- How in the world, two professional speakers
get paid so much?
To answer that question, I'm going to react to a story
told by Ed Mylett.
He's a professional speaker, author, and business person.
In the clip, you'll hear him say,
he's told this story numerous times over the years,
and I'm assuming he means while giving presentations.
The reason I'm breaking down this particular story
is that it's excellent.
It's really inspirational.
But the added educational benefit
is that by watching professional level speakers
tell a great story like this,
we can become better storytellers ourselves.
We will watch and enjoy the whole thing together
all the way through,
and then I'll offer some observations,
and I'll explain why it works so well.
- I know what it's like to come from a place growing up
of anxiety and worry and fear.
And I spent a lot of my life as an insecure person,
you know, not a lot of self-confidence.
And through the tools I'm gonna help you with today
and some of the stories I'll tell you,
I think I'm an example that you can turn those things around
in your life, if you're just willing to grow,
willing to dream.
And most importantly, maybe your heart's in the right place
where you wanna serve and help other people.
For me, just so you know a little bit about my story.
I didn't really realize that until I was probably
in my early '20s.
I was a pretty good athlete.
I played high school and then college baseball.
And in scholarship,
I was destined to go play professional sports.
And for whatever reason, that didn't work out.
And I found myself in my early '20s back at home,
living at my parents' house unemployed.
That's where my business career to hundreds of millions
of dollars started for me.
Believe it or not, it started in my little bedroom
I grew up in.
Same posters on the wall, same teddy bear on the bed,
eating out of my mom and dad's refrigerator with no job.
And I've always said that everything in our lives
happens for us and not to us,
even the most difficult things.
And ironically, my dad was an alcoholic
when I was growing up.
And it believe it or not, that happened for me
and not to me.
Even the hardest things in your life someday,
when you get on the other side and you win,
you're gonna find out that was all part of God's plan.
That was all there to help you.
Not necessarily hurt you long-term.
It happened for you and not to you.
And so for me, my dad had just gotten sober.
I was unemployed, living at his house.
My dad's one of those man's man, you know like, Hey brother,
you need to get back up and go to work.
And I was sort of looking for a job, but not really.
And maybe this surprises you, you know,
when you see my social media or my podcasts and stuff,
I seem to really be, have my act together.
Remember that's the after, the before is I'm unemployed
on my mom and dad's couch, sleeping in the same bed
I grew up in.
My dad comes home from his first AA meeting to get sober.
First meeting, comes home and I said, dad, how was meeting?
Ah, you know, we're getting sober.
And he goes, I got you a job.
I said, you got me a job?
What is it?
As if I had a lot of options, he goes,
you don't have the options.
I don't know what it is.
But you show up in San Dimas tomorrow morning
at McKinley Home for Boys.
So I don't know what is he goes,
I don't know either, but at six bucks an hour,
that shows you how old I am.
And show up there in the morning, get up early.
So sure enough, I go, all right, I get up,
I walk in there.
And what I had found out was that this was an orphanage,
basically an orphanage.
It was a giant campus of group homes,
like hundreds of boys and all these little boys
were wards of the court.
Most of the boys their were...
The parents were dead, incarcerated,
or had molested them.
These precious little boys.
And here I am kind of this cocky, former athlete, you know.
And I walk into cottage eight, sorry.
I've told this story many times.
And for some reason today I'm more emotional
than usual about it.
I walked into cottage eight and it changed my life.
There were 12 boys there that day.
My boys were all eight to 10 years old.
Right, when I walked in that morning,
they're all getting ready for school.
I got chills all over right now.
All the boys stopped and looked at me,
like who's the new guy.
And I saw all these little eyes looking at me.
And I recognize those eyes because I have similar eyes.
I have this theory that any child that grew up
in some real-dysfunction, drug addiction, alcoholism,
abuse, divorce, stress, and yelling in a house.
Our eyes are just different.
We just want people to love us.
And these boys had my eyes.
And my life changed because instantly my life
had to become about serving these boys.
You know what these boys wanted in their life?
Remember this lesson number one to write down.
Know what my boys really wanted?
Somebody to love them, care about them,
believe in them and show them how to live better.
That's what they wanted.
The greatest mentors in my life loved me, cared about me,
believed in me and showed me how to make a better life.
And so my life changed.
I was their father, their big brother.
I took them to school every day.
I was there when they'd open their presents on Christmas.
I was there when they bring home their grades from school,
I did homework with them.
I put them to bed at night.
And it changed my life,
because for once in my life, I found out, man,
I love helping people.
I love making a difference in people's lives.
I love it.
And I would have never left there
except I couldn't have my own family living there.
In business, I've spent my entire business career
from the premise of serving other people.
My own needs, second.
