The Nomadic Speaker: Transforming Stage Presence into Shared Experience

John: 00:00:00

What if the way we move through the world, our mindset, our stage

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presence, our connection to others

was more nomadic than we realized.

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In this episode, we are exploring a

philosophy that challenges the static

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scripted approach to speaking and life.

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My guest is Kevin Cottam, former world

class choreographer, turned international

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speaker and author of the Nomatic Mindset.

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And together we're gonna dive into

what it means to be true, present, to

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connect with our audiences, one, and to

move with life rather than against it.

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Kevin's stories from Mongolia to

Morocco reveal how ancient nomadic

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wisdom can guide modern speakers

in becoming more adaptable, more

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grounded, and more magnetic on stage.

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so if you're a speaker who wants to

turn performance into presence and

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connection with your audience at a deeper

level, this conversation might just

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shift the way that you see everything.

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Let's begin.

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Welcome to Present Influence the

Professional Speaking Show for

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speakers and communicators who want

to impact, influence, and inspire.

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My name's John Ball, your guide

on this journey to mastery

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level communication skills.

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Well, I'm very happy to be joined in

the Present Influence Studio today by

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Kevin Cottam, and we are gonna take a

little stroll into the more philosophical

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side of things as we are gonna hear

a little bit about, nomadic mindset

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and why that might be important to us.

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So first of all, welcome Kevin.

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It's great to have you here on the show.

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Kevin Cottam: Thanks so much, John,

and I'm really grateful to be here and

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I've been thinking about presence and

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John: Great.

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Well, I'd love to hear what, what's

been coming up for you as you think

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about presence and presenting.

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Please do.

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Yeah.

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Kevin Cottam: share.

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If you want to hear about it

right now, I will go right at it.

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Because we were talking about the nomadic

mindset, and I was thinking about what is

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the relationship between presence and the

nomadic mindset and also therefore, what

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is that interconnection with speaking as

we had talked about, is this one of the

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pieces so presence is like a gift and

presence is like being in the moment.

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Presence is in the now and we all

have, but I was also doing a little

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bit of research around unity.

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And what is unity?

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So unity is about a union is a oneness.

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So in presence there is a oneness.

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When I think about nomadic cultures and

spending time in Mongolia as well as.

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In Kenya with the Maasai and burgers

in Morocco, in Southern Zahara, and

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also in, Namibia with the Bushman.

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And I was very curious.

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Now when thinking about presence

now, it brought me back to looking

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at them and responding to them

and how they are in presence.

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So some examples are, I was

sitting in a Yurt Inn in

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Mongolia in the Mongolian steps.

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There was my translator, my mentor,

my photographer and our driver as well

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as the man of the house and his wife.

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And they were all sitting in

there and, and the man of the

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house was, this was about probably

about three in the afternoon and.

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He was there very present.

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It was like you could hear, hardly

breathe, hear him breathe, or see him

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breathe and he is completely present.

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And all of a sudden

he'd get up and run out.

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And I, I, I watched this a couple

of times and then I asked the

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question, why is he doing that?

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Why is he getting up and going?

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And then the, the answer was, is

that his animals are calling him.

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And I thought, and now when I think about

it in relationship to presence, is that.

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that union, that unity of oneness,

not only with ourselves, but in that

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non separate state of with our, with,

with nature and with his animals.

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What does that mean for speakers as well?

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That is the presence of that

unity with our audience.

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And that is, is that being still

with them, it's about being,

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understanding, being wherever they

are, how, and when they're li when

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they're speaking or when they are.

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Listening to you watching

you is how are you engaging?

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How are you present with them?

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So I thought that this was really

fascinating in, in reflection.

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Now, talking about this, and then I

also was looking back at, for example,

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when I was with the Bushman Asan as

the medicine man, I, I spent a lot of

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time, interestingly enough, with the

medicine man, of course, I didn't speak

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the language, so I had a translator.

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But the point here was is that I would

watch a game, and there is this incredible

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serenity union feeling of oneness,

not only in their own being, but also

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within their own, within nature of

how the interconnection of nature, and

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then also the traditions, the culture,

all of those are part of that DNA.

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That we have, so if we think about

this, I mean, related to life in period,

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if we think about, also right now you

hear a lot about in the geopolitical

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situation, there's in three big,

elections in last week of Singapore,

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Canada, and and also Australia.

