Speak So Your Truth Lands: How to Become an Unforgettable Communicator With John Scott

[00:00:02] What if you let love, not fear, lead your life and your leadership? I'm Carolyn Cooper and I've learned that true leadership isn't about perfection. It's about daring to be vulnerable, holding your vision in the darkness, and trusting your soul to guide you home.

[00:00:28] Welcome to the Love Inspired Leadership Podcast. A sacred space where every moment invites you to aim higher with love and purpose. Here, we don't just talk about leadership, we redefine it. Let's dive in.

[00:00:51] Welcome back to the Love Inspired Leadership Podcast. Oh my goodness, we are happy that you are here. And I have such a treat for you today. Let me tell you, I have had the honor, the experience of receiving my guests' transformational process

[00:01:21] in regards to the way I speak, how my voice lands in people's lives, and my entire internal experience of calm, clarity, confidence, and presence. Intrigued yet? I sure hope so, because it's going to be good. So I just want to just say thank you for being here. Really, honestly, this is the place that we get to speak truth.

[00:01:51] I mean, that's what I love about this podcast. And today we're going to talk about the courage to be heard and how our voice, our clarity, our energy, and our confidence lands within how we speak and create that authentic communication leadership.

[00:02:15] And so let me introduce you to our amazing guest today, who I just love to bits and respect with the utmost high. And I'd like you to meet John Scott. He's a public speaking coach. He's a voice expert and the creator of Speech Dynamics.

[00:02:38] He has this incredible transformational framework that has three pillars. The first one is clarity. The second one is energy. And the third is presence. And what he does is really helps leaders become unforgettable communicators.

[00:03:00] He comes from more than 25 years of working with executives, entrepreneurs, and founders, and Grammy award winning artists, helping them discover that communication is not just about words.

[00:03:20] It's about presence, energy, rhythm, and the courage to fully own your own voice.

[00:03:32] So what I really love about John is he has this incredible gift to see you, to understand the gaps and what's missing in that ability to share information and for it to land and integrate into people's lives.

[00:03:56] And, you know, the other thing is he doesn't try and teach you to become someone else. He supports you to really clarify more intrinsically who you are. And he helps remove the resistance within individuals, including me.

[00:04:17] And so I can tap into this natural, organic hour and authenticity and leadership when I show up.

[00:04:27] So if you've ever felt like, oh, you know, that internal conversation going on within yourself with insecurity, self-doubt, or that message that, oh, I think I can create impact that's more powerful and more meaningful. And I want you to know that this conversation will bring you those answers.

[00:04:55] I can actually guarantee it because I've been through the process. So, John, very excited about this conversation today. Thank you for saying yes to be on the Love Inspired Leadership Podcast. You're so welcome. It's always a gift to be with you and a gift to be here today. Boom, boom, boom, boom. So let's dive in, shall we? Absolutely.

[00:05:20] So where I want to go first is this concept and idea of discovering this power behind the voice. I mean, you have spent a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of years, decades being fascinated by this blend of science, music, communication and leadership.

[00:05:44] Can you take us back to that time where, you know, you started with molecular biology and you went into music and then you went into voice? Like, how did that transition traction happen going in those three areas? Sure. I can picture myself walking at UC Santa Cruz.

[00:06:11] It's a beautiful campus, redwood trees, kind of a couple miles in from the Pacific Ocean. And I had done this molecular genetics and I had been kind of lucky in college. I had cloned a gene as an undergraduate. And so there was a lot of new ideas happening in biology at the time, but I had always been a musician.

[00:06:37] So I was doing my music kind of outside of school and in school. I had the chance to do this research and I went off and got a job at Genentech. And it was very exciting. I was working with top level scientists that were making important discoveries. I did not like the people. I didn't like how they treated each other and I didn't like how they treated me.

[00:07:07] I hopped around a couple of different jobs. But in the back of my mind, I was kind of thinking, you know, maybe music should be the thing. Maybe I'm getting a sign here that I'm not meant to do gene cloning. And eventually, I moved to Texas and I had kind of a crisis. I had been living there with a girlfriend.

