00:01 Michael Port: Welcome to Steal the Show with Michael Port, this is Michael. Today I have two guests, they are my sons, Jake and Leo, and they are gonna help me with this episode. One of the things that I often do when I do a master class is, I pass out index cards and on each index card it has a word or phrase and then the audience members will read their index cards. Theyâll just stand up and read the phrase and then Iâll teach to that phrase and then Iâll finish and Iâll say âNextâ and the next person will do it. So, Leo and Jake are here today, because itâs Bring Your Kid to Work Day, which means keep them home, for me, because of course we donât need to go anywhere today and theyâre going to help me out, so theyâre going to read these phrases and then Iâm going to teach on them. And the reason Iâm doing it now is, because people find this really fun. And itâs actually about what not to do when youâre performing and as you know I donât think there are hard and fast rules, I think anything that works is what you do, I think youâre making art and I donât think there is one way to make art. That is a big part of our philosophy, so if you find that thereâs a way to effectively do any of the things that Iâm suggesting you donât do, then do it. Does that make sense guys? Should I tell them again?
01:23 Jake Port: I think thatâŠ
01:24 Michael Port: They actually just werenât listening, they were sort of spacing off.
01:28 Michael Port: If you find that, what I am sharing with you, about what not to do, works for you, then do it. Even though I say not to do something, it doesnât mean that someone should just take me at face value. If they hear it and go, âMakes sense, I donât think I should do that, I get what heâs saying.â If they go, âIâm not sure.â they should try it and if they find that they can make it work, if audiences love it, even though I suggest they donât do it, they should still do it. Make sense?
02:07 Jake Port and Leo Port: Yeah.
02:07 Michael Port: Okay. That doesnât go for you guys. For you guys, whatever I just say you do, and whatever I say you donât do, you donât do.
02:13 Jake Port: Okay.
02:13 Michael Port: Okay, good.
02:13 Leo Port: Okay, dad.
02:14 Michael Port: Thatâs you know, of course, Iâm sure all the parents can relate to that, because kids do exactly what their parents tell them to do all the time. Right?
02:22 Jake Port and Leo Port: Totally.
02:22 Michael Port: Yeah. So, you guys ready?
02:25 Jake Port: Yeah.
02:25 Leo Port: Yeah.
02:25 Michael Port: Alright, so, Jake give me the first one.
02:28 Jake Port: Letâs get started.
02:29 Michael Port: âLetâs get startedâ is a phrase that speakers often use at the beginning of a speech, often a few minutes into the speech they start with a bunch of filler and then they go, âOkay, letâs get started.â And the speech has already started, so itâs redundant, itâs not necessary and it suggests that anything you have just said or just did was a waste of time, because you hadnât yet gotten started and everybody wants you to get started right away. Leo, whatâs next?
03:03 Leo Port: Housekeeping.
03:04 Michael Port: âHousekeepingâ. Generally, when an audience hears the word housekeeping, they stay down looking at their phones texting or writing emails or doing whatever theyâre doing. Housekeeping means, âDonât listen to anything I say, itâs just annoying stuff that I have to get out of the way, that you donât really want to listen to. So, donât.â Can you find a fun way of introducing the, âhousekeeping,â you know, where the bathrooms are. Can you make it into a little scavenger hunt or adventure, say âThe bathrooms are here and here, and on the way to the bathrooms, weâve hidden some fun prizes, so you may want to⊠â And then all of a sudden theyâre like âHuh? What? Fun prizes hidden on the way to the bathroom, thatâs kinda cool.â Who was next? Jake?
03:48 Jake Port: Yeah. Iâm happy to be here.
03:50 Michael Port: âHappy to be hereâ. This is something that people often say at the beginning of a speech and itâs perfectly acceptable, itâs not gonna ruin a speech, of course, but itâs likely that if you are the fifth speaker of the day, that the four speakers prior, said the same thing. Because, of course, whatâs the alternative? That youâre really pissed off that youâre there? So, just show them that youâre happy to be there and they will see that. Often again, itâs just a little bit of filler that we do at the beginning, because weâre a little bit uncomfortable and weâre not exactly sure how to start. So, again, itâs not gonna kill you, itâs not the worst thing in the world, but itâs just not necessary. And when we are designing speeches that we can rehearse, then we are able to cut out the things that arenât really necessary and thatâs the beauty of rehearsal for a speech. Leo, whatâs next?
