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Unleashing Your Voice with Meridith Grundei | RR239
Episode 2392nd January 2024 • Relationships Rule • Janice Porter
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I lucked out when I met Meridith Grundei on LinkedIn. She is a former dynamo improv teacher (Second City,) an award-winning theatre director, keynote speaker, and presentation skills coach, and I’m thrilled to have her as my guest today.

Meridith and I unravel her journey from the dazzling lights of acting to the impactful stage of public speaking. She shares her unique approach to coaching, breaking down the barriers of fear, and unlocking the potential in individuals. We also touch on the intersection of improvisation skills and effective communication. Meridith offers practical advice on honing one's speaking skills, whether in person or virtually. She loves to empower individuals to own their own voices.

Join the conversation as we explore the winding paths of personal growth and the art of connecting through storytelling.

In this episode you will learn:

  • How to overcome public speaking fears
  • Meridith’s approach in helping tech people become speakers
  • Tips for improving presentation skills
  • How to enhance your virtual speaking influence and persuasiveness
  • Common mistakes in presenting and speaking

Learn more about Meridith:

Email her: meridith@grundeicoaching.com

Website: https://www.grundeicoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meridithgrundeicoaching/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meridith/

A little about me: 

I began my career as a teacher, was a corporate trainer for many years, and then found my niche training & supporting business owners, entrepreneurs & sales professionals to network at a world-class level. My passion is working with motivated people, who are coachable and who want to build their businesses through relationship marketing and networking (online & offline). I help my clients create retention strategies, grow through referrals, and create loyal customers by staying connected. 

In appreciation for being here, I have a couple of items for you. 

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:  

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by taking the  

10 Card Challenge – you won’t regret it.   


Connect with me: 

http://JanicePorter.com 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/ 

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1 


Thanks for listening! 

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Transcripts

Janice Porter:

Hello, everyone and welcome to relationships

Janice Porter:

rule. I'm very excited this week to have my guest, Meredith

Janice Porter:

Grundy, who's here from New York, New York City, if I'm not

Janice Porter:

mistaken. Yes, yes. Yes. So welcome. First of all, welcome

Janice Porter:

to the show. Thank you. You're very welcome. Meredith is just

Janice Porter:

another beautiful example of someone I met on LinkedIn. And I

Janice Porter:

just love that right. I love Yeah, that, you know, we start

Janice Porter:

with a very small connection, will you connect with me, and

Janice Porter:

then have a conversation and it just worked. So I was so excited

Janice Porter:

to meet you. So what I would love for you to do, Meredith

Janice Porter:

first is just give my audience a little understanding of your

Janice Porter:

story, your background story, because what I'm going to say

Janice Porter:

first of all, is that Meredith went from acting to speaking but

Janice Porter:

in such a different way, and specializes now in public

Janice Porter:

speaking and presentation skills. And I'm ready to dive in

Janice Porter:

on that. But I want my audience to know your background where

Janice Porter:

how this happened. How did you go from that world of improv and

Janice Porter:

acting to being a speaker and a facilitator

Meridith Grundei:

of a very windy road? That's how

Janice Porter:

to be a squiggly line, very

Meridith Grundei:

much squiggly line? Yeah, with some loop de

Meridith Grundei:

loops in there. Yeah, I have always loved being on a stage, I

Meridith Grundei:

found it really liberating as a dancer, as a young kid. But I

Meridith Grundei:

was always that kid that was terrified of speaking up in

Meridith Grundei:

class because I was afraid of sounding stupid or saying the

Meridith Grundei:

wrong thing that happened in the answer, and so forth. And so I

Meridith Grundei:

really found liberation being on stage and just using my body to

Meridith Grundei:

tell a story, if you will, and the music and the choreography.

Meridith Grundei:

And there was one particular dance where my dance teacher for

Meridith Grundei:

a performance asked all of us to come up with a line of text,

Meridith Grundei:

which was what do you want to be when you grow up? And mine was

Meridith Grundei:

because I was obsessed with Wonder Woman. I said, when I was

Meridith Grundei:

when I grew up, I want to be just like Wonder Woman. And I

Meridith Grundei:

did this double turn and, and landed on both feet and said it

Meridith Grundei:

loud and proud from the stage. And it was from there that

Meridith Grundei:

someone came up to me and said, after the performance that I

Meridith Grundei:

should take acting classes, I think at the time I was about

Meridith Grundei:

12. So I was like, Okay, sure. But what I found in that was,

Meridith Grundei:

and it took me a while to kind of figure out that this was the

Meridith Grundei:

stepping stone for me starting to feel more confident, using my

Meridith Grundei:

voice. And I had, I had the script, of course, somebody

Meridith Grundei:

else's words to hide behind. But it still built this confidence

Meridith Grundei:

for myself. And then later on after college, and I danced my

Meridith Grundei:

whole my whole way through high school and college and did

Meridith Grundei:

theater and Beekman. It was after college, I went to

Meridith Grundei:

Chicago, I moved to San Francisco first then to Chicago,

Meridith Grundei:

where I was doing experimental theater, using improv

Meridith Grundei:

improvisational physical improvisational forms, and

Meridith Grundei:

devise to work which is making creating your own theatrical

Meridith Grundei:

projects. So I wasn't always working from a pre written

Meridith Grundei:

script. And then at that point, so I've had a very like, again,

Meridith Grundei:

loopty loop. I love a lot of different kinds of kinds of

Meridith Grundei:

theatrical expressions, if you will, on the forms within those.