[00:07:32] We broke up and I had a car, $2,000 and time. And it was the beginning of the 90s. It was New Year's Eve, 1989. I drove west through the snowing Houston desert. It was a very unusual winter. And I just decided to go for it with the music and the singing.

[00:07:58] And so, I had a lot of exploring to do. But I basically studied voice with different voice teachers. I became a voice teacher myself. I worked as a sound engineer. I wrote songs, recorded CDs. And eventually, found my home both as a technical voice instructor and as a music director in different churches. And so, I got to experience singing at scale.

[00:08:28] So, it was singing with large audiences, choosing songs, working with the dynamics of, you know, large groups, congregations, and seeing how the music really could grow a community. So, that really sustained me for a while. But eventually, you know, that went on for a certain number of years. I still kind of wanted more.

[00:08:55] And eventually, people started coming into my studio who were interested in speaking. It might have been a professor who was needing voice help or a founder who needed to talk to everybody at their company who was nervous. But I really loved the speaking coaching because when you're coaching somebody and they're speaking, it's not just their voice, but it's their mission.

[00:09:20] It's when you're really getting clear on what your message is, how you say it, and who you're saying it to, you can direct the course of your life when you get really clear on that. And eventually, I trained the international president of Toastmasters and I just decided to go all in with the public speaking coaching. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:09:46] And what I love about your trajectory of your life, it's like there was pieces of the puzzle that just came together. So, this piece goes with this piece, goes with this piece, goes with this piece, and has created this profound, powerful contribution to people who speak. And I want to sidetrack here for a minute.

[00:10:10] I mean, when you and I met, I have had very big dreams of speaking. And what I found the most fascinating in working with you has been, I had no idea how to use my voice.

[00:10:29] I trusted my intuition for the last 40 years and I've done a lot of speaking in my day, keynote, training, corporation experience and strategic, everything. And I really didn't know what was going on. And then I met with you. Are you aware? No. No.

[00:10:52] And what I loved that you did is you showed me the truth of what the functioning of how to speak as well as the intentional aspect in regards to how important my message is and trusting that mission, that voice, that internal voice of wisdom.

[00:11:20] Now, I'm wondering if we can just dive in. You have that technical ability to show us some different things that you can share your screen, right? Can we go there? Absolutely. So, you could demonstrate that to the audience. And for those people who are listening, you can go to YouTube to be able to watch this as well.

[00:11:46] It's a very visual representation and is absolutely fascinating. And for me, it was, is going within to win. It was me taking that objective perspective to understand that how I see words, the intentionality of where that comes from.

[00:12:06] In other words, air, breath, voice, all of this is really speech dynamics that everything that John talks about yet. No. So, if you can show us that, that would be very cool for the audience to see that. That would be great. And then just explain it. That would be wonderful. Absolutely. Okay. So, this is my speech dynamics framework. And I'd just like to play you this clip.

[00:12:36] This is Cody Sanchez. Let's silence. Fear it out. Don would call this individuation, which is the movement from living as a role, so what society, family, culture expects you, to living as self, what is authentically you. So, what you can see here on the screen are actually the musical notes that Cody is speaking. And the reason that this is important is that the music in our voice carries energy.

[00:13:06] And when we begin to think clearly about your message, we can consider the dynamics of the energy curve of our voice. Now, the first thing that I'd like to point out is that her voice is broken down into clearly defined thought units. And these units you can see on the screen are just nicely packaged.

[00:13:32] Now, what happens a lot of the time is that our speech is not neatly segmented. It's not neatly packaged. And this is what happens if you have a not cleanly segmented speech.

[00:14:00] Notice that it's all just blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub. Yes. So, the first pillar of speech dynamics is clarity. Yes. The ability to use space in your speech. And now that space can show up in two ways. The obvious way here is that we create space between these thought units. And that space gives you a chance to breathe.

[00:14:30] It gives you a chance to formulate your next thought. And it gives your audience a chance to digest what you just said. It's so true. And that last clip that you played there, it was so monotone, right?

[00:14:51] So, it had no energy or inflection or variance in tone or as you talk about the wave. And I didn't hear any of it. It didn't even land for me. Yes. Well, you know, I chose some pretty extreme examples, but a lot of people speak in a monotone. Yes, they do.

