in front of people. And for the rest of us, if you're just giving a basic presentation, you follow some of the formula that we teach, which is story point or message? Story point, story point. And then have an introduction and have a close. That's a great form formula for success. And, and most of the time, even if you're not, I mean we're used to hearing people who are boring. If it's not the most exciting thing, but they got, the audience got what they wanted, then you're the sweet spot. Okay, fine. Can it be better? Of course. But boy, stand up. I mean I had Joe I sometimes to sell a joke, it was the fill the physical. So you can tell a joke that maybe wasn't as funny, but you can say. And then I said what? What? So it's your reaction to something and people might laugh at that. So there are ways of using that physicality which I still use just in basic stories, you know. So I tell a story about a time where some. I'm in the middle of just doing my thing. It was actually in a dive bar. Everyone's talking over it. Nobody wanted me there. They said everyone, everyone stop talking now you're going to laugh. Oh, then great. And. But this guy stands up and he was all grungy looking and a green woolen hat pulled down and wrinkle lines in his face with dirt and lines and a mustache like a, a caterpillar. And I could. And he just stood up and he looked at me and I'm like, what? Because there people were sitting in seats and he looked me in the eye and he said shoulder rance. And I said should have what? And he said shit. Which I should point out means nothing in any language. It doesn't mean anything. How do you have a comeback for shitter ants? I've been practicing all my, you know, I like your face. Haha. I'm going to tell you what. So I'm looking at this guy and the lines in his face dirt. And I could see the way he was holding his Heineken. It wasn't down here, it was a little bit back and forth. Shoot. Maybe that's the launch code for I'm going to send this to your face. So I just said ah, yeah, thanks for playing. Which is not funny. But he sat down. Maybe it was the code. I. So he sat down and I'm like, this is not. None of this makes sense. And then I lost the, the, the few people who were sitting down at seats right in front of the stage. It was a total mess. That would be my worst disaster story, which would happen to be stand up.

I'm glad you didn't get your face punched in. So that is very good news. A special hello to all of our good friends on Amazon. We are on Amazon Live today for the first time. So happy that the internationally esteemed media trainer, communications consultant Jess Todfeld is with us. You can get his book and learn more Media Secrets by buying the book below Media Secrets in the carousel that you see right there on Amazon Live. Now, if you're watching this on another channel and you want to see what this is all about, just go to Amazon.com shop TJ WalkerSuccess and you will see the live feed. You'll see my storefront. You hit the button for the live stream and if that's too much of a URL to remember, if you go to my YouTube channel and hit the about us section, you'll see, see my Amazon storefront at the bottom. One click from that and you will get right into it. Now, Jess, you mentioned a moment ago, while you're doing Stand up at night, you are also a producer at major TV networks. During the day, you've worked at a lot of the major TV networks in New York City. So you've been on the receiving end of people pitching you, saying, please, you got to have my client on your morning show, or please, please, you gotta book me to talk about my book. Tell us what lessons you learn that people really need to know if they're trying to pitch themselves to get on a major traditional media outlet or these days on a major, incredibly popular podcast like a Tim Ferriss podcast. What sort of pitches work, don't work? And what are some of the best pitches you ever received where you knew, I don't have a choice, I have to put them on. And what are some of the worst pitches you ever received?

Yeah, the phrase is, where's the wow? Where is the wow? So if somebody says, we have a new book about gardening, there you go. Right, okay. What about gardening? Well, it's just how you get into gardening as a pastime and it's nice. That's not enough. So but now if somebody had said you can make your. You can morph different types of foods and create foods that don't exist yet. Okay, that's different. Or how you can completely change how you feel every day and have the most energy that you've ever had because you're going to create your own food in your backyard. Well, that's interesting. Or how to lose weight. Only eating fast food, that would be the opposite of gardening. Wow, that's crazy. As opposed, as opposed to fast food is bad for you. So it's. Where is the wow? That's what would help. And then there's a part two to that, which is, what will you say if we interview you? Will you say more than 10 seconds worth of wow or do we have more of it? So if so, if somebody sent something to me, most of the time when someone's pitching themselves, they did not get to the wow. I had to look through and find something interesting. But I'll tell you a pitch that worked really well for me as somebody. You want to know some of the best pitches? Somebody had said, jess, we have a brand new personal taser that people can get and feel comfortable, and you, you shoot it at somebody who's gonna, who might attack you, and you're tasing them. You know, it's not a buzzer. It's, you know, something shoots out. And I said, wow, this is interesting. Have there ever been ones before? Yeah, but this is really small. And I, I said, well, here comes the wow. Can we tase someone live in our show?

Yeah.

And they said, hold on one second. They covered the phone. Jess, my business partner is willing to get tased. Which just. That story was worth telling on the air. And we told it. I said, you have to say that on the air. Because they said, and there it is. Look at Bob standing over there in the background and was standing all nervous. And we're like, how do you feel, Bob? I feel like I was forced into this. I mean, we believe in our product, but I just know this is going to be a rough day ahead because you sweat profusely for the next 24, 48 hours and, you know, it's not good to get taste. So they said, all right, here it goes. And the guy like fell over. And it was funny to everybody who was not him. Oh, it was great tv. So it was also very visual and, and surprising. That's what makes a great guest visual surprise. It's surprising interesting stories that we haven't heard. And obviously that's to mean something to the audience. He would be. That would be one of the best that we had on. We also had. This is a best and worst at the same Time we worked in live television. We had a guy who had a gadget. I once worked on a gadget show, and it was basically a big fan that he could put on his back with a parachute and he'd run. He was in our parking lot. We were in a TV channel in New Jersey. It was an NBC cable channel. And he'd run and he'd go, and then he'd jump into the air and fly. And more often, I mean, more recently, we've seen some of these things, but we had never seen something like this in 1994. And so he jumped into. Before the show, our executive producer said, I don't really. I'm putting this at the end of the show. I don't really think this works. And I said, I know it works. We were talking about it and he showed me. You didn't have YouTube, but images. Anyway, before the show, the guys up over our building, it was crazy. We're like, this is great. Let's tease it the whole show. And he's going to do it at the end. So at the end of the show, we said, we have 90 seconds left. Let's see this amazing thing we've talked about. It won't start. Just hold on a second. If you've ever tried to start a lawnmower or something, I mean, this should really work. Oh, I got it going.

All right.

But now we have 40 seconds left and he goes to run. And let's go to the parachute and get stuck on a dumpster. Oh, I just have to. I didn't expect it would get stuck here. And now he's back to run over one at a time. And. And that was it. So we're all sitting in the control room saying, this is insane. So it was. It didn't work. And then obviously got it working right afterwards. We showed the video the next day. But also funny when something. I mean, again to everyone but this one guy who was propping up his business like everyone should buy one of these. Funny to everyone who's not him. But. But those live TV moments, the when something's unexpected, even the wow is something that's a little unexpected.

