Podcast

The Power of Public Speaking | Ep # 70

April 10, 2023

The Power of Public Speaking | Ep # 70 Have you ever taken the stage or stood up to give a presentation at work and froze? We’ve all been there! Professional performer and the author of The Power To Speak Naked, Tyler Foley joins Shannon on Episode #70 of the Second Act Success Career Podcast to discuss how to […]

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The Power of Public Speaking | Ep # 70

Have you ever taken the stage or stood up to give a presentation at work and froze? We’ve all been there! Professional performer and the author of The Power To Speak Naked, Tyler Foley joins Shannon on Episode #70 of the Second Act Success Career Podcast to discuss how to be confident giving a speech. Tyler found the limelight and the love of applause at the age of six when he began acting. His professional career in film has taken twists and turns, even leading him into the world of entrepreneurship launching several businesses.  Through it all, Tyler has always utilized his voice. Now as a professional speaker and author, he helps others find their voice to tell their story. Listen in to this episode with Tyler Foley.   

Tyler Foley

Tyler Foley, Professional Speaker, Performer, Author

 

 

SHOW NOTES FOR EPISODE #70

Connect with Tyler Foley:
Web – https://www.seantylerfoley.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/SeanTylerFoleyYYC
Facebook Group
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/seantylerfoley/
YouTube
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/seantylerfoley/
Book – The Power To Speak Naked

 

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Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - ​​The Power of Public Speaking
Episode - #70
Host: Shannon Russell
Guest: Tyler Foley
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

[00:00:00] Tyler Foley: for years and years and years, I felt like I didn't have something to say. I could use other people's words and deliver them effectively, but I never found the level of success that I hoped for until I started to be able to use my own words, my own way.

what I found was I used my own words to encourage other people to find their stories

[00:00:20] Shannon Russell: Are you at a crossroads in your career? Ready for a change, but you're not sure how to get there? Don't worry. We are about to produce your best life together. Welcome to the second Act Success podcast. I am your host Shannon Russell. I am a former television producer, turned boy Mom. I left my dream job to find family balance, and in doing so I produced my dream life.

Now I am a business owner, podcaster, and career coach. My mission is to help other women like you find what they are truly meant to be doing. If you are ready to start over in your career or pivot to a new purpose, then get ready to be inspired by stories of [00:01:00] women who have done just that. We will share advice and actionable tips to motivate you as you move along on your path.

It is time to shine. So let's start producing your balanced life of abundance today. This is second act success.

Today on the podcast we are speaking with Tyler Foley. Tyler has a touching story of turning to the performing arts after his father passed away when he was just six years old. In a way, the stage saved him and he found out who he was meant to be. Years later, he is one of North America's most sought after leaders in public speaking for professional and personal development.

Let me introduce you to Tyler as he shares the twists and turns in his story of performing and building a brand and business he is so proud of. So, hey Tyler. Welcome to the podcast.

[00:01:56] Tyler Foley: Oh, it's my joy and my pleasure to be here, Shannon.

[00:01:59] Shannon Russell: This is [00:02:00] all about second act. I wanna hear how your journey

[00:02:02] Tyler Foley: began.

It's very circuitous when I look forward, but looking back, it's a, it's a straight line. My kind of journey, my, my life as a performer started at six years old. , the first time I was ever on stage was on a school play. It was a Christmas pageant, and I got to play Joseph in the Nativity.

For anybody who doesn't know, and you should, but if you don't know, Joseph is the star. some would argue that baby Jesus is, but baby Jesus is played by a doll. And dolls don't get applause. Joseph gets the applause. So me and my best friend Lisa, who played Mary, , got the parents in the nativity.

And, at the end of the play, I got my first round of, of applause in a standing ovation. And that noise, that sound, that feeling had me hooked for the rest of my life. And so for the past, you know, 36, 37 years, I've been chasing that high. That was kind of the [00:03:00] beginning of me being a performer and then, Two months later, almost to the day, uh, my father passed away in a single vehicle motor vehicle accident, and.

That kind of created the trajectory as, as well. So, um, part of my, what it meant that my father wasn't coming home and it's young, it's hard to process that. Uh, and so I think my mom thought I was emotionally shut off. Uh, cuz I didn't really outwardly grieve the first time I actually, um, really grieved my father's passing wasn't until, um, I was in the sixth grade.

