The Leadership Vision Podcast

Amplifying Voices and Creating Impact with Tricia Brouk

• Nathan Freeburg • Season 8 • Episode 4

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 In this episode of The Leadership Vision Podcast, we sit down with Tricia Brouk, a celebrated director, producer, public speaking coach, author, and founder of the Big Talk Academy. Tricia shares her incredible journey from a professional dancer on some of the world’s most iconic stages to becoming a thought leader dedicated to helping others amplify their voices and create meaningful impact.

We explore her approach to breaking through limiting beliefs, the importance of commanding a room with humility and confidence, and how creating safe environments allows people to take risks and find their true voice. Tricia’s wisdom is a powerful reminder that leadership isn’t about ego—it’s about service, connection, and leaving a lasting legacy.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • How Tricia’s career as a dancer shaped her philosophy on discipline, intuition, and creating impactful moments.
  • The surprising role active listening plays in uncovering the true “big idea” for speakers and leaders.
  • Why overcoming fear starts with recognizing it’s not about you but about the people who need your message.
  • Practical tips for commanding any room with confidence and authenticity.
  • How creating a safe environment for others can unlock their potential and allow them to take meaningful risks.

Key Quotes:

  • "Your team wants you to win. They’re championing you, they respect you, and they want to hear your voice."
  • "When you allow limiting beliefs to stand in the way of your powerful voice, you're preventing someone from hearing your very important message."
  • "Receive the gift of your audience before you give them yours."

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Tricia Brouk:

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The Leadership Vision Podcast is a weekly show sharing our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture. Contact us to talk to us about helping your team understand the power of Strengths.

Speaker 1:

Give yourself the opportunity to accept the gift from your audience before you give them yours. Receive their time and attention. Before you deliver your speech, your presentation, whatever it is, whether it's in the boardroom, whether it's across from students in a classroom, take that in. See them, receive their beautiful faces shining up at you and remember that they are looking to you to be their leader. Your team wants you to win. They're there championing you. They don't want you to lose. They want you to succeed. They want to hear from you. They respect you. They're excited to hear what you have to say.

Speaker 3:

You are listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. Our consulting firm has been doing this work for the past 25 years so that leaders are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. To learn more about us, you can visit us on the web at leadershipvisionconsultingcom. Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Freeberg and today on the show, we are thrilled to share our inspiring conversation with Tricia Brooke, a director, producer and public speaking coach who has made it her mission to help leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers of all kind find and amplify their voices.

Speaker 3:

Trisha is the founder of the Big Talk Academy, a speaker development program, and has directed TEDx stages and other high-profile events, helping speakers deliver authentic and impactful messages.

Speaker 3:

In this episode, trisha takes us on a journey through her amazing career, from her very early days as a professional dancer, gracing world-renowned stages like the Paris Opera and Lincoln Center, to becoming a choreographer, a director and now a champion for public speaking.

Speaker 3:

She shares how her dance background taught her discipline, intuition and the power of flow, all of which she now implements to help speakers craft and deliver transformative messages.

Speaker 3:

Linda and I discuss with Trisha her approach to overcoming limiting beliefs, creating safe environments for people to take risks, and why truly listening is the key to uncovering powerful ideas, actionable tips for commanding any room with confidence, humility and also reminding us that coexisting with fear is part of how we help make our voices heard. Make sure you listen to the whole episode, as she has a great free gift for everyone at the end of it, and we just think you're going to love this episode, as you'll be inspired as we explore the profound impact of speaking with dignity, respect and purpose, whether you're a leader, a speaker, professional speaker or just simply someone with a message to share which, let's be honest, that's probably all of us. We think this episode is just packed with some practical wisdom and heart. Let's get into it. I want to read this little blurb about you and then I have kind of a directed way I want you to introduce yourself, if that's okay.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm in your hands.

Speaker 3:

Okay, so Tricia Brooke is a director, producer and public speaking coach known for her work in guiding leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers to become impactful public speakers. She founded the Big Talk Academy, a speaker development program, and has directed you had such a variety of different ways that your voice has been able to come about on different stages. How, and maybe who, did your voice come about and then what was it in that process? That said, I want to help other people get on their proverbial stages. Like talk us through that journey a little bit about where did all that come from? Because if you look at your website like, you've worked with some really interesting, really fun, well-known people and just also a lot of I don't want to call them random people, but all the testimonies or just other folks that just want to get their voice out there. So where did all that come from? Talk us through that process.