04:48 Leo Port: Center stage.
04:49 Michael Port: âCenter stageâ. So, center stage is a very powerful place on the stage, of course, and itâs something that we want to take advantage of. Often, however, when a speaker starts, when they first come out onto the stage, they will just make a B-line for center stage, they wonât look at the audience, theyâll stop at center stage, turn to face the audience and then say, âLetâs get started. Iâm really happy to be here.â And itâs not a very powerful, the boys are smiling, âcause their going âThatâs actually kind of funny.â Itâs not a very powerful way to start. As soon as the audience sees you walk up onto the stage or walk out from the wings, that speech has started. In fact, that speech started when your bio was read or when they saw you in the hallway. And your speech starts long before you actually step onto the stage, but when you do step onto the stage, youâre connecting with them immediately, youâre not just making a B-line for the center stage, stop, turn toward them, and then start. Whatâs next, Leo? Who is next? Jake?
05:50 Jake Port: Great question.
05:52 Michael Port: âGreat questionâ. Thatâs a great question. One of the things that folks often do during Q&A, when they are answering questions is say, âWell thatâs a great question.â But the thing I worry about is what if Leo asks a question and I just answer it. And then Jake asks a question and I say, âJake, thatâs a great question.â And then I answer it. Leo might feel like his question wasnât great and heâll do his little tear down the side of his face. He takes his finger, he puts it right under his eyes and he goes, âMm-hmâ and then runs his finger down his face as if a tear is coming down his face. And it works sometimes to get what he wants. There it is, heâs doing it right now. Very cute. But we wanna avoid making anybody feel that we donât appreciate them and when weâre doing Q&A. We wanna reward people for asking questions. Not make them feel like their question wasnât great. We can just avoid saying thatâs a great question and we can just instead answer the question. Whoâs next? Leo?
07:00 Leo Port: Yeah. Wandering.
07:02 Michael Port: âWanderingâ. So you might not be surprised to hear that wandering is a very common mistake that people make on stage and itâs often because they donât know where to go, when to go, why to go anywhere on the stage. They havenât blocked out their presentation. And blocking is the organization of your movement on stage. Where youâre going? Why youâre going there and when youâre going there? And the term comes from, I think itâs 18th century directing where they had a little model of the set, and they had these little blocks to represent the actors. And then they just move the blocks around deciding where the actors are gonna go. I guess they thought of actors as blocks, which Iâm not sure what to make of that.
07:53 Michael Port: But nonetheless the term stuck and we still use the term today. One of the important steps in rehearsal and as you know if youâve read âSteal the showâ. Thereâs a seven step rehearsal process is blocking. You donât wander aimlessly around the stage and you know exactly where to go, when to go and why youâre going there. And the wandering often comes just from nervous energy like you feel like you wanna move but you donât have any plans on where youâre gonna move so you just wander back and forth. Next.
08:29 Jake Port: Looking down.
08:30 Michael Port: âLooking downâ. Often when a speaker is presenting. They will down at the floor to get their next idea. If theyâre telling a story theyâll pause in between thoughts and look down to find the next thought. Now there are a couple of reasons that this occurs. Number one is because youâre not familiar with your material or youâre not familiar with it in such as a way that you donât have to think about whatâs coming next. Youâre telling a story in a speech. You shouldnât have to think about the next part of the story or if youâre delivering content. You shouldnât really have to think about the next part of the content. It should be able⊠You should be able to recall it pretty easily. And if you havenât done much rehearsal on it then you may not be able to and as a result you tend to look down and away from the audience so that you can think and it disconnects you from that.