We're here with master storyteller and communication expert Jess Teifeld, author of Media Secrets, which you can buy with one click below right here if you're watching on Amazon Live. So, Jess, you've worked at major networks, you've been in the green room, you've seen thousands and thousands of celebrities. And quite often there's the perception that a lot of celebrities, they get well known, and all they have to do is show up, and everyone's bowing down to them. But, you know, some of them are really good at the craft of being a great guest for talk shows. I mean, Tony Randall was famous for that. I know you've seen a lot of people face to face, and right there, you've seen how they prepare. Think about it. Robin Williams famously would, you know, rehearse bits for weeks before going on a show. Who have you seen in person? Whether it's, you know, Richard Simmons or someone else who became dominant in pop culture because of their ability to communicate effectively as a guest on talk shows.

Well, it's funny that you said Richard Simmons like I was sending it to you through telepathy, because he was. As you were saying, I was running through my head all the different people that we had over the years. Years. And I have even notes on some of this stuff, so I don't forget. But Richard Simmons is somebody who is big and over the top, like a Robin Williams. And people who haven't seen him, you know, ever. People a little bit younger than us. And that's his whole thing, his brand. So you'd expect in the green room, the waiting area, that, okay, well, he's gonna dial it down and just, you know, oh, hey, nice to meet all of you, and, you know, have a serious conversation. Meaning that he has different. You would think he has different levels, but he knew the second he showed up that he had to jump into that Persona. So there are no cameras in the green room. He's jumping on couches. He's. He's holding donuts over his eyes, and he's doing things, and they're like, you know, save it for when you go out there later. You don't have to. You know, you don't get to be out there for 45 minutes. Just chill. It's okay. You don't have to perform for me. You know, I booked you on the show. I'll let you relax. And it was interesting to see that he got into character so much sooner. It's not something I recommend for people to. Because most people will burn out. They'll be exhausted 45 minutes later and not be able to go out and play it off. And he was unbelievably compelling. And then we. He did his interview. And it's funny, in the interview, I have seen him get serious and talk about weight loss. I mean, that was his topic about weight loss and. And where people's heads are. Then he went outside and he was throwing Donuts. He was making a whole thing about, you know, this is what you serve your people. I'm here to talk about healthy eating. And you have these terrible donuts and throwing them around. So. So that was always really compelling. But there are people. And just to pick someone who's a non celebrity who really used storytelling to talk about actually a book. So right after September 11, there are a lot of compelling stories. So this guy wrote a book called God Winks. And it was about, like, those moments where you feel like maybe someone's looking out for me. And he had nine, 11 stories about, you know, the type of person who. They were on their way to the twin towers and they went, ah, they were going to take their family up in the twin towers to look out at the observatory and said, I forgot something back in the hotel. And the rest of the family said, come on, we're halfway there. No, no, I need to get back. I forgot my sunglasses. I'm going to be upset all day if I don't like, all right, fine. And then they lived and they felt like, who was looking after us? How did this happen? And this guy told story after story after story about moments that people had, you know, where they didn't get on a plane or something happened in their. The whole trajectory of their life was changed. And, wow, what a good storyteller. And I think it was because it was a life or death moment. How often do we find ourselves in a moment where we say, that one choice could have ended my whole life?

I mean, you know, people relate to that. Everyone likes to think, oh, that could have been me. I mean, when I, like a lot of people, when I saw the Baltimore Bridge go down, I'm thinking, well, I've driven over that. I could have been on that. It is human nature to selfishly think that that could be me. Just big question here. How do you convince clients who are convinced they're not good storytellers that they can in fact tell stories?

So what I do is I, in a sneaky way, I get them to tell stories. So one of the exercises I brought up to you was I say, I want you to turn to your partner, pair people up. If we have a group class, one of our public workshops that we do every month, and I say, I want you to tell think way back to the weekend. Because now we're like, we're recording this on a Tuesday. And people, oh, we're into the week already. Think way back. And I want you to share whatever it was that happened on the weekend. I'M not going to give you anything more than that. And go. And inevitably people say, well, my cousin came into town and I hate my cousin and I like, I had to host it. He wants to stay at my house for one day and then he said I need to stay for a week. And then he makes a mess. So anyway, the craziest thing happened. He shows up with, you know, his snake collection or whatever, you know, something like that. You're like, what? And the snake got out. So inevitably they tell a story. And that's a big exercise that I do. I also do one where I get them to sell something and what they're selling, I put an image on the screen of one of those big Hummers, the big, you know, gas guzzling vehicles. And people have the skills in them. They are natural born storytellers. Everyone who is listening right now, if we went to dinner, what would that dinner be like? It would be back and forth of, you know, how are things? Oh, they're good. You're not going to believe, oh, this thing that happened. And it's just story after story after story. That's the whole dinner. Watch closely when that happens. Think about it and notice it. Even next time when you meet up for somebody for a meal, you're not trying, you're not saying what would be some good stories to talk about. It just naturally happens. So if that naturally happens, then it would be unnatural. If you give a speech or a presentation or a media interview and you did not have a story to tell and usually it's because you're nervous or you're in a situation that you're not normally in, stories are a sweet spot. Stories are how we communicate. Stories are the currency of life. My financial clients like it when I say that.

If you want more tips, tricks, tools and techniques to become a better storyteller, check out Jess's book, Media Secrets. It's available below right here on Amazon Live. And if you're watching on another program, just go to Amazon and type in Media Secrets and look for Jess Toddfeld. You'll see that there in a moment. We're going to be taking questions from you. I see Arun has posted a question run. If you could restate your question one more time, I'm missing something. I'm not quite understanding that. I'll give you a moment to post your question. Others of you, you can post questions as well and you can even ask Jess the questions on screen if you want to. We've posted the link for you to join us in Streamyard. If you'd like to do that. Jess, you mentioned successful pitches, people who are great on TV and the great visual and all of that. That's wonderful. Let's go the other side. We live in a culture that says, if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again. I'm sure you've had certain publicists, certain authors think, well, if I just keep asking him every day for six months, he'll be so enamored with my persistence, he'll let me on his show in front of millions of views, tell us about some of those situations and why that might not be the best strategy.

Oh, I didn't know you were going to say not the best strategy. I mean. Well, I think the flaw in that strateg strategy, because I'll tell you time when it worked. But the flaw in that strategy is if someone was going to try the same thing over and over and over and over, isn't that the. What is it we trying to say? The fake.

