[00:00:00] Dave Polykoff: Welcome back to another episode of brand science, where we talk about all things, content, strategy, and personal branding. And part of.
[00:00:08] Dave Polykoff: Personal branding is showing up for your audience and a charismatic, empathetic way where they're going to be attracted to the authentic you. And a lot of times that is through camera podcast appearances, social content, and even public speaking. So that's why today I have on Mitch Carson of get interviewed, guaranteed.
[00:00:30] Dave Polykoff: Uh, he is a talk show host and public speaker, and he is the master of captivating an audience and drawing them in and then making them want to purchase from you. So today, Mitch, welcome to the show.
[00:00:44] Mitch Carson: Thanks. I'm glad to be here and I love the name of your show and it's perfect. We got the memo from our mothers wear a black shirt.
[00:00:51] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. Like we said, it, it, it hides, it hides the blemishes, you know?
[00:00:55] Mitch Carson: Yes, it sure does.
[00:00:56] Mitch Carson: Everybody looks great. Black.
[00:00:58] Dave Polykoff: Um, so [00:01:00] awesome. Today, I want to start with you have a great history in TV and public speaking, which has allowed you to be able to captivate audiences and just show up authentically for them. Let's talk about. The start of that. What is the kind of quick heroes journey that has gotten you into TV, gotten you into public speaking.
[00:01:22] Mitch Carson: I fell on my face and all of my teeth are replaced now. The first time I spoke, I didn't literally fall on my face. Figuratively speaking, I failed my way to success. I was a miserable public speaker, scared, sweaty. Uh, uh, I, there's no way I should have pushed forward, but when people should on me, I step out of it and move forward. And I was terrible, scared, threw up in the bathroom. The first time I had to speak in class, you know, an only child, a bit of a bookworm and was by [00:02:00] every definition, an introvert. So it can be changed. People can change. Some people say, Oh, you don't, nobody changes, you know, baloney. You can change. I'm perfect example of it.
[00:02:14] Mitch Carson: I've got countless clients who were introverts and it's a process. And it starts with what's between the gray matter right between this year and this year. It has to work between both ears, both this 1 and this 1. you got to fix this and incorporate some part of your heart, which will help connect to the audience because we're all humans and that works universally.
[00:02:37] Mitch Carson: Across the world. I've spoken in 63 countries. The formula is exactly the same. Now there's an overlay of culture that has to be considered with certain differences and distinctions between how you address a Japanese crowd versus Chinese versus people in Dubai, all of that factors, but the important element to understand [00:03:00] is. Fixing your brain first.
[00:03:03] Dave Polykoff: So you mentioned that you struggled with, with,
[00:03:07] Mitch Carson: Oh,
[00:03:08] Dave Polykoff: and public speaking. What was kind of the catalyst that allowed you to finally figure out, you know, change the thing between the ears here. What, what was that that inspired that?
[00:03:18] Mitch Carson: I'm not a, I'm not big on letting anyone anywhere dictate my future or talk negatively to me, I could dig into my past and what my father said to me at a young age, uh, that I think was the impetus of why I altered course, uh, my course in life completely because I was, uh, 20 years old. And I remember him telling me, your personality sucks. You're not good with people. You should work in a freezer. Now, isn't that an interesting motivation? It's called negative motivation [00:04:00] and he was speaking the truth. He wasn't saying that to motivate me by striking me down and Hey, get up kid. It was his truth, his authentic self saying, you should stay working in a freezer because at the time I was going through college. And the way that I made my money was I was the frozen foods clerk at a grocery store chain in Los Angeles and him saying that to me, you know, I was like, I was an only child. I didn't have a great relationship with him. And sometimes these emotional scars motivate us in different ways. I don't know what your story is or anybody, the, uh, the listeners about their dads, their mothers. My mom was supportive, but my dad was not, and he had not achieved much in his life, and I knew I didn't want to be like him. I know this is probably more personal of an answer, but it was my motivator,
[00:04:54] Mitch Carson: and him telling me this, at that point, I said, hmm, I do work in a [00:05:00] freezer, and I'm going to college. I switched majors at that point because of that scarring moment of someone who basically ignored me.
