Episode 267

The Referral Script That Landed a £10k Speaking Gig: Clinton Young on What Actually Gets Speakers Booked

Most speakers are working on the wrong problem.

They're polishing their delivery, tweaking their slides, and hunting for better techniques. Meanwhile the gap between where they are and a well-paid, regularly booked speaking career has almost nothing to do with any of that.

Clinton Young is a keynote speaker and coach who has learned -- sometimes expensively -- what actually moves the needle. In this episode he hands over the exact referral script he paid $4,000 to learn. The script he used at a free gig in England that led directly to his first £10k speaking engagement.

It's in the episode. You can also grab the free PDF here: present-influence.kit.com/ec8e9e8259

What you'll learn in this episode

Why authenticity and vulnerability outperform polish almost every time, what world class actually means for a working speaker -- and why it's not Tony Robbins, the three things every athlete does that most speakers skip, why confidence is a skill you build rather than a trait you're born with, the four stages of learning and why stage three is where most speakers get stuck, how reps create the stage presence that tips and tricks never will, why improv is a spiritual practice and what it does for your adaptability on stage, how to handle mistakes, forgotten lines, and ringing phones without losing the room, why humour matters more than most speakers admit, the jab-jab-right-hook technique for opening any talk, why falling in love with the problem rather than your solution is the commercial shift most speakers need, and the elegant referral ask Clinton uses from every stage.

About Clinton Young

Clinton Young is a keynote speaker and coach. Find out more and access the resources he mentions at worldclassspeakersecrets.com.

Visit strategic-speaker.scoreapp.com to take the 2-minute Strategic Speaking Business Audit and find out what's blocking you from getting more bookings, re-bookings, referrals and bigger fees. There's a special surprise gift for everyone who completes the quiz.

Want to get coached for free on the show? Fill in the form at this link and if we think your challenge could help others, we'll invite you on.

For speaking enquiries or to connect, email john@presentinfluence.com or find John on LinkedIn.

All clips and episodes are on the Present Influence YouTube channel.

Thanks for listening. Rating the show 5* on Spotify helps their algorithm recommend the show, so please take a moment to follow and leave a rating.

Related episodes: How to Get Paid for Public Speaking with Grant Baldwin

Transcript
John:

Most speakers who want to get paid more, think the answer is getting

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better on stage, better delivery, better

slides, more confidence, more polish.

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Here's the problem with that.

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Today's guest flew to England, spoke

for free, used a seven second script.

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He paid $4,000 to learn and walked away

with his first 10,000 pound speaking

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engagement, not because he was the

most polished speaker in the room.

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But because he asked the right

question at the right moment in a

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way that felt completely natural.

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Clinton Young is a keynote speaker,

coach and someone who has thought harder

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than most about what actually makes a

speaker world class referable and paid.

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In this conversation, we get into

reps presence, vulnerability, improv,

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humor, and the commercial thinking

that most speakers never touch.

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And yes, that script is in the episode.

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So have something ready to write with

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Ready?

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Let's get into it.

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Well, it's not very often that I have

guests on the show who I've met in

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person and even hung out with, and so

I'm very happy to bring onto the show.

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Clinton Young welcome, Clinton.

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Clinton Young: John, it's so great to

be here and spend time with you, man.

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John: It's, yeah, I, I missed

the time we got to hang out

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in Nashville a few years back.

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We had, we had a lot of fun there, so it's

really good to see you again and, Well,

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I'm gonna start our conversation the same

way I like to start many conversations

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on the show with asking you in terms

of the speaking world and your, the way

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you work in it, are there any sort of

positions or opinions you have that are a

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little counterintuitive or even contrarian

to what you hear other people saying?

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Clinton Young: Yeah, absolutely.

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John, as a professional keynote

speaker, and, I've, I've coached quite

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a few people, in the speaking space.

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They come to me and they ask me, like,

Clinton, how do I become world class?

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Like, how do I become a,

a, a, a great speaker?

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Like, what do I need to do?

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And they're like, gimme

the tips, gimme the tricks.

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Anyone ever say that to you?

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Gimme the tips.

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Like, what are all the,

what are the key tips?

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And I always say, that's great.

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That's really, really great.

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You, you definitely need to know those.

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In fact, I have an amazing gift

for all the audience members

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here and, and the listeners.

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If you go to world class

speaker secrets.com,

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you can actually get my top seven

world class speaker secrets.

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And those are the tips and

they're very important.

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But I always like to say, what

does it take to become world class?

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And just so we're on the same page, I just

wanna define what I mean by world class.

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What I mean is.

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I don't mean you're gonna become the

next Tony Robbins or Lisa Nichols, right.

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Or, or Mel Robbins for that matter.

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what I mean is how do you go and when you

speak, whether you are, a professional

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keynote speaker or a work shopper,

or maybe you're an entrepreneur who

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speaks to grow their business, that's

a lot of the people that I work with.

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No matter who it is, when you speak,

you are just never gonna impact

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a hundred percent of the room.

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You're just never gonna do it right?

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There's always gonna be someone

in the front row that's going

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like this, and maybe you can get

'em to un uncross their arms.

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Maybe you can't.

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But there's usually about

10% of the people you're just

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not gonna be able to touch.

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And if you're not a world class speaker,

it's gonna be even higher of a percentage

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that you're not gonna be able to impact.

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So what I mean by world class is.

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Again, it doesn't mean you're gonna become

the person that's gonna travel around

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the world and speak everywhere and make

$50,000 of speech, but what it is, is how

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do you increase that percentage likelihood

that you're gonna impact that room?

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How can you increase

that to 92%, 95%, 98%?

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How can you move that up the, up the,

the, the, the measurement, if you will,

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so that you can impact the greatest

number of people in that room possible.

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Okay.

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And there's three primary things

that I say that you need, and

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one of them is world class.

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The world class speaker secrets and

what you teach, your, your students

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around presenting, having influence on

stage, right stage craft, if you will.

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But there's also two other things

that are equally, if not more

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important, I would argue, and that

is authenticity and vulnerability.

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Authenticity and vulnerability.

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I, I share stories sometime where you

see somebody who speaks and they could

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even be possibly not even that good of

a speaker, but they're super authentic.

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They're speaking from the heart,

they're speaking from truth, and they're

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actually willing to be vulnerable.

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That that is way supersedes world-class

speaker skills any day of the week.

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It's important to have all three if

you really wanna make the biggest

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impact, and of course, income as

well, and get those referrals.

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But I, I would argue that those

two are even more important than

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world class speaker secrets.

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John: No, I, I think I'd agree.

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I've been more moved and connected

with people who have expressed.

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Vulnerability and empathy and

connection and, the authenticity on

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the stage in those sorts of ways than

I have with people who've been slick

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and polished and everything else.

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It's like those things

may be great to have.

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It could make someone look like

a really good speaker and, and.

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Sort of say, I guess that's more the

standpoint of, of being an author,

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author, experienced authority in the

space, but the connection, relationship

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stuff, yeah, that's very much the

vulnerability and authenticity.

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So I'd agree with you, on that.

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I think you're right as well, Too

many people saying those things.

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We think it's all about, getting on

stage and being confident and being

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super high energy, whatever else.

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And, there's so much more to it.

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It could be a bit of a journey, right?

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and it should be, it's like even

with, even with your Seven Secrets

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to being a World Cloud speaker,

you can know them and you can

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still not be a World Cloud speaker.