The fake Einstein quote, which Einstein never said. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Exactly. So that would be the problem with try, try again. If you're trying the exact same way, trying in a different way is called practice. And practice makes perfect. We're never perfect. We're human beings. But it will get you to somewhere else that's just a little bit different. So time that somebody was pitching me as a TV producer that worked, they wanted to get out there. And same if you're pitching a podcast or you're pitching your boss on getting a raise, you know, you're perfecting what it is that works. So anyway, this person reached out to me and said, I. I wrote a book about ghost writing. I'll write books for people, and I write a book on how you can find a ghost writer. So I said, well, that's interesting to me because I would like to write a book someday and have now obviously written books as well as media secrets that you see over there. I said, but I don't see. See, I think our audience on a morning show, news show would be interested in this because I don't see where most of them may not want to write something or have another person write it for them. It just doesn't make sense. So they said, can I pitch you again at some point? Sure, I said politely. And so the guy reached out a few weeks later and gave a pitch, but with a slightly different angle. No, I don't. Again, this is not going to work for us. Can I reach out one day if I have a better angle. Sure. So he did, over and over and over with terrible angles over the next nine months. And then one day, and this is the, in the year 2000, we had a presidential election and we had, we were in the primary season and there were all of these different Republican candidates, all these different Democrat candidates. And he had said, he guess what? You're not going to believe this. Almost every single one of them have a book. And I said, okay, I mean, I believe it, but sure. And he said, but here's what you don't hear anybody saying. I can tell you who wrote their book and whose was ghostwritten. And guess what? Only 1 or 2 of the people actually wrote their own book. I said, that is interesting that these people are running for president and they're touting a book. That's, this is what I feel about America. And they didn't even write it. So I turned, I said, hold on a second. And then I turned to my executive producer and, and explained the, the pitch. And my executive producer, don't forget this person been pitching me for six months. The executive producer said, okay, tomorrow at 6:45am you know what? They, they, they got through. So the reason was they were able to keep adjusting, adjusting. It would have been nice if it were shorter than nine months until they had, they figured out the what's in it for me, the what's in it for the audience. Now, it wasn't pitching a book about ghostwriting. It was about a topic about something in the news that we talk about. There was no news hook. So you have to. Yeah, so those are two examples, I mean, of, you know, what works and what doesn't work. They really found something that mattered to me and to my audience.

And the book is Media Secrets. The author James Jess Toddfeld. We want to say special thanks to our new friends on Amazon Live. Thank you for letting us be a part of your community. Very happy to be an Amazon influencer. This is the first time live. Hope we followed all the rules just the right way. We're going to sign off on Amazon Live right now, but we have more to talk about with Jess right now. So you're not going to want to go anywhere. And I'm going to ask my colleague Ben, who is our producer and running things behind the scenes. We'll go ahead and go off of Amazon right now. I don't know if that's something. Actually, I see it right now. I'm just going to hit. Well, I don't want to Hit remove because it has the garbage pail next to it. And we do want this to stay live on Amazon because Amazon, Amazon does keep all of their feeds for demand after it's already played. So you can see videos, live streams that Martha Stewart has done and Paris Hilton and others. So, Ben, can you confirm, have we stopped sending the feed to Amazon Live? I'm going to bring Ben on with us. Ben, can you confirm we've stopped the stream on Amazon?

I'm stopping it right away now.

Okay. Again, thanks, Amazon. We really appreciate you. It's nice to be a part of that community.

Okay, we are done.

Okay, but when I go to it, it says you are live on Amazon. You're seeing something else on streamyard that says we are not. Oh, I know. Way of testing. I'm just going to go to. Yeah, it is gone. So it appears. Apparently we are not on. Fantastic. Okay, we're gonna take a brief commercial break. I'll be back with more with Jess. And I'm gonna ask him the tough question, which is, does his own family members and friends know what he. He does for a living? Because sometimes when I hear my family members explain what I do, they say things like, oh, we don't really know, TJ, just BS's for a living. So I want to know if, if he's done a better job than I have of communicating what he does as a professional communicator. All that and more. Plus your questions. We're going to get to Arun's question in just a moment as well. But first we're going to pay some bills, so to speak, and we're going to run some ads. These are, by the way, Amazon influencer ads. And then we'll be back in just a couple of minutes. Give Jess, our guest, our esteemed guest, a time to stretch, refresh his coffee and that sort of thing. And now I've just. I've hit a wrong folder, what I'm doing. So on streamyard they let you play a video, which is quite nice. And so I'm hitting present, going to video file. And now I'm going to ads. Okay, what happened is I think I double clicked something that I should not have. Hydropeak thermos seems like a part of the family. I use it every day. I carry it with me to the pickleball court every day. I live in South Florida where it is hot and muggy and it's important to me to be properly hydrated following a script. No more of this stuff where I'm looking at Cue Cards over here, up there. I'm looking right at the camera. So it makes things really look and feel professional. Hi, I'm TJ with the TJ Walker Success Channel. I create videos for a living, media training, online courses. And there are times when I've got to get it word for word, just right, whether it's an ad for someone else else or my own products or services. That's why I have to use a teleprompter. This one has never failed me. I like the Kirkland water filter cartridges because I drink water all day long and I don't like chlorine taste in my water. Hi, I'm TJ with the TJ Walker Success Channel. I talk for a living. I make videos all day long on YouTube, make online courses and do some speeches and workshops. So I get dried out a lot and quickly. So I'm drinking water all day long. I use these water filter cartridges. I go through them and they continue to do a good job. I've used this brand for many years now, never had a problem. They always fit perfectly, they always work fine. They keep my water tasting fresh and chemical free. So I like these cartridges. If you're looking for cartridges and they fit your water filter, give these a try. This emart Chroma key green screen is fantastic. I've used it for literally thousands. You're gonna think I'm making this up. Thousands of videos over the last few years. I'll do production here and sometimes make a hundred in a day. And it can look like I'm anywhere. Now what I like about this green screen is it's got stability to it. There's never any wrinkles. It's huge. It goes down easily. It goes back up. And if you're using a different set, you push it all the way down and you can just put it in a corner so it really is flexible. It looks great and will help make your next production really look first class. I like books, but I don't like them falling down and cluttering up the house and the office. That's why I love these bookends. They don't call attention to themselves. They do one thing, they keep my books nice, neat together and not falling down. I use them on my shelves. They work well at home and the office. If you want to have a neater book collection, you can't go wrong with these bookends. I love seltzer water and sparkling water, but I hate having to go to the store to get it. I don't like more and more bottles for landfill. That's why I love my soda stream. I can take regular water and I can make it sparkling. It tastes great. I love it because it fills me up during the day. I'm less likely to snack, but it just tastes good. It's more interesting.

Interesting.

We're back live. I'm TJ Walker. Thanks so much for joining me today. This is the TJ Walker Success Channel right here on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, X, tik tok, you name it. We're here every single day live, and we help people become more successful in life by learning how to be more effective communicators and more confident communicators. Our special guest today is renowned media trainer and communications expert Jess Toddfeld. And I asked Jess a question a moment ago, gave him time to reflect. I'm going to come back to him with that. We're also going to take questions from you. Arun has posted a quench, a question about how to be more convincing to people. But, Jess, what do your family members tell other people about what you do for a living? Because, as I mentioned, some of my family members say, oh, we don't know what TJ does. We think he just BSes all day long. How do they describe what you do?