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm really excited to be here. Linda and Nathan, Thank you for having me. I am from Arnold, Missouri originally, which is a small town 20 miles south of St Louis, and I knew that I was going to move to New York City to pursue a career in dance. I had posters of Baryshnikov and Gelsie Kirkland on my wall, like all of the young girls, and I watched PBS and emulated all of the ballerinas doing the Nutcracker Swan.

Speaker 2:

Lake.

Speaker 1:

Giselle Don Quixote all of the dancers and I went to school for dance in Columbia, missouri. I went to a liberal arts women's college. I got my BFA in dance and moved to New York City at the age of 20. Risk averse and I had a lot of grit, I was not going to take no for an answer, and that's exactly what I did. And I started dancing in companies and touring the world. I performed with Lucinda Child's Dance Company, the Big Dance Theater, robert Wilson. Wilson, Ben Munisteri, David Gordon and in 2019,.

Speaker 1:

No, in 2000, I performed with Baryshnikov, so I manifested that for myself from a wonderful performance career I mean, I was on stages at the Paris Opera, the Vienna Opera House, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, Palermo, Lisbon. I am very grateful and had an incredibly privileged dance career. I was one of those dancers that actually got paid to dance I'm not talking about a lot, but I did get paid to dance and I realized that I wanted to retire in a way that was on my own terms and I had been given all these solos throughout my dance career. So I decided to do a one-woman show with all of the solo dances that other choreographers had made on me in my career and then create my own solos and I called the show Dining Alone and it was a 90-minute one-woman show of me kind of creating the culmination of my dance career so that I could go out on my own terms, while I was still at the height of my career, and I talk about it like a Zen sand sculpture, like the mandalas that the Buddhist monks create.

Speaker 1:

They take a really long time to create these gorgeous mandalas that are made of sand. It's very intentional, it's very methodical, they're incredibly beautiful and when they're done, they wipe them away, and that's exactly what I did. I was very methodical.

Speaker 1:

I spent nine months giving birth to my final show and then decided to move into being on the other side of the table other side of the camera, if you will as a choreographer and a director, had a very successful transition move into being a choreographer in film, television and theater. The first feature film that I choreographed was john turturro's romance and cigarettes okay, a dream cast. This cast included kate winslet, susan sarandon, uh, bobby cannavale, james gandolfini, who I became very good friends with, eddie izzard, steve bus Buscemi, christopher Walken, susan Sarandon it was a dream come true, that's like yeah.

Speaker 1:

And then just moved and transitioned into more film and television as a choreographer and then realized that I could direct because I was super organized and really when you're a director it means you're organized and you cast well, and those two things I knew how to do, and so I started directing shows and then realized that there was a deficit in female writers so I started writing my own work and producing my own work.

Speaker 1:

And that kind of risk taking and that kind of discipline and determination was completely birthed and born out of me being a dancer. If there wasn't a door for me to walk through, I would build my own. And so I was doing my own thing in the world of showbiz in New York City and, out of the blue, a friend of mine said I just landed at 10 stage, will you?

Speaker 1:

direct me and I said, sure, I'll direct you like a one woman show. And we worked on choreography and blocking, we worked on script analysis and performance and I worked with her just like I work with actors and she planted this seed. And this woman's name is Petra Colbert. She's a dear friend of mine and she's an incredible, influential voice and what I realized during this process was if I can help give a voice to someone like her, who's a thought leader, who has the ripple effect of creating change in the world, I can actually leave a lasting legacy that is beyond me. Being in a theater and limited to the number of people in the audience and the length of the time I'm on stage right

Speaker 1:

and then I just gave over to it and I'm still working in film, television and theater. But now I just call in all of these incredible professionals who want to use their voice for impact and I had all of these speakers coming to me wanting me to direct them like an actor, because that was unique. Like an actor, because that was unique and for a producer, the best stage you can produce for speakers is a TEDx stage. So I became the executive producer of TEDx Lincoln Square, produced it for two years in New York City, went on to produce Speakers who Dare, founded the Big Talk Academy, and now what I realize is it's far beyond that. It is speakers who are talking about AI ethics at the World Economic Forum. It is speakers who are speaking in the White House during impeachment trials and hearings. It is people who are running for the mayor of New York City.

