Public speaking is one of those things that can either excite you or absolutely terrify you.
Whether it’s presenting to a live audience, leading a meeting, or even just speaking on Zoom, the fear of messing up or not knowing what to say can stop a lot of people in their tracks.
But here’s the truth: Being a powerful speaker isn’t about being naturally gifted—it’s about knowing the right things to say.
That’s why I’m so excited about today’s conversation.
We’re sitting down with Chad Kirby, a speaking expert who has helped countless entrepreneurs and professionals go from nervous and uncertain to confident and inspiring.
So, if you’ve ever thought:
- “I’m not a natural speaker.”
- “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
- Or “What if I freeze up or ramble?”
Then this session is for you.
Chad is here to break down the simple, actionable steps that can help anyone become a speaker who grabs attention, builds trust, and inspires people to take action.
So, whether you’re looking to level up your stage presence, improve your video delivery, or simply feel more confident when sharing your message, you’re in the right place.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Website: https://speakandgetwhatyouwant.com/
Podcast Page: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-build-trust-and-connection-every-time-you-speak/
Book: Speak And Get What You Want
Watch The Live Call
Full Transcript
Misty Kortes (00:02.432)
All right, we are good to go. So hello and welcome. All right, today we’re gonna talk about public speaking, just communication in general. So speaking is one of those things that can either excite you or absolutely terrify you. whether it’s presenting to a live audience, leading a meeting, or even just speaking on Zoom, the fear of messaging is…
and messing up just like I just did is, you know, is terrifying, right? And I know for me, I’ve struggled with this for many years, but here’s the truth. Being a powerful speaker isn’t about being naturally gifted. It’s about knowing the right things to say and the right way to communicate. And that’s why I’m so excited about today’s conversation. We’re actually sitting down with Chad Kirby.
He is a speaking expert who has helped countless entrepreneurs and professionals go from being nervous and uncertain to actually confident and inspiring. So if you’ve ever thought, I’m not a natural speaker, I don’t even know where to start. What if I get on stage and I freeze up? Then this session is for you. Chad is here to break down the simple actionable steps that can help anyone become a speaker who grabs attention, builds trust and inspires people to take action.
So whether you’re looking to level up your stage presence or improve your video delivery, which we all should be doing more of, or simply feel more confident when sharing your message than you are in the right place. So Chad, I want to welcome you to the show.
Chad Kerby (01:41.637)
Well, it is fantastic to be with you. I love what you’re doing. I loved I mentioned this earlier before we are online. I love your book. I love that you’re bringing so much value to people. And you mentioned a couple things there with public speaking. I just want to emphasize. And one of them was that you said like, you’re not just a gifted public speaker. It takes some work and effort, you know, and, Misty, I, my wife and I, have nine kids and
And never once in the delivery room did the doctor hand me a kid and say, it looks like you got a speaker here. Right. It’s something, it’s something that you have to work at and, really put forth some effort, but the upside is huge. If you can put the effort in and become a powerful public speaker, you can, you can change the world. You can do whatever you want to do. If you can do that.
Misty Kortes (02:17.729)
Right!
Misty Kortes (02:37.806)
Absolutely. Absolutely. If you can captivate people and move people, it applies to every industry. doesn’t matter what you do. I’ve said that to my kids for years. Like, you know, I think a lot of people, they’re like, I’m not a salesperson because I look at speaking as selling in my mind. It’s getting, it’s inspiring people to take action that they wouldn’t otherwise take had you not helped them make that decision. And that’s my opinion.
So let’s start off with this. Why do so many people fear speaking? Like what’s your take on that?
Chad Kerby (03:14.269)
Well, my take is we fear things that were that are unfamiliar to us, right? So you think about it. I’ve got to go present in front of a group of people. Well, that’s not something you do every day. And so it’s it’s unfamiliar. It’s unknown. So you get a little bit nervous and you think to yourself, I just I don’t do it enough. I don’t do it enough. Then we and you and I were talking about this previously, Misty. Then we have all that self doubt that enters in. So one.
It’s unfamiliar. don’t, lot of us don’t do a tremendous amount of public speaking. So when it’s time to do it, we’re, you know, uncertain, but then too, we have all that communication within our head, all that garbage that we say to ourselves, like, I’m not a great public speaker. I’m, I’m not good at this. I, and we say all those things. And then unfortunately we get up in front of a group and it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. And so we’ve got a, those are two main reasons why I believe people are really.
Misty Kortes (04:04.973)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (04:11.059)
hesitant or even just nervous to get up in front of a group and speak.
Misty Kortes (04:16.526)
So what can we do to actually build our confidence before we step on stage? And when I say step on stage, I mean, it could be a Zoom meeting, it could be live on stage, could be, I mean, really, I mean, meetings, like in your corporate job or in your business.
Chad Kerby (04:35.035)
Well, and I think the very first thing, Misty, is you have to get your mindset right. And you have to really put yourself in a space that really will be positive and encouraging. So you have to make sure you eliminate those negative thoughts. And I know that’s easy to say, but you have to be intentional about it. You have to be careful with what you say to yourself. It’s amazing how powerful that self-talk really can be.
and you beat yourself up and you’re really hard on yourself. So make sure before you go into a meeting, you have that positive mindset. Because what happens, Misty, is one of the principles I teach is that people match your energy in three minutes or less. if you get up in front of a group and you’re very nervous, what’s going to happen to the audience? They’re going to become nervous.
