316- Taking Your Story To Stage with Speaker Jesse Cruze

Contact Jesse on Instagram by clicking here or his website by clicking here.

Your story is not too small to matter. In this episode of the Stuck No More Voices Podcast, Theresa Croft sits down with expert Speaking coach Jesse Cruz to talk about telling your real story and finding your voice on stage.

Jesse Cruz is an award winning international speaker, a best selling author, and a speaker coach for leaders. He is the founder and CEO of Merge Worldwide, where he helps speakers around the world share their stories in powerful, true ways.

In this conversation you will hear why the room does not need perfect, it needs true. Jesse and Theresa talk about the part of your story you keep cutting, and why that part may be the one that sets someone free.

If you are a Christian woman leader who feels like the best kept secret in her field, this one is for you. Take the free Calling and Capacity Audit at theresacroftaudit.com.

Take the Calling and Capacity audit here.

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Transcript

The Story You Keep Editing

theresa 0:00

You've been editing your story for years. What if the part that keeps get- cutting is the part that sets someone else free? The room does not need to be perfect. It needs to be true. Hey, I'm Theresa Croft. Welcome back for another edition of the Stuck No More Voices podcast. Really excited about our guest, 'cause we've got some things in common. But let me first introduce you. Jesse Cruz is an award-winning international speaker, best-selling author, and speaker coach for leaders. As the founder and CEO of Merge Worldwide, Jesse empowers diverse audiences to amplify their voices and share their stories in powerful, authentic ways. So will you please help me welcome Jesse Cruz. Jesse, thank you for joining me.

Jesse 0:49

Thank you so much, Theresa, for having me.

theresa 0:51

Yeah. So, I mean, no rhyme or reason, but I want to ta- you to share with us, we both have something very much in common, maybe in different outlets of it, and that's your voice and your story. So d- how did that become, like, something you really wanted to focus on, helping leaders share their story on stage? What, what kind of brought about that?

How Sharing Heals And Connects

Jesse 1:16

Yeah, I was going through a difficult season in my life, and the only thing that really got me through it was sharing my story. That became very, like, therapeutic and healing for me.

theresa 1:25

Yeah.

Jesse 1:26

And as I saw how that was radically transforming my life, I realized that if sharing my story can help me, I wonder how many other people need to share their stories. That's so good. And so then I invested heavily into speaker coaching and training and storytelling so I can help empower leaders around the planet to create different levels of impact, different levels of income by using storytelling.

theresa 1:48

You know what I love about that is so often our misery becomes our destiny. So when you're, when you're coaching these leaders, are you helping them craft their story for stage? Is that the main thing?

Jesse 2:01

Yep, depends on the needs, right? So typically from the entrepreneurial standpoint, if they're looking to be on more stages, I'm helping them put together a signature talk, utilizing storytelling to get them on more stages- That's so good so they can grow their business. From an organizational standpoint, when they bring me in, like when I once spoke for Boeing, it's helping train their leaders on how to leverage storytelling to build the culture.

theresa 2:25

That's awesome. So you're not only... I, I did see you went to Boeing. What a great, what a great place to be able to empower the, the leaders there. So take us back, kind of take us back through that story of yours, the, the rough, the stuck, the feeling like y- you, you know, you're trying to find a place, so to speak, kind of trying to find your calling. What were some elements of that story that might help someone listening right now?

Jesse 2:54

Yeah. Well, a lot of times when people go into deep pain, they feel isolated and nobody understands them.

theresa 3:00

Right.

Jesse 3:00

And then once you slowly begin the courage to share your story, you will be amazed at how many people are connected to it. And in the beginning, it's scary to share that story. It's overwhelming.

theresa 3:12

Yeah.

Jesse 3:12

It's intimidating.

theresa 3:13

Yeah.

Jesse 3:13

And I realized that keeping my story to myself, which is what I actually planned to do in the beginning, was one of the most selfish things I could do.

theresa 3:21

Whoa.

Jesse 3:22

Because once I started to share it with other people, I saw how it gave them permission to be authentic- Yes with what they've gone through.

theresa 3:28

So good.

Jesse 3:28

And not become a victim of your story, but to become a hero through your story.

theresa 3:33

Yeah. I think some people, uh, fall into this lie that they think their story is a liability when it's the actual thing, like someone listens to you and they're like, "Oh, Jesse got through that, so I can." And I, I think this Inside the Story is so many, um, uh, h- I like to say, uh, uh, fulfilling the calling that's on their life. So you work with a lot of different people, and you help with their signature talk. What's some of your greatest joy when you see your students stand on stage?

Jesse 4:06

one of my greatest joys is when I see my clients fully own their story and own their power-

theresa 4:13

Yeah

Jesse 4:14

and have the courage to go after their dreams.

theresa 4:17

Yeah.

Jesse 4:17

A lot of time people hold back. So when I'm working with my clients, it's really helping them be set free from what they've gone through- Yeah and then leveraging it in a way that really helps other people.

theresa 4:26

So you said, uh, there's gotta be a level of healing for theirselves where they're sharing a part of their story. I always believe you gotta speak from your scars and not your wounds, 'cause your wounds, they kind of make messes. So is that kind of the philosophy that you have of helping them get to that place where they can share their story?