Speaker 1:

So you mentioned briefly, nathan, the number of people on my website. Yes, I have worked with some amazing public officials, a lot of celebrities and people who really want to use their voice to impact, and part of our vision at the Big Talk is to unite humanity through speech, and that is where my voice comes into this. As a dancer, I used my body to express and to communicate, and now I can direct other people to use their voices, and I can also inspire people to understand that when you speak with dignity, curiosity, humility, respect and love, we can, you might unite humanity through speech.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, what I, what I love about that is that you went from the person with all the eyes on like as the dancer, the principal, to the person behind the scene that nobody will know who that is, and that's, I think, hard for people to do, because you're used to that spotlight, you're used to being out that front. So I guess good for you for being able to do that and realizing you're more influential in the back, so to speak. I'm curious, who gave you that grit and drive that you mentioned? Was that a parental thing? Was that a mentor? Was that a teacher? Where did that come from at such a young age?

Speaker 1:

I think it came from being naive. I didn't know what I didn't know I didn't know that I couldn't do anything, because nobody told me I couldn't do anything. My dance teacher, Sharon McGuire, was definitely influential. She's still very present in my life. She just turned 75 and she was my first dance teacher and she comes to New York for all the things that's so cool so she was definitely an influence in terms of believing in me. It really comes down to I never thought I couldn't. Hmm, yeah.

Speaker 3:

That's yeah. I'm thinking about that both as the like as a parent and also, as you know, as a. You know, when you're influencing other, like as a leader, how do you influence the people you're leading, how do you give them Cause? In some ways, that's the same message of you know, as long as it's like, it's not immoral or illegal. Like, how do you encourage people to take risks, to keep trying until there's some sort of I don't know barrier that they run up against? So that's a powerful message.

Speaker 2:

Trisha, is there a sweet spot for you, in particular as far as some of your clients, or is there something that really amplifies your excitement? When someone else's voice is amplified or they're able to really dial in their message, like, what is it that brings you the most most life in your work right now?

Speaker 1:

There's a lot that brings me life in my work right now and being able to support people in this way and knowing that I'm leaving a lasting legacy. You talked about being a parent. I am, yeah, to impact the world.

Speaker 1:

The sweet spot for me is when someone identifies a limiting belief and can release it, so that they can let go of the story that they're telling themselves that they can't, that their voice doesn't matter, that what they have to say has been said by someone else. And so when somebody's aha moment happens and the light bulb goes off and they embody their worth and they start walking in the world in more of an embodied way, that, for me, is everything.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, how do you do that, joanne, like it's funny I wrote. One of the quotes I wrote down from your book is, when you allow limiting beliefs to stand in the way of your powerful voice, you're preventing someone from hearing your very important message. So, whether that's in a boardroom, on a performance stage, how do you help people leaders, performers, you know get out from under that limiting belief of I can't do this, I'm not good enough, I'm not whatever, like? Do you have a quick tip and trick that we can just cure everyone of their limiting beliefs? Just real quick, because I'm sure it's easy.

Speaker 1:

It's yeah, super easy. That's why we can all solve the problem, yeah.

Speaker 1:

In the next 30 seconds. Most of your listeners probably all of your listeners would never silence someone else. They would never judge someone else's opinion. I think we can all coexist, whether we have the same opinions or not, and that's something that is a really important piece to this identifying your limiting belief. And that means, if you're not judging other people for how they think, if you are not silencing someone else's voice and you do it to yourself, that means you're violating your own principles. So why would you violate your own principles of keeping quiet or not using your voice when you believe that all voices matter and that you believe all voices should be heard?

Speaker 1:

The second part of this, the leadership part, is my job as a director in a rehearsal studio is to make the environment so safe that my actors can take risks and be honest with each other, and that means sitting back and listening and allowing them to take the risks and stepping in when I need to, but not before I need to, guiding them when they need it. But the reality is they know more about the character than I do, and if I get in their way and I impose my thoughts onto them, I am preventing them from having the truth of the experience. And it's the exact same thing when it comes to my team. It's my job to create a safe space so they can all be in their zone of genius and they can communicate and have a scene with one another and get to the truth of the scene.

Speaker 2:

Give us an example. I mean erase the names but paint a picture of what that looks like, or when you saw that specific person. You know take risks because they felt safe.