If you’re hesitant, they’re going to be hesitant. The presentations that you engage with and that you enjoy the most of are the ones where the presenter gets up and they’re comfortable and they’re excited to talk about, you know, what they are there to share. so, you know, as you, as I talk about managing your mindset, because it directly impacts the energy you come to the table with. Because for me, I have to.
And I’ve given thousands of presentations. And I still have to pull myself aside and get myself in the right mindset. And as ridiculous as this may sound, I like to present with a lot of energy. So I’ll go into a room by myself and jump up and down and move my arms in the air. And I know that sounds ridiculous. But to get my energy up and get excited about what I’m about to talk about.
Misty Kortes (06:25.802)
It doesn’t sound crazy because just before we got on today’s call, I do that. I go for a quick walk. have like this one mile little quick walk in my neighborhood and I have a specific playlist that I play that like pumps me up. One of the songs, like the first song that plays is Sia’s song, Unstoppable. If you haven’t heard it, you gotta, you gotta add it to the playlist. I love it. I do, I do that because you know,
Chad Kerby (06:45.887)
Yeah, that’s awesome.
Misty Kortes (06:52.728)
I don’t even want to speak the words because I, I, I find myself, I say crazy things when I go live and it, it’s a nervous tick that I’m trying to work through. You know what I mean? And I’m conscious of it and I, I, it’ll, it’ll go away. I know it will, but yeah, so that’s, that’s the way I’m working through it literally as we speak today.
Chad Kerby (07:05.192)
Sure.
Chad Kerby (07:15.411)
Well, and Missy, I want to point out, though, that you’re making the effort to do that, right? And so a lot of people will just show up and they’ll be like, that didn’t go the way I’d hoped or I well, did you put forth any effort to change it? And so you’re saying to yourself, I want to get better at this. Here’s one of the things I do. How can I correct that? And you’re taking the steps to correct that, to get your mindset in the right space, which will directly reflect the energy you show up with.
Misty Kortes (07:36.813)
Yes.
Misty Kortes (07:45.326)
Yes. Another thing, I, cause as you were, as you were sharing, like we need to be intentional about the words that we’re speaking. I’m, I, I love affirmations. I, I believe in affirmations and speaking, uh, powerful words into your life. actually have an affirmation deck I created that went along with my book. And so, um, I think to myself, as you were saying that I need to create an affirmation deck before I go speaking.
Like just a few cards that I’ve written out and you can do those on index cards, be anything fancy and just speak those words of how you wanna show up on stage. I think that would be a very powerful thing to do.
Chad Kerby (08:26.163)
Oh, there’s no question those affirmations and I appreciate you bringing that up because those are those are huge. When you say what the things that you say, you will speak them into reality. You know, I want to I tell my children all the time when they say I’m so stupid, right? They’ll say, Dad, I’m so stupid. And I always say that’s genetically impossible. You know, you’re my child. Right. And so and they’re like, I don’t even know what that means. But the point is, don’t say you can’t say those things. You know, my
Misty Kortes (08:31.939)
Yeah.
Misty Kortes (08:45.846)
Yeah.
Chad Kerby (08:53.777)
My wife all the time, she lives by, she has a vision board and affirmations that she lives by and Misty, is freaky how those become a reality, you know? And so she’ll say things like, like she put on her vision board at the beginning of last year, I want to go on an Alaskan cruise with my mom. I want to go to New York city. I want to go see the Dominican Republic, you know? And she listed all these things. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop Cassie. Like,
Misty Kortes (09:04.439)
absolutely.
Chad Kerby (09:22.833)
What are you doing? And she’s like, why? I said, which one of these things would you really like to do? And her response to me is always, why do you always live in an or world when you can live in an and world? Right? So she’s like, she goes, I can take an Alaskan cruise and go to New York City and go to the Dominican Republic and in Misty, every single one of those came to a reality.
Misty Kortes (09:35.374)
that’s good.
Misty Kortes (09:48.49)
Absolutely. So my daughter, my oldest daughter, when she was younger, so we’ve always done like vision boards. It was always a thing, like as the kids were growing up. And some people think it’s like woo woo, you know? It’s like, I don’t know. Because an affirmation without action is just a wish. Like it’s not gonna happen. You can’t just read cards and think that your life is gonna change. You gotta do some action behind it. We kinda touched on that. But my daughter…
You know, the kids always rolled their eyes whenever we talked about creating these boards and that. So there was a couple of years where we, we, we didn’t make them do them, right? We were just like, Hey, we think you should, but if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. I did not know that my daughter actually put her board on the back of her bedroom door and I didn’t see it. And literally just like, yeah. And so she had it there for, don’t, who knows how long, cause maybe she didn’t want me to know she had it. I don’t know.
Anyways, I did end up finding it and everything that she had on her board had actually come true. And she wanted this. This was back when Dell was like, remember when Dell computers were like really popular because they were like colorful. Yeah. So she wanted a Dell computer and she had just literally got one. That was the last thing that was on her vision board for that year. So I can appreciate where your wife’s coming from. She is so right. Like you don’t need to have a, or you can have it all. Right. So I love that.