[00:05:09] Mitch Carson: I didn't meet him until I was 18 years old, true story. And he came in later. I only met him a few times. And when he made that statement to me, that was his assessment of my personality, you know, because I had yearned for his attention all those years, never met him until I was 18, came to my high school graduation. And then that time he said this to me. I was 2021. I don't remember exactly. I just remember standing outside my apartment building in Hollywood, California, and he has he came over to see where I was living and he made that statement to me. We didn't have a dinner together. And he just came over to say hi and make excuses and talk shit about my mom. I mean, that was really what he, he, he had, that was his intention more to dump on my mother, why he didn't see me.
[00:05:57] Mitch Carson: And then made that statement to [00:06:00] me. And that was the motivator for me. It was the switch. I was studying business and I switched to communication because I wasn't going to let this guy tell me what I could and couldn't do in life.
[00:06:11] Mitch Carson: And
[00:06:12] Mitch Carson: it was probably the most profound pivot point for me in my professional career, because then I got on and decided, okay, I'm going to take a speech class. I'm going to take a public speaking class and learn how to overcome my fear. And it was, Dreadful. Oh my God. Was that up against all my fears, all of my anxiety, self doubt, all of that surface to a massive white head, right?
[00:06:41] Mitch Carson: You know, and it's like, Ooh, I got to squeeze this sucker out. Sorry to be so graphic, but it illustrates the point
[00:06:47] Mitch Carson: is get this sucker off my forehead. You know, I was like, I've got a date on Friday night. No, I've got to get rid of this. And it was. a turning point and an em me pivot in my [00:07:00] mind. It's improve upon this.
[00:07:01] Mitch Carson: It's a answer, but I think it's We've all got
[00:07:05] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. Well, I think a lot of us. When we're first starting to try to show up, whether it be on camera or public speaking, um, or podcasting, you know, doing, I guess, interviews is. We, we have to kind of go through the puberty phase, as I like to say, I mean, you mentioned like whitehead where we're not great, you know, like we're still figuring out and yeah, you know, like it's, it's, it's the awkward phase where we don't know.
[00:07:34] Dave Polykoff: And I, and it's, and sometimes I think the catalyst here to get better is either, you know, Internally us saying, okay, we need to start working on this or, you know, someone comes along and kind of maybe shakes you up a little bit and says, Hey, this is, it's, you know, shit or get off the pot because this is, this is not working for you right now.
[00:07:55] Mitch Carson: Yeah. pretty good.
[00:07:56] Dave Polykoff: So, with that, I think that's a great kind of segue into, [00:08:00] okay. Our audience is probably in a position right now where they do want to start showing up, uh, more charismatically, more authentically, and they want to be able to captivate an audience, whether that be again, through video or public speaking or whatnot, what is kind of the, the initial steps, right?
[00:08:19] Dave Polykoff: So say they have some sort of, um, podcast interview coming up, or they have a public speaking engagement, or they have a video that they want to film. How can they. I guess, initially prepare themselves. To be their best for that engagement.
[00:08:35] Mitch Carson: Okay. I'll share with what I do. And this is what I take my clients through who I train to be on television and or to sell from the stage because you're selling yourself. I'll be at a keynote speaker or a platform pitchman, which is where most of the money is made. If you can sell stuff from the stage, your pockets will be full. So it all starts, as I mentioned in the [00:09:00] beginning, what's in between your right ear and your left ear. And if you incorporate your heart into your message, you'll connect. How do you do that? I start every presentation. Every presentation with the same ritual. It is a ritual. I follow a standard protocol for myself. I suggest anyone follows this. If you go out on stage, the best of the best in the speaking world. And I've shared the stage with the biggest names in the speaking industry worldwide. I mean, I don't want to brag, but just about anybody. That you would know I've either spoken on the same stage with or shaking hands with. And those speakers the creme de la creme the a to a plus speakers follow the same protocol We practice we practice here We might go through it in our hotel rooms before we take get on the stage before we go through a video We did a practice [00:10:00] run of discussion before we started this didn't we I could already tell you're a professional go You thought about what we're going to discuss and we discussed it.
