Mastering the Art of Captivating Storytelling with John Livesay, The Pitch Whisperer

Who hasn't been captivated by a story that grabs you from the first sentence and doesn't let go until the end? Let's journey together to the heart of storytelling with our esteemed guest, John Livesay, the renowned Pitch Whisperer. This episode is ripe with insights on how to transform dry facts into captivating narratives that your audience can't resist. We discover not just the power, but the art of storytelling, with John showing us how to craft our tales from a customer-centric perspective. As we peel back the layers, we also learn about his innovative concept of a story jukebox, ensuring your narratives resonate with every listener.

But we're not stopping there. The second part of our episode is all about nailing the structure of your story - think of it as the skeleton that holds your narrative together. With John's expertise, we break down the steps of setting the scene, introducing the problem, offering a solution, and finally, tying it neatly with a resolution. You'll also get to grips with his '3 C's' checklist to fine tune your storytelling prowess. John doesn't leave any stone unturned, sharing his unique five-step conversation structure for those in tech and healthcare sales. This isn't just about telling stories; it's about crafting narratives that convince, captivate, and convert your audience. Let's get started.

Text to get the first chapter of John's book, The Tale Is In the Sale:
pitch66866

Connect with John:
Website:
https://johnlivesay.com/
Listen to John's podcast:
https://johnlivesay.com/john-livesay-podcast/
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https://johnlivesay.com/better-selling-through-storytelling-bestseller/

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LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlivesay/
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https://www.instagram.com/thepitchwhisperer/
Facebook
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Transcript

Matt Soper: 0:02

It's time for Speaking of Speaking quick tips and tools to take you from stage fright to spotlight. This podcast gives you an inside look from the world of public speaking and speaking secrets. You need to be bold from the stage, no matter what business you're in. The host of Speaking of Speaking, carl Richards.

Carl Richards: 0:21

Thank you, Matt. Welcome to another edition of the Speaking of Speaking podcast. Today we're taking an interesting dive, shall we say, and it'll definitely be a deep one into storytelling with our guest, john Livesay, aka the Pitch Whisperer. I have to ask him about that. He's an incredible keynote speaker. His TEDx talk Be the Lifeguard of your Own Life has over a million views and was featured on Larry King's show. He has the innate ability to motivate companies' sales teams to turn mundane case studies into compelling case stories so they win more new business. Who wouldn't want that? He has expanded his storytelling principles into sales practices across an array of industries and outlines this approach in his best-selling book Better Selling Through Storytelling. It even rhymes and online course, the revenue rock star mastery.

Carl Richards: 1:10

John, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me, Carl Great, to be here. It is so blessed to be talking to somebody who understands stories not facts and figures and those are important but stories. Yes, it flies around in words. Yeah, exactly. Before we dive into what we're going to talk about today, because it's really cool what we're talking about spotlighting the real hero of the story. It's not about you. That's where I want to dive in today, but I want to find more about how you became. How did you become known as the Pitch Whisperer? Give us the lowdown on that.

John Livesay: 1:49

Well, about three years ago, I was being interviewed by Anthem Insurance and they were looking at a couple of other speakers besides myself, deciding which one they were going to pick to speak at their meeting. The audience was a lot of nurses and MBAs and they had said they need to convince doctors to use our data and not the doctor's data about whether a patient should do X, y or Z. But they don't have any sales training and they don't want to be considered sales people. They said, oh well, let's invite them to become storytellers. They said, oh, that's good, okay.

John Livesay: 2:22

And then I ask a question, which is what's going to happen after I give my talk if I'm the one you select, right? They said, oh, we're going to have an improvisation session. People from the audience will shout out objections and they're going to role play on stage being the doctors and Anthem people. And I said what if I stayed after my keynote and would whisper in someone's ear if they got stuck? Because improv is all about yes and and keep going. And they go oh, we hadn't even thought of asking a speaker to do that. No one else is offered, we're going to pick you.

John Livesay: 2:55

And so it went really well and people were saying oh gosh, I wish you could be in my ear during when I'm out in the field. This is fantastic. And I told this little story to editor journalist at Ink Magazine and she said wow, you're the pitch whisperer. I went oh, I love that, and so now I've trademarked it. If you Google the pitch whisper, all my content shows up and it intrigues people because they go what's a horse whisperer, dog whisperer, or even know what the ex a pitch whisperer. So there's a fun little story that goes with that.

