1188: How to Feel Extra Prepared and Confident for Any Presentation with Kerri Garbis

Pete Mockaitis
Kerri, welcome!

Kerri Garbis
Thank you. Welcome to you.

Pete Mockaitis
Well, thank you. I feel welcome. I’m excited to learn about speaking, presenting, performing, rehearsing better. Could you maybe kick us off with – since you’ve had the cool experience working on professional presence and speaking better – any intriguing discovery you’ve made that the rest of us just got to know?

Kerri Garbis
The intriguing discovery that everybody has to know about presence, speaker prep, is you are better when you rehearse. And if you are rehearsing correctly, you cannot over-rehearse.

I was just in an event yesterday, a virtual event where I was speaking yesterday, and there were a lot of side conversations about, “I don’t rehearse,” “It doesn’t work for me,” “I sound bored,” “I get overprepared,” and I am here to dispel that rumor. Boom! Dispelled it.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. It was like a magical spell. It was dispelling this rumor.

Kerri Garbis
It’s dispelled.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. So, well, that sounds intriguing. It’s funny because, on the one hand, I think I am a master at rationalizing less effort in my life. And, in a way, and no offense, this is just a friendly challenge to anyone who’s adopted this perspective, it’s like, “Oh, if I rehearse, then I’m not going to be natural and fresh and intriguing.”

And, I guess, there’s some smidgens, potentially, of truth to that notion, but in my experience, I am better when I rehearse, and that’s your discovery as well. So tell us, what is the truth or the misconception underlying this notion of, “Oh, I’m fresher and actually better if I don’t rehearse”?

Kerri Garbis
Rehearsal, sometimes, for some folks can mean, “I’m just going to repeat the same thing over and over and do it the same way over and over and not really think about it other than what I’m saying.”

And I would agree that rehearsing like that, which isn’t really rehearsal, I would call that repeating, is only going to compound any distracting habits that you might have or distracting things that are going to distract the audience from what’s coming out of your mouth.

And if you’re rehearsing, which means, “Each iteration that I say this thing out loud,” and it has to be out loud, because, by the way, rehearsing in your head is like, “I’m going to learn how to swim,” and then not actually getting in the pool, you’re just going to think about it.

So you have to say the words out loud, and out loud with a certain goal. And, yes, you’ll repeat the words, although we often recommend that you don’t. We always recommend that you don’t memorize the script because most folks, unlike me, aren’t actors, right?

I am. I happen to be an actor since I was a little kid. Most business professionals that we work with are not actors so don’t memorize. Memorize your roadmap where you know where you’re going. Rehearse with accountability, meaning saying it out loud with a certain goal.

And that could be a goal of, “I’m going to have really great open body language,” or, “I’m going to do it this time and try not to use any fillers,” or, “I’m going to do it this time and really try to ignite or excite my audience and try to get them to do what I want them to do.” That is rehearsing with accountability, rehearsing with a goal.

And then once you get on on stage, whatever the stage is, and you’ve got an audience, you can’t just simply repeat what you’ve done. You will sound dull. You will be bored. You have to present or, I think, you said earlier, perform with a goal in mind. And the goal should always be about the audience and what you want them to do.

Pete Mockaitis
Say more about that, “You will be bored.”

Kerri Garbis
Yes, if you’re repeating what you’ve done, if I am saying the same thing over and over and over again, and I’m moving the same way because I rehearsed my arms, right, I say, “Welcome to…” I’m doing a really over-the-top gesture that nobody would do, hopefully, in real life.

“Welcome to my presentation about XYZ,” and I’ve practiced this 700 times, I am physically bored, I’m mentally bored because repetition can get boring. And you, as the speaker, need to have a goal that is out of you, off your head, right out of your head, and to the audience.

So know your goal and what you want them to do, ideally, what you want them to feel. Unfortunately, we can’t get anybody to feel anything specific. We can deliver the information in a way that hedges our best bet to try to get them there.

And make sure that goal is always in the back of the room in which you’re presenting, or behind the camera, or behind the head of the person that you’re talking to. You’re always trying to work towards something, and that’s going to keep you less bored.