Meridith Grundei:

But I got to Chicago and I moved there on purpose because I

Meridith Grundei:

wanted to study improv, I want to study specifically improv

Meridith Grundei:

comedy. So I interned my way through this place called IO in

Meridith Grundei:

Chicago, which is the home of the Herald. And I was also

Meridith Grundei:

teaching after school programs. And I happened to be co teaching

Meridith Grundei:

an after school program with one of the CO CO associated a co

Meridith Grundei:

founder, I don't know what her title was Associate Member,

Meridith Grundei:

let's say that of the Second City. And she said, Hey, we're

Meridith Grundei:

starting this Kids program at the second city, would you want

Meridith Grundei:

to be one of the new instructors that helps us develop the

Meridith Grundei:

curriculum for that. So then they brought me in, and I became

Meridith Grundei:

an associate faculty member of the Second City and I taught the

Meridith Grundei:

very first kids class that they ever offered there. And from

Meridith Grundei:

there, I started to really love teaching improv and not just

Meridith Grundei:

teaching it to kids, but teaching it to adults as well.

Meridith Grundei:

And then I started teaching in the corporate world. And I was

Meridith Grundei:

teaching improv on communication and heightened listening skills

Meridith Grundei:

and building trust, and all those awesome things that those

Meridith Grundei:

fun games teach that have actual, there's no real world

Meridith Grundei:

consequences, but all of the lessons learned are incredibly

Meridith Grundei:

applicable. And it was from there where I started coaching

Meridith Grundei:

people in public speaking. Wow, well, and I loved it. You

Janice Porter:

know, it feels like as as I've, as my

Janice Porter:

observation of people who do people who are actors, okay

Janice Porter:

actors improv people that generally they are camera shy as

Janice Porter:

themselves. And they don't like to talk about themselves and

Janice Porter:

they are in maybe not maybe introverted. I don't know if

Janice Porter:

that's the right term to use here, but, but when they are

Janice Porter:

somebody else as an in their acting, they become a different

Janice Porter:

person, because that's gives them the confidence that they

Janice Porter:

don't have as themselves, which I think is really interesting,

Janice Porter:

because it seems to me that you could be wrong, but you you are

Janice Porter:

developing those other skills as well about being confident in

Janice Porter:

yourself and looking at business at like, there's there's not

Janice Porter:

that direct line between improv at Second City and corporations

Janice Porter:

and standing on stages and teaching people to speak. That's

Janice Porter:

not a direct thing for sure. So were you taking business at

Janice Porter:

university as well or No, it just so what inspired that like

Janice Porter:

was it just,

Meridith Grundei:

I think my father, I grew up with a father

Meridith Grundei:

who had very much an entrepreneurial spirit, and he

Meridith Grundei:

was a financial manager. And he was very, very much in the

Meridith Grundei:

corporate world. And I remember, I remember once, when I was

Meridith Grundei:

living in San Francisco, he and his buddies, his colleagues, I

Meridith Grundei:

should say, and buddies, all came for some sort of a

Meridith Grundei:

conference, and they were all staying at the Marriott. And I

Meridith Grundei:

remember going up to the concierge room at the Marriott

Meridith Grundei:

to hang out with them. And I was really intrigued by what they

Meridith Grundei:

did for a living. And I was always really intrigued at why

Meridith Grundei:

it was so confusing. Well, I always, I would always hear

Meridith Grundei:

people titles. And I'm like, so you do what? And so I have

Meridith Grundei:

always been incredibly curious about that question of why is it

Meridith Grundei:

so complicated? Why do we and, and furthermore, I noticed that

Meridith Grundei:

not only does that get carried in the job descriptions when

Meridith Grundei:

you're applying for jobs and in the titles itself, but then that

Meridith Grundei:

also gets carried into how they present to customers. I love it.

Meridith Grundei:

You don't necessarily know what the heck they're talking about.

Meridith Grundei:

So I feel like my job is and I would say this, my dad all the

Meridith Grundei:

time when he was still alive. I'd be like, just talk to me,

Meridith Grundei:

like, I'm five, like, just break it down. And that was sometimes

Meridith Grundei:

really hard for him to do. And I think that's what's really hard

Meridith Grundei:

for a lot of people to do. And so it's not about talking down

Meridith Grundei:

to people or being condescending, it's just about

Meridith Grundei:

what's important.

Janice Porter:

Yes, yeah. That so what I was gonna say when you

Janice Porter:

mentioned your dad right away, I because I was thinking about a

Janice Porter:

different way of coming at it. But but when I was growing up,

Janice Porter:

my dad was always saying to me, do something you can fall back

Janice Porter:

on, you know, make sure you can, you know, fend for yourself and

Janice Porter:

look, right, because theater definitely probably wasn't it at

Janice Porter:

the time. God. Oh, I mean, my sister did a similar thing. She

Janice Porter:

went, she left here and went to use, she was always in Fine Arts

Janice Porter:

at UBC. She at university, she was acting, she was singing, she

Janice Porter:

was in a folk group and all of this stuff. And she went to LA

Janice Porter:

and she got her Master's in Fine Arts at UCLA, and she never came

Janice Porter:

back. Then she started, you know, pounding the pavements to

Janice Porter:

get auditions and so on. And she ended up in I think I asked you

Janice Porter:

about this Kentucky Fried Theatre, which is an improv

Janice Porter:

group out of LA.