Speaker 1:

I worked on a television show for ABC. I was the choreographer and I was the what they call it the intimacy coordinator. Now it was really at the time it was the sex coordinator. It was a little little less appropriate. I like that. That's funny. And what that means is for me I would choreograph the scenes based on what the character was going through emotionally.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I would do the choreography with the dancer on location in fully clothed, nothing inappropriate, yeah, so that the actors could see what we were doing, and it eliminated any fear, any discomfort, because they had to do the choreography and because I was always available and present and putting myself out there first, I put them in a place of comfort and safety because they saw me doing it and it wasn't hard or uncomfortable or awkward or sexual. It's a job. Awkward or sexual, it's a job. It's a job and, as an actor, that's what you need to do and that was a show that I worked on, the movies that I've worked on, and when it comes to actors whether you're an A-list celebrity or a day player, the second there's a choreographer on the set and you're supposed to dance everyone gets scared out of their minds.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, of course.

Speaker 1:

And so my job is to make everyone feel safe, which means I make myself silly, awkward, uncomfortable, immediately, in order to create an environment where I'm not the choreographer. I am your colleague. We're working together on this scene. We're going to make it the best thing possible. I'm here to support you. It's the same thing with my speakers. It is not about me, it is about them, it's about their message and mission, and so, as a leader, it's my job to remove any and all ego Right and show up in service of my, my speaker and my actor.

Speaker 2:

I love those examples, Tricia, because it's it's similar to how we conduct our engagements or work with teams, or whether it's a board of trustees or a C-suite or a fully clothed. No, but the our adage is leaders, go first, Leaders go first.

Speaker 2:

And we say that by way of not out in front, you know, leading the parade and getting all the accolades, but modeling it first. So if you want safety in your organization, on your team, you have to see what that looks like. And so a lot of times when Brian and I introduce ourselves to our clients, it is, you know, I will tell the story of what happened to me and how I survived breast cancer and how it was a pivot point in my life and that allows other people to access their own humanity, their own suffering, their own flourishing as a result of paying attention to their lives and letting it teach them something. And so when we do that, all of a sudden people kind of look around and, yes, they're taking the same kind of risks, they're responding in similar ways. Obviously, we're not choreographing anything other than team dynamics, hopefully, but um, yeah, that's the.

Speaker 2:

Thing those are. Those are powerful examples.

Speaker 3:

Thank you yeah, how does that work? That same idea work in failure, because I we were talking interviewing another author a couple weeks ago that was talking about, like a lot of times, teams. I mean in life, we learn the most, I think, through failure. We learn when us. You know, in this example, like a scene doesn't work and why, when a decision didn't work and why, and then we can go back the next time.

Speaker 3:

You know you pick any sports metaphor that you know baseball players fail seven out of 10 times at the plate or you know whatever it is, there's so much failure. So how do you apply that same idea of safety in? You know you've made a creative decision that is like that is not right for the character You've got. You know all of your colleagues, your fellow performers around you to create an environment where it's like, yeah, that was a really bad idea, and they don't feel defeated, they don't feel embarrassed, they don't feel like shrinking back into that shell, like talk a little bit about that, because I have a hunch that if the stage is like real life, like most ideas don't work, at least the first time around, right Is that? Am I off on that?

Speaker 1:

Yes, and you have to try all the ideas to determine collectively what the best idea is. Right. And I often start with can we try the worst idea ever? Can?

Speaker 2:

we try my worst idea ever. Can we try my worst idea?

Speaker 1:

ever. And then I acknowledge that truly was the worst idea. Thank you for humoring me.

Speaker 3:

Get it out of the way.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and or letting my team know that it's ultimately my fault my responsibility Sure. And when something doesn't go well or I make a very quick decision to hire the wrong person, it happens and then there's total chaos in the team because, the wrong person wants to blow everything up and do their own thing and I've created massive stress for everyone and anxiety and uncertainty.

Speaker 1:

I have done that and I have had to go in and say I will not do that again. That was completely on me. Everything that was promised was my responsibility. Even though it was someone else making the promises, I take full responsibility for hiring that person.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so even with like, because I hear that like you're owning it, and I liked when you said I'm a director with you, know your cast of characters, your speakers as well as your team. You know your cast of characters, your speakers as well as your team. My question was going to be around then what are some of the secrets of casting?

Speaker 3:

Well is, is it learning?

Speaker 2:

the learning from some of the mistakes, hiring Well and and really finding, really finding the talent that he's either ready, or ready at this time in history or ready for a role that that you have a need for, Like what does that look like?