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And what has happened were.

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The two parties that were supposedly

not going to win in Australia

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and Canada, all of a sudden there

was a flip around and they won.

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Due to the disunion, the, the unity of

the country coming behind this anger of

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the, of Trump and, and a variety of his

policies and the terrorists and things

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like that, and this breaking of trust.

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Breaking of friendships.

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The loyalties of which he

is extremely about loyalty.

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If you're not loyal to

him, then you're out.

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Right?

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But he doesn't understand that there

is a relationship outside of that in

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the organiza, in, in countries in pu.

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So there's a huge thing around this

unity, which I think is also in his

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presence, which sits and lives within.

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And just looking at the etymology

of it with the word unity.

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It means oneness and

disunity means separation.

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So most of us, live in separate

lives and say our li we are separate.

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We're not a whole.

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And philosophically you talked about

this, is that, how can we be present?

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Everyone says, oh, you

ought to be present.

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You have to be present with your audience.

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You have to be present in yourself.

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You have to be present with whoever

you're sitting with and whichever.

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How can we necessarily be present when

we are being pulled apart from being one

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John: Yeah.

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Kevin Cottam: right by

all external factors?

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And that fascinated me.

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So how does that all roll back again,

where I'm intertwining everything

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here and the nomadic mindset.

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The nomadic mindset is holistic.

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It is one which is

interconnected with nature.

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It's about movement.

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It is about that internal movement

inside and through, but it's that

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oneness within of the interconnection

of nature, animals, universe,

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whichever is that sense of oneness.

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If you ask nomadic or indigenous people.

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Do they know when to change?

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When weather's going to change?

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How do they know when

things are going to happen?

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They may look at how do you

know which direction to go?

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They look at the sky, they don't

have necessarily a compass.

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At least they didn't in the old days, and

now they probably still have something,

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but they, but the point here is, is

those traditions still hold on and the

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realization that they are part of that,

and I want to be bold enough to say that.

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We still have all of that inside of us.

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We've just forgotten about it.

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Perhaps, through, through our

world of being comfortable money,

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striving for this, this or that.

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But what if we were to enliven,

awaken that even more, right?

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And people may say, oh, that's spiritual.

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Yes, I suppose so.

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I mean, but it is really about

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John: I, I do think this, this is

all really cool in terms of when it

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comes to, my own, my own philosophy or

thoughts around being on the stage and I.

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Being a presenter and a speaker because,

I like what you're saying, it resonates

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for me and I'm sort of thinking, yeah, we

do want to be connected with our audience.

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We want to feel connected with, with

nature as well, and so much of it.

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Cutting out all their modern life

distractions, if you like, that

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probably we don't need to spend

nearly as much time on as we do.

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But they pull us away from a

lot of what really matters.

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And I think sometimes as a speaker,

one of the things, one of the gifts

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we get, when we're on the stage is the

ability to be present with our audience

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and to really connect with them.

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And that does, does come

through things like.

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Like silence.

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Our pauses on stage are just being there.

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And, um, sometimes we can like using

our, our vision to, to connect, being in

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a, what I call peripheral vision state

on stage where you can connect more.

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With the whole audience and using

your movement well on stage as well.

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So all this stuff matters in terms of

how you connect and then how you think

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about your audience, not thinking of them

as being separate to you, but thinking

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of you all as being, a unit together

that we start to, line up in many ways.

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Science is showing that new

neurologically things like, humor

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and laughter starts to sink.

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People's brain wave stories do as well.

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And the whole time you're there,

these are the opportunities that

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you, you are bringing that unity

that you're talking about to a whole.

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Room of people, which is,

which is quite amazing.

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So I, I love what you're saying there,

I think is that there's so much of that

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that fits for, being a speaker that's real

gifts about, of the profession for you as

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a speaker and for your audience as well.

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So, yeah, that, that

really resonates well.

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Kevin Cottam: Yeah, I mean, I think what

you're saying, is, is, is beautiful.

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It also, it really is that interconnection

and, and I think what you started to

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talk about is that, connection, but, we

have to also realize that where we are

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is being present in the space, right?

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And sometimes we forget about

being present in the space.