Meridith Grundei:

Yeah, yeah. It asked me about that. So

Janice Porter:

she was doing that, and she was doing to

Janice Porter:

audition stuff. Essentially, in the end, she couldn't make any

Janice Porter:

money out and she didn't like the rejection. So she ended up

Janice Porter:

on the other side of the business doing. She was an agent

Janice Porter:

for kids for a long time. And then she was in another business

Janice Porter:

around that in the entertainment industry, but you know, it

Janice Porter:

everyone has to find their way. But it was that, you know, she

Janice Porter:

still lights up when she does things like that, you know, in

Janice Porter:

front of my granddaughter, you know, doing a puppet or doing

Janice Porter:

something you just see her light up with those kinds of things.

Janice Porter:

But the improv thing I'm really fascinated about because I think

Janice Porter:

I'm very on is just as a word on animated, not an animated when

Janice Porter:

I'm on stage. And I've been on stage doing presentations, so

Janice Porter:

I've been scared stiff. And I remember thinking things like

Janice Porter:

find a face in the audience, you know, and just focus on that

Janice Porter:

person to that, you know, because then you can speak to

Janice Porter:

them and feel more comfortable and it does work. So when you're

Janice Porter:

taking Okay, wait, I getting all excited here. So I let's put

Janice Porter:

this into a real question. What are some common challenges or

Janice Porter:

fears that you've observed in your clients when it comes to

Janice Porter:

public speaking and how do you help them overcome these

Janice Porter:

obstacles? So that's the bigger picture of what I was trying to

Janice Porter:

say. Because I think yes, yeah,

Meridith Grundei:

the common obstacles and fears, I, I feel

Meridith Grundei:

that a lot of people come to me thinking they know what their

Meridith Grundei:

common fears and pain points are. But then when you start to

Meridith Grundei:

dig a little bit deeper, it's more than that. So I would say

Meridith Grundei:

most people will come to me and say, I need to get better at not

Meridith Grundei:

using filler words, or I have anxiety, which is real. And it's

Meridith Grundei:

so real, that it's paralyzing. I have people who have come to me

Meridith Grundei:

who are really excited about they can see themselves on a

Meridith Grundei:

stage and delivering that keynote. But I but what's

Meridith Grundei:

interesting to me is that I don't think people realize the

Meridith Grundei:

amount of work that goes into cultivating a presence in that

Meridith Grundei:

way. And it can start to feel really vulnerable and really

Meridith Grundei:

scary for people. And so there's lots of different layers. I

Meridith Grundei:

think that when I work with clients, some of its pretty

Meridith Grundei:

straightforward. Some people are like, just help me with my

Meridith Grundei:

presentation. I got, I got I got a I got it. You know, I gotta

Meridith Grundei:

have this done in a month. Yeah, thanks. I got some people who

Meridith Grundei:

are seasoned, and they just need me to help polish them. But and

Meridith Grundei:

then I have those people who come in there. And it's almost

Meridith Grundei:

like it's, it's a, it's a, it's a gentle approach to getting

Meridith Grundei:

them to where they want to be. So I hope that answered your

Meridith Grundei:

question. But I feel like sometimes it's much more

Meridith Grundei:

layered.

Janice Porter:

It does. But I'd love to hear a couple of

Janice Porter:

stories. So. So I know that you work a lot a lot in the tech

Janice Porter:

industry. And yeah, yeah, and I remember doing training, I'm

Janice Porter:

more of a trainer than a speaker. And I remember

Janice Porter:

training. A lot of people back in the day, it wasn't so much

Janice Porter:

tech as it is now. But it was like the the the engineers and

Janice Porter:

the implementers, at the telephone company, they had to

Janice Porter:

come and do this training with me, I worked at the telephone

Janice Porter:

company as a trainer. And we did some soft skills training, I

Janice Porter:

think it was and of course, they come in with their arms crossed,

Janice Porter:

and they don't even care, right, they don't want to be there

Janice Porter:

because it's like, but some of them then got to the levels

Janice Porter:

where they had to do the training. Flights my train of

Janice Porter:

thought those people are so not the, the build rapport kind of

Janice Porter:

people. So you must have that must be a big job to turn them

Janice Porter:

into speakers. That's what I'm getting at. Tell me about tech

Janice Porter:

people and how are you?

Meridith Grundei:

Yeah, for me, it's it's about first of all,

Meridith Grundei:

convincing them in a way, showing them that less is more,

Meridith Grundei:

because what I've and how to tell a story using data or using

Meridith Grundei:

the architecture or whatever it is that they're developing. So

Meridith Grundei:

for me, it's a couple of things that come in and I, I talked to

Meridith Grundei:

them about the importance of story, and how to incorporate

Meridith Grundei:

it, and that it doesn't need to be complicated. It could be a

Meridith Grundei:

very simple story. It could be a metaphor and analogy. It could

Meridith Grundei:

be something that will connect to the information, and really

Meridith Grundei:

hitting upon what that emotion is for the audience. Like what

Meridith Grundei:

is the audience's pain point? And how is what you're

Meridith Grundei:

developing going to solve that problem for them? I guess

Janice Porter:

telling them as a five year old would too. Yeah,

Janice Porter:

it's a five year old, I'm guessing because Yeah. The

Janice Porter:

biggest thing you just said for me there was knowing what the

Janice Porter:

audience's pain points are. So doing that homework and making

Janice Porter:

sure that what you have to say is going to answer that. Yes,

Meridith Grundei:

exactly. And you might have people of all

Meridith Grundei:

different levels in your audience. Some people might know

Meridith Grundei:

what you're talking about. And some people might be this is the

Meridith Grundei:

first introduction to what you're sharing in the audience.