They think it's public speaking training. I guess those are three words, you know, even if it has to do with the media, you know, getting people to be in front of the media in some way. So that would be my immediate family. But I noticed that as soon as we extend out to my father, who's now in his 80s, but he. He has always said, how's your good luck with your speech tomorrow? And I say, it's not a speech. It's a whole day. I'm gonna spend eight hours with a group, and they're going to work on these skills. And he would just say, huh. So there's some sort of block that family members have. It's not. I'm not giving a speech for eight hours. But he would always call it a speech. And I think that a lot of clients I work with who have jobs that are very nuanced, maybe they do something with numbers and data that it's hard to explain to family. And maybe the way around that would be the smallest number of words they can think. So for somebody like me, you can think of a teacher. Okay, Teachers teach something. Well, I teach people who are professionals. Yeah. Either public speaking skills, and then maybe they have to try to know what that means. And of course, speaking on camera or in what media means nowadays, which is A lot different than when you and I first started. But, yeah, I find that it's common across the board. I'll bring it up and usually get a laugh when I'm in front of people saying, you know, good luck. Your family trying to articulate what it is that all of you do, and they're like, I don't really know. And it's TJ so you don't feel bad. Paul Reiser, who's a comedian and an actor, he. He had a child right when his TV series Mad about yout was ending. And so the kid always grew up watching his parent, always checking the voicemail to. To see what, you know, gig might be coming in. So the kid described his father as. My dad checks voicemail for a living. That's what my dad does. He checks voicemail. Okay, well, great. Meanwhile, he had been a producer behind the scenes, you know, during those years and all that.

If your dad's Paul Reiser, you probably think your dad spends his day opening checks with lots of money in it, too.

Money just spills everywhere.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's interesting. And now, Aran, I guess if is. If a run's asking, how can we.

Let's go to the questions. Arun has posted a question and wants Jess to tell the secret to how can you become more convincing when you're talking to people? What statements can you use to really convince people to do things you want them to do? What are your secrets there?

So I'm going to change the word from convince to persuasion. We're trying to persuade people in a certain way. We think by speaking to their logical mind. That neocortex, you know, this makes logical sense, that that should be enough, but we need to take a step back, which some people call it the. The caveman brain or the crocodile brain, you know, that oldest part, which is in charge of, you know, fight or flight or it. Where the. It's also in charge of. Is this important for my survival and maybe even my business survival, my work survival. That part of the brain is the gatekeeper. You got to get past that to convince people, even just to pay attention. So step one might be to say, if I'm just talking about public speaking skills, and I already did it, as you and I have been talking on some of these streams where I had said, look, not just giving a speech, if you're speaking in a conference room to some of your colleagues or on Zoom, and if you're trying to get. If you're at a performance review and you want a raise now, that connects with. And I'm watching some of the comments come in here, so people please ask your questions. But if that is something that those people would experience, and most of the people who are listening probably would be in a situation where they need to make something happen. So if that's the case, I've gotten past the gatekeeper where they're saying, oh, I should pay attention. Maybe this is important. But what most people do is the opposite of that. And this is why you can't convince people. You open up by saying, okay, I'm going to tell you everything. I'm going to tell you this. The old Dale Carnegie model of tell them what you're going to tell them and then tell them, and then tell them what you told them. My problem with that in 2024 is people are like, get to the point. So they said, well, today, here's the whole outline. Here's where the restrooms are. Here's a little housekeeping about my style. Now let me tell you a little bit about my bio. Yeah, I don't care about you. You and your bio yet. Right. Everyone's taking a nap. They don't realize why it's important. But if I said, you will 100% double your income if you pay attention to what I'm saying right now, Imagine how your life would change if you had twice as much money. And you may say, I don't need any more, but would it allow you to be a philanthropist? Would it allow you to help put a family member through college or help them make payments on their house? And this is doing something. I'm just making this up right now, but this is doing something that won't add that much more work to your day. You could do it if you're a retiree. Okay, get ready. Here it is. Now people are paying attention. Like, all right, you got my attention. So that would be the number one people need to do. Arun is if you want to convince people, you have to connect to their. Why? Why is this important?

Thanks for sharing that. We have a comment from Facebook user. Glad to hear. By the way, if you register with Streamyard, we can see your name. So we would like to see who you are, but you don't have to. And also, if you could be more specific, what. What specifically were you glad to hear about? We would love to know more about that. Jess, is there any piece of advice you give your clients that really strikes them as contrarian or even shocking? People come to me all the time and say, well, T.J. i'm afraid of Public speaking. And they expect me to be very comforting and say, oh, that's okay, Meditate, drink green tea. And I say, guess what? You should be fearful of public speaking. Chances are you're going to be horrible and bore people to death. Now I, I lead them on a way to solve that problem. So I don't seem quite as harsh. But is there any piece of advice that you give to people that strikes a lot of people as contrarian or even confusing initially?

I wouldn't say confusing initially. I, I know a funny one that you tell people and tell clients, which is you say you should cheat and you kind of pause for the effect. And what cheat? Well, cheat ethically, that you should have a bullet pointed list of what you want to do and that's how you have your notes. So I don't use the word cheat, but it is, it is funny because it evokes that emotion, like I shouldn't cheat, I lose my job and it's the wrong thing to do. And you know, cheating on any level is terrible. So I don't use that word. But I do say to people, and this is a way to get them comfortable in practicing and making mistakes. I'll say today when we're doing a training, public speaking training, media training how to be in the media in some way, I'll say today is the day not to be perfect. Today is the day to mess up, try things. You want to mess up with me, you don't want to do it out in front of the rest of the world. In fact, it would be fine and be a good thing if you do something wrong here because you probably won't do it ever again. They're like, oh, I didn't know that where before when I didn't say things like that. People would mess up and they would be beating themselves up for the rest of the day. And I'll say, no, great for you. Good for you to do that. Now let's practice one more time on video. And now let's see whether you're telling a story or giving a media interview, I'm going to hit you with some of those same types of questions or situations. Now let's see how you do. Because you know what to do. It's like, oh, that's right, I do know what to do. But in my early days they would just, you know, I would grill them and I would say, okay, you can practice, we're going to do it again. But they would still just be so stuck worrying about it. So that's usually a Surprise when that people, you know, kids know, they play video games and they know they have to fail over and over and over and over to be great. But for some reason we grew up or people who, you know, there were video games when I grew up, but maybe not as much as, as time on it as my kids and we are are tougher on ourselves if we make a mistake. So it's that mess up over and over and over. And that does surprise people. And when they're open to doing it, it's, it ends up going their way.

You know, the power of making mistakes. I, I have some level of success. People have noticed and say congratulations, but so much of it is just because I'm willing to make more mistakes than other people. We've made mistakes going live today in this sort of first version of our podcast and doing a lot of things they don't always work out. But that is ultimately the only way to learn. It's quite often the really the fastest way to learn. And experimenting. Speaking of experiments, we have some results right now here, here's my Amazon page. And now we have. Let me get off so it can focus now we have a permanently right on Amazon. So it's not just a little TJ blog is your interview promoting your book, which I'd like to think is good news and is frankly, in a selfish way I'm hoping will help me get more and more great guests like you because they, they might think, well, I don't really care about tj, but being on Amazon and having my video there forever, really going into depth talking about my book rather than just a little summary from the publisher, that can't be a bad thing. So that's, that's a part of what we're hoping to do here.