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It could still take you a long time to

be able to master the skills, already

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get where you want to be with that.

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But, but lemme see what, what.

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Your journey, like, I mean, I, I know some

of it, but for, but for a listener, what

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was your journey like to becoming, moving

into speaking and becoming a paid speaker?

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Clinton Young: Yeah.

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I'm glad you asked that and I'm

gonna, I'm gonna go back just a quick

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sec to something that you shared

around the process of like, what

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does it take to become world class?

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Well, if you think about a world

class athlete John, what do they do?

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They, they do a couple of things, right?

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Three primary things every,

every day throughout the week.

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Choose your favorite sport.

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I'll say American football.

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'cause the Super Bowl, is coming up here.

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So you've got all throughout

the week, what are we doing?

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We're, we're practicing, right?

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We're, we're practicing all

throughout the week to play one game.

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One game.

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So you practice all throughout

the week to play one game.

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And so if you wanna become world

class, you've gotta put the reps in.

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Period.

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You've gotta put the reps in the basic

building block of any learning, any

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growth, any mastery is awareness.

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It's awareness.

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It's a deepening level

of awareness, right?

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So how do we deepen

that level of awareness?

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We do it through reps.

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Get the reps.

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Every single time you do it, you

get a deepened level of awareness.

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So that's number one.

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Number two is, what do they do

after these world class athletes?

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What do they do after practice?

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They watch?

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What?

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They watch the game tape, don't they?

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They watch the game tape.

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So if you're a speaker who's

not willing to watch yourself

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on camera, oh, it feels weird.

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Watch who cares?

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Do you wanna be world class

or do you want to be average?

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Right?

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Do you want to get referrals

from stage or do you not?

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Do you wanna grow your business or not?

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Right?

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So you've got to watch the game tape

because as you watch the game tape, you

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get a deepened level of awareness, right?

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So that's number two.

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Number three is.

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You've got to hire a coach, right?

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Michael Jordan, I would say the

best basketball player of all time.

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A lot of people say

LeBron James, Kobe Bryant.

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Who do they have?

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They had a coach.

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Tiger Woods, who do they

have a coach, right?

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You have to have a coach

because a coach like John can

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see around the corner, right?

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A coach like John can see things

that you'll just not ever see when

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you look at your game tape, right?

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So I would say those three things

you, you absolutely have to do.

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So what did I do?

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I did exactly those three things

right before I even knew these

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three things and put this whole

model together, this framework.

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I went out and I got massive reps.

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Like massive reps.

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I was going to Rotaries and you can speak

for free at Rotary Clubs here in the us.

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I'm sure there's similar civic

organizations around, the uk.

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I've spoken a lot in the UK

that I've never spoken at

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a, at a civic organization.

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probably in Spain as well, or

wherever You're listening to

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this from around the world.

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There's Kiwanis Clubs here in the

us there's, there's Lions Clubs.

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You could also utilize Toastmaster.

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There's not really a place you're gonna

go to become a professional speaker.

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Right.

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I use it more like a gymnasium, where

you go and, and you just, it's just

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a place where you can speak, right?

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So that is what I did.

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I watched the game tape constantly.

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I, every single time I speak, I record.

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Even if I'm doing podcasts, I

record because there's a number

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of reasons why we do that.

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Not only from a being able to watch

the game tape perspective and have

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your coach watch it to help you

get better, but you also use that

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for your marketing, obviously.

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and

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then I hired a coach.

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I actually hired multiple coaches.

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Some of them were, were, hall of Fame

speakers in the National Speakers

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Association here in the United States.

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And I just.

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I just committed to actually becoming

a professional speaker, and in order to

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commit to it, you gotta take the actions.

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It's not just gonna happen,

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John: So, so you say you were

doing all this stuff before

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you knew to do this stuff.

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I mean, what, was there like

a background for you of.

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Going to that level for other things

that you've done that you said like,

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I did that for, that's what I did for

this, so that's what I'm gonna do here.

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Clinton Young: you know?

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I just know that.

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Speaking for me is my healthy obsession.

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Tony Robbins talks about this thing

called your healthy obsession.

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John, I'm the guy that will go on a

trip and you'll find me sneaking into

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the ballroom at 6:00 AM getting up on

stage and delivering my full hour long

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keynote speech to 500 empty chairs.

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Well, on full, 10 out of 10 enthusiasm,

like that's, I just geek out on speaking.

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So if you love speaking or

if that speaking can help you

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grow your business or yourself.

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and your income, your confidence,

then you've got to commit to it.

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Like, it's just like anything, those

people who actually put in the work and

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to, not to over quote Tony Robbins, but

he says people are rewarded in public for

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what they practice for years in private.

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People are rewarded in public for what

they practiced for years in private.

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So if you want something,

you've gotta put in the work.

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So I just, I guess I just knew that

maybe from my sports days, back in

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the day in high school, I didn't

play in college, but in high school.

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And, and I just, I went out and I, I

always am somebody who also, in my career,

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before I became a professional speaker,

I would always flow to the things that

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are my, my, my greatest skillset, right?

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I'm very much about self-awareness.

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Radical self-awareness.

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'cause again, awareness is the basic

building block of change and of growth.

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So self-awareness, I always knew

that I gravitated towards roles

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in sales leadership, and they just

generally would have an opportunity

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to be like, here's the mic.

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Like you gotta stand up and

talk to three people, or five

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people, or a hundred people.

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As I continue to follow that and

I encourage anyone out there in

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your careers, one of the things

that I did is I got an opportunity

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for a company that had events.

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Now, they didn't have events

when I first went there.

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I actually, started working for

this coaching company and I was the

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head of their recruiting, and I,

they didn't really have a recruiting

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department, so what did I do?

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I crafted a part of that role to

match my gifts, and I went out

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to colleges and I would speak.

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Eight years later, I find myself

traveling all around the United States.

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This company did 4,000 events a year, and

I was on stage usually like two a month.

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I would be traveling around

the country and I would get

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opportunities to get the reps.

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Was I talking about my topic?

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No, but I was getting the reps

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right.

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I was getting the reps.

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So

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I would say follow your flow, right?

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Follow your flow in your career, and

find opportunities to get the reps.

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John: Yeah, I agree.

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I, I think it's one of the things,

having coached other speakers for a

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long time now, is one of the things

that I see most common pe most commonly

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people are falling short in, they don't

want to put in the reps like you, you

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say, the, I, I probably go more for,

music analogies than sports, but,

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You would never, as a professional

musician go and perform in a concert

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or anywhere without having rehearsed,

without having practiced and being

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able to know that you can deliver.

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Pretty much perfectly that you're so

well practiced that you don't really

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have to think about it that much is

sort of, is somewhat embodied in you.

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That's what comes with putting

in the reps in the stage time.

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And I think that's what a lot of people

don't get to is like this has come

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up a few times on, in conversations

recently with guests of that thing of.

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A lot of people saying, oh, improv is

such an important skill for speakers.

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Like, yeah, a hundred percent, but how

do you improv if your, your brain's

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full of trying to remember your talk

because you haven't been practicing it,

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and that's what you have to focus on.

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I see this especially like in almost

in microcosm in the comedy circuit,

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because I do, I do like standup comedy

around where I live and, I see there's

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a big difference between comedians

who've prepared their set, and comedians

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are just kind of like, oh, all right.

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What shall I talk about?

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Or, let's flick through my

notebook and find some jokes.

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It's like, people don't,

don't stay engaged with it.

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They're, they're tuning out in the

bit where you're like, all right,

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let me just look in my notepad

and see what jokes I wrote down.

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Showing up prepared is so, so, so

critical, and so few people do it

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and, and I think it's, it's, in one

sense, it's the easiest thing to

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do because it's all say, all right.

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Obviously that is an important

thing to do, but it's also the

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hardest thing to do because that is

the level of commitment that most

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people are not willing to put in.

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And as you rightly say, that's

what separates you from into being

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world class, from other people.

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Clinton Young: Yeah.

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I just wanna add something to that, John.

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Confidence is a skill.

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It's not a trait, and I want

people to really get that.

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It's a little counterintuitive as well.

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Confidence is a skill.

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Some people are like, oh,

they were born to do that.

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That's confidence is a skill.

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Yes.

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We all have different personalities.

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Confidence can be learned, you can

grow in your confidence, and you

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do that by having courage, right?

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To take action in spite of fear, right?

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Anytime you, you have an opportunity

to take action, it's generally

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gonna be a little bit of fear, a

little bit of doubt will creep in.

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You've gotta run towards those fears

because as you run towards those

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fears, those limiting beliefs, the

things that stop, you begin to crumble,

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begin to fade away because you get.

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More awareness.

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Right.

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And there's four levels of learning

I think will be useful for the

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audience to, if I can just kind

of go through these four levels.

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John: Yeah, go for it.

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Clinton Young: So, and this, this just

is gonna prove that every single one of

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you can become a world-class speaker,

whatever that means to you, right?

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Again, for me, it means you're gonna

be impactful from stage, you're gonna

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get the result you're looking for,

which is getting a referral, getting

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that next opportunity to speak.

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So the first level is, and we all

start here with everything in life.

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We are unconsciously incompetent.

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Right.

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We don't even know what we don't know.

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Right?

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We don't even know.

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We don't, we think about a little baby.

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They, they can't tie their shoes.

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They don't even know they have shoes.

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They don't even know they have feet.

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Although yes, they do.

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'cause they're always like

grabbing their feet Right.

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Doing a little happy baby pose.

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But they, they don't know that

they can't tie their shoes.

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They don't even know what they don't know.

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And then, and that's not

where most of us are.

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Most of us know.

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What we don't know in terms of speaking,

and that would be the second level where

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we are now consciously incompetent, right?

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This is where a lot of us start.

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We're consciously incompetent speaking

is the great, one of the greatest

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fears of everyone on the planet,

and I think it's ahead of death in

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most like death by fire, I believe

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head of that.

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John: said.

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Yeah, I, I still think Killer Clowns

top the list for me, but yeah.

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Clinton Young: So we become conscious

of our incompetence, and that's where

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we're, we're, we're really scared.

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We've gotta have the courage to take

action because every single one of

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you, if you're listening to this

podcast, that is proof that you have

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what it takes to become a speaker.

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You would not be here today

listening to this podcast, following

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John if you were not capable of

becoming a professional speaker.

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So you've gotta push through, take the

courage, have the courage, and take

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those actions to actually become the

third level of competence, which is.

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Or learning, which is

consciously competent.

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Now you are conscious of your

competence, and this is where probably

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90% of your listeners are as speakers.

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They're consciously competent,

but what does that make them do?

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This speaks to what you

were just referring to.

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Now they're up in their head.

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Right.

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They're, they're, they're, they're trying

to remember what was I gonna say next?

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Or Is this the right thing?

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Or they're, they're like, okay, John

said to do this, or Clinton said to do

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this, or This is the speaker secret.

363

:

I'm gonna do this.

364

:

Right?

365

:

And they're in their head and

they're not in their heart.

366

:

And what are they not?

367

:

They might have great skill, but

they're not gonna be authentic and

368

:

they're not gonna be vulnerable, right?

369

:

So you have to be willing for this to get

a little bit ugly before it gets pretty.

370

:

You have to be committed to the

outcome, which is the next level, which

371

:

is unconscious competence, and this

is where you can show up on stage.

372

:

And yes, you have to prepare.

373

:

This is how you get there.

374

:

You have to get the reps in.

375

:

You have to get the reps in so many

times that it's just, it's in your

376

:

bones, it's in you, the marrow of your

bones, where you show up and you know

377

:

your intro, you know your close, you

know all your stories you're gonna tell.

378

:

You've got a couple slides that

have a couple points on them.

379

:

They're gonna guide you to the

next step, and you're able to

380

:

be present to be in the moment.

381

:

I know you talk a lot about, being present

and being really, really in that moment.

382

:

Well, that's the way to do it,

but you have to be willing to be a

383

:

little bit uncomfortable along the

way to get to that place of comfort.

384

:

Right.

385

:

John: Yeah.

386

:

Clinton Young: And even then

you're still gonna be nervous.

387

:

I've been on thousands of stages

all around the world and I'm

388

:

nervous every time I go on stage.

389

:

But

390

:

there are ways

391

:

John: a hundred percent.

392

:

Clinton Young: you develop

mastery to transmute that energy.

393

:

And perhaps I can share that in a moment.

394

:

Transmute that energy into,

away from, oh, was my fly down?

395

:

Am I gonna remember what I'm saying?

396

:

To the, to, to shift your concern

from yourself to that of the

397

:

quote unquote collective pain in.

398

:

The room in your audience you wanna

focus on what is the pain that they have

399

:

that I'm uniquely designed to solve?

400

:

Right?

401

:

And when you focus on that and shift

your concern to them, whew, that's

402

:

where you can just relax and your

shoulders drop and your presence.

403

:

John: I think No, I think you

expressed that really well.

404

:

'cause I, I agree with

pretty much all of that.

405

:

And, and, and in various

words in similar ways.

406

:

I, I've said a lot of the, a lot

of similar things on, on the show.

407

:

And I agree that confidence

is not only learnable.

408

:

I think it's that thing that

comes when you get to that

409

:

unconscious competence level of,

410

:

That, that to me is embodiment.

411

:

That is, presence.

412

:

That's the only way you can

be present and not in your own

413

:

head is to, to have practice.

414

:

I, I always know there's that thing of,

again, I probably go more to musical

415

:

references, but it, I can come with.

416

:

Many different areas are right.

417

:

If I'm learning to play a piece of music,

I'm gonna practice it and practice it.

418

:

It's gonna suck at first.

419

:

No one's gonna want to listen to it.

420

:

In fact, I wouldn't let anybody

listen to it when I'm practicing it

421

:

'cause it's gonna sound horrible.

422

:

but I'm also gonna be breaking it

down and building it up again and,

423

:

and trying to get smooth with it.

424

:

It's only when I get to that sort of

thing of right, well, I know it now

425

:

and my fingers know what to do, and,

it's all kind of happening and I don't

426

:

really have to think about it, that

I can start to inject myself into it.

427

:

Let let it flow through me.

428

:

Put the energy and presence and

emotion into what I'm playing.

429

:

Add my flare, add my style.

430

:

How can you do that?

431

:

Otherwise, if you, if your

focus is on the notes, still

432

:

on the notes, you have to play.

433

:

Rather than, the, the, the notes kind

of, the music kind of plays you instead.

434

:

And I, I think that it applies

to so many, so many other parts

435

:

of your life, but it's one of the

reasons why I called my business

436

:

Present Influences like the present.

437

:

Yeah.

438

:

It's presenting, but it's, it's,

it's abound being present so much and

439

:

that's the level we need to get to.

440

:

Clinton Young: You mentioned

comedy a few minutes ago,

441

:

John.

442

:

I, I'm gonna share something

about improv comedy that is real.

443

:

It's a really great access point

to get to this space of being

444

:

present, being in the moment, right?

445

:

And, I have another gift that

folks can grab if they want,

446

:

at black sheep habits.com.

447

:

These are some of the top habits

that the top, top fighter pilots,

448

:

world-class Olympic athletes.

449

:

Top CEOs on the planet, they practice

these black sheep habits to be able to go

450

:

from, ordinary to extraordinary, right?

451

:

To get those results, to get clarity,

to get focused, to get an action.

452

:

And one of the things that it's

really aligned with the black sheep

453

:

habits is something that you can get

through practicing improv comedy.

454

:

Now, I know that.

455

:

Freaks out.

456

:

Probably a lot of people right

now, they're like, oh my goodness,

457

:

improv comedy, or I'm gonna be

on stage, oh, blah, blah, blah.

458

:

Spotlight on me.

459

:

You're a standup comedian as well, which

is, that's like one of my biggest fears,

460

:

but one of my greatest bucket list items.

461

:

And I've been on

462

:

John: Do it Clinton, do it.

463

:

Do it.

464

:

Clinton Young: Shit list of it,

465

:

but I, I want you to hold

me accountable to it.

466

:

John is one of my coaches, by the

way, you coached me in Nashville.

467

:

You coached the crap outta me

there at our lunch session.

468

:

And, but I want you to

hold me accountable, John.

469

:

'cause I want to, in 2026,

I want to get on stage.

470

:

I want to, I want to take

a, a standup comedy class.

471

:

So hold me to that first of all.

472

:

John: Let me, let me share

something with you very

473

:

Clinton Young: please

474

:

John: that that might just help

you because I was a bit like you.

475

:

I, I put it off and put it off and

eventually this sort of got, I kept

476

:

saying I wanted to do it, but kept putting

it off and it got to the point where

477

:

one of my friends called me out on it.

478

:

Bless our heart.

479

:

Thank you so much for doing that, Aida.

480

:

And, and I just thought,

yeah, I'm gonna do it.

481

:

Let's, let's just go for it.

482

:

Let's go do it.

483

:

but in preparation for doing

it, I, I was really nervous, but

484

:

the thing that happened that.

485

:

Made it all okay was I gave myself

100% permission to bomb on that stage.

486

:

It's like, it's absolutely fine.

487

:

I welcome it.

488

:

bombing, being successful,

getting the laughs is a bonus.

489

:

Just getting up on the stage and

doing this, that's the win here.

490

:

That's the, this the first time.

491

:

There's no expectation.

492

:

Once I took that expectation away.

493

:

To be honest, I wasn't first up as

well, so I saw a few people bomb before

494

:

me and that made it even more okay.

495

:

was, it was fine.

496

:

It was like there was no

pressure I could get up.

497

:

I, yeah, I was still nervous a bit,

but I got up on the stage and I was

498

:

able to enjoy the experience and,

I, I, I suggest any for yourself or

499

:

anyone who wants to do this, give

yourself that 100% permission to bomb.

500

:

Nobody is expecting you to get up on

stage and be a top level comedian, so.

501

:

Clinton Young: Correct.

502

:

Love it.

503

:

Awesome.

504

:

Well, I take that challenge and

I will, I will tell myself that I

505

:

permission to bomb and I'm gonna

practice like hell, so I don't bomb.

506

:

but it's okay.

507

:

I'll be totally detached from it.

508

:

So, improv comedy, I believe is

actually a spiritual practice.

509

:

I'm gonna get a little, little woo woo

510

:

on here.

511

:

I'm in so cow baby.

512

:

So it's,

513

:

John: go for it.

514

:

Yeah.

515

:

Clinton Young: not gonna sing

kumbaya, but, so one of the

516

:

black sheep habits is meditation.

517

:

We all probably know what that is, right?

518

:

Close your eyes'.

519

:

Plenty of ways to do it.

520

:

Think of nothing.

521

:

And immediately you're gonna think

of everything because that's how

522

:

meditation works until you get practice

and it quiets your mind, right?

523

:

So it's a great way to create a, a gap.

524

:

In your thoughts, in your

stimulus to response.

525

:

Something happens.

526

:

We stub our toe, boom.

527

:

We're like, dammit, whatever we say.

528

:

And you gave me permission to swear

to curse in the, the show notes.

529

:

So I, I'm going, I'm going for it, baby.

530

:

so, so it is a spiritual practice because

check this out, check this out again.

531

:

Meditation.

532

:

Quiets, the mind creates a gap

so that when that thing does

533

:

happen, you do stub your toe.

534

:

Now you, you have a moment to pause and

then choose your, your actual response.

535

:

Instead of reacting, you're responding.

536

:

Right.

537

:

So with, with my rudimentary

understanding of improv and I've,

538

:

I've taught some classes around

it more as workshops for leaders.

539

:

I do that sometimes as

an add-on to my keynotes.

540

:

For, for some of the leaders and, I'm

not a, definitely not the world class.

541

:

I'm not, I'm not like the,

the world's preeminent.

542

:

Improv guy.

543

:

Okay.

544

:

I've just taken several

classes and I've also taught

545

:

several workshops utilizing it.

546

:

'cause it's a great, great, great

tool to grow in your self-awareness.

547

:

I said it's the number one building

block of any growth, right?

548

:

Growing your self-awareness,

your leadership, your

549

:

communication, your team building.

550

:

It's a phenomenal, phenomenal way and

a tool to utilize and it's a great

551

:

thing to learn as well, by the way.

552

:

To

553

:

have an add-on.

554

:

When you go and you deliver a

keynote speech, that could be the

555

:

thing that separates you from the

other person that doesn't have that,

556

:

and you can throw that in for free

'cause you're already there so that

557

:

you get your fees.

558

:

This making sense?

559

:

But check this out.

560

:

This is why it's a spiritual practice.

561

:

My understanding of it is it creates

what I like to call, and I don't like

562

:

to call it, it's called neuroplasticity.

563

:

Now, John, I'm a little

bit of a psychology geek.

564

:

I have my master's in organizational

psych and I've been geeking out on

565

:

John: I, read Doidge

566

:

Clinton Young: yeah, what I'm saying here.

567

:

check this out.

568

:

The, the games that, that I teach anyways,

in my improv, workshops, they literally

569

:

are designed failure games, right?

570

:

Designed failure games.

571

:

So they're designed for your

brain to naturally think to do one

572

:

thing, but the way to win the game.

573

:

Is to not do that thing.

574

:

So we have so much natural stimulus

response, stimulus response because of

575

:

the way our brains have been programmed

and wired, and we've lived our lives,

576

:

that we have this automaticity that,

that lives in our unconscious brain.

577

:

Right.

578

:

And it's almost like a record, like

a, like old school records, right?

579

:

With a needle.

580

:

It just goes around and

it stays in the groove.

581

:

Improv is like, like scratches the record.

582

:

Picks up the needle and puts

it in a different place.

583

:

That's the way to win the game.

584

:

So your brain wants to do A, B,

and then C, but to win the game,

585

:

your brain has to go a P and then

Z, right, in order to win the game.

586

:

So it creates this natural.

587

:

Space where you can pause this

neuroplasticity in the way that you

588

:

think, so that you have the ability

to have more control, more presence,

589

:

and more power in your communication.

590

:

Now, tell me that's not useful when you're

on stage leading a keynote or you're

591

:

doing a workshop and it starts to get

raucous, or you wanna make it get a little

592

:

bit raucous, but be able to control it.

593

:

Tell me that's not useful

to have that skill in

594

:

your bag.

595

:

John: percent.

596

:

A hundred percent.

597

:

In fact, you know, I I will say,

uh, doing some, uh, improv, no,

598

:

not classes, but there, there is an

improv group here in, in Valencia

599

:

where I live in English, thankfully.

600

:

'cause I don't think I can manage in

Spanish, but I haven't done that much.

601

:

I like yourself, I've done

workshops and things like that.

602

:

I, I know I can do it.

603

:

Um, but the, like I said,

they able to get good at it.

604

:

Put in the reps and build up

the, that sort of, um, say

605

:

the, the mental plasticity.

606

:

You need to build up the pathways

because you only get good at

607

:

doing improv by doing improv.

608

:

Much like anything really.

609

:

It makes perfect sense.

610

:

But yeah, I am just

distinguishing from that sense.

611

:

So like you are, you are on stage

and maybe you want to be able to

612

:

adapt stuff to the audiences that

you're with and you don't necessarily

613

:

always feel confident to do that.

614

:

With some improv practice and with

that presence that you have, because

615

:

you've rehearsed your stuff really well,

616

:

Clinton Young: Yeah.

617

:

John: you will have the

flexibility to do that stuff.

618

:

So when you see other people

thinking, uh, doing that and

619

:

thinking, I could never do that.

620

:

This is the pathway to get to doing

that, and it's like, yes, you can.

621

:

You just can't right now.

622

:

Clinton Young: You gotta be

willing to do the reps right and go

623

:

through the, a little bit of pain.

624

:

'cause you know, growth is

never comfortable, John,

625

:

but it is always worth it.

626

:

Growth is never, ever, ever

comfortable, but it's always worth it.

627

:

And, and once you get those reps in,

and you have this ability to be in the

628

:

moment and not rely on your brain and

memory of, oh, what was I gonna say next?

629

:

But instead, you're authentic,

you're vulnerable, you're in

630

:

your body, you're present.

631

:

All of a sudden somebody's

phone rings in the first row in.

632

:

Big keynote message.

633

:

You're like, Hey, just

tell, take a message for me.

634

:

Will you do that for me?

635

:

Right?

636

:

You can play with the things that happen.

637

:

An alarm goes off, right?

638

:

You can make a joke and not

let it be like, oh my goodness,

639

:

what are we gonna do now?

640

:

Like, oh, what slide?

641

:

Like, you're in the moment

and you can play with it.

642

:

Everything that happens in your,

this is a key thing to write down.

643

:

Everything that happens in your

speech was supposed to happen,

644

:

and when you treat it that way.

645

:

It becomes fun.

646

:

It becomes a game, and it's

playful, and people want you

647

:

to succeed on stage, right?

648

:

But they can feel it when you're

in your head and you're nervous.

649

:

So just be with them.

650

:

But it's gonna take reps, it

takes reps to get there, baby.

651

:

John: There's nothing PE people would

worry about messing up on stage and could

652

:

use other words, but, I'm trying to,

I'm trying to keep my mouth clean today.

653

:

I dunno why.

654

:

but people worry about messing

up on stage and, and then when it

655

:

happens, inevitably because they're

focused on it, they get embarrassed.

656

:

Clinton Young: Mm-hmm.

657

:

John: They go quiet whenever, and

then the audience gets that mirror

658

:

neurons and all that sort of stuff.

659

:

The, the audience gets embarrassed

for them because they're embarrassed.

660

:

Whereas if they kind of shrugged, didn't

really, it didn't bother them with

661

:

that, the audience is gonna be cool.

662

:

They're go, all right, you're fine.

663

:

You, there's no problem here.

664

:

And we keep going.

665

:

It's like, that's a big difference.

666

:

It's like being able to sort of

shake it, shake it off really

667

:

quick and just say, yeah.

668

:

All right.

669

:

Yeah.

670

:

Like you say, it is part,

part of the presentation now.

671

:

So it was meant to be that.

672

:

and if you can actually incorporate it in

some way, that does come with practice.

673

:

even better, even better.

674

:

but yeah, it's, I've had people

falling off stages, having their

675

:

stilettos break whilst they've been

presenting or all sorts of things.

676

:

We even had, I think many speakers, myself

included, had, fire alarms going off.

677

:

When you're on stage, it's like.

678

:

You have to, you have to be able to

handle, handle all this, be able to

679

:

bend with the breeze and, and not break.

680

:

Clinton Young: Yeah.

681

:

A hundred percent.

682

:

I mean, literally, I have completely

forgot where I was in a speech before.

683

:

I've literally been like,

Hey, John, front row.

684

:

Like, 'cause I went up, maybe

gave him a high five earlier,

685

:

John, where was I again?

686

:

What was I just talking about?

687

:

Right?

688

:

I've literally done that on a

speech that I got paid to deliver.

689

:

And the audience is like,

oh, you're right here.

690

:

This is what you were talking about.

691

:

Like, they're, it's,

they're, it's endearing.

692

:

You're human.

693

:

You don't have to be like, oh,

what was, what was I gonna say?

694

:

And you like, fake it.

695

:

No, just lean into it.

696

:

Dude.

697

:

I forgot where I was, man.

698

:

John: That's vulnerability.

699

:

Clinton Young: What's

the name of your company?

700

:

Right.

701

:

Make a joke out of it.

702

:

Right?

703

:

But you can, you, you can only get

to that place when you've actually

704

:

like practiced enough where you

just comfortable in your skin.

705

:

John: Yeah, lemme, lemme ask you

something 'cause I, I, I'm curious

706

:

about this, and this may be a little

sidebar to some of the things we said

707

:

we're gonna discuss today, but, but it's

relevant to what we're talking about.

708

:

so there's a lot of speakers who say.

709

:

You, you, you don't have to be that, that

joke in the speaking association, right?

710

:

You don't have to be funny to

speak unless you wanna get paid.

711

:

But, but I do know speakers, in fact,

I just recently have been in, have

712

:

interviewed a world famous speaker

who is not funny in his talks.

713

:

And I do think even for him, even

for him, he has sometimes struggled.

714

:

Bookings because of that.

715

:

I, I don't know a hundred percent that's

gonna, I, I have a feeling that that

716

:

might be the case, that because he's

not funny and he says he is not funny.

717

:

And yet I think he can be.

718

:

In fact, I've known him to

be funny when we interviewed.

719

:

He could be funny.

720

:

And I think there's the become that

mindset of, for him, I'm not funny.

721

:

So he doesn't even.

722

:

Try to have a bit of, I dunno, dry humor

or, some, some draw jokes in there.

723

:

No dad jokes or whatever

you wanna put in there.

724

:

It's like stuff that might sort of

change the, the tone, but how, how

725

:

important do you feel that that

element is in speaking in general?

726

:

Clinton Young: 1000% important.

727

:

1000% important.

728

:

In fact, one of my world-class

speaker secrets is induce laughter.

729

:

Write that down.

730

:

Induce laughter.

731

:

Okay, now I'm gonna, I'm gonna lean into

this in, in a couple different ways.

732

:

It's gonna be very impactful for people,

and I'm actually gonna give you a resource

733

:

of person that I highly recommend that

you see if he's available for hire.

734

:

I hired him as well.

735

:

He's a professional comedian who's

a standup comedian, who's also.

736

:

A professional speaker, right?

737

:

I don't even know if he does this anymore,

but I hired him to look at my, my hour

738

:

long keynote, reigniting the human spirit.

739

:

That's my keynote.

740

:

I've delivered all around the world,

and I said, dude, I know I can be funny.

741

:

Show me where the best

parts are to be funny.

742

:

He taught me so many things.

743

:

In fact, I'll teach one thing right now.

744

:

It's called Jab Jab, right Hook.

745

:

And this is the name I made it.

746

:

And I know Gary V.

747

:

Talks about jab, jab,

right Hook in marketing.

748

:

But this is my jab.

749

:

Jab, right hook in speaking.

750

:

Okay?

751

:

And that is, you want to, especially

in the beginning, you want to get

752

:

agreement within the first 30 seconds

that you know the pain of that audience.

753

:

That's number one within the first 30

seconds, and you wanna make them laugh

754

:

within that first 30 seconds as well.

755

:

If you can, that is your goal, like

as a standup comedian, isn't it?

756

:

Like laughs per minute or something

like that, that you're looking for?

757

:

Something like that.

758

:

They, they, they literally

measure laughs per minute.

759

:

As a

760

:

John: They do.

761

:

Clinton Young: you don't need to

necessarily worry about that, but I

762

:

always like to say we as professional

speakers or entrepreneurs who speak

763

:

to grow our business, we need to earn

the right to maintain our audience's

764

:

attention every nine seconds.

765

:

Every nine seconds.

766

:

Now I'm kind of making this up, right?

767

:

75% of statistics are

made up on the spot, okay?

768

:

And, that's my not funny jokes.

769

:

See?

770

:

That's funny, right?

771

:

It's kind of funny.

772

:

You're not looking for

gut busters, by the way.

773

:

Every single time you're looking

for a crack of a smile, okay?

774

:

And the way that you can induce

laughter, and I'll come back to the jab,

775

:

jab, right hook is you can literally

say something and then just smile.

776

:

When you smile, there's

something called mirror neuro,

777

:

as John talked about earlier.

778

:

People want to be like you, right?

779

:

And they can actually see

those aren't even mirror those.

780

:

They can just see you smiling.

781

:

They're naturally going to just

a little crease in their mouth.

782

:

Some people might laugh who are

a little bit more excitable.

783

:

Some people might just

be like, huh, right.

784

:

But you want to induce

laughter, right, John?

785

:

Right.

786

:

And you like threw in a little fake laugh.

787

:

No, that was totally fake right there.

788

:

But like throw it in.

789

:

Induce laughter, smile, throw in a

little laugh, laugh at your own jokes.

790

:

so that's a couple things.

791

:

But the jab, jab, right,

hook, right outta the gate.

792

:

You can ask like three questions.

793

:

The power of three, right?

794

:

It's a beautiful thing about three.

795

:

So you could ask two things that

are relevant to that audience,

796

:

that speaks to their pain.

797

:

Like, how many of you out there

are, are looking to get booked

798

:

and paid to speak and you're just

really, really struggling right now?

799

:

Anybody?

800

:

Okay.

801

:

How many of you have like, tried

it and you've tried X, Y, and

802

:

Z and it just hasn't worked?

803

:

Anybody?

804

:

Okay.

805

:

And how many of you are

just like, ready for lunch?

806

:

It's like, that's a, that's

kind of a silly example.

807

:

It has nothing to do with the

pain, nothing to do with what

808

:

they thought you were gonna say.

809

:

And that's the key.

810

:

You never want your audience.

811

:

To know what you're gonna say next

because that's when they tune out.

812

:

Then their brain literally,

unconsciously just goes, I

813

:

already know what's gonna happen.

814

:

So one of the ways to earn the

right to maintain their attention

815

:

is to do this jab, jab, right hook.

816

:

And you can do this right out of the

gate to get, agreement that your,

817

:

the guy or gal who knows their pain.

818

:

Number one, and then to

throw them off a little bit.

819

:

And even if you just crack a smile, it

doesn't matter if there's no laughter

820

:

in the audience, just crack a smile.

821

:

It's like popcorn.

822

:

It's like popcorn,

823

:

John: look, I, I've e I've even said to

a speaker before now, who was working,

824

:

'cause his, his delivery was so dry,

very sort of, very deep voice, and

825

:

sounded a bit sort of college lecturey.

826

:

And that one of the things you

say at the start of the start of

827

:

his talk, or very close to it, is,

how many of you think you'll still

828

:

be awake by the end of this talk?

829

:

It, it wakes them up and they're

like, all right, he's not

830

:

taking himself too seriously.

831

:

Maybe this isn't gonna be so boring.

832

:

After all, it was it.

833

:

It really worked in that, in

that situation, it is like,

834

:

Clinton Young: that will be a good

thing to do, just as a principle

835

:

to say that as the third question.

836

:

John: Right.

837

:

Clinton Young: Get their

engagement with pain.

838

:

Pain that you want them to almost

be, feel like a hypochondriac.

839

:

You want the audience to say,

I think I have that pain.

840

:

This is marketing 1 0 1.

841

:

Right?

842

:

What is the greatest

pain of your audience?

843

:

Ask a question.

844

:

Ask a question.

845

:

They're like, opting in.

846

:

That's me.

847

:

That's me.

848

:

And then you say that funny thing.

849

:

How many of you think you'll

still be awake by the end of this?

850

:

Or how many of you aren't gonna

raise your hand no matter what I ask?

851

:

Right?

852

:

It's something they're

not expecting to hear.

853

:

It will crack a smile.

854

:

And then throughout the talk, there's

so many things we could teach right now

855

:

about getting into the audience, high

fiving people, getting them to engage.

856

:

There's something called

accelerated learning, right?

857

:

Which ultimately activates

both sides of the brain.

858

:

And you can do that as a speaker by asking

them to say, gimme an Oh yeah, right?

859

:

Or, or you do the call in response.

860

:

Call in what?

861

:

Call in response, right?

862

:

To get them to say things.

863

:

High five, your neighbor.

864

:

Turn to your neighbor and

say, I got this right.

865

:

Write this down.

866

:

Using music during journaling

exercises, using different colored

867

:

pens when they're taking notes.

868

:

These are all the different ways that

you can activate both sides of their

869

:

brain and create contrast, and these are

the ways that you can get them engaged.

870

:

And then it's gonna pop, pop, pop, pop.

871

:

Before you know it, you say a

joke, you're inducing laughter.

872

:

Now the whole room is laughing.

873

:

Room is laughing by the end of the talk.

874

:

They're with

875

:

John: I got, I got trained

in all that stuff with, by T.

876

:

Harv Eker, it is like, that's all

877

:

Clinton Young: One of the best.

878

:

John: yeah.

879

:

Yeah.

880

:

One of the best.

881

:

but in interestingly, I think this stuff

is so important and, and I want to sort

882

:

of get to one, one more thing, with, with

the time that we have of, I have people

883

:

on the show to talk about sales before,

I've not really had any people on who.

884

:

Perhaps I'm more able to speak

specifically to selling or speaking.

885

:

and I also wonder for you like, you are a,

a sales expert is one of your real gifts.

886

:

I, I know that.

887

:

what.