[00:10:09] Mitch Carson: Now we're executing. The same holds true for me. Mental preparation is everything. I meditate. Some people may choose prayer. That's fine for them. Mine is a meditation and I look at the result at the end. What outcome do I expect to achieve by speaking for the next 90 minutes, 15 minutes? If it's 18 minutes for a TEDx talk, I've done one of those just to tick the box. But I prepared, I prepared and I went through exactly what I expect and then I execute the plan, but it also takes, it brings me to a bestselling book that I want to, I think is important and is relevant and pertains to what we're talking about. The outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. He, there's [00:11:00] one point out of that book. That was profound and so true. It's called 10, 000 hours, 10, 000 hours. If you practice any particular craft, 10, 000, if you put in 10, 000 hours of your time into a specific craft, I'll be at being a podcast host. I'll be at being a professional presenter. I'll be at being a martial arts master. You put in 10, 000 hours. All of those traits that you're looking for to achieve will be there. It's simply a reflex at that point. So getting there takes practice. So even today I mentally prepared before I got on the call with you, I meditated and I said, I'm going to every day in every way I am getting better, better, and better.
[00:11:48] Mitch Carson: That's my personal incantation that I use from a French philosopher named Emile Coulier. That I learned this from some years ago, and I've been using this for more than 30 years. I don't [00:12:00] want to tell my exact age because I'll shock people, but I've been doing it a long time and it works for me. So I would suggest for your listeners, viewers to, to have some type of routine. And again, I want to take nothing away from people that practice a particular type of religion, whatever that is for you or meditation, just do it on a routine basis.
[00:12:23] Dave Polykoff: Yeah, no, I think it's, it's, it's one of those like almost obvious, but so critical points is like, okay, prepare for what you're about to do, but I don't think a lot of people actually do it. I think we spend more time. stressing about the thing than we do actually preparing for the thing, right? Um, so when we're preparing we're kind of visualizing.
[00:12:48] Dave Polykoff: Okay. What is it? How do I want to show up? What do I want the audience to get from my presentation? Um, what's the end result my goal of all this for myself and for the audience? [00:13:00] And you mentioned practicing as well. Is there kind of A best way to do that is that just literally standing in front of a mirror and just saying it to yourself.
[00:13:11] Dave Polykoff: Like, how do you practice for whether it's on air or on stage?
[00:13:18] Mitch Carson: First it's the mental preparation. Second, it's The meditation, which is a component of the mental preparation. And I visualize every step of what is going to happen. In a short order. Third is I review. If I'm using a PowerPoint presentation, I whisk through it slide by slide by slide. Generally speaking, I'm editing sometimes last minute because of the flow that goes through.
[00:13:50] Mitch Carson: So I use a slide a minute and I use a lot of images. Versus bullets that that can bore people. So I think it's [00:14:00] important to create visual imagery in the beginning of this podcast. I created, I'm sure you're aware of it, a story. I told you about my father. I told you about the pain and the recovery. So there was a before and after.
[00:14:16] Mitch Carson: So I get prepared to take people on a journey. So what does it mean? And your first question was, well, how do I engage an audience? How do I get prepared to engage the audience? I am there with them going through it. I am with them. I'm not separate from them. I am with them. I'm together in this journey.
[00:14:37] Dave Polykoff: So you're not just envisioning how you are going to present it, but you're also kind of putting yourself in the audience's shoes to say, okay, how am I feeling as an audience member? As I'm consuming that part of the presentation.
[00:14:52] Mitch Carson: Absolute great deduction. Yeah. It's
[00:14:54] Mitch Carson: like how I need to be in the audience physically and mentally and [00:15:00] seeing myself on the stage. How are they receiving me? Am I connecting properly? Am I using vocabulary that they will understand? Because if I use words that they may not understand, I've just caused separation
[00:15:15] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. Yeah. I think the kind of golden word from what I'm seeing there is like empathy in a way in the sense of like making sure that what you're saying is not just. You feeling confident about how you're presenting, but also how it's being received by the audience member. So you're visualizing that.
[00:15:33] Mitch Carson: the R word. How am I received?
[00:15:36] Mitch Carson: How are they getting everything? It's the old copywriter's adage. Use right in language that is about sixth grade level because you never know. Now, if I'm speaking to a group of physicians, I can raise up my vocabulary to match their intellect in most cases.
[00:15:56] Mitch Carson: And I have addressed rooms of physicians in my speaking [00:16:00] career. So I don't have to limit. My vocabulary, if I'm in a room of seniors at a high school, which I haven't done, but I'm imagining that that are in their phones and putting their fingers in their ears. I doubt I'm going to use words that I learned in my master's program because I'll only create more separation.
[00:16:22] Mitch Carson: So how can you connect to the audience? What words can you use to connect to the audience, either virtually or in person?