Chad Kerby (10:53.788)
sure
Chad Kerby (11:11.347)
Isn’t that crazy? And so many of us just limit our potential, limit our beliefs. And I know we’re talking about public speaking, but these tie in because we limit what we can do as a public speaker because we just think to ourselves, well, I haven’t done a lot of public speaking. We give all of these limiting beliefs that come within us. And the co-host of my podcast, Can Get What You Want, TK, he said this. said one of the things that one of his affirmations is,
My wife buys what she wants when she wants. Okay. Is it okay? So that that’s one of his affirmations is my wife buys what she wants when she wants. And I was down with visiting with them and his wife pulled up in this nice, $275,000 G wagon. And I was like, okay. She buys what she wants. Now that’s not to say that they’re phenomenal people. Some of the best people you’ll meet. But the point is he’s very intentional about that.
Misty Kortes (11:44.91)
I like that. I’m gonna give that to my husband.
Chad Kerby (12:08.441)
And it’s an absolute reality. And so we can go on forever on this Misty, but the point is, the point is I would guess that many of those listening today have stepped up on stage or hopped on a zoom call or a presentation or whatever it might be and have had those limiting beliefs of I’m not good at this. I struggle with this. I always say the wrong things. In fact,
Misty, how many times have you heard someone in a presentation say that? Not only it wasn’t bad enough that they were saying it in their mind, they get up in front of everybody and say, I’m not a very good public speaker. let me or I always struggle or they say these things and not only it wasn’t enough to declare to themselves, they have got to declare to the whole audience. And so getting.
Misty Kortes (12:49.966)
you.
Misty Kortes (12:54.038)
been guilty. I have so been guilty. Why? So why do we do that?
Chad Kerby (12:59.547)
Well, because the well, you answered that perfectly, I think a moment ago is because we’re not intentional about fixing it. And if you first of all, once you recognize it, then fix it and you recognized it and you’re like, okay, you know what? I’m going to go for a walk and I’m going to listen to unstoppable. That’s what I’m going to do to help prepare me and get rid of those thoughts. If you just think they’re going to go away, you’re wrong. They, they, they, have to replace them.
And I know we live in a society where we’re very hesitant about saying to ourselves, I’m a phenomenal public speaker. am. And I, every single day, Misty, every day, I say multiple times a day, I’m the greatest teacher of communications. Right. I, I say that every single day. And so, it’s not something now people will say like, Whoa, Chad, that sounds very arrogant. That sounds, you know, like you’re feeding. Right.
Misty Kortes (13:45.025)
Right.
Misty Kortes (13:55.95)
They think it’s ego. I hear people say, that’s egotistical. Ego is that it’s the opposite, right? Ego is there to protect you, not bring you down, not, you know, make you doubt yourself.
Chad Kerby (14:04.019)
100%. 100%.
Chad Kerby (14:12.753)
Well, and also that I don’t, I don’t walk into the grocery store and say, Hey, how are you? By the way, I’m the greatest teacher of communication. Right. That’s not what I’m doing, but I’m, I’m doing it in the privacy of my own home. When I wake up reviewing those, know, reminding myself that, okay. Now, by the way, and I know you’ve had this experience, you can literally feel the difference, after you do that. And after you correct that.
Misty Kortes (14:21.342)
Right.
Chad Kerby (14:39.921)
Because we are, we are, we have a negative world that we live in. Unfortunately, people, people aren’t as happy as they want to be. In fact, in fact, TK shared with me that in a survey, he was reading that 86 % of people reported being not happy. And that, that, that number is astounding to me, but if you drive on the highway, you might agree. Right. And you’re like, it’s, it sure seems that way. And so in allowing that positivity to come into your life.
Misty Kortes (14:56.146)
wow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Chad Kerby (15:08.13)
And most certainly before you get up on the stage or a webinar or whatever, a presentation, a Zoom call, making sure you’re putting yourself in that right mindset is just absolutely critical.
Misty Kortes (15:21.464)
So we know we need to be in the mindset, right? But what about preparation? speak on that a little bit because I find there are some people, which blows my mind by the way, that they come into public speaking and unprepared. They’re like, I’m better at winging it. Are you?
Chad Kerby (15:45.809)
No, no, you’re not. I don’t wing a presentation ever. And I’ve given thousands of them, Misty. I just don’t, I won’t do it. I have a very clear process when I’m preparing. And one thing that I want to emphasize before I discuss these three things is that when you are preparing, most people, they’ll come to me and say, Chad, I want to be an entertaining speaker.
Misty Kortes (15:50.819)
Yeah.
Chad Kerby (16:15.539)
And I’ll say, no, you don’t. And they’re like, no, no, I do. I want to be entertaining. I I want to, want people to be really entertained by me. I was saying, no, you don’t. You want to be an engaging speaker. Now they’re like, Oh wait, what’s the difference? And I go, well, let me share this with you. When I get in front of an audience and I say, okay, I want everyone to be entertained for a moment. Pretend I’m, pretend I’m entertaining you. want your body language to reflect being entertained and everybody.
Misty Kortes (16:17.198)
That would be tough.
Misty Kortes (16:25.962)
No.
Misty Kortes (16:42.551)
Mmm.