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The space, the environmental space, right?

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And that is part of the union with us.

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And as often, I mean, I don't know if

you've ever been there, but I've been in

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that situation where I just feel separate.

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Actually, so I'm therefore

not there completely with him.

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I may be in somewhat a authentic

space, but I'm not completely

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grounded in the space, and part of

being present is being grounded.

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And for for many of us

is what does that mean?

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So when we hit on stage, are

we really grounded in our feet?

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Are we grounded in our body?

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And you know, this is what we talk

about as dancers and anybody that

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moves are you really truly grounded?

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And actors will say, I'm not in my legs.

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And if you're not in your legs,

then you aren't present because

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you are top heavy, right?

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And so then you get.

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Talking heads, right, is there's nothing.

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Your breathing is high and you need

to, to be present in that breath, to

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be lower so that you are grounded,

your voice is even stronger.

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All of these things, and that's

part of our physiology of, of

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that interconnectedness and, and

the audience, they feel right.

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They sense, don't you?

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Don't you think they sense where we are?

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They can read.

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I mean, they may not

consciously be thinking

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John: in life we're always

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Kevin Cottam: they're

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John: picking up, conscious

and unconscious cues from

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people we interact with.

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We're always sensing energies around

people and, and we do get, whether

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we, whether we consciously register

it or not, we do get a sense of

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whether someone is present or not.

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We.

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We'll get a sense of whether

somebody feels secure or not.

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Probably one, one thing prob

everyone could relate to is when

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we were all at school, if your

teacher was away and someone was

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subbing in for the teacher, right?

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You could tell whether that person, within

seconds, kids can tell whether, is that

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person confident in what they're doing?

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Or can we get away with murder here and

just mess around and, and wind them up?

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It's we, we pick up on this stuff really.

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Kevin Cottam: Yeah.

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John: Really quickly and, and often

without realizing what those cues are.

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Kevin Cottam: Yeah.

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And I think that this is, you know,

as you were talking about this and

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I was just thinking about the space

and thinking about the audience and,

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and thinking about the presence.

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And I mean, some people will go out

into the audience and shake their hands

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or whichever, and, things like that.

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And, and I often wondered why.

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And, but now I just had

another thinking about that.

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This, this actually is a beautiful

way of that interconnection.

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And it is not about the separation,

it's about pulling people in and, and

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also you being pulled into who you are,

breathing from a different point of

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view, looking into the eyes, you know,

a bit of touch that senses, right?

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And this is all part of presence.

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So when.

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When, when we talk about the nomadic

mindset, it's also very, very

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important to understand that it's about

adaptability, it's about resilience,

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it's about freedom, and it is all

about finding new opportunities past.

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'cause you see things from a wider

perspective, and this is exactly what

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we need today and this is exactly what

the world is asking all of us to do.

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Through, if we think geopolitically

people are starting to find new ways

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of trading partners and all sorts of

things, so they're thinking outside

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of the traditional ways forward.

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And this as speakers, we also cannot

stay in the same lane all the time.

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Right.

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Is we need to adapt, we

need to find new messages.

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Sure.

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Many people say this, do the same speech

over and over because you know the

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client wants that same speech over again.

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Because I love that speech.

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I was so, I'm like.

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But again, if we do, one of the

important things about what acting is,

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is when they do things on a repetition,

back over and over and over again,

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is they will ask themselves, what

is something new I can find today?

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I.

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So this is an important factor.

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So every time we hit stage or

every time we do something is

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what is something new I can find.

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It can be just a small things like

a tweak of the way you see somebody,

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or the way you look or the way

you pause or the way you stand.

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Just a small something which shifts it so

that it is not so repetitive, and that's

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how something new grows in our world.

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That, again, is being present

in the awareness and the

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John: like the way, the way you

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Kevin Cottam: of asking that question,

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John: of the things about most keynote

speakers will have one or two or sometimes

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more, but at least a couple of talks that

they'll do regularly and probably will

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make some more changes to them over again.

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But one of the gifts of having a practice

talk that you know really well and going

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deliver anywhere is that you do have

then a bit of improvisational flexibility

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and an opportunity to focus in on.

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Making something a bit special and

different, like we always have to

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be thinking about how can we grow,

how can we keep it exciting for

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us and and really hone our craft?