Speaker 1:

Such a great question, linda. And casting and hiring are really the same for me. I've made the mistake of casting someone I liked, someone I liked and they couldn't sing. I've made the mistake of casting, of hiring someone I liked and they couldn't do their job. It was exactly the same thing. So, yes, I want to like the person because we're going to spend, hopefully, years together in collaboration, but it really has to start with their ability, slash their talent, and when I understand that they're bringing a talent to the role, then we can create a relationship which is mutually respectful, liking each other, all the things. And it's the same thing when hiring a team. If I hire somebody because I like them and they're not working out, it becomes it's a problem for the entire team and then it takes forever to let them go, because you like them and you don't want to fire them, and even though it's holding up, the forward momentum of the team and the forward progression of the company and all of that.

Speaker 1:

So I think, making sure that you're hiring for talent, making sure you're hiring for longevity, and then you want to also like the person and you want to have a little bit of insight into what they do outside of the work, outside of the job, but it really the biggest mistakes I have made in hiring and casting is deciding on someone because I like them.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, which feels like it is. It feels like it really is important. Um, a mentor of mine would say you know, she, she could maximize the talent of any individual, but she was a terrible hiring agent. Like she could not hire the right people. And I asked her, like well, why are you completely out of this process? And she said because I put all of my good qualities on a person that I happen to like and then they immediately disappoint me because not only can they not do what I just think is normal, but then they can't do the job.

Speaker 2:

I'm asking them as well she said, but my expertise comes in when they're hired and then I can start moving them around and find like that perfect, that perfect place for them, moving them around and find like that perfect, that perfect place for them. So even just knowing, knowing who you are as a, as a casting or directing agent, right, that's, that's important, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I have a director of operations who leads the hiring process. Now Perfect. And then I decide between two. Yeah, okay, it's a little different when you're directing a show, because the talent is really apparent. And so the right talent is going to be the right fit, but when you're working with a team for a long period of time and several years, it's really important that they can do their job.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, can do their job. So when you, when you're working with people, uh, one of the things that stood out to me in another podcast was the, the active listening sessions Am I calling it right? Is we find in our work it's one thing to be a good uh speaker and it's another thing to really listen to the song beneath the words, the heart of what's really being said, that voice that's maybe under just a crust or something that just needs to be knocked loose. Can you talk to us and our listeners about what listening, active listening sessions, look like and what you've maybe learned from?

Speaker 1:

them. Absolutely. The active listening session for me is how I get to the heart of the big idea. When a thought leader or a professional comes to me and they want to speak about something, 99% of the time they come to me and they have a preconceived idea of what it is they want to talk about. And after our conversation they realize, oh, I did not know, this was what I wanted to talk about. And through that process of active listening, it is one of my gifts is that I can read between the lines and allow myself to hear what they might not be saying. And here is an example Kristen Smedley came to me and said I want to do a TED Talk.

Speaker 1:

I want. This was before I was a TEDx producer. She said I've founded a foundation around rare eye disease. I have three children and two were born blind, and I want to talk about rare eye disease. And after our active listening session, which is about two hours, I said kristin, I think your talk is actually not about rare eye disease. I think your talk is about how you learned to see through the eyes of your children. Wow.

Speaker 1:

Right, yeah, that's part of active listening Another speaker of mine, marie Elizabeth Mollie. She came to me and said I want to do a talk about relationships. And I said I don't think you should do a talk about relationships, let's just wait and let's have some sessions. And you know, I think there's more there and over a period of months I would just keep listening and I would just keep listening. And on one of our sessions she came back and she said I just got back from Cabo.

Speaker 1:

It was such an amazing trip. She's an underwater photographer and scuba diver and she shared that she was taking these incredible pictures of these seahorses and the female seahorses would give the male seahorses the eggs and the male seahorses would hold the eggs until they would birth new seahorses. And this sea life would do this sea life. And it was all very fluid and she was telling me about this and I got the hit what sea life can teach us about gender fluidity. And that became her TED talk, her signature, and not be afraid to open up a conversation when they are having an experience of gender fluidity or pronouns or whomever. Whatever they're experiencing. They now have a catalyst for a loving conversation because of marie elizabeth molly's an amazing talk about how sea life can teach us about gender fluidity and its nature. Yeah, it's real. It's seahorses.