[00:16:31] Dave Polykoff: So now we're prepared mentally. We've gone through and practice what we want to say. And now. Let's say we're about to get on air. We're about to get on stage. We're about to press record. Is there any kind of last mile things? Cause that's when like the, the real jitters come in, you know, before I go on, I've record podcasts, I get that like, you know, pre, uh, pregame jitters, whatever, is there ways to [00:17:00] kind of get us through that moment?
[00:17:02] Mitch Carson: Yes, two ways. I'm going to talk about that are so obvious that oftentimes are overlooked lubricate room temperature water. Cold beverages will freeze your vocal cords, lubricate your vocal cords with room temperature water and drink it before and abundantly and throughout. Keep yourself lubricated. Number two, before I started. I also use something called deep breathing, did that several times to get myself grounded, and then I come in looking relaxed physical body. If I'm hunched forward like this, my voice is going to be restricted. Diaphragm is open. A lot of it comes from my physicality. Be ready and I'm, I'm leaning forward, [00:18:00] but not awkwardly. I'm leaning forward to show interest.
[00:18:03] Mitch Carson: So I'm into this interview that we're doing. I'm into our connection. I'm doing that. I'm also feeling my voice come from my body, not my throat. It's coming outta my diaphragm. So this part of preparation visualizing this, and this takes practice,
[00:18:20] Mitch Carson: it's goes back to that P word.
[00:18:23] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. All right. So great. So then, all right. So this is. your body, uh, I guess from the vocal side of things, right? Cause if you're going to show up, you need to make sure that you pronunciate that you're, uh, everything is coming across clearly. Um, and now we are stepping on stage. We are pressing record.
[00:18:44] Dave Polykoff: We are, you know, going live, um, you know, on that, that media outlet.
[00:18:50] Mitch Carson: Sure.
[00:18:50] Dave Polykoff: While this is all going on, this is where people. Usually freeze because it's the pressure's on. Right. So how do we mean, what are the tricks to kind of [00:19:00] maintain your mental state? Also be sharp. And you know, some of those tricks that you were mentioning in terms of making sure that you're showing up.
[00:19:09] Dave Polykoff: So you can communicate most effectively. Like, how do we, how do we just get on our game while it's actually happening?
[00:19:15] Mitch Carson: I do a couple of things. Can I'll address both platforms. Let's go live first. Then I'll go back to virtual, such as what we're doing here in a live environment when I take the stage. So to speak, I'm introduced. They have my introduction, real video. So they're already understanding where they're going to go or my background.
[00:19:37] Mitch Carson: I might play a bunch of testimonials. Before I take the stage. So it also revs me up because I'm hearing this. It's a, it's a, an external stimulation. So I'm ready. I'm at my optimum, my optimal state at that moment, I will take the stage. Then I will strategically. Walk down [00:20:00] from the stage and I will come out and stand in the audience.
[00:20:07] Mitch Carson: I do not stand. The stage is a cage. So I tell people that I train, get off the stage, get down and I level. With people or at least get close to that. Because if you are standing up here, you've separated yourself. Come down, shake hands with people, touch them, touch them. Women be careful. Depends on the environment.
[00:20:31] Mitch Carson: You can touch, you can tap somebody's shoulder. That's usually safe if you're in a room and these are important distinctions. Because especially in today's environment, if you tap, I got to, I got to use my pronouns, right? Let's say somebody that's outside of your pronoun range. Okay. So you got to tap them on the shoulder. That's fine. Certain people that you, you can read people. We all have the instinct. Like, if I met you, I could shake your hand. No problem. You proff. I reached my [00:21:00] hand out. You would shake it and we'd shake. I look at you give you eye contact. We've created that human connection. If I shake your hand in an audience of people, they are all shaking my hand because I'm shaking you, who is a member of the club of the group in the audience. Everybody feels it. The whole audience feels it because I've connected with you. Now let's move to virtual. How do I create Mitch? You can't get off a stage. You're on a stage. You just got off and went into the crowd. How do you do that? Virtually call people out. It's a simple trick. The best you can is, Hey, Shannon, I noticed you're from Saskatchewan, Canada. Have you guys ever seen the sun? You know, I can make something not offensive, but in a comical way just to make the connection and it could be winter. Have you [00:22:00] seen sun in months? I mean, whatever that comes to mind that may tack on to the geography. In a fun way. You don't need to say, Hey, I noticed you're eating a donut.