Meridith Grundei:

So it's really important that it's not that you're talking to

Meridith Grundei:

the lowest denominator, but that you're just being thorough

Meridith Grundei:

enough, but not getting into the weeds to where everyone in that

Meridith Grundei:

audience can be a part of that conversation with you. So once I

Meridith Grundei:

get them convinced that story is effective and has impact, then

Meridith Grundei:

what I do is work with them through their deck. And that can

Meridith Grundei:

vary depending on the industry in which I'm working some some

Meridith Grundei:

companies are a little bit more flexible. Some companies like aI

Meridith Grundei:

works, sometimes with doctors and pharmaceutical companies.

Meridith Grundei:

And they everything is compliant, they have to use what

Meridith Grundei:

they have, they can't change even the order of things. So how

Meridith Grundei:

do you how do you work within those limits? So that being

Meridith Grundei:

really clear, and you're just focusing on what those key

Meridith Grundei:

takeaways are on each of those decks, or each of those slides,

Meridith Grundei:

I should say, and you're really clear with your introduction,

Meridith Grundei:

you're really clear with your call to action. And oftentimes,

Meridith Grundei:

those things the introduction this story, how you're going to

Meridith Grundei:

present your slides, and CTA can all be kind of muddied if

Meridith Grundei:

they're not well practiced and prepared. And then the other

Meridith Grundei:

thing I'll do is give them resources or tools or how to

Meridith Grundei:

practice because I feel that people get the advice often to

Meridith Grundei:

practice, practice, practice. But people practice differently,

Meridith Grundei:

we learn differently. I feel like my job as a coach is to

Meridith Grundei:

say, here are a lot of different ways that you can approach

Meridith Grundei:

practice, and I want you to try all of them. And let's just see

Meridith Grundei:

which one's going to work best for you. But obviously, what

Meridith Grundei:

you've been doing hasn't been working. So let's try something

Meridith Grundei:

different. And I love it. It's like, it's like taking it taking

Meridith Grundei:

something really challenging and sculpting it into something that

Meridith Grundei:

is tangible for people. It's like a little solo performances.

Janice Porter:

Well, yes, it must be really rewarding when

Janice Porter:

you know, do you when your clients has done the

Janice Porter:

presentation, and they come back and say, I did it, it went

Janice Porter:

really well. And now they're all excited about it. Not as afraid

Janice Porter:

to do it. The next time. Do you? I think you do one on one

Janice Porter:

coaching and you also do group coaching. Correct? Yeah. You do

Janice Porter:

improv with your with your people? Yeah,

Meridith Grundei:

I do. I do. i It depends on the room. But I

Meridith Grundei:

always like to do at least like a little icebreaker. And I don't

Meridith Grundei:

call it improv. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. So it depends on

Meridith Grundei:

who the audience is. But I just did one for the just this last

Meridith Grundei:

week, having a brain fart

Janice Porter:

League, that one

Meridith Grundei:

thing I guess wanted to say the league, it was

Meridith Grundei:

like, so thank you, the Junior League. In Jersey, I just did a

Meridith Grundei:

workshop for them. And that was fun. It was all improv it was

Meridith Grundei:

about owning owning your presence and owning your voice

Meridith Grundei:

and owning your story. And it was super fun. And they knew

Meridith Grundei:

they were doing improv and got up on their feet quite a bit.

Meridith Grundei:

And then I have an improv for speakers membership program,

Meridith Grundei:

it's called confidently speaking. And that attracts

Meridith Grundei:

people who are more entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, if

Meridith Grundei:

you will, who really want to start getting better at these

Meridith Grundei:

impromptu things that they're called to do like being on a

Meridith Grundei:

podcast, for example, or going to a networking event and doing

Meridith Grundei:

the one on one or even getting on a stage. And that's been

Meridith Grundei:

really cool. Because I've had members in that group for two

Meridith Grundei:

years now, some of them that have been there for two years

Meridith Grundei:

and to just see their growth. That's so cool. Yeah,

Janice Porter:

it's not easy. Definitely. I've always like I

Janice Porter:

struggle when I have to actually have a script or a speech that,

Janice Porter:

you know, I should know it like by rote, but I don't I can't

Janice Porter:

study that way. I have to just learn my slides. I hate slides.

Janice Porter:

I don't like talking to slides. And that's a whole thing by

Janice Porter:

itself. Just learning how to, you know where this slide is,

Janice Porter:

and where you're pointing and not standing in front of the

Janice Porter:

screen? How many people do that?

Meridith Grundei:

I could talk about that for a while. Yeah.

