Speaker Showreel Secrets

Want more speaking engagements? A Speaker Showreel could be the weapon you’re looking for.

Getting booked on stages, whether physical or virtual, is the most powerful way to share your message and grow your business.

However, it can be overwhelming to develop marketing strategies, create social media campaigns, all while following up leads and nurturing networks. Honestly, it’s a lot.

Enter the Speaker Showreel. When produced correctly, your showreel has the potential to be one of the most powerful sales tools in your marketing armoury. Not only will it magnify your key message, but a speaker demo video will boost personal brand value among those who control the stages you’ve dreamt of speaking on.

Behind-the-scenes secrets

In this episode, join me as I talk with the CEO and Co-Founder of ALTAFY, Emma Hawker. As an accomplished Conference and Exhibition Director of some of Asia’s largest events, Emma will give you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at what international event organisers actually want to see in your showreel. 

You’ll learn:

• The biggest mistakes speakers make when creating Speaker Showreels.

• The essential footage to include in your Speaker Showreel.

• What to do if you have no footage either because you’re new, or because of COVID-19.

If you’re ready to increase your influence and grow your business by sharing your message on stages, join us on this episode!

About our guest, Emma Hawker

Emma Hawker is the CEO and  co-Founder of ALTAFY; an automated self-service Event Tech platform created out of a passion to bridge the gap between Organisers and Speakers to creating more meaningful live events.

An accomplished Conference and Exhibition Director with over 13 years’ experience specialising in the B2B event space, Emma has previously worked in the Aviation, Garment, Personal Development and HR industries.

Accountable for the conceptualisation, planning and management of her previous company (HRM Asia’s) medium to large-scale events, Emma led the well-established and recognised HR Summit & Expo Asia (now ‘HR Tech Festival’) – Asia’s leading and largest Workforce Management show boasting over 4,000 attendees – and was key in winning the Organiser of the Year Award, at the Singapore Experience Awards 2015 (by Singapore Tourism Board).

Emma holds an LLB in English Law and French Law from the University of Reading in the UK. Born and brought up in Monaco, she is a British native and has lived in Singapore with her husband and two children for the past 10 years.

FREE Speaker Showreel Checklist!

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Smartphone Rig: Product Care

Welcome to the league of extraordinary smartphone video creators!

Congratulations on your Smartphone Rig purchase! So you can get the best life out of your new product, we’ve created a list of product care tips. You’ll be creating amazing videos on the go, in no time!

Product Care Tips:

• Don’t expose it to extreme heat. Avoid storing it in places with extreme temperature changes, such as vehicles or near windows.

• Store it in a protective case, so that the adjustment knob and cold-shoe mounts aren’t damaged.

• Keep free of dust. If dust does find its way into the 1/4” threads or adjustment knobs, simply use dry compressed air to blow it out.

• Please keep away from babies and toddlers, as there are parts which can be disassembled.

User Tips:

• When mounting your smartphone, turn the cradle knob just enough to loosen the mounting cradle to the required amount. One to two turns is usually adequate.

• When adjusting the height of the mounting cradle, use two hands. Place one hand on the rig, and use the other to slowly adjust the height of the cradle.

• Don’t let the spring-loaded mounting cradle slam shut. Reduce the height gently.

• Depending on if you’re using your smartphone’s front-facing or back-facing camera, place the phone into the mounting cradle, so that the camera lens is close to the centre of the rig. This will improve the quality of your shot composition, and create greater stabilisation.

• Ensure the V-grip of the cradle doesn’t touch on any buttons on your smartphones. All phones have buttons placed in slightly different positions.

• Use velcro (hook and loop) ties for cable management, so they don’t obstruct the lens.

Do you have your own tips for using the Smartphone Rig? Leave a comment below. Enjoy creating!

Nathan Featured on #12minconvos Podcast

Push Past Your Challenges, and Communicate with Clarity

He’s back! It’s been 2 years since Nathan was first on the #12MinConvos Podcast with Engel Jones, based in the beautiful Caribbean.