[00:22:12] Mitch Carson: How many pounds overweight are you? You don't need to insult her, but you can certainly talk about the geography and that's a way to connect again to everybody in the audience before I begin. I welcome people to a webinar. If it's a live one, I'm talking live, then I'll go to record it. So live is that is the way to connect. Now I can also, in order to connect to a recorded event, I might tell a story that is relevant and pertinent to the crowd that's listening. You've described your followers, your demographic of people that are going to be listening to this recording. Now, the way that I would connect to people in the audience, I told a story about me. [00:23:00] That was personal. And I talked about my dad, my father, biological father, really wasn't much of a dad, but he was a biological father. Everyone, albeit a man or a woman can relate to that story because we all came from a mother and a father at some point. Now, I suspect because I saw where your eyes went. You related to your own relationship to your parents. We have no background in discussing that, but you have a relationship, uh, whatever that is with your father and or mother. You went there because I took you on that story. It's a way to connect. If I were to come out to just a recorded group, and like I said, we, we did a little prep, we planned before we executed. I had an idea based on what you told me. All right. I don't use the father story too often. It's very rare that I've used that maybe two times in my life. This is probably the second or third time. Seriously. I don't talk about it, but it was [00:24:00] something I pulled out of my file in my brain because it was relevant to our discussion today. So understand who you're speaking to. Is critical message to market match. So M to M
[00:24:17] Dave Polykoff: Love that.
[00:24:18] Mitch Carson: market,
[00:24:20] Dave Polykoff: And I think that's kind of, yeah, to, to kind of really summarize that, especially, I mean, it depends on the channel and the medium that you're communicating through, but in some way, step one, soon as you. Get on stage, whether that's, you know, starting the webinar or actually being on a physical stage, or maybe even as you're just like recording a social video, you want to establish rapport sounds like in some way, right?
[00:24:46] Dave Polykoff: Like break down this, this invisible shield or barrier that is separating the two entities. I am presenter. You are audience. [00:25:00] You gotta have to like break that down into no, this is a conversation. We are, we are one, we are together as you're saying, and the ways to do that storytelling, if you can physical touch, um, you know, calling out elements of their, their location or their life so that the, they see that you see them.
[00:25:22] Dave Polykoff: Um, and so now it's, Essentially you're, you've broken down the awkwardness that is typically like audience presenter and kind of the invisible shield that's between it. Is that kind of a way to put it?
[00:25:37] Mitch Carson: a great way. Now, let me, let me share where I was nervous 11 years ago. I spoke in Dubai at an event. I met a Pakistani man who invited me to come over to Karachi. And I spoke at 5 different universities the following week, and it was just I had a break in my schedule. He invited me over. I'd never been to Pakistan.
[00:25:59] Mitch Carson: So [00:26:00] I like the sense of adventure and I went over and I spoke on the 1st day. To a group of MBA students at the University of and during that, uh. That time I thought, wow, I wonder if they're going to dislike me. I had all these preconceived notions. I'm not Muslim. I'm American. I'm white. I was scared. I put on a shield.
[00:26:27] Mitch Carson: I put on, but there were 700 of them. I would get my butt kicked if they went crazy on me. I mean, you know, these are all the thoughts that went through my head. I was nervous. Like, oh my gosh, are they, are they going to kidnap me and ransom? Who's going to, you know, all these crazy thoughts went through my head. How am I going to connect with this audience? So I had to pull something out of my intellectual file to connect with them. Now I knew enough about Pakistani and Muslim culture because it matters big time when you go into an environment that's not [00:27:00] familiar, isn't Western. You better do your research. I can't go up and touch a woman on the arm or shake her hand. Not allowed full stop. You don't touch a Muslim woman, especially being an American out. Oh my gosh. And other people seeing it, I would be in deep doo doo, but I found men that love to hug me. They met me and these guys, these young people would come up big beards and want to hug me and shake my hand and embrace and take selfies with me. I was. Like a rock star over there. And that happened even before I got on the stage, these guys would come up with the, you know, the cameras and all the women stood aside, they would take pictures, but I had to stand like this. I learned in advance, like no touching. They would take photos, but they kept their distance. So I had to understand the protocols. I did this before I took the stage. So I already had a connection. So I found a couple guys [00:28:00] who were super affectionate and gave me the look like they were dialed into Mitch, who in the audience, can you dial into, this is the, what, what I want to share. I'll be at virtual recorded.
