0 (2s):
What's shaking viral nation, J L D here with an audio masterclass on making the leap out of expert Ville and into visionary town to drop these value bombs. I brought Michael Port on the mic. He is the co-founder of heroic public speaking in a New York times and wall street journal best-selling author of eight books, including steal the show and book yourself solid and fire nation. Today, when we talking about the formula for success in thought leadership, how our expertise has become commoditized over the years, and the magic question that visionaries can answer, but experts can't and so much more fire nation.

0 (42s):
When we get back from thinking our sponsors

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0 (1m 28s):
The best packages have very limited quantities. So head over there today, uncommon success book.com Michael, say what's up to fire nation and share something interesting about yourself that most people don't know.

1 (1m 45s):
Okay. I'll share something that I don't know if they're going to find interesting, but most people don't know when I was in college. I picked up a nickname that I found a little bit embarrassing because the very first magazine that I was in was called sassy magazine. So, so my friends started calling me sassy, unfortunately stuck. And hopefully it won't come back. Now that I've shared it on your show.

0 (2m 17s):
Oh yeah. Don't count on a brother. I mean, it's one of those things where I've hung out with you multiple times in person, you know, I've had you on the show multiple times. We've been in virtual environments together as well, never known this. So just know that I'm kind of putting this in my back pockets to utilize or when it makes sense and it will all be fun and we'll all have some joy with it, but that is something a great to know about a Michael port and fire nation. As I promised, we're talking about a great topic today, that's making the leap out of expert veil and into visionary town. So as want to dive into Michael, because we don't have you for very long, you've got a lot of things going on and you have so much to share the time that we do have together.

0 (3m 0s):
So let's talk about thought leadership. What is the formula for success within that word? Thought leadership? Yeah,

1 (3m 10s):
The leap out of expert Phil and into visionary town, because the streets are paved with experts. There are experts everywhere. You want to learn how to knit. You can go on YouTube and there are thousands of experts will tell you how to knit. You want to learn how to do SEO. You can go online and find blogs, vlogs podcasts about how to do SEO. So if you're an expert, it's likely that your expertise has been commoditized, which means it is reducing in value. It's not increasing in value when something becomes commoditized.

1 (3m 52s):
It, the value lowers. So experts share best practices, experts share tips, tricks, hacks, then other things that are certainly helpful, but thought leaders are visionaries. Thought leaders share new approaches, that challenge conventional wisdom and change the way people see the world. So for example, let's say you want to be a speaker and you want to get on the keynote stage. If you're delivering how to speeches, it's unlikely. You're going to get on the keynote stage.

1 (4m 33s):
And if you do, you're probably not going to be paid a lot because the experts are generally relegated to the breakout sessions. Now there's nothing wrong with the breakout sessions. And in fact, if you're a service provider and you want a book business delivering how to expert based sessions in breakouts can be very helpful for booking business. But if you want to change the way people see the world, if you want the high paid keynote spots, if you want to write books, if you want to develop a community, develop a following of people who resonate with your ideas, not just your tips. Then you want to start to look at moving into visionary town rather than staying put in expert Phil, which is really over

0 (5m 19s):
Crowded. There's a lot to unpack here, fire nation. And I can tell you, I am so grateful for Michael kind of talking about this topic right now, because I'm currently unpacking this. You know, as I write my first book right now, where I don't want to just write, you know, things like expert tips, strategies, and tactics, like I want this book to be a vision. Like I want it to become thought leadership. I want it to be one of those books, you know, like a think and grow rich that people are still talking about in 2050, a hundred plus years. So I'm just completely approaching this book project from a different angle. And a lot of people are going to be surprised by the content, but it's because of this very fact and this very thought process that Michael's taken us through here today, that I'm basing all of the book formula around this.

0 (6m 3s):
And I love how you broke that down, where thought leadership starts with making the leap out of expert veil into visionary town. Why fire nation? Because the streets are paved with experts. I love that phrase. And Michael used and experts. They share quote, unquote, best practices. While thought leaders are visionaries. They share new approaches, a different way to look at the world. Steve jobs had that reality distortion field. He wasn't living in the same planet as us. And I'm not saying that in a bad way of saying that in a great way. And that's why he created what people wanted. And you know, going back to Henry Ford, Hey, if I listened to other people, I would have just created faster horses, but no, I knew people really needed a car. I had to show that to them.