And by the way, you know, you talk about practicing, they, they say to become great at something, you need 10,000 hours like flight training to really be great at something. And actually Tim Ferriss, you brought him up earlier, says we don't quite need that much just to get pretty good at something. But something that you've been doing with these live streams is broadcasting three hours a day. And you said you're going to do it and not be perfect in front of people for some of it because you want to get great at it. What can you learn every single day if you did something for three hours a day? And I'm sure every day you keep learning something different and something.

Good point. And I'm sure you've heard the old Tony Robbins anecdote where People say how'd you get to be a good speaker? And he says, you know, very simple. I was doing a speech at breakfast, a speech at lunch, a speech at dinner, seven days a week. So in the end of a week I did more speeches than my competitors were doing in two months because they were happy doing one speech a week. So he was able to get so far ahead of the and build those reps because I do. You know, we can debate some of the substance of Anthony Robbins for the most part. I think he gives out good ideas, but you could quibble with anyone. But I don't think there's really any debate that he is a true master of controlling and commanding the audience. And when it comes to speaking, speaking in front of large audiences, he is an extraordinary master. It does lead me to my next question with you though is other than Anthony Robbins, who do you really respect as a communicator? That's who's well known in the world. People always ask me who my favorite speaker. I don't really have a favorite, but I would certainly say, you know, Oprah Winfrey is still no doubt a world class communicator. Who do you respect?

I tend not to pick politicians. I mean I'm going to tell you who it is in a second and I probably don't have a main favorite or certainly somebody who's. They do tend to be comedians but I'm going to pick a non comedian. But the reason why I don't pick politicians and a lot of people do, is I know that there's an agenda behind it that, that they're trying to do something to connect with who heart and mind so that they can move people in a certain way and to vote in a certain way. So I tend to and I think some can do a really nice job at it. I also know that they have speechwriters, the rest of us don't have speechwriters who can do that. So I'd probably switch over to say Simon Sinek, who has a very popular TED talk about Find the why and I've listened to some of his other stuff. I'm curious how some of these people are in their personal life. Meaning that he's compelling and really commands the audience and takes you on a journey and makes some points and weaves you in and out and think that he's an interesting speaker that way. But he's also brought in that something that he's had trouble dating. I'm curious if in his personal life he tries to pontificate and then and Then it doesn't work with that audience, with the other person says, I'd like to talk a little bit too. And maybe that's an occupational hazard for people who speak a lot. But I've always, I mean, I mean, if I were to say for real, it would be comedians who can, when you see some of them, who can also talk about something serious as well, and they're playing both ends of the spectrum. So, so for me, that one step even further, that involuntary action for getting someone to laugh and that involuntary action to get someone to cry. And I mean, what's coming into my mind is probably Robin Williams, who, if, if you've heard Robin Williams in a, in a talk show type interview or somebody in interview, you've seen him very, very calm, talking about something serious and maybe even just about like homelessness.

He was a big proponent of helping the homeless.

Yeah.

Usually I guess we're supposed to say, I'm not quite sure.

Right, right. And I, and I, I wish he had talked more about his own issues of depression or anxiety. So, but it's in. So somebody who can, who can do that, who can make us feel something. And Aruna was asking earlier about convincing. I mean, they're, they're using all of the various techniques or most of them to get to take us somewhere, you know, somebody. So how do we do that? I mean, so when someone talks about their own vulnerability or tells a story about somebody, if we're talking about homelessness, something that we, we automatically put ourselves in that position of thinking, what would it be like if I lost everything and then I was stuck and I was sitting there and I, how, how would I figure something out? Could I ask somebody for help? Or what if I couldn't ask somebody? So, yeah, so I would say the real answer would be Robin Williams. What do you think for you, who are your top people or person that you think is an amazing speaker?

I mean, Oprah is definitely one. When she was given, I don't know if it was the Cecil B. DeMille Award a few years ago and gave such a compelling speech, so compelling people were saying she should run for president. I actually do like politicians. And the problem for me is not that they have an agenda. I want a politician to have an agenda of making the world better and following through on it. The problem for me is if I say it, then someone thinks I'm endorsing their policies, and if they don't like that person's policies, they then think I'm making a political statement and hate me and all that sort of thing. Thing. So a bunch of politicians I would tell you I like a lot as communicators, but it muddies up the water in our current highly politicized times. Jess, let's shift gears to a particular type of speaking that makes people very uncomfortable, which is pitching, pitching themselves, talking about themselves, whether it's in a job interview, if they have their own business, pitching their wares, so to speak. Speak. I want to give you an opportunity to pitch your website, pitch your services, pitch your training, and then step back and tell us why you're saying some of these things. So you know, we were on Amazon live earlier where Amazon only wanted us to pitch stuff on Amazon. But let's now talk about your other services and your websites.

Yeah, okay. So if I were to make a pitch to people, I would say the people who are tuning in today are probably professionals, meaning you do something. Some people might be retirees or in between jobs, but wherever you are in that spectrum, you probably need to make something happen to progress in your job, in your career, in your business. And the secret would be how you connect with people, if you're connecting with them emotionally, if you're making something happen. And the good news is there's a template for making that happen. And that's what I teach in any speaking situation, whether it's speaking on Zoom or in a conference room, or if you're going to give a podcast interview. All of these, especially when they are important or when you want to make something happen, has a template for you moving forward in your life. That's what I teach now. I teach it in a few different ways. You can join a group workshop. We could do a one on one. There are lots of ways. We have online courses, but what I usually do is talk to somebody. We have lots of people come through and maybe they just buy one of the online courses. But if somebody has a real need something coming up, they tend to take a step forward and say, okay, I want to ask you a few questions. And guess what? I want to ask them a few questions too and find out what are they trying to create as a result of a presentation or a media interview. It's not just about not looking like a fool in the moment. That's what people tend to say. I just don't want to look stupid. It's not just that. It's what, what is over that hill? What's the reward? And guess what? Climbing that hill isn't as hard as you think. Think so? I'll take a, a step Back for a second and I didn't actually get give a plug. I guess I should say let's do that.

And would you prefer people go to results first training Jess todfeld.com Where do you want people to go? And as we're editing this podcast together and putting show notes, what's the website you want people to go to?

So let's have them go to media trainingworldwide.com where you there are two buttons on there and one of them says, hey, we have all these online courses and all different ways that can help you in life, personal development or speaking or being on a panel or a zoom job interview, you name it. Or one of our various in person programs, you know, live group or one on one or any of those people can go. It's easy to remember media training worldwide, there are a bunch of different ways, too many ways.

