Discovering the Power of Sincere Communication with Vicki Noethling

Have you ever wondered what happens when the worlds of public speaking and podcasting collide? That's exactly the journey we embark on with Vicki Noethling, an inspiring figure leading the charge in authentic expression. With a treasure trove of over 300 podcast episodes to her name, Vicki shares her transformative tale from the constraints of corporate life to the liberation of personal truth. Our conversation takes you through the importance of bringing your genuine self to every interaction, be it a live speech or a podcast chat, proving that the true magic in connection lies within authenticity.

The art of conversation, much like a dance, requires both grace and presence. In our episode, we unwrap the keys to captivating your audience, where simplicity and genuine rapport outshine any script or performance. Imagine sitting at your favorite cafe, engrossed in a chat that undulates with stories and laughter - this is the kind of engaging narrative we discuss, one that captivates with its peaks and valleys of emotion. And it's not just about speaking; it's about listening, adapting, and truly connecting, whether you're in an office, on stage, or bridging miles in a virtual meeting.

Vicki Noethling is a speaker, trainer and coach focusing on public speaking and leadership. She also has an anti-aging/wellness business which compliments her public speaking business well.  Helping entrepreneurs, especially women find their voice is a passion. She is a best-selling author featured in several books.  Unstoppable, Being Fierce, Fearless and Unf*ckwithable in Life and Business by Rochel Marie Lawson; Business Boost by Suzanne Evans; PodMatch Host Mastery by Alex Sanfilippo; and The Game Changer, Vol. 7 & 8 by Iman Ahguy. She is also the host of The Find Your Leadership Confidence Podcast with over 100 episodes recorded in 2022.

Check out Vicki's podcast:
https://www.findyourleadershipconfidence.com/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@findyourleadershipconfiden5716

Connect with Vicki

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/victoria.noethling/
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/vnoethling/
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vicki-noethling-67865b219/

Got a question about something you heard today? Have a great suggestion for a topic or know someone who should be a guest? Reach out to us:
askcarl@carlspeaks.ca

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Transcript

Carl Richards: 0:04

Hey, it's Carl Richards, and welcome to the podcast. We are in the process of merging two podcasts together, my first podcast, Speaking of Speaking, and my most recent podcast, Podcast Solutions Made Simple. Both are very important, whether it be in the speaking space or the podcasting space, so keep listening to find out how those two podcasts are going to merge into one. But now let's dive into today's episode.

Carl Richards: 0:27

It's really nice when I get a chance to talk to another person who not only walks a similar walk but talks the same talk that I do as well when it comes to speaking and leadership and presentations and stuff like that. Our guest today is no exception. Vicki Nethling is a speaker, trainer and coach focusing on public speaking and leadership. She also has an anti-aging wellness business which complements her public speaking business quite well. Helping entrepreneurs, especially women, find their voice is a passion of Vicki's. I am sure we will go and talk about that today.

Carl Richards: 1:01

She is a bestselling author featured in several books, including Unstoppable, being Fierce, Fearless and Unfuckable in Life and Business by Rachelle Marie Lawson. Business Boost by Suzanne Evans. Podmatch Host Mastery by Alex Sanfilippo there's a name that comes up quite often when I'm talking on podcasts and the Game Changer, Vol 7 and 8 by Iman Agai. She is also the host of the Find your Leadership Conference podcast, with over 100 episodes recorded in 2022. And, Vicki, I think you said that at the recording of this podcast, which is almost the end of 2023, you are almost at, if I'm not mistaken, 200.

Vicki Noethling: 1:39

Anyways, Vicki, welcome to the podcast 300.

Carl Richards: 1:42

How many?

Vicki Noethling: 1:43

300.

Carl Richards: 1:44

Oh, 300. Wow. So this is where I'm going to say to my producer, if he's listening let's give Vicki a round of applause somewhere, because that's a huge achievement, certainly in the podcast and space, to hit that many episodes and have that much impact.

Vicki Noethling: 2:06

It's just so wonderful and every one of those 300 guests has been tremendous. People struggle sometimes to figure out who to have as a guest and I have to give it up to PodMatch. Yeah, that's one of the great ways to get guests.