09:30 Michael Port: The other reason that we often do it is because weâre nervous to look at them and to stay looking at them so we look down at the floor. And again it disconnects us from the audience. It may seem like a small thing but if you start to watch speakers and notice how they do this. You will see that it is disconnecting and it actually reduces their power. It reduces their gravitas, the way that they present themselves on the stage, their power on the stage and it often corresponds with wandering. So you will wander to one side, youâll look down, look up, wander to the other side. Letâs say Iâm telling a story about a time I went to get some pizza. And I say Iâm walking to one side of the stage and I say, âWell there was a time I went to get a piece of pizza.â Then I stop, look down, look up, âand I went to a pizza place called Fredâs.â As Iâm walking back to the other side. Then I stop, look down, look up, âand I got a piece of plain pizza.â
10:39 Michael Port: And you can see that would slow down the whole story and then ultimately, it also can make a story feel like it is one note. Because when you get to the conflict, you still have the same pacing back and forth. You still have the same patterns because youâre looking down each time you have a new thought. And the exposition and the conflict and the resolution will all feel the same even though theyâre not. Whatâs next?
11:11 Leo Port: Sideways.
11:12 Michael Port: Sideways. Walking sideways itâs something that, oh gosh I wish they could see me right now instead of just listen, because of course, weâre talking about things people do on stage. But sideways walking is not something that we generally do. Iâll show the boys here if you see my feet guys. People donât walk sideways, one foot over the other. Right, they walk one foot in front of the other but on stage, sometimes youâll see people walk sideways. Women often do this more than men, Iâve found and I think part of it is from wearing heels. At least this is what Amy believes, part of it is from wearing heels and not feeling very stable in the heels. So you take these sort of small sideway steps crossing your legs over each other and that is definitely, definitely a very weak way to move on stage because it is not natural, it looks a little bit awkward, and it looks closed off. You donât look like youâre strong in the way that you move. Whatâs next?
12:15 Jake Port: Stand and land.
12:18 Michael Port: âStand and landâ. So, if you speak quickly, you may have been told at different points in your life to slow down. And I get that, it makes sense, but you can understand somebody who speaks very quickly. The issue is not how fast you speak, but whether or not you pause. Because in the pause is where the audience consumes what you are teaching or what you are sharing. So I can speak⊠I mean look, Iâll do it quickly. Iâm speaking right now quite fast. âJakeâs got brown hair, Leoâs got blonde hair, they got a microphone in front of them, theyâre looking at the computer, theyâre sitting on the other side of the desk from me.â But whatâs important to note is this. And then when youâre delivering the big thing, it gets a pause afterwards. Because the rest about the hair and their color, most of that was exposition, it wasnât absolutely necessary. I mean it was necessary that you get this picture of them, but then the big delivery is whatâs important and you get the pause after that.
13:31 Michael Port: So, standing and landing asks that you donât move when you deliver really important information. So you can move and talk at the same time. Move and talk at the same time. Move and talk at the same time. Move and talk at the same time. And you can speak quickly. So what Iâm doing really here unintentionally, inadvertently is combining speaking quickly and the power of the pause with standing and landing. So thereâs the power of the pause, so use the pause to make sure that people can consume what you have to offer. And also land and deliver the big information. You can move and speak at the same time, you can speak quickly, but when youâre delivering something of note, thatâs when you stand and land it. Whatâs next?
14:31 Leo Port: Podium.
14:33 Michael Port: Podium, lectern, try to stay away from them. Certainly, try to stay away from being behind a podium or a lectern. Also, try to avoid leaning on it too much. I request that they take away the podium or the lectern, but sometimes thatâs not possible, itâs either built into the stage or itâs just⊠Itâs taped in with all the wires and it has to be there because the person afterwards is putting a computer there etcetera, so you just canât take it away. But if itâs there, you may be inclined to lean on it. And once in a while thatâs fine, it actually can be effective. But if you do it throughout the entire speech, then it starts to look like youâre lackadaisical in your approach, and your speech becomes one note. Now we wanna avoid that. Good, whatâs next?
15:36 Jake Port: Slow down.
15:39 Michael Port: âSlow down.â Yeah, so this is what I was addressing earlier, just a few moments ago is the fact that you donât always have to slow down your speech, you just need to pause. And in fact, hereâs what happens if you slow down too much, âHi Jake, Hi Leo. Itâs really nice to see you and itâs so nice to do this interview with you.â You guys, we watched âFerris Buellerâs Day Offâ. Remember, Bueller?
