Wendy Gates Corbett, a presentation consultant, breaks presentations into three equal parts: message, delivery, and materials. She uses a 17-minute timer to beat procrastination and argues that belonging comes from within, not from fitting in. She left corporate work to do something meaningful.
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Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Wendy Gates Corbett with us. She is an international speaker, author, and presentation consultant. She works with professional athletes, speakers, and business leaders helping them deliver presentations with confidence, authority, and impact. Authority and Impact. So welcome to the show.
Thanks, Tyler. I'm glad to be here.
Of course. And we're glad to have you on. So Wendy, the first one that we ask on this show is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Tyler, I spent most of my life with a voice in my head telling me you don't belong here because you're different. I'm different because I'm biracial and adopted by a white family. And for some reason, I believed that if you thought that I was different from you, that you wouldn't like me. So I spent more than 35 years of my life trying to convince you that I was the same as you. And because of that, I was never me. I was always trying to be like you. And I didn't even know that I was doing this because that was what I'd always done. I'd never not done that. And it wasn't until I found myself at a stoplight wondering whether I should try to fit in with the white women on the right side of me or the Black women in the car to the left side of me. That's when I realized how long I'd been trying to fit in with those around me by being the same as them. Since that time, I've been intentional about being me and remaining me in all situations. Because I've realized that belonging isn't based on being the same, and it's not based on other people telling me that I belong. I've realized that I get to determine where I belong, and the same is true for you and for everyone else.
Mm-hmm. Thank you for sharing that with us. The next one I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
My industry is presenting, and so here's my advice. When you're presenting, the impression and the impact you make is dependent on the quality of 3 things. It's the quality of your message, what it is that you have to say, the quality of your delivery, how you say what you have to say, and your materials, the slides and handouts you use to help you deliver your message. To make an optimal impression, your message, delivery, and materials all need to be consistent, high quality. So when the quality of one of those things is lower, your entire impression and impact suffer. So for example, if you have an awesome message and great delivery but crappy slides, the overall impact of your message is weakened by those slides. So my advice is to make sure that the quality of your message, the quality of your delivery, and the quality of the materials you use to deliver your message are all top, high-end quality.
And then what is your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
My best piece of advice has to do with when you feel paralyzed by the magnitude of a task in front of you, either the magnitude of a task or the drudgery of a task in front of you. The advice is to use a timer and devote 10 minutes to giving it your all to move the task forward, to do something, not to finish the task, but to get it started. So for me, 17 has always been my favorite number. And when I am dreading cleaning cleaning out my inbox or getting started designing a presentation, I'll set my timer for 17 minutes and focus on doing something. That helps me push past the paralysis or the drudgery of the task I'm facing.
And then if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Get over yourself. I spent way too long worried about what other people think. And I realized that people don't think about me as much as I think they do. So get on the dance floor and shake it. People aren't staring at you the way you think they are.
And then, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
The key to my happiness is making an effort to make the difference I'm supposed to make in this world. I spent 20 years in a corporate career. It was a successful career, but I really spent 8 years too long in that career. I was successful. I had salary and executive job title. I was traveling the world. I met all of these external criteria for success, but I was miserable. Because I was bored and I was doing something, but I wasn't making the difference I'm supposed to make. I was doing software training, and that's not the difference I'm supposed to make in this world. I am supposed to bring more help, more happiness, and more hope into this world, and I do that now as a presentation consultant. So now that I am making the difference I'm supposed to make, I'm much happier.
And then what is the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?
The best book I've read is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. And what I gained from that— I've gained tons of insights from that book. The one that sticks with me most is that any desire I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression. It will want to come out, and it will attract energy, resources, people to— in order to be expressed. So it's taught me the law of attraction.
And then what is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote comes from Marianne Williamson, and I'll pull a couple of excerpts from it. She says that your playing small doesn't serve the world. And she says that there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are meant to shine, and when we shine, we give other people permission to do the same. We need more light, and we all need to shine in this world. That's why I love this quote.
That is awesome. Um, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I got for you is, where can our audience best find you online?
You can find me at refresher-training.com or on LinkedIn.
Perfect. Thank you again for coming on.
Thank you, Tyler. It's been fun.
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