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And I think if you're always

having to create new talks all the

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time, you don't get so much of an

opportunity to do that as you do with

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a well crafted, well practice talk.

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I, I just wanted to come back for a

second to what you were saying about,

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going, going out into the audience as

well because I, I noticed, a lot more

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of that happening if you, you look

at a lot of modern, music concerts.

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A lot of the staging will go out into

the, into an audience area where people

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have more, you know, people can reach

up and shake hands while touch their,

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their, idol, their pop star and it.

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There are these, a lot more of

these things now that break down the

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barrier, if you like, between, the

person on the stage and the audience

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that's out there with them as well

and bring people all closer together.

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People venting, seen recently acrobatics

where they're kind of going out

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into the audience and connecting.

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I.

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I'm not gonna be doing that from

the stage, but some, some things

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that break down that, that barrier

that is like, there's not really the

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making, highlighting that there's

not really a gap between me and you,

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I think is really beneficial for the

deepening of a relationship and a

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connection with the audience as well.

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So I love that you brought that up.

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It's like there, as you think, as

you said it, I was thinking, yeah,

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I see a lot of that, in different.

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Different formats, and I've seen it

with, some of the things that people

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are doing with their presentations

on stage as well as speakers.

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So I, I just wanted to hop back

to that just just for a moment.

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Can I ask you, Kevin, when we first

spoke, one of the things that I first

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mentioned to you was that I, I'd had

an idea of like a nomadic lifestyle

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and stuff, and I thought maybe that

was partly what you were talking about.

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And it's so much more than that, I know.

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But for those people are thinking, oh,

you know, I'm not really into that sort

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of nomadic lifestyle and stuff like that.

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It's like, don't panic this, that's not

exactly what we're talking about here.

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Can can you sort of lay down maybe the,

principle and philosophy of the nomadic

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lifestyle, not nomadic mindset for us?

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Kevin Cottam: Sure, it

is very interesting.

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: 00:17:32

I mean, what you're saying is very

real is that, some people come up

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: 00:17:36

to me and say, oh, I love traveling.

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: 00:17:38

It's really, really great and I

must have a man nomadic mindset.

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: 00:17:40

And I say, well, not necessarily.

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: 00:17:44

It depends on how you travel.

311

: 00:17:47

And the point here is, is that

one of the things that I learned

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: 00:17:51

was what is the meaning of nomad?

313

: 00:17:54

And that's where I love to look at the,

the ol etymology of words and also then

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: 00:18:00

the expansion of what words can mean.

315

: 00:18:01

Because we have, generally, we have a very

narrow perspective of words or language.

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: 00:18:06

And hence we then just see one thing.

317

: 00:18:09

And what we as speakers are to

do, are to help people expand.

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: 00:18:13

As coaches, we're here to expand

people's ideas and thoughts.

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: 00:18:17

So the, when I was, in Mongolia in, I

had a meeting with a woman by the name

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: 00:18:24

of back, row bat, and she was head of

the, the branding Council of Mongolia.

321

: 00:18:28

And I said to her, you know, what

is the true meaning of nomad?

322

: 00:18:32

And, she was very, very, had

these beautiful big eyes and the

323

: 00:18:37

smile that went from ear to ear.

324

: 00:18:38

And she had this smile and this

very deep and sultry voice.

325

: 00:18:42

And, she said in her, in

Mongolian, the translator said.

326

: 00:18:47

She said, she looked at me with her

finger and she says, it's not, but

327

: 00:18:50

you think it's, and I was fascinated.

328

: 00:18:52

I thought, oh, I've got it all wrong

because I got the dictionary version.

329

: 00:18:58

A tribe or a group of people that are

moving from place to place without

330

: 00:19:01

any home and to find new pastures.

331

: 00:19:04

Well, she said to me, it is

the movement of the mind.

332

: 00:19:08

The movement of the mind.

333

: 00:19:09

The movement of the mind.

334

: 00:19:11

So what does that mean?

335

: 00:19:12

It was like when she told me that

I just felt all of a sudden there

336

: 00:19:14

were fireworks going off in all

of my, my, all parts of my body.

337

: 00:19:18

'cause I just thought, oh

my God, this is so fresh.