The end of sixth grade, no less. My mom I think was a little concerned for me and a whole bunch of things kind of conspired, right? Tony Robbins always says, life doesn't happen to you, it happens for you being in the school play. My father was a teacher and an educator. So, uh, when he did pass the, the whole community of teachers they all rallied around.

My mom and my teacher reached out to my mom and she said, look, I think Tyler actually has a really big [00:04:00] aptitude for this. And at the same time, my uncle who worked for the city of Calgary , uh, cross from city hall at the main theater district and overheard a casting director complaining about how hard is it to find a kid to play Tiny Tim.

And he said, well, how tiny does Tiny Tim need to be? Cuz I, I have a nephew. And so she gave him a card. And, and so at the same time that mom's having this conversation with my grade one teacher, uh, my uncle is having this conversation with the casting director.

And next thing I knew I was auditioning to be in, , new production of a Christmas Carol. And I got to play Tiny Tim. And, so that's, that's where it all kind of started.

[00:04:37] Shannon Russell: So then the bug really bit you and you were like, let me follow the applause. Let me keep doing this performing thing.

[00:04:45] Tyler Foley: I live for the applause. It's not just a clever Broadway musical tune. And it's so true. Like there is a magic that comes over it and I want everybody to experience it. It's driven my career. I mean, right now as a public speaking coach, [00:05:00] I'm motivated for people to, to feel what I have felt for almost four decades.

And that is the adoration and admiration from an audience and what that feels like. Not only to receive it, but to have served your audience so that they want to give you that. I think that there's a magic that happens that, that can't be described until you've felt it. And once you've felt it, you know exactly what everybody's talking about and you want it more of it.

[00:05:27] Shannon Russell: that's important to bring that part up cuz some people think, oh, it's, it's ego wanting that applause, but it's not cuz you're serving your audience, they're not going to clap and give you that applause if you didn't just give them a performance to, applaud. So it is a two-way street

[00:05:42] Tyler Foley: in that.

and there I have had the ego applause and their hollow, where you've just done a thing and people are either applauding to be polite or applauding cuz that's the way that it is. Or it's not as rewarding. But when you have served your audience, when you've connected [00:06:00] with them and you've given your all, and then they give you their all back in appreciation, that is, that's soul filling.

My name is Tyler Foley. I am an applause addict. It has been two weeks since my last 10 vacation. .

[00:06:21] Shannon Russell: I'm giving you one right now, Tyler. This is, this is great. I appreciate it. Thank you. So after Christmas, Carol, did you just go on to do more theater and Calgary?

[00:06:31] Tyler Foley: So I was just doing really tiny regional stuff here. As a child performer, there's not a lot of work to do. There was a little bit of television. The nice thing about where I grew up is we do get production that comes through every once in a while in the form of like, very large, cinema.

So the Legend of the Falls was filmed here, and Unforgiven was filmed here, and, you know, John Johnson was, you know, he came and he filmed a movie here called Dead Bang. And it was, it was [00:07:00] literally the first, uh, film that I was cast in, uh, as like a performer so it was just, it was fun to be able to build a resume. And then even my. Schooling decisions were based on that, cuz I ended up going to the Alberta High School of Fine Arts to train in musical theater. And from there moved to Vancouver and continued, film and television and theater career out in Vancouver. I was, uh, in Ragtime at the residence there. So while the American production was on Broadway, their live event staged a Canadian residency at the Ford Theater in Vancouver for 14 months.

And I got to be a part of that, which was phenomenal. To this day it's my favorite musical the ability to be in a creative space and to explore who you are through playing other people.

And I think that was one of the great gifts that I got out of, [00:08:00] particularly theater, more than film and television cuz right, theater, you're rehearsing two, three months. Um, you really get to dive deep into a character like I, for film and television. Like, I'll get sides the day before and I'll be like, okay, maybe this is how I'll read it.

[00:08:14] Shannon Russell: You've retired at 25, which is super interesting.