Janice Porter:

Get away from that screen for God's sake, you

Janice Porter:

know, and, and then building rapport with the audience. And

Janice Porter:

those things are to me, just as in so much, it's so important to

Janice Porter:

the whole presentation. But it struck me I struggle with having

Janice Porter:

to study anymore. I don't know. Yeah. That becomes my blog. So I

Janice Porter:

do I just ad lib most of the time, or at least I think I'm ad

Janice Porter:

libbing probably not, but I'm taking what I see on that slide

Janice Porter:

and changing it each time I do it so to speak. Yeah,

Meridith Grundei:

yeah, it's, you know, the the advice I

Meridith Grundei:

always give my clients is to start first with in you

Meridith Grundei:

mentioned this beautifully, which is start with your

Meridith Grundei:

audience first and really identify who they are, what

Meridith Grundei:

those pain points are, and how you're going to solve that

Meridith Grundei:

problem, etc. And then once you've established that, then

Meridith Grundei:

you figure out what is your objective with this particular

Meridith Grundei:

audience? What is your end in mind? What do you want them to

Meridith Grundei:

to have by the end of this presentation or retained by the

Meridith Grundei:

end of this presentation? And then once you do that, you

Meridith Grundei:

figure out what are those key takeaways? So usually, people

Meridith Grundei:

can only retain three to five things. So you think, okay, what

Meridith Grundei:

are the three key takeaways that are going to lead me to that end

Meridith Grundei:

in mind to that objective? By audience I should say, and then

Meridith Grundei:

once you've established that outline, and you figure out

Meridith Grundei:

those things, then you look to your slides. And then you say,

Meridith Grundei:

Okay, what slides here are going to best support this message.

Meridith Grundei:

And then I always say, try to practice without the deck. And

Meridith Grundei:

get the end just and always be practice practicing out loud.

Meridith Grundei:

I'm always stunned at how many people still practice sitting at

Meridith Grundei:

their desk, just scroll through. Yeah. So always up on your feet,

Meridith Grundei:

practicing out loud practicing, often, my client right now who's

Meridith Grundei:

going to be doing this big speak event that I'm producing next

Meridith Grundei:

week, I said, Okay, you are at that point now where you can

Meridith Grundei:

just take the script, tape it on your kitchen cabinet, while

Meridith Grundei:

you're making pasta, I want you to, I want you to deliver your

Meridith Grundei:

presentation out loud as you're cooking. And if you need to

Meridith Grundei:

refer to that, because you're gonna get thrown off because

Meridith Grundei:

something's going to happen, like the pasta sauce is gonna

Meridith Grundei:

boil over or something, then you can refer to it, but it's just,

Meridith Grundei:

it's about memorization is about using different muscles and

Meridith Grundei:

memorizing in different ways. And it can be a lot of fun if we

Meridith Grundei:

allow it to be fun. Okay. All right.

Janice Porter:

Moving on. You got me over there. I was just

Janice Porter:

thinking back. I know I shared with you how I I'm obsessed by

Janice Porter:

this podcast called smartlace. And you said, Okay, well, a lot

Janice Porter:

of the people that they had on that they've had on that show

Janice Porter:

have been improv people from Second City from wherever else,

Janice Porter:

the Canadian one I forget SCTV I think it was called Groundlings,

Janice Porter:

the Groundlings, all these improv people who became

Janice Porter:

Saturday Night Live regulars in their specific times. And what

Janice Porter:

I've found fascinating is learning about how improv is

Janice Porter:

like, it's just so clever. Like I'm, it really is a whole thing

Janice Porter:

that most people don't understand. So what skills from

Janice Porter:

improv would you say, are the biggest ones that you take over

Janice Porter:

into what you're doing now? Because it is a whole thing,

Janice Porter:

right?

Meridith Grundei:

It's a whole thing. That's so many great

Meridith Grundei:

questions there. First of all, improv is like, I think it

Meridith Grundei:

should be a required course, in every school, I just really do.

Meridith Grundei:

It builds your adaptability muscle, so that you can think on

Meridith Grundei:

your feet if something goes wrong. It helps you build trust,

Meridith Grundei:

in a way because you're taking, you're taking risk. You are

Meridith Grundei:

sharing sometimes things that might feel a little vulnerable.

Meridith Grundei:

You're laughing with people laughter builds trust. It helps

Meridith Grundei:

with ideation and the brainstorming process. That

Meridith Grundei:

whole idea of Yes, sand. Yes, can be interpreted in a couple

Meridith Grundei:

of different ways in healthy ways, right? One is, so when

Meridith Grundei:

with ideation, it's like I can't tell you how many times I'll

Meridith Grundei:

talk to teams of like, okay, when you get into a, you're in

Meridith Grundei:

the brainstorm phase, but then somebody says, I don't like that

Meridith Grundei:

idea. And then it's no longer a brainstorm. That's not a

Meridith Grundei:

brainstorm would sense someone says, Yes, but judgment, right?

Meridith Grundei:

Yeah, right. It's about getting everything up onto that

Meridith Grundei:

whiteboard. Or however, you're doing that brainstorm, because

Meridith Grundei:

you never know, that bad idea might spawn the good idea.

Janice Porter:

So every idea counts. And we're brainstorming,

Janice Porter:

every

Meridith Grundei:

idea counts. It also helps with inclusivity.

Meridith Grundei:

So making sure that all the voices can be heard at the

Meridith Grundei:

table. I mean, it just has so many ways to find ways to

Meridith Grundei:

incorporate humor, for example, into your presentation. So maybe

Meridith Grundei:

you stand there with a recorder and you just off the cuff, think

Meridith Grundei:

of some things off the top of your head, so builds that skill

Meridith Grundei:

so that you feel more comfortable to have that ability

Meridith Grundei:

to do that. There's so many wonderful things that improv, it

Meridith Grundei:

helps you communicate better with groups of people. The other

Meridith Grundei:

portion of yes and is it's not about necessarily always

Meridith Grundei:

agreeing with the person that you're in a conversation with.