0 (6m 44s):
And so Michael fire nation, we as a listenership love specific examples, we love case study. So talk to us about how our expertise has been commoditized and maybe give us a few examples.

1 (6m 57s):
Yeah, sure. You may think you need to slog through decades of trial and error to happen on a visionary idea, but I don't think you do. I think you can do it in much less time. If you can spot the difference between expert content and visionary content. So we mentioned that, you know, delivering how to content is expert content, but look at the kind of content that Simon Sineck delivers or Bernay Brown delivers, or anyone that has changed the way you see the world. So if you look at what Simon got known for, it was a really, really very simple concept.

1 (7m 41s):
In fact, an elegantly simple concept start with why no. He said, he said, he looked at the world that he lived in and he, he got really frustrated because it seemed that, you know, a lot of business leaders always started with how or what, but they didn't have a why that drove the, how were what? And so they ended up in the wrong place generally. And if you are trying to start with a solution, you're not going to end up in visionary town. But if you first try to uncover a problem, you'll find a solution that can be a visionary solution.

1 (8m 29s):
So what I suggest people do is look at what drives them crazy about the industry that they're in, what makes them nuts, what frustrates them, the little things and the big things. So for example, you know, I teach public speaking and communications, but I don't tell people what to do with their hands. I, my, you know, my, my content is not full of simple tips. Like look them in the eye when you're presenting, because that's actually completely useless for presenters. And when I looked at the industry, I was frustrated because I saw people on stage and I thought, what, why are, why are they, why are they not presenting in a way that is actually transformational?

1 (9m 11s):
That is changing the way people feel, think, and act, I don't understand. I know they have the ability, why are they not doing it? And so when I started looking at this and started trying to figure out why are they presenting in the way that they're presenting? I realized, Oh, I see they're winging it. They're just winging their speeches. And if you're trying to change the way people see the world winging, it is not going to work. You know, you don't rise to the occasion. You simply fall back on your training or your, or your rehearsal. And, and, and so then I had to ask myself another question, which is, well, why are they winging it? Well, they think that they're charming enough to pull it off. They think that their content, because they're experts is actually what people are interested in.

1 (9m 57s):
So you see how every question leads to another question until you get to the point where you realize, Oh, I see they're also winging it because they actually don't have craft. Well, why don't they have craft? But of course that they don't have craft. They weren't trained as speech writers or speech makers. They weren't trained as performers. Where are they going to get that craft? Ah, I can provide that craft. I can show them how to stop speaking and start performing. That's something I know how to do with an MFA in acting from NYU, with, and my wife has an acting from Yale. So we realized that in our industry, there was something missing.

1 (10m 39s):
A huge piece of the puzzle was missing. And as a result, we were able to create an organization that delivered a visionary transformational experience for the people that we serve. But it always starts with a question. And I think you can look at this. And with one simple question, you can start this investigation. What is a question that you can answer that Google can't, what's a question that you can answer that Google can't because of Google can answer the question that you're asking. You're staying in expert, Phil that's where all the other experts are. They're asked, they're answering questions.

1 (11m 19s):
Google can answer. But if you can answer a question that Google can't answer, then you're a visionary. You know, if you went to Google and said, why should I start with why Google would be confused? Now they might point you right to Simon. But if you go to, if you go to Google and say, how do I stop speaking and start performing? Google's going to say app. I don't know, but they'll probably point you to us. But if you say, how do I, you know, how do I, what do I do with my hands? When I give a speech, Google will give you, you know, thousands or hundreds of thousands of results. And none of them will actually change your life in any way.

0 (11m 57s):
Fire nation. I hope you're taking as many notes as I am, because I'm literally just going down this list right now and being like, Oh my God, this is something that I need to implement this something I need to think about this. Something I need to meditate upon. I mean, let's just start at the beginning right here, thought leadership and how Simon Siddiq shifted things with start with why not? How not, who, but why? And think about that question that Michael asked, what drives you crazy or what drives your audience crazy? I mean, that's a great starting place to potentially build a transformation. And what are you finding and trying to change in the way that people look at the world, are you trying to cause a transformation? Are you trying to change the way that people feel, think, and act?