Chad Kerby (16:44.563)
leans back. It’s crazy, Misty. If you do this, everyone leans back, they drop their pencil, they start laughing. You know what I mean? That’s what it looks like to be entertained. And I say, okay, now everyone show me what it looks like to be engaged. And all of a sudden, everyone picks up the pencil, leans forward and is focused. And so I’m like, too often, people when they think about and even in their preparation for their presentation, they say to themselves, I want to be entertaining.
Misty Kortes (16:51.95)
Wow
Misty Kortes (17:04.504)
Yeah.
Chad Kerby (17:13.819)
Right? I want to make sure everyone leaves entertaining. The greatest public speakers leave a presentation and people are talking about what they’re going to do different and not about the speaker. Right? Entertaining speakers are like, that was great. That was so entertaining. That was awesome. What are you going to do? I don’t know. And your impact is not lasting.
Misty Kortes (17:27.438)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (17:42.343)
But when you leave and people are like, my goodness, I need to start doing affirmations. I need to be living a more intentional life or whatever it might be. I need to forget my past and learn from it and move forward. know, whatever your goal is, then people will love you and revere you as a speaker because they’re like, okay, I’m going to make my life better because of you. And it’s much, it’s much, it’s, it’s, it’s a lot more lasting than just being in.
Misty Kortes (17:42.69)
Yes.
Misty Kortes (18:09.43)
Yeah, that totally makes sense, Chad. It really does because you think you, I think, because I’ve thought that before too, you know, I need to incorporate something funny or witty or humorous into my speeches and not that you probably can’t, but you’re right. I don’t, I don’t want them leaving thinking, she was funny or anything like that. I want, I want them to, to change, you know, create change in their life. That’s going to positively impact them. And I think that most speakers do. Yeah.
Chad Kerby (18:37.177)
Yeah, absolutely. And so when you if you were to leave the presentation, and you then were able to be like a fly on the wall listening to people talk, hopefully they’re saying, my goodness, did you hear Misty said about this, this, I really need to be better at this, you know, what if we did this, you know, and they’re talking about the content of the presentation, rather than, that was so funny when she did this, this and this, right? Now, I’m not saying you don’t add humor to the presentation that that’s fine. That’s great.
Misty Kortes (19:01.933)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (19:06.661)
You can absolutely share stories and so forth. In fact, I’ll get into that here in just a second. But the point is, don’t get caught up in the entertaining aspect. Think more about the engaging aspect. How am I going to engage them? And by the way, when you engage them, then you are entertaining because they’re engaged, right? And if you approach it the opposite way, which most people do, almost everyone’s like, OK, what can I do to entertain? Now,
Misty Kortes (19:25.004)
Yes. Yes.
Chad Kerby (19:34.993)
What happens too, in most cases, is people think about something they can do to entertain. So say they’re giving a 30 minute presentation, they’ve got a great entertaining piece for three minutes and then 27 minutes of boredom. Right? Just have to be very, very careful. So understand that engagement piece.
Misty Kortes (19:47.596)
Yes.
Misty Kortes (19:54.718)
Okay, so do you have a process that you go through when you’re preparing for a talk or a speech?
Chad Kerby (20:01.811)
I do I do and it’s the three-step process I was alluding to the very first step of that is readiness It’s called readiness and what I mean by that and why I use the word readiness is You should be thinking how am I gonna get everyone to enroll in this presentation? Okay, so the most people They fall into what I call the credential trap. Okay
Misty Kortes (20:26.734)
Okay.
Chad Kerby (20:27.171)
So what they do, Misty, is they’ll get up in front of a group of people and they’ll start reciting all their credentials that qualifies them for speaking to them. And they’ll say, hi, my name is Chad Kirby. I’ve done this, I’ve done this, I’ve done this. I’ve shared stages with presidents. I’ve done this, I’ve done that. And then you’re reciting all this. And the people listening are acting like they care because they’re polite, but in their minds, they’re like, don’t care, don’t care, still don’t care, right?
Misty Kortes (20:53.91)
True.
Chad Kerby (20:55.167)
So you’re just and it’s that credential trap and I’m telling you Everybody falls into that where they’re like, my goodness I’ve got to qualify myself so that people will listen to me. But the reality Misty is that people need to be Prepared to enroll and I call that readiness. So how what is a readiness? Well, there’s a lots of lots of different tools you can use for readiness, right? You can you can use questions
Misty Kortes (21:13.72)
Mm.
Chad Kerby (21:23.643)
You can use a story, you can use a picture, you can use a video and so forth. Now think about this for a moment. and let me give you a phenomenal readiness. saw a speaker use not long ago. He, he got up for his presentation and he showed a video of a pit stop in a race from like 1960. I can’t even give the date, but from, you know, a long time ago and it took several minutes.
Misty Kortes (21:27.566)
Mmm.
Chad Kerby (21:53.701)
Right. And he showed the pit stop today and it was a few seconds. Like they changed all four times everything and it was like seconds. They were in and out. Right. And he said, then he got up and he said, how many of you are overwhelmed with the speed of the world we live in today? And, and then people were like, yes. And he goes, I’m going to share with you exactly what you need to do.
Misty Kortes (22:00.716)
Wow
Misty Kortes (22:15.086)
great.
Chad Kerby (22:22.897)
so you can stay up to speed. everyone was right there. That’s a perfect example of a readiness, right? Now, that with this individual, and I know this individual well, if you would have gotten up and said, hey, I’ve sold three companies, I’ve done this, I’ve done that, I’ve done that. I’m talk about the changing landscape of the business world. You know what I mean? It doesn’t have the same impact.