Speaker 2:

And stories are compelling, they're memorable. That's why, when we used tools or psychometrics assessments, they kind of fade into the background, because what we really want to unearth is the story, the image, the voice of of an individual, so that they know how to be a better team member or contributor contributor in society. Um, when you so. So I'm listening to you as I'm active listening to you just in a few minutes. Um, it seems like you just have this intuitive way of knowing. Is what does that come from? Dance? Um, meaning the way that you hear people, see people, almost feel them. Um, anticipate. I don't know if it's a Jedi trick or I don't know what I'm listening for, but do you know what I'm asking? Is there something, even from the way that you moved through space as a dancer, that gave you that kind of knowing?

Speaker 1:

I have not thought about this in this way, linda, and I want to thank you because you're identifying something for me for the first time, which is the word anticipate.

Speaker 1:

When I was on stage for those many decades, it was my job to not only anticipate my next move but my partner's next move because we were not speaking move because we were not speaking. So the intuitive anticipation, energetically of knowing what was coming next, it is that profound flow and when I am working with a speaker or an actor in a scene, I allow myself to move into that flow and I think I really did flex the muscle of anticipation which has served me now yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's so cool.

Speaker 2:

And you're teaching other people to do it as well. Once again, brian's not here, but if he was, you would see kind of what our clients see in the, in the synergy that happens when the two of us are kind of playing off each other and we are similar in the way that we can command a room. We almost intuitively know when the other person's voice needs to be heard and then when to back up. That's a dance, how right? Yeah, and so the dance, and so people enjoy and find growth in the dance that we have. And and so when people have said, like, what is it about you, the both of you, like we're crying, we're trying to create a great big space for you to play in that as well. But I, I like the intuitive anticipation with energy, like you're also giving me some some very good words. So I appreciate that.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I have a. One of the chapters from your book that really stuck out to me was the chapter about fear, and I think it's fear and how it's getting in your way. I think was the title of it and there's a quote fear is not about you, it's about the people who need to hear your message. As I thought about fear, I thought about like I've done a lot of stuff on stages all the way not to brag, but I was Danny Zuko in my high school musical production of Grease.

Speaker 3:

There's that type of fear of like am I going to remember my lines? Am I going to sing off key? There's a fear of being in a room with other leaders, of am I going to be smart enough to contribute? There's a fear of being up. There's all these different types of fear we have and I'm just I'm curious if you can sort of maybe share with our listeners what this chapter is about, because, whether it's imposter syndrome, whether it's just your rational fear of whatever, like, all of us have some sort of fear that's just getting in our way, and I like how you said that. So I'm wondering if you can just talk a little bit about this chapter and how you share or how you help people get over their fear of whatever. It is. Um, cause, it's one thing to be like I'm afraid to get up in front of people and talk, versus like I'm afraid I'm not good enough to do what I need to do here. Does that make sense? It's sort of a wide open canvas to like help us not be afraid of ourselves anymore.

Speaker 1:

I think the, the commonality and the through line of all of the experiences you just shared, nathan, is that that particular fear is about yourself. Yeah, I might forget my lines, I might not do a good job, I might not show up in the way that is going to be impactful. I might do this. What if I fail? What if they think I'm terrible? What if I? It's all ego driven. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

And as soon as you can remember that it's not about you and that you can give your fear a backseat and you, you may, you move into serving, being of service to the audience, service to the room of service, to the person who is meant to meet you at the event that you really don't want to go to because you're an introvert and it's cold out and you have to get dressed.

Speaker 1:

That's when you can let go of the fear. The other thing that is really important and it's a tool is your body is going to physiologically betray you, no matter how many stages you have been on.

Speaker 4:

I have been on thousands of stages betray you, no matter how many stages you have been on.

Speaker 1:

I have been on thousands of stages. I still have weak knees, butterflies, dry mouth, sweaty palms. Your body will always physiologically betray you if you care about what you're doing. So how do you coexist with that physiological betrayal? You put yourself in a position of creating a confidence-competence loop. You rehearse under mild pressure in front of your family and you put yourself in that physiological response and you know you can get through the presentation a little bit more.

Speaker 2:

Invite a bunch of people over, give the presentation and then you can prove to yourself that, while I'm feeling sick and I have stress, dry mouth and palms that are sweaty.

Speaker 1:

I can still deliver this, even though my hand is shaking uncontrollably. I didn't let it stop me and I couldn't stop my shaking, but I didn't let it stop me and I didn't call attention to it, and that's how you make it. That's how you coexist with the fear.