Meridith Grundei:

And this is great for q&a s for examples that you may not agree

Meridith Grundei:

with the point of view of the person asking the question or

Meridith Grundei:

the statement that they might have offered, but that you can

Meridith Grundei:

at least acknowledge them. So that too, I feel is like a

Meridith Grundei:

strong lesson. Hmm.

Janice Porter:

Interesting. Can you tell me a great story of

Janice Porter:

transformation of one of your clients, like Can you share any

Janice Porter:

same thing come to mind?

Meridith Grundei:

I well, I always I always talk about my

Meridith Grundei:

client, Tina, and she doesn't mind that they talked about her

Meridith Grundei:

because she showed up in confidently speaking two years

Meridith Grundei:

ago. And she lives here in New York City and she is a

Meridith Grundei:

entrepreneur, she and her husband co own a business

Meridith Grundei:

together. And the very first exercise that we did she just

Meridith Grundei:

shut down, shut down. But she kept showing up and She hadn't

Meridith Grundei:

been on a podcast. She hadn't been really speaking, she's

Meridith Grundei:

started to get really comfortable with networking at

Meridith Grundei:

that point. But she wasn't doing any of the other stuff to build

Meridith Grundei:

her business. And she had a goal and she was going to do it. She

Meridith Grundei:

wanted to do a TED talk. She has done her TED talk yet, which is

Meridith Grundei:

totally fine. Because she wrote a book. She did. She did a 15

Meridith Grundei:

minute talk. For her book launch. She has been on over 70

Meridith Grundei:

podcasts this year alone. She has done numerous LinkedIn

Meridith Grundei:

lives. She is about to do a speak event next week, where

Meridith Grundei:

she's going to stand on stage and tell her story for 10

Meridith Grundei:

minutes. And the woman is on fire. It's like a totally

Meridith Grundei:

different person. Double. Yeah. That's,

Janice Porter:

that's amazing. So the power that she has gained

Janice Porter:

as a person is well, confidence. Everything is just Yeah,

Meridith Grundei:

I love great. But I what I want to say to

Meridith Grundei:

that, though, is that she did the work. Yes. It's not an

Meridith Grundei:

overnight, quick fix. She does the work she puts in the reps.

Meridith Grundei:

Yeah,

Janice Porter:

that's what it takes for sure. Now, with

Janice Porter:

everything, I know that, you know, since we've sort of come

Janice Porter:

back out of COVID, that everyone's rushing to go into

Janice Porter:

face to face things again, although I'm not that person. I,

Janice Porter:

I went out last night to play bridge. And we were at a room

Janice Porter:

with like, I didn't know, for about 50 people, 60 people. And

Janice Porter:

I didn't know a lot of them. And I felt like it was too crammed.

Janice Porter:

And I kind of wanted to leave I didn't but I felt uncomfortable.

Janice Porter:

So I still feel that sometimes. But anyway, my issue. So so some

Janice Porter:

of us are still still focused on the digital world. And that

Janice Porter:

seems to be enough and fine for me. What do you what advice do

Janice Porter:

you give to people who are looking to enhance their

Janice Porter:

influence and their persuasiveness as speakers?

Janice Porter:

Still virtual? Because? Yeah,

Meridith Grundei:

yeah, no, I think that's a great question.

Meridith Grundei:

Because I do think that things are going to still stay partly

Meridith Grundei:

like that I do. Because, for example, I've got two

Meridith Grundei:

organizations, the Junior League, and then her workplace,

Meridith Grundei:

which is a co working space here in New York City. Both of them

Meridith Grundei:

asked me to do a virtual version and a live version. So I think

Meridith Grundei:

that that's not going away, you know, the thing I always say to

Meridith Grundei:

the people that want to kind of stay in this virtual world, is

Meridith Grundei:

just make sure that you are showing up in the best way you

Meridith Grundei:

possibly can. Because even though you get to hide behind

Meridith Grundei:

the screen, your body language and all of those things still

Meridith Grundei:

matter. And not to get too relaxed, which I see often,

Meridith Grundei:

often, even to I mean, how many years later now is it that I

Meridith Grundei:

still will show up on calls and there's a doctor backlit and it

Meridith Grundei:

looks like he's in like, some sort of witness protection

Meridith Grundei:

program, you know. And so I just stress to people like your

Meridith Grundei:

posture still eats check your body language, check your

Meridith Grundei:

posture, check your lighting, check your sound. If you don't

Meridith Grundei:

have a desk that can raise up yet figure out how you can raise

Meridith Grundei:

up your, your monitor computer so that you're standing when

Meridith Grundei:

you're delivering makes a huge difference when you stand and

Meridith Grundei:

deliver versus when you're sitting. Yeah. So it's little

Meridith Grundei:

things like that. And then don't don't take for granted that

Meridith Grundei:

you're virtual. You still need to have story. You can't be

Meridith Grundei:

dependent on the slides.

Janice Porter:

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You know, it's funny made me

Janice Porter:

think, certainly, it was always interesting over than when you

Janice Porter:

watch the news broadcasts, local versus, say, CNN or something

Janice Porter:

like that, where, you know, everyone was for three years

Janice Porter:

behind, you know, on a zoom screen, and how some people I

Janice Porter:

remember when they were interviewing Pam Shriver was

Janice Porter:

before the US Open. It wasn't just this last season, it was a

Janice Porter:

couple years ago, and she was sitting in front of her closet,

Janice Porter:

and her closet was open. So that looked like a bookshelf or

Janice Porter:

something. It was just a disaster. But you know, that's

Janice Porter:

still happening, right news, people who've got this one guy

Janice Porter:

locally, he's got these, these bookshelf is bookshelf behind

Janice Porter:

him. And he's got stick up pictures from his kids and

Janice Porter:

children's books on on the it's the whole thing is just a mess.