Carl Richards: 2:23

I think one of the things that I'm going to do I'm going to make it my mandate for 2024 and beyond is to set up an affiliate link that I give to Alex Sanfilippo, and every time I mention his name, he gives me like a $10 or $15 credit, because I think he's and his service is basically a matchmaking service for podcasters and guests, and it's a phenomenal one. That's how we met, even though I've been following what you do probably for I don't know the last two or three years. So clearly you had an impact before that and I'm glad we met through the podcast PodMatch platform, rather to have this deeper conversation about. I don't know where to go, but I know there's many things we want to unbundle today.

Vicki Noethling: 3:08

Well, thank you so much for having me on. I've been looking forward to it. You were such a great guest on my podcast that it was one of the wonderful things to be able to come back and give back to you and hopefully inspire the audiences to be better communicators and better speakers and leaders.

Carl Richards: 3:27

It's so important and, yes, it was an honor to be on your show, but it's so important in this. I mean, it's always been important, vicki, to be a good communicator, but I think it's becoming more important. We've been talking about authenticity, which is almost becoming a phrase we want to eradicate just because it has been used so many times, but it's so important, now more than ever. I think that the authentic conversations we have with people when we're speaking whether it be on a podcast or whether it be on a live stage that we're bringing not just our A-game, but we're bringing us. We're bringing the real version of us to the platform every single time.

Vicki Noethling: 4:07

That is so very true. It just took me back way back we're talking in the late 70s, 80s whenever I started working and I worked for an accounting firm and the thing that impressed me was that all of the junior accountants were trying to become in that managing partner or partner piece. And I noticed these young kids that came in and they may came in as a beer drinker and all of a sudden they see the managing partner is a Scotch drinker and a steak eater and these guys changed to be like that person and their authenticity just went out the window. And sure, you want to be dressed and act like the job you want, but you got to keep you and that was so amazing how it just, year after year, I saw that happening. And so whenever I went into management 10 years later and all of the people that were my mentors or managers were men, except for a few women.

Vicki Noethling: 5:23

Now I worked for a large logistics company and a lot of the women they're only people to train them to be communicators and leaders were a bunch of truck drivers, and so my style was kind of squashed because I needed to try to fit in and it didn't ever feel right. It never felt right how I was communicating with these people and so finally I just said you know, I'm just going to in the background, in the sides, I'm going to do things my way and soon my team would do anything for me and the managers were asking me what I was doing, and I think really all I was doing was being me and teaching them that they should just be them, and so that authenticity is really important, and I love that you said about that.

Vicki Noethling: 6:18

We have these conversations. I'm so impressed with that is how we speak effectively that I bought the URLs. It's just a conversation, because that's what I teach. Forget about it being a pitch, forget about it being a presentation or an interview. We're just having a conversation, me and Carl just chatting away, and that's when it becomes magic, and that's exactly.

Carl Richards: 6:48

And I'm glad you mentioned that because it is just a conversation but we have these preconceived notions of I'm a podcaster, I'm a speaker, I have to act or I have to be this avatar, this particular person, and I have to do things this way. And I wanted to talk about this piece that you mentioned about just be yourself. One of the things that I did about oh, I'm going to say back in 2017 is I was in a pitchfest type event and I was talking about in that moment that really you have to be. We only had like 30 seconds or a minute to get it across, but you really have to be authentic. You really have to be you, because there are so many people trying to emulate a guru I think we know one or a big thought leader, and it's not about I'm going to be the next, so and so or no.

Carl Richards: 7:43

No, no, no, no. There's only one version of everybody. The person you need to be, as you've already indicated, is you. You will be different than me, you'll be different than Vicki. You'll be different from any thought leader out there. Yes, the training might have benefits to it, but if you're taking that training in the hopes of being just like that person. It's not going to happen, and if it does, then you've done the wrong thing.

Vicki Noethling: 8:13

That's so true. You know I interview so many people and they every so often get somebody that emails me in advance and you know I send a preparation email to you to just help you feel comfortable. But they worry, like what are we going to talk about? And I give them these are the questions. But here's a warning I may stray from those as the conversation develops and they tense up. You could just feel it and they don't need to, because, as I tell, whenever I give my training, it's if you go to a restaurant or a bar, do you have to take your PowerPoint? Do you need to have a script to tell you what to say or how to say it? Heck, no.

Vicki Noethling: 9:00

You just have probably some of the best conversations in the world because you are you and you don't. You're not trying to be anybody else. It's one of those things that even the training that I give I don't try to mold you into a little vicky or a bigger vicky whatever. I just give you the tools that, whatever situation is put in front of you, you feel confident that you can handle it and do it in a way that's engaging. You can have the best product or service, but people buy you. People buy who you are and how they feel when they're with you, and so if you're putting on a mask or trying to be like Oprah or somebody else, it's not going to come across well, and so that's what the message always is is here's the tools, but those tools only are to enhance the gifts you already have.

Carl Richards: 10:00

Like how you mentioned the piece about going to the restaurant and, by the way, all of that was just spot on. But the piece about going to the restaurant and saying you don't take your PowerPoint. I always like to share with people, especially brand new clients I'm working with in the podcasting space, because sometimes they're very anxious. They're not sure how they're going to do an interview. What do I do, what do I say? And I say you know what? You're brand new to this. Here's what I'm going to suggest.

Carl Richards: 10:24

Number one as you said, it's just a conversation. If you need to go in with a few questions, that's fine. But I always give the analogy, very similar to yours, where I'll say you wouldn't invite a friend over for coffee and say hey, vicki, thanks for stopping by today. Question number one how are you Great? Question number two how's Bob?

Carl Richards: 10:44

You're not going to do that. You're going to have an organic, natural flowing. And it does take practice, it does take time, but when you learn how to do that and it doesn't matter whether it's on a again, a live stage or a virtual stage like a podcast or a summit or something like that it's about being in that place where you can have that conversation, and it's not just in a conversation setting, like you and I are having right now. It's also when you're engaging with your audience, and that's one of the things that I've, and I want to unpack this and get your your take on this too. One of the hardest things I think about standing on a physical stage, not the standing on a part, because that's pretty easy.

Vicki Noethling: 11:22

But the being on the stage.

Carl Richards: 11:24

It's not about giving the presentation, it's not about the speaking for some it is, but it's really about the other thing that we forget about quite often is the engagement piece and the audience engagement and how super important that is, because if you're not engaging your audience, why are you there?

Vicki Noethling: 11:42

Yeah, and some, sometimes people you know when I'm working with with kids and adults, trying to get them through these first challenges of speaking.

Vicki Noethling: 11:53

They think of sometimes their pastor maybe and I love my pastors, no offense there but some pastors and some examples that they've seen, they come in at there, you know, way up high at the top of the the energy level and they keep it there the entire time and it's exhausting for your audience, let me tell you, all those that are listening, it's exhausting for us to stay up there.

Vicki Noethling: 12:25

You have to really take people on a roller coaster ride and if you think of the best movies or songs you've ever heard, they don't stay at that top note or they don't stay at that burning building the whole time. They build up to it and they have softness and they have all of the things that make you feel something. And that's what you need to remember. Engagement doesn't mean that you come in jumping around like crazy for the next 40 minutes or whatever that keynote might be, but it's how can you take people on a journey with you throughout the stories that you're going to weave, that make them feel they are right there in that story, and that's how you engage.

Carl Richards: 13:16

I like how you gave the analogy of it's. It's a roller coaster ride. It has its ups, it has its downs, it has its side turns. It has all of those things Because when you do stay on that high, as you mentioned, it's exhausting, but if you stay too low it's depressing. You don't want to have your audience so high up that they're not getting the energy at all. They're throwing their hands up and saying, well, that's coming on too strong.

Carl Richards: 13:45

But you also don't want it to sound like, you don't want it to sound like EOR for too long, because then you don't have your audience to leave in that space of oh my God, I don't know whether I should feel sorry for this person or whether I should just go out and question my life and what I'm doing. You really want to take them through that. And that's where humor is a great way to deflect from a very serious topic, and I've seen it done effectively so many times, but I've seen it done less effectively so many times as well, and I've scratched my head and said if only they had inserted something, not a joke, but if only they had inserted something that was humorous, that was a bridge from that solemn place of sadness or whatever it is to bring the audience up, not up to the rooftop, so the rafters, but bring it, bring them up a little bit so you carry on the conversation with them.

Vicki Noethling: 14:42

The first time I ever experienced it. I was a freshman in high school and I had a long hour and a half bus ride to my school and I lived in Pittsburgh and we had weather often in the winter, and so this bus took a country road that was near a golf course and there was a little cliff to a lower parking lot, a little hill, if you will, to a lower parking lot. Well, we skidded and the bus went over the hill and we ended up upside down and you have to see pelt in a bus, and so everyone no one got killed. That was awesome. But as I was telling people the story and it was traumatic, and you're like, oh my God, what happened?