338

: 00:19:21

This is so beautiful.

339

: 00:19:22

What does this mean?

340

: 00:19:23

And it, and it was a massive

expansion of what does it mean?

341

: 00:19:26

So it means that, as I say, it

is about movement initially.

342

: 00:19:32

All right?

343

: 00:19:32

Movement.

344

: 00:19:33

And we are never not moving.

345

: 00:19:36

So that doesn't mean we

are geographically moving.

346

: 00:19:38

That can be one of the ways of moving,

but it's not just being like a digital

347

: 00:19:43

nomad, that we're moving to a place to

find somewhere cheap so that we can have

348

: 00:19:47

great internet and we can work from there.

349

: 00:19:50

That is a possibility, but the way I

see it and the way I work with this, and

350

: 00:19:56

when I look at mindset, it's not just

the mind as neuro neuroscience says.

351

: 00:20:03

We have three brains, the

mind, the heart, and the guts.

352

: 00:20:05

The intuition, and this is what the nomad

is, is the nomad is moving through you.

353

: 00:20:10

Moving through you, and so that there's

very limited blockages of borders.

354

: 00:20:15

We allow ourselves to have this freedom

of movement, of thinking, of expansion,

355

: 00:20:20

of innovation, of creativity, of ideas,

of paths, whichever it is, that feeling,

356

: 00:20:26

that curiosity is our real focus.

357

: 00:20:30

That's playfulness of, of what is this?

358

: 00:20:33

It's like children's eyes.

359

: 00:20:35

What is this?

360

: 00:20:36

What can be something new, fresh?

361

: 00:20:40

Because as we become older from children

where playfulness is really vibrant,

362

: 00:20:46

where the nomad in them is so vibrant.

363

: 00:20:49

A way through educational culture

get narrower, narrow, and narrow.

364

: 00:20:52

And we cut that out, that nomad feeling,

and then we're told, no, we can't move on.

365

: 00:20:57

We shouldn't be, we gotta stick in

one situation, one place, whichever.

366

: 00:21:02

And that is part of it.

367

: 00:21:04

So it is really this freshness of

fullness, which is completely holistic.

368

: 00:21:10

Interconnected.

369

: 00:21:10

The nature of the universe.

370

: 00:21:12

Everything is interconnected.

371

: 00:21:13

And where I talk about in my book.

372

: 00:21:16

Three different mindsets, which from

you understanding the three words you

373

: 00:21:23

can probably start to think about is

the avatar, the strengths, the shadow

374

: 00:21:27

sides of them is a nomadic mindset, a

builder mindset, and a settler mindset.

375

: 00:21:32

We have all three of

these living inside of us.

376

: 00:21:35

We have a dominance for

one more than another.

377

: 00:21:39

They can shift and change

within a conversation.

378

: 00:21:41

We can go flowing back

and forth if we wish.

379

: 00:21:45

And, but the point here is about

being able, the nomad is allowing us

380

: 00:21:51

to be flexible between all of them to

say, okay, I need to be more builder.

381

: 00:21:55

I need to settle for a moment so that

I can reap the harvest of this job or

382

: 00:22:01

this position or this place, or whatever

I'm thinking about, settle for a bit.

383

: 00:22:06

And then when the move, when

the gut and intuition and the

384

: 00:22:10

nomads it, it's time to move.

385

: 00:22:13

Time to move on.

386

: 00:22:14

And without fear.

387

: 00:22:17

And so it's probably a long way around

it to explain it, but hopefully that has,

388

: 00:22:23

elucidated the, the, the variation on the

389

: 00:22:27

John: Yeah.

390

: 00:22:27

Does, does it relate then perhaps in some

ways to, not just to being maybe grow

391

: 00:22:34

growth focus, but also to, to keeping.

392

: 00:22:39

Keeping a mind, keeping your

mind moving, keeping, your life

393

: 00:22:43

embracing change really, rather than

perhaps resisting it or holding,

394

: 00:22:48

it's like saying, it's welcome.

395

: 00:22:49

It's, maybe even more to a sort

of life flow, more long-term

396

: 00:22:54

flow state in our lives.

397

: 00:22:56

I mean, I'm not sure if I'm expressing

that well, but does these things relate

398

: 00:22:59

to, to the nomadic mindset for you?