That's great in full disclosure and that's, that's me as well. But yes, you have your own entities and people often reach out to you for keynote speaking and specialized services workshops on pitching the media. The best place to reach you for that is.

Yeah, best place would be Results first training dot com. And there's also all different types of training. Sometimes it's me, sometimes I have one of our partners who might do a very specific type of sales training or soft skills or, or you name it. And people should, I mean we're talking, we're going to peel back the curtain and talk about what makes a great pitch in a moment. But people should go over to one of Those websites, results first results plural first training.com and check out how it can help you. And by the way, T.J. that was one of the techniques which is you must tell people what to do. And while I don't usually bring up politicians, there's a great story. George W. Bush and I have stories from people on both sides of the aisle and independence and other stuff. But he had said when he lost, when he was running for governor of Texas and then he later won, he asked somebody, why didn't you vote for me? And the person said, well, you didn't ask. And it was a huge eye opener for him that in asking for the person's vote and think about it, have you ever asked somebody to help you? People who are tuning in today and said, hey listen, I'm asking for your help. Can you come over and help me move a couch on Saturday? They might say like okay, but you need to ask. You can't allude to the fact that you have this very Heavy couch that needs to get out of your house. Gee, I wonder what I'm going to do, you know, I mean, you need to ask. There's a power of asking. It's the. It's called the call to action. When it. When you're giving a speech or a very.

I don't know if my friends are doing better these days or my reputation for physical laziness precedes me, but no one's asked me to help them move in a long time.

And thankfully, nobody's asked me to move or pick them up at the airport. But I would do that. I actually have picked up family members at the airport at 5:30am yeah, which I've said maybe I should just send an Uber for them. But maybe that would be insulting in some way. But they. At least they asked and you feel some. Some level of connection or obligation or especially, you know, they asked me personally, and guess what? You might get a no. That's part of it too. But it's. What's one ingredient in pitching?

Jess, I want to close by giving you an opportunity to give one last pitch. Two members of our audience who are holding themselves back, they're thinking, I should be giving this speech, I should be giving this presentation. I should try to do a TedX. I should start a YouTube channel. There's an infinite number of opportunities in the modern world to speak out and reach people, and yet most people hold it in. How do you encourage them to use their voice, to use this powerful instrument to speak out?

Coaching is accessible. It's accessible to you. Oh, I could never hire a coach or something. Maybe it's too expensive. There are all different levels. You could actually have somebody who is guiding you and showing you what to do. If you want to be great at anything in life or move forward in something where maybe you're not as accountable when you're only accountable to yourself. You would get a coach if you really, if you want, wanted to lose a lot of weight, you get a fitness coach. If you wanted to be the best, you know, sports, basketball player, you know, basketball player, golfer, whatever it is, you would get someone to give you strategy. And there are all levels of that, too. It could be one lesson, it could be a thousand lessons. So for people who say, oh, I really like to do this thing, the biggest hurdle is yourself. It's the biggest hurdle. And TJ and I have talked for years about if someone reaches out to us and said, I have a fear of speaking, the chances of us chatting with them about it, we'll Say, okay, well, why don't we just do a call? You'll tell me about what you want to accomplish. I told you, I have a fear of speaking. I could never get on the phone because I have a fear of speaking. Okay. I mean, they don't say that, but that's what how it plays out. So it's, it's a group that's hard to connect with and help when somebody you know is sharing that with you. So the biggest obstacle is you, yourself, everybody. And the biggest solution is working with a coach. So, yes, results. First, training. You can go over there. You can click and inquire and find out, but decide if you really want something, you want to change something, whether it's speaking opportunity or you want to be an author or you want to be on television or any of these things, if you really want to make it happen, there are people who can push you in the right way and get you there faster instead of the long, long, slow road where you might not take action.

Jess Todfeld, media trainer extraordinaire, author of Media Secrets, thank you for being our guest today.

Thanks for having me.

Okay, so now we're gonna switch gears and do the post interview. You know, Bill Maher has the overtime. We're doing something, I guess, a little bit like that. And these, these things will be edited sort of at the end, kind of like the after the credits part of a Jed Aptow movie where you see funny clips and things like that.

So I feel like I should lean.

Back and I'm toying with the idea of taking my tie off. Off. But I'm not going to because I'm going to make an ad for your book in a minute for the Amazon Influencer program and try to sell some more books. So I'm going to leave it on, but let's step back.

It's now an audio form.

What's that?

The audiobook. It was recently released.

Ah, okay. I'll try to tag.

It's available in all forms.

I'll try to tag that one as well. So let's step back for a minute. And how do you think that interview could have been more helpful to you in your business? Give some feedback and are there any particular questions you really wish I'd asked?

Well, if we were to say, and the goal wasn't necessarily for people who are tuning in, the goal wasn't, how can it be as helpful as it can be for Jess, it was, can we talk about something interesting? And actually, it's kind of like a Venn diagram. If you really want to be great. Where it's the, what is the audience want? What is the media outlet that would be TJ in this case want, and what is the person being interviewed want? And the intersection is the perfect spot. But if we were, if the goal was how can we just help Jess? Well, then that would be. I would be teasing people for some thing that they could show up at, maybe a webinar, maybe a special private session where people can sign up. And I would be the whole time giving little nuggets, but holding back a little bit and giving, giving where you go, oh, that's pretty good. Holding back. That would be a good formula for what would serve me really, really well. We weren't trying for that. It was very nice that TJ brought up the media Secrets book that people can go and check out and find out about. So that's always nice. And, but that, that would be a way. If I was completely selfish in what I, what I wanted. Of course, again I say selfish. I mean, the sweet spot is if people are learning something, the worst way to do it would be TJ would say, what could one people do one thing better if they want to be more persuasive and get a raise. And I'm like, haha, you got to read the book. That would be terrible. There's no.

That never works very well. There's got to be, you know, there's an old expression, I think Zig Ziglar said it, the more you give, the more you give get. So many people.

Yeah.

That we've known from the speakers industry from a long time ago, used to have the attitude of, oh, I'm not going to do a book or go online because then people won't pay me for my in person stuff. And the most successful people put it out there. And the more that comes back and it's. Whether it's Jerry Seinfeld speaking for free on the Tonight show before he got his own sitcom, or Paul McCartney to this day performing on major shows, getting, you know, nominal fees because he wants more attention. Give me some feedback. What could I have done better to make this interview better for everyone, for the audience, for you and for me trying to build a podcast brand.