[00:15:17] And when you're beginning to really develop your voice and you've been living in a lower energy zone, it feels really weird to start using your full range. Yes. Now, there is the second pillar of speech dynamics has to do with energy. So, we start with clarity. Yes. Give you a chance to really slow down, breathe.

[00:15:47] Think about how we speak with the space between our words. And then we get into energy. And so, if we go back to Cody Sanchez for a second, you could imagine an energy line here. And that line has to be met. There's a specific range where your voice is really going to impact your audience. And it's different for everybody and every situation. Yes.

[00:16:17] But once you learn to start hearing this range and seeing your voice in this, what I call voice blueprint, you can begin to move over this line. And again, notice that when Cody's speaking, her thought units have a particular energy curve to them. They're moving in a certain wave pattern and it's going up and over that line.

[00:16:45] Now, there's infinite varieties of waves that we send out. Now, we're all wave generators. But the thing that's fun about this voice blueprint is that for most people, your dynamic wave of your voice is invisible. So, this gives you a window into how you really sound that otherwise would be invisible. And you can compare yourself to speakers like Cody.

[00:17:13] So, notice too, that she uses a surprise on this third unit here. So, that's kind of what music is about. It's setting up patterns and surprises. And so, energy is a really important pillar for speech dynamics. But it's also interesting to me, Caroline, because it kind of ties in with your methodology

[00:17:41] too with the AIM-HI method. How does that work? Well, it's with the AIM-HI method, it's truth is number one in regards to looking at what is, looking at the absolute and only core truth. And then alignment, which is coming above the line. Your line there is coming above the line to focus on what matters most to you in your life and from your business.

[00:18:07] And then also, radiance, which also, I think, follows your wave pattern. Because when we are living our life as a love-inspired leader in alignment with what matters most and our calling, our position to serve the world is when our light shines brighter. And that's when we can also come over the top and come down to that grounded position of calm confidence.

[00:18:36] So, thank you for bringing that in. And there's one other thing I want to mention right now that I loved in working with you, is that you gave me lessons, voice workouts to do every single morning. And some of them, I will let the audience know, felt so weird, felt so strange to do.

[00:19:00] And I know that following those protocols and practices that went through a number of phases that you suggested that I do, made such an incredible impact for me to hear myself speak in a way that was meaningful, and also to understand the place that I was coming from in the words that I was going to be sharing.

[00:19:28] And it felt very life-changing for me, John. Mm-hmm. And supported me within my own transformation of my own belief in myself, in my confidence, in my reason, my meaning, in why I'm here to share what matters most with inspired leadership.

[00:19:54] So, and thinking above the line, all my different protocols and practices that I stand for, it, and it was really subtle, which I love. So, it's not a transformation that happens instantly. Mm-hmm. It's the disciplined, daily practice of honoring myself to consistently go from the first to the second to the third,

[00:20:22] the fourth to the fifth trajectory. And I know that you have names, and I can't remember what they all are. Mm-hmm. I, there is a journey that we take our own selves, and it's, the way I look at it, it's my own dedication, because the words that I speak, and how they are presented in an authentic way.

[00:20:45] And I know that that's your third pillar is presence, because those are the speakers that people resonate with and can connect with easily and effortlessly and feel that way. So, can we go to the, to the third pillar now? Absolutely. The third pillar is presence. Mm-hmm.

[00:21:11] And it does tie into the work we were doing, which is a little different from my speech dynamics framework. So, you can imagine two different programs, speech dynamics. It's really just for people who are already speaking publicly, and there's no need to really go under the hood and work with their voice. But we, we decided to go into another zone, which was called voice transformation. Yes.

[00:21:40] And there are three stages to that. There's the awareness discovery phase. And so, in that phase, I showed you the different parts of your voice, this being your larynx here. And I showed you the problem that almost everybody falls into with using their voice. It has to do with this epiglottis.

[00:22:08] This is kind of your tongue root, but it's also kind of like a big shutoff valve for your voice. And the reason it's a problem is that it's easy to get into a tendency of regulating your voice at the level of the epiglottis. And that would sound like this. Uh, I'm, uh, oh, uh, uh, uh. Right. So, you had some of that.