So talk to me about performing up until that

[00:08:19] Tyler Foley: point. performing up until that point was fun, right, and, when I was 17. I had a medical incident that paralyzed the left side of my body for almost a year and particularly bad for the first four months.

I was able to get a lot of function back after that. My physiotherapy lasted nearly 12 months before I was back to what I would consider about 99%, so I actually moved out to Vancouver, before graduation even came, and I, I'd already landed my first gig, uh, because they didn't need to see my face.

I ended up doing a little bit of stunt work and it was great. uh, On Ninja Turtles, the TV series. Fantastic. And it was [00:09:00] the first kind of thing that I got when I got to, you know, I got beat up and then the turtles came to my, to my rescue and I was, I was a skateboarding kid and I'll never forget it, but it was one of those things where I, I gone out and made this now a career and it was super fun and, and I, I distinctly remember the day where it stopped being. I had auditioned for a very well known film production.

It was a Scary Movie 3 actually. And I had gotten this audition and then at the time I was living in a community called Penticton, which is three hours into the mountains from the coast but there's about a 45 minute gap where there's a national park and you completely and totally lose cell service. And, um, I had gotten a call just before reaching the park, and my agent was like, uh, they wanna see you. , for a callback. And you being a producer understand typically how long is it between audition and callback? Couple days. Couple days. So I'm [00:10:00] good to go home. And then they want to have a callback. And I was like, so yeah, when's the callback? And they're like, they wanna see you in about an hour. Get back as soon as you can. And I remember in that moment being like, oh, I don't want to go to this callback. What actor doesn't want to go to a callback? You know? Seriously. And it was in that moment, I was literally, cuz I literally had about a 32nd decision window because that was the last exit. So I either needed to turn around right now or not. And there was a, it was a decision. Yeah. Do I go or do I just say no to the callback? What'd you do? I was like, oh, I turned around. I did. I was like, okay, because here's the thing. . It's not just my reputation on the line. True. It's my agents and I wasn't going to let my agent have to make that phone call. But I also, the whole ride back was going, you've gotta stop doing this. Like if you don't want to do this, there are other people who would kill for this opportunity, ironically, not only did I get the role and there's no lines in it, so what should I have been [00:11:00] paid if I didn't say anything on film? What should I been paid as What category? background It was basically background If anybody wants to look it up on Scary Movie three, I was frat boy number one it's such a nothing scene too. It's a spoof thing that they literally added in last minute. So that was part of the reason why they needed to have the turnaround so quick, because not only did was the callback that day. Wardrobe fitting was the next day. And then we filmed the day after. They threw the scene in last minute and it's a, a frat party. And then it cuts to two guys, , drinking straight from the keg. And then we both pke on each other. Like that's it.

That was the role. I was literally the one of two puking students.

[00:11:39] Shannon Russell: They wanted you,

[00:11:39] Tyler Foley: they wanted me. and I was going to be like, nah, you know? And so like, for all those reasons, I, I sat down with my agent and I was like, listen, Carmella, I love you to pieces. I love this, but I need to step back. And so I literally took almost a decade off. where [00:12:00] I went back to school, got an engineering discipline, started my own company.

That company failed , worked for another friend of mine to get back up on my feet and started another company, which thankfully has been successful.

But it, I really had to analyze what my priorities were and what was important to me. At the time, performance had stopped being it. Because it had become a job and it stopped being fun, If I didn't book a gig, I didn't eat. I was doing stunt work, I was doing special skills. Like I was doing everything, everything that, you know, everybody in the industry does. But it was all I did.

You want me to be a stand-in for this show? Sure, why not? I didn't get booked on it, so let me be a stand in. And so it was developing those relationships where people were supportive of my career because I wanted to be of service to them. And then the opportunities came but it stopped at a point. It, it did become work. And it had become a grind. And I didn't like doing it anymore.

And that was around 25? Yeah. 25, 26. And uh, like I said, I, I went [00:13:00] back to school. Worked for an airline for a little bit. That was super fun. I really enjoyed that job. Just kind of, you know, I found myself, I had lost my way and I found myself.

