On our final Mic Drop episode of season three, 11 keynote speakers delivered rapid, impactful insights in just 11 minutes. They shared strategies to elevate professional speaking, such as cultivating positive emotions, crafting personalized connections, and leveraging storytelling. Emphasizing authenticity, purposeful humor, and strategic customization, they provided practical tips like using AI tools or engaging with local media. A recurring theme was the importance of building deep relationships, resonating with audiences, and leaving lasting impressions. With actionable advice and inspiration, this episode encourages speakers to refine their craft and expand their influence effectively.
Barb Betts: Build authentic relationships rooted in empathy and trust to drive meaningful connections and long-term success.
Dan Chuparkoff: Use AI tools like ChatGPT to customize speeches for specific audience needs, ensuring relevance and resonance.
Lisa Even: Integrate purposeful humor to make keynotes more engaging, memorable, and relatable.
Jessica Abo: Leverage media by connecting keynote topics to current events, creating newsworthy stories that boost visibility.
Chris Rollins: Adopt the "ACE" pre-talk routine—Align, Connect, Envision—to prepare for impactful presentations.
Todd Hirsch: Personalize speeches by including client-specific trivia or achievements, fostering goodwill and connection.
Cam F. Awesome: Collaborate with chambers of commerce to increase speaking opportunities and network with decision-makers.
Rashad Rayford: Structure stories with a Spark, Struggle, and Solution to craft impactful and memorable narratives.
Sheri Jacobs: Stay authentic while growing professionally, as audiences value genuine, relatable messages.
Shasta Nelson: End keynotes on a positive emotional note with inspiring stories, leaving a strong, lasting impression.
Michelle Anne Johnson: Cultivate a positive mindset before speaking to enhance presence and influence. Replace negative internal monologues with excitement and anticipation.
ABOUT MIC DROP:
Hear from the world’s top thought leaders and experts, sharing tipping point moments, strategies, and approaches that led to their speaking career success. Throughout each episode, host Josh Linkner, #1 Innovation keynote speaker in the world, deconstructs guests’ Mic Drop moments and provides tactical tools and takeaways that can be applied to any speaking business, no matter its starting point. You'll enjoy hearing from some of the top keynote speakers in the industry including: Ryan Estis, Alison Levine, Peter Sheahan, Seth Mattison, Cassandra Worthy, and many more. Mic Drop is sponsored by ImpactEleven.
Learn more at: MicDropPodcast.com
ABOUT THE HOST:
Josh Linkner — a New York Times bestselling author — is a rare blend of business, art, and science.
On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā (moo-DEE-tah) Venture Partners - an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion in investor returns. He’s twice been named the EY Entrepreneur of The Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.
While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. Josh has been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years, studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and has performed over 1000 concerts around the world. His experiences in both business and music led him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation. Josh
is the co-founder and Chairman of Platypus Labs, a global research, training, and consulting firm. Today, he’s on a mission to help leaders Find A Way™ through creative problem-solving, inventive thinking, and ingenuity.
Learn more about Josh: JoshLinkner.com
SPONSORED BY AMPLIFY PUBLISHING GROUP:
Partnering with CXOs, keynote speakers, change makers, and other visionary leaders, Amplify Publishing Group (APG) is a leader in the hybrid publishing space with more than twenty years of experience acquiring, producing, marketing, and distributing books.
Passionate about ideas and voices that need to be heard, they're known for launching books that start engaging and timely conversations. At each turn, they have been at the forefront of innovation and have spearheaded a critical disruption of the publishing industry.
Learn more at: amplifypublishinggroup.com
ABOUT IMPACTELEVEN:
From refining your keynote speaking skills to writing marketing copy, from connecting you with bureaus to boosting your fees, to developing high-quality websites, producing head-turning demo reels, Impact Eleven (formerly 3 Ring Circus) offers a comprehensive and powerful set of services to help speakers land more gigs at higher fees.
Learn more at: impacteleven.com
PRODUCED BY DETROIT PODCAST STUDIOS:
In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits.
Here’s to making (podcast) history together.