Misty Kortes (22:25.656)
Bye.
Misty Kortes (22:30.613)
Yeah.
Misty Kortes (22:47.629)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (22:50.395)
So understanding the readiness and how you can use that. I love helping people with that principle because that readiness makes or breaks your presentation. It really does. Now, the other challenge people have with readiness, though, is when you’re given a 45-minute presentation, you don’t just have one readiness. You have three or four. Right? And so you’re constantly getting them to re-enroll, re-enroll.
Misty Kortes (22:55.692)
Yes.
Misty Kortes (23:02.945)
Yes.
Misty Kortes (23:14.222)
Okay.
Chad Kerby (23:19.035)
re-enroll in the presentation. And so having a readiness, so I break it down to these three steps. Then the second piece is engagement. And that’s the content. So you have readiness, engagement, and action. Engagement is where you’re sharing the body of your content, which is simply this is where you are now, this is where you could be. This is where you are now, this is where you could be. And then the third piece.
Misty Kortes (23:21.582)
Got it.
Chad Kerby (23:48.793)
is the action. What do you want them to do? Okay, now I’ve got to maintain my emotions right now because this gets me fired up more than anything when I’m talking to people. You want to get Chad Kirby fired up? You get up and say, I’m just here to educate. I’m just here to educate. Well, if you’re not giving me anything that I can go and do because of the education, you’re wasting my time. There’s something and I love that you say,
Misty Kortes (24:13.742)
Right.
Chad Kerby (24:17.443)
Speaking is selling. Selling really gets a bad rap. There’s no question about it. When you say speaking is selling, what you’re saying Misty, and I appreciate who you are and what you’re about, is you’re saying, I want to try and get them to do something. And that’s what sales is, right? You’re selling all the time.
Misty Kortes (24:22.636)
It does.
Misty Kortes (24:34.734)
Yep. You’re enrolling them in taking action. Whatever that is. Yeah.
Chad Kerby (24:38.835)
100 exactly exactly that doesn’t mean that they’re gonna whip out their checkbook and write you a big check but you know, but I like what Dave Ramsey said he told me he said when people appreciate what you do, they’ll give you certificates of appreciation with the president right and so but but the point is that after that engagement piece and people take action now I mentioned this at the beginning talking about people matching your energy in three minutes or less
Misty Kortes (24:55.372)
I love that, yeah.
Chad Kerby (25:06.455)
No greater point in the whole presentation is that than when you’re asking people to take some form of action. What happens, what’s crazy, Misty, is people all of sudden start getting nervous that they’re asking people to do something. And so they get up. So they’ll give a great presentation. They’ll use readiness. They’ll use engagement. They’ll use everything that I outline in my book and teach you exactly how to do this. And then.
Misty, get to the point where they’re taking action and they’re like, okay, well, some of you are gonna want to, and all of a sudden they’re nervous and the person sitting in the audience is like, I’m nervous, why am I nervous? I’m nervous, I know this is scary, right? And that’s the reality of it. And so guiding people to take action, they’ll love you for it because you’re making their life better.
Misty Kortes (25:43.47)
right.
Misty Kortes (25:59.214)
Absolutely. If they don’t implement what you’ve given them, nothing changes. Now they just have more information and Lord knows we do not need more information today. Right? We need… No.
Chad Kerby (26:04.209)
Right? Right?
Chad Kerby (26:09.851)
Yeah. And there’s a principle. There’s a principle I teach all the time. Misty, Russell, but Beltran said people would rather die than think, you know, and, that’s a really important principle that people need to understand as they’re preparing their presentation. people would rather die than think. make it very, very simple for them to follow you, make the presentation simple.
Misty Kortes (26:20.44)
Mmm.
Misty Kortes (26:31.522)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (26:38.427)
help them understand these three things. Now, by the way, I shared with you three things that they can do to improve. And when I prepare a presentation readiness, engagement, action, right. that’s it. That’s three people can understand that if I got up now, I could break all that down to like 45 steps, right? But if, but if you said, Chad, is there a process that you use? Yeah. In fact, when I say there’s a three step process, people are like,
and you get this, you understand this. It’s crazy because those who are geniuses in marketing, and I know your background’s being a genius in marketing and messaging, you understand that principle, Misty. But it’s crazy for me, marketers are some of the worst when they get up and present. And I’m like, wait, wait, wait, stop. You guys understand that people would rather die than think. So why in your presentation are you giving 48 different things they can do, right?
Misty Kortes (27:16.942)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Misty Kortes (27:29.132)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (27:35.443)
I literally sat at a presentation by a marketer. I won’t mention their name, but they had like 97 ways to, it was 97. And he’s like, my presentation, I’m only going to get to like 15. Now what his goal was, Misty is that people would be so intrigued that there were 97 that at the, when he only got to 13 or 14, people would be like, Oh my.
Misty Kortes (27:50.914)
Yes.
Misty Kortes (28:02.99)
I wanted the rest.
Chad Kerby (28:04.179)
I gotta have those 82 left or whatever, right? But the problem was everyone was checked out.
Misty Kortes (28:11.768)
Yeah, they’re an information overload and they don’t know how to process it. Yeah.