[00:13:12] Shannon Russell: A lot of people would think scary movie three, I'm frat boy, number one, I'm laughing and puking, like getting paid for it. What a great job. But for you, there was something inside that said, all right, there's more that I can do. There's more to this. Yeah. I'm gonna figure out what it is. You go back to school, you try a business, it doesn't work. Talk to me about the business that did take off

[00:13:34] Tyler Foley: The business that failed was, uh, aerial survey firm. So I did photogrammetry. anybody who's turned on satellite view on Google Maps, I made the satellite view. So most of the satellite view is not actually satellite photography, that's aerial photography run from planes.

And, you stitch all those photos together again, I grew up around film, so I understand film, I understand [00:14:00] apertures, exposure, like I get, I got film. And so this was a really neat blend of engineering and photography that allowed me to do, and it's in my blood.

So my uncle is a photogrammetric, my other uncle is a cartographer. My grandfather was a surveyor, , like it was in my blood. And. When you are doing that kind of work, your primary client is the government. They're the, the primary people who use this kind of information.

And when you work for the government, they need you to have a safety system. So I needed to develop the safety system, which meant I needed to get all the safety training. And so when my business collapsed, my friend Matt, reached out to me and he is like, listen, Foley, I've got this job up north working in the oil sands.

We're building this big huge multi multimillion dollar project and I need a safety manager, and you have all this training. If you take these three other courses, I can get you your N C S O designation, and then you, you can go and be my safety manager. And I said, sure, why not? I'll do that.

That project was big. Like it had [00:15:00] a lot of of parties that were involved in it and billion dollar corporations. And they would come through for these quarterly inspections. And so my job as a safety manager is to make sure everybody's being safe.

And uh, there were these guys that were working at Height that were just being stupid. And one of the things that I got to do working in film and television was do some stunt work doing high falls outta Windows. And so these guys what they were doing was unbelievably dangerous and and I'm like, listen, I used to jump outta six story windows and that's safer than what you're doing right now. And it kind of like snapped them. One of the executives, they were doing the tour and going through, and they could hear me because I'm a loud actor, I have a voice that projects

And So one of the executives pulls me aside and he goes, Tyler was, was that true? Did you used to jump out of Windows? I was like, well, let me explain . I am an actor who used to do stunts. Doing stunts was the safest job I ever had. It's way safer than anything we do here. And I instantly regretted it as soon as it came outta my mouth. But at the same [00:16:00] time, it was a great moment for me because he was like blown away. He's like, would you give that as a, as a, a toolbox talk tomorrow? I said, sure. So, morning toolbox kickoff, everybody comes in. He, you know, he's, and this executives are still there cause they're usually there for two or three days overseeing stuff. I gave this quick talk, another executive from a huge, huge multi-billion dollar eep CM comes by and he goes, how much do you charge for your keynotes? I was like, charge for my keynotes. I don't know. How much do I charge for my keynotes? And I knew a couple of people who were doing public speaking. How much do I charge for a keynote?

Okay. And I got vastly different numbers. I got things that ranged from 3,500 to 50 grand. And I'm like, I'm not charging either one of those things. Like, what? What do I don't know? So I just put down my monthly salary and I was like, if it's wrong, they'll come back and tell me no. Half hour later, the admin phones me. He goes, do you need that paid up front or do you want us to cut a check for the day? I can make my monthly salary speaking for 45 minutes. How do I get this gig in [00:17:00] my own words?

I don't have to memorize a script, sign me up. And at that point, Total Buy-In was born because I had already been doing a little bit of safety training. I got to take over his practice and it was, it was strictly safety consulting and auditing. And then we moved into this training aspect where we would do safety training.

And then eventually it moved into what I called initially bit basic instructional technique, which was basically public speaking 1 0 1 to train middle management who's usually thrust into this position of leadership and expected to give these presentations who have no idea how to do it and are terrified to do it. And I'm like, you don't need to be terrified. That course ended up becoming our most popular offering. And the next thing I knew, I, I stopped being the safety trainer and I started doing this. Public speaking training, which then led to more speaking opportunities for me to get super meta. Now my, I speak on speaking, it's so weird.