So, so now I'm going to put my old TV producer cap on and think about, you know, what would make it. One thing I learned along the way, and also I've done some hosting and learned this as well, is it always seems like it's moving really fast for the people involved in the interview. But when you're on the receiving end and you're just kind of, I don't know, playing it on your phone or you're getting ready. I listen to podcasts sometimes when I'm getting ready, you know, I get distracted by something else and a few minutes have gone by I haven't heard a thing they've said unless something is so, so compelling. So I would load up even more questions. Kind of a speed round. I mean the best way for a pre interview is to know some of the stories beforehand, but it's time consuming so it's kind of hard to, to do that. You're doing a longer form thing so people can go longer with the stories. But one thing I did when we first started was I went on my computer to AI. I happened to go to Perplexity AI, which is, it's like ChatGPT, but it's, it's got a few other features. It tells you where it's finding information. And I wrote in there. I'm the author of Media Secrets and I'm about to be interviewed. What should I talk about for 2024? So I said for 2024. So for TJ as the interviewer, what I find with what I think is interesting about AI. And Gary Vaynerchuk brings this up a lot is he said people use it to get answers to things, but you need to train yourself on having it be a copilot in your life to figure out how AI thinks and how you can think together. I've been trying to practice doing more of that. So I asked in here. We ended up jumping into the interview and I only started looking at it just a little while ago. So it says here, yes, Media Secrets talk about the media landscape for 2024, the continued evolution of social media platforms and strategies. So yeah, they are evolving. A lot is changing even in the last year, especially with AI as the adoption and TikTok being a prime prime video being a prime way of delivering information. And we're doing it today. But even that short form, we're doing longer form. It says here the rise of new media formats and how tv, print, radio are continuing to converge with digital online media. I mean, I mean, I know I would talk about how if people really want to get a message out a new way is to be the media. That's what's happening today. Right now we're doing it. We're being that we didn't have to ask a gatekeeper. TJ went and connected this to seven different platforms and somebody might write to us from Discord or TikTok or Amazon and say, oh, I like this thing you said. And things like that happen to happen. I'll say, last one or two, since it gave a little list here. But I would do that, tj. I would go to AI because it's your own blind spot of, you know, I think TJ and I like to think, well, I have my human brain that I, you know, worked on over years. I should be able to be smart enough to come up with questions. And I think that's a first step to say, here's what I think I'd like to know and what I think the audience might like to know. But here another one is about building a strong personal brand or the evolving role of data and analytics media strategy. I don't know if that's too, that seems like too in the weeds. Jess.

You gave the anecdote of the politician who lost and the voter said, well, you never asked my, you never asked for my vote. You need to ask for things. So I'm asking you, what do I need to do with this interview? What sort of polishing packaging do I need to do to make you not as a favor to me, but to actually really want to promote it to your whole social network, your Facebook audience, your Twitter feed. So that this is more of a win win because you have interviews and we've all done interviews before with that. Okay, that was fine. I'm, you know, I didn't mind doing it, but we don't really think of it as anything special that we're going to go out of our way of promoting or putting on our bio page, putting in our, our digital press press packet. What needs to happen to this interview to make it really shine as potentially the best interview ever that showcases your talents that you would want to put out if, you know, the Daily show said to you, we're interested in you send us like your two or three best clips. What needs to happen to this to get it elevated so that you're promoting it?

And great question. As you'll be interviewing even more people and you want them to promote it and feel good about it. I noticed the average person who does an interview or podcast, let's say when they're done, they, the way they analyze it is how it felt, not how it actually is. So they'll say, I don't know if I'm going to share that with anybody because I did terribly. That's the way most people think. You and I are not in the majority. We, we're, you know, we're on camera a lot and we probably think we're better than we are. I guess, I don't know.

I'm on the other end of things once again.

Right. We need to analyze. I think the best is you have somebody else on your team selecting those best pieces, the highlights that show the guest really saying something interesting. Get getting fired up, but doing it in a 40 to 45 second ish clip, I guess, you know, shorter or longer, that is kind of a tease. When I think about what I see on social media, when somebody starts to bring something up, where you go, that's, oh, that's so compelling. And then it just ends, ah, now what? Where do I get more. So I guess short little clips that stop short of saying everything and saying, hey, you got to go over here and listen to the rest of the podcast. I think that would make both parties want to get people to. Yeah. To, to share it. So. And ideally, as I say that if you have your guests think about to maybe make a list of their most surprising, you know, shocking things they can say, even if it's, you know, not shocking to them. But that would be, that would be good, you know, really push people to say those. Yeah, those clips would be the best.

Anything else you really wish I'd asked you today that we didn't do in our formal interview?

Well, I guess if we're talking about the book Media Secrets, it would be the, the changing landscape of media. You and I got into media training. You know, for me it was maybe 25 years ago and for you it was earlier than that, 1984, my first media training.

So four years.

It was, yeah, it was 1984. And think about how much the world has changed since 1984 and certainly since, since, you know, 2000. I mean, 1984 is like if we were, you know, in the 80s and we were talking about the 30s, you know, you know, hey, hi everybody. Good to see you. You know, I'm imagining, you know, they're.

Kind of a coonskin cap on right now.

Right. And, and throwing the pages on, off to the side, you know, when they're doing a talkie on the radio or whatever it is. So a lot has changed even in the last. Well, you know, social media went mobile in 2007 when the iPhone came out. And all of a sudden we're looking and addicted. And that, I think was a big change. And AI is changing things. So probably more about what's to come. What do people need to know about the future. And one thing I would Say is this is a skill that people didn't know they need to have. People knew they, that it's nice to have a public speaking skill. Although some people try to get around it by saying, well, I'm not really a public speaker, so I'm just gonna, you know, sit in the shadows. Or I'll just, or I'll open up by being like, I'm not a good public speaker. And here's what I'm gonna say. But we need to have media skills because we're going to be on camera in some way. And I'll show you the, the worst version of this angle. If I did the whole interview like this the whole day or and then also look to the side and talk to them while I'm looking at the screen of myself, it's a terrible interview. If I did that for our audio.

Podcast listeners just stood up and showed the camera pointing up his nose into the side where he was looking off and it looked awful.

Yeah. If I had no lighting and I have other lights I didn't shut off over here, then I, I get the raccoon eyes. As, as my wife points out, you know. Oh, you had raccoon eyes during that interview. Oh, thanks. But all these things are important if we want to be taken seriously and we want to make something happen.

Just. Dotfeld, thank you again for being a fantastic guest. Much appreciated.

Thank you.

Okay, now we, now we really. This is the third time we've ended. We really are going to end there, kind of. And yet not really. So what I am going to do is I'm going to make an ad for your book right now as part of the Amazon Influencer program. And you and I have talked about this off camera and I typically do five ads at least every single day. I think we're a little bit short today on time, but I'm certainly at least going to do one. And this is something I don't. What I'm guessing I'll probably do. And Jess, feel free to speak up even though I've taken you off camera. What I will probably do in the future, especially when I'm going after big name guests who don't know me, I'm imagining that I will do the ads before we even try to book them. So when my producer is writing to an author or the author's publicist, you know, someone like a James Clear, we can, we can say, hey, we've all, we're already promoting your book and here's the ad. So right now, Jess, what I'm doing is I'm putting in a receiver into my microphone and I'm going to switch a minute to camera one so people can see it. I'm turning on my microphone. I want to see, I want to see the green light which is now on. I pin it on, it just gives a little higher quality because I'm not using my high powered Sennheiser shotgun mic for these. It's just a simple iPhone. I'm now going to take, I'm now going to take the digital version of the book and be able to showcase it. What I'm going to do is. And now it's somehow freezing my.

