How to Speak Like a Top 1% CEO

Speaking like a CEO isn't about screaming at the top of your lungs, trying to keep people's attention.

It's about knowing how to keep people engaged.

So I'm going to give you the five principles of top 1% speakers and show you exactly how I apply them in real life to everything from podcasts to $100,000 keynotes I give around the world.

These principles help you become a better speaker today, even if you're just getting started.

Welcome to the Martel Method.

I went from rehab at 17 to building a $100 million empire and being a Wall Street Journal best-selling author.

In this podcast, I'll show you exactly how to build a life and business you don't grow to hate.

My best-selling book, Buy Back Your Time, is out now.

Grab a copy at buybackyourtime.com or at any of your preferred online retailers.

Starting with principle number one, embrace the nerves.

See, I understand public speaking is one of the scariest things for people.

Most people would rather be in the casket than present the eulogy on stage, but it doesn't mean that you have to let your nerves get the best of you.

If anything, anxiety and excitement are the same emotion.

So what I do is I use that emotion.

I go to gratitude.

I always flip it and say, how can I be grateful for this opportunity to serve these people?

See, when you reframe your thinking around the nerves that you've got and instead of being like, oh my gosh, what if I mess up?

Instead, you say, oh, this just means I really care.

Then it makes it less about you and more about how you show up for the audience.

I believe that fear is false evidence appearing real.

Are you going to lose everything everything you've ever created up to this point if you mess up?

No.

Is everybody going to call you out on social media that you're the worst speaker ever in the history of mankind?

No.

You want to tell yourself that those feelings are absolutely the reason why you're going to kick butt on stage.

There's no motion without emotion.

So the fact that you're nervous means they're going to feel that energy of excitement.

And it's why you're going to be rated one of the top speakers.

Which brings us to principle number two, know your shit.

I would never give a talk on something something i'm not an expert in sure if somebody asks me a question i'll give them an answer but i'm not going to do a disservice to all the professionals out there and the real experts by giving a keynote on something i haven't put 10 000 hours in it's why i only talk about buying back my time i only talk about scaling companies these are things i have thousands of hours of experience in serving people doing it myself and i've studied them you don't rise to the occasion you fall to the level of your preparation so people that try to wing it of course you're going to mess it up winging it is for the birds, not the speakers.

So these are some of my ideas.

When I give a talk, I need to perfect how I start, where do I want to end up, and how do I end.

If you get the first minute figured out and you know how you're going to transition everything you shared at the very end so that you can leave them with a clear call to action, that will help you feel so friggin confident.

And then I do a visual outline where I sit there and I map out exactly the beats of my stories.

I don't have to remember everything because I'm telling a story of a life I live.

I just need to know what the story is.

What's the metaphor I'm going to use to reinforce that?

What is the point of that?

And how do I leave them with a call to action that gets them to make a decision to change something in their life so they can get a result?

I then use my friends to flashcard me where they'll be like, all right, what's point number one?

What's point number three?

What's point number two's metaphor?

And then that way I'm practicing visually in my mind using the visual diagram I created to practice.

That way I can go up on stage with an hour to fill and absolutely nail the beats.

The other thing is is you got to study the greats if you're giving a ted talk for the first time or you've been asked to even give a presentation at your work go look at other people that are presenting go look at the best people go on youtube sort by most viewed and just get in the energy of the greats which brings us to principle number three tell stories not facts i know you have a lot that you want to share you want to add a lot of value but don't make this mistake People will not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel.

What's cool about stories is they do three things.

Number one is they position you as an expert.

When you're sharing your own personal story or you're reporting on something that you read or you saw, you're demonstrating the depth of experience you have around that topic, which makes you the expert in their mind.

The second thing is that it creates the glue of their learning.

People may remember the action you told them to do based on the story.

They're going to be like, man, I love that cowboy story, but they'll know that cowboy story is a point to actually go for the thing they want to get in life because you use the feeling of the story to glue in the activity and the action that you wanted them to take.

And the third is that it fills time as needed.

If I've got an extra 30 minutes, like it happened to me one time when I was speaking at Tony Robbins stage and all of a sudden they said, oh no, you don't have six, you have 90 minutes.

And I had to fill an extra 30 minutes.

I just decided to tell longer stories to really let the feelings be felt before I moved on, which filled time.

And I did that for the three stories and points I was teaching, which added to that extra 30 minutes.

And it was great for the audience and for myself because I didn't stress out.

And if you don't have a story to tell, use an analogy or a metaphor or a simile.

And if you don't know which ones to tell, just hit Chat GPT.

Literally, you can say, I need a metaphor for this concept.

What do you got?

Tell me about it.

How would I present it in 10 minutes?

It'll give you the talking beat so you can reinforce your point.

When you understand.

Stories sell, facts tell, and using stories are going to be the reason that people are going to book you for more speaking, give you more opportunities and buy whatever product you might have or service.

That is why you need to go all in on storytelling.

Before we get back to the episode, if you want to jumpstart your week with my top stories and tactics, be sure to subscribe to the Martel Method newsletter.

It's where you'll elevate your mindset, fitness, and business in less than five minutes a week.

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Which brings us to principle number four, make it about them.

My whole philosophy is this, focus on serving the audience, not impressing them.

See, the reason why people get stressed out and freak out is because they're worried about how they're going to look.

If you flip the whole thing and make it about pouring into every person and trying to impart some knowledge to serve them, then you don't have time to worry about yourself because you're looking at them to help them.

Here are a few things I do.

One is know your room.

Know exactly what every person does in that room, or at least the essence of the industry and what they need to learn most based on their specific situation that you can help them with.

The other thing is lock eyes on them.

One at a time.

Look in the top right corner, the bottom right corner, across the room.

You look at them, you acknowledge them, because I'll tell you, if they feel like you're locked in, they're going to lock in.

And the last one is ask them questions to have them ponder so that you can understand if they get it.

Questions makes it less about you feeling like you're auditioning for them.

Are you entertained?

Are you entertained?

And more of, what do you think?

So what I recommend to you, when you get on stage, get up there and hold space and look around the room knowing that what you're about to share is going to to transform their life.

See, you might think they already know what I know.

Why would I say that?

Or they're questioning if that's even true.

Here's what I've learned.

Those people are so impressed you're on stage.

So understand just by the fact that you're up there and you're communicating and you're loving on them is the reason why they're going to fall in love with you.

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Now let's get back to the episode.

Which brings us to principle number five, have a primary question.

At a high level, the way I think about it, stage presence starts with inner presence.

Show up with intention, not tension.

So there's this question I ask myself all the time to help me get centered and make it less about me and more about serving the people.

And that question is, how can I appreciate even more God's grace and guidance in this moment?

I believe I'm here to serve these people because of divine intervention and opportunity.

And I ask to be supported in that moment.

And giving it up to somebody else bigger than me to serve the people in that room calms me down and makes it about them.

And that's the only way I ever want to show up.

Showing up with that energy of support, of giving, of abundance, of gratitude is felt by the audience.

That giddy feeling that you've got something that they really need, that they don't know yet, but once they hear it, they're going to be like, oh my gosh.

That is how you become a world-class speaker.

Thanks for listening to the Martel Method.

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