Join one of podcasting’s most innovative thinkers Engel, as he talks with Nathan Shooter about pushing past your challenges, to communicate from the inside out, with absolute clarity.

About the Podcast host

On the #12MinConvos Podcast, Engel Jones records conversations with people from all over the world over the internet. Then meets them face to face. He explores the power of a conversation by listening, learning and sharing episodes daily on the quest to help his audience create a brand that is ‘Your Own Unique Real Self’.

Stream it now

Click to stream it on your favourite platform.

LIVE from Personal Brand Summit 2018

What does your Personal Brand and movies have in common? More than you think.

Nathan's keynote presentation from Personal Brand Summit 2018 will teach you how to use the elements of stories and films to start building a strong Personal Brand of your own.

Nathan presenting at the inaugural Personal Brand Summit 2018, Australia.

Start Small to Create Big Change feat. Paul Dunn (Singapore)

Image: YouTube

When you see the need in our world, do you wonder if your contributions will make a difference? TEDx and international speaker Paul Dunn will help you approach generosity in a revolutionary way. Paul has been recognised in Forbes magazine alongside Richard Branson, as being one of the top disruptors of our time.

New-generation generosity.

Reactivate your generosity, as I talk with Paul Dunn, a business leader, four-time TEDx speaker and chairman of B1G1, a social enterprise with a mission to create a world full of giving, using technology that tracks and visualises the impact of its donors. From small beginnings, B1G1 has grown to deliver over 120 million ‘giving impacts’ around the world. 

About our guest, Paul Dunn.

Paul is a respected business leader and a four-time TEDx speaker who frequently travels around the world, educating businesses about B1G1 and sharing inspiring business insights. Paul is often referred to as a wise mentor and has helped countless individuals improve their business operations. He is an expert at building up those around him and celebrating every achievement, no matter how small.

Paul is a member of one of the world’s leading think-tanks and was recently honoured with a Lifetime Service Award to the Accounting Profession in the UK. More recently, he was named as a Social Innovation Fellow in his new home of Singapore.

Nathan Shooter with Masami Sato and Paul Dunn at the B1G1 HQ in Singapore.

What is B1G1?

In 2007, a group of small-business owners had an idea. They asked, “What would happen if we all gave back just by doing the things we do every day?” It was a question that deeply inspired them.

Three years and a great undertaking later, they were able to design the systems and
processes necessary to make it work, and their dream is now a reality. The initiative was originally called Buy 1 Give 1, backed by the idea that companies would make a giving impact with each designated business transaction. Today, the BIG1 initiative has more than 2,100 businesses from around the world—each making significant impacts every day.

Unlike conventional giving models, B1G1 helps small and medium-sized businesses achieve more social impact by embedding giving activities into everyday business operations and creating unique giving stories. This means that every business day-to-day transaction can impact lives for as little as just one cent.

Push Forward feat. Preston Pollard (USA)

Need a boost to keep pushing forward?

Join in my conversation with Preston Pollard, a television personality featured on The Oprah Network, international skateboarder and motivational speaker. You’re bound to be inspired and activated, as we discover the story behind the man. 

Preston tours the world inspiring audiences of all ages with his captivating, inspirational story and the life changing wisdom that he's acquired. From top actors, celebrity children to struggling teens in Compton; Preston mentors and teaches them how to use their imagination and perseverance to push through adversity and reach their dreams.

Nathan with Preston in Los Angeles, 2017.

Essential reading

During the interview, we briefly discussed leaders that had influenced him. Many of these people were authors that have impacted me profoundly over the years as well.

We wanted to ensure you could enjoy them too, so we've included a quick list of recommended reading below:

• Dale Carnegie: My favourite book is How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age (updated edition).
• John C Maxwell: The very first book that I read from him was The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.
• Zig Ziglar: His most classic book is See you at the Top (a book way ahead of it’s time).
• Napoleon Hill: Best known for Think and Grow Rich (it’s about mindset more than money).

Connect with Preston

Website: www.prestonpollard.com
Instagram: @prestonpollard1
Twitter: @prestonpollard
YouTube: Preston Pollard
Facebook: facebook.com/theskateboardingmotivator
 

How to give life-changing Feedback + PDF Cheat Sheet

Listen: 33 min   |   Read: 10 min

Image credit: Pexels

Does your blood run cold when someone says "can I give you feedback?", or when you're asked to give it? You’re not alone.

In a culture obsessed with taking offence, it can be tempting to avoid difficult conversations. Let's look at the 7 aspects of delivering feedback with confidence instead of fear.

Worth the risk.

It may come as a surprise, but working with people is risky. Not everyone is going to get along, and there’ll be moments when we disagree, make mistakes and create messes in the process.

The feedback experience shouldn’t provoke feelings of anxiety and fear, yet it does. This can be attributed to a blend of bad past experiences, and people simply not knowing how to deliver feedback properly. But there is hope.

“Respect is love in plain clothes” - Frankie Byrne

If the way we deliver feedback is motivated by respect and driven by love, then it’s a risk worth taking.

It’s not you... it's... us.

For feedback to be a productive exercise, the onus for improvement falls with both camps; the sender and receiver.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

Senders - common problems

As people delivering correction, there is a propensity to unknowingly come across as superior. This can put the receiver on edge, causing them to become defensive and unreceptive to change - a feedback fail.

Receivers - common problems

As recipients of feedback, we can feel like it’s an opportunity for the other person to tear us to pieces, all in the name of ‘helping’. Being in this emotional state isn’t productive. It can lead to missing out on valuable learnings and can make us vulnerable to feeling hurt - a feedback fail

7 keys to deliver better Feedback

From the outset, it’s helpful to manage your expectations by understanding that feedback isn’t mediation, intervention, discipline or a fight. It is however, a moment to respectfully bring correction to a situation that requires improvement.

When you have plan to deliver feedback, you won’t shy away from difficult conversations, because you know that people are going to grow as a result. Let’s dive into the 7 point plan.

1 - Right people.

Who are the characters involved in your feedback story? It is equally important to know who to include and exclude from the conversation. Consider the following:

1.  Who is the feedback for?

2. Do you have rapport with them?

3. Who is the right person to give the feedback? Could it be someone other than you?

4. Who else needs to be present? Do you, or the other person need support? Both people should be careful not to create the appearance of ganging up.

5. Does the situation require a mediator? If so, this is different from feedback.

6. Who could give advice to you, prior to the feedback session? Mentor, boss etc.

2 - Right time.

The timing of feedback dramatically affects how productive the conversation becomes.

• Immediate: Give feedback as soon as reasonable after a situation has occurred, so that your comments are relevant. As time elapses, the chance of being interpreted incorrectly, increases.

• Delayed: There are times when immediate feedback is not helpful, and can actually make things worse. Rather than giving immediate feedback during time-sensitive, high stress events, instead consider ‘flagging’ a feedback session for later. However, waiting too long can cause people to feel anxious because you’re ‘holding it over their head’.

• Routine: In workplaces, it’s healthy to create an expectation for routine feedback sessions (weekly, monthly.

3 - Right place.

It’s commonly said we should praise in public, and correct in private. How can we implement this advice? You can establish a ‘safe’ place by contemplating the following:

• Common ground: Is there a neutral place that gives both people an equal emotional footing? Eg: a lounge area, instead of a senior office.

• Openness: Consider leaving your door slightly ajar, windows open or meeting outside. This can help depressurise the conversation.

• Formality: Is the feedback session going to be formal for informal? This will affect your choice of location.

4 - Right message.

Before we schedule a time for feedback, we need to ensure that our message is clear and that our motives are pure.

Motivations:

• Reflect on your feelings. Do you genuinely desire to help the other person, or simply get things off your chest?

• Do you want to prove a point? This will create discussion imbalance.

• Upon reflection, is the issue actually of little consequence? Is it even necessary to analyse it?

• Which personal values or emotions do you feel challenged about? Eg: injustice, work ethic etc.

Message:

• Prepare: Do a mental ‘walk through’ how you think the meeting might transpire.

• Issues: Only include a few (2-3) issues. Bringing a long list can leave the recipient feeling attacked.

• Achievable: Focus on issues that the person can actually change. Empower them with hope of improvement.

• Benchmarks: Are there mutually understood guidelines? This will help those involved to understand expectations and promises.

• Forward: Talk in a forward direction, rather than talking in circles and rehashing the issue.

• Action: Encourage them to act as a result of the discussion.

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” – Ken Blanchard

5 - Right method.

As they say, sometimes the medium is the message. The method you choose to convey your feedback through, says more about you and ideas, that you may think. Sending an email might appear like you want to avoid confrontation, when actually you’re emailing because you can better order your thoughts.

Communication methods:

• In person: Best and most courteous option, body language is readily understood.

• Video meeting: Good for long distance teams, although body language is harder to interpret.

• Phone: Moderately effective, relies on vocal tone instead of body language to convey mood.

• Email/Text Message: Risky, more opportunity for tone to be misread.

Regardless of the method of communication you choose, do everything you can to be readily understood. Consider how the communication method will affect the following:

• Your tone of voice.

• Your body language.

• Opportunities to clarify (questions).

6 - Right language.

“Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.” – Frank A. Clark

The language we choose needs to nourish people, yet also be clear enough to prompt change. Here's some points to ponder when it comes to language:

1. Speculation: Stick to what happened, rather than why you think it happened. Presuming you know people’s motives  creates further tension.

2. Impact: Speak about the impact that the person's behaviour had on those around them. It prevents it from becoming too personal, by bringing perspective.

3. Generalisations: Avoid words that create defensiveness, causing the others to shut down. For example, saying they “never” or “always” do a certain thing, discredits your feedback by confusing it with blame.

4. Conjunctive words: Be aware of giving someone a compliment followed by a word like “but”. It can sometimes void the affirmation before the constructive criticism. Conjunctive words include “and, but, or, so and yet” etc.

5. Adjectives: Resist dramatising your points by overusing adjectives.

6. Prepare: Think ahead to how you will respond if the feedback session takes an unexpected turn (for better or worse). This reduces the chance of saying something you live to regret.

7 - Right exchange.

There’s a reason we have two ears and only one mouth. Feedback can be a positive exercise when both parties feel heard and understood. Here’s some tips to managing the exchange:

• Affirm: Establish from the beginning that you value the other person, and as a result respect them enough have a feedback discussion. Be specific in how you affirm.

• Viewpoints: Before presenting your points, offer them an opportunity to share their perspective (often this can reduce points for discussion).

• Pause: After speaking, allow each other to collect their thoughts and respond instead of reacting.

• Wait: Resist interrupting to correct information, allow them time to talk it through.

• Keys: Actively listen for keywords or facts.

• Repeat: In your own words, repeat back to them what you heard they say. This demonstrates that you understand.

• Insight: Ask them to think about what they could do to improve their behaviour/situation, rather than you simply telling them. This creates a healthier sense of responsibility, and increases their motivation to change.

• Balance: Where possible, bring balance by including your own shortcomings if you feel it serves the cause. This creates empathy, by showing them that you’re human too.

The Feedback Hamburger Model

There's plenty of feedback frameworks, but none of them are as simple, or as tasty, as the Feedback Hamburger! We tend to remember things in sets of 3, so this model makes it easy to recall.

• Bun on top = Start by providing genuine, positive affirmation. Demonstrate that you value them by being specific in the comments you offer. Beware of giving meaningless compliments.
• Meat in the middle = Once you've created an positive atmosphere, and the person is receptive, now is the opportunity to provide the constructive feedback comments. 
• Bun underneath = Finish the conversation by again affirming the person.  Ahead of time, carefully consider your closing remarks, as these will be remembered most.

Over to you.

Let’s recap the 7 keys to delivering life-building feedback to those you lead and love:

1. Right people.

2. Right time.

3. Right place.

4. Right message.

5. Right method.

6. Right language.

7. Right exchange.

Action points:

• Which of these elements have you had previous success with?