[00:28:15] Mitch Carson: Who is it? You're dialing and pick somebody that people can relate to. Now I had two men in the audience. One was named Hamid and the other one surprising was named Muhammad. Okay. But they were in the crowd. I kept referring back to them throughout my presentation of an hour. I said. Let's meet over here.
[00:28:38] Mitch Carson: Hamid stand up, stand up and say hello to your classmates. 700 people in the audience in this auditorium. I said, turn around and wave. Yeah, you can wave to the women too. That's allowed. No touching, but you that was my humor. No touching, but you can wave. Ha ha ha ha. Everybody laughs. They because they knew the rules.
[00:28:57] Mitch Carson: I knew the rules. So I can create that [00:29:00] connection. Like, oh, I knew the rules. I part and I made fair, decent comedic relief out of that. And then I called him and then I said, Oh, and your partner next to you, look at that mustache. I said, come on, stand up. Let's see it now. Twist it. Twist it. Come on. Just like Dudley do.
[00:29:19] Mitch Carson: Right? Twist it. Come on. What's your name? Muhammad. I said, good. So we got Muhammad number two in the crowd. Say hello to everybody. That's how I created connection. Everybody laughed. Then they loved me. I did that within the first few minutes. Then the rest of my presentation was demystifying American life was the name of my presentation, the calm, the five common myths and the first common myth. I went to their stomach. It was gustatory. Which is the first was taste. I said, we all eat hamburgers. We all eat cheeseburgers with, with fries, which are French and milkshakes true or false. [00:30:00] And they said through through, I said, no, no, no, not false. I ate it last week, but not today. Laughter. So use laughter and use something that is universal. Everybody eats something. So I used food as the first connective technique. That's the way I used, uh, and I also was able to make fun of it being an American. Do we all eat hamburgers? Well, I'm not a vegan. I worked hard for this figure and they all laugh because I'm kind of a big guy. So I went and I touched my stomach. So I used the power of A prop and it happened to be my waist. I opened up my jacket and I said, look, there's no six pack here, but I'm hiding a hair pack. Ha ha ha. You know, so it was a, it was a laughter component, so a little bit of self-effacing. And it created connection.
[00:30:58] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. So I'm hearing [00:31:00] there's a handful of things in there, um, that I want to. Kind of highlight. So as you mentioned to, I mean, humor being a huge part of that. Um, you know, I think humor is kind of like a universal language that we can all connect through. And I, and, and, you know, I try to use it as much as possible as well as, as the barrier breakdown, you know, if I'm just meeting someone new, drop a quick witty line.
[00:31:26] Dave Polykoff: And now that person just automatically, you know, Likes me, you know, just because I got them to laugh. So I think as you mentioned, like humor, not everyone is, you know, uh, a comedian, but if you can get that first punchline, it sounds like that breaks down the barrier and then there's find some sort of common thread between you and the audience and.
[00:31:50] Dave Polykoff: You know, sometimes that might be a little bit more difficult if it's like culturally different, but as you're saying, find like a universal
[00:31:58] Mitch Carson: Food
[00:31:59] Dave Polykoff: the, weather [00:32:00] food. Right.
[00:32:01] Mitch Carson: is easy. You know, you can come out with a compliment guys. I got taken out for a killer meal last night. I loved it. I'm not going to talk about pork because then I've created a bad image. Muslims don't eat pork. So I didn't talk about that. I talked about the fantastic lamb and bread that I had at the such and such restaurant.
[00:32:21] Mitch Carson: And they're all smiling because I've created that salivation because everybody eats, we have to eat every day.
[00:32:27] Mitch Carson: If we're healthy. So I, I, that is my, these are some, my safe zone connections. I don't talk about politics. I don't talk about religion. Can I share another story of how I create a connection that started out negative?
[00:32:41] Dave Polykoff: Absolutely. These are all great examples that we can, we can use.