0 (12m 40s):
And if so will is time to stop speaking and start performing. And then of course that big bomb at the end and a value bomb was just massive for me is what's a question that you can answer that Google can't. This is going to make Google literally be like, I don't know what you're talking about. And if you think Michael's even close to being done dropping these value bombs, you just wait until after we get back from thinking our sponsors.

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0 (14m 8s):
what's up fire nation. I'm so fired up to be announcing the launch of my first traditionally published book, the common path to uncommon success right now you can pre-order your own copy and lucky in our incredible bonuses, which will be disappearing soon at uncommonsuccessbook.com. And if you're a coach or run a mastermind, you'll definitely want to check out our incredible bulk buy packages, which include insane perks like a one-on-one weekend in Puerto Rico with myself and Kate, just visit uncommonsuccessbook.com to check out these insane packages that we put together for all of 2020. I worked tirelessly to create this life changing book. The common path to uncommon success has 17 crucial, yet simple steps that will guide you to your version of uncommon success.

0 (14m 51s):
To sum it up. The common path to uncommon success is your roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment. Also I've convinced 17 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs to contribute their genius to these 17 steps. We're talking about entrepreneurial all-stars like how Al rod, Jamie masters, John Morrow, Billy Jean Ryan Laveck Shawn Stevenson, Jeff Walker, Andy Porterfield, Russell Brunson, Jill Stanton PatFlynn Rameet safety and many more to check out all of our bulk buy packages in the insane perks that come along with them. Visit uncommon success, book.com. There are limited quantities. So make sure you head over there today. Uncommon success book.com. So Michael we're back ends personally. I think that people are scared of that 10 year slog of the trial and error that you referenced before our break.

0 (15m 36s):
They, they think it's like, man, that's just a long time for me to identify this visionary idea. And I'm scared. There's going to take 10 years, 20 years, 30 years that maybe it'll be the end of my life. We'll have this aha moment and then I die. But you say it doesn't have to be so expound upon that.

1 (15m 52s):
I don't think it has to be a 10 year slog. I think that one of the reasons that we, many of us hesitate from going down the path into visionary town and, you know, staking a claim there building a foundation and then, you know, a beautiful house is because we're afraid of challenging the status quo and maybe we're going to be wrong. Maybe we'll people will say, wow, that's stupid. Yeah, that's ridiculous. And anytime you challenge the status quo, people are going to say that. I mean, I, I have people not too much, not too often these days, but you know, there've been times when people said, no, no, no, you should never perform performance in authentic, like, okay.

1 (16m 34s):
And I can answer that really easily, but, but it challenges the status quo to suggest that the way things are done, isn't the way things have to be done. And so, so it's, it's I get it. It's, it's scary. I'm scared most of the time, frankly, and I think it's normal to be scared. But if, instead of leading with the solution, we just start an investigation. Then maybe we don't put as much pressure on ourselves. So my colleague, Andrew Daisa Davis and I have been working on a book that we call the referable speaker and it'll be out in 2021.

1 (17m 14s):
And these ideas are a big part of this book. And one of the things that we had to do together in order to write the book was go on an investigation. Because if you just write a book or create content from the, from the place of already knowing, then you write a book. That's not curious. You write a book that is just a whole bunch of information that's already out there. If you already know the answers, but instead you can go on an investigation and you can ask a lot of questions and then you can airfreight those questions and see how people respond. And you'll find that when you're air rating, those questions that you discovered in your investigation, you'll see what people resonate with.

1 (17m 57s):
People will latch on. And they'll say, that's really interesting. Tell me more about that. Oh my God. That really made me think, Oh wow. When you said that I felt different. And as a result, you'll very quickly be able to uncover what people get excited about and what is transformational for them. And in the process, you'll create transformational, visionary content that changes the way people feel, think, and act because if you want to change the way people act, you've got to change the way they think. If you want to change the way they think you've got to change the way they feel first.

1 (18m 40s):
And if you want to do visionary work, that makes the world a better place. If you want to save the world one speech at a time, one book at a time, even one article at a time, one video at a time, then get out of expert will go on an investigation and find your way to visionary.