16:15 Jake Port: Yeah. [chuckle]
16:16 Michael Port: Bueller. Now of course he was also monotone, but itâs the slow, methodical, plodding way of speaking that will put people to sleep. In fact sometimes make you wanna strangle them, âcause you guys are looking at me like, âDude, come on, would you stop talking that way please?â Itâs annoying. Leoâs like strangle⊠Donât wanna strangle⊠You wanna strangle me Leo?
16:43 Leo Port: No.
16:44 Michael Port: No, he doesnât wanna do it. They took me literally on that. No, they donât wanna strangle me, and hopefully your audiences wonât wanna strangle you either but, but it is something, they found that funny too. But it is something that you should be aware of that the very, very slow methodical way of speaking can put audiences to sleep. What youâre looking for is contrast, and pacing, and timing, and tone, and pitch and volume. Good, whatâs next?
17:17 Leo Port: Weak language.
17:18 Michael Port: Yeah. Try not to use weak language. Weak language are words like basically, because⊠Not because, basically, sort of, kinda. If you ask me, âWhat do you do in your business?â And I said, âWell, we basically help people be better speakers.â That doesnât sound very compelling does it? If you said, âWhat do you do?â We say, âWe help you become a better public speaker.â Boom, done, simple. Thatâs much stronger. So if we use words like, kinda, sort of, basically, then it weakens our argument over all, and doesnât seem too sophisticated. Next?
18:12 Jake Port: Can I tell you a story?
18:14 Michael Port: Yes you could, Jake if youâd like. Youâre a good story teller. I generally recommend audiences⊠I mean speakers stay away from saying, âCan I tell you a story?â, or âIâm going to tell you a story.â Because often if you say, âLet me tell you a story,â the audience sits back and go, âOkay, you better make this good.â Because a boring story is a real waste of time. Or what if you say to an audience, âCan I tell you a story?â And someone said, âNo. Actually, Iâd rather you didnât. Can you talk about⊠â And then all over sudden⊠Yeah, Leo is going, âAh!â He is making me a face. All of a sudden the audience member just took over your entire speech, and told you where to go. And also, audiences like to be surprised. They like finding themselves in a story, and they didnât even realize they were in the story until it becomes a conflict, something interesting happens. So, you donât need to preface a story with a statement that you gonna tell a story. Whatâs next?
19:19 Leo Port: Details.
19:20 Michael Port: âDetails.â When you are telling a story, some details are more important than others. Not all details are as important as all other details. So, get really clear on what is needed and what isnât needed. For example, we had a student in the master class who was telling a story about her grandfather who was in the military, and she said, âWell, my grandfather was in the army, and he was a corporal or a colonel, I donât know, whatever.â And then she went on. It seemed like she was unprepared to tell that story, which was the case and the audience could sense that. So, I stopped her and I said, âDo you know what his rank actually was?â And she said, âNo.â I said, âCould you find out?â And she goes, âI donât know. My grandmother probably doesnât remember that, her memory is not what it once was.â I said, âOkay. Well, does it matter what his rank was?â And she said, âNot really, but it does matter that people know he is a high ranking official.â I said, âWell, then just say that.â âSo, my grandfather was a high ranking officer in the army.â And then move on. So, those kind of details are important in that you donât want to seem like you donât know the details, but there is a way to offer details even if you donât have every bit of information and still make sure the audience knows what they need to know, so that when you get to the conflict, they understand whatâs happening. Next.
21:16 Jake Port: Story teller voice.
21:18 Michael Port: Yeah. There is the story teller voice. So, when sometimes when somebody tells a story⊠Just moved the mic. Sometimes when somebody tells a story, they will go into the story teller voice. The story teller voice is kind of like this, âThere was a time, when I was young and the world was mine, but now I feel that itâs not.â You guys can laugh if you want. You donât have muffle your laughter, theyâre cracking up, but itâs true. Have you ever heard guys, someone tells a story like that?
21:53 Jake Port and Leo Port: Yeah. Yeah.
21:54 Michael Port: A teacher maybe?
21:54 Leo Port: Yeah.
21:55 Jake Port: Yeah.
