Transcript
Dave Bricker (00:06)
Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by Speakipedia .com. I’m your emcee Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from visionary speakers and thought leaders. My guest today is a global leadership keynote speaker, author, and trainer. He’s the author of two cool books. He recently received his CSP.
Dave Bricker (00:34)
that’s the Certified Speaking Professional designation, that’s a distinction that fewer than 900 speakers worldwide have achieved. And he’s run over 50 ,000 miles, that’s more than two times around the planet. Please welcome author, TEDx speaker, and above average miniature golfer, Scott Lesnick.
Scott Lesnick (00:56)
Dave, thanks so much. It’s wonderful to be here with you and Speakipedia. I’m excited for our discussion. Fire away, let’s go.
Dave Bricker (01:07)
All right, Scott, thanks so much. Let’s open up with a big one because you talk about leadership, resilience, personal growth, and a lot of topics. And I know that in one of your keynotes, you tell a pretty dramatic story about recovering your kidnapped children. It’s not difficult to imagine you went through stress and despair. So how did you decide to integrate that story into your keynote? It’s got to hurt you to tell it.
What is the value for the listener? And look, how did you put this together without bleeding all over the stage? And I ask that because so many speakers use the stage for trauma dumping.
Scott Lesnick (01:50)
That is a great question. Let’s try to unravel that. Value for the participant, the attendees, is several fold. On that particular keynote, it ends well. So the first value is I can tell an incredibly powerful story and let them know after about five minutes that it ends well so they can sit back, relax, and not freak out the whole time. And the real value to them is I make it about them.
believe it or not, their lives professionally and personally, and I’m able to weave my story into what we all go through from stress, from navigating change, being resilient, not giving up, and all of these things plus the other takeaways that I add and that when I’m brought into a conference or to an organization, I’m able to take these elements and add more takeaways that they want.
their attendees to receive. And by putting all that together, it adds value that really brings it home to the participants. And as far as the not freaking out and drama dumping on stage, the simple answer is practice, practice, practice times hundreds. All the things that we do as keynote speakers, which is a tough enough.
tough enough spot to get to is behind the scenes. Sales, marketing, practice, practice, content creating, content creating, more content creating, and making sure that what we do is really good. And what that takes is an enormous amount of preparation, practice, and doing it so many times that you become really good. And then also getting out in front of people.
Scott Lesnick (03:44)
and flubbing a little bit, making some mistakes and getting better and better and better. So it just took a lot of time. And then I realized I was there. I was ready for prime time with this keynote.
Dave Bricker (03:56)
Yeah, you make it sound so easy. But it isn’t easy. It’s a wonderful profession, but it’s not an easy profession.
Scott Lesnick (04:03)
It isn’t. You’re right. As you and I have talked about, it’s really, really, really difficult. It takes a ginormous amount of time. And a lot of people aren’t willing to put that in. You’ve put it in over the many, many years. I have, and we know others that have, but we also know others that are really talented that didn’t put in the time. And if you don’t, like any job, it’s really not going to work. And this is a job if you want to succeed.
Dave Bricker (04:28)
Mm -hmm.
Thank you.
Scott Lesnick (04:32)
have to take it seriously. And it’s fun too!
Dave Bricker (04:35)
Oh, yeah, when you finally get on stage, it’s fun. But I think one of the reasons behind this whole speakipedia thing is so many people get this idea. I want to speak. And it’s not to discourage anybody, but people get, they join these overnight success programs and nobody loves their overnight success program in the morning. People get frustrated. They go broke. And it’s like, it’s a journey. It’s like learning to play an instrument. And…
Scott Lesnick (04:48)
Mm -hmm.
Hehehe.
Yeah!
Dave Bricker (05:05)
And it doesn’t matter how talented you are, you have to get the finger memory happening. You have to get the calluses on your fingertips. But.
Scott Lesnick (05:14)
It’s funny, you mentioned that and I watched a couple of guitarists recently that are known names and artists and they talked about how the people were saying how pretty good or really good they are in guitar and the person just pulled back the curtain. Each individual, these are women and men, and they said, I am good, but here’s where I started.
