Hello Greenblasters!

I’m writing this from the plane, leaving Victoria, BC. Holy shit it’s nice out West:

I arrived here on Tuesday, but couldn’t really enjoy myself until Wednesday, because:

I had to A JOB to do.

I sponsored this event, as I wrote about 2 weeks ago, to share my workshop on the 3-Act Origin Story for a group of $1M-business-owners at Entrepreneurs’ Organization (Canada Bridge Chapter).

I only mention that to say: these guys and gals know their shit.

They not usually impressed by generic sales, leadership, or business advice with slick packaging but no substance. But they also expect a high-quality workshop, that’s well-put together and valuable.

I’m always slightly intimidated speaking to an audience like this, but the thing I find so powerful about the work I do, i.e.:

Teaching people to tell their personal story to connect with audiences and explain their purpose;

I get to test this idea every time I step onstage (or write a personal post, or coach someone, or get on a sales call).

I believe your story is the only thing you have to offer that no one else does.

Or at least, it’s the best way to explain what your “special something” is.

So, armed with that confidence — shaky as it was — I kicked off my session yesterday at 2 pm.

(Quick note: up until 1:58PM I was fiddling with the slides, getting my tech together, and doing deep breathing to calm my anxiety. It’s always a last minute dash for me).

The workshop:

For context, I’ve been teaching the 3-Act Origin Story for a while now (as PART of other talks, and under slightly different names) but I’ve now made it the entire focus of a single workshop.

And - instead of listing a bunch of scientific studies and examples - I just told them my story.

I told a shorter version of the “mini-memoir” I shared with you last week (for about 5-10 minutes I think). I shared photos from the times in my life I mentioned, like this one from my early childhood:

Then I asked the audience a question:

“After hearing that story, how do you feel towards me?”

Luckily, the answers were things like:

• “connected”

• “personal”

• “familiar”

• “I feel like I trust you”

• “happy for you that you’ve survived that”

• “open”

• “empathetic”

This is exactly what I want them to feel, and why i start the workshop with my 3-Act story, to show the audience what it feels like when someone else does it.

The structure itself:

(If you’re interested in learning more about this, I’ll break it down in next week’s newsletter!)

Then, they all wrote their own version of the 3-Act Structure, and 4 volunteers got up to read theirs.

It was beautiful, honestly:

People shared things they never had in public.

They got emotional. The audience got emotional.

People hugged, and said “I never knew that,” and the group - from my perspective - got a little bit closer and built stronger relationships.

What I did wrong:

I don’t think I gave enough examples of HOW to use the 3-Act Origin Story, once it’s written.

A lot of people also said they felt a bit stuck, not sure whether to “start at the end,” or start at the beginning so to speak. I’ll have to chew on that.

What I did right:

Here was the feedback from Talkadot:

“Valuable” and “Interactive” seems to be the consensus, and I got a bunch of leads from this feedback survey, which is awesome.

(If you’re a speaker, use this link for a free 30-day trial of Talkadot. I f*ckin love it, but I also get $75 if you sign up, full discloshe).

So, that brings us to:

Was it worth it?

Yes. I think so.

One the one hand, as I wrote 2 weeks ago, speakers (good & experienced ones) deserve to be paid.

What we do is not easy. It takes years of unpaid labour to get good enough at it to create the kind of experience an audience loves, and that should be compensated.

On the other hand, I just had the best workshop of my life I think.

No bullshit.

The emotion in the room, and the feedback I got, and some of the things people said to me after, made me feel like my work actually means something, more than just being a vehicle for making me money.

My favourite piece of feedback:

NOW:

We’ll see about the ROI (return on investment). I’m going to follow up with all the leads on Monday.

But in terms of the ROE (return on emotion) as Julius Solaris like to say?

Well worth it for me.

PLUS I got to see orca whales with these lovely people:

That’s it for this week! Please reply HUMAN to this email so Gmail knows I’m not a spammer, and to connect through this void of cyberspace.

Greenblast… OUT 🚀

P.S. When you’re ready:

1. Let me help you get onstage with a Speaking Strategy call

2. Join my community Speaking Heroes to for 2 hrs/week of group coaching to accelerate your speaking career

3. Or book an availability call for me to speak at your company