People are like, what do you talk about? I'm like, I talk about talking [00:18:00] and you know, every once in a while you get like one of those LinkedIn posts or Facebook posts and they're like, explain your job poorly, I'm like, I talk to people about how to talk to people so they can talk to people.

that's my job now. And, you know, I got a, a number one bestselling book out of that. I've got, uh, speaking opportunities. I was just down in Dallas speaking, Tony Robbins was the headliner on the stage that I was on. Like, do you know how cool that is? No. To, like, I got be able to, that I spoke on Tony Robbins stage.

Like what? huge.

[00:18:33] Shannon Russell: Hey, it's Shannon. If you are enjoying this podcast, then you will love my weekly newsletter. It's full of career advice, productivity tips, and of course inspiring stories of women who have launched a new career that they love. Just go to second act success.co to sign up.

Plus you'll get the My Success Vision Board to help you with your 2023 planning as well. Now it's back to the episode.[00:19:00] So then the safety aspect of the company just went to the wayside, or are you still a part of that?

[00:19:05] Tyler Foley: Yeah, so that's the funny thing. The safety is still there. I just don't do it anymore. But I have a very good team of very highly qualified professionals who do their jobs way better than I do.

And I just get to be my shiny pre self and show up on stage and talk. ,

[00:19:23] Shannon Russell: how incredible is that though, right? So you form this business now, it's, running itself.

[00:19:28] Tyler Foley: also,

again,

Total Buy-in is, an umbrella company that encompasses the safety, the speaking me as a, a quantity and an entity, and a brand, Sean, Tyler Foley, and then Tyler, The Speaker. all of those things kind of funnel through to Total Buy-in. And we have, like I said, Drop The Mic and Endless Stages, which are the training aspects. And then when I do get to go on stage, I'm doing a, 20 to 40 minute presentation to pitch a training program.

Then we have the Power To Speak Naked and the Power of Influence training programs.[00:20:00] It's massive. Like, I don't even know. I feel like when you're behind the wheel, you know, and you're driving and, and you just kind of go on autopilot you leave work and you end up in your driveway and you're like, oh, I don't remember how I got here.

You can think back and you're like, no, I remember the mile markers. I did all the turns. But that's how I feel right now that I just, I got here on autopilot. I, I know the steps, I'm consciously aware of it, but this has been such just a, a flow state of arrival, particularly over the last two years where I'm, I'm at this position where I'm doing everything that I wanted.

everything that I wanted. The life has gotten to the point where it's exactly how I, I pictured it and envisioned it to be. And I'm like, yes. Because it wasn't always like that. Like there was this struggle, right? There was, there was the paralysis at 17. There was, the failure of the business, like the first, that crushed me too.

I felt so worthless when I had to, to let that thing go, particularly because it was the same industry that my uncle was in, and my [00:21:00] uncle was wildly successful multimillionaire from his mapping firm, so for me to have not succeeded at that business really felt, uh, demoralizing and deflating and so to, to realize that that wasn't actually my path. That everything kind of set me up for doing this. This is where my passion is particularly, you know, 20 years in film and television.

And to be able to now be back to a place of joy. . Some 20 years later was just almost surreal.

[00:21:31] Shannon Russell: It all comes back around. I always like try to figure out the thread in everyone's journey. And I feel like you started in acting, you started your business, and what you're doing now is incorporating the performance you did when you were younger going into the business, you're kind of just incorporating it all into this, this a million different

[00:21:52] Tyler Foley: parts.

Yeah. There are a million things that went into the training necessary to be here, but the commonality within all of them is, uh, [00:22:00] a love and a desire of performance and helping people. You know, I have this one skillset because I'm really good at talking. but that doesn't necessarily solve somebody's problem.

unless you have something to say. And for years and years and years, I felt like I didn't have something to say. I could use other people's words and deliver them effectively, but I never found the level of success that I hoped for until I started to be able to use my own words, my own way.

what I found was I used my own words to encourage other people to find their stories, to be able to tell them effectively, particularly from a lens of performance. You know, you're a producer, I'm an actor. We understand the theatricality of it. And where most people fail is they, they try to state statistics.

These are the facts of what I did. Mm-hmm. . And I'm like, no, no, no, no. I don't care. Right. It's an old sales adage that stats tell, but story sell. I need you to sell me on your idea. And the statistics are not [00:23:00] gonna do it. I don't need to know what age these things happened. I need to know how you felt at that age when they did, I can tell you that my business failed and it does nothing.

I tell you that I was completely, totally demoralized because my uncle was in it. Now you're like, oh, I get it. And yeah, I would feel that way too. And what did you do from it? And how did it drive you? How did it motivate you? showing people that, first of all, they do have a story because most people think that they don't.

Like, that's usually the biggest hurdle that I have to overcome in my training what I try to show people is that everybody has a biography. Everyone has a story, and we run a really fun little workshop at the very beginning, and we can do the first bit of it right now, actually, everybody can find their stories whatever age you are right now, round your age to the nearest five, whatever it happens to be. And once you've rounded to the nearest five, I want you to divide that number by five and that will create five time periods in your life. So for me, if I do this, I'm 43. So I'm gonna have to round up to 45 and then we'll [00:24:00] have even time periods of nine years.

And if I look at those time periods in my life, zero to eight, what are the two most significant memories I have? We've talked about 'em both already. The first time I ever heard applause hooked me and it was an auditory memory. And, if I think back to that time period, it's the first thing that I go to, and that's what we need to do in those time periods.

What is the most significant memory that you have? It's the first one that pops to your mind. It's important for a reason, so write it down. And like I said, for me it's the, it's being on stage.

And then two months later, the sound that my mom made when a police officer and my family physician came to the door to tell her that my father was never coming home. It's the most gut-wrenching, horrific sound. It's it, it sent shivers down my spine. To this day, I can't like, it, it, I do not like that sound.

And that has really guided my life. Those two sounds. There's one that I've chased wanting to hear my entire life. And there is one I have avoided never wanting to hear again from my entire life. And there's no wonder that [00:25:00] I got into safety, right? My father passed away. Like it all connects. You're like, oh, I get it.

But being able to, right as you said, find the thread, find the narrative. So we, you do this mm-hmm. and you should be able to come up with at least five stories cuz everybody has a significant memory. Everybody has a thing where they're like, oh yeah, that's the thing. And then that part is easy.

Anybody can do it takes two to three minutes. The real workshopping that we end up having to do and what the reason why my workshops are three days or five days long is because then we have to explore the why. Why is that memory significant? And once you've discovered the why of that, where are the lessons plural?

Because it's never just one. It's never just one. And now how can you use that to impact your audience? How do you create that narrative? How do you use the hero's journey structure to tell this story effectively? And here's where most people make the biggest mistake and where we have to correct it really quick.

When you use the hero's journey [00:26:00] model, you're not the hero when you're telling the story. You are not the. In the hero's journey. you have your hero and they're in a state of unknown. They don't know that they what? They don't know, okay? And then all of a sudden they're thrust into a state of crisis that then turns the world upside down and they cross the threshold.

When they cross the threshold, then they meet their mentor, and the mentor guides them through a series of trials and tribulations before they overcome their final adversary. And then they have their journey home. What you are when you tell your story is the sage and mentor. You are helping your audience in their heroes journey.

You're meeting them where they're at so that they cross the threshold, and you're going to guide them through those series of trials and tribulations to help them overcome their adversary so that they can create their journey home. And that's the real key to effective. , , storytelling is you are not the hero.

And that's right. Everybody's like, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, [00:27:00] me, me. Super ego driven and nobody likes it. Mm-hmm. . But as soon as you're like, you, you, you, I was there. I understand. I want to guide you through your journey. Whoa. And then if you spin your stories into that and you're like, I know because when I was and I learned, and now you can, that's when you have that really, really powerful story, that's when you can really start to change lives.

And that's where I find my joy and passion now is teaching people to do that. service. And where I get the most reward is watching those people put it into practice and really change lives because I've worked with some phenomenal speakers who have done some great work once they've overcome their fear of telling their story,

[00:27:40] Shannon Russell: that is an incredible framework of trying to figure that out.

And I bet you it's interesting for you to see the wheels turning in the audience you see them like, wow, okay, this did happen. I could, I could.

[00:27:50] Tyler Foley: It's amazing when it clicks, you know?

That's why I get up every day now. That's why I get energized to do it, because I know that everybody has a story and you have no idea, [00:28:00] no idea the impact that your story could have until you share it.

Because you know, you don't know who needs to hear it until they do. ,

[00:28:08] Shannon Russell: You're using your power of voice, to be able to share stories and teach others to share their story, and that ripple can go on and on and on.

So talk to me about working with clients. If any of my listeners are looking to work with you, Tyler?

[00:28:22] Tyler Foley: Yeah, if they want to know just anything about me, the best thing to do is to go to the website, which is seantylerfoley.com

In fact, if anybody who's listening to Second Act Success and they're thinking, well, you know, maybe this could be my second act and they wanna work with me, First favor is hit pause on this right now and give you a five star review.

And if they're willing to do that, and they can, tell you specifically Shannon mm-hmm. , what is it about Second Act Success that brings you back?

What has Shannon said that has ha had impact to you? Then the second favor I would ask of them is that they do come to [00:29:00] seantylerfoley.com and right on the main landing page we have, uh, linked to my Endless Stages Facebook Group.

don't go directly through Facebook to get it. If you do that, you don't get the freebies that I will give you. If you give Shannon a five star review and come through the website, then I'll give you a free download of my book, the Power to Speak Naked. We'll give you access to my drop the mic, trainer program, uh, the speaker program.

It's very simple. Seven, uh, five minute training videos. Real easy to digest real. You can do it over a break at work and, and start to, to get that information in. And then if they wanna know what it's like to work with me, one-on-one every Tuesday at three Eastern noon Pacific, I go live every Tuesday for 20 minutes and do a live training presentation with whoever happens to show up on the call. So if you wanna know what it's like to work with me one-on-one for free, that is the best way to do it.

And then, my Power of Influence Training, which is the three day program if they want to do that. And [00:30:00] that's, uh, typically $1,500. It's an investment, but, we try to over-deliver as best we can. So if you, if you want to really be a powerful communicator, you wanna make speaking a bit of a career, that one or the power to speak naked, which is the five day workshop, which is, a little bit more of an investment. We'll give you everything you need, particularly if you come to the power to speak naked. We'll set you up with your speaker reel. We'll get you your one sheet, we'll get you introduced to speaker bureaus and booking agents and promoters and all the people who actually have the decisions. Mm-hmm. , that's what I learned growing up in the film business is that, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

And so I wanna make sure that I'm introducing them to my whole Rolodex, cuz I've spent almost four decades putting it together and it's extensive. So I want them to have access to that. And so when they come to the Power to Speak Naked Workshop particularly, and they put those five days in and they put that work in, I wanna reward them for that.

So [00:31:00] we try to do everything we can to set them up for. Thank

[00:31:03] Shannon Russell: you, Tyler. That is amazing and I think an investment well spent in just getting to have that one-on-one time with you, getting to really learn your whole process,

so let's talk about your book, Tyler. I love the title. Tell us a little bit about what we can get if we pick it

[00:31:18] Tyler Foley: up. So the Power to Speak Naked.

Number one, bestselling book by seantylerfoley.com. It's actually, if you're wondering what the workshop would be like, a l half of the workshop got compressed into the book. So what I did was I didn't write my book, I spoke my book, and so we took the, the best of.

Some of the training that we do in the workshops and we transcribe that into the book. So what they're getting is practical, easy to implement guidance on being more confident, public speaking. Cause most people will say, I'm terrified of public speaking. And I say, no, you're not. Almost no one is afraid of public speaking.

, if anybody has ever been to a [00:32:00] restaurant and ordered food, you did three things. You spoke in public. If you didn't know your wait staff, you also spoke to a complete stranger and you asked for what you wanted and received it.

So this notion that we're afraid to speak in public, that we're afraid to speak to strangers, and that we're afraid to ask for what we want is null and void. If your fear is that the people in public are looking at you, you're not afraid of speaking in public. You're afraid of public judgment. Mm-hmm. , good point. That's what the book tackles, if you have the courage to admit that you're not afraid of public speaking, you're afraid of public judgment, oh man, do the doors open up, and then I can talk to you about how to find your confidence. The fact that you don't need to be afraid of your audience. Your audience is on your side. Mm-hmm. , if you have been asked to speak, you are the authority. So you don't need to be afraid of their judgment. You just need to deliver. What I try to do is show people in the book how to get out of your ego and get into a service mentality. What if I give the best [00:33:00] presentation ever? What if my words have impact? What if I change somebody's opinion?

Thought life. And if it's only one that you change, that's, do you not feel that that's good in the world? to have changed one life. Like that's powerful.

One of the things that I talk about in the book is you gain confidence through competence. And the only way to become competent at something is to do it over and over and over again. Only through repeated efforts do we find perfection. And I will let you in on a secret. I did 300 podcasts last year. I have been public speaking since the age of 6, 36 years, almost four decades of public speaking and performing.

I have never given a perfect talk in my entire life, but, uh, they're all pretty good now. I like them. Yeah. And even the ones where I absolutely bomb it and I have bombed in the last year. Mm-hmm. , they're learning opportunities. And so I'm, I'm getting closer and closer and closer to an ideal, but I'll never be perfect.

And I have definitely practiced. And that's the key, [00:34:00] is learning how to practice correctly. Um, understanding you don't need to memorize a script. Good God, don't try. Stop, stop. It's a waste of energy. That's the other thing too. Most people are practicing and rehearsing and preparing for speeches wrong.

In fact, there's two chapters entirely dedicated to how to properly prepare for a speech. And I promise you none of it is memorizing technique.

[00:34:20] Shannon Russell: Whether you're trying to be a public speaker or like you said, if you're managing a team and you need to get up and, and talk about what the next quarter's looking like, there are so many reasons to be able to get up and present yourself in a proper way to get your ideas across. What does the next chapter look like for you, Tyler?

[00:34:38] Tyler Foley: I have no idea, and I'm super excited about that. ,

[00:34:41] Shannon Russell: right?

You're in a good place. You already said you've got so many things going right that you're gonna keep on this path.

[00:34:47] Tyler Foley: And here's the thing. Even if they go south on me, it'll be the way that it is. And I will, I will find a, a way to make it work, because I always do. And you know, I gotta tell you, I'm not positive. You asked my wife, I am not a [00:35:00] positive individual. I don't look for the positives in life. But what I do look for is the grace. And I, I learned that early on. I don't think my dad dying is a positive. I will never say that that's a positive, but I definitely think there was grace in it.

I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for that event, and I needed that event to become who I am. So, , I'm always constantly looking for the grace, and I would encourage every one of your listeners to find the grace in those situations because, uh, life is not perfect all the time. And although I love this smooth sailing right now, there is assuredly a storm on its way, but I also know that I can weather it as long as I have prepared properly.

[00:35:47] Shannon Russell: Is that confidence you have that confidence that, you can turn the ship around, but

[00:35:51] Tyler Foley: again, confidence through competence. I only know I can turn the ship around because I've had to do it over. You had to turn over.

Yes. You've had to [00:36:00] over again.

[00:36:00] Shannon Russell: Your lessons are always coming back. I love it, . That's very true. So where can our audience connect with you

[00:36:07] Tyler Foley: Best place is going to be seantylerfoley.com. Um, I would encourage everybody, if you're listening to Second Act Success, hit pause. Give it a five star review, let Shannon know what is working for you, why you come back.

And, uh, if you're willing to do that, I'm more than happy to turn over my catalog to you, make it, available to you for free, and, uh, invite you to come to endless stages and, and take some training with me for free every Tuesday noon Pacific, three Eastern for about 20 minutes, and I will, you'll, you'll see what you get.

[00:36:39] Shannon Russell: Thank you, Tyler. Thank you for that wonderful offer to our listeners as well, and this has been such a pleasure. I have gotten so much out of this conversation, I know our listeners have too, and I'm excited to see what's next for you.

[00:36:52] Tyler Foley: I'm excited to share it. So we'll let you know. ,

[00:36:55] Shannon Russell: thank you to Tyler for sharing so much with us today about his story [00:37:00] and all that he has built.

I'll link to everything in the show notes for this episode below as well. Thank you for listening, my friend. I'll be back here for another episode of the Second Act Success Podcast soon. Bye for now. Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to second act, success.

To view show notes from this episode, visit secondactsuccess.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much. Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell and this is Second Act Success.

 

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