Scott Lesnick (05:43)
I was not good. My fingers bled. I worked and worked and worked for hours every day. And finally things started to click. We don’t see that. But when these people share it, it’s a beautiful thing. And you and I and many others we know have done that with speaking. We said, it’s great. It’s wonderful. But behind the scenes, whoo, there’s a lot of work. And it ain’t easy. But boy, is it rewarding when it finally clicks, right?
Dave Bricker (06:07)
Yep. Yeah, the worst backhanded compliment I think we can receive is when somebody comes up to and says, oh, Scott, I loved your presentation. You’re such a natural. How can I become good at speaking? It’s like you hear anybody who’s good at what they do and they make it look like it’s easy and natural. It’s like, well, I spent X number of years not looking like a natural. And.
That’s all hidden. So it’s a compliment. It’s intended as a compliment. But it’s like, no, I’m not a natural. I just work hard at this. And look, that’s designed to be inspiring, not discouraging. Work hard. You can get good. I think anybody can do this.
Scott Lesnick (06:51)
What is it, that 10 ,000 hour rule? If you really want to get good at something, put 10 ,000 hours in and it’s like, what? Well.
Dave Bricker (06:53)
something.
Yeah, and then celebrate and put in another 10. So, absolutely. Right, right. So, no. And look, what led you into this bizarre profession? What led you into speaking? What’s your story?
Scott Lesnick (07:04)
Yeah, to get right. Exactly. Good point. It doesn’t end at 10 ,000.
Well, the story is I wrote a book on that experience with getting the kids back when they were kidnapped. And I wanted to sell it, but because it was a memoir and I didn’t have enough of a platform, agents were interested, but they couldn’t sell enough of it at the time. So I fell into speaking by accident, but I was working in corporate America for a couple of decades at a Brookshire Hathaway company.
Scott Lesnick (07:46)
in sales and leading sales teams. And I loved it. It was wonderful. But as I was moving on in that business, I felt to myself that I really wasn’t doing anything. I wasn’t contributing squat to society. And that just kept on ruminating with me when I would run or when I’d chill out.
And I was like, there’s gotta be something more. And by accident, I fell into speaking and learned about the National Speakers Association, left my ego at the door and just said, I want to learn. And that’s really where I began because I wanted to be able to sell my books, but it turned out it wasn’t about that at all. I was a dude who wanted to speak, who wanted to help others, who wanted to make people’s lives better. And I didn’t know that until…
got into this and that was the difference that I needed to propel me forward because I realized I could make a little difference or a bigger difference and that was good for me. So that was my aim, that was my goal and then the hard work and hanging out with a lot of incredibly talented men and women helped. You know, people like you and others who just shared and gave back and expected nothing in return.
Dave Bricker (08:42)
you
Scott Lesnick (09:07)
made it easier for me. I still put in the work and then I was able to pay it forward and do the same for others.
Dave Bricker (09:13)
Yeah, it’s interesting. I think a number of people take that journey where I want to change the world, I’m going to write a book. And they write a book and they say, well, now if I want to change the world, I have to sell a bunch of books. Wow, it’s really hard to make any money or make a difference selling these little $10 paper bricks. And then it’s like, wait a second, maybe I can use the book to sell me. Now I’m back in the thought leadership business. The book is my business card.
I don’t care about selling books, I make a cup of coffee every time I sell a book, but maybe that book gets me on the platform to speak to a bunch of people and I’m changing lives. It’s that full circle kind of experience. So look, as professional speakers, we’re always challenged to turn ideas into income.
Scott Lesnick (09:51)
You’re right, it adds credibility.
Yeah.
Dave Bricker (10:03)
And what approaches have you taken to turning your personal and professional experiences into income streams? So what do you offer outside of keynoting, for example, and your book?
Scott Lesnick (10:14)
So I have two books which I offer. I have three keynotes, one on generations and connecting all of them and what really works in Fly Millennial and Gen Z’s Flag High for good reason. I have one on change and what it really takes in corporate America and business and leadership and associations to navigate change. And I show what works and what doesn’t. And so my model, and everyone has their own, is keynotes and training with a little bit.
of coaching and mentoring, but I’m very selective on clients because I want to make sure that they’re going to put in the work. Sure, I get paid well to do that, but if you’re going to, if we’re going to work together, you have to be serious about it because A, I don’t want to waste your time and mine. B, my time is valuable as is yours. And C, you’re going to pay me some good money to do this. So I don’t even want it if you’re not in. But the majority of my business,
Scott Lesnick (11:14)
is arriving to keynote a conference or a corporate event or do training, spend time with the people the night before, do what I’m supposed to do that day and then move on the next day to the next event or back home and then back out again. So it’s really keynote and training with a little bit of selective coaching, but I’m careful with that as I explained.