Speak From Scars Not Wounds

Jesse 4:48

Yeah, I mean, one of the things that I've trained my speakers on over the years is you don't share a place from your woundedness. Yeah. You share from a place of your healing- That's so good 'cause you don't wanna be on stage turning this into more a trauma dumping session.

theresa 5:02

Wow.

Jesse 5:03

Um, right, you can leverage that in maybe different settings. And so if, the audience needs to see that healing's possible. Yeah. They need to see that growth is possible.

theresa 5:12

Yeah.

Jesse 5:12

And that's why you gotta get to a place to share your story from a place of how you overcame or how you're learning and growing- Yeah through that process.

theresa 5:20

So in the process of speaking, I love to tell stories. Um, my speaking career was kinda cut short last year with cancer, but when I started, I loved sharing stories and then wove, woven the point. So are you really, a- are you trying to pull the story out of them all and teach them how to use that, like a signature s- s- talk or something?

Jesse 5:44

Yeah.

Build A Signature Talk That Sells

Jesse 5:45

So there's a variety of different stories that the best speakers utilize, and so one of those stories is a signature story. Mm-hmm. Um, there's a few other stories I work with them on when we work together, but helping them build and craft a signature story that is marketable.

theresa 6:01

Yeah.

Jesse 6:01

Because if you have a talk that's not gonna have a demand-

theresa 6:06

Okay

Jesse 6:06

then you just have a really great talk that's not gonna really help people. Okay. And so it's positioning your story in a way that the market has a demand for, so then you can get on more stages and lead more people.

theresa 6:17

So what would be a value demand that w- would be a good signature talk, that would have value? What, what value are you talking about?

Jesse 6:26

Well, the main value, I mean, so they're always gonna depend on the audience, but the, the focus of the signature story's main focus is it's designed to build trust and connection with the audience.

theresa 6:37

Right.

Jesse 6:37

And if you can tie your story into their pain point- Sure then you're really gonna kind of connect with them, because a lot of times speakers, they just wanna share their story for the sake of sharing their story, but the best speakers know your story is just a tool. Yeah. It's not the outcome. It's, you're using a story from your life to make a valuable point to help solve a problem for people in that room.

theresa 6:56

That's so good. You know, how does, like, I like to use the storytelling a lot in my marketing and my letting, wanting people to know me, trust me, and like me. I notice you on social, you pretty much, you're... Well, how do you view social with your story? I'll just ask you that.

Storytelling Strategy For Social Media

Jesse 7:16

Yeah. So you gotta know your audience. A lot of times authors, speakers, coaches, entrepreneurs, uh, they're just putting out content and, like, I compare it to, like, throwing spaghetti at a wall and you hope it sticks.

theresa 7:29

Yeah.

Jesse 7:30

Right? And so they're, they're posting without strategy, which creates stress.

theresa 7:35

Yeah.

Jesse 7:35

Um, but posting with a strategy can create success because they're understanding that there's certain types of content you wanna post. You wanna have your thought leadership type of content that showcases your expertise in an area. You wanna have social proof content. That's like testimonials, reviews, recommendations, things that you've accomplished and achieved in your industry. And then you wanna have connection content. That's a third type of content where you're posting your daily life, your likes, your dislikes, your beliefs, your, your values, your family, your friends, things that you do. And so you wanna have a content cadence built around some of these stories, and that's how you build a personal brand.

theresa 8:08

I love that, 'cause that's exactly what I teach and what I see.

The Fastest Path To The Stage

theresa 8:12

There's someone out there that knows they have a calling to be on stage. What is their first step? Get in touch with you? What would you say would be their first step? They know they, they're called. They're like, "I'm called to the stage, Tee." What do you say to that person?

Jesse 8:29

Yeah, I mean, well, I'll just share what not to do first. Uh, what not to do is just try to figure it out on your own. Uh, that's the mistake I made. Very good. Very good. I avoided hiring a coach for years- Uh-huh and because I wanted to save money, and so I did save money, but I lost something extremely more valuable- Yeah which is time.

theresa 8:43

Yeah.

Jesse 8:44

I lost two years- Yeah trying to save some money.

theresa 8:47

Yeah.

Jesse 8:48

And it was a huge mistake that I look back, I'm like, man, how much further ahead would I have been if I had just invested into myself earlier on?

theresa 8:56

Yeah.

Jesse 8:56

So that person out there who has this calling to be on stage, you just gotta hire a coach, right? Whether it's me or somebody else, that's okay, but you just gotta have someone that has already walked the path that you're looking to go on so you know the, the shortcuts, the pitfalls, the setbacks. They can prepare you. They can guide your path more clearly. So you just gotta get someone who can, you can trust, that can believe in you and support you along the way.

theresa 9:20

So agree with that, as getting a coach. You have to invest, and if you don't wanna invest, then, like you said, it's gonna take you a lot longer, and you may not get to that point. So I'm, I'm a firm believer in investing for the skill, so it's nice to hear you say that. So I guess one thing I would say is, someone signs up for you, with you as a coach. You wanna take us through a few steps? And definitely, Jesse's link will be at the end of this, uh, podcast, so be sure to check it out. But so someone comes up and say, "Okay, Jesse, I wanna hire you for my coach," what are those first steps?