Nerv with Ryan Williams

Franchesca Ramsey went viral. Her video Stuff White Girls Say to Black Girls (I addd a euphemism with Stuff) took off like a rocket ship. She was an early adopter of YouTube and created regular videos, but that one video really went viral. Imagine if your video was picked up by MSNBC, Mtv, the BBC. Even Anderson Cooper, who had a network show at the time, came knocking at her door for an interview.

We all have choices about what to do when the work we love gets super-popular. Franchesca eventually thrived as she now works as a writer for The Nightly Show with Larry Willmore on Comedy Central. But she hit a lot of bumps on the way. She is a great example of the influencer economy because she put in the work to become successfull. She wasn't solely focused on fame and money, like many people are in the digital economy.

 Listen to the Stories From The Influencer Economy archives with entrepreneurs like Brad Feld, Troy Carter and Burnie Burns of Rooter Teeth at our Influencer Economy website: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 
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Early on in life Franchesca a teacher of hers asked her what she wanted to be known for later in life. The teacher asked her to list three characteristics, and Franchesca wrote down she wanted to be known as 1) honest 2) smart 3) funny and when she was older Larry Willmore and the team @ The Nightly Show hired her for those traits.

Franchesca Ramsey's website:

http://www.franchesca.net/ 

Follow Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

 

Direct download: Franchesca_Ramsey_YouTuber_85.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:34pm PDT

Rand Fishkin was depressed and anxious for around a year. He had trouble sleeping and got trapped in the loop of "regretting decisions from the past." He felt sunk and felt that nothing useful was coming from his business, Moz. Meanwhile the company was a $20 Million revenue business at the time, and has grown even more since 2013 when he was fighting through his dark period.
 
Rand speaks regularly about Moz and is an expert in online marketing. At the time, Rand was giving talks about marketing around the world. But it didn't matter while he was depressed. After giving inspiriting talks to marketing audiences, people would approach him afterwards to compliment him. Audience members would say "it' so great to meet you, I've been a Moz customer for years. I love your tools and software." And Rand felt so bad, he tried to convince the attendees that his talks were truly bad. And he even tried to prove to these paying customers that his products weren't working properly.
 
Many of you know that I am a former standup comedian. And many of you don't know is that I struggled with depression in my early 20's, while performing stand-up. There was days I never left my room except for comedy and my day-job. I went through a dark phase and it was really hard talking to people about my own challenges with depression and anxiety. I discovered that there was a real stigma around depression amongst my friends and colleagues. People saw it as a stigma and thought that I was "weak." In fact most people told me to "suck it up," and deal with it. I've never told anyone outside of my close friends this story. 
 
Listen to our archives with entrepreneurs like Brad Feld, Troy Carter and Burnie Burns of Rooter Teeth at our Influencer Economy website: http://www.influencereconomy.com/
 
Please leave a review on iTunes - it really helps us get organically discovered on iTunes by new listeners. And be honest: http://www.influencereconomy.com/itunes/
 
In Rand's case, startup founder depression is a real thing. And creative people are highlight likely to go through depressed periods in their lives. Talking about depression can be a hard conversation to have. It's not easy. But it's okay to be depressed. It's okay to tell others openly and honest about how crappy you feel. Severe depression and anxiety doesn't last forever. Any sort of self-loathing or misery that you feel is temporary. 
 
What you'll learn from this episode:
 
  • How to identify traits you may be experiencing as a depressed person
  • How to cope with bouts of depression and anxiety
  • How to share your feelings with friends during a dark period
  • How the stigma of depression of often prevents people from asking for help
  • How depression is often temporary and that people can get through it
  • How startup founders can fight through depression
  • Where to look for help if you're a startup founder depressed (start with friends and family)
 
Rand Fishkin's Moz article: The Long Ugly year of Depression that is Finally Fading
 
 
 
Rand Fishkin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/randfish
 
 
Follow Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill
 
 
 

 

Direct download: Rand_Fishkin_MozFounder_Depression.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:24pm PDT

David Nihill like many people, was terrified of public speaking. But unlike most people, to conquer his fear of speaking in front of groups, David spent a year studying and performing stand-up. After performing at The Improv, The Comedy Store, & Cobb's he realized that anyone can be funny when giving a talk. Yes, that means even you, or someone that thinks they aren't funny. He also learned that even people who hated public speaking like himself, could also become a great public speaker while being funny.

David has created a 7 step framework to help normal people become better and funnier public speakers. His books is called: Do You Talk Funny?: 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker. David studied Stand-up comedians, the group of people who are the best public speakers in the world. And what he learned is that we all can be funny giving a public speech, even people who are deftly afraid of crowds. 

I'm a former stand-up comedian and I know how terrified I was performing in front of crowds. But to this day, I give better presentations to bosses, work crowds better during talks and I give funnier speeches based on my stand-up comedy practice. I'm not recommending you go sign-up for open mic comedy nights to get funnier and more comfortable in front of crowds. Instead, I recommend listening to this episode and reading Davd's book. In this episode you will learn:

Listen to the Stories from the Influencer Economy archives: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Please leave a review on iTunes, it greatly helps us get our podcast discovered on iTunes with new listeners:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/influencer-economy-ryan-williams/id820744212?mt=2

  • How to write funny material based on your own experiences to be funny when giving a talk
  • How to open your talk with a funny story or personal anecdote
  • How to connect with audiences to improve your story-telling style
  • How to draw on real-life experiences to get a crowd to laugh at the beginning of your talk
  • How to use David's tips to create a "memory palace" to remember every part of your story when on stage
  • A simple secret to using "call-backs," which means you make a mention of a topic previously covered when giving a talk
  • How to rehearse spontaneity by practicing jokes that will appear to be "off the cuff" to anyone watching you talk
  • How to get the host to sell you when making your introduction before your talk
  • How to deliver the right balance of jokes to control a room of people
 
83: Finding the Funny, Delivering Jokes and Adding Humor to Your Public Speaking with David Nihill
 
David's Funny Biz Conference: http://funnybizz.co/funnybizz-conference/
Direct download: DavidNihill_Ep83.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 1:17pm PDT

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