Dave Bricker (11:30)
Yeah, and I think that’s an important message. I know a number of our listeners are in the coaching business and there’s a very low ceiling. If you’ve got 20 coaching clients, you don’t have room for too much else in your life. So you can raise your prices, you can become more selective, but unless you’re doing groups, then you have a pretty low income ceiling, even if you’re a well -paid coach. So then there’s the group thing and at some point,
Scott Lesnick (11:48)
Mmm.
Dave Bricker (12:11)
you’re speaking. So it kind of leads to the same place a lot of the time anyway, but I see a lot of coaches get frustrated. The other thing is I don’t care how good you are as a coach. You and I know people who are just not coachable. And…
Scott Lesnick (12:18)
It does.
Yeah, yeah, it’s wonderful if you can leave your ego aside and allow yourself to be open and be coached. The reason I only coach a few people is it’s a time suck. And I say that in the best way, but I spend a lot of time with individuals and I don’t have the time if A, you’re not gonna put it in and B, I’m fortunate enough after a lot of work in sales and marketing, I travel a bit and I go from conference to conference.
One this week, one last week, one next week. And so I don’t really have the time because my business is developed in another direction, but I make a little bit of time for a couple of select people and then pretty amazing things happen. And to me, when you get paid to keynote or you get paid to train or coach, it’s a wonderful thing. But the biggest thing for me is seeing results of somebody coming up afterwards and saying, thank you, I needed to hear this or this resonated with me.
Dave Bricker (13:00)
Good.
Scott Lesnick (13:27)
or you help move me forward in my business. That to me is like the golden ticket.
Dave Bricker (13:31)
Yeah, I completely agree with you. So let’s move forward a little bit. As speakers, it’s so common for us to get asked, Scott, what’s your topic? And I think the question is just wrong because it assumes that, I mean, lecturers speak on a particular topic. Like I’m a science teacher or I do English composition or physics. And those are topics. But as speakers,
we have to focus on, and you brought this up right at the beginning, I loved it. We make it about them. We talk about takeaways, all these words that you were just naturally focusing on. So what transformation do you deliver? What problems do you solve and for whom? And how do audiences realize that? In other words, you use value from your programs.
Scott Lesnick (14:23)
Yeah, what I that one of the things I do is my my the three programs that I have from keynotes are are very customizable. But there. The content is is is strong up to date and ready to go. So what I’m able to do and what works well is there’s pre conference meetings with every event planner. And when we’re on these calls.
Scott Lesnick (14:53)
I really listen and ask questions. I want to know what their pain points are, what their problems are. Here’s what I, you already are bringing me in. We’ve already decided that. We’ve already signed a contract. That’s behind us, but what’s in front of us is the real me. What do you need me to deliver? Besides what you already know about my content and the takeaways.
for this particular program or a couple if you’re bringing me in for a few of them that I’ve given you, what else do you want me to put in there? And I add that. I add it and I weave it in so that the actionable takeaways that I deliver are what they wanted in the beginning and then what they want their participants to also receive. So if it’s better leadership,
better communications, employee retention, lowering stress, navigating change, whatever it is that they need. If I’m able to do it, and we’ve gotten to the point where we know I am for them, I make sure that I give them the actionable takeaways that I have and add to that which they want the attendees or participants to receive.
Dave Bricker (16:08)
And I love your answer because it’s really about, I’m not here to talk about a topic. I’m here to solve your problems. Tell me what your pain points are. I am here to serve, not to speak. And we are speakers, but we lead by listening. And there’s a wonderful irony in that that I love and I’m glad you approach it that way. So.
Scott Lesnick (16:25)
Absolutely.
Well, you and I, you know, we were taught that way too. And it’s something that you have to learn even when you’re delivering content, which you do all the time and you change people’s perspective and you help them. We’re delivering what we have and what we know and what’s a bit unique to us, but we’re really making it all about them. And I think about it when I sit in an audience and listen to a speaker, when they’re not doing that, I’m like,
Just blah, blah, blah about you. I mean, okay, maybe. I’ve even seen big celebrities do it and do it well. I’ve also seen them flop. So if we’re not making it about them, we missed it. We missed it.
