Public Speaking Lessons From A Man With A Pepper Grinder

You’d never think it.

It’s so bizarre that it almost seems like a comedy skit:

A man with nothing but a pepper grinder in his hand speaking live to 15 seated audience members eagerly taking notes.

And while you’d never expect to see such a story featured on a public speaking blog, there is a lesson to be learned from this.

Give Yourself Permission

The feeling of not being good enough holds so many people back from sharing their message with confidence.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is that they go external.

In other words, they’re going outside of themselves for permission to share their message on stage.

A lot of this comes from an internal fear that whispers in your ear:

• “Your message isn’t good enough”
• “You’re going to be boring”
• “You’re not going to add value”
• “They’re going to see right through you as an imposter”
• “They’re going to think of you as a scam”

And you end up avoid speaking opportunities altogether.

Your business remains stagnant, unable to grow further without you wearing yourself out with countless effort only to see minor improvements.

Or, when you do get up there, you’re not speaking from a place of conviction and certainty. You’re always on the edge, going:

• “Is it good? Is it not good?”
• “Are the people bored?”
• “Am I good enough?”

And what happens is you lose your confidence.

When you go external, you lose.

But when you go internal and you see that what you say matters – that my friend, is when you give yourself permission to start sharing your message in a bigger way.

A Sprinkle Of Spicy Inspiration

I was working with a client of mine who works in financial services recently.

He was stepping up to do monthly workshops, but as he was getting close to the dates of those workshops, he came to me with anxiety written all over his face.

I ask him “What’s the biggest fear you have coming up?”

He goes, “I’m not good enough man. My information’s not good enough. I’m going to bore my audience.”

So we started delving into it.

Now, this guy has amazing business strategies. He does financial planning, and he helps entrepreneurs save a ton of money on taxes by structuring their corporations and finances correctly.

Despite that fact, he had all these fears. And that was expected.

Because as we start stepping up, and get really committed to exceeding our limits, our body sends us a signal through the form of anxiety (or as I like to see it, excitement) that we’re about to go past our comfort zone and start leveling up.

So we decide to talk about this over lunch.

And as we’re talking and walking to the restaurant, we spot a crowd of people in front and witness one of the most bizarre moments of being in the right place at the right time.

There’s about 15 people in a circle surrounding this one guy in the middle presenting.

He’s got a pepper grinder, and he’s just sitting there grinding pepper, demonstrating different ways to grind pepper and explaining how coarser pepper is best for certain dishes, and how finer pepper matches other types of dishes.

We stare at this guy in awe for a while, before shifting our attention to the crowd.

And funnily enough, ALL of these people are fully engaged, nodding their heads enthusiastically and taking notes.

My client goes to me “This is crazy.”, his eyes suspended in disbelief momentarily before lighting up with inspiration.

All Pepped Up And Ready To Go

A few weeks pass by, and my client had his first talk on a Tuesday.

I ask him how it went, and he tells me this.

He had eight people in his boardroom and ended up getting three clients after his one-hour talk. Each client was $5,000, so in total that was $15,000.

But money aside, the bigger thing for him was the internal confidence that he got.

He actually added value to his audience and people loved what he was saying and wanted to know more.

They wanted to buy and he was attracting his ideal clients.

His mindset was completely shifted.

And now, starting next year, he has a monthly recurring workshop set up to keep getting clients in, and it’s only going to scale and get bigger. He already had the knowledge and expertise – all I did was give him the tools to become a thought leader in his industry.

And I’m lucky to have spotted that pepper guy.

Because as soon as I pointed it out, my client saw that as affirmation that his content is good enough.

He actually said to me afterward, “If I’m here to save people a lot of money on their taxes, and this big guy can get attention and buy-in, and provide value about grinding pepper, I’m definitely ready to take this on.”

So the next time you have thoughts about not being good enough to share your message on stage, I want you to pep yourself up with this pepper story.

If a man with a pepper grinder can do it, so can you.

So give yourself permission.

Lucas “Pepper” Mattiello,
Level Up Living

P.S. As you step into your potential, you’ll start coming face-to-face with fears.

Whether it’s “I’m not good enough”, “I don’t want to bore the audience”, or “I have to provide a tremendous amount of value” – all these fears and insecurities are going to come up.

You can do it by yourself, but it’ll be a long and tough journey ahead. It took me 15 years.

But if you’d like someone to help guide you step by step on that path to become your most confident self, I’d recommend you to jump on a call with me and my team.

We’ll guide you through the process and determine whether we’re a good fit. And if we are, this will be the best decision you can make for your business.

I’d love to hear from you soon.