Large Crowds

Below, me standing on a roof talking to over 175 people at the Plunge Party finale.

Was I prepared for what I was going to say? Not at all. Did I nail the delivery? Yes.

So how’d I get here standing on a ledge without the desire to jump off due to the fear that 70% of the world population faces? The fear of public speaking.

Today, I’m sharing how I became (somewhat) comfortable speaking in front of large groups. This one is a mailbag question from my buddy Stedman when I asked you guys three weeks ago what questions do you have for me.

Let’s do this.

Let’s start with the short answer: No, speaking did not come naturally to me at all.

Nobody believes me but I was a relatively introverted and nerdy kid in middle school and high school. I was bullied a little bit (weren’t we all?) and wasn’t considered the “popular” kid. Granted I did win the one-two-punch senior superlatives of “least mature” and “person I wish I knew better.”

I wonder why….

I share this because I do think it plays a pretty big part as to why I am the way I am today. Therapists may call that trauma, I call it “experience.” Like I said, I didn’t have a big social circle up until I joined a fraternity my freshman year of college. So I was somewhat deprived of that feeling of being the center of attention.

DJing

Fast forward to 2019. I had just moved to San Diego. New city. Newly single. Knew two people. So I forced myself to get out for happy hours, yoga on the beach, adult sports leagues. It was starting to work, until ya know… covid.

I was new to SD and didn’t have the core covid friend group to quarantine with. It was just me in my one bedroom apartment in North Park. With all the time on my hands I got to pick up my covid hobby, which was learning how to DJ. Once the city started opening back up I shot my shot and landed a couple gigs, which ended up also being some big sets in front of +200 people. I would get nervous, shaky, and sweaty for those big events. I wasn’t even talking, I was just pressing buttons. That was my first taste of being in front of large crowds.

Cocktail Parties

As I grew my network in San Diego I wanted to start bringing my favorite people together that I’ve met in the city. I started hosting cocktail parties. As part of those parties, I had to do an intro announcement thanking everyone for being there and getting people to do icebreakers. Which, honestly, was nerve-wracking enough because how are you going to convince grown adults to wear name tags and do icebreakers? Not easy.

Since I had a blast doing it, I did it again, and again, and again. Every time, I just kept getting up and talking, because I had to figure it out.

Newsletter

Right before I decided to move to San Francisco, I knew I wanted to build an audience and get good at selling stuff to people using the written word. I opened a Twitter account and started a blog before this actually turned into a newsletter. I had no clue what I would write or talk about, but I wanted to get better at convincing people to do something and how to succinctly articulate my thoughts (still working on that). This was my first lesson at learning how to talk to everyone and no one at the same time. It taught me how to tell better stories. At scale.

Plunge Club + Plunge Party

After moving to SF, I started cold plunging with friends which turned into helping run the Marina Plunge Club (some easter eggs in that post). Every Sunday, I gave a little intro. I was getting public speaking reps in without realizing it.

When I started hosting Plunge Party, those same muscles kicked in. Was I nervous charging $50 for people to plunge in cold water and then speaking to them as if I knew what I was doing? Absolutely. But I knew what I needed to say. I built repeatable phrases and intros. That made it easier.

Pro tip: Develop anchor phrases. Memorize a few key lines so you don’t freeze. Repetition compounds.

Content and Presentations

Here we are now. I’m in my content era. What feels like the final boss but certainly is not. I’m speaking into the black hole of my cell phone camera and cringing at the sound of my voice while I edit. That’s the growth process baby🕺🏼.

But here’s why I do it. I make content to share my story and get better at telling it. The goal of making content is to inspire others. But if I have a flat and boring voice, I wont be able to get a single person to listen. I want to be able to speak (and move) large crowds of people.

In my opinion, this has by far been the hardest step for me in my journey. I have grown multiple social media accounts to millions of views and hundreds of thousands of followers. But for the first time, I now have to put my face in front of the account and speak to the other side. While this feels like a massive challenge in the beginning, think about how many content creators in the space actually speak into a camera vs. just posting pictures and do not have their voice over it.

The level of trust that you build by speaking directly to the user is worth the pain and cringe you encounter along the way. And trust is the currency of attention.

I create content to share my story. To get better at telling it. And to inspire other people to take action. The tools for public speaking and content creation are different — but the skill set is the same:

Speak clearly. Speak confidently. Connect.

I used to suck at this and I still kind of do. But I show up anyway because that’s how I get better. One shitty rep at a time.

So if you’re scared of speaking in front of people?

Make a burner Instagram account and just record yourself speaking for 60 seconds every day for 30 days. Watch how good you become at speaking and telling a story. If you end up hating it, the worst that happens is you delete the account, and no one ever sees it that knows you.

Get the reps in.

It will compound. Next thing you know, you'll be talking to a crowd of over 175 people, mic in hand.

And actually enjoying it.

You’re Awesome,

Jared

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Things Worth Clicking

A few gems I found on the internet this week - no digging required

• Bringing this one back because it talks about how to become a better speaker

  How to Communicate Like a Pro (with Michael Smoak/HigherUpWellness)

  Fitness Stuff (for normal people) · Episode

  open.spotify.com/episode/1Bjvwxh0cv8MQRX3WYve1O

  

• Alex Hormozi on how he broke a Guinness World Record and the internet with a book pre-sale.

• Earlier this month, I gave a talk on how to get the most out of using a glucose monitor, and it just went live. Check it out here 👇🏻

I Dig So You Don’t Have To

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