Dave Bricker (17:20)
Get rid of your I infection.
Scott Lesnick (17:25)
Yes, yes, it’s about you. It’s about us. It can be about me a bit, but I have to bring it back to you all the time. If I’m not doing that, I have not succeeded. I failed.
Dave Bricker (17:38)
And isn’t that, I always, when I work with speakers, I always say turn nervous into service because if you’re thinking about you’re gonna blow your lines, you’re gonna trip and fall on the stage, the projector is not, oh, it’s all about you. Forget that stuff. It’s probably gonna happen sooner or later, so what? Handle it with grace and dignity, but.
focus on what you’re there to deliver to the audience. So segue.
Scott Lesnick (18:09)
I learned, one of my mentors taught me early on, a really great speaker. She taught me that before, when you’re being introduced, right before that, or as you’re going up to shake somebody’s hand or give them a hug, remember, remind yourself, it’s all about them. It’s not about you, it’s all about them. And at first, I heard the words, but it didn’t quite make sense. And then as time went on, it resonated, it stuck, and I got it. And I’m like, yes, and here’s the key, Dave.
Dave Bricker (18:24)
Mm -hmm.
Scott Lesnick (18:39)
to what you said when it comes to the service and getting rid of the nervous, they sense that. They sense it like that. They can tell that you’re there for them. And they lean forward a little more, or they’re off of their phone more, because they realize that Dave, that Scott, that we’re there for them. And they can sense it like that. I always look at the audience.
Dave Bricker (18:51)
Mm -hmm.
Scott Lesnick (19:09)
as smart as me and smarter. I don’t know where we all fit in, but I always play to them, speak to them, is that we’re at the same level or they’re higher than me because that reminds me to give it all and to talk at this level, not down here.
Dave Bricker (19:28)
Yeah, that’s part of making eye contact, because that’s an academic thing they teach us. Be sure to make eye contact with everybody in the room. Well, that’s great, but are you… Eye contact is just a thing. Be sure to connect with everybody in the room.
Right? Look around, look people in the eye, get the reactions, let people feel like, I got you. And what a difference. So many of our viewers and listeners are new to the speaking game. And we’re talking about this idea of nerves. Talk about being nervous speaking in front of an audience and how have you dealt with nerves, imposter syndrome, all of that stuff that so many of us pretend we don’t have to deal with to get where you are.
Scott Lesnick (19:52)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hey, I have to be honest, I’ve never got nervous in my life speaking and I’ve never had imposter syndrome. Said no speaker ever, right? That’s all part of what we do. As far as nerves go, my wife, Meg, taught me the most important lesson. I came home after a presentation. It was a couple of years into speaking and I said, sweetheart, I have…
nerves, I have anxiety when I’m on stage and I don’t know what to do. And she said, OK, how does this anxiety, these nerves manifest itself? I said, well, sweetheart, I I sweat under my armpits. And being a wonderful person, smarter than me, she just looked at me and she nodded and she said, so, OK, let’s take a look at the different kind of anxieties you could have on stage.
Would you agree that sweating under your armpits is probably a lower deal than some other things and you’re going to be OK? I needed to hear that because I never even thought that there were anxieties rougher than that. Of course there are. There’s a lot. So that helped me realize it’s low on the spectrum of anxiety that you can have that helped me. And as far as imposter syndrome goes,
I believe in my content. I work really hard on it. And I know that I’m always improving. And I know that sometimes I mess up a tiny bit. I also surround myself with incredibly talented women and men in my life and in this industry. And we help each other with that. We talk about it. And those of us who have had some success share the realities, too. We don’t just go, oh, you know, everything’s great.
We do have this imposter syndrome. If I’m going to present right before Shaquille O ‘Neal closes a conference, I have imposter syndrome. Not only is he a gigantic man and extremely talented, he’s done a lot. So I have to just realize what I have to deliver is good. And it’s been vetted by tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people now. I’m me. I’m not Dave.
Shaquille, Oprah, or you know, Mark Zuckerberg or anyone else. I’m just Scott and that’s good enough. But once in a while it creeps in and I just, I work on it or I call a friend. I really do, I phone a friend. I’m like, I need to talk, please.