Learn more at: DetroitPodcastStudios.com
Michelle Anne Johnson:
In 2025, create positive moments that connect you to what you're about to do. I can't wait to share my information. I can't wait to connect with my team. This is gonna be fun and that's gonna transform how you show up and how you influence.
Josh Linkner:
Hey friends, Josh Linkner here. Delighted to bring you season three of Mic Drop, the number one podcast for professional speakers and thought leaders on the show. We connect with experts at the top of the field unpacking their success to help each of us grow and thrive from elevating your artistry to booking more gigs. Mic Drop is designed to give you the tools and insights you need to reach the next level. Together we'll accelerate the path to growth, success, and most importantly, impact
ImpactEleven Sponsor:
The best keynotes, start movements and incite change. And when you couple an electrifying speech with a project that fuels audience engagement, the result is lightning in a bottle. What I'm talking about here is a book that's where our friends at Amplify Publishing Group come in. With 20 plus years of experience and hounded by some of the industry's most renowned veterans, including bestselling author and global superstar, Mel Robbins, the team at Amplify knows not only how to produce a fantastic book, but how to leverage that book and make it work for you, your brand and your business. And Amplify not only knows books, they know the world of keynote speaking and thought leadership. Having published CEOs and executives, they take positioning into consideration at every step of the way. Whether you have a one line concept or a comprehensive outline, amplify is ready to work with you. Visit amplify publishing.com/mic. Drop to schedule an exploratory call and receive an exclusive editorial one pager tailored to your concept. That's amplify publishing.com/mic drop.
Josh Linkner:
Hey, mic drop. Listeners today, get ready to strap in for a quick hit extravaganza that's more tightly packed than a Taylor Swift concert. Instead of doing a deep dive with a single guest, I'm bringing to you a power packed lineup. 11 leading voices from the keynote circuit each delivering a single high impact insight in under 60 seconds. These top tier experts, thought leaders, and speakers are winning at the highest levels and rewriting the rules of the game. It's an 11 minute rush of tangible strategies, inspiring calls to action and proven methods to level up your speaking career. No fluff, no filler, just 11 potent impacts in 11 minutes. Let's roll.
Shasta Nelson:
Hello. Hello. This is Shasta Nelson. I speak on friendship and belonging in the workplace for better culture, less burnout and loneliness and higher job satisfaction. And one of those three requirements of all healthy relationships, including the one we have with our audience, is positive emotion. One of the most overlooked ways of adding positive emotions is intentionally book ending every interaction with pleasant emotions, especially our keynotes. I've seen far too many speakers into their keynotes with a QVC code or a plug for their books, a summary of their talk or a q and a. And it's fine to do any of those things, but put them right before your final story instead of ending with them. Instead, think through three emotions that you want people to feel when they're leaving your program, and then reverse engineer it and ask, what story can I tell that increases the odds of them feeling these emotions? Add those positive emotions and it will increase their bond to you ensuring that they and their event planner feel all those good things when they walk out that door.
Chris Rollins:
I'm Chris Rollins and I speak about ripple effect leadership. How small actions with intention drive speed, momentum, and scale. As a former collegiate golfer, I know a great performance starts with a great pre-shot routine, aligning its setup, connecting with the target, envisioning the shot, and the same applies to speaking, but instead of a pre-shot routine, it's a pre-talk routine. And these three pre-talk principles will help you ace your talk every time Ace, align, connect, envision, align your energy. Do you need to get hyped to bring big energy to the stage or quiet your mind with some deep breathing? Connect with your audience. Remember to speak to one person at a time. 'cause when you connect with one, you connect with all. Envision the impact. Picture how your message will grow as your audience carries it forward. Ace, align, connect, and vision. And with this pre-talk routine, you'll be ready to ace your talk every time.
Barb Betts:
Barb Betts supercharge your relationships, unlocking the science of sales and leadership success. Relationships aren't just built in a day, they're built daily. If you want to truly grow your business, stop treating your network like a transaction. Transactional business may be trackable, but it's not transformational. Show up authentically. Invest with intention and take time to connect with people on a deeper level. Authentic relationships are built on trust, vulnerability, and a true care for others. When you lead with empathy and really listen, people feel seen and heard, that's when the connections become meaningful, long lasting, and the most powerful part of your business. Remember, relationships are your superpower. They're not just part of your business, they are your business. They're the foundation of everything, and that's where the magic happens. The value you create through these relationships will come back to you tenfold. It's the key to growth, retention, and referrals.