I mean, as actors, we face this. If we’re in a long run of something, we face this often. I did the same show for 50 weeks in a row, eight shows a week. That can get boring. Or, 500 years ago when I used to perform in theme park shows, and we were doing the same show six times a day, it can get boring because you’re repeating the same thing over and over again.

So you have to give yourself little tricks and little goals each time. So, “Hey, this show, I’m going to concentrate on making sure my arms are straight in all my dance moves,” or, “This show, I’m going to really try to connect to this character or make this emotion the most prominent one that I’m showing during the show to keep it not bored,” because your audience is seeing it or hearing it for the first time.

Pete Mockaitis
Yeah, what’s so fun when you say, “Say the words out loud with a goal and you change up the goal and, thus, you get less bored,” it’s funny, I’m thinking about the world of video games here, an activity people undertake to eliminate boredom.

Kerri Garbis
I’ve heard.

Pete Mockaitis
And there are these things called mods, modifications, that you can install. It’s like, “I’ve played this game 400 times, but I want to play it, but I’ve done it so many times, it’s not interesting. Oh, there’s a modification so now it is new again.”

And so, likewise, if you say the words again, that feels boring because you’ve been there, done that. And yet, adding a new goal is like a new modification, and suddenly, it’s a new adventure.

And I think about, when I’ve been in zones of doing a lot of keynoting and rehearsing, I would find, sure enough, I’ve done this keynote like 30 times, but if I picked a new goal, it really was interesting.

Like, sometimes, the goal would be, “I’m going to make eye contact with people for approximately a phrase or sentence before making eye contact with the next person for a phrase or a sentence.”

And what’s really kind of fun is I can’t even begin to think about such things until the content itself is deep in my bones. It’s, like, I’ve got so much mental bandwidth that has to be allocated, and if 90% of it is on, “Oh, what am I saying next?” then there’s not much left over to do much of anything else but say those words.

Kerri Garbis
Yes, and I love your technique. I love this idea of mods. I might borrow it. I don’t play video games, but I know people who do, so.

Pete Mockaitis
Sure. All right.

Kerri Garbis
And, absolutely, you want to get it to a point where it, ideally, if you can, in your bones. And I often talk about rehearsal is so freeing because, if we’re rehearsed, it’s in there. It’s in my muscle memory. Not memorized. It’s in my muscle memory, the roadmap of where I’m going is memorized.

And then, all of a sudden, you can do eye contact to different people in the audience. You can feel a little freer to maybe take an interrupting question in the middle, or even, advanced, you can modify your message or how you’re delivering it if the reaction that you’re getting is not what you want.

If I’m telling the same story or giving out the same information for the 25th time in six months, and my audience, all of a sudden, I see is very closed off and looking down or, even worse, the dreaded, like, looking into their phone, that’s the worst as a speaker.

I know because I’m not reading the content off my brain. I’m able to actually look at them and take in what they’re doing and then I’m able to, like, mix it up and mod in the moment.

Pete Mockaitis
Oh, there you go. Tweet that. Okay.

Kerri Garbis
Trademark.

Pete Mockaitis
So that’s really cool and, you’re right, like, we have to have some bandwidth available to observe the reactions and adjust. And I think it’s so fascinating how it’s easy to not do that.

And I’ve had the experience of watching a speaker deliver a presentation multiple times. And I’m thinking, “Well, oh, are you still doing that? It didn’t work the last time. Why haven’t you given that up?” It’s, like, “I guess I should probably share this with them so that they have this.”

And I think that it’s something I observe frequently. And you haven’t done this, Kerri, so I’m not implicating you in this. But I think what I find tricky is, and it’s harder on podcasts, and maybe I’m just a snob who’s spoiled now, you know, 1200-ish episodes in, like I’ve heard a lot of things, I’ve read a lot of things.

But when I hear…oh, man, when I hear people say things, like they say it with great enthusiasm and almost like a twinkle in their eye as though they think they’re saying something novel, useful, and interesting, but, in fact, they are not.

