Hey y’all,
Great to see 70 new readers join as we are up to 748.
I don’t know how since I took a bit of a sabbatical from this newsletter but I’m grateful to have each of you here.
Today I want to cover 3 things.
Some quick updates
A breakdown of CT Fletcher’s speaking
Useful storytelling resource
But first this…
Newsletters are hard. Any person that says otherwise is either a savant or a liar. Each week it weighs on your mind. What will I write this week? Will anybody care? How many unsubscribes will I get?
I could write an entire article around all the questions that run through my head. Sometimes the questions win. Like over the past few weeks.
It’s why I went silent.
You see, I love writing. I love sharing my ideas and thoughts. For anyone that knows me they will point out how I love debating. My personality type is…you guessed it, the debater.
I want to test and be challenged. It’s intellectually stimulating. But it also means I debate myself on whether to write my newsletter. I weigh the good and the bad. I play out all the scenarios in my head. I debate myself.
There’s always the sense that its a waste of time. It’s a vanity exercise.
But then something happens.
This week I got a DM on twitter. I didn't know the person. But they reached out to tell me that my newsletter inspired them. They felt a shared journey because they are also a lawyer and now have moved into a different field.
Sound familiar?
And that inspired me because that person said keep writing. They said it made a difference for them. They said it helped them push forward.
So here I am. Writing to you. To tell you that newsletters are hard.
If Jocko were reading this he would just respond with one word.
Good.
Quick Updates
I just finished up being a mentor in Write of Passage. What an incredible course and experience. I’ve learned so much from my time as a student and now as a mentor. I’m excited to implement some new ideas into Performative Speaking.
Speaking of Performative Speaking…the next cohort will begin on November 8. We will be officially announcing the cohort on Monday. If you’re interested in joining just let me know and I can give you a special rate for being a loyal reader.
I’m currently coaching 4 amazing women who are taking part in the Shine Speaker Accelerator. They are preparing a Ted-esque talk and it’s been so much fun seeing their passion, energy, and expertise. It’s been a lot of work but I think it’s more important now than ever to help more people share their message.
I just finished up the Disco Accelerator program for course creators. I decided to partner with Disco to launch my next cohort of Performative Speaking because they are hyper focused on helping established course creators impact more lives on a beautiful platform. The level of support to build out landing pages, the student experience, and the openness to my suggestions has been unbelievable. Disco is doing things right for the course entrepreneur.
The city of Santa Monica stole my car for 9 days and I had to get Texas involved to save it. What a mess.
CT Fletcher is the man behind the saying ISYMFS.
It stands for It’s Still Your Mother F-ing Set.
When you first come across CT he yells a lot. Like A lot. He swears even more. I mean it’s kinda obvious considering his motto.
But I’ve been studying the way he speaks because that’s what I do. I study Kobe, Adele, Chappelle, Obama, Jobs, Musk, Brown, Gorman, JFK, Denzel, and so many more. Both conventional and unconventional.
So as I look at CT something stood out to me. It’s going to surprise you.
He rarely yells when delivering a talk.
Seriously.
He also doesn’t curse that much.
You see what he’s figured out is that by having a public image of yelling and cursing he can pattern disrupt when he gives a talk.
People expect the public persona. But what he actually delivers is a soft spoken delivery. It’s intimate. It’s heavy.
And then in a few key moments he will rise up and deliver with that powerful boom!
It reminded me of Leonidas in 300. Everyone remembers when he yells because most of the time he speaks slowly and quietly.
Lots of lessons there.
Check out this video and warning…there is language.
One of the alums of Performative Speaking posted this article recently in our community and I wanted to share it here.
And here’s an article I wrote recently on what I call Delusional Confidence.
Why delusional confidence like Conor McGregor is good.
What more would you like to see in this newsletter?
See y’all in the next issue,
Robbie