My.

Copy of the book. Let me hit it again.

And.

Try to expand it. I think this is what I did. Okay, there we go. So I'm going to show this on the video. I'll be holding it up and I'm going to be using my remote control. I turn it off, on, I see the blue light so that I know it works. Do you have an upcoming media interview or you hope to be in front of the media? You need Media Secrets by Jess Toddfeld. He truly knows the business. He's trained thousands of people across the globe. He can train you. Okay, so that's 14 seconds. What I have found, Jessica, is, you know, Amazon lets you do videos up to an hour. And what I have done traditionally, originally was I would do short form, 15 seconds, a longer form, horizontal, maybe 30 seconds and then another one where I really say anything I want up to a couple of minutes. What I found was almost all of my views came, came from the 15 second versions. I don't know why there are other Amazon influencers who have success with horizontal longer videos. But I got 96% or so of all my views came from the, the short form vertical. So I just started doing everything in that. Don't know if that's really a best practice because the way the data is shared, I don't really know where my sales are coming from.

Right.

And if, if 100% of your sales are coming from 1% of the videos, you're better off doing them like that. But absent really knowing all that, that's the decision I made. So first thing I do is I check to make sure that the microphone coming, meeting, interview or you hope to.

Be in front of the media, you.

Need Media Secrets by Jess Todd Felt. Okay, so that one, the audio works. So what I do is I just go to Safari. I go to my Amazon page which was already there. I hit create content, I hit post video, I go to photo library. I hit that 15 second video, I hit done. And it is now uploading the video. It's processing it. Once it's done it will then give me the option of labeling it which not quite sure why it's not doing that. Oh, there we go. So I'm going to browse, I'm going to look, there's the book, I'm tagging it, I am adding the product. I hit done. So it's labeled it. You have to buy this book before your next media interview, exclamation point. So that was exactly 59 characters. Amazon gives you a maximum of 60. I try to use most of it but I just got lucky there. Sometimes it's a little over, sometimes it's shorter and it's done. So it really is that simple. So that is an ad which just typically within five hours we will see that right on the page. So yeah, let's just for people to realize how simple this is, let me just go ahead and share what I mean by that. So I'm going to share my screen.

And.

Show another. I'm going to go to Amazon. Let's see. Actually I need to pull it out here. I'm in a slightly different awkward setup.

You know, as you're doing that there's a. If we're talking about the media, there's an interesting shift taking place. When social networks were first sold to us, it was about keeping up with your friends and family. And now it's shift to this creator thing where they basically imagine if a TV channel said instead of paying a production company for the show, friends and then seeing if it works, they said we're just going to let all of you create our content and then the best stuff will rise to the top and for the best people will let you monetize it. And for the people who are so. So you'll make $12 a month working many, many hours. And the same thing for social selling, which is a thing in China, they, they have a lot of social selling. So what you're seeing on Amazon Live video is huge.

Huge in China. Yeah. Essentially what we just did with Amazon Live has been a big, big thing in China for quite a while. I haven't followed it too closely and.

I have on Amazon right here, I mean I'm scrolling through, they have a section at the bottom called Inspire and you see all different people selling things.

So it could very well be the video I just made. It could be the video I just made will show up on Amazon Inspire. So here we are on your page and I didn't check to see if you even had any videos yet, so. Most books don't. There's reviews with images. Yeah, but I don't see videos specifically by Amazon influencers. So it should be, if all goes according to plan, the video will appear right here on this screen. So if someone is fishing around on this page, not quite sure yet, if they want to buy the book and they look at re, they can look at reviews from customers, they can also look at reviews from influencers. And if they make a purchase after watching a video from an influencer, that influencer gets a small commission. So for example, if you go to the, at the Atomic Habits book, there were already a lot of videos for this. But let's see where we can find it because confession 3 months ago I didn't even know there were videos on Amazon. So this has been a learning, very much a learning curve for me. Sometimes they show up in certain places, sometimes in, in other places. These are reviews with images. Now I know that when I, when I did a review, a video review of Atomic Habits and then went to post mine, I, I saw that there were already a ton of video reviews from Amazon influencers. So I know they're up there. I did one anyway and I've, I've generated, I don't know if I'm supposed to say this, Amazon doesn't like you. So I've generated 50 sales of his book. But I'm now looking at this website, this is the Amazon page and I'm admittedly looking at it in a sort of an odd format on my desk because of the configuration. So it may be there, but right now I don't see the Amazon Influencer videos on there, but I know they're showing them because I'm seeing sales virtually every single day. So that's one of the interesting things about Amazon is they're constantly experimenting and they're constantly trying things in a slightly different way. They have things on their Amazon Inspire app, which is their version of TikTok. And that is where I think a lot of these 15 second video ads that I'm doing, product reviews are going because as made for Vertical to show up on Amazon Inspire, it's quick, it's easy, it doesn't slow down the feed. But Amazon can place it on other pages, they can place your videos on products or books that are similar and you can get affiliate commission from that as well. So that's something we've been talking about here regularly a lot. The Amazon Influencer program not because it's get rich quick. But what I'm excited about is I know Jess, you've encountered this too for years, which is so many people say Jess, T.J. i want to speak more, but I can't get meeting planners to hire me. And I want to make money from speaking, but I can't get Coca Cola McDonald's to sponsor me. So there are these two main big gatekeepers. The beauty of Amazon Influencer Once you're in, and it typically requires about a thousand followers on a major social media outlet, once you're in, you no longer dealing with either gatekeeper because you can simply speak to people by making a video, you submit it and people are going to see it. And you also don't have to take meetings with products and brand managers because you're automatically married to them with one click. Now, again, it's not get rich quick. I don't make a lot of money, but I do make sales every day and I do make money every day. So if you are thinking about sort of hopping into the game of being an influencer, this is one I think for most people it's a lot easier than just trying to attract a huge following to your own blog or your own YouTube channel and starting from scratch. So that's why I'm kind of going through this to share with you my own journey in this beginning phases of being an Amazon influencer so I can share with you tips and tricks for doing it. So so far I do think if you're at all interested in being an influencer and making money from speaking and not just selling your own products and the starting point should always be selling your own products or services. But if you want to branch out beyond that, this is a great program for doing it. We are out of our time today. It's been a fun three hours. Thanks so much to our special guest, Jess Todfeld. We'll see you again tomorrow right here. Meanwhile, don't forget to like this video. Share it. Sign up for notifications I should have been talking about that earlier. I'm guilty of what Jess was saying about the politician not asking for the vote. And be sure to watch our videos regularly every day. There's two short form videos posted here on every social media platform and one long one. Please watch those and leave comments. Thanks so much.