Cam Awesome:
My name is Cam F. Awesome. I'm a multi-time national champion, heavyweight Olympic boxer. I've hung up the gloves and picked up a microphone to help audiences develop a championship mindset with a positive internal dialogue. My insight or mic drop for the day is making use of your chambers of commerce. I've joined a handful of chambers of commerce by reaching out to the membership director and telling them for me to be a member, which costs about $400 a year. On average, I would like to be one of their 12 luncheon speakers a year that allows me to share my message in front of all of their members. I also request first write a refusal to mc their Yale yearly gala for free. This allows me to be in front of all the decision makers. This is just an insight of using a chamber of commerce and you can do multiple chambers within your area. That's my mic drop insight for the day. Thank you.
Jessica Abo:
My name is Jessica Abo, and my speaking topic is breaking from Unknown to Newsworthy. If you are mapping out your keynote tour for the year, don't forget to make media part of your plan. The next time you book a speaking gig, reach out to the local media outlets in that city and let them know you're coming. And don't just pitch your keynote topic and don't pitch the event where you'll be speaking. Turn your keynote topic into newsworthy content by being relevant and relatable. Find a way to take what you talk about and connect it to what's happening in the current news cycle. If you can leave the audience, whether that be a reader, a viewer, a listener with tips that they can apply to their own life, that is a way to get yourself more media this year. And then you can collect all of those logos and add it to your website and your social media platforms under as CNN and as featured on because those sort of logos add up and they look great when you're trying to boost your visibility. And at the end of the day, you'll help more people.
ImpactEleven Sponsor:
Becoming a keynote speaker is an amazing profession. The top performers earn millions while driving massive impact for audiences around the world. But the quest of speaking glory can be a slow rot with many obstacles that can knock even the best speakers out of the game. If you're serious about growing your speaking business, the season pros at Impact 11 can help from crafting your ideal positioning to optimizing your marketing effectiveness, to perfecting your expertise and stage skills. As the only speaker training and development community run by current high level speakers at the top of the field, they'll boost your probability of success and help you get there faster. That's why nearly every major speaker bureau endorses and actively participates in Impact 11. The Impact 11 community provides you unparalleled access to the people relationships, coaching and accountability that compresses your time to success. To learn more about the Impact 11 community, schedule a free strategy session today by visiting impact eleven.com/connect. That's impact E-L-E-V-E n.com/connect.
Rashad Rayford:
Rashad Rayford. Here I help companies tell more consistent and concise stories by sly blending, inspirational speaking, spoken word, poetry, and business talk. Listen, every great speaker is a great storyteller, and every great story needs three things. You need a spark, you need a struggle, and you need a solution. The spark is that thing that you start off with that is undeniable. It is undeniable. I don't care if I'm in the back talking to somebody else. You say what you say and I'm going to be glued in immediately to what you have to say. The struggle is the middle portion of the keynote. It's that place where we can find the heartbeat. It is that place where we deal with, with struggle, where we deal with challenges, where we find our humanity together in the middle of this keynote. And then finally, the third thing that we all need to lean into is the solution. The solution is the lesson learned. It is the transformation that happens. It is the the thing that we take them through that they get to say, Hey, this is the takeaway, this is the call to action that I have. And I promise you, if you do these three things on a consistent basis, you will have your mic drop moment.
Sheri Jacobs:
My name is Sheri Jacobs and I'm an innovation keynote speaker. I frequently tell people to take more shots. In fact, it's my battle cry. But one insight I gained over the past 12 months is that it's easy to get overwhelmed by the brilliant advice shared in a community with so many high level and experienced keynote speakers. As I reflected on the question of what insights I've gained, I realized I learned something that's maybe even more important than taking more shots. And it's that you have to be authentic. From my Impact Family Impact 11 family, I've learned that growth and genuineness aren't opponents, but more like doubles partners. We evolve, we learn, we elevate our keynotes, we work on our assets, but we should never lose that unique spark that makes a message distinctly ours, even with our flaws. So when I bring my whole truth, my whole self to the stage, including my imperfections, that's what makes me relatable and what helps me truly connect with my audience.