0 (18m 58s):
So fire nation, Michael's mentioned multiple times, the importance of performing, not just speaking. And it really brought me back Michael, to a time, actually, a couple of years ago, when you were presenting at social media marketing world in San Diego, I was actually in the audience and I was just lapping up all the content. And one thing I love that you do is you not just like up on stage, like stationary, just like presenting to the audience. Like you are literally doing laps up and down the row of all the people that were there. And, you know, being like in the audience, which was super cool. Kind of like that interactive thing. Like I remember you walked by and he wants it. I'm like, Oh my God. Like he walked by me and I was like, wait, I know this guy, like, but I'm still so impressed. Like, it's amazing. And then like, probably about like 10 or 15 rows away from me, you're walking and somebody's cell phone just rings like ring.

0 (19m 44s):
And like, you don't miss a beat. Like you literally stop your presentation, you turn her and you're like him and your phone. And she's just like, Oh, okay. She hands you her phone. And without even stopping you, you hit the accept button. You go San Diego police. How can I help you? And the whole place just erupts, because it was just like so timely. So spot on. And you could just like picture the person on the other end, just being like, what is happening right now? Like my daughter or wife or sister or whoever I'm talking, you know, whoever I just called right now is in the police station. Like the million things that are going through that person's head. And like, you kind of played it out for a little while. And it was such like a presentation and such like so much performing was going on there.

0 (20m 27s):
And I can tell you what, like there were, I mean, there were hundreds and hundreds, you know, maybe even got to like a thousand people in that room. And it was a massive room with a lot of people and like, you know, it's going to happen. Like some people were checked out, they were checking their phone, they were texting, they were tweeting, they were doing stupid stuff and they were, you know, missing out on that great content. But man that drew everybody right back to, and I can tell you for the rest of that presentation, like people were like glued to it. And it was such a cool, like for me, example of like, Hey, this is like how you operate when things happen in a room when life happens. And you're so good at that. So I want to kind of close our conversation today with a couple of things. But the first thing is, you know, talking a little bit more about that magic question that visionaries can answer, but that experts can not answer in a couple of maybe examples that you love in this realm

1 (21m 18s):
Before I do that. Let me just mention something about that moment in the room, because I think it's really critical. People would think, Oh, well that was just improv. You know, Michael just made that up on the spot, but I didn't because spontaneity exists at the intersection of preparation and improvisation, spontaneity exists at the intersection of preparation and improvisation. So, you know, there's two different ways that I see people approach a speech often either they just wing it and the whole thing's improv. And then just, well, let me just see what happens and I'll, I'll play off the audience and I'll get their energy and I'll, I'll, I'll just rise to the occasion or they prepare in such a way that they are not taking into consideration what's happening in the room.

1 (22m 7s):
And the audience feels a role. I think the speakers doing one thing, but not in the moment with us. So they don't feel connected to the speaker, but it's the combination of both things. So I have lots and lots of bits that I have worked on that I have prepared and rehearsed for all of those kinds of situations that may occur. So if you're speaking, the phone is gonna ring at some point. So have you thought about how you're going to handle that? Do you have a series of bits that you can use depending on when it rings, how it rings, what kind of person, you know, is holding the phone when it rings?

1 (22m 52s):
And so I've got a whole series of bits in my tool box that I can just pull out and play with that feel very improvisational because there are, there are improvisational aspects to it, but I'm prepared, which allows me to be in the moment. And the audience feels like, Oh, this is happening for the first time, but I can guarantee you that it's not the first time I have answered the phone by saying, you know, New York police department or San Diego police department or Arizona police department, wherever I am. And I guarantee after I do that, nobody's phone rings again for the rest of the presentation. So you see it's the preparation, that's the key.

1 (23m 34s):
So w you know what, I'm, what I'm, what I'm trying to get across here is that when you're developing content, you go on an investigation. So you're curious, and you explore. But once you're at the point where you're delivering that content, whether it's, you know, in-person on a stage or a virtual presentation or on a podcast or on the radio, or on a YouTube video, by that point, you've got your material worked out, you know, it's so well that you can do it forwards, backwards, sideways, upside down, standing on your head so that no matter what happens, you're ready to make that moment a transformational moment for the audience, because a speech or any performance is just a series of moments.