Loving, caring, believing, and showing people
how to live a better life in every single way.
That's what I do on my Instagram, my social media,
my podcasts, my YouTube, all the company I'm involved with.
And that's what I recommend you do.
I learned my greatest business lessons
at McKinley Home for Boys.
Eight, nine, and 10 year old boys changed my life.
I found out man, I love helping people more,
but I like being important.
I love making a difference in their lives.
- Oh, this is a powerful story.
And here's why it works so well.
First, Ed Mylett is a living example of his message.
This is by far the main quality
that separates the highest level professional speakers
from the rest of the crowd.
He even explains directly that his story shows
that he's an example of that.
That you can turn those things around in your life.
- I think I'm an example that you can turn those things
around in your life, if you're just willing to grow.
- Most of the elite professional speakers
are living examples of their message.
You can mix in other people's stories here and there,
but there's an old expression for writers.
Write what you know.
And the same goes for a public speaking,
stick to what you know best.
Look for the stories that demonstrate
that you are a living example of your message.
Second, he uses the classic storytelling structure,
beginning, middle, and end.
And then there's a moral to the story.
The structure or story arc is what makes it sound
like a story instead of just a bulleted list of facts
about his life.
If you wanna get better at storytelling,
use this framework.
And here's how he does it.
At the beginning, he explains that he was in his '20s
and he had a problem.
He was brokenhearted from not becoming a pro athlete.
He had no direction, no job, no purpose.
- It started in my little bedroom I grew up in.
same posters on the wall, same teddy bear on the bed,
eating out of my mom and dad's refrigerator with no job.
- In the middle of the story, he found a possible solution,
when his dad helped him get a job.
- Comes home, and I said, dad, how was meeting?
Ah, you know, we're getting sober.
and he goes, I got you a job.
- And by the end, he gets the benefits.
He has grown.
He learned life lessons about himself
by working with the boys.
- And it changed my life because for once in my life,
I found out, man, I love helping people.
- Almost all of the great stories, follow that structure,
beginning, middle, and end.
And he adds the moral to the story.
That's the lesson learned where he says,
I love helping people.
I love making a difference in people's lives.
And the bigger inspirational lesson,
the real reason he's telling this story is to inspire us,
his listeners, that you can change too.
You can grow to.
Third, his story transports us.
We love to listen to stories instead of dry facts
and figures, because stories can take us anywhere.
There's a concept called 'transportation'.
In addition to these story arc mentioned,
he uses vivid language and details that transport us
into the world of the story.
He talks about the McKinley Home for Boys,
and walking into cottage eight,
and how there are 12 boys there that day,
looking at him.
- There were 12 boys there that day.
My boys were all eight to 10 years old.
- He doesn't speak in generalities,
he specific and detailed.
I don't know about you, but I could picture the situation
as he described it.
He uses stories to transport us.
And forth, he has made a deliberate decision
to cut out a lot.
I know that because I watched this more than once
and there were no tangents.
Every sentence is in there for a reason.
For example, the beginning,
he focused on some important details
like his father's alcoholism.
- And ironically, my dad was an alcoholic
when I was growing up.
- He included that because he knew that that detail
would matter by the time he got to the end.
Like when he talked about looking at the eyes of those boys
and being able to relate to their pain and abuse.
- And I saw all these little eyes looking at me.
And I recognize those eyes because I have similar eyes.
I have this theory that any child that grew up
in some real-dysfunction, drug addiction, alcoholism,
abuse, divorce, stress, and yelling at a house.
Our eyes are just different.
We just want people to love us.
- Everything connected.
And it takes discipline to make those hard choices
about what to leave in and what to cut out.
Fifth, let's talk about his vulnerability.
He had to collect himself for a brief moment.
- Sorry, I've told this story many times.
And for some reason today I'm more emotional
than usual about it.
- And for me, this is one of the qualities
that made it great.
Authentic emotions can be powerful.
Whether our emotions are excitement, happiness, compassion.
Those emotions help a message travel
from a listener's mind to their hearts.
And we really remember here.
He didn't talk about something that was so personal,
that it completely overwhelmed him.
And when I speak in public,
there are some parts of some stories I can't share
because emotionally, I don't think I could get through it.
But the lesson here is to be authentic and also decide
on a level of vulnerability that you are comfortable with.
So, what did you think of the story?
Now imagine, an hour long keynote speech.
That's packed with stories that are this good.
That's why professional speakers get the big bucks
as they say.
That's the kind of impact that storytelling
can have for your presentations.
So, how could you use what we've learned from Mylett here
for your own public speaking?
And who are other speakers and communicators
that I should react to?
Put a comment on that below.
And I'll also link to Mylett's original channel,
his YouTube channel below.
So thanks, God bless.
And I will see you soon.