Janice Porter:

They are I think that would have been a whole new career

Janice Porter:

actually, for people to go and, you know, stayed engaged those

Janice Porter:

rooms for these people that were on every day, but it didn't

Janice Porter:

happen but anyway, that's an Got the presentation skills? But it

Janice Porter:

did make me think of that. It's like, you're right.

Meridith Grundei:

Well, it is about presentation skills. I

Meridith Grundei:

think I think you bring up a really great point because

Meridith Grundei:

people get distracted by the littlest things. So if they're

Meridith Grundei:

like looking at post it notes and pictures of the kids, and I

Meridith Grundei:

bet you can't remember a thing that he said, But you posted

Meridith Grundei:

notes.

Janice Porter:

It's true. It's like my husband would never have

Janice Porter:

noticed the, the venue or at all, there were the the whole

Janice Porter:

picture. I'm so busy looking at what everything looks like, that

Janice Porter:

I'm not paying attention to what he's saying, because it's

Janice Porter:

boring. Anyway, the new Yeah, no, well,

Meridith Grundei:

it's, it's, you know, it's so funny, because

Meridith Grundei:

I go back and forth. I'm not a big fan of virtual backgrounds.

Meridith Grundei:

I am not either, I find them very, and a lot of people use

Meridith Grundei:

him and they put their company logo on there and the whole

Meridith Grundei:

thing disappears out and then their hand disappears, like

Meridith Grundei:

ghost out. You know, for the longest time I had my setup was

Meridith Grundei:

you could see my bed in the background. And I was, I saw

Meridith Grundei:

that I know. And it drove me batty, drove me batty, and I

Meridith Grundei:

tried all these different angles. So I have fixed that

Meridith Grundei:

since then. This is still

Janice Porter:

lovely. looks lovely. I've always wanted to

Janice Porter:

get a beautiful screen to put behind me and I just have never

Janice Porter:

found one. I've seen people do that very well. But because my

Janice Porter:

door look great. No, but my door shouldn't be there. And I have

Janice Porter:

the natural light is right here. And that's the best way for my

Janice Porter:

desk. But yeah, anyway, we all have I have

Meridith Grundei:

I have a New York City radiator? Ah, yes.

Meridith Grundei:

Created the bed in for a radiator. But, you know, it's

Meridith Grundei:

kind of nice. Okay, it's

Janice Porter:

all good. So I wanted to ask you, before we go

Janice Porter:

a couple of things. So I mean, I, I, I shouldn't do this on

Janice Porter:

this interview. I will do it separately, because I'm

Janice Porter:

fascinated with all the improv people and everything. So I

Janice Porter:

didn't really want to go down that rabbit hole, but but with

Janice Porter:

the people that you are coaching now, what would you say the

Janice Porter:

three biggest mistakes now that people are making them, we

Janice Porter:

should start looking at ourselves, you know, to improve

Janice Porter:

with our speaking and, and training and facilitating

Meridith Grundei:

the three biggest mistakes. One is that

Meridith Grundei:

people don't look at their presentation as a performance.

Meridith Grundei:

And it is a performance. It's a form of performance. So I always

Meridith Grundei:

say to people look at it as it's a composition, you're taking

Meridith Grundei:

people through a journey. People need to start really getting

Meridith Grundei:

better at their introductions, I would say most introductions you

Meridith Grundei:

have, we have very short attention spans. And so your

Meridith Grundei:

introduction needs to hook me right away and engage me right

Meridith Grundei:

away. So for example, instead of starting off with Hi, my name is

Meridith Grundei:

Janice Porter, and I'm here today. And so thank you for

Meridith Grundei:

having me, and I'm going to share with you the three

Meridith Grundei:

principles of LinkedIn. You could start off with a story and

Meridith Grundei:

share a story that has an emotional connect for your

Meridith Grundei:

audience, and then introduce yourself for the credibility

Meridith Grundei:

piece. And then I would say that, the other piece that I've

Meridith Grundei:

noticed is, people aren't very clear with call to actions,

Meridith Grundei:

either. So they can tend to and I'm guilty of this too, because

Meridith Grundei:

you get to the end of the presentation all of a sudden

Meridith Grundei:

you'll. And that's why I think it needs to be well practiced.

Meridith Grundei:

Yeah, it's, this is what I need you to leave doing or thinking.

Meridith Grundei:

Here's my one QR code to get in touch with me not like, Here's

Meridith Grundei:

my email, here's my LinkedIn. Here's my offer. Yes, exactly.