And that’s very hard to say to someone unless they ask, like, “I’d really like your feedback.” It’s like, “Oh, so glad you asked. You know, you were doing this thing.” Because it could be a real gut punch, like, “Hey, sorry, what you say is not novel, useful, or interesting, though you seem to believe it is, so it’s either you’re delusional or you’re you’re talking to the wrong audience.”

And this is so brutal, like, I never say this unless people ask. But I had a joke. For example, I was my college of business at the University of Illinois commencement speaker, and I had a little joke I made, which was people say, “Oh, you’re the speaker. What’s your speech going to be about?”

And here’s what I would say, and I think that this is applicable to many speakers today, is I would say something like, “Okay, check it out. So here we are, we’re graduating, right? So it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s kind of sad, it’s the end.’ But, no, check it out. I’m going to take that, I’m going to flip it on its head. ‘Graduation is actually a beginning,’ and get this, ‘That’s why they call it commencement.’”

And so that was my joke, because, like, that’s the most trite, overdone kind of graduation speech thing one could say. And that was kind of fun, I would see my true friends would be like, “Ha, ha. But, really, what’s your speech going to be about?”

And then those who aren’t so friendly with you, who don’t feel comfortable giving you feedback would say, “Oh, okay,” you know, they would say nothing. And so that’s a long example for, I think, this is problematic in that a lot of times people think they have something really amazing and they say it with that intonation.

And that’s more engaging than if they were monotone boring. But it’s like, “Oh, man, they’re really kind of missing the boat. Like, they don’t know that in the marketplace of ideas, what they’re saying isn’t special or worthwhile for us audience to be assembled around.”

Kerri Garbis
Are you saying that – so this is not about me, I understand. Okay.

Pete Mockaitis
Yeah.

Kerri Garbis
I’m just checking that this is not about me, because I have a business that teaches this. We’ve been doing it for 15 years. I can’t say that anything that we do or talk about is that perhaps people haven’t heard before because what we do is antiquated. It’s been around a very, very long time.

Actors teaching, well, the business professionals part is specific. Actors teaching humans how to present themselves more confidently and speak in a more authoritative way is not a new concept. I did not create it. Yes, I created this company. The original idea, I did not create.

I try to share things that might be common sense, maybe not so much in common practice, and things that people don’t always think about. For example, do you practice in the mirror, ever?

Pete Mockaitis
I have. I prefer video recording.

Kerri Garbis
Yes, same seas. Because the mirror, it’s not an accurate representation of what’s happening, which is hilarious because it is. However, in the moment, our brain taking in us is very distracting and doesn’t give us back what we need, which watching back a video later can. It’s one of the many tools we use in our training.

And it’s the same thing when we tell folks, “In the moment, as much as you can, hide your self-view when you’re speaking, communicating virtually.” So we’re a Zoom house in my organization. So, in Zoom, it’s really easy to hit hide self-view.

Same in Teams, most of the platforms. Here in what we’re doing, I have moved my…I can’t see myself because I’m off to the side.

So I know that I look good, sound good. We discussed this before. And then I don’t need to look at myself anymore because it’s just using brain power to distract from the communication.

So the less you can, IRL, right, in real life, if you and I are not on camera here and we’re having a conversation, I am not looking at myself communicating with you. I’m only looking at you.

And so taking out not rehearsing in the mirror, taking out as much staring at myself as fabulous as my hair is, like, I don’t need it to be present and communicate in the most effective way.

Pete Mockaitis
Yes, that’s really good. And to that notion of bandwidth, yet again, it’s like we need some bandwidth just to monitor the response of the other person, like, “Do I seem to be saying anything interesting or novel or intriguing to them? Or do they understand what I’m saying or are they just kind of confused?”

I think you got to have that bandwidth available, and so less on you from a mirror or from your Zoom windows, certainly, that’s really handy. So this is a nice big idea. Rehearsing helps. Rehearsing more helps more. Say the words out loud with a goal.

Pete Mockaitis
When it comes to this rehearsing, I’m curious, is there a magic number or amount you recommend?