Carl Richards: 3:29

I love it and in my circle I don't know how it happened, but every feline known to man, except for me, with the big ones, you know, lions and tigers, they seem to gravitate to me. So I've become the cat whisperer, so I get what it feels like to be a whisper, but the pitch whisper just has an interesting ring to it and definitely is one that. Yeah, congratulations on being crowned, getting that title. That's a fact. Oh no, let's talk about stories, because there's a story behind why we want to talk about stories, and the concept I want to go on is the fact that the real hero of the story it's not about you, yes, If it's not about you. So I'm telling a story. Who is it about?

John Livesay: 4:17

Well, if we zoom out a little bit and remember, first of all, why are we telling a story? Because we want to be memorable and magnetic. We don't want to be pushy, so people can remember stories much more than they can data or facts. Then we zoom out again and we say in order for someone to remember my story and repeat it to other people on my behalf when I'm not there, they have to see themselves in the story. That's the magic sauce.

John Livesay: 4:46

So if it's not about you as the sales rep, in fact I tell people you're like Yoda in Star Wars or you're like a Sherpa helping someone climb Mount Everest the hero of the story is the client you helped. And you need different stories to think of your brain like a jukebox or a playlist, and instead of a different song coming out, a different story comes out depending on who you're talking to. So if you want to convince a doctor to buy your equipment, you should have a story that talks about another doctor that they relate to and see themselves in that story. And I have an example, if you'd like to hear.

Carl Richards: 5:24

Yeah, give me the example if you want.

John Livesay: 5:25

Yeah, sure, yeah. Give me the example. Olympus, the camera company, has a medical division and they hired me to speak to their team and they said you know, we have this piece of equipment that makes surgeries go 30% faster. We don't understand why doctors aren't just jumping all over this. They said well, that's a fact and there's no story. And even the most complicated, sophisticated needs we buy it emotionally and then back it up with logic. So I asked some questions and now they tell this what I call a case story instead of a fact.

John Livesay: 5:53

Right, imagine how happy Dr Higgins was six months ago using our equipment and he could go out to the patient's family in the waiting room an hour earlier than expected. And if you've ever waited for somebody you love to come out of surgery, you know every minute feels like an hour. The doctor comes out early, puts them out of the waiting misery and says good news, the scope shows they don't have cancer, they're gonna be fine. And then the doctor turns to the rep and says you know, this is why I became a doctor, for moments like this. Now that rep tells that little story to another doctor at another hospital who sees themself in it and says that's why I became a doctor, I want your equipment too. The client said oh gosh, it gives us chills. Not only are we not telling stories, it never occurred to us to make a patient's family a character in it.

Carl Richards: 6:37

Though I don't disagree. I want to challenge that a little bit because and I'm coming from the space of having done speaker training and my teachings my understanding of the testimonial, or the client's story, shall we say, is highlighting how I solved that client's problem. Firstly, what's what the client's problem was, how I solved their problem. Where they're at now. But at the end of the day, I'm the hero. Shouldn't I be the hero in that place?

John Livesay: 7:04

You can be the hero if you don't want to make the sale. If you want to make the sale and have someone you can walk out going, aren't I fantastic? They're like, yeah, thanks, bye now. But if you tell a story of someone else that they see themselves in, they go oh, that sounds just like me, this person you're describing their pain points, their challenges. Are you in my head, this could be my brother or sister, and that's why you want to make that person the hero and not yourself. Again, you're the Sherpa helping them. Those challenges are Mount Everest and they can try to navigate that by themselves or they can have you as their Sherpa. So you're in the story, but you're not the hero of the story.

Carl Richards: 7:40

So how often though, in that storytelling experience, when you're working with people to help them really sharpen this, how often are they relaying client stories but putting themselves as the hero, would you say? It's quite often.

John Livesay: 7:55

Well, first of all, they usually don't even talk about other clients and then just talk about it in terms of facts and figures. Like I've worked with architecture, you're like this project was this many square feet and blah, blah, blah. So it's not even a story. So if we get them to, if the rare times that people are telling a story, then yes, they made themselves the hero. You know, when they came to us, they were struggling with this and, thank God, I showed up right and nobody wants that. They want to go. Oh, the better you describe someone's problem, the more they think you have their solution, and the best way to do it is to show it in a story and then they go. God, that sounds like what we're struggling with.

Carl Richards: 8:39

Okay, so what I was taught then about client stories is wrong. It's not wrong that's the Canadian story coming up, by the way. It's not wrong, but it's not right. That's what it is. It's just an only way to do it. You want to be. There's a better way to do it? Yeah, you want to be talking about your client, the problem that you solved, but you don't want to bring it back to you as being the focal point being on you. You want it to still be on the client or the result that that client is getting, and I'm assuming, as we're doing this, there's some emotional language attached to it as well. You gave some very emotional language and you were relating that story about Olympus.