Chad Kerby (28:16.443)
Right? I mean, you think about in experience, Misty, say we’re at a networking event and, and where you’re talking to someone. so what is it that you do? And, and they, they ask you and you explain to them and then you politely say, well, what is it that you do? And they’re like, it’s pretty complicated. Let me, do you have a piece of paper? Let me share. And you’re thinking to yourself, my goodness, how do I get out of this situation? Right.
Misty Kortes (28:44.268)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (28:45.489)
because you don’t want to think. too often when people come and sit down and they’re like, Chad, I thought this presentation was going to be phenomenal. Look what happened. Often Misty, can say, well, you made people think way too much. And when people have to think, they disengage.
Misty Kortes (28:47.672)
Yep.
Misty Kortes (29:01.109)
Yes.
Yes, it’s so true. And I’ve made that mistake. I always thought more information meant more value. Right? I think that’s a common mistake that we make because we strive as speakers, as leaders to want to deliver value. And so we think that more information does that. based on what you’re saying, and I know to be true, less is more.
Chad Kerby (29:13.564)
Right? Right?
Chad Kerby (29:32.179)
100 % and so people ask me say so you give me those steps Chad. Well, what are some of the big mistakes? People make the biggest some of the biggest ones Mr. Those that we’ve been touching on here number one that credential trap They fall into that cadet credential trap, right and they they really so if you want to say a recipe for disaster That many of us have fallen into start off with the credential trap
Misty Kortes (29:40.034)
That’s exactly what I wanted to get to. Yes.
Misty Kortes (29:49.326)
Mm.
Chad Kerby (30:01.467)
and then give too much information, right?
Misty Kortes (30:04.002)
Yes, I want to touch on that credential trap for a second because how do you actually, so I don’t even know how to ask the right question.
Chad Kerby (30:15.395)
Okay, so I was reached out to so someone came out to me I and I don’t mean to jump into what your But I had a lady call me and she had a very successful Consulting firm and she goes Chad. Okay. I read your book and I need to talk about the credential trap and I was like, okay Let’s let’s talk about it. What do you mean? She goes, okay So I believe you I agree with you. I don’t think it’s you know falling into that credential trap and she goes
Misty Kortes (30:20.245)
No, you’re good. You’re good.
Chad Kerby (30:44.615)
But then I left my last presentation and someone told me, my goodness, no one knows how qualified you are to talk about how you, what you just talk about. how do you qualify yourself without falling into the credential trap? And I knew it because she had called me and she’s like, what do I do? And I said, okay, how do you qualify yourself without falling into the credential trap?
Misty Kortes (30:56.984)
Great.
That’s it. That’s the question. There you go.
Misty Kortes (31:11.98)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (31:12.359)
You remember this principle. This is a critical principle that we all understand. Everyone’s favorite subject is themselves. Okay. Everyone’s favorite subjects themselves that and by the way, that’s why readiness is so important because if they can see how they win by listening to you, they’re going to listen to you. That’s why the credential trap is such a terrible trap because they don’t care about you. They care about themselves. So go back to your question, Misty, then how do you qualify yourself?
Misty Kortes (31:26.606)
8 6 8
Yes.
Chad Kerby (31:41.767)
Well, this individual, she was a very, very successful attorney before she opened her consulting firm. Okay. And she worked at KPMG and she was over this massive group of corporate attorneys. Right. And I said, was there any stories you shared about that? She, she goes, yeah, I did share that story. This story. said, well, did you share your role or responsibility there? She goes, no, cause I didn’t want to fall into your credential trap. And I said, that’s.
Misty Kortes (31:42.19)
you.
Misty Kortes (31:55.662)
Mm-hmm.
Yes!
Misty Kortes (32:04.398)
So start your.
Chad Kerby (32:11.239)
That’s wrong. This is what you do. You know what? I had the privilege to oversee a thousand attorneys at KPMG and I learned a valuable lesson when I was doing that. Okay. If I then can see how I win by learning from your valuable lesson, then you’ve qualified yourself. You know, I say, I mean, I’ve had the opportunity to speak, at crazy events. mean, I’ve, I’ve had, I’ve been speaking with
Misty Kortes (32:29.558)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (32:37.821)
Dave Ramsey, George W. Bush, right? And so, and it’s like, when I get up, I don’t say like, I shared the stage with George W. Bush, right? I’d never say that. But I do have stories that I’ll say like, you know, it was crazy. I had the opportunity to speak on the same stage right before George W. Bush. And they had put up a fence, a literal fence around the stage. So you couldn’t get to the president.
Misty Kortes (32:57.645)
Yes.
Misty Kortes (33:02.722)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (33:05.799)
the former president, but you also couldn’t get to me. It was one of the hardest experiences to create engagement. Now, what did I just do? I qualified.
Misty Kortes (33:12.772)
Yes, indirectly gave yourself credentials. Absolutely.
Chad Kerby (33:16.369)
That’s correct. So you qualify yourself, but you remember I’m teaching a principle to them and the principle that I’m teaching at that point is the importance of engagement. And sometimes we have barriers of engagement. I at that moment had a literal barrier of a large fence, right? Between me and the audience. But at the same time, people are like, holy crap, how are you sharing the stage with George W. Bush? Right? You know, those are the types of experiences. And so when you think about
Misty Kortes (33:32.887)
Yep.