888

:

What advice, what clues could you offer

for a speakers or thinking, oh, well

889

:

he's a getting 10,000 plus a a gig, and

I'm sort of getting like maybe scraping

890

:

500 bucks here, a thousand or two there,

and it's like, how do I get to that?

891

:

What could you offer that speaker?

892

:

Clinton Young: How can they get

from that zero to 10 grand or

893

:

wherever they're at to 10 grand?

894

:

Great question, John.

895

:

So.

896

:

You've gotta start somewhere, right?

897

:

At the end of the day, depending

on, you get paid directly

898

:

commensurate with the value of

the problem that you solve, right?

899

:

You get paid in direct correlation to

the value of the problem that you solve.

900

:

So what problem are you solving?

901

:

one of the things that John taught

me early on was, you have to really

902

:

know what problem you're solving.

903

:

You have to be crystal clear about

that problem that you're solving, and

904

:

the audience needs to know that, but

also the decision maker who's gonna

905

:

hire you more importantly, needs to

know that you can solve their problem.

906

:

In fact, you need to become better

at articulating that problem than

907

:

the business owner or the conference

leader is at articulating the

908

:

problem You need to be, have, fall

in love with the problem you solve.

909

:

Versus your solution.

910

:

That would, I would say, is the

number, number one thing, fall

911

:

in love with the problem that

you solve versus your solution.

912

:

Because at the end of the day,

they don't really care about your

913

:

solution, and I hate to say it, they

don't really care about your story.

914

:

You and I have coached a ton of

speakers and a lot of people, like

915

:

I have such a great story, and I'm

like, that's great, and you need that.

916

:

You need a story.

917

:

You don't need to have climb Mount

Kilimanjaro with one leg in your blind.

918

:

You don't need that, right?

919

:

99% of paid speakers don't

have a crazy story like that.

920

:

You just hear about the ones who do, but

most people don't, and you don't need it.

921

:

What you need to do is be able to

know how to speak to the pain of that

922

:

collective pain in that room, and you

need to be able to communicate that

923

:

effectively in your marketing and in

your conversations and from stage.

924

:

I'm gonna say one last thing to help

people get to that 10 k, and I'll tell

925

:

you how I got my first 10 K in a moment.

926

:

But you need to be able to speak to

and prove to that decision maker.

927

:

That you can solve their

audience's problem.

928

:

That is the number one thing.

929

:

And I'll just share, I'll,

I'll leave 'em with this unless

930

:

you have any other questions.

931

:

the way that I got my first 10 K gig,

it was actually in jolly Old England.

932

:

you're, you're stomping ground,

original stomping ground.

933

:

And, I got, I, I went over

there on, I got a free gig.

934

:

I flew all the way to

England for a free gig.

935

:

They paid for my trip, don't get me wrong.

936

:

And there was other business

opportunities there.

937

:

So it made sense for me

to, to take that trip.

938

:

And this was in 2018.

939

:

And I get over there, and you

gotta write this down, y'all.

940

:

This is a, this is a bonus

world class speaker secret.

941

:

And that is you got a A SK to GET, baby.

942

:

You gotta A SK to GET.

943

:

You gotta ask to get, to ask

to get, but you can't do this

944

:

sleazy, can't do this sleazy.

945

:

You gotta do this the right

way so that it is elegant.

946

:

And I'm actually gonna

give this to you right now.

947

:

I don't usually give this to, I, I

paid $4,000 to one of my world class

948

:

speaker coaches to get the script

that I'm gonna just say right now.

949

:

You're gonna have to write it down though.

950

:

So I go over there to England and

I'm speaking at a, a mastermind.

951

:

I speak at a lot of entrepreneur,

like mastermind type groups.

952

:

They'll bring me in to make sure

that people, you know how you

953

:

learn a lot of stuff in an event?

954

:

A lot of people leave.

955

:

They don't take action.

956

:

Well, I'm the guy they bring in to make

sure that that team takes action, okay?

957

:

They get all the mental trash out of

the way, and they actually know what

958

:

they need to do, and they create a

structure to fulfill on, on that.

959

:

So I'm at the end of the speech and I say.

960

:

You know, a lot of people think

that, professional speakers are multi

961

:

gazillionaires and their calendars

are lined with booking after booking,

962

:

after booking, after booking, and

they're just flowing in, but that's

963

:

just not true for, for most people.

964

:

In fact, for me, 99% of my gigs, my

paid gigs come by way of referral.

965

:

So if I've said anything today that's

really moved you or touched you or

966

:

inspired you and, and you feel like

I could make a difference for an

967

:

entrepreneur group or a sales team,

a, a, a national sales conference,

968

:

et cetera, that you know of, you

feel like I could really add value,

969

:

I would be absolutely honored and

thrilled to earn your referral.

970

:

I really would.

971

:

I might tell them how they can send it,

come up to me at the end or whatever.

972

:

I might not, or I might just go right

into my very best piece of content

973

:

next, or my very best story next.

974

:

You never wanna end with that.

975

:

You always wanna leave your

best stuff for after that.

976

:

And literally the guy came up to me

at the end, and I'm not gonna try

977

:

my English accent here, especially

with a dude from the UK here.

978

:

It's gonna be brutal.

979

:

John: very entertaining for me if you did,

980

:

Clinton Young: okay, I'm gonna try it.

981

:

He says, Clinton, that was so, so

elegant how you asked for referrals

982

:

right in the middle of your speech.

983

:

That was so terrible.

984

:

But

985

:

that's

986

:

John: wasn't bad actually.

987

:

That wasn't

988

:

Clinton Young: good.

989

:

Alright, let's go.

990

:

Let's go.

991

:

Maybe.

992

:

So that's where it became my

elegant referral script, elegant

993

:

referral script from stage.

994

:

And I do it at every

single speaking engagement.

995

:

In fact, I just did it on this podcast,

996

:

John: You did.

997

:

Clinton Young: So if anybody feels

like I can make a difference, like

998

:

I'd be honored and thrilled to

earn your referral, I really would.

999

:

You can find me@clintonyoung.com.

:

00:44:51,767 --> 00:44:55,257

That's where you can actually, see

me speak and you can inquire about

:

00:44:55,257 --> 00:44:57,987

whether I'm available to come and speak

at your sales organization or your

:

00:44:57,987 --> 00:45:00,807

national sales conference or whatnot,

whatever it is, entrepreneur group.

:

00:45:01,482 --> 00:45:04,152

I really would be honored and thrilled,

and I, and I appreciate John AB

:

00:45:04,332 --> 00:45:05,382

absolutely for letting me do that.

:

00:45:05,382 --> 00:45:06,702

But use that script, y'all.

:

00:45:06,792 --> 00:45:08,712

I paid $4,000 to get that script.

:

00:45:08,832 --> 00:45:10,242

The gentleman that taught me that

:

00:45:10,242 --> 00:45:12,852

script has made hundreds and

hundreds and hundreds and

:

00:45:12,852 --> 00:45:14,322

hundreds of thousands of dollars.

:

00:45:14,502 --> 00:45:15,882

And guess what happened at that event?

:

00:45:15,882 --> 00:45:16,212

John,

:

00:45:17,022 --> 00:45:17,172

John: You

:

00:45:17,232 --> 00:45:20,322

Clinton Young: in the audience

came out to me and she said, I

:

00:45:20,322 --> 00:45:21,087

need to refer you to somebody.

:

00:45:21,927 --> 00:45:27,577

I spoke to the leader of the largest

veterinarian, community in the UK

:

00:45:27,847 --> 00:45:32,137

called Vet Dynamic, I think it's

Vet Dynamics, Alan and Vicki,

:

00:45:32,677 --> 00:45:34,627

and I was flying back over there.

:

00:45:34,847 --> 00:45:35,597

several months later.

:

00:45:35,597 --> 00:45:41,117

I got a 10, my first $10,000 gig ever

and got me over to England again to

:

00:45:41,117 --> 00:45:43,547

speak at their national conference.

:

00:45:43,907 --> 00:45:46,997

So, and it all came

from me asking for that.

:

00:45:47,312 --> 00:45:48,482

Referral from stage.

:

00:45:48,482 --> 00:45:50,102

So you gotta A S K to GET.

:

00:45:50,102 --> 00:45:50,462

Baby.

:

00:45:50,612 --> 00:45:52,682

If you don't ask for what you

want, you're not gonna get it.

:

00:45:52,952 --> 00:45:54,752

But there's a couple key

things I said in there.

:

00:45:54,752 --> 00:45:55,742

I just wanna leave every do with this.

:

00:45:56,012 --> 00:45:56,282

Right.

:

00:45:56,862 --> 00:45:58,932

you don't ask for it

right at the very end.

:

00:45:58,932 --> 00:46:01,422

'cause then it just looks like you did all

that and then that's all they remember.

:

00:46:01,422 --> 00:46:01,662

You buy.

:

00:46:01,662 --> 00:46:02,772

Oh, you just ask for referrals.

:

00:46:03,192 --> 00:46:07,302

Leave your best content

for right after the ask.

:

00:46:07,452 --> 00:46:08,022

That's the key.

:

00:46:08,427 --> 00:46:11,097

John: So that's a good thing to

maybe put into the transition to

:

00:46:11,097 --> 00:46:13,077

your plays for your, for your talk.

:

00:46:13,077 --> 00:46:14,307

I, I I like that.

:

00:46:14,357 --> 00:46:15,797

Clinton, this has been a lot of fun.

:

00:46:15,827 --> 00:46:17,357

there's, there's so much

more we could get into.

:

00:46:17,357 --> 00:46:20,057

I think we're gonna have to bring you

back on in the future for another chat.

:

00:46:20,057 --> 00:46:21,307

But, this has been fun for me.

:

00:46:21,307 --> 00:46:22,507

I hope you've enjoyed it too.

:

00:46:22,537 --> 00:46:24,577

And, and for our, our listener.

:

00:46:25,452 --> 00:46:28,092

If you, if you couldn't find

anything to take action on in

:

00:46:28,092 --> 00:46:30,792

this episode, I think you might

be listening to the wrong podcast.

:

00:46:30,792 --> 00:46:34,314

So, find one thing, at least one

thing that you've heard from Clinton

:

00:46:34,314 --> 00:46:35,994

today that you could take action with.

:

00:46:36,324 --> 00:46:38,814

The download links are gonna

be in the show notes for you.

:

00:46:39,124 --> 00:46:41,884

and anything else, all the links and

everything we talked about today,

:

00:46:42,124 --> 00:46:46,324

you will find there and I will,

well, I will see you again next time.

:

00:46:46,384 --> 00:46:48,694

Clinton Will, will invite

you back in the future.

:

00:46:48,754 --> 00:46:50,104

thank you for being such

a great guest today.

:

00:46:51,049 --> 00:46:51,679

Clinton Young: My pleasure.

:

00:46:51,679 --> 00:46:53,959

Y'all think big, say yes and take action.

:

00:46:53,959 --> 00:46:55,639

My final words, six word story.

:

00:46:55,639 --> 00:46:56,269

Think big.

:

00:46:56,599 --> 00:46:58,309

Say yes and take action.

:

00:46:58,429 --> 00:46:58,909

Thanks John.

:

00:46:58,909 --> 00:46:59,269

Appreciate

:

00:46:59,314 --> 00:46:59,854

John: Very nice.

:

00:47:00,910 --> 00:47:04,120

Clinton's referral script is the

most immediately actionable thing

:

00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:07,380

in this episode, and I'd encourage

you to use it, but I don't want

:

00:47:07,380 --> 00:47:09,090

it to overshadow the bigger point.

:

00:47:09,090 --> 00:47:13,050

Underneath everything we talked

about today, you cannot ask elegantly

:

00:47:13,050 --> 00:47:14,550

from a place of uncertainty.

:

00:47:14,850 --> 00:47:18,000

The referral works because

Clinton has done the reps.

:

00:47:18,420 --> 00:47:21,000

He knows his material, he

knows the problem he solves.

:

00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:23,190

He's not in his head on stage.

:

00:47:23,490 --> 00:47:26,160

so he has the presence and

clarity to make the ask feel

:

00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:27,900

generous rather than desperate.

:

00:47:28,500 --> 00:47:31,110

That's the through line of

this whole conversation.

:

00:47:31,410 --> 00:47:32,760

Reps build presence.

:

00:47:32,940 --> 00:47:34,260

Presence builds connection.

:

00:47:34,500 --> 00:47:39,480

Connection creates referrals and referrals

done right to build a speaking business.

:

00:47:39,990 --> 00:47:42,720

If you want to go further with

this, the transcript for this

:

00:47:42,720 --> 00:47:44,430

episode is in the show notes.

:

00:47:44,670 --> 00:47:48,060

Use it to pull out Clinton's

referral script word for word.

:

00:47:48,468 --> 00:47:50,478

In fact, maybe we can even

do one better than that.

:

00:47:50,912 --> 00:47:54,962

I'm gonna ask Claude to pull out

the whole script and put it into a

:

00:47:54,962 --> 00:47:58,912

PDF document for you, and you can

download that directly from the show

:

00:47:58,912 --> 00:48:03,172

notes to save you searching for it,

because it's worth getting it right.

:

00:48:03,922 --> 00:48:06,652

And look out for a little

bonus episode on Friday where

:

00:48:06,702 --> 00:48:10,212

I'm gonna be talking about my experience

bombing in a comedy show last week.

:

00:48:10,752 --> 00:48:11,892

Probably don't wanna miss that.

:

00:48:12,402 --> 00:48:14,532

Alright, wherever you're going,

wherever you're doing, have

:

00:48:14,532 --> 00:48:15,642

an amazing rest of your week.

:

00:48:15,672 --> 00:48:16,842

See you next time.

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About the Podcast

Show artwork for Professional Speaking: Known. Booked. Paid.
Professional Speaking: Known. Booked. Paid.
John Ball helps professional speakers get known, booked, and paid at £10k+ fees.

Listen for free

About your host

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John Ball

John Ball is a keynote coach and professional speaker on a mission to help upcoming leaders master their communication, create impact and stand out as experts in their field.
John left the high life of his flying career to do something more meaningful to him and has since worked with several leading personal and professional development organisations as a lead coach and trainer.
The heart of everything John does involves helping people shift to personal responsibility and conscious awareness of how they show up and perform in every situation, whilst equipping them with the tools to be exceptional.
John also co-hosts The Coaching Clinic Podcast with his great friend and colleague Angie Besignano.
He lives in the beautiful city of Valencia, Spain with his husband and often visits the UK and US for speaking and training engagements. When he's not speaking or podcasting, he's likely to be out swimming, kayaking or enjoying time with friends.

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We haven’t had any Tips yet :( Maybe you could be the first!