Vicki Noethling: 15:34

And you went down the hill and you're upside down and and it's all these kids, all these high schoolers and I said, yeah, we're all standing around and we're just making sure everybody's okay. And I looked down and I saw that I had a run in my back and I was like, oh my God, I got a run in my pantyhose. If that's all that's happened, that's, I'm so and and it made people laugh and I thought that's, that's effective. I'm going to remember that. So anytime you tell something that's tragic or whatever. Think of again of a good movie that you've seen and they don't they.

Vicki Noethling: 16:13

They throw in. You know, that's why Bruce Willis was so great in his movies and he says all of the time there's that, that moment of tension. And then he throws in a comedic comment of some sort.

Carl Richards: 16:26

You gave a really good example of a very serious situation. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but still the most important thing was is anybody okay? Oh, my goodness, I just run in my pantyhose, but that's the whole point is, when you're engaging your audience, you need to be able to do that, and you also maybe this is an opportunity for you to to share some tips or tricks or something like that that you that you find that help you as you're creating a presentation or speaking on a podcast or whatever it is, because one of the things that I find is, when you're engaging your audience, that ability to think on your feet and bring them along on the journey you're not talking at them, you're not talking over their heads, you're not using big words yes, you're, you're including them in the conversation.

Vicki Noethling: 17:13

Yeah, you're talking with them, and I always joke about when people I do a great presentation or and they're complimenting on it and and I'll say, oh, I hope it was recorded because it's probably never going to be the same. I always get to know my audience a little bit and as things go on, I will throw in ad lib things that are are needed at the time. You know, it's just one of those things, and and if there's a humorous thought that comes in my mind, it usually comes out my mouth too, but that's important.

Carl Richards: 17:52

That's, that's, that's a. That's the piece that I want you to expand on a little bit if you can, because if you're not funny, don't try to be funny. So don't write 86 jokes for your presentation and just fire them in sequence and say hey, here's a joke, time for a joke. But if there's a naturally humorous moment that arises and, by the way, they're always unscripted you might have some humorous moments or lines that you're going to work in to your stories that that you've positioned. But a lot of those humorous moments in my experience, enemies vicki and I'll a lot of those humorous moments. They happen with the audience and they are never the same twice because the audience is always different.

Vicki Noethling: 18:35

You know, I think one of the reasons and this can go back to my career in corporate for so many years but I think one of the reasons people shy away from humor is that they're trying to be professional and important and and you know, their, their bosses never crack a joke during any presentation or whatnot. Luckily for me, one of my mentors was Frank Erbric, who was the CIO of UPS, and he took a liking to me and mentored me for many years. He always cracked jokes about himself, he always found humor in things and I saw how impactful and effective it was. You, you have to be able to make fun of yourself or be okay when you screw up. I had a meeting or a presentation that we did to the whole company Every year. They had usually the managing partners came and talked about how the status of their different groups were, you know, and so they decided what we should let some of the non-management people come up and talk and do so.

Vicki Noethling: 19:46

I got HR and my first sentence was about people. It had the word people in it. I said and we all know that PP, and it came out in the audience. I could see you were like what did you just? I just laughed and I said, hey, I'm a mom, I can say that word, but I meant to say people and let's go on, and I just carry it on and I just I didn't die. There was no bloodshed and it was just a moment there I was me. I was showing them that you could get up here in front of thousands of people and make a fool of yourself, but live and fix it and go on. Even recently I had I lectured for church and I was going up the steps to the altar and I was walking there with a nice short skirt not too short, but short skirt and these new shoes, and I fell right on my butt right in front of the audience, the church, and I just hopped right back up and went and read my reading and it was being recorded live stream.

Carl Richards: 21:06

But what are you going?

Vicki Noethling: 21:06

to do and that's what I want everybody to understand when something goes wrong, find the humor in it and just go on. You have to Again. If no one dies in the effort or goes to jail, then it's okay, it is just fine, but we worry about it so much. There's always the occasions where you can look in the audience and you can see that it's the time where you should just make something funny come out of your mouth and I just bring in life inspirations, life moments. To me. That's where the humor is. It doesn't have to be a scripted joke, it's just think of things that have happened in your life and you know, out there you have had them that are hilarious now as you look back at it maybe not so much then, but now when you look back, I think it comes a little bit easier for me because I spent 25 years in radio broadcasting, so we were always looking for those humorous moments and that thinking on your feet piece was something that you it's a muscle, you exercised it every single day.