• Which of them do find difficult?

• Which elements could you focus on more next time?

Have an amazing week, N.

6 Ways to Revive Your Lost Passion

Listen: 30 min   |   Read: 10 min   |   Watch: 15 min

Let’s be honest.

Midway through last year, I experienced a profound passion slump. It wasn’t a dramatic burnout or breakdown experience. Just a temporary feeling of ‘meh’. No doubt many of you have felt the same at some point.

In this article, we’re going to focus ‘passion-lows’ in simpler terms; when you feel like you’ve had your groove stolen. A healthy place to start is by accepting that we’re in a rut, but not accepting it as a final resting place.

Be encouraged. Experiencing the highs and lows of passion is a beautiful expression of what it means to be human; fallible yet fully able.

Note: if you’re experiencing symptoms of burnout or depression, I recommend seeking assistance from a healthcare professional.

Define and conquer

Before we dive into forming a battle plan to revive our lost passion (feeling), it would serve us well to recap the definition as proposed in episode 25 with guest Moustafa Hamwi, an international speaker and subject expert.

Here’s how Moustafa defines it in his eBook “Mastering Passion”:

“Passion is consistently doing what you love, what you are good at, and is of value to the world.”

Let’s break it down:

1. Consistently: you have to keep it going day-in day-out, passion is not a matter of luck, it’s a matter of persistence.

2. What you love: you have to be able to do what you love, or love what you do. It’s a two-way street.

3. Good at: as humans we love results and you will never feel good about something that you’re not good at.

4. Of value to the world: if your passion has no purpose to serve, and does not provide value to others, then it's just a hobby.

Great, now that we vividly understand what passion is, how do we revive it? So glad you asked.

A simple plan

Before you crank up the volume on a Rocky soundtrack and put warpaint on your face, pause. Slow down. Create a plan. A simple plan.

It would be an understatement to say that my ability to overthink things is quite remarkable. If you’re anything like me, then we have a choice to either keep going down the rabbit hole of “poor me I’ve lost my passion” or down a different road to create a clear, simple, fail-proof plan.

Below I’ll share with you the secret plan I used to pull myself out of the passion slump I experienced in part of 2016.

6 Ways to Revive Lost Passion

1 - Revisit Loves & Interests

The things we love often remain consistent, while the things we are interested in, often change.

Your Activity:

1. Think back to when you were younger. What tangible and intangible things, did you love?

2. Now look at the things you were interested in over the last few years. Are you still interested in them now, and to the same extent?

3. Write up your responses on a sheet of paper with a column for each.

4. Are you actively pursuing things you love?

5. Are you focusing on areas of interest that are current, or out of date (often without realising)?

Example:

I love, and continue to love, branding. However the elements of branding I was interested in have changed. After identifying this, I pivoted to areas of greater interest, which has given me renewed energy.

2 - Take opposite action

There are times when we need to trick ourselves into doing what is best for us. To keep things simple for myself, I call it ‘taking opposite action’.

Your Activity:

1. Maintain a ‘vocab log’ for one full day (like a food diary for your vocabulary).

2. Look for patterns of helpful and unhelpful self-talk phrases.

3. Choose phrases or words that you would like to deliberately switch, to create affirmative action.

Example:

“I never seem to have time for my hobbies” could be switched to “I can make time for my hobbies”.

3 - Get active

When you’re in an emotional funk, the last thing you want is for someone to tell you to exercise. In my social media feeds, you won’t find photos of me sipping a kale smoothy at 6am at an indie cafe, after a daily 10 kilometre morning run. Never! But, you will see me staying active.

In a previous episode, I interviewed a fitness expert on how you and I can ‘commit to fit’ by smashing the top 5 roadblocks we experience on our journey to becoming fit.

Broadly speaking, exercise is scientifically proven to boost your mood, improve sleeping patterns and increase energy levels.

