The Quiet Warrior Podcast with Serena Low
Are you an introvert who wants to be more and do more, beyond what’s safe, comfortable, and pleasing to others?
Your host is Serena Low, and her life’s purpose is to help quiet achievers become quiet warriors.
As a trauma-informed introvert coach and certified Root-Cause Therapist, Certified Social + Intelligence Coach, and author of the Amazon Bestseller, The Hero Within: Reinvent Your Life One New Chapter at a Time, Serena is passionate about helping introverts and quiet achievers grow into Quiet Warriors by minimising:
- imposter syndrome,
- overthinking,
- perfectionism,
- low self-worth,
- fear of public speaking, and other common introvert challenges.
Tune in every fortnight for practical tips and inspirational stories about how to thrive as an introvert in a noisy and overstimulating world.
The Quiet Warrior Podcast with Serena Low
76. Confident Communication Strategies for Data-Driven Professionals (With Salvatore Manzi)
In this episode, I’m thrilled to be joined by Salvatore Manzi, a leadership communications coach with over 20 years of experience helping analytical, introverted leaders amplify their impact. Salvatore shares his journey and his passion for empowering data-driven professionals to communicate their brilliant ideas with confidence, and to navigate high-stakes situations with poise and authenticity.
As an introvert himself, Salvatore has developed a unique approach to public speaking and leadership communication, focusing on frameworks, techniques, and strategies that help people move past fear and embrace their strengths. He also discusses how introverted and analytical leaders can overcome impostor syndrome, build effective teams, and present their work in ways that connect with a broader audience.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How Data-Driven Leaders Can Be Promoted: Why doing the work is not enough—leaders must also learn how to speak about their accomplishments and engage with others in meaningful ways.
The Humble Brag Formula: A simple yet powerful way to share your achievements without feeling cringey, and how to frame your accomplishments to highlight the impact.
Overcoming the Spotlight Effect: Tips for introverts on stepping into the spotlight without shrinking, including how to control the spotlight and focus on your message rather than yourself.
Effective Communication Frameworks: The importance of understanding your audience and speaking to their cognitive style, whether it’s focusing on the “why,” “what,” “how,” or “what if.”
Building Emotional Intelligence: How practicing empathy and actively listening to others’ concerns can improve communication and strengthen relationships in high-stakes situations.
The Power of Integrity and Authenticity: Why staying true to yourself and your values is key to building trust and presence, and how to maintain that sense of authenticity in challenging conversations.
Salvatore’s insights on leadership communication and how to bridge the gap between introversion, data-driven work, and engaging conversation are invaluable for any quiet achiever or introverted leader looking to make a bigger impact.
Resources Mentioned:
Visit YouThenMePlaybook.com to learn more about Salvatore’s approach to leadership communication and check out his resources.
Connect with Salvatore Manzi on LinkedIn for more insights and opportunities to work with him.
If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review The Quiet Warrior Podcast to help us reach more quiet achievers and introverted leaders around the world.
This episode was edited by Aura House Productions
Hi, I'm Serena Loh. If you're used to hearing that introverts are shy, anxious, antisocial and lack good communication and leadership skills, then this podcast is for you. You're about to fall in love with the calm, introspective and profound person that you are. Discover what's fun, unique and powerful about being an introvert, and how to make the elegant transition from quiet achiever to quiet warrior in your life and work anytime you want, in more ways than you imagined possible. Welcome, welcome to the Quiet Warrior podcast. Today's guest is Salvatore Manzi, a leadership communications coach with over 20 years of experience helping technical, analytical and introverted leaders amplify their impact. With emphasis on frameworks, principles and techniques, salvatore empowers leaders to connect authentically and navigate high-stakes engagements with confidence. To connect authentically and navigate high-stakes engagements with confidence. He's an introvert who learned how to harness the power of the spotlight and has a passion for building inclusive, high-performing team environments through effective communication. Welcome, salvatore, I'm so happy to have you here.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. It's great to be here.
Speaker 1:Salvatore, could you tell us more about your story and your professional journey, and how you come to be doing this work?
Speaker 2:Oh, certainly I am a communications coach and my journey has been that I kind of grew up in the public speaking world. My father spoke at conferences and I followed in his footsteps. I began speaking on stages in college and I realized that when I wanted to get more training on how to be a better speaker, most of those trainings were directed towards extroverts, not introverts the how to polish your charisma, how to organize your extroverted tendencies no real tools for introverts. So I started doing my own research and I went down the path of studying psychology, neuroscience, things that would help me understand how people process, connect, relate to a conversation. And then I came up with my own frameworks that I use for any different situation.
Speaker 2:Studying different performing arts, I've found ways to demonstrate presence and use my body in a way that feels both intentional and authentic. And then I started working with strategies, principles that help me remember what it is that I'm here for, to overcome the imposter syndrome or the anxiety of public speaking. And as I generated and worked with these things, I began working with other people who were like, how do you get up on those stages? Like, how do you overcome the fear of public speaking? A lot of people come to me with. I got bypassed for a promotion because they said that I'm not a good presenter or I don't know how to get my message to stick. So I offer these frameworks, techniques and principles to mostly analytical minded people data-driven leaders and helping them to express their brilliant ideas in ways that other people can understand.
Speaker 1:What do you think it is about data-driven leaders that makes it difficult for them to be seen as promotable?
Speaker 2:What I appreciate about this question is that it really refines like what is it about data-driven leaders as opposed to? And when I think about it, there's two things that come up. Number one there's the idea that my work should speak for itself. Right, I've done all this work, I've done the research, I've proven, I built this system, I created this, I solved this problem. That should be enough to get me promoted, but that's not enough.
Speaker 2:To actually get to another rank, to lead a team, to present the next finding, to become the mentor or the voice of a department, to present the next finding, to become the mentor or the voice of a department, need to be able to both do the work and describe and speak about the work in a way that's engaging and connecting with other people. So that involves learning how to better talk about ourselves and connect with others to our mission. The other part of it is that there's a tendency I find within the analytical data-driven community that we can fall into a vibe where we just and the conversation is just going really fast because we can skip all of the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, we can get right to the point, whereas the general public would like more of the blah, blah blah and it's learning how to become an effective speaker for the entire team, not just other analytical people. That's going to help a person get that promotion that they're looking for.
Speaker 1:I think what you've identified is a conflict that I find often with introverts as well. So I facilitate an introvert community that helps build social confidence and connection. And one of the things that members always say is they don't like the small talk. They just want to get to the deep, juicy, life-enhancing type of discussion. So how do you then reconcile that? You know that you have to go through that in order to cater to everyone else's preferences so that you can be inclusive, you can reach everyone, you're not leaving anyone out and you're engaging people's interests. But that part of you doesn't like going into the shallow stuff, the superficial stuff. So how do you deal with that?
Speaker 2:I love this question a lot. It speaks to me about how do I connect with different minds, different types of mental cognition, and I fall into. There's a. Bernice McCarthy has a system called the format method of learning, from Australia. She's from Australia. She came up with this in the eighties. The research is relevant. Even more relevant now it's how design people design their learning programs.
Speaker 2:And it's four questions that you ask. You've got the, the what, the how and the what if. So if I kind of think about, like I have a person in front of me and they're one of these four types of thinkers, I need to make sure that I hit all four of those when I make a connection to them. Am I speaking to the why? Am I demonstrating the relevance? Am I