We did it! Our 100th episode. Can you believe it? When we reach a milestone like this, it is a time of joy but also a time to reflect on what we have learned along the way. For host Melinda, there are many wonderful lessons that these 100 episodes and all of her guests have given her, and today, she would like to share them in the form of three transformative strategies that have shaped her growth as a leader and communicator.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
The Power of the Pause
Intentional silence is a game changer in communication. Melinda explains how pausing can transform a fast-paced, nervous delivery into a powerful and engaging message. And the technique to make it happen.
How to Convey Authenticity
Everyone talks about authenticity, and most feel they are already authentic, but how do we really communicate it to our audiences? Melinda emphasizes the pitfalls of guarded communication, where leaders hide behind polished scripts or overconfidence, creating a disconnect with their audience.
Strategic Storytelling
Strategic storytelling is about driving emotion and action through intentional narratives. Melinda highlights the importance of crafting stories that inspire, connect, and motivate others. She shares her personal journey of starting the podcast, including the doubts she faced and the joy of achieving recognition.
Memorable Quotes:
“Authentic communication means speaking with openness, vulnerability, and from your true self.”
“It’s okay to be afraid, to be scared, and to lean on others for support. But continue on your journey and remind yourself of the little things that make it matter.”
“Any time you have an opportunity to communicate, you have an opportunity to connect, inspire, and make a big impact in this world.”
About Melinda:
Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach, and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.
She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and has worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.
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Transcripts
Melinda Lee:
Welcome my friends, to a very special speak and flow podcast episode.
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Melinda Lee: Today, we are celebrating 100 recordings. That's right. 100. I can't believe we made it here. I want to take a moment to thank each and every single one of you for supporting, engaging, and cheering me on through this journey. I am so grateful to you.
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Melinda Lee: What I thought we could do today is something special by reflecting on the 3 strategies I have felt that has changed my life after 100 recordings.
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Melinda Lee: These are the strategies that if you're a leader that wants to make a big difference in this world, you have to master them.
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Melinda Lee: So here they are, beginning with the 1st one authentic communication.
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Melinda Lee: second is power of the pause, 3rd is strategic storytelling.
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Melinda Lee: I'm going to break down each of these strategies so that you can get actionable tips to implement right away to increase your confidence influence and impact.
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Melinda Lee: Here we go, beginning with the 1st one authentic communication
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Melinda Lee: to me. That means to speak with openness, vulnerability, and from your true self
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Melinda Lee: too often do I see leaders speaking from a guarded place. They're hiding behind their words.
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Melinda Lee: They can be speaking just to speak.
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Melinda Lee: They're communicating, sharing in a way that seems like they're proving themselves like they have to get their point across. It's either my way or the highway. They even might appear confident to some people.
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Melinda Lee: and if you actually listen deeply.
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Melinda Lee: They're hiding something they're hiding that maybe they don't have it all together. They might not know it all.
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Melinda Lee: and that's an insecure place.
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Melinda Lee: or you could be one that is overly polished and hiding behind your script. So you're reading your script, or you're trying to speak from your script, and you're in your head. You're really not speaking from your heart, from a place of a deep connection to your truth.
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Melinda Lee: Both ways are guarded, and also an opportunity for growth to step into more authenticity.
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Melinda Lee: and it is so important, especially in our world, where people are just craving genuine connection. They really want to know who you are both your strengths and your weaknesses, which means that you, as a speaker, need to accept it, and when you can accept your strengths and your weaknesses, and bring your whole self into the conversation.
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Melinda Lee: Not just ignore the parts that you don't like, or try to bury them, because when you do that, then you are inauthentic to who you are, but when you could bring both sides, then you establish a connection with your audience, and your audience can feel it. Your audience will also feel the safety to bring their whole self in.
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Melinda Lee: They're gonna be able to admit when they don't have it all together. And so, as a leader.
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Melinda Lee: When you don't have all the information.
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Melinda Lee: why not bring everybody on the team in, open it up for conversation.
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Melinda Lee: and be willing to be okay with that.
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Melinda Lee: And when you could do that, that is a sign of a true leader.
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Melinda Lee: and you stepping into more authentic communication and not pretending or feeling like you need to prove yourself.
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Melinda Lee: Now, that's so important
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Melinda Lee: in our world today. And when you could do that, then let's move on to the second strategy, which is the power of the pause.
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Melinda Lee: Having intentional silence.
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Melinda Lee: As difficult as it is.
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Melinda Lee: When we're nervous we can try to speak really fast, not intentionally. But you're just trying to get through the information, trying to get out of there and speaking so fast that people cannot hear anything that you're saying
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Melinda Lee: in our world where there's information, overload, people, check out.
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Melinda Lee: And so, really breaking down your presentation into pieces and knowing when you can have an intentional pause, makes your message so much more impactful, engaging. You can turn noise into music.
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Melinda Lee: How do we start to get comfortable in the silence?
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Melinda Lee: I like to teach you and show you a really fun activity that we can all do together right now.
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Melinda Lee: and that is pausing after saying our name.
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Melinda Lee: As you know, your name is your identity.
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Melinda Lee: So let's sit with it for a moment.
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Melinda Lee: You can go into a meeting and speed up your introduction by saying, Hi! My name is Melinda Lee.
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Melinda Lee: Did you even get any of that? And that means that's demeaning your own self and your presence by speeding through your name and introduction.
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Melinda Lee: So right now in the safety of your home or your car, wherever you're at. Let's take a pause, and really feel into your knee.
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Melinda Lee: and claiming by saying, Hi! My name is 1st name Blank.
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Melinda Lee: Last name Hi. My name is Melinda Lee.
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Melinda Lee: Go ahead and try it.
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Melinda Lee: Sit with your names, own it, and really feel into who you are.
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Melinda Lee: and when you can have intentional pauses and get comfortable with these type of pauses
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Melinda Lee: here in the safety with me, then you'll be able to go into the next meeting
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Melinda Lee: and slow down during your introduction.
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Melinda Lee: I cannot stress with you the importance of having the pause in the beginning of your presentation.
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Melinda Lee: It is huge because it sets the tone for the rest of your presentation. When you can pause and slow things down in the beginning, it will remind you and your body to take a moment to take a breath
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Melinda Lee: and have your pause.
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Melinda Lee: It will increase your effectiveness, and allow your audience to feel more engaged by really reflecting what you're saying.
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Melinda Lee: because what you're saying really matters.
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Melinda Lee: And then when you do that, and then we're going to move on to. How do we drive action in others? As a leader? We want to have them do something and feel something and do something about it after we speak.
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Melinda Lee: and that is through strategic storytelling.
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Melinda Lee: strategic storytelling drives up emotion. It stirs a human side of us which sparks us to take action
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Melinda Lee: alternatively. People can say stories just for the sake of saying it, which I think is waste of time and confusing for your audience, because they don't understand why you're telling the story.
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Melinda Lee: or you can avoid storytelling completely because you don't want to mess it up. You don't know how to tell the story, and you only share facts and figures and tell people what to do.
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Melinda Lee: Neither one of them are very compelling.
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Melinda Lee: Strategic storytelling means that you really think through. How do I want people to feel.
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Melinda Lee: to think, and to behave after sharing this story, and then you can drive down, drive into exactly what story to share.
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Melinda Lee: And when you can do that. You're going to connect with your audience in a way that is very powerful, maybe even vulnerable.
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Melinda Lee: And as I share this, I think back to when I 1st started this, podcast
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Melinda Lee: I remember really wanting to do it and my heart tugging me to do it.
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Melinda Lee: There's that tug that drive. And as I went in and I I realized all the work that I needed to put into it.
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Melinda Lee: It was overwhelming. My head started to spin
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Melinda Lee: questions such as, What am I doing?
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Melinda Lee: Why am I doing this? Is anyone really going to listen?
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Melinda Lee: So I continued to remind myself that I want to just meet new people.
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Melinda Lee: I went in with that intention of meeting new people, getting my content out there
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Melinda Lee: with the purpose of sharing as much as I could with as many people as I could.
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Melinda Lee: And that was my focus.
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Melinda Lee: until one day I got an email from my podcast editor, that said melinda, the speak and flow, podcast ranked top 10% from listen notes.
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Melinda Lee: My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest. I was so I was ecstatic. I was joyful. It was rewarding to know that people were listening. And I'm having fun doing this. I didn't start this to get recognition or accolades. I started it just with wanting to share with more people and connect with more people. And it was amazing to get that recognition.
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Melinda Lee: And so here I am.
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Melinda Lee: And if you're listening right now.
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Melinda Lee: I hope that this story compels you to continue on.
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Melinda Lee: Even if you're doing something that is uncomfortable.
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Melinda Lee: It's okay to be afraid. It's okay to be scared.
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Melinda Lee: It's okay to draw on to other people for support.
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Melinda Lee: But continue on your journey and remind yourself of the little things that make it matter
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Melinda Lee: and help it be more fun for you.
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Melinda Lee: You never know what's going to happen. It's worth a shot.
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Melinda Lee: So I shared this story
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Melinda Lee: intentionally, because I I really wanted you to be inspired to keep going when things are tough.
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Melinda Lee: and also it opens up an opportunity for me to heal
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Melinda Lee: and also connect with you. So that's the power of strategic storytelling. And this is a skill that you absolutely have to master as a leader.
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Melinda Lee: Now let's sum it all up with all 3 skills that are equally important, and that have absolutely changed my life, which is authentic communication. Continuing to step into the spotlight into leadership with your whole self, both your strengths and also your weaknesses.
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Melinda Lee: 2.
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Melinda Lee: Power of the pause when you speak, have intentional space to allow people to digest your information and own
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Melinda Lee: your presence.
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Melinda Lee: 3, rd strategic storytelling, telling stories with an intention to connect, to be vulnerable.
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Melinda Lee: and to share stories that inspire others to act
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Melinda Lee: having those 3 strategies will change your life.
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Melinda Lee: I hope that you implement the tips that I've shared today.
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Melinda Lee: And if you've liked this episode, please comment, share it with others. I'd love to hear from you.
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Melinda Lee: and remember, any time that you have an opportunity to communicate, you have an opportunity to connect, to inspire and to make a big impact in this world
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Melinda Lee: until next time. I'm your sister-in-flow.
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Melinda Lee: Much love may prosperity flow to you, and through you thank you for celebrating a hundred episodes with me.