Carl Richards: 22:14

Some of my earlier recordings as a broadcaster were absolutely horrible, but you listen to some of my later recordings and not that they're like all over the world or anything, but you listen to some of those. When I listened to some of the audio snippets I go, wow, that was a magical moment, that just happened. It just, or something absolutely horrible happened and you find the humor, or the maybe. It's not just the humor, you find the humanity in it. Yeah, and that leads to a little bit of a humorous thing and I can think of a, maybe, not a million, but I can think of at least 10 things. If I fell at the front of a church or on my way up to the altar, what could possibly come out of my mouth? That would be censored, of course, or the right thing to say. I said I'm coming, lord, whatever it is, whatever it is that's going to lighten the mood, if I felt like I had to do that.

Carl Richards: 23:04

Or, like you say, you just pick yourself up and you keep going and sometimes it's even as simple as you know. I meant to do that. That was my. I hope you like my entrance. Look you see my finish.

Carl Richards: 23:19

So there's many different ways that you can, that you can do that. I want to keep this audience engagement piece going, maybe unbundle another layer. Talk about it because we we've talked about in the physical space. What about in the digital space, on the, the podcast or the, or the virtual stage space? What's your feeling or what's, what are some of the challenges that that your clients are coming to you and asking you when it comes to audience engagement in the virtual space?

Vicki Noethling: 23:47

Yeah, we could do just the whole podcast on that. I love to give free advice. Whenever I have my podcast guests, come on before we get started just to make sure, is your lighting OK? And people, especially new to podcasting or new to online, don't even think about all of that, because all they're worried about is how they look in most cases, and they don't think about what kind of lighting do I have. And they might have heard or read somewhere they should be in front of a window, ok, but is it a partly cloudy day? Because if the sun is going in and out, there will be this shadow that comes over you and back and over you and back and that can be distracting from your message. So you want to take away everything that's going to distract from your message.

Vicki Noethling: 24:41

I had this one fellow that he was. He's an author and he has a tremendous, tremendous story and it's one that has a lot of drama to it. Well, and he's a black gentleman and he was in a dark room. It was almost as if he was in a closet. The light was just a small light to the side, so half of his face was shadowed and he just was not there. You spent the whole time trying to figure out what he really looked like or whatnot. You have people that they'll come in and they have all the lighting to the side so that shadows the other side of your face, or they have overhead light and that gives us dark circles, and nobody wants dark circles. Nobody wants dark circles. You have people that have a window to the side and it has the blinds and the light is coming through. So now you have stripes on your face and, again, engagement means how can you keep the people listening to your words and not be distracted by what's going on around you. So that's part of the engagement piece of the physical.

Vicki Noethling: 25:49

The sound is the other part. I had a person where we started the podcast and I had to stop partway through because his sound just kept on going out, and so we practiced. Ok, is it the microphone or the headset that you're using? Is it the internet? The internet where I've had, where their people's internet was so bad that half of their words were gone and it just.

Vicki Noethling: 26:16

I don't want to present you in a bad light and or in a bad sound, and so think of all those things as you're trying to do these interviews, these guesting, these speaking engagements. If you're going to come on my summit, I want to make sure that you have the best experience. So how are you presenting yourself with that? If you have a camera that is external, which I recommend, and they aren't that expensive you can get like four hundred fifty bucks a great logitech Use, a camera that's going to have clarity, but I can't tell you how many times where I'll have people that their camera is just has them so fuzzy looking that again it causes the distraction which causes non engaging people just want to shut you out. I want to unbundle all of them.

Carl Richards: 27:10

But I know that, as you said, we could talk about this for the next 86 days and and something's going to change, right, something will change because there will be a new piece of technology. There will be something else that will change what we're talking about. You know, I think that the big change that we had in the last three years was, of course, we had a global pandemic people moving into working more from home, where they're on camera, more where they're, all of a sudden, the gear that they might have had for their virtual calls back in 2019. Back in 2019, it still works, but is it as effective in 2023? At the recording of this, at this recording of this episode here? But it doesn't take much to fix. You just need to really fix it and understand. This is a reflection of you as a business owner, as a speaker. It's also a reflection of your brand. It's a reflection of who you are as a business.