[00:32:43] Mitch Carson: First time I spoke in Australia, George W George Bush jr. Was in office. So this was about 2007, I guess it was without have been George Bush jr. I think it was. and the promoter came to me and said, Mitch mate. [00:33:00] I said, no, Mitch straight. Don't make with me. He laughed, you're funny mate. I said, okay, how are you going to get over the fact that they don't like you to the audience or 300 people in the audience. This is a huge selling opportunity for me because I've largely been a platform pitchman. I've done keynoting and emceeing and panel work, but the real money is made in platform pitching. And I traveled a long way. I had landed at six in the morning and I was on at 10 in the morning. So I had a time for a shower, no sleep, get on stage and go sell. Go sell Mitch. So that's why he brought me into self to make money for both of us. And I said, how am I going to overcome that? They dislike me. I said, what? I cleaned the boogers out of my nose. And he said, no, no, no, no. It's not your hygiene mate. It's the fact. That your president is who they hate because he invaded Iraq and [00:34:00] was creating.
[00:34:00] Mitch Carson: And of course, Australians had to join because they're part of the allied forces and people weren't happy with George W. Bush at that time. How are you going to overcome the hatred of the politics? Because that is going to affect how they receive you. I said, okay, I got it. So I came out on the stage. First thing I did, I stood up on the stage before I got off the stage because it's always my technique. I worked the crowd unless I can. If it's a huge arena, obviously I can't do that, but 300 people.
[00:34:34] Mitch Carson: I'm going to work the crowd. But I started with timeout. Here's exactly what I came out after the introduction. I said, timeout before I begin. I've got a confession to make. I did not vote for George W. Bush standing ovation. They got up and applauded me. Before I even began, [00:35:00] that was my icebreaker. I had a line out the door to buy my product and service my course, which I was selling. I had a six figure day because I use an effective. Icebreaker and you have to take into account not everybody loves Americans like we think it's not true. We're actually despised in certain countries and you have to overcome that hurdle before they engage you because then they'll see you as a human, not as a political figure. So I used our current president at the time, president at the time, and I put him as the enemy and I joined them. So then I got off the stage and came and shook hands with people before I began my presentation. But that, in fact, was my presentation.
[00:35:48] Dave Polykoff: No, it's, it's, uh, it's kind of goes back to the whole research part of it or preparation part of it, because it sounds like, you know, part, you know, knowing that was kind of part of the preparation. And so that allowed you [00:36:00] to. You know, have that icebreaker early on, otherwise you're walking into a cold room and you're not, you don't understand why.
[00:36:08] Dave Polykoff: So knowing your audience, knowing what beliefs they already have or strong opinions they're going to have about you or your industry, that's part of that research and practice and prep phase. So you can know how to navigate what you're about to say.
[00:36:23] Mitch Carson: Well, and it and they have a what is called a tall poppy syndrome in Australia, where if somebody achieves, they all pull them down. We call it the Mexican crabs here in the U. S. It's it's the same metaphor. It's like one crab tries to escape the bowl that they're all in. They start pulling at them and pull them down. So over there, they don't want to see people successful. So I had to address that. I learned about their cultural issue with the tall poppy syndrome. And I talked about that and I said, don't allow anybody to get in your way for your own success. [00:37:00] Nobody's going to employ. The tall poppy syndrome. So I learned about these cultural mores and distinctions that were unique to Australia.
[00:37:09] Mitch Carson: Because if I mentioned tall poppy syndrome to people who've never been to Australia, I'm not going to, they're not going to understand it. But I tell about the Mexican crab story coming out of the bowl. They might understand it because that's, that's used more freely, but I would explain it as well. I don't have to explain the tall poppy syndrome to an Australian because they talk about it all the time, but that was another way of connecting with them, under letting them know I understood their culture, understood their pain, understood their resistance, understood the naysayers in their culture. life. [00:38:00] I think you have to take the time to be well groomed. I think it matters. And if you are catering to an audience of. Females who are matched in there. Let's say we have a good balance of men and women. Excuse me if I'm not using the right pronouns, but you get the if you're a people, let's just call it a people.
[00:38:57] Mitch Carson: So, I don't offend anyone [00:39:00] take the time to look your best. Look, your best, whatever that is today. People aren't wearing ties like they used to. So you don't need to wear ties necessarily. The look is a little more open. I would encourage you to make sure your shoes are clean and or shined if you're wearing shineable shoes.
[00:39:20] Mitch Carson: Make sure you're pressed. You've taken the time to look your best for them. They expect it. Might be, it might be subconscious. Or unconscious, they do expect a presenter to be prepared. They expect a presenter to be on time. They expect a presenter to understand them. What their needs are, what their wants are.