Your Activity:

1. Listen to Podcast episode “Commit to Fit: Top 5 Roadblocks to Fitness”.

2. If you need to, accept/forgive yourself for not exercising as much as you could have :).

3. Look for small wins and set achievable goals. Light exercise 2-3 times a week is a great start.

4. Consider boosting your motivation by finding a training buddy.

Example:

I aim to blog and recording after exercise (gym or a short walk). Energy and motivation are often higher as a result.

4 - Cultivate creativity

Over the last 12 months, I’ve placed a big focus on finding ways to ‘do common things, in an uncommon way’. What does this mean? It means looking at your current lifestyle, and finding creative ways to keep the routines feeling fresh.

Consider the things you do, without realising it. Could you be doing them in a fresh and interesting way? Turn off autopilot, and look for different ways to reach the same destination.

Your Activity:

1. Write out an overview of your morning and evening schedule.

2. Then write out your weekly routine.

3. Consider ways that you could refresh the things you already do on autopilot.

4. Think about creating new weekly/monthly traditions with your family and friends.

Example:

This Podcast and Blog was born out of an existing desire to help people, but in a fresh, new way. I thought about the things people were already sharing with me, and I began to realise that there’s probably people around the world experiencing similar things. This meant that I had to push past my fears, publish my thoughts and hopefully help people in the process - ie. same mission, different method.

5 - Discuss your dreams

For some of us, the idea of sharing our dreams and desires with close friends can be daunting. If you’ve had your trust broken in the past, you’ve probably got good motive to keep your heart tightly closed. If that’s you, let me encourage to consider trying again.

As individuals, we function better when we have a sense of community. If we become self reliant in a bid to protect ourselves, we can miss out on the support that our friends want to provide - if we would only ask.

Your Activity:

1. Listen to Podcast episode “How to Review Your Year + FREE eBook”

2. Ask yourself, “what could I be doing to foster a greater sense of community among my friends”?

3. Wisely choose 2 close friends to book a coffee appointment with (separately).

4. What things am I prepared to share with these friends? (create boundaries).

5. In what ways could I reciprocate, and show support for my friends dreams and goals?

Example:

Because I wanted to discuss business dreams, I chose friends who I’ve shared a long history with, and that possessed business experience. We often talk about their business desires in the process.

6 - Reduce cognitive overload

You’ve heard me often say that I believe ‘overwhelm leads to underachievement’. But where do we start? That in itself is overwhelming!

Passion can only be sustainable if we have mental resources available to allocate to it. Last year I started by going on a hunt to find things that were unnecessarily occupying space in my mind. I currently use Asana to capture and organise tasks into categories that I can deal with later.

I’m on a mission to do less, better. Research shows that having more than 3 piles of ‘to do’ things on your office desk can trigger the beginnings of overwhelm.

Your Activity:

1. Count how many ‘to do’ things’ you have on your office desk.

2. Write a list of everything that is currently crowding your mind.

3. Start by listing the issues that haved caused you the most anxiety within the last 72 hours.

4. Write your initials next to the items that require you to act.

5. Then draw a star next to the items that could be delegated to someone else. Start to developing a system to delegate tasks.

6. Draw a diamond symbol against the issues, that after reflection, you feel are not as problematic as you once originally thought :)

7. Which software/apps could you be using to help capture and manage tasks?

Example:

Often times the rush of anxiety provoking tasks come as I’m drifting off to sleep at night. To combat this, I capture these thoughts into an app (like Asana), and then deal with them the coming days. This allows me to fall asleep much faster compared to the nights that I don’t note them down.

Over to you

Now that you’re armed with a plan, you’re well on the way to storming the gates on your mission to retrieve your lost passion. Let’s recap:

1 - Revisit Loves & Interests

2 - Take opposite action

3 - Get active

4 - Cultivate creativity

5 - Discuss your dreams

6 - Reduce Cognitive Overload

Be encouraged, you’ve got this!

Know someone who’s going through a passion low? Support them by sharing this article and podcast with them :)

Note: I receive no affiliate benefit for software mentioned in this article. In relation to health, if you’re experiencing symptoms of burnout or depression, I recommend seeking assistance from a healthcare professional.