Dan Chuparkoff:
Hey everybody. I'm Dan Chuparkoff, the practical understandable AI speaker, and today my tip is about customizing for your audience. And it shouldn't be a surprise to you that the way I do that is by using my AI assistance. Sometimes I use Claude, or sometimes I use chat GPT, but every single time I say what keeps these people up at night, what keeps financial planners up at night? What keeps real estate professionals up at night? What keeps high school athletic directors up at night? Every time my AI assistant gives me super thorough and accurate answers, it's amazing. It prepares me for what the audience is actually thinking about, what's keeping them up at night so I can address their needs in my talk, make my talk, feel hyper customized, like I wrote it just for them. That's how I make every single speech as great as it could possibly be, and it's dramatically easier with my AI assistance.
Lisa Even:
Hi, I'm Lisa Even today's topic is all about purposeful humor. In keynote speaking, I don't know about you, but I've been to a number of keynote speeches that were chockfull of useful information, like really, really useful information. But I left thinking, what? What did they talk about? It's almost as if the memory didn't come with me. Maybe a little boring or just, you know, humdrum, uninspiring. And I think that there's an opportunity when it comes to speaking, to incorporate some of the humor that happens in our daily lives. Humor isn't just a tool for entertainment, it's really that gateway for connection and relatability. It's the overlap between our personal truth and the audience's shared experiences. When I'm crafting my keynote, I'm mentally thinking about sitting in my audience's shoes and thinking, is this funny enough to take with me? Does this create a memory or leave a tiny imprint on their brain? It's really about the one-liners and subtle details, dialogue and gestures that really help build the story and let it breathe. Humor is a powerful tool, and I think that audiences really do take things with them if it's more interesting, if it's more engaging, if it's funny.
Todd Hirsch:
Hello, my name is Todd Hirsch. I speak about economic disruption, and I am from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Here's my tip. Anytime you speak for a client in advance, go on their website and find some little piece of trivia about them. Something that the company or the client is proud about. This might be an award they've won. This might be some recognition that their CEO uh, was given something that they would be pleased if you brought into your presentation. You don't have to make a big thing of it, but just find a little piece of trivia from their website. Work it into your presentation. The client will love that, especially if the audience is their clients. They'll be very happy that you brought this up. It will endear you to them and probably get you another gig with them in the future.
Michelle Anne Johnson:
Michelle Ann Johnson here, I speak on cultivating personal power on the inside to transform and enhance your presence and influence on the outside. And I have a question for you. When was the last time you thought about your moment before, which is your internal monologue? The moment before you say your first line on that stage, or say your first words in that meeting. So often I hear my clients say that their moment before is crap. I really don't wanna be doing this. I wish this was over with. I, you know, I, I just don't wanna embarrass myself. You can imagine how that kind of moment before would diminish your presence and interfere with your influence. So in 2025, create positive moments before that connect you to what you're about to do. I can't wait to share my information. I can't wait to connect with my team. This is gonna be fun, and that's gonna transform how you show up and how you influence. Take care.
Josh Linkner:
Woo, today's episode was super fun. 11 bursts of perspective, strategy, and inspiration, all in a space shorter than your average coffee break. I'm not sure about you, but I feel both energized and eager to put these ideas into action. If you enjoyed this rapid fire format, let us know and we might just do it again. And of course, always open to your ideas on how we can make Mic drop even better. Until then, stay tuned for fresh in-depth episodes with the world's most accomplished experts, thought leaders, bureau executives, meeting planners, and of course, keynote speakers. Season three has been a blast, and I hope you had as much fun as I did. Can't wait to see you again next season. Until then, here's to your next mic drop moment. Thanks so much for joining me on another episode of Mic Drop. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. If you love the show, please share it with your friends and don't forget to give us a five star review. For show transcripts and show notes, visit mic drop podcast.com. I'm your host, Josh Linkner. Thanks so much for listening, and here's to your next mic drop moment.