399

: 00:23:03

Kevin Cottam: I, it is completely in flow.

400

: 00:23:05

All right.

401

: 00:23:05

It's in flow because the universe

is in flow and if you think

402

: 00:23:09

about nomadic cultures, they're

completely one with everything.

403

: 00:23:12

And that is, they flow with it.

404

: 00:23:14

They flow with the nature of

the animals, which where the

405

: 00:23:17

animals, they flow with seasons.

406

: 00:23:19

We also.

407

: 00:23:20

Flow with the seasons, but

we don't recognize that we're

408

: 00:23:23

flowing with the seasons.

409

: 00:23:25

You know, for example, seasons change.

410

: 00:23:28

So we shift, if you live in the northern

hemisphere, you shift even more because

411

: 00:23:33

you don't have the heat all year round.

412

: 00:23:36

So you have different

clothes, you eat differently.

413

: 00:23:38

All of these things are

shifts and adjustments.

414

: 00:23:41

These are changes and

we do them naturally.

415

: 00:23:44

And nature shows it that change

is normal and change is something

416

: 00:23:48

that we do all the time.

417

: 00:23:51

I mean, it's the bigger changes

that we have problems with the macro

418

: 00:23:55

changes, which we feel our jobs, money

loss, all these things, but that's

419

: 00:24:02

where we have to really look into.

420

: 00:24:07

How the nomad can be very

plentiful in this so that the, your

421

: 00:24:11

richness of the flow and, and not

422

: 00:24:18

John: That's something I was getting a

sense of is like there's an element of

423

: 00:24:21

this that's very much about, removing

stuckness from, from our lives and,

424

: 00:24:25

and getting, getting ourselves unstuck.

425

: 00:24:27

And I think, no, I could certainly make

it and probably I least I can as well,

426

: 00:24:30

that there's many times in life where

you do feel in a bit of a wr or you

427

: 00:24:34

feel stuck somewhere you just can't.

428

: 00:24:36

Maybe the stuckness is that you can't.

429

: 00:24:38

Live where you wanna live, but maybe

it's, you can't get to a level you want

430

: 00:24:41

to get to, or maybe you just feel, a

little restricted in, in your life.

431

: 00:24:46

But we all have that in

some way, shape, or form.

432

: 00:24:49

And so if we have a more nomadic

way of thinking about it, we can

433

: 00:24:54

perhaps help ourselves to just let go.

434

: 00:24:58

Maybe.

435

: 00:24:58

I mean, would you say it's more

about, more about letting go and

436

: 00:25:01

flowing through it rather than pushing

yourself in a particular direction?

437

: 00:25:07

Kevin Cottam: It is about letting

go, but it's also really about seeing

438

: 00:25:10

it all as an opportunity, right?

439

: 00:25:14

So, and that comes the curiosity

when I was, with the Berber in,

440

: 00:25:19

in the Southern Sahara, they say.

441

: 00:25:23

We see everything as an opportunity.

442

: 00:25:25

We even see the sand as an opportunity.

443

: 00:25:28

The way the wind blows, the sand,

the way the texture of the sand,

444

: 00:25:32

the, the sky is an opportunity.

445

: 00:25:34

All of it is an opportunity.

446

: 00:25:37

And so when you see that and feel that

you start to widen your possibilities,

447

: 00:25:45

whether you use them or not is

one other thing altogether, but it

448

: 00:25:48

allows you to have that moment of I.

449

: 00:25:52

Exploration that wonder the

possibilities that can happen.

450

: 00:25:58

And what usually gets us in that when

we do see that inching forward is all of

451

: 00:26:02

a sudden fear coming in and saying, no,

don't you know it's better to be safe.

452

: 00:26:09

Well, who said it's not safe?

453

: 00:26:11

You know, it's, it's too, if it's too

safe, you're not going to learn anything

454

: 00:26:16

the way you think about elite athletes.

455

: 00:26:19

Elite.

456

: 00:26:20

And artists or even big businessmen, they

know that if they become true stuck and

457

: 00:26:26

too stationary and they stop learning

and growing, they're not going to win.

458

: 00:26:32

They're not, and it's all about winning

for an athlete or if it's a dancer, it

459

: 00:26:36

is to be the best they can be, right?