Dave Bricker (23:00)
Yeah, I can think of times I’ve been in front of like, there’s a room full of CEOs and executives and I’m thinking, I never had a corporate executive position. I mean, do these people realize that there’s this boat bum who’s educating them about sales or storytelling or whatever it is? And then the way, I mean, ’cause that voice we have in our head of self doubt is always gonna ask us that. And the answer to that is,
Who cares? You couldn’t write a story better than that one. That’s great. If they never know so much the better. Am I delivering value or not? Let’s up to them to decide. I’m gonna give it my best. But it’s kind of funny that an old boat bum ends up teaching executives and entrepreneurs and they seem to come away with good ideas and value. So maybe the real value is that I didn’t grow up in corporate. I came, climbed the mountain on a different path. So.
Dave Bricker (23:57)
Absolutely. That imposter syndrome is…
Scott Lesnick (23:59)
It is good and quite honestly to your point, I know that you have worked incredibly hard on your content and constantly polish it and revisit it and work it and rework it as we do. That’s why we’re hired because they know that we have the content. Once we deliver it, hopefully it hits for the majority of people. There’s going to be a few where it doesn’t. That happens all the time, no matter who you are usually.
Dave Bricker (24:19)
Mm -hmm.
Scott Lesnick (24:29)
But if we have the content and we really as a speaker, especially starting off, you work on it, you polish it, you speak for free, you speak at Rotary, you speak at Kiwanis, you speak at women’s groups, wherever you can, you polish, you get better and better. It’s just like the comedian that you love and you watch a set and you’re like, oh my gosh, they were wonderful. But months and months or a year before they started working at the clubs.
and they went to little places and people were so happy to see them and they were working on material, all the stuff you never see, then they bring that content. That’s what we’re doing and we hope it lands for everyone. Usually it lands for most and that’s, I think, the best we can hope for.
Dave Bricker (25:09)
Yeah, when we see a polished comedian on Netflix or something, we’re seeing all the jokes that didn’t bomb. Right? We’re getting the filtered stuff at the end. We don’t get to see them slinking out of a club where you’re dodging your rotten fruit and bottles. It’s like, okay, that’s the path.
Scott Lesnick (25:17)
That’s right! That’s truth!
That’s a great way of putting it, the jokes that didn’t bomb. It’s true. It’s so true. I love it.
Dave Bricker (25:38)
Yeah. So what else? What else can you offer aspiring speakers?
Scott Lesnick (25:47)
One thing I would offer is this. Spend time with other speakers and surround yourself with speakers because if you do that, you will become a better speaker and you will move forward just a little bit faster. The other thing is put in the work. Put in the work. Put in the work. Now you and I know I just did the rule of three and we won’t get into all that right now, but it’s important.
putting in the time and the work is essential to this business as it is for any job. And then, don’t give up. Even if it’s an inch at a time, just keep on moving forward because you never know when you’re going to get that break. You never know when you’re going to get that email that says, we’d like to have you speak. And it will happen. People in work, people in life, people in business, and people in speaking tend to succeed.
because they put in the time, they work hard, and they don’t give up. They just are persistent and keep moving forward where a lot of people don’t put in the time because it’s difficult, even though it’s a blast. And they’re not persistent. And if you don’t have those things, things either happen slower or they don’t happen at all.
Dave Bricker (27:08)
Love it.
by changing hearts, minds, and fortunes. My guest today is certified speaking professional Scott Lesnick. So Scott, we were talking about the rule of threes. Talk about presentation skills because coming up with content is so important, but being able to deliver that content with impact is equally important. Neither is worth a thing without the other. What are your favorite presentation skills tips?
Scott Lesnick (27:42)
correct.
The first one was something I was told over a decade ago not to do, and that was Toastmasters. And the reason they said is it’s not for professionals. These are people that want to learn to speak better in corporate environments or when they’re doing a little presentation and it isn’t a big deal, and I never bought into that. So I went into Toastmasters again as a guy who was beginning to get a little bit of speaking traction, but I was nowhere near where I am today. And I left.
most of my ego and everything else at the door every time I embraced the chapter I was with and I learned about presentation skills in Toastmasters that helped move me forward to today. The other thing that I do is I’ll watch some speakers and I’ll watch their presentation skills and I’ll go, don’t do that, do do that or whatever, but who I really watch for presentation skills and
study are comedians. A, they make me laugh. B, their skills on the stage are incredible. One mic, one them, 30, 60 minutes. Holy cow, how do they do it? The rule of three that they’re constantly using, how they pause. And that, I mean, these things are wonderful. And then, you know, the more you speak, the better you get.