[00:22:36] I had quite a bit of that. You're being kind. You did. You did. So, voice transformation starts with the awareness discovery phase of that exists. Then there's a functional phase where we did a series of exercises over the course of weeks and months where we retrained you to moving into a deeper control of your airflow.

[00:23:03] And it involved getting down into your diaphragm, breathing in, stomach out. And what that does is it allows the resonance of your voice to really shine. Because when you regulate it at the epiglottis level, it's like putting your hand on a bell.

[00:23:21] And when you let your voice ring like a bell by supporting it from your diaphragm and relaxing the outer muscles, which is your neck, jaw, and tongue, you gain incredible power, range, and tongue. That was a game changer for me. And also, I would run out of air a lot.

[00:23:46] And I would allow too much air to come through and then I'd lose my ability to feel at least any one time. So, allowing and giving myself permission to have this free flow of air has truly made the biggest difference within myself to trust myself, John, too, in that. And it's been a profound...

[00:24:14] I even have people saying to me, what have you done? What's different about you? The way you speak is different. Your energy is different. It's more grounded. It's clearer. It's calmer. And it is. Yeah.

[00:24:35] I mean, there was a moment when you had just done this giant live event and you had worked up to it for weeks. And we both knew that this was, you know, a marathon for you. Yes. And you were kind of exhausted. But the next morning, you shared with me a voice memo, which you shared many. Yes. And you had this peak of your voice. It just kind of like was liberated.

[00:25:05] Yes. In a way that brought me chills. And it was almost kind of like a little surprising. I was like, is that Carolyn? You know, it was just... Do you remember that? Yes, of course I do. And I want to tell the audience right now, this transformation is subtle. And when it lands, you know it. You can feel it in your body. You can feel it in your mind. You can feel it in your spirit. And that's how I felt that day.

[00:25:34] I was so grateful and excited with this new understanding of what this tool of voice was going to bring me. Mm-hmm. So, that ties in with the third pillar, presence. But there's...

[00:25:55] The reason that I think you are able to be so present with your audience, and now that's rippling out, isn't it, into your community? Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes. The reason that I believe this is very profound for you has to do with God. Yes. And that somehow we have a tie-in with God through our body.

[00:26:22] And one of the books that I think is so fascinating, or it's a writing by Pope John Paul II, Theology of the Body. I've been thinking about that as it relates to the voice, and I kind of want to create an article called Theology of the Voice. Because I believe that to be truly present with somebody else, you have to be present with yourself and in your body.

[00:26:52] Yes. And that deeper connection that you had to your diaphragm, your airflow, looseness, led to presence within yourself. So, the pillar of presence starts with being present with yourself. And there's a lot of ways that we can accomplish that. You can accomplish presence with yourself just by breathing and meditation.

[00:27:19] And we belong to MPN, and we're like crazy about our daily routines. I remember when I first met you and I said, what's your morning routine like? And you were like, oh, John. And I'm like, I got... I was like, wow, she's crazy. Yeah. But now that I've been doing it for a while, I've got this morning routine.

[00:27:42] And part of my morning routine is creating space in meditation so that I can be more present with myself. So, that's the first half of presence. And then the second half of presence is just truly giving yourself to your audience. And I see that in you, Carolyn, in the way that you put others first.

[00:28:07] You lead others by just being so present with them and sort of, frankly, emptying yourself in service to others. And so, that I think also has a tie-in with God is that you basically learn to be less selfish. You learn to be focused on those that you're serving.

[00:28:33] And it's kind of wonderful because when that happens, it certainly doesn't matter how you come across, right? Because it's not about you. No. It's just about helping. It's got nothing to do with me. It has to do with being present, open-minded, curious. It's everything to do with thinking above the line, which is love to me.

[00:28:56] It's when I'm present, when I'm curious, when I'm open-minded and available to the moment. That's when the miracles and the magic happen for me. That's where truth lives. That's where solutions live.

[00:29:17] So, I trust this extraordinary internal voice of wisdom inside of me, which I believe is God and love, to direct me and guide me in the moment. So, there's a very calm, grounded confidence in that. And I'm bringing that into my speaking. And that's where the impact happens. That is brilliant. The moment is potent.

[00:29:49] That's where it lands. And why would we speak unless it lands truthfully? I know that that's what I want for everybody.

[00:30:06] Like in my Aim High Sanctuary, you mentioned earlier, my community that I'm growing is for women in business to have a safe, sacred space that they can come together to do their daily disciplines. And also to be heard, to be seen, to feel safe, to be vulnerable, and be around other women that are learning to honor oneself.

[00:30:31] Because what I think happened between us truly is my evolution, my learning, my transformation into the person that I now am. And you contributed so much to that. And I've told you at least 50 times how much I appreciate you, how blessed I am to have you in my life, not only as a voice coach, but also a friend.

[00:30:58] And I just feel that the audience needs to know this truth about what is possible. The other piece I want to bring in here right now, so this is not just if you're a speaker, a coach. It's if you're a mother, a father, sister, brother, aunt, cousin, and work at home, at the grocery store.

[00:31:25] It's a learned skill to have the clarity and the energy and the presence in the moment. And that's where love lives. That's love-inspired leadership to me. And that's what you support us, guide us, and show us individually how to get there. Thank you so much.

[00:31:53] Yeah, it has been an amazing journey. And I think that when I started, you know, I was much further back in this progression than I was when I met you. And meeting you really transformed myself as well. And I think that's the reason that this work is important is that we can't do it to ourself by ourself.

[00:32:22] Because we can't see ourselves from the outside. And so you saw things in me that I kind of knew and I kind of didn't knew. And you were able to speak truth into me and help me to become a better leader. And so that's where working with someone else is so critical because we just can't do it in isolation. No, we can't. And we're not meant to either.

[00:32:50] I mean, I talk about this on my podcast all the time. We're not meant to do this journey alone. You know, we're all here to contribute. We all have gifts and talents and expertise to show with the world. And that's if you're a business leader, corporately, you're a founder, you're a mother, a father. Any roles that we play that we hold as important than that matter most.

[00:33:17] It's about coming together is so much better because you're like, you're right. I had no idea how much I did not use air efficiently when I spoke. That zero blind, absolute blind. And I understood it. Oh, well, that's a game changer, isn't it? Mm-hmm.

[00:33:43] Well, you... Right. Yeah. Pause. Pause. Pause. You mean I can take a breath? Yes, you can. And so, you know, the message I want to project right now at this moment on this podcast is if you're feeling alone.

[00:34:04] And if you are sensing that place where you got to figure it all out yourself, I guarantee you won't be able to. I'm sorry to give you that truth, but it's the truth. And to be around other people, I mean, John and I are both in my personal network, and we have learned so much through our daily disciplines, which we do every day.

[00:34:28] And mine far expand what those six disciplines are because I've become very greedy. I have. And what I'm realizing is these daily disciplines to honor myself have changed me. It's I'm building my own self-trust. I'm building my own inner confidence here in what I'm meant to do and serve the world. So my personal network, I'll put a link in the show notes for that too.

[00:34:57] But for those of you that are speakers, coaches, authors, working corporately, having to do presentations within your organization or your company, or if you're in academia, or those areas that you want that information, that message to be heard and to land and make a difference, reach out to John. John, she knows.

[00:35:25] He will tell you the truth in such an honoring way that it won't be totally uncomfortable. It's a little uncomfortable, though, I will warn you. Because you think, oh my goodness, I've been doing this like all. Yet it's done with respect, compassion, and honor. And he'll help you become a better speaker.

[00:35:53] So let's talk about what's been the most meaningful part of helping leaders transform the way they communicate for you. Yeah, I think that it's just seeing somebody start at a specific stage and become who they want to be and just really enjoying the fruits of that.

[00:36:23] And there is something that's really fun in teaching people about the specific anatomy and dynamics of their voice, because I spent so long doing it. While most people were working corporate jobs, I was one-on-one with speakers and singers, just seeing how people responded, working and watching the effects on their lives.

[00:36:51] And the main thing that I think that we all need to realize is what a miracle our voice is. And I became particularly aware of that working with people who had lost their voice completely. Because when you lose your voice, you can't connect with people. You can't say hi. You can't speak.