460

: 00:26:39

That if we get too complacent, they're

not going to get to the next level.

461

: 00:26:45

It can be just a minute

small inch forward.

462

: 00:26:50

But if we just stay backwards and

watch it, we watch our life go by.

463

: 00:26:55

John: Yeah.

464

: 00:26:55

Yeah.

465

: 00:26:55

This is, probably one of the earliest

philosophical questions I ever asked

466

: 00:26:59

myself, or when I felt like I was a

bit of an observer in my own life.

467

: 00:27:02

It's like, well, recognizing I had

the choice so I could either stay

468

: 00:27:06

observing my own life or I could take

action and do something about it.

469

: 00:27:10

I've got a whole book in me

about that very thing alone.

470

: 00:27:13

You know, it's like, that was a

huge, a huge shift for me of just,

471

: 00:27:17

connecting with life and, and.

472

: 00:27:21

Instead of retreating into my head and my

imagination, which is what I would often

473

: 00:27:25

do instead, that life was actually you.

474

: 00:27:29

Life could actually be way better

when you're engaging with it and, and

475

: 00:27:33

acting, with it, rather than trying to

imagine what your life could be like

476

: 00:27:38

or trying to create a, an imaginary

world for yourself to escape it all.

477

: 00:27:42

I love the reframe on, I, I've used

it, I've used it a million times myself

478

: 00:27:46

with coaching clients, about every

challenge having opportunity within it.

479

: 00:27:52

Because that's always the case, like

there's always opportunities for growth.

480

: 00:27:55

We may not always know exactly what

they are, but if we embrace challenges

481

: 00:27:59

and difficulties as opportunities as

though I'm gonna find the opportunity in

482

: 00:28:03

this, I think it is a much healthier I.

483

: 00:28:04

Mindset for us to take.

484

: 00:28:06

So there's a lot of this philosophy,

like, I'm definitely gonna have

485

: 00:28:08

to dive, a bit more as well.

486

: 00:28:10

But let me ask you for our

listener, because I do like to

487

: 00:28:12

have these more philosophical

episodes every now and again.

488

: 00:28:15

I think the last time was probably

with the last time was probably

489

: 00:28:17

with a guy called Donald Robertson

and was, we were talking about

490

: 00:28:19

Kevin Cottam: I'm grateful.

491

: 00:28:21

John: was very kind.

492

: 00:28:22

It was a bit of a masterclass, really.

493

: 00:28:24

And I feel like you're doing that for

us today as well, so I appreciate that.

494

: 00:28:27

For our listener who's maybe thinking,

well, yeah, this sounds good.

495

: 00:28:29

I'd like to, you know, first maybe

like to find out a bit more about

496

: 00:28:32

you, but maybe there's some things

I could do today to bring a little

497

: 00:28:36

bit of nomadic mindset into my life.

498

: 00:28:39

What would you say to our listener?

499

: 00:28:41

I.

500

: 00:28:42

Kevin Cottam: Well, let me share with you

something I was told by a Messiah warrior

501

: 00:28:46

and maybe this could be very helpful.

502

: 00:28:48

There are some ways forward.

503

: 00:28:49

So he says, when you are facing a lion,

and of course where you're, I mean

504

: 00:28:54

you've been to South Africa, you've been

to Africa, so you know, this is that

505

: 00:28:57

when you're facing a lion and a lion is

anything today, it's the politics, it

506

: 00:29:02

is the teachers, it's whatever it is.

507

: 00:29:04

It could be a lion, is that

you need to be very still.

508

: 00:29:08

You need to be alert at the

same time as being still, you

509

: 00:29:11

need to observe 360 degrees.

510

: 00:29:14

Listen in internally

and listen externally.

511

: 00:29:19

Be very intuitive and listen to that.

512

: 00:29:21

Be curious and those,

and connected to nature.

513

: 00:29:26

So all of these are.

514

: 00:29:29

Places that you can be to start

opening up to being and having an and

515

: 00:29:34

alivening that nomad, which is in you.

516

: 00:29:36

And at the same time is a saying,

is to allow yourself, allow yourself

517

: 00:29:43

the freedom to expand, to find

curiousness, to find playfulness,

518

: 00:29:48

wonderment in almost anything you do.

519

: 00:29:51

And yeah, I get it.

520

: 00:29:52

Sometimes it's difficult.

521

: 00:29:53

If you allow those principles to, to be

with you, you can see it from, see them

522

: 00:29:59

from a nomadic point of view of freedom

of movement, then you'll have another,

523

: 00:30:05

opinion of what movement is 'cause you are

524

: 00:30:08

John: for our listener who would like

to know a little more about the nomadic

525

: 00:30:12

mindset and, and maybe about you as well.

526

: 00:30:14

What's the best way for.

527

: 00:30:15

Coming to find out some more.

528

: 00:30:17

Kevin Cottam: Well if you are

on LinkedIn, the best way is

529

: 00:30:19

to connect with me on LinkedIn.

530

: 00:30:22

Also, just so you all know, is

that I'm starting what is called

531

: 00:30:26

the nomadic mindset Awakening.

532

: 00:30:28

It's a free masterclass and it starts on.

533

: 00:30:31

The on, on May 21st, and

it's a six part series.

534

: 00:30:36

And I will be sharing different aspects of

what is the nomadic mindset and it's free.

535

: 00:30:41

And, it's my duty to serving my clients

and also to whoever is interested in

536

: 00:30:49

becoming more nomadic in their thinking,

and also more awakened in many ways.

537

: 00:30:55

So that, and so it's, it's there.

538

: 00:30:57

It's on LinkedIn.

539

: 00:30:58

You can register or

540

: 00:30:59

John: check that out,

into, into the show notes.

541

: 00:31:01

And I encourage it.

542

: 00:31:02

This is, this is very accessible

and this is practical stuff that's

543

: 00:31:05

going to, at the very least.

544

: 00:31:07

Help you feel a little more connected,

but probably make some good shifts

545

: 00:31:11

and some good reframes in your life

that will be more positive and, and

546

: 00:31:16

help us to rise to the challenges that

come up to flow more, to move more.

547

: 00:31:21

And, I, I really like what

we've talked about today.

548

: 00:31:24

Kevin, I, I.

549

: 00:31:24

Really grateful for you giving your

time to come and talk to us about this.

550

: 00:31:28

And, I'm certainly gonna be looking

into this a bit more, and I hope for

551

: 00:31:31

our listen as well that you found

at least one thing, if not more,

552

: 00:31:35

to take away from today's episode.

553

: 00:31:37

So, thank you for coming and

sharing with us today, Kim.

554

: 00:31:39

I.

555

: 00:31:39

Kevin Cottam: Thank you very much, John.

556

: 00:31:40

I really appreciate it.

557

: 00:31:41

And, the last thing that I would

say is, is that if people are

558

: 00:31:44

interested in my book, the nomadic

mindset never set up for too long.

559

: 00:31:48

It is in English and it's on Amazon.

560

: 00:31:50

So if you're interested in that, I.

561

: 00:31:52

It takes you to another stage as well.

562

: 00:31:54

But reach out if you wish and I always

love to hear from different people and,

563

: 00:31:58

John: Our Phil philosophy is

really important as speakers and

564

: 00:32:01

I, I probably should do more, more

episodes along this track as well

565

: 00:32:04

because I think it helps us all now.

566

: 00:32:06

Kevin, thanks once again

and, yeah, go think nomadic,

567

: 00:32:11

I.

568

: 00:32:12

Kevin Cottam: Yes.

569

: 00:32:13

John: so what's your line and

how can stillness, curiosity,

570

: 00:32:16

and unity help you face it?

571

: 00:32:19

Not as a performer, but as a

present connected human being.

572

: 00:32:24

Kevin, remind us today that

presence is a union between us, our

573

: 00:32:27

audience and the space we share.

574

: 00:32:29

The stage isn't a platform

to stand above others.

575

: 00:32:32

It's a space to stand with them.

576

: 00:32:35

If you are ready to think more

nomadically and speak more

577

: 00:32:38

meaningfully, check the show notes

for Kevin's book and free masterclass.

578

: 00:32:42

And if you enjoy today's episode,

follow review and share it with a

579

: 00:32:45

fellow speaker who's ready to go deeper.

580

: 00:32:48

So until next time, stay

present, stay curious, and

581

: 00:32:51

never settle for standing still.