The more you speak, the more you understand when to move and when not to move. And then there was a point in my career where I got to a plateau. I was as far as I could go with the skills that I done brought. So I did spend some money, which we do in the industry. And I hired and worked with professional speakers and actors who
were actually on TV and did other things and could show me how to take my skills to the next level. That was transformational. It showed me things from an actor’s perspective that work on the stage that I didn’t know. So that helped move me forward too. The simple answer is I always wanted to learn. I always wanted to get better and…
watching people, listening to people, and talking to people helps me learn and get better. And then a lot of practice.
Dave Bricker (30:17)
A lot of practice, absolutely. And when it comes to Toastmasters, I’m still an active member. I go to Toastmasters every week and I have probably watched over 1 ,500 short Toastmasters presentations. I can’t say that all of them were good, but I’ve learned to figure out why the good ones are good and why the bad ones are not. What do they need? What an education that is, looking at all of those short speeches.
And yeah, it’s just been very valuable. And I’ve done workshops for Toastmasters district events and things like that. And I’ve done workshops at NSA chapters. And you know, I’m a big fan of National Speakers Association. I’m a board member in my chapter and all of that stuff. But the overall level on the high levels, when I gave workshops at Toastmasters events, the speakers…
Scott Lesnick (30:55)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Yep.
As am I.
Mm -hmm.
Dave Bricker (31:15)
had better presentation skills. They didn’t have the content, and I don’t like to admit that because the professional speakers are supposed to be a cut above. But if you think you’re too good for Toastmasters, try again. It’s the only place I know where you can rent an audience for $2 .50 a week. If you don’t think that’s valuable, then whatever, keep doing.
Scott Lesnick (31:37)
You know, to your point, which is spot on, going back to comedians, they work their material in clubs. They’re not getting paid. They don’t even care if they’re getting paid. They want to work their material with people. That’s what I can do at Toastmasters. I’m actually going to be speaking and helping out a Toastmasters group on this topic next.
week and it’s going to be out west but it’s going to be virtual and what’s wonderful about it is I always could test new material. $2 .50, not expensive and with people, human beings, see what they think. Now look, they don’t always have a professional critical eye. I get that. That’s okay. They’re human beings. It’s not AI. It’s not
Dave Bricker (32:22)
Mm -hmm.
just like the ones in your audience. Not your professional speaker friends, just professional people who might be sitting in your audience. Don’t we need to know what they think if it’s all about them?
Scott Lesnick (32:36)
Yes! Yes!
Absolutely. That’s why I still to this day support Toastmasters. When friends of mine who run chapters ask me, it’s almost always a yes if I’m available because Toastmasters helped me build myself and my speaking business in the very beginning. And I never forgot that, never will.
Dave Bricker (32:47)
So.
Mm -hmm. And I don’t like to coach people if they’re not going to participate in Toastmasters, so we can get all academic in the room together, but if you don’t try this in front of an audience, you’re not going to leave confident.
Scott Lesnick (33:16)
Yeah.
Yes, in front of many audiences that really you get better and then in the business we know that old adage, professional speaking, the more you speak, the more you speak. People see you, sometimes you get hired, they refer you. So getting in front of people is essential. And again, comedians know that and before they had their Netflix special, they’re working it for six months, a year, polishing it. And I love what you said. You don’t see the jokes that bombed.
Dave Bricker (33:30)
Yeah. Yep.
Scott Lesnick (33:51)
Only the ones that landed. Exactly. I never thought of it quite that way, but that’s what it is.
Dave Bricker (33:52)
Right?
But isn’t the same when they see us on stage, if we’ve been practicing, it’s like, oh, well that bit didn’t go over well, I guess I’m gonna take that out of the keynote and work something else in next time. And over time, you’ve got material that wins most of the time. Which brings me to my next question, because you and I can talk all day and have fun and probably we’ll get an opportunity to do that soon. But the material works most of the time.
Scott Lesnick (34:06)
B -eh.
Yeah.
Yes.
Mm -hmm.
Dave Bricker (34:23)
But even on a good day, look, if you’re willing, share a disaster story. Was there a time when you bombed or things went sideways at a speaking engagement? And what can we learn from that?
Scott Lesnick (34:32)
Yeah. OK. I personally have never bombed. Oh, but one does come to mind. It was several years ago, and I was speaking to DEA agents. So DEA agents, what I learned, aren’t just police or higher up. These are the cream of the crop. These are people that have risen to
and are able to be DEA agents in the field. They have guns with them. They know all this stuff. They are tough people. And I was asked to keynote at the conference and do a breakout session. And I did. And I was prepared. I did all my homework. I rehearsed. When I presented the keynotes, it was crickets. Everything that’s supposed to land didn’t land. Things that I thought would resonate.
didn’t resonate. It was difficult because while I was speaking to about 300 people, maybe 250, I saw this or I saw this. So the energy back wasn’t there at all, which one of the things that anybody on stage really needs is energy from the audience. And after the event was over, and I’m kind of mingling with people, I had individuals.
not even groups come up to me and thank me. And I asked the person who brought me in, I asked him, I said, what did I do wrong? He said, actually, your presentation was really good. I appreciate it. They appreciated it. But nobody’s going to show you that there. You’re not going to see emotion. You’re not going to get a lot of applause. You’re not going to get laughter. These are serious people.
And then I mentioned to him that people came up afterwards. He goes, that’s what they’ll do. If they liked you, they’re going to come up. They’re going to let you know that individually, one -on -one, person -to -person, woman -to -man, man -to -man, whatever. And so to me, I didn’t succeed at all. It was a bomb. It was a failure. But I think I did pretty well from what I heard afterwards. But it was an hour of agony on stage. Plus.
Most of them had guns by their side. I’m like, oh my gosh. Are they going to do that thing where they start shooting at my feet and I have to dance? No, I know that wasn’t going to happen. But I was nervous enough. And I’m like, oh god, good. And this stuff is landing. Well, it landed to enough people, but they just don’t show it. OK.
Dave Bricker (37:21)
You can’t read the room if the audience doesn’t speak your language, right?
Scott Lesnick (37:26)
True. I wasn’t a DEA agent. I was what I usually am wherever I speak. I’m an outsider. But I’m brought in for those perspectives. But this group, yeah. I’ve had another one or two, but that one sticks out as a, ooh, that was tough. But I never forgot. I never gave up. I kept moving forward. And one opportunity just like that came again. I was like, OK, I can do this. Imposter syndrome? No.
prepared syndrome. I was not going to not be prepared and then they hired me. They know what I’m doing. I hope I can give them what they need and I do my best in those situations, but I don’t say no to them. Usually I I’ll say yes unless it’s something specific and I’m like, well, I’ll Dave can do that or Shawna can do that or someone else. But yeah, I’ve had I’ve had those. And I’m glad I did.
I’ve had them with rooms too, Dave, where the room isn’t set up right. Or right in the middle of the room is a pole. There’s a pillar, and I’ve got a group here, I’ve got a group there, but there’s people in the pillar, and it’s my job to not go, ugh, it’s my job to go, okay, this is a challenge, you’re going to learn from it, you’re gonna get better, you’re gonna get mo’ better. And these are the challenges we have, and I think getting around them and figuring out a way how to successfully navigate it, which I actually talk about,
is important.
Dave Bricker (38:57)
I completely agree. And I also like your last comment about, hey, if I don’t do it, I’m gonna give, I’m gonna maybe call Dave or call Shawna or call so and so. And in so many other businesses, all the people are rivals. And look, Scott, if somebody’s trying to find a keynoter, I hope they hire me instead of you. And you would say the same thing, but.
Scott Lesnick (39:08)
Yes?
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Dave Bricker (39:23)
I mean, the information sharing in the speaker industry is just off the chart. Everybody is there to support one another. This is the most non -competitive group of competitors I’ve ever seen in my life. And I thought you might comment that because some of the people who are new to this business might not even think such a thing is possible or realistic.
Scott Lesnick (39:50)
I didn’t. It is. I would say that not everyone is kind and giving, but the majority are. And it’s an unbelievably refreshing thing to realize. Look, I don’t speak on what Dave speaks on. I don’t speak on what others speak on. But if they want somebody that does AI, or they want somebody who does body language, or they want somebody who does
expert storytelling, and I know exactly who to send them to. I’m not your person because I can’t deliver everything that you want. But I know these people, all I’m doing is, hey, I’m not taking money and being a pretender because they’re going to see when I’m up there. I ain’t got it. But when I recommend you or others, they’re going to be happy that I did it. They’re going to look good. Of course, you’re going to rock it and make them look good.
Scott Lesnick (40:49)
But I’m not losing anything. What I’m doing is I’m making sure that people in our community have the opportunity to be selected to speak and get paid. That’s a good thing. Oh, by the way, it’s a long game. I don’t golf, but you know, we talk about miniature golf. I’m pretty good at that. But the real game I’m terrible at. But, you golf is also that long game, too. And that’s what it when it comes to recommending speakers. It comes back to you. It takes time.
It takes months, it takes years. And I don’t even do it for that reason. I do it because when somebody calls me and tells me they got a gig, my fee, by the way, is one adult beverage. That’s it. Some speakers want 10%. There’s a lot of them don’t want anything. I’m like, when we get together, I want one adult beverage of my choice. I’m so thrilled that they got it. Yeah. It’s a big one.
Dave Bricker (41:39)
Same here. Same here. And I’ve told clients too, I said, you never have to worry about finding a speaker again. Just let me know. I’m happy, because they’re not going to hire me to keynote next year. Maybe they’ll have me do a breakout session. Great. I’m glad you loved me. But let me turn you on to Scott Lesnick.
Scott Lesnick (41:54)
Right!
Or a pre -conference session which pays as well, which you and I have done. So keynotes pay, sometimes breakouts do and they don’t, but pre -conference sessions, which could be two, three, a half a day, two, three hours or a half a day, those pay as well. So I remember that not only for myself, but for others. Pre -conference is a big deal and they want top notch speakers for those slots as well.
Dave Bricker (42:28)
Hmm, super, great advice. So Scott Lesnick, if one of our readers or viewers wants to discover more about you, where can they find you?
Scott Lesnick (42:41)
www .scottlesnik .com My phone number is there. Yeah, it’s just me .com. Phone number is there. Email. Oh, just if you have a question. I mean, I’m happy to answer a question and help with that too. I do that all the time. I’m an inquisitive person. I like to learn and I spent a little bit of time on the phone with somebody yesterday who had a couple of questions. I’m like, hey.
Dave Bricker (42:48)
Well that’s not intuitive at all.
Scott Lesnick (43:11)
happy to. That’s how we learn, we give back and help one another.
Dave Bricker (43:18)
Love that. So let’s sum up. Is there a number one takeaway you hope viewers and listeners will gain from our conversation or something you haven’t shared yet?
Scott Lesnick (43:29)
Number one takeaway, gosh, you ask great questions. I would say that the business of professional speaking is fantastic. I love it. I love what I do. And it took a ginormous amount of work. That’s the takeaway. Behind the scenes, sales and marketing, putting together a team and doing all these things, it took a lot. It’s completely worth it.
It’s a wonderful experience and a wonderful job to have. And the big takeaway is if you put in the time and you do it every day, six days a week, seven days a week, five, whatever, you’ll see results. But that’s what it takes. A lot of work and then results begin to happen. And you’re off and running because you decided to be resilient, put in the time.
and not give up.
Dave Bricker (44:30)
Scott Lesnick, thank you so much for being my guest.
Scott Lesnick (44:33)
My pleasure. Thank you, Dave. Thank you for inviting me to. I think Speaki pedia is growing, and it’s going to continue to grow and be a big deal. And I’m thrilled to be a little part of it. Thank you.
Dave Bricker (44:48)
Thanks again. So I’m Dave Bricker, inviting you to explore the world’s most comprehensive resource for speakers and storytellers at Speakipedia .com. If you’re viewing this program on social media video, please love, subscribe, and share your comments. And if you’re listening to the podcast, keep your hands on the wheel and stay safe. I’ll see you on the next episode of Speakeepedia Media.
Scott Lesnick (44:51)
Thank you.