21:56 Michael Port: Yeah. Okay. So, itâs false. It seems manufactured. Fake, phony. So when you tell a story, just tell the story, the way that you would talk to anyone in any conversation. The other thing that happens, sometimes the story teller voice can sound a little bit forced. Itâs like, âOh my God! This thing happened, and it was just amazing. And you wouldnât believe it.â And then what happens is, youâre actually speaking on your voice, on top of your voice, instead of with a full voice with breath that comes from deep within your body. Next.
22:30 Leo Port: Unpack it.
22:31 Michael Port: âUnpack it.â So if you say youâre gonna teach them three things, then you need to them those three things. If you say youâre gonna do something, you need to unpack it completely. Give them what you said you were gonna give them, because if you say, âLook, we gonna do these six thing, or these seven things, or these five things.â And you get to the end of your presentation, you say, âOh! Sorry we only got through three things. Bummer!â, then the audience feels gypped. So you wanna make sure that you do whatever you say youâre gonna do, and that means of course, rehearsal, so you know how much you can actually do in the time that you have. Next.
23:11 Jake Port: Flip your hair.
23:12 Michael Port: Well, clearly, not a problem for me. I donât have to worry about this, but many folks with long hair they will often flip it out of their face. Here Iâll do it for the boys, because theyâll crack up. But it looks like this, tell me if youâve seen this.
[chuckle]
23:29 Jake Port: Yeah.
23:30 Michael Port: Theyâre laughing.
23:31 Leo Port: Justin Bieber.
23:32 Michael Port: Justin Bieber does that?
23:33 Jake Port: Yeah.
23:33 Michael Port: Okay. So thereâs a great example. You can watch Justin Bieber hair flip. I wonder if itâs on YouTube, if you can searchâŠ
23:40 Leo Port: Itâs definitely on YouTube.
23:41 Michael Port: Oh really?
23:42 Leo Port: Thereâs probably a whole compilation.
23:43 Michael Port: Thatâs hysterical. So I guess what we will do after this is, weâll go on YouTube and look for Justin Bieberâs hair flip, and then all the audience will know what weâre talking about. But it can get annoying to the audience, and if there is a compilation, itâs clearly because people find it a little bit annoying. So you wanna make sure that you put your hair up in such a way that people can see your eyes, they can see your face and it doesnât bother you, so you donât have to keep moving it out of your eyes. This is why I shave my hair, it has nothing to do with the fact that Iâm pretty much bald. I would grow a long, beautiful head of hair if I didnât wanna worry about the flipping part, right guys?
24:24 Leo Port: Yeah.
24:25 Jake Port: Mm-hmm.
24:25 Michael Port: Okay, next.
24:27 Leo Port: Touch the mic.
24:28 Michael Port: Yeah. So you gotta be careful. When youâre wearing a Lavalier, which is the little clip on mic, often you will inadvertently hit it when you are emphasizing a point. So youâll hit your chest, and then whatâll happen is itâll sound like this, which is really very annoying to the audience, and right now the sound engineer wants to punch me in the face, but donât cut this out. Donât cut this out. I want people to hear that because it can of course be very very disruptive, and you wanna just be careful that you donât hit the mic, touch the mic. You donât wanna wear bangles on your wrists that make a lot of noise or a necklace that would get in the way of the mic or brush against the mic. So, next.
25:10 Jake Port: Curse.
25:11 Michael Port: Yeah, donât [25:11] ____ in curse, because listen, if you⊠The guys are freaking out right now. Iâm ruining my children, because Iâm gonna do a little bit here right now. But listen, every once in a while a curse is fine when youâre giving a speech, know your audience though, âcause there may be audiences where it is not fine. If you go to give a speech where there are many people who are religious, it may not be appropriate because they may have decided that they donât want that language in their life. And if your entire brand is based on it, there are certainly speakers out there whoâve based their brand on their curses, literally, then fine, thatâs great. If it works, do it. But if itâs not what your brand is about, then just leave it out, itâs not necessary. Again, once in a while youâll hear me pop out with a curse, I get really worked up about something or excited about something, and then it actually can often be effective, because it shows my enthusiasm or my excitement. And that the curse popped out inadvertently because I was so worked up, that can be effective, but if you just use it in your regular language and thatâs not part of your brand, it becomes distracting and potentially offensive. This is just my opinion, you can do whatever the [26:32] ____ you want. The guys laughed a little bit, but you get the joke. Whatâs next?