Vicki Noethling: 28:11

And that's really true, and I also there are some in the audience that may be still working in corporate and you're still doing.

Vicki Noethling: 28:20

You're doing Zoom meetings or audio meetings, and the engagement is really important if you're on a virtual team Because you a lot of times don't have that luxury of being able to build a relationship in person with that individual or that team, and so how you come across is going to be very important. And if you are only trying to be stiff in business like the whole time, you're not going to really build a relationship with that team and that ability to, when you're asked to do more than you think you can do, is not going to happen. People are just like they don't care about me. I'm not going to do anything for them.

Vicki Noethling: 29:02

But also, if you have to pitch a new project or convince somebody to spend money, you need to be able to do that in this environment and bring that heart, bring that passion, bring that purpose to light for those that are just listening. Or, if you're doing a Zoom and you're not turning your camera on, dang it. Turn your camera on. I need to see your eyes, I need to see your expression to know am I reaching you?

Vicki Noethling: 29:34

I remember, years ago, my team was all over the world and so I would have people from Asia and I would be giving this request and instructions. And do you understand? Is it clear? And you just heard yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Carl Richards: 29:49

And.

Vicki Noethling: 29:49

I could just see them going like this yes, yes, and they're like no, but there, you know it is a cultural thing. They don't want to say that. They don't understand that you're not clear. They're trying to be kind and it's like no, if I see your face and I see I am not reaching you, I am not making myself clear, Then I need to change what I'm saying and how I'm saying it, or asking more open-ended questions to get that information out. So that's another engagement piece right there how much are you talking and how much are you listening actively and asking those open-ended questions to give them opportunity?

Carl Richards: 30:34

Yeah, I think the big thing I'm garnering from this is, whether you're the presenter or when you're the presenter, you need to be present. You need to be present, you need to be there. You can't just hide behind and it doesn't matter what you're doing. This is one of the things that it's bugged me. If I had a pet peeve and I try not to keep peeves as pets, but if I did have a pet peeve it would be one of those things where people are shooting a video or they're not engaged and they're driving or they're doing something else. They're not engaged right, they're not engaged.

Vicki Noethling: 31:08

Yeah, check in their emails.

Carl Richards: 31:10

Right, and the big thing is and again this goes. Firstly, not only is it where I am, it's illegal to drive and you know, have your phone going, but people that would do the. I'm looking at the, and if you saw this visual, if I turned my head slightly away from Vicki. Now I'm looking at what is kind of the road, and my audio probably just changed when I did that too A way, and I'm not even engaging Vicki, but I'm talking to her and I don't know how you feel about that, vicki. Yeah, but I always felt that they're not talking to me. Sorry, they're talking to me, but they're not engaging with me, and there's a difference between talking to someone and really engaging, hennan, having an impact with them.

Carl Richards: 31:50

The second piece of that is you'll love this, too, when people will come on a call and they'll spend the whole time on camera, off camera, rather, oh yeah, yeah, and just as you, just as you explain, like you know, if you're off camera, how do I know that you're getting this? How do I know that? This is this message that I'm sharing with you, and it doesn't matter what it is, it can be. Hey, here's the project we're working on and everybody, you know all hands on deck. Here's what we're doing Is everybody in Yep Thumbs up Yep, but if they're not listening, if they don't have your eye contact, it's not cool, you know, like it's not really bringing forward the best version of yourself and it's not showing that you have a commitment.

Carl Richards: 32:31

I know a lot of people hate the C word, but when you're in that communication space, there should, in my opinion and I think we probably agree on this there should be that commitment. If you're the listener, you're listening. If you're the speaker, you're speaking, but the listener still needs to be listening and tuned in. Or the BI contact on camera, whatever it is.

Vicki Noethling: 32:48

And so if you are that speaker from a non-work piece and you're not engaging, you can tell that the audience isn't engaged. Then that's when you need to look at your content and see okay, is it too laden with facts? You know, I had someone present a wonderful informational speech on a subject and it was heavily laden with facts and figures and information, but there was no heart, there was no story, there was nothing in it to make me see me in that speech, to want to relate it to my life or to remember it. If you think of the way that the PowerPoints used to be, it was like bullets all over the bullet points or this particular person chose to put her speech on the screen.