[00:37:20] We all have this amazing miracle of speech. And when you really optimize it, when you explore it and you plumb the depths of it, you make better connections with people everywhere you go. Every time you have a conversation with somebody is a chance to play. You're thinking, okay, I could be creative here.

[00:37:47] How are they going to feel when I say this? How do I use space? How do I use surprise? It could just be going to the butcher and thinking about like, how do I uplift these people that I love and they have to do the same thing over and over again. But certainly, if you're on a leadership level where you have teams of people beneath you,

[00:38:11] that extra focus on being clear, on bringing energy, on bringing presence, ripples out into your organization and all your relationships. Because your voice is like a supercomputer for connection. And when people get that energy from you, it is contagious. It's like a group energy wave.

[00:38:39] And so, I encourage you to take a dive into it. There's so much opportunity here. Especially when you were speaking that, I was envisioning, you know, these teams being lit up, inspired, also integrating that information. So, it lands and then they follow through. So, it's not just landing.

[00:39:05] It's integrating into who they are and what matters most and giving them meaning and purpose in their position to serve within your organization. I mean, I could talk about this all day yet. I just want the audience to realize there is so much possibility and potential for every human being who's listening right now.

[00:39:31] And John, I hold this space that you're inundated with people wanting to connect with you after this podcast. I do because it's so critically important to learn this. Now, you have a gift for our audience as well, correct? That's right. Do you want to share that? Thank you. I've taken these three pillars.

[00:39:58] Again, it's clarity, energy, and presence. And I've created just a three-day introduction to it. It's called the Three-Day Speech Dynamics Makeover. And it just gives you a chance to take three days and dive in. What would it mean today to be totally clear? What can I not say today?

[00:40:27] Or day two, how can I bring energy into the situation? How can I uplift the people that I'm going to be interacting with today? Or day three, carefully consider what does it mean to be present? Present with myself. Present with my family. Present with everybody that God puts in front of me today.

[00:40:55] So the three-day Speech Dynamics Makeover is available now. And so I'll share the link and you can take a dive in. Beautiful, beautiful. And I'll be in the show notes. Thank you for your incredible contribution. And I'm going to invite the audience to reach out to John to his website, www.johnscottspeech.com.

[00:41:21] And for my audience, once again, my gift to you is my 21-day sacred insight journey above the line living to support you in your purpose, your presence, and your potential. So thank you again for joining us here. And John, thank you for everything that you do.

[00:41:47] I know how blessed I am and I really support the audience to reach out and find out how you could support them on their journey of speaking. Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Carolyn. Oh, it's my pleasure. My full heart, soul pleasure. So I always end with a question. So here's my question to the audience.

[00:42:10] Where in your life are you being invited to trust your voice more fully, speak more courageously, and lean with greater presence this week? So thank you for joining us. And I look forward to seeing you again next week on the Love Inspired Leadership Podcast. Take good care. Thank you.

[00:42:39] For years, you've been a woman who holds it all together. The team, the clients, the launch, the household. But lately, the cost is your nervous system, your sleep, your joy. You're leading on adrenaline, overthinking every decision, breaking quiet promises to yourself just to keep everything afloat. The Aim High Sanctuary is where that ends. This is where you remember who you are. And structure your life around that truth.

[00:43:07] And lead for regulated energy, clean boundaries, and honest power. Booking a clarity call with me through the link below or by scanning the QR code. And join us in the Aim High Sanctuary. Thank you for joining me on the Love Inspired Leadership Podcast. Remember, love isn't just a feeling.

[00:43:35] It's the most magnetic, prosperous force in the universe. When you lead with love, you unlock abundance, fulfillment, and a living legacy that truly matters. If today's episode stirred something in your soul, share it with someone who's ready to aim higher.

[00:44:03] Receive our transformational Aim High Business Breakthrough Checklist. That is your opportunity to be all you can be in 30 days. Keep holding your vision, anchoring your truth, and take intentional inspired action. Because love is all there is. And it's the greatest prosperity you'll ever know.

[00:44:32] Until next time, I'm Carolyn Cooper. Keep letting love lead your life forward.