Chad Kerby (33:45.893)
Why am I qualified to do this? so, know what, Misty, you’ve helped, you know, you’ve helped hundreds, if not thousands of people be successful. And when you talk about it, you could say, you know what, you know, it’s interesting. I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of different people and there’s one consistent, you know, and you do it and you couch it that way. It feels very genuine and authentic. And by the way, you don’t have to, at that point, you’re not credentializing yourself. So.
Misty Kortes (34:15.31)
It’s so true Chad and I think that also on in addition to the stories which are absolutely necessary I think that you build your credibility through the value that you deliver Right when someone leaves your talk like you said and they feel like a changed person They they want to take action. They’re inspired to take action that builds credibility way better than the
Chad Kerby (34:30.822)
Right. Right.
Misty Kortes (34:44.714)
laundry list of I went to the heater and I, yes.
Chad Kerby (34:46.425)
And you qualify yourself simply by giving context around the value.
Misty Kortes (34:54.498)
Yes.
Chad Kerby (34:54.555)
you give context around the value. Like, you know, Dan Kennedy will never credentialize himself, but then he’ll share stories of, you know what, this guy came to me and he sat down and he didn’t know what to do. He was like, I’m at a loss. And he goes, I’ll pay you a hundred grand if you can do this. Right. And Dan’s like, yeah, I’ll do it. You know, and he made 10 X that. Right. And so he’s sharing the story, but in a way that qualifies yourself. So
When you talk about Misty of giving value, giving value, giving value, when in, I absolutely agree with that. When you add a little context to the value, that’s when you become qualified in the eyes of those people that are sitting there listening.
Misty Kortes (35:37.166)
Absolutely. Okay, so mistake number one is the credential trap. Mistake number two, we didn’t quite dive into it. I kind of interrupted it. I just wanted to dive through that because it was so important.
Chad Kerby (35:46.173)
Well, no, we, we, but no, it’s, it’s great. The, that too much information piece. It’s, it’s too much information and it causes people to have to think. And as Belton Russell says, people would rather die than think. So they don’t want to think, you know, you think about from a movie standpoint for a moment. Okay. My wife, Cassie is amazing, nearly perfect. She, she’s got one flaw in that plot. She doesn’t like the born series.
I don’t know if you’ve heard the Bourne’s, watched the Bourne’s, but I love the Bourne’s series. She’s never even watched a Misty, right? So she’s like, I don’t want to watch it. But but this is all the context that causes her to not want to watch it. She comes in and I don’t know why it’s always on cable, but it feels like or not cable. I just dated myself significantly. But it’s always on TV. And so she comes in, she’s like, what are you watching? I’m like, oh, I’m watching The Bourne Identity. She’s like, what’s that movie even about?
Misty Kortes (36:16.824)
I am. I am.
no.
Misty Kortes (36:36.929)
Yeah.
Chad Kerby (36:45.393)
Well, this guy, he forgets who he is and he wants to learn who he is, right? And she’s like, for two hours? I’m like, amazing, right? Then she comes in the next week, Misty, and she goes, what are you watching? I’m like, I’m watching The Bourne Supremacy. She’s like, wait, you were watching Bourne last week? No, this is the second movie. What’s this one about? Well, he knows more than he did in the first one, and he’s trying to figure out.
Misty Kortes (36:53.036)
Yeah.
Misty Kortes (37:03.01)
Mm-hmm.
Chad Kerby (37:13.415)
who he is and she’s like, that’s the same movie. I’m like, no, totally different girl. Nice. Okay. Then she comes in the next week and I’m watching the third one. This is the best one. love the born ultimatum. And she’s like, what’s this one about? I’m like, well, he knows more than he did in the first two, right? And he’s trying and she’s like, wait, how do you watch six hours of the same movie? I’m like, I love it. You guess what I don’t do for six hours. I don’t think right.
Misty Kortes (37:23.534)
Hmm.
Misty Kortes (37:40.878)
Thank you.
Chad Kerby (37:43.794)
And then you take, Missy, you take people like there’s, my wife goes, let’s watch Little Women. And I sat there and I was like, my goodness, I didn’t know they made 14 hour movies, right? And it felt so low, because there were so many things coming in, so many different storylines, and it was just too difficult. When we present that trap of giving too much information, of making it very, very simple for them to follow you.
Misty Kortes (38:01.646)
Sure.
Chad Kerby (38:11.365)
And then they know exactly what to do. And I might emphasize that point as well when it comes to them taking action. Make sure, make sure that it’s very simple. They know exactly what. And I often break it down into three steps, right? Step one is to do this. Step two is to do this. Step three, you know, so they’re like, I get that. I get that. And I know you with your marketing background understand those principles, but for some reason,
Misty Kortes (38:24.931)
Yeah.
Chad Kerby (38:40.931)
Everyone forgets them when they go into the counter.
Misty Kortes (38:42.233)
We lose them on stage. I’ve seen it time and time again. I know I’ve done it myself. over, I’ve packed a presentation with way too much information. And here’s a good cue. I’ve been very well tuned to this cue is that when you leave exhausted from delivering the presentation, you know you put too much in, right?
Because you’re leaving the stage going, my gosh, that was so much work. Well, because I did too much, right?