26:38 Leo Port: Point.
26:40 Michael Port: Yeah. I would suggest not pointing at your audience, unless you choose to for a specific reason. Both the guys are pointing right now. Because it can seem aggressive. You keep pointing at people as if you know better, and then you start to look like youâre scolding them. So, you remember⊠The boys wouldnât remember and fortunately theyâd have no idea what Iâm talking about but⊠When Bill Clinton wagged his finger at people when he said, âI did not have,â you-know-what, he was scolding everybody, and of course he was lying, but it was just that kind of scolding that may unintentionally affect your audience. They may not even realize why theyâre getting turned off, but itâs the pointing, or what looks like scolding to them. So, what I suggest you do is use an open palm. Use your hand flat, open-palmed to the audience. So if I say, âOkay, so Leoâ, and Iâm moving my hand toward Leo, my palm is facing up. Leo, doesnât this feel much nicer? And I said âSo, Leoâ, as opposed to, âSo, Leoâ.
27:54 Leo Port: Yeah, itâs better.
27:55 Michael Port: Itâs better. Itâs a nicer way. And then I can say, âSo, Leo and Jakeâ, and I open my hand to Leo and I open my hand to Jake âand Iâ, and then I move my hands the same way towards myself, it brings us closer together, more connected. Whatâs next?
28:10 Jake Port: Apologize.
28:12 Michael Port: Yes. If you say something that was inappropriate, do apologize. If inadvertently say something that was inappropriate, apologize. But donât apologize for not having enough time, donât apologize for forgetting something that the audience didnât even know you forgot. Sometimes youâll forget to do a part and then youâll at the end go, âOh my God, I forgot to do the part that was so good. Oh man, I wish I had. Iâm so sorry, and now I donât have time.â Well, then the audience feels like they got ripped off when in fact they had no idea that you were gonna do that thing, so they donât feel like theyâre missing anything if they didnât know. But you apologized for not doing it, now they know, now theyâre bummed out. Same thing with the time. If you come out and say, âYou know, I thought I was supposed to have 60 minutes. Iâm really sorry, I only have 45, so Iâll do my best to give you what I can in those 45 minutes.â Well, already youâve made the audience feel like theyâre not gonna get what they deserve to get. Whatâs next?
29:16 Leo Port: Sit back on your heels.
29:18 Michael Port: Yeah. So, be careful about sitting back on your heels, both literally and figuratively. Literally, meaning having your energy move back rather than toward the audience. Your physical energy, your body actually leaning back as opposed to leaning toward the audience, and figuratively your energy. You want to have a very forward moving pace, a forward moving timing, a forward moving agenda rather than one that moves backwards, because it slows down when it moves backwards. Itâs not particularly exciting or engaging, it needs to move forward toward the audience. Whatâs next?
30:00 Jake Port: Get off the stage.
30:02 Michael Port: Yeah, so at end of your presentation, when itâs time to finish, you close, you say âThank you very much,â you take a bow, you enjoy the applause and then you go. But if you take that applause and then say, âOh, wait. Hold on. There was something else.â Meanwhile people are packing up their bags, theyâre starting to leave and then youâve lost your power and your close really weakens as a result, because half the people are walking out. Some people are listening to you, they canât really hear you because now thereâs noise in the room. So, when youâre done youâre done. Get off the stage. Whatâs next?
30:36 Leo Port: Speak to one section or a person.
30:38 Michael Port: Yeah, so be careful about getting stuck speaking to one person or one section. You may find one person who has a big smile and theyâre looking at you and theyâre nodding and you start to feel comfortable with them, and then you start devoting most of your attention to them. But if you give attention to all of the people in the audience, then they all will feel served. Whatâs next?
31:02 Jake Port: Turn your back on the audience.
31:05 Michael Port: Yeah, so often, especially if people are using PowerPoints, they will turn to the PowerPoint and then turn back to the audience. But you neednât turn your back to the audience. And in fact, generally Iâd recommend not turning your back to the audience. Hopefully, you know your material so well, that you donât need to look at the screen to know what slide is coming up next.