Kerri Garbis
There’s no magical amount of time. The number, the magical number is three. If you say something out loud three times, different goals each time, that can really help you feel prepared.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. So three is magic as a threshold for, “You’ll feel pretty prepared after three.”

Kerri Garbis
Yes.

Pete Mockaitis
All right. And not to get too formulaic, I suppose the individual goals we select will vary based on our own strengths and weaknesses and priorities and audience and content and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. But, that said, do you recommend any frequent protocols that often work well for many people, like, “First time, your goal is this. The second time, your goal is that. And the third time, your goal is this”?

Kerri Garbis
Why, in fact I do. The first time, concentrate on, “Does this have a structure?” It could be as simple as beginning, middle, and end, or problem, trial, solution, or some sort of narrative structure so that it is easy for the audience to follow.

So first time, you’re saying it out loud, concentrate on the structure of what you’re saying. And the second time, think about the delivery. So this is when you want to think about, “What is my body doing? What is my face doing? What is my voice doing?” This is the time to think about, “Am I saying lots of filler words? What am I doing that is distracting from my message?” and work on that, the delivery skill.

And then the third time is do it. Do it without stopping, no matter what happens. That’s a great time to break out the video camera, or, I guess, now today, we do a phone. If it’s the ‘90s, break out your big video camera, put it on your shoulder.

And then think of that as, we call it your dress rehearsal or on the stage portion of the rehearsal process, and do it without stopping, see what breaks so you can fix it.

Pete Mockaitis
You mentioned earlier we can’t control what other people feel, but we can increase the odds that they’ll feel the way we intend for them to. I’d love to hear your general principles for this.

I think, most often, the feeling I want people to have when I’m presenting is enthusiasm, motivation, vigor, like, “Heck, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. What a great idea! Let’s do it!” That’s kind of what I’m after most of the time. How do I get folks to feel that more often?

Kerri Garbis
Well, you can start by feeling excited, inspired, and behind that, or in addition to “What is the goal? What’s the, ‘Let’s do it part’?” You’ve got to get really specific about that, “So I want to excite my audience so that they…”

Pete Mockaitis
In this instance, it might be they rehearse their presentations more, so for this exchange, here and now, you and I.

Kerri Garbis
Yes, okay. In this moment, got it. We want to, as if we’ve painted that on the back wall, like I said, right, “Okay, my goal is I want people in this room to rehearse more, and I want to excite them.” That doesn’t mean I’m just going to stand up and be super excited about rehearsal, because that would probably get boring.

What if I scared them a little bit? What if I instilled some fear in them? What if I told them about a disaster story about a business leader who didn’t rehearse and the fallout from that and maybe that could get them a little excited to rehearse?

And I often find that you can, yes, we want to feel excited so our audience will feel excited. We can also get them there different ways. We can scare them, we can warn them, we could intrigue them. There’s a lot of different ways to get to the end result.

And all of that needs to start with how we’re feeling beyond being nervous. That is a huge thing that has to get conquered for public speaking. The National Institute of Mental Health states that 73% of the population suffers from public speaking anxiety.

Seventy three percent of the population suffers from public speaking anxiety, which means that most folks we’re seeing at a school meeting, at a business professional event, are nervous to speak.

And so a lot of what we do is also, in part, “How do we not only how do we be less nervous? How do we control that? And how do we get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable?”

It is so common for folks to be nervous when speaking. So how can both things get on stage together? How can my nerves and my excitement and all the other things I want to do come together and live harmoniously while I’m trying to impart this message?

Pete Mockaitis
Well said in terms of, if we want folks to have this emotional journey, we’re going to have to engage there emotionally. And that requires us getting unstuck with the, “Oh, I’m really freaked out about giving this presentation.”

So that is a great provocative question. Indeed, how do we get on stage with all of these pieces together, living up there? What are your favorite moves there?

Kerri Garbis
We like to start by asking, “What happens when you get nervous? Can you name it? Can you name the physical reaction,” right? When I get very nervous, you can physically see it. I get a splotchy neck. You can absolutely see it.

Some people are more external, some people are more internal, “I feel sick,” “I get tired,” “I start to get very hazy.” So, what does that look like for you. It could be multiple things like clammy.