Carl Richards: 33:42

Oh, that drives, me crazy.

Vicki Noethling: 33:44

And she turned her back and read the screen, and so there was some coaching on that. But the thing that you need to remember is that even in business, even when you're trying to get the facts and figures out, you have to find a way to make the audience care about it. They have to know why they are important, if that's a project or a mission or a vision, why their contribution is important to it. If it's your product or service, you have to have them see their pain that your product or service is going to fix, and too often we just tell it what it is and we don't tell them why they should care that why.

Vicki Noethling: 34:34

You have to know your why, but you have to know their why too. To be able to reach them and to engage them, you need to know that information, and that is where the questioning is going to be really important.

Carl Richards: 34:49

One of the things I learned in college when I was studying radio broadcasting, and it was all about sales. It was the sales class, which I hated, and I now use the term instead of using the word sales, because I have this thing about sales. I'm like sales, I don't like sales, everything is sales if you think about it. But what I've used, I started to use the word service. What I learned 25 years ago, I guess, in that radio broadcasting course, was my favorite radio station and our teacher said this, our teacher leading the sales class. He said you know what your favorite station should be?

Carl Richards: 35:23

Wifm. What's in it for me? In other words, what's in it for you, what's in it for the client? Which means you need to know your why, of course. So you need to know about what you can do and the bigger why. But then you need to know your client. You need to know what their why is and what their goal, their focus, their vision, mission, values, whatever it is. You need to know all of that so they get that piece. Vicki, you and I could probably talk again. I don't know if there's enough bandwidth in the universe to cover everything that we probably could cover, so I want to move along a little bit and give you the opportunity to if you have something to pass on to the audience, because we've shared so much great information, but I know you have something that you'd like to share, that you'd like to pass on to them as a resource.

Vicki Noethling: 36:11

So I have a couple of things. The first thing is what I call five on-camera essentials, and so earlier I talked about some of the things the lighting, the sound. So it's just a little checklist that I keep by my computer and I have available for my clients and customers. It is just a reminder how's my camera, how's my sound, how's my positioning in that? Am I off the camera, you know, and all those kind of crazy things. But it also reminds you.

Vicki Noethling: 36:44

The very last thing is have fun, and that is what we've been talking about all through here is the engagement. You have to have fun. You have to leave them wanting more. Always remember that. The second thing that I do and have is, if you want to have somebody that looks at what your setup is, I do a free 30-minute checkup of your setup and we just go through all those things to give you some suggestions of how you could improve or to give you a thumbs up if everything's good. And you know I can also give you a discount. If you want me to run through a presentation or a pitch you have and give you some guidance or advice, I can do that for a discounted cost if you just message me.

Carl Richards: 37:39

Wow, thank you so much, vicki, for passing that along, and we'll make sure that those two things are in the show notes along with all of your social links. So if you want to follow Vicki and find out more about her or tap into either what she just shared with you or even some deeper services of Vicki, I'm sure would love to hear from you, vicki, before I turn you loose into the universe to go help somebody with their audience engagement. What's one final thought that you'd like to share with everybody?

Vicki Noethling: 38:06

Well, I always end my podcast with this, and it is my mantra it's life is a journey and it's up to you to enjoy the ride. This is Vicki Nethling signing off.

Carl Richards: 38:19

Vicki. I love it and I think we'll leave it right there. Vicki Nethling has been my guest today. Thank you so much for joining me.

Vicki Noethling: 38:25

It has been my pleasure Always, do it more often.

Carl Richards: 38:28

We'll have to do a follow up for sure. I think there's a need for that, and thank you for joining us today. Special thanks to Dom Carilio, who makes us look and sound good, our music guru, Nathan Simon, and the person who works the arms all of our arms, actually my trusty assistant, Stephanie Gafoor. If you like what you heard today, leave us a comment and a review and be sure to share it with all of your friends. If you don't like what you heard, please take a moment to share it with your enemies. We like to hear from everybody.

Carl Richards: 38:55

Oh, and if you have a suggestion of someone who you think would make an amazing guest on the show, let us know about it. Drop us an email, askcarl@carlspeaksca. Don't forget to follow us also on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X formerly Twitter. You'll find all of those links in the show notes. And if you're ready to take the plunge and join over the 3 million people who have said yes to podcasting, let's have a conversation. We'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space because, after all, we're podcast solutions made simple, and we'll catch you next time.