31:35 Michael Port: So, only turn your back to the audience if itâs a choice, if thereâs a reason that youâre doing it. So for example, in my âThink bigâ revolution speech there is one section where I show some slides that are very funny. And I donât speak during it. And they roll for about 25 seconds. And I just turn, look at them with the audience and we all watch them, and they laugh during it. So theyâre having this interaction with the screen. I want them to have the interaction with the screen not me. Thatâs why I turn. But if you wanna keep them focused on you, then donât turn your back. Next.
32:14 Leo Port: Overact.
32:15 Michael Port: Yeah, so be careful about thinking that performance is about big, animated, over-the-top performance. âOkay, so hereâs what weâre gonna do today guys. Youâre gonna love this. Itâs gonna be so fantastic, youâve never seen anything like it.â [chuckle] Thatâs a little over-the-top. Performances doesnât⊠You can be an incredible performer and be quite still, quite calm and even quiet. But youâre so effective that youâre a great performer. So I wouldnât make any assumptions about what performing means. Next.
32:56 Jake Port: Run away.
32:58 Michael Port: âRun away.â Right. So I mentioned, get off the stage when itâs time to get off the stage. But donât run away. So sometimes people say, âOkay, well I guess thatâs it.â Boom. And then they run away, they donât even wanna take the applause. Theyâre nervous about the applause, theyâre not sure what to do at the end, so they just get off the stage really quickly. That will reduce your power as well. Whatâs next?
33:24 Leo Port: Touch yourself.
[chuckle]
33:27 Michael Port: Leo is a little embarrassed to say that⊠No, it doesnât mean that kind of touch yourself. It means keep playing with your shirt, or sort of pulling up your pants or whatever it is. We, some of the times we develop these habits, these physical habits that can become distracting on stage because if someone sees you for a long period of time they start to notice that, and it can at certain times be distracting, right guys?
33:54 S?: Yeah.
33:55 Michael Port: Yeah. Whatâs next.
33:56 Jake Port: Break the rules.
33:58 Michael Port: âBreak the rules.â Donât break the rules just to break the rules, because it seems like itâs cool to break the rules. But the performers job is in large part to break the rules. Raise the stakes. Take risks, requires sometimes breaking the rules. So donât be afraid to do things differently. Donât think you need to perform the way other people perform. And in fact, a lot of the habits that people have developed over time are a result of seeing habits that other people have developed over time, but they may not be effective. So, this long list of what not to doâs that I introduced, youâll notice that a lot of them are just things you pick up from other speakers. Theyâre not necessarily things that youâve made up on your own. You just have seen people do it, so you do it too. So we donât need to follow the rules that other people have set forth. You donât even need to listen to me. You need to focus on what is effective for you. I think thatâs it, right guys?
35:03 Leo Port: Yeah.
35:03 Jake Port: Yeah.
35:03 Michael Port: Hey, thanks guys, you guys are fantastic.
35:06 Leo Port: It was fun.
35:06 Michael Port: Itâs fun. Thereâs such good performers. Theyâre so focused and they play and have fun. They even understand how to be quiet on the mic when Iâm speaking, but actually guys, these two mics, theyâre recorded on separate tracks, so what the audio engineer does, when Iâm speaking is he mutes the other mic. When youâre speaking he mutes my mic. So for example, letâs say youâre speaking and I wanna take off, like Iâm wearing a jacket, I have a zipper or something. I could unzip it and take it off while youâre speaking, because he can mute my mic, and then you wonât hear the zipper. If itâs really loud itâll get picked up on your mic, but he can usually pull that part out. Not always, but because weâre across from each other, my mic picks up me more than it picks up you. And your mic picks up you more than me. Does it make sense?
35:54 Leo Port: Yeah.
35:55 Michael Port: Alright guys. Keep thinking big about who you are and what you offer the world. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be of service to you, I never take it for granted. I try my best, and I love you. Not in a weird way. But I love you for being a big thinker. For being a performer rather than a critic. So, until next time, bye for now.
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