I mean, I’ve heard all sorts of things, “I shake,” “I blink,” “I get dry mouth.” What does that look like for you? Let’s name it, and then maybe we can start to tame it, for lack of a better rhyme there.

And once we’re able to identify that, “Okay, what are the triggers? Is it actually stepping on the stage, whatever stage that is? Is it beforehand? Are we getting super nervous during rehearsal? Are we getting on stage, we’re fine the first minute and then we get freaked out?”

So we want to identify what it is and when it happens. That’s very, very individual. And start to work through that. And, of course, breathing, loads and loads of breathing techniques, breathing techniques beforehand, breathing techniques in the moment.

There’s all sorts of fixes. I don’t want to say fixes because we’re not getting rid of it. We’re making it palatable so that the person can be present when they’re standing on stage. So what are the techniques that we can use to make it palatable that the nervousness is with you on stage?

That could be a grounding item. That could be a visualization. There’s so many. There’s a myriad of things here.

Pete Mockaitis
And that’s encouraging. We got many tools in the toolkit to address this. So maybe just to zoom in specifically, let’s say I feel nervous in terms of my belly is, like, gurgling. Some might say butterflies in the stomach, but it feels more like there’s our there are waves sloshing around and they’re like, you know?

I know a guy who says, “I don’t eat before speaking for this reason.” Like, “All right, that’s, you know, commitment.” Hopefully he’s speaking in the morning. But so his stomach is like wave sloshing around kind of.

And then the trigger is internal in terms of, “I am imagining what if this goes poorly and there are bad consequences? I’m fired, lose status or respect or opportunity,” and that’s the blueprint of nerves here.

Kerri Garbis
We would start with the breath, connecting to the breath, relaxing the whole nervous system prior to. And then attempting to change your mindset from, “What if it goes badly?” to, “What if it goes well?” and instilling that visualization.

One of the most powerful things I was told as a kid, because, remember, I was a kid professional performer, and it was my middle school principal who told me this. I was really nervous before a middle school talent show.

And I remember being more nervous than I’d ever been in my entire life. And he said to me right before I went on, he said, “Imagine how you’re going to feel when it’s over instead of, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m so nervous right now. I’m going to die. This is horrible.’”

It’s like, “Wait. Take a breath. Imagine how you’ll feel in three minutes when the song is over.” And I was like, “Oh.” And that really worked for me. That doesn’t work for everybody. That is really, still today, very powerful for me and something, one tool that we can impart.

So I would say, if this is what’s plaguing you, try different things. This is why rehearsal is important so that you can try on different things and see what works for you and managing your nerves. Is it breathing, meditation, visualization, a song? There are so many different things that will work for however you, your brain, your nervous system works.

Also note, one of the reasons I started this business was because, a long time ago, I went to help a friend get ready for a presentation, and I was waiting in the green room with the other speakers from his firm at the company, and there was a guy in the green room throwing up before his presentation.

Nobody in the room was concerned, except for me, and the other guys were like, “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is what he does before every presentation. It was his thing. He threw up before every presentation.” And I thought, “There has to be a better way to go about this.”

And that was one of the very kind of first sparks of, “Maybe I could start a company that has employees, professional actors, to help business professionals not throw up in trash cans before presentations.”

Pete Mockaitis
“Nope, throwing up in the trash can, that’s just the best practice. It’s just scary, that’s just how we work it.”

Kerri Garbis
Yeah, and, in fact, it was our original tagline for the company. It didn’t really land well, but we’ve changed it.

Pete Mockaitis
And good for you for observing how the audience was receiving that messaging and then adjusting. It’s, like, you could be at it now 15 years later with the “throwing up in the trash can” line and you’d be poorly served by it. So, well said, there are many ways to address it.

We’ve had Matt Abrahams talk about some things like holding on to a cold object. Or, even broadly beyond speaking, Ethan Kross talking about how to shift emotions and chatter. So, yes, there are many, many ways.

But if I may put you on the spot and say, do you have a special way that you find is effective for a lot of people and not as many folks have heard of or tried before?

Kerri Garbis
Here’s one that, oftentimes, people will say, “Oh, I never thought about doing that.” So one way that nervousness can show up physically and also perpetuate throughout a presentation is movement, like swaying, like shifting. I’m shifting back and forth right now.

So one thing that we do recommend is that people put a coin in one of their shoes. And that way, they’re able to be, it’s a grounding technique, “I’m aware of both of my feet on the ground,” because they feel different, “I have a coin in one, I don’t have a coin in the other.”

And so at all moments, I know, or I can come back to, “Uh-oh, I’m shifting. Oh, I want to feel equally weighted on both feet,” so that they are very, very free to move around as needed, and then they can come back and say, “Oh, I’ve got both feet on the ground, I’m present, I’m in the moment, and I’m delivering.”

Pete Mockaitis
Yeah, I like that a lot. Because something about being, I don’t know who I heard it, be where your feet are, or just that notion of awareness of the body, physical stuff. And the feet, in particular, really does seem to have some rooting ability.

I found that very helpful back in the day when I was interviewing and nervous, “Oh, I’m being evaluated by this interviewer, judging me.” I would just sort of, you know, put my attention on my feet and put both of them firmly on the floor, and I just felt grounded and solid, like, “I’m hard to tip over right now.” I don’t know, physiologically that was good for me.

So I’m right with you, that experiment and see what’s what’s working for you and that coin trick might be a good one. Well, Kerri, tell us, do you have any final thoughts before we hear about some of your favorite things?

Kerri Garbis
I’ll circle back to the beginning about rehearsal. And, oftentimes, people say, “I don’t have time to rehearse. I don’t know why I’m rehearsing,” and it doesn’t take very much time.

And if you are finding that you want to improve on presentation skills, and you are having a hard time getting motivated, it’s unpleasant for a lot of people. It’s uncomfortable and maybe a little bit scary.

Schedule something in which you have to present. So have some sort of culminating event out there in the future. Maybe it’s two weeks out and you’re going to go to…and make it low stakes, not something that’s going to colossally affect your career.

Sign up for a storytelling night, or you’re going to go present at something where the stakes are very low, so that you’ve got something that you’re going to prepare for and you’ve got a timeline and that you can try on some of these new skills and see how it feels.

Pete Mockaitis
Cool. All right. Well, now could you share a favorite quote, something you find inspiring?

Kerri Garbis
Well, it’s right behind me, which says, “Never teach a pig to sing because it wastes your time and annoys the pig.”

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. And a favorite study or experiment or bit of research?

Kerri Garbis
The marshmallow study.

Pete Mockaitis
Oh, yeah. My kids do it for fun. I told them about this study and they’re like, “Ooh, this is a good treat. Let’s use it for a marshmallow test.” Like, just for fun, they do the marshmallow test.

Kerri Garbis
Yes, I find it fascinating. All things, before, when we were chit chatting before we were recording, we were really talking about human behavior and that exemplify, I love to observe human behavior.

I love to watch people when they get a little stressed if there’s a long line, if there’s some sort of discord happening. It is fascinating to me how humans respond under pressure, which is, essentially, what I’m doing with my job here.

Pete Mockaitis
Yeah. Well, it’s fun. It’s an intriguing concept in so many ways. And, fun fact, Walter Michel’s book about the marshmallow experiment, he had the actor Alan Alda narrate the audio version. I was like, “How did you swing that? Good job. This is kind of entertaining to hear.” So shout out there.

Kerri Garbis
Because everything sounds better with Alan Alda. He is part of my childhood from the “Free to Be…You and Me” album.

Pete Mockaitis
Oh, my gosh, I remember that. I didn’t make the connection. I remember, “It’s alright to cry.”

Kerri Garbis
“Crying gets the sad out of you. It’s all right.” Oh, please. “Parents are people, people with children.” Oh, my gosh. That? Yes. Yeah, okay.

Pete Mockaitis
I remember, I saw that at the Illinois Association of Junior High Student Councils Summer Camp, Leadership Camp, and because camp is already kind of emotional, you know, and then they throw that at you, it’s like, “Oh, it is okay to cry. Oh, I love you guys.” And a favorite book?

Kerri Garbis
My favorite book is Quit, Annie Duke. Do you know this one?

Pete Mockaitis
We’ve had Annie Duke, and we had talked about quitting with someone else, Lindsay Crouse, recently.

Kerri Garbis
So, Annie Duke, she’s a professional poker player. And it is about having your quit threshold. And it’s something I revisit often because I am a very, very loyal, almost to a fault, often to a fault, human.

If I like you, if I trust you, and I’m connected to you, I will hang on there for dear life. And this really helped me get perspective of, “What is my quit criteria?” And it’s not just for humans, it’s for practices within your business and in your life. And it’s been very powerful for me.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. And a favorite tool, something you use to be awesome at your job.

Kerri Garbis
A favorite tool for me to be awesome at my job is a current tool that we’re using within the organization. It is something we built with a software partner, it’s called Bravo. And it is an AI rehearsal tool.

Pete Mockaitis
Oh, cool.

Kerri Garbis
So it is, you go on, guess what? You record yourself, you get feedback in terms of visual, vocal, and verbal presentation skills. And I use it to get ready for any of my speaking engagements. You absolutely keep a human in the loop, so you can send the recording to a coach or a colleague, and get human feedback.

And, to me, it’s a helpful AI tool, so I can rehearse at any time, get feedback, and also get human feedback and be better at what I do in terms of speaking. I used it for a pitch competition that I won yesterday.

Pete Mockaitis
Yeah. Congratulations!

Kerri Garbis
Thanks.

Pete Mockaitis
And you helped make this thing?

Kerri Garbis
Yes, we have a software partner that we worked closely with to create the Bravo platform.

Pete Mockaitis
That’s so cool. I’m there immediately, as I do. And I’ve played with Speako back in the day. And then there’s ChatMatt but Matt Abrahams. So your AI is also looking at my vocal qualities as opposed to just my word choice?

Kerri Garbis
Correct. Yes.

Pete Mockaitis
Awesome.

Kerri Garbis
Do you sound enthusiastic? Do you sound nervous?

Pete Mockaitis
I’ve had a fun time sort of playing with some of these tools in which I have polite words but, like, a really mean tone. It’s, like, “I want to get a better understanding of how you’re thinking about this issue.”

And they’d say, “Great. Great job. You led with curiosity and openness.” I was like, “That was not a great job. I see that you’re only looking at my word choice tool.” So kudos for including that. And a favorite habit?

Kerri Garbis
My favorite habit is my exercise. I consider it part of my religion. If I do not exercise, I am not a very nice person. And it is that could be I get to the gym probably three times a week for weightlifting and then walking. Lots and lots and lots of walking and fresh air.

Pete Mockaitis
Cool. And is there a key nugget you share that tends to really connect and resonate with folks, they quote it back to you often?

Kerri Garbis
Here is my nugget I’m going to stand on till my dying day. You, speakers of the world, you don’t need to slow down. You need to use pause more.

Pete Mockaitis
I like that, yeah. And if folks want to learn more or get in touch, where would you point them?

Kerri Garbis
Well, you can find me or my company, Ovation Communication, on all the platforms, meaning all of them, of LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube. We’ve got loads of fun and applicable content. And that is where you can find us, GetOvation.com.

The tagline which is now “Get prepared. Get confident. Get ovation” because we’ll make you not throw up in a trash can. Again, it didn’t land with the folks.

Pete Mockaitis
Lovely. And do you have a final challenge or call to action for folks looking to be awesome at their jobs?

Kerri Garbis
You’re always going to have to present as a professional. And even if you have three minutes before you have to present, if you can simply say that first line and your closing line once out loud before you walk in the room, you’re already going to be exponentially better than if you only said it in your head.

Pete Mockaitis
Awesome. That sounds quick and easy.

Kerri Garbis
Rehearsal doesn’t have to be like this long-term relationship. It can be three minutes. It’s okay. It’s all good.

Pete Mockaitis
All right. Kerri, thank you.

Kerri Garbis
You’re welcome. Thank you for the delightful conversation.