Speaker 2:

I like the example because I've had people say you know, how do you just make it so natural in front of people? It's like you don't see my heart.

Speaker 2:

That's that when I look down I can see the I can see the fabric of your exactly the movement of that and and so you know that that confidence loop for me is I put my shoulders back. Yeah, and just even the act of rolling my shoulders there's a sense of okay, I hear you heart, I hear you beating chest. I know that this is important, I got it. I got it and I have something to say, and so let's go, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Thank you beating heart for letting me know that I care yeah.

Speaker 2:

A lot about, about what that is, and and sometimes sharing those pieces with people. It's like oh no, I you didn't see my, my knees shaking underneath my parachute pants, so um she still wears parachute pants. Yeah, Anyway they're coming back in, I guess. I don't know.

Speaker 3:

That's kind of what I was going to ask, or maybe just ties in of. You know, you have another chapter to talk about, rehearsal and you can rehearse a speech. You can do that with, get all kinds of feedback. But when it's like an in the moment thing, what are some very practical tips, like what Linda was kind of saying of like no, I got this. You know, put your shoulders back, Like are there other things like that that you can help people, leaders with that? In that moment of people are looking at me to do a thing. You know, for me, I always, you know, it's like a couple of deep breaths before I'm, you know, going up in front of people or just like whatever those tips and tricks, what are some things like that that are maybe super practical but people just don't know about because they're not in that you know quintessential stage in a 5,000 seat auditorium. They're just in front of their team of five or 10 people and they still need some sort of you know, help me practice this so I don't fall on my face.

Speaker 1:

Deep breaths is great. It's also remembering that your team wants you to win. They're there championing you. They don't want you to lose. They want you to succeed. They want to hear from you. They respect you. They're excited to hear what you have to say. The other thing is and that's your responsibility- I like that.

Speaker 3:

They want you to win, they want you to do well. It's not an adversarial relationship, it's a yeah, you're doing it together don't just stop at you know expressing what's so beautiful about you.

Speaker 2:

Take it a step further to yes, see the audience receive their gift. I like, I love the language of being life-giving, of being generative, of um, the gifts that go both ways. That, for me, is is super powerful.

Speaker 1:

That's the scene you're in. Yeah, even if they're not speaking back in a in a in a dialogue even if it's a monologue, it's your scene. If they're your scene partner and they deserve to have that connection with you yeah, I love that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, trisha that, yeah, I have to ask because we'll we'll pause every once in a while and do this with the people that we work with, the leaders, um, because we want to pause and just ask you what's capturing your attention or imagination right now. I'm knowing that you have been on many stages, that you um have been with some really incredible people. What have you found yourself saying to yourself, as, as you've been sharing your wisdom with us, as you've been interacting with us, what are some of the things that are standing out to you from this time together?

Speaker 1:

Right now, what's top of mind is how to support as many people as possible to communicate with dignity and respect. I love that.

Speaker 1:

That is something that is a challenge right now. I live in the United States and I am not a fan of hate and separation. I truly believe that all voices matter and we can come together, no matter what our political beliefs. So what's really top of mind for me right now is how to be a voice for all opinions, and I am extremely liberal. Everybody knows that. You read my book, you know how.

Speaker 1:

I feel, and I also think that hate speech is toxic and separates us and we are more like than we are not. So what I'm speaking about right now is how do we create a movement where we come together and we start communicating and hearing one another and really respecting each other's points of view, so that we can come together and stop being separated? Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 2:

And I the that you're this intuitive anticipation of goodness and not anticipating automatic hate or retribution assuming positive intent yeah, the the anticipation of goodness, that's yeah I'll sign up for that movement. I'm'm with you, I'm glad.

Speaker 1:

I truly believe that we're in a place of conscious awakening right now. Yeah, and my middle name is Dawn, and that was after the dawning of the age of Aquarius, which we're moving into astrologically.

Speaker 2:

And so the timing could not be more perfect, wow so really trusting that good will prevail and love wins over evil.

Speaker 1:

And I'm not trying to sound like a Hallmark movie although Hallmark movies are lovely. I'm simply saying that because of these conversations like the one we're having, Linda and Nathan, because we're giving people an opportunity to hear what's possible and to understand that their voice matters, how they show up matters, how they vote matter, how they respect and hear other people's voices. That's how we create a collective consciousness for good. Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think people need to know the postures even Right, absolutely Well, and I think people need to know the postures even right, so it's not just even words, because what's capturing my imagination is even what you do when you say blocking, and you know the movement. How do we have that posture of goodness to even receive before we speak? Thank you for all the work that you're doing. This is yeah, it's very inspiring.