Chad Kerby (39:14.547)
You tried you tried too hard and and and and let me just and I know our time is almost up and let me just add one more thing here misty that I think is really important for everyone to understand and that is don’t Be you like be very authentic people always come to call me and they’ll say okay chat I need help in my presentation I said well, let’s talk about it for a moment. Am I okay to put hands in my pocket when I’m presenting?
Misty Kortes (39:18.209)
Yeah.
Chad Kerby (39:42.611)
And I’m like, do you normally put your hands in your pocket? And they’re like, no, I never do. Well, then don’t put hands in your pocket. Right. It’s so like, like sometime for some reason, people are like, I want to be this person. I want to be this person. You know what? I’ve sat there and watched, I don’t know if you know, Patrick Linciani, but I was, I was speaking at an event with Patrick and Patrick Linciani spoke. Simon Sinek spoke and then John Maxwell spoke and they all had like completely different deliveries.
Right? different deliveries. So don’t copy. Be authentic. Now there are certain things that you’re like, well, I like how they did that. That’s fine. And if that’s you, then do it. But be authentic to you. When I first started my public speaking career, Bill Clinton, and I know that dates me again, but Bill Clinton was president of the United States. And I really admired his ability to speak. And so I watched him closely and I studied him.
Misty Kortes (40:11.938)
Yeah.
Misty Kortes (40:31.832)
Mm-hmm.
Chad Kerby (40:38.067)
And I was like, okay, how does he do that? So then I thought, Oh, I’m going to do that. And so I started putting my hand like this and going like, and that’s why we do what we do. Right. And I was even picking up that Southern accent. so. Right. And my wife came, I always asked my wife, I’d bring her along and when I would speak publicly and I’d be like, Cassie, what’d think she’s like? It was great until you became Bill Clinton at the end. Right. No, didn’t want me to be Bill Clinton, probably for a
Misty Kortes (40:47.406)
You
Misty Kortes (40:51.276)
PASON, yes.
Misty Kortes (41:04.44)
was Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy for a while. I listened to them so much, I was taking on their mannerisms. I loved them, but I totally get it.
Chad Kerby (41:11.633)
Right? Yeah, but be Misty be Misty because people love Misty for Misty and so be authentic there. And I it’s so important. So
Misty Kortes (41:20.664)
Gosh, that’s such a good, that is such a great tip because you’re right. People do, we get caught up into, you know, our stage presence and what we should look like and how we should act. And, and can you imagine being at an, like an all day event where there’s multiple speakers and everybody sounds and looks the same? Like how boring would that be for the audience? Right? No. my goodness.
Chad Kerby (41:37.657)
right? No one wants that. No one wants that. That’s so important. It’s awesome.
Misty Kortes (41:44.77)
Well, this is this has been so great. There has been so much gold in this conversation. I hope anyone listening in is taking really good notes because there’s such there’s so much that you can take away from this and go apply to your to your speaking life today. Like, thank you, Chad. It’s been incredible. Now. So here’s the thing you mentioned that you have a book, so take a moment, tell us a little bit about your book and where they can get it.
Chad Kerby (42:04.187)
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Chad Kerby (42:14.591)
you can just go to Amazon or wherever you buy books at speak, speak and get what you want. And, and that’s, that’s the key. And, then we, and then I have a podcast speaking, get what you want. Misty you’ll be on the podcast and, it’s the power of communication is, so important. And by the way, today in this digital world we live in, people are becoming less and less effective at it because they’re so used to not having to do it. Right. So if you really want to.
If you really want to, and TK, the cohost of the podcast, always says, the best way to predict the future is to go create it. And if you want to go create your own future, then make sure that your ability to communicate is something that you’re working on. And you can absolutely.
Misty Kortes (42:50.851)
Yeah.
Misty Kortes (42:59.854)
and people are gonna want it more now than ever with AI. on, hold on to the conversation I know, but still, if you wanna stand out in the future, the way that you communicate with people authentically and effectively is going to be the thing, I believe.
Chad Kerby (43:03.203)
absolutely. I know that.
Chad Kerby (43:18.067)
Well, and Misty, if we learned anything from the whole COVID experiences that people do crave human connection, they absolutely do. And that’s not going away. That’s not changing. So you still need to be a human even though AI is there to help support us.
Misty Kortes (43:23.906)
Absolutely.
Misty Kortes (43:33.322)
Absolutely. So anybody listening in, you absolutely need to get this book. This is going to be your slight edge in the future. If you want to stand out from everyone else who’s using AI and I’m not saying anything bad about AI, we use AI in our business today. But if you really want to stand out the way that you are able to connect with people in a meaningful and impactful way is going to be the key to the future. The future, I don’t know, edge.
Chad Kerby (43:56.787)
Absolutely. Exactly. Well, Miss D, it was fantastic being with you.
Misty Kortes (44:04.746)
Same here, Chad. I appreciate you. I appreciate you coming on. I’m excited about being a guest on your podcast here soon. And so I will make sure that I link to all the different places that you can connect with Chad and where you can get his book in the show notes. So be sure to check that out. And yeah, thanks so much for sharing your wisdom today. I appreciate you. You too. Have a good day. Bye.
Chad Kerby (44:10.259)
That’s going be great. Yeah.
Chad Kerby (44:26.675)
Absolutely. Take care, Misty. We’ll see you soon. Bye now.