John Livesay: 9:22

Yes, Well, the four parts of that story are the exposition. So in order to tell a good story, you gotta paint a picture, do what, where, when, like a journalist. So we know the doctor's name, we know how long ago, we know where it is. Now we're in the story. Then the second part is the problem. And again, if the stakes aren't high enough, nobody cares.

John Livesay: 9:43

And when I was crafting this story with them, it's like I could pay an hour faster, while the doctor could do more surgeries, make more money. The hospital could make more money. Even the patient is under anesthesia less so that's better for them. But I went one level deeper. But what about the patient's family? They're once. It would really have the biggest emotional impact. And that was the surprise, because it's usually one of the three doctor, patient or the hospital that you tell us. So when you go outside the box and people go, oh. And then I pull you into the story by saying if you've ever had to wait and even if you haven't had to wait for someone you love to come out of surgery, you probably know somebody who has, or you can imagine how painful that would be. And so now we have the stakes high, the emotions high. And then there's the solution where the doctor comes out and says good news, they're going to be fine.

John Livesay: 10:31

And then this fourth and most important part of the story is the resolution. What happens after the doctor tells that news? If the story just ended there, it wouldn't be nearly as strong. Instead, we're tapping into the doctors why they became a doctor, and that's what really gets other doctors to wake up and remember their own why, and that's what makes them see themselves in that story and want to go on the journey with you. And most stories don't have a resolution, they just stop at the solution. Imagine if the Wizard of Oz ended when Dorothy got in the balloon and she went the yet right, but no, she's at home going. There's no place like home and you were there and I'm so grateful. That's why that story is a classic. So helping people craft those four parts and we just heard an example of that in action it's what makes that story so compelling.

Carl Richards: 11:19

Now John makes it sound easy, by the way. So if you're listening to this and you're saying, oh, you know I could do that, it's probably a little bit more challenging than you think, because you have to think of those parts you have to, I would go out on a limb and say you don't have the luxury of being able to tell this story in 20 minutes. You have to tell it succinctly in some cases. In what? 30 seconds or less, right?

John Livesay: 11:42

Yeah, good point. I actually have a little checklist. Once I get people to understand the structure of a story and then I say, okay, you need to practice it with your co-workers, your friends, your family. And there's three C's Is it clear, is it incisive and is it compelling? So if it's not clear and you confuse people with acronyms, boom, they are out, they go. I'm not going to tell you I'm confused, my ego won't let you know that, but I'm just going to say no, thanks. And then is it concise, and this is what you and I talked about before the show the need for someone to remember your story so they can repeat it and become your brand ambassador to other decision makers who maybe didn't hear you pitch. And if it's concise, they can remember it. If it's too long and rambles and doesn't have a point, they forget it. And then, finally, compelling Does it make people feel anything? Does it tug at the heartstrings to have that emotional connection that makes people say, oh, we got to do this?

Carl Richards: 12:35

So the three C's, run those by me again, clear, concise and compelling and literally ask people you're practicing with.

John Livesay: 12:43

Was that clear? Did I confuse you? Yeah, could it be any more concise or is it perfect? Or did you feel anything after I told you that story?

Carl Richards: 12:53

And be honest, I think the biggest thing is when you are practicing that. So don't practice on your cat because the cat will just go meow Like you really need to practice on a human. That will give you feedback and you might have to say honestly, was that really clear? Because it didn't feel clear. There's a feeling thing that if it doesn't feel clear to me, the sounds clear to you. It still might need some tweaking here and there.

John Livesay: 13:20

Exactly. Yeah, you know, if you think of yourself like an athlete going for the Super Bowl, how much do they practice? Same thing with rehearsals for somebody going on Broadway, and yet a lot of sales people go. I'm just going to wing it, I'll make a little worry on the fly, right? You know, like good Lord, that never works.

Carl Richards: 13:37

I don't know how many times in networking settings I've at least once I can remember, but I know I've heard it more than once people who will stand up and even as the presenters and say, yeah, I had a rough little night last night, you know, the kids were thrown up all night and I have nothing repaired, so I'm just going to wing it so, and I'm not a professional speaker anyways. So all these excuses and you're already, before you even start, you've completely derailed your credibility, your talk, everything.

John Livesay: 14:08

Well, it's not only a professional speaking situation, it's an actual presentation to win business. So I work with teams. I say you need a really good opening and a really good closing. So what is the opening? And I'm telling you, 90% of people, without any training, will say thanks for this opportunity. I'm excited to be here. And I say that is a cliche. Everyone says it and it's not memorable. And PS not about you, cares that you're excited.

Carl Richards: 14:39

Are you excited?

John Livesay: 14:41

So, and then the horrible endings I've heard. Well, that's all. We've got any questions?

Carl Richards: 14:48

My favorite was always in summary or just to recap, because I don't have anything else interesting to say. So, in summary or before I go which, to me, was always before I go was always an invitation to get up and go to the door Just before I go. Just one more thing before I go. Oh, he's done folks, I you know what. I've got to go to the bathroom, so I want to be first. I don't want to have to stand in line, right, but seriously. So when you give people the invitation to not listen to you anymore, they won't. So if you have something compelling to say, say it absolutely. I did want to ask this premise about the story, making it about, not making it about you. Is this a concept that you would suggest people should seriously look at, incorporating or making part of or completely replacing their quote? Elevator pitches.

John Livesay: 15:48

Oh, so, yes, I think the elevator pitch should be killed right here now. Let's do it, carl. It's dead, done, it's boring, it's usually memorized and sounds robotic and nobody remembers it. And that's you know. Also, you're lost in a sea of sameness again. Right, I'm a lawyer, I'm a doctor, I'm an architect, I'm a consultant, I'm a speaker, I'm a this, I'm a that. Instead, I have a little format that is very easy to learn, that the whole goal of the elevator you're not gonna be shocked Story, I call it instead of elevator pitch is that people are intrigued enough to want to know more Stars like this.

John Livesay: 16:25

You know how so many salespeople, especially those in tech and healthcare, struggle not to be seen as a commodity and, as if that's not bad enough, they get sobered out when they pitch against competitors. They come in second place so many times. Well, I noticed the pitch whisperer and I teach them how to become stories tellers, and after that they all become revenue rock stars, because whoever tells the best story gets the sale. That's my little elevator story. Now, the first step of that is you know how? It's a conversation phrase that we use. Oh God, right, this winter just never seems like it gonna end. Right, that's how we talk to each other. You know that's. We just started like that. The second part is who you help. Hmm, I case salespeople in healthcare and tech, right, yeah, yeah. And then the third step is what their problem is, and you'll notice I use the word struggle.

John Livesay: 17:14

Yes and still the three steps, not talking about me at all. And I stack not just one but two problems there. They struggle not to be seen as a commodity. And secondly is, if that's not bad enough, boom, they're burnt out from coming in second place after working so hard to pitch. Then the fourth step is me Pitch whisper. We've talked about that earlier. That's intriguing. People go what the heck is that? Again, the whole goal is to get them to say that's interesting. What do you? What do you mean? What's a pitch whisper? And then the fifth step is after my talk they become revenue.

John Livesay: 17:45

Rock stars Boy, like that phrase. What does that even mean? How do you measure that? I think doesn't matter what they asked me. The goal is that they asked me something Right now. If they don't need me, they at least can remember what I do, enough to tell somebody else oh, there's this guy, that's a pitch whisper. Yeah, that's people tell story to win business. If I just you know, that's a much more interesting way to do it. And once I, I can fix people's elevator pitches into stories, usually within five minutes. A lot of fun.

Carl Richards: 18:14

And it's great. I like, I really like this concept because, again, my I've had many, many, many different, you know, concepts presented to me, for you know elevator pitches, which apparently we've already 86 to them. And what with what do we call it elevator story? Yeah, elevator story. Okay, but I really like how you've brought this and encapsulated it and it's again. It sounds simple, it probably isn't, but it's a heck of a lot better than Hi. My name is, I am, and this week we're having a bow go and you should sign up for this and don't forget to buy this. And here's my email, you know, or right, every even worse, call me so the desperate yeah yeah.

Carl Richards: 19:03

So in weaving that story in and again, you did it in probably 30 seconds, right, mm-hmm, probably around 30 seconds. Yeah, yeah, wow. This is phenomenal. I'm learning so much about that here. I thought I knew everything there was to know about stories. And then you come along, john.

John Livesay: 19:20

That I can bring, give some new tips.

Carl Richards: 19:23

Any challenges that in your experience that you're seeing, that people keep making over and over again, be they business owners or sales experts, that they're making when they're getting into storytelling mode, any every time they seem to this. That's a cycle that keeps happening.

John Livesay: 19:39

A Lot of people make the mistake of not realizing how important the team slide is, because most people have a team slide when they're presenting. If there's a team of people who, if you hire our firm, where there's an architect's firm, law firm, whatever tech firm, this is who you would be working with they underestimate how important that is. They go oh, we're gonna cut that if we run out of time and just talked about the product. People buy from people they trust and like. And so the old myth of you know, in order to get someone to hire you or buy from you, they gotta get no like and trust. We've read that a hundred times.

John Livesay: 20:12

I like to flip that script, because that belief that people have to get to know me and my product and my company first Causes the behavior of let me send you one more email, let me send you more data. Hmm, oh, if we flip the script there and start with trust, so it's a gut thing. Is this a safe email to open? Did I get a warm intro from Carl? Am I making eye contact? Do I have? Do I trust this person?

John Livesay: 20:35

So, in gut, then that goes to the heart. Do I like you? The best way to show your likeability is to show empathy. Are you just describing my problem in a way that makes me think you have my solution? And then finally, the head. And that's still not the time to pitch more information. Here's the unspoken question everybody has when they hear you pitch anything Will this work for me? They match what's in, like you, but if they don't think it's gonna work for them, they're not gonna buy, and that's why storytelling is so wonderful. If you've told a story, the right story, to the right person at the right time, they see themselves in it. Then, boom, they're going to Want to go on the journey with you and answer. You've answered that question. So that's how that all work.

Carl Richards: 21:20

I love that. How often it has this happened where You're working with somebody and they're getting there, they're, they're starting to get the ideas, but they're You're listening to their what they're sharing. They're either not telling the right story or they're not going deep enough. Does that happen often?

John Livesay: 21:38

Yes, and it's. I tell people it's okay, you don't have to be a perfectionist, and every time you're trying learning a new skill, it's a progress thing that we celebrate. Yeah, and the biggest challenge is really getting clear on who you help and what problem you solve. Ah, yes, once we have that defined, then the story is wrapped around that and the that client avatar, figuring out who that is.

Carl Richards: 22:01

For some people, that's their biggest challenge. It's not that they're they're not good storytellers, is it there? They don't know who they're talking to because they they don't have that. I've been speaking to Jane and Jane is, you know, 35 to yeah, but be six year old woman and she's in this profession. Here's what she's doing. It Did that. They don't have that image. Let's go with.

John Livesay: 22:22

Let's assume you're in real estate, right?

John Livesay: 22:24

Yeah, okay. So I have. One of my avatars is a young married couple. This is their first home. Another avatar is a retired company couple downscaling and selling their home, right. And then there's somebody another avatar who is got transferred and is moving to a new city and needs my help Figure out what neighborhood to buy in, right? Each of those people need their own story. You can't tell the story to the young married couple that you tell to a senior couple selling, downsizing their house. So that's why you go who are the most common avatars? I have three, five of them, whatever it is. And Once you've got, that's why your brain is a playlist or a jukebox and you go okay, right, this is.

John Livesay: 23:10

And now who's gonna see themselves in this story again? Hmm, I'm the Sherpa and all the stories. The hero in the story is oh, you know what? I just sold a house to another young married couple. It was their first home. They were nervous, right? Oh, I just help. So, and so the Joneses. They've been in their house in three years. Can you imagine it was very emotional for them to let that house go, but they didn't need that big house anymore, you know. So then they're like oh my god, you know us and you can help us. You help people who are just like us.

Carl Richards: 23:37

I love it, so I what I'm hearing is you might have more than one avatar. Oh, yes, which means when you're delivering, when you're speaking, in this sense, when you're doing your client story, but then also when you're doing your elevator story. See, I've already ditched the word pitch. I ditch the pitch. See, it's because of you, john. I'm not even. I'm not pitching pitch anymore. I've pitched pitch away, away.

John Livesay: 24:03

It's case studies into case stories and I'll really be happy.

Carl Richards: 24:08

But these avatars that you're talking about, they're as applicable when you're, when you're working through or when you're you're telling your Story, yeah, yeah, when you're, when you're telling your elevator story. Now.

John Livesay: 24:21

There's where the challenge becomes for some people because they go oh I, you know I serve so many different people or I have so many different things. You'll notice, as a sales keynote speaker, I Picked two categories. You know how sales people in healthcare and tech struggle with. Yes, I've spoken to many different audiences mortgage companies, insurance companies, on and on on but I don't try to list all ten types of audiences that have hired me. I picked my top two, mm-hmm. And ironically, when you niche down like that, it's easier for people to remember what your specialty is. And then I get requests from law firms and architecture firms going. We really want to hear what's going on in health and tech care. Can you come share you know your experience working with those that all audience? We think it's relatable to what we do. So people think if I niche down, I'm gonna lose opportunity, and the opposite is true.

Carl Richards: 25:11

That's interesting because that's one of the challenges that people have is they want to be everything to everyone. They end up being nothing to most people, right, if they don't need you down. But even as they start to niche down, they go well, if I'm too niche, then I'll be. I won't have those opportunities. And you're saying at least in your experience, it's proven to be quite the opposite, because you have other industries saying listen, I want to find out what's happening in this area, because this is what you're talking about all the time exactly now.

John Livesay: 25:39

Sometimes I'll have why I got. I was up for a speaking gig at the executive recruiting world, yeah, and they said, oh, have you spoken to anyone else in our industry? So sometimes they want to, you know. And the same thing with health care. Now that I've spoken many times in health care and tech, I have many references in that. But I had this was my first executive search Audience and I said, well, I haven't.

John Livesay: 26:04

I have spoken to an architecture firm which has a very similar business model to you. In other words, architects specialize in practice areas, this one does law firms, this one does the airport. You have a team of sales people. They specialize in finding CEOs for, you know, nonprofits or law firms, etc. Etc. And they get in a final three, just like you do, and have to present in that hour and Whoever tells the best story is the one that gets picked. And I said I just helped to affirm when. A billion dollar airport renovation, would you like to hear that story? And so I answered the question. But then I gave the bridge between the. I don't have exact experience in your industry, but I have adjacent enough that I can still speak to your audience.

Carl Richards: 26:49

And you've just also utilized stories, yes, to pitch.

John Livesay: 26:55

Right. And he said I see what you mean now about stories, because when we pitch against competitors they call it a bake off, a shoot out, there's all kinds of words for it. We ask if we could go last because we hope if we're last the world will be memorable. And I said to the CEO well, hope really isn't a strategy. You can't control what order you go on, but what you can control is that if you're the one telling the story, that'll make you memorable, even if you're the first one.

Carl Richards: 27:22

You're hired. And then, all of a sudden, the heavens opened.

John Livesay: 27:26

the choir was singing, it's just like when you're interviewing for a job or you're looking for a housekeeper, go. Oh. Nobody ever buys the first house they see. Nobody ever hires the first person they interview. Not true, they do. Yeah, If you're the best storyteller.

Carl Richards: 27:39

If you're the person, yeah for sure. Oh, my goodness, John, this is. I could talk to you all day. I can't. I'm going to run out of tape as if I'm using tape. I'm going to run out of tape, I'm going to. I know you understand that reference. So there you go. John Livingsey has been my guest today. Before I let you go, john, a couple of quick things. Number one you have something that people can learn from.

John Livesay: 28:03

Yeah, take out your phone and you're going to text the word pitch with a P. I got to really emphasize that P, carl, p-i-t-c-h, it's a 66866. You get the first chapter of my book, the Sale is in the Tale, which is a business fable, a story about storytelling, sent to you for free. It's phenomenal, phenomenal.

Carl Richards: 28:24

And we'll put that texting code, by the way in the show notes, as well as John's information, his links, if you want to follow him on social media or tap into them. Reach out to John for any other services. That'll all be in the show notes as well. John has spent a great conversation. I'm glad that you've debunked some storytelling, not myths, but you've really. In the time that we've spent together, you've certainly changed my mind and how I should structure my elevator story Good job and my client's story. It's not about me.

John Livesay: 28:58

Exactly.

Carl Richards: 28:58

Not even remotely about me. It's been a great conversation. Before I let you go, though, John, I'll give you the final thought.

John Livesay: 29:04

Arthur Ashe, the famous tennis pro, has a great quote the key to success is confidence. The key to confidence is preparation. So think of yourself like an athlete and don't wing it, and prepare your stories.

Carl Richards: 29:17

I love it. John Livesay, thanks so much for being my guest today.

John Livesay: 29:20

Thank you, Carl.

Carl Richards: 29:22

And remember, get out there and own the platform and tell the right story.

Matt Soper: 29:27

Thanks for listening to the Speaking of Speaking podcast. Fired up about something you heard today, want to learn more? Be sure to visit carlspeaksca, and don't forget to follow Carl on Twitter at CarlRichard72 or join the Facebook group Speaking of Speaking.