Speaker 3:

So Tricia Linda mentioned like how she and Brian command a room, and command is maybe a little bit of a strong word, but I like it because it's it kind of sets the stage, whether that's a boardroom, a classroom, a stage stage, whatever it is. I know that you do some work around this and I'm just curious if you have any resources that you might be able to share with our audience where they could go learn more about this idea.

Speaker 1:

For sure. I want to start by saying commanding a room doesn't mean that you have to be full of yourself. You can command a room and still have humility. That's right and that's what I teach in the on-demand masterclass. Command Any Room and if you go to trishabrookcom forward slash command, you can register for this free on-demand masterclass and start putting into practice commanding any room that you are in so that you have the kind of impact and can leave the lasting legacy that you desire.

Speaker 3:

I love it. It's time to stop being awkward and uncomfortable and command any room. I just pulled it up right now. I love this. I'm going to absolutely do this.

Speaker 2:

She meant later, not while we're recording, but I was like I'll forget.

Speaker 3:

This is so. I haven't, I don't sign it up.

Speaker 3:

This is so wonderful, Trisha. I have kind of, I guess, a final question. So kind of I guess, a final question. So your book came out a couple of years ago. It has overwhelmingly positive reviews on Amazon and the book is the Influential Voice Saying what you Mean for Lasting Legacy. I guess I have kind of two questions. What has been something that the feedback that you've received from it, from people who have read it and gone through it, that surprised you Like, oh, I was anticipating that. And then what is something that maybe you wish you would have said differently? Or if you could go back and rewrite it today because I know writing a book is super easy, you would include this or update this, or so I guess kind of two questions in one there.

Speaker 1:

The surprise for the book was I designed the book to be a book about how to communicate effectively, disguised by a book about being a good human being.

Speaker 3:

I got that. I like yeah, good, good trick there.

Speaker 1:

And the adjustment that I would make, and when I do a republish, would be to include more gender neutral pronouns.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's probably not. Wasn't top of mind back then. But yeah, what about the surprising part?

Speaker 1:

I think the surprising part was how interested people were in my personal story as a dancer and where I grew up and how I have become the influential voice that I've become. From where I grew up, I think that's been a surprise for people yeah.

Speaker 2:

Because of assumptions that you think they've made about you, or maybe even judgments of oh well, she did this and worked with these people, so I assume that, or is it just a? Yeah, how does a?

Speaker 1:

dancer. How does a dancer create a successful business around teaching thought leaders to have impact? How does that happen?

Speaker 3:

It's not exactly a straight line, but I can definitely see how you would get there from having that much experience in front of people so well. Tricia, thank you so much. We've taken up almost every minute of our time here, really appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I have chills. I am beyond grateful. Thank you for being generous with your story and your time.

Speaker 3:

Told you this was going to be fun.

Speaker 1:

Ooh, Thank you for being generous with your story and your time. My pleasure. I appreciate this connection and future collaboration Really really meaningful.

Speaker 3:

Thank, you, tricia. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. We all have a voice, we all have something we want to say, whether that's from a giant stage or a much smaller stage, a digital stage, a physical stage, whatever it is. And how we communicate matters. How we learn to command a room to command not in an egotistical way or in a self-aggrandizing way, but how do we get our message out, and if it's something that we really believe in, we need to communicate that. I love what Trisha shares there and I also want to make sure that you are aware of her masterclass, which is free. She's giving it away to our listeners. If you go to Trisha Brooke that's T-R-I-C-I-A-B-R-O-U-K dot com slash command you can get free access to that masterclass. There's links to all of this in the show notes.

Speaker 3:

But, tricia, just again, thank you for taking the time for sharing your message with us. We really appreciate it and, listeners, we hope that you find value in this and that you share it with someone else. We just really appreciate you listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast and hope that you can share our message of what we do empowering others to kind of find and understand the beauty and brilliance within themselves so that they can lead not only themselves but a team and organization and just really build positive team culture throughout our society. So thank you for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast. As I mentioned, you can learn more about us on the web Click the show notes or go to leadershipvisionconsultingcom. You can find us on all the socials and join our free email newsletter and, again, share this with someone that you think could find value from this. My name is Nathan Freeberg and, on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening.