Talk to People Podcast

04/11/2024

new project went live today: How to Talk to Your Friends About Politics. Tomorrow someone will be named president. Remember, we survive when we're connected and caring for the people in our lives. Be sure to talk to people and not shut anyone out - good guys or bad guys.

09/10/2024

He's Talked to Over 6,000 Different People and Today I'm One of Them [Rob Lawless]

Rob Lawless is meeting 10,000 people, one hour at a time. Discover what he’s learned after 6,500 conversations on human connection and friendship.

28/09/2024

I found a leading psychologist in a New York Times article. Cut to - 3 weeks later we're recording a podcast in the kitchen! Dr. Daniel Maitland, an awesome person and a bright mind. We talked a lot about social anxiety and depression.

You can find this podcast on all streaming platforms, including YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify!

21/09/2024

Great accomplishment for the podcast - having Andrew Hales on. He's been one of my favorite YouTubers for quite some time. He's a master at talking to people and building an online community.

This is also the first episode that I uploaded video on Spotify.

The Talk to People Podcast has been a slow growing project for me, but it's been a great thing.

07/08/2024

A new video documenting my episode on FRIENDSHIP!

30/07/2024

TODAY IS NATIONAL FRIENDSHIP DAY. And I sat down with Jeff Hall, a visiting scholar at Harvard and a friendship expert, to talk about the current status of friendship in America. His team facilitated the largest survey on American friendship in history. And the results are surprising!

This conversation is on every podcast streaming platform. And its one of my favorites so far.

11/06/2024

Get ready. I packed a microphone and flew to North Carolina. The birds sang and the conversation flowed. It was an opportunity for me to connect with a dear friend, mentor, and former roomie.

Allan Louden is a professor emeritus at Wake Forest University. He is the former Director of WFU's debate team - one of the most successful in university history. He is the former Chair of the Communication Department, the dog dad to Glacier, and a voracious conversationalist.

In this episode of the Talk to People Podcast, expect to learn:
- how to get people to talk to each other more
- how to avoid pessimism
- what it's like to retire
- what makes Trump an unusual speaker
- how to get comfortable disagreeing with someone
- what makes a good friend?
- how technology is affecting young peoples’ conversations

16/05/2024

What’s funny is that we talk ourselves out of talking to others.

Here’s four of the ways this most commonly happens:

1️⃣ We believe that we’re going to sound dumb.
2️⃣ We believe that everyone is thinking about us - we convince ourselves that if we stumble then people will laugh at it 2 years later.
3️⃣ We believe that we are the smartest person in the room and that our thoughts are most valuable.
4️⃣ We are over-analyzing everything in conversation.

In today's episode - I address each of these, including how to circumvent them and why they exist.

13/05/2024

Monday means a new podcast episode. What's today's topic? it's MENTORSHIP!!!

Availability is one of the most underrated qualities of a GREAT mentor.

We often want to hitch our trailer to the most successful person we know. We look for the President, VP, or CEO - and then try to develop a relationship. But I'd rather have the person who is accessible rather than the person who's just successful.

We're leaving a lot of impact on the table by not having a mentor or mentee. I think it's something we should think more about. Hence, the 19 minute podcast episode I just published where I share my research on mentorship, how to find a great mentor, and an impactful mentor story. Happy Monday 🧠

06/05/2024

Today's episode: HOW TO MAKE NETWORKING MORE ENJOYABLE

It features a friend and inspiration, Zachary Harris, who has been building his own law firm. We talk about what you can do to avoid the artificial pretending in networking, how standup comedy helped my approach on networking, and why we believe most people get it wrong.

02/05/2024

Officially published this morning: TWENTY questions that you can use to make any conversation better.

You ready...? These are Level 3 questions - meaning you bring them out after a greeting (level 1), an intro exchange (how are you? I've been good...), and then BOOM! The purpose of communication is to connect and these questions can give you more opportunities to explore connection points.

Here are a few of the questions - the podcast episode goes over about 30 of them and comes with extra context. It is less than 20 minutes long.

1. You been watching any good TV lately? We've been watching this show...
2. What's been the best joke you've recently heard? Or the best laugh you've had? "I was talking to this person who absolutely caught me off guard..."
3. What's been one of the most memorable conversations you've had?
4. Who inspires you most when it comes to __________?
5. If you're hosting the President for dinner, what are you cooking?
6. What do you think the next revolutionary invention is going to be?

You may notice - these are a bit casual. But what's funny is we actually connect way better whenever we discuss accessible topics. Even when we're at work, in a fancy office, or in corporate attire. Discussing things like humor, memory, food, or TV provides a common platform that will sweeten any other kind of interaction like negotiations or announcements.

29/04/2024

In 2005, Steve Jobs delivered Stanford University's commencement address. This speech is now the most watched speech on YouTube.

Here are public speaking tips we can gain from this speech:
• Steve was easy to understand. He never used complex words, he spoke in a steady predictable pace, and he paused often.
• He structured his speech around three stories. Each of these had a clear narrative arc, lasted less than three minutes, had at least one joke, and had immense detail.
• After each story, he had one actionable takeaway that he delivered with CONVICTION. It was clear that he meant what he was saying.

If you want to give a speech that will go viral - look at what has worked in the past. It's no secret that these three things will make your message resonate.

Also - if you want to unpack his address even further, I just posted today's podcast episode on the Communication Mentor. It's less than 20 minutes, features the entire address, and all my takeaways.

25/04/2024

Lessons from today's episode: One Trick to Speak More Confidently

Tune in anywhere you get podcasts. It is a 13 minute episode so you'll be able to listen to it during a commute, workout, or errand.

23/04/2024

I know sometimes I post about the podcast on here ["that's all you post about, Chris!"]

Well, I'm going to give it a rebrand! I'm changing the name and everything. It will now be called the Communication Mentor Podcast!

Here are a few adjustments I'm making to what used to be known as the Talk to People Podcast:
• FOCUS - providing actionable tips and lessons to help professionals become better communicators so that they can grow in their career.
• FORMAT - solo episodes where I'll be presenting research, examples, case studies, and core formulas. Each episode will be less than 20 minutes.
• FREQUENCY - 2x weekly, on Monday and Thursday morning at 7AM (CT).

These episodes will be video'd - and I've created a standalone YouTube channel for the Communication Mentor Podcast. They will also be available on all podcast platforms.

WHY AM I DOING THIS? My goal is to create content, speak on stages, provide value to organizations via training and consulting, and then work with individuals one-on-one. The Communication Mentor is a new personal brand that I'll be leaning into.

WAHOOOOO