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Editor:
Today’s guest is Chad Kirby, a speaker, educator, a master communicator who’s been part of the online business world now for well over a decade. Many people first encountered Chad through his time at Infusionsoft, where he became known for his ability to sell from the stage and connect deeply with audiences. Well, since then, he’s carved out a unique position for himself by teaching through storytelling, using stories to educate, persuade, and inspire action. Chad, it is great to have you with us.
Chad Kirby:
Oh, it’s great to be here. Love spending time with you.
Editor:
Well, let’s start right at the beginning, if we can. How did you first get into speaking and communication, and how did you find that you enjoyed it so much?
Chad Kirby:
Actually, I didn’t realize that I was necessarily good at it until I started people being moved by what I was saying. And so I realized, wait a second, I can learn how to help inspire people to get them to take action. And so I was watching people, and then I started watching other people communicate. And I was watching people get up and give these amazing presentations or communicate very what I perceived powerfully. And then nobody did anything because of it. And I realised, wait a second, people need to understand that there’s a way to help people not only listen and learn, but also take action. And so that’s the key, because at the end of the day, if we’re not taking action, then what’s the point of the communication?
Editor:
So did you study other speakers to find that inspiration for yourself, Chad? Or, again, was it one of those things where you found that once you immersed yourself in it, you just became a natural?
Chad Kirby:
Well, first of all, I immersed myself in it first. And so I was like, there was a lot of trial and error, like saying, “Okay, this works, this doesn’t work.” But then it really went from black and white to color when I started coaching other speakers to be successful from the stage.
And so then I started realizing not only what worked well for me, but then when I had to start coaching it, I had to take what naturally was working well for me and articulate it in a way that helped other people consume it and then go execute.
Editor:
Well, I’m sure a lot of people remember you from your time with Infusionsoft, and I’m sure that was a great time for you in your career. What did that teach you though about persuasion and influence?
Chad Kirby:
Well, what it taught me about persuasion and influence was that you really have to quickly get to people’s pain points. And so let me back up a little further. When I was speaking on behalf of Infusionsoft, I often went and spoke on behalf of the CEO. And so I wasn’t the CEO. So I had to show up with people anticipating it was going to be the CEO, and then it’s somebody else.
In fact, one event that comes to mind is there’s a very big radio personality in the United States by the name of Dave Ramsey. And he’s the second-largest radio personality in the United States. And he invited the CEO of Infusionsoft at the time to speak in between Dave Ramsey and then they had a former President of the United States George W. Bush. And so they were thinking that would be the lineup. Well, it wasn’t. It was actually me.
And so it was like, wait a second, I’m going Dave Ramsey, me, George W. Bush. And I quickly realised that people were going to be like, “Who’s this guy? Why is this guy in between?” So what it really taught me is people truly don’t care about your credentials as much as they care about your ability to solve their problem. And so obviously when you don’t have the credentials to being a former President of the United States, when you don’t have the credentials of being a top syndicated radio talk show host, I had to quickly get to their pain in order to capture their minds so they can go, “Wait a second, does he have a solution for my pain?”
The only reason why people are listening to you is, can you help them live a better life? Can you help them achieve their goals? People think to themselves, “Oh, they just want to hear from me.” At the end of the day, and we all know this, everyone’s favourite subject’s themselves. And so the quicker you can get to how they win by listening to you, the faster you’ll be able to capture their hearts and minds.
Editor:
Absolutely true. And the fact that you spoke with both Dave Ramsey and George W. Bush, how did you feel at the time? Were there any nerves, or was it water off a duck’s back, as they say?
Chad Kirby:
There were certainly nerves, right? There were a lot of nerves involved as there was when I shared the stage with a lot of people like a Simon Sinek or others that have maybe name recognition, and you don’t have that same level of name recognition. Now, what I will say is this, do not discount yourself because you don’t have that name recognition because if you can solve somebody’s problem, if you can help people be more effective, if you have experience or you’ve been through experiences that have created a message for you, then don’t discount yourself. Never discount yourself for that. So yes, I did have nerves, but at the same time, I knew that I was going to help them get to where they wanted to be.
Editor:
Anybody who is listening to this or who is reading this, and they still suffer with those nerves, do you have any little tips or tricks that you could share, some takeaway points so that, again, we could overcome that fear?
Chad Kirby:
Yeah. The best way to overcome the nerves. Now, I’m not going to say they’re never going to go away. Because there’s actually what you really need to is help yourself understand that those nerves are generated from excitement, not from fear. And so when you focus on the fear element of those nerves, then it can be detrimental to your delivery. It can be detrimental to your presentation, but if you focus on those nerves of excitement, those nerves that I’m about to make everyone’s life better here. Now, when I’m speaking, I will take opportunity. I’ll take moments to where I really get myself excited and try and translate those nerves from the fear space to the excitement space. And if you’re clear on how you help other people, if you’re clear on how your message is going to impact the audience, then it’s easy for you to transition from that fear to that excitement. So don’t try and get rid of those nerves, just translate them into excitement.
Chad Kirby:
Absolutely.
Editor:
I think a lot of people also fear the fact that they may get on stage and their mind goes completely blank, and they’re going to be stood there, stage fright, looking out into an audience, not really recalling anything that they want to talk about. Have you ever experienced that, Chad? And if so, how did you overcome that?…
Editor:
So kind of lean into it is what you’re saying, I guess
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