1 (24m 22s):
And you're trying to string together those moments to create a through line that achieves the objective that you've set out for that audience. And it's not something that is just based on information, most speakers, when they come into the business, or even most people, when they want to write their first business book or self-help book, they, they think about what information they want to share rather than what objective do I want to achieve and how am I going to achieve that? And when you start to think about it from that perspective, well, then you've got to you go into the, as we discussed before the feeling thinking and doing peace, which, which means that you've got to change the experience that people are having, whether it's in the room or on the paper, or on a video screen.

1 (25m 14s):
And that's what creates the transformational experience.

0 (25m 17s):
Michael, I want to do a couple of things here. I want you to share how fire nation can connect more with you and the brands that you've built and the things that you have going on. And of course, you know, let's also mention the book again that you have coming out in 2021. Let's also talk about what you think is the most important thing that we've talked about today. I mean, everything that we've talked about is important, but I feel like there's one common theme around the thought leadership that we really want to make sure fire nation gets. And then we'll say goodbye. Sure.

1 (25m 48s):
So heroic public speaking.com is a great place to go. Lots of resources. We are doing a free two day live stream events on a regular basis throughout the year. The next one we have coming up is FEV one and two, but of course, people may listen to this much later, so they should still go and check it out and see what the next one listed is. So heroic, public speaking.com. Also for people who are interested in the verbal speaker, the book that we were publishing in 2021, they can go to thereferablespeaker.com and just let us know that they want to be the first to know when it comes out. And there's a, there's a couple of little cute things in that website that you can discover if you play around and click, we won't tell you what they are, but, but they're quite fun when you get there.

1 (26m 39s):
And yeah, that's it, you know, heroicpublicspeaking.com thereferablespeaker.com. And look, we, we are we're, I'm just so pleased to be back on the show. I think what you do for your audience is best in class. I think you are a visionary in this industry, and I absolutely, I love loved your work and appreciate, you know, the community that you've you've developed. So thank you for that

0 (27m 4s):
From you brother. That means the world. And if you could just, maybe in one sentence, maybe a couple of sentences, sum up the theme of what we've talked about around thought leadership that you really want to make sure fire nation walks away with. What is that?

1 (27m 17s):
Go on an investigation, go for a walk, get curious, get deep into what drives you crazy about the best practices in your industry. What frustrates you? What makes you scratch your head and say, what, what, why, why is it always this way? And then you'll start to uncover, you'll discover what your visionary idea will be. And then you'll find a question that Google cannot answer. It will move you out of expert Ville, where you're a dime, a dozen and a commodity and into visionary town where you've got a lot more space to yourself. You've got a place where the grass is definitely greener, and you can change the way people feel, think, and act to make the world a better place.

0 (28m 2s):
Fire nation. You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with MP and J L D today. So keep up that heat, head over to eofire.com type port P O R T in the search bar, not just this show notes page, but the other three appearances. He's made an entrepreneurs on fire over the past eight years. Now we'll pop up and I can just say, trust me, every one of those episodes was a gold mine. So if you want to go on a Michael port binge, that's your place to do it. Just type port in the search bar. And of course your direct calls to action, heroic public speaking, dot com. Get on one of those virtual events that he's throwing eons thereferablespeaker.com.

0 (28m 46s):
Check out what he has going on over there for his upcoming book. Michael, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge value with fire nation today. For that we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side, my friend, Hey, fire nation today's value bomb content was brought to you by Michael ans fire nation. I've created a treasure trove. I mean a literal treasure trove of free courses for you. I teach how to podcast run a mastermind, create funnels that convert coming up with your big idea and so much more. All you need to do is visit EO, fire.com/resources. Start learning today. I'll catch you there, or I'll catch you on the flip flip side.

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1 (29m 48s):
don't. You wish there was a proven roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment that you could share with your customers, clients, or masterminds. My brand new book, the common path to uncommon success is coming out in March, 2021, and we've just finalized our bulk buy packages. These packages include insane perks like a one-on-one weekend in Puerto Rico with myself and Kate visit uncommonsuccessbook.com for all the details.

0 (30m 12s):
The best packages have very limited quantities. So head over there today, uncommonsuccessbook.com.