[00:39:49] Mitch Carson: Your personal stories don't matter unless it relates to them directly. Unless they can relate to it. I used a generic example at the beginning. I'm [00:40:00] going back to what I started with my father. We've all got one or we wouldn't be here. We certainly wouldn't have facial hair without it. So that we got to go back to what are the, what is it that everybody can universally relate to?
[00:40:13] Mitch Carson: And that related to all genders, all pronouns, if you will, because that does, we all come from it. So if I were just to relate to a volleyball metaphor, which you and I both have played, that would limit our connection, wouldn't it? Because not everybody plays volleyball like we did. If I just talked, unless I made it applicable for everybody to understand as my own personal story, but my story about a father, everybody could relate to.
[00:40:44] Mitch Carson: So keep that in mind. What story, what situation can everybody in the audience relate to or get most of them to relate [00:41:00] to?
[00:41:02] Mitch Carson: I knew being a published author mattered. I did not know how much of a pivot [00:42:00] point and how pivotal it was going to be for me until. It proved itself to be true. I had a group of 35 speakers, 38 were in Dubai with me that I was training to get on stage and use Dubai as a platform to show their expertise.
[00:42:18] Mitch Carson: 35 of them traveled with me to Bahrain, a neighboring country, one hour flight in the OPEC region. We were there, three TV channels in the back of the room filming us because in the front row was the governor of Bahrain, which was the Brother to the king. So royal family member surrounded by bodyguards. I had 35 speakers with me.
[00:42:46] Mitch Carson: I was the only one. Now it was my event. I was the leader and all these people there that wanted the international experience and exposure. But what I did change the course of our history for all of us by one simple [00:43:00] move. I used the book that I had published, took it out, signed in blue wing. blue ink, not black ink, blue ink and signed it and said, Mr.
[00:43:14] Mitch Carson: Governor, sir, I'd like to give you a gift. My book. I want to have the privilege of giving it to you. I worked the media in the back of the room. The cameras were on me. I stood him up. I said, may I present this to you? So he got up out of his chair. Bodyguards were looking at me with their fierce beards.
[00:43:39] Mitch Carson: What is this American guy doing to our Governor, royal family member, and I had the permission because I was gifting him something. I was giving him a book to spin him around. He was facing me. I was facing the cameras in the back, but I spun him like a top 180 degrees, [00:44:00] spun him around. I said, this is for you.
[00:44:03] Mitch Carson: So I manipulated him. Normally you can't touch a Rowe family member, but I was gifting him something. So I spun him around to look at the cameras in the back. Okay. Mr. Governor turn around. I said, I have this gift for you. And I finished it with his name. Of course, I researched him in advance and I signed it in blue ink, handed it to him with two hands, two hands, handed it to him, And I said, look at the cameras in the back.
[00:44:32] Mitch Carson: Now, what did he do? There's something I learned about Islamic culture. If you give somebody something in their culture, and I think this is one of the great attributes of them, uh, at least in Bahrain, he read my book, which was over 50, 000 words published by John Wiley and sons called the silent salesman, MEN.
[00:44:56] Mitch Carson: He read it overnight. And he sent through one of [00:45:00] his underlings a message, have them all come the next day to the Royal Palace for Haiti. So we got to go to the royal palace and have tea with the governor in a big arc. And they served us dates and high tea where they use these care, you know, they, they pour it from above and we got to sit there, ask him questions.
[00:45:21] Mitch Carson: He read my book overnight, said, thank you. And because I gave him something, he had to reciprocate. Yeah.
[00:45:36] Mitch Carson: I didn't think I was going to share it, but that was the answer. So it's sometimes
[00:45:51] Mitch Carson: yeah. Royal family member. You know, that's the key is he was part of the royal family and. And I got to [00:46:00] turn him. I put my hands on him. I would have never done it if it were a woman. Couldn't have been the princess. Can't touch them. I would have been executed. And I'm not kidding. So him, I was able to manipulate and turn around.
[00:46:13] Mitch Carson: He was just a very nice man and smart. Educated in America.
[00:46:22] Mitch Carson: [00:47:00] Getinterviewedguaranteed. com Slash meet with Mitch, get interviewed guaranteed.com/meet with Mitch. Or if they wanna just email me with a question, [email protected], another option, you know?
[00:47:48] Mitch Carson: Okay, bud. I appreciate you.