Meridith Grundei:

You know, part of it

Janice Porter:

is because we don't like selling, and it's

Janice Porter:

selling themselves. Right. And so that's part of it. But you're

Janice Porter:

absolutely right. I think those are all really key. And I, I

Janice Porter:

want to this isn't about me. Okay, so, um, I think I made me

Janice Porter:

think of one other question, though, when you were saying

Janice Porter:

that about the introduction. And that's one thing I did learn,

Janice Porter:

and maybe from reading some of your stuff, or an end or

Janice Porter:

somebody else's, because that's one of the things I remember,

Janice Porter:

don't start with the boring stuff about you, because they're

Janice Porter:

not they're really for that purpose, make it about them. And

Janice Porter:

that's really what I teach on LinkedIn, as well make it about

Janice Porter:

your audience so that they're hooked into maybe you're the

Janice Porter:

person that can help me, right. So they read on. So that's, I

Janice Porter:

think one of the big ones. So last question before I let you

Janice Porter:

go. And this is for me, this is selfish, because I love that

Janice Porter:

when you use this word earlier, but I love the word curiosity.

Janice Porter:

It's my favorite. And I am one of those very curious people.

Janice Porter:

Pull. So the question is two parts. First part is, do you

Janice Porter:

believe that curiosity is innate or learned? And what are you

Janice Porter:

most curious about today? That's part two. And there's no right

Janice Porter:

or wrong question.

Meridith Grundei:

Is it innate or learned? I think I Well, it's

Meridith Grundei:

so funny because I think I'm a special snowflake.

Meridith Grundei:

Course. Because I was raised with two very pragmatic parents.

Meridith Grundei:

So I was that's where my brain went. I, I would say for myself,

Meridith Grundei:

it was innate. I don't think I learned it. I think I was born

Meridith Grundei:

into this world with a creative sensibility. And creative types

Meridith Grundei:

tend to be curious souls. So that is a fantastic question. I

Meridith Grundei:

do however, feel that curiosity can be learned. Okay. But one

Meridith Grundei:

needs to want to learn it. And then the second part of that

Meridith Grundei:

question, what am I curious about today? i The Okay, I'll go

Meridith Grundei:

with I always say first thought best thought which is an Allen

Meridith Grundei:

Ginsberg quote, I will say that I am curious about how in my own

Meridith Grundei:

life, I can simplify my own curiosities even more, because

Meridith Grundei:

I'm so curious, I tend to get involved in many, many things.

Meridith Grundei:

Because I genuinely want to know more about whatever it's not

Meridith Grundei:

about FOMO it's just genuine curiosity about like, what would

Meridith Grundei:

that be like? What if I say yes to that?

Janice Porter:

I love it. Because I think that way, too. I

Janice Porter:

think that's brilliant. Because yeah, I can learn more I can be

Janice Porter:

you know, like, Tell me more, but it for me, sometimes it's

Janice Porter:

going down those rabbit holes, a little bit too much. But I love

Janice Porter:

that answer. That's, that's amazing. Thank you. For me, that

Janice Porter:

all started with a book that I read by because I tend to ask

Janice Porter:

most of my guests that question. And it's been fun and a book I

Janice Porter:

read by Brian Grazer. Called a curious mind. Do you know you

Janice Porter:

know who Brian Grazer is?

Meridith Grundei:

I know him. I know his name. I haven't read

Meridith Grundei:

that book. Okay. Brian Grazer,

Janice Porter:

Ron Howard imagine entertainment as a

Janice Porter:

producer and director. Friday Night Lights splash A Beautiful

Janice Porter:

Mind and I you know zillion movies. He's he's really

Janice Porter:

brilliant. But it's an intro. It's his story. But it's really

Janice Porter:

all stemmed from curiosity. And it was really fascinating

Janice Porter:

because his grandma is Bubba. Back in the you know, in the day

Janice Porter:

his little Jewish grandmother taught him to be curious and are

Janice Porter:

so either taught him to be curious or crit influenced his

Janice Porter:

his curiosity and it influenced it. So encouraged it that's a

Janice Porter:

word of encouragement. And so he does a lot of interviews with

Janice Porter:

people what before he became famous and learns from all of

Janice Porter:

them, and it's really fascinating. But anyways, fun.

Janice Porter:

So that's where that came from. So thank you for participating

Janice Porter:

in that. And thank you for being here. Thank you for your wisdom

Janice Porter:

around speaking and, and being the best person you can be.

Janice Porter:

Because when you can learn to do those things. I think you just

Janice Porter:

totally improve yourself in so many ways. So and we're always a

Janice Porter:

work in progress, right? So always Yeah, it's really fun to

Janice Porter:

talk to you and and appreciate your time and where can my

Janice Porter:

audience find you? Well,

Meridith Grundei:

they can find me on LinkedIn at Meredith grand

Meridith Grundei:

die. You can also find me at grande coaching. And I have

Meridith Grundei:

several Tik Tok videos. If your listeners or Tik Tok fans, you

Meridith Grundei:

can find me at grande coaching.

Janice Porter:

I'm afraid to go there, because I'll never put

Janice Porter:

them out. But I have to go look at them now. Yeah, I seriously,

Janice Porter:

but it's such a fun place. So and I do recommend to my

Janice Porter:

audience that you visit. Meredith website. It's a

Janice Porter:

beautiful brand new website that she has, and there's lots of

Janice Porter:

opportunities there to learn from her with her blog. And if

Janice Porter:

you're you do mostly in person training, or do you do online

Janice Porter:

training as well, you both everybody, they're perfect.

Janice Porter:

Again, thank you so much. And thank you to my audience for

Janice Porter:

being here. And I've just lost that is so weird. The recording

Janice Porter:

button has moved. It's disappeared. totally

Janice Porter:

disappeared. There we go. Okay. It did. So, thank you for being

Janice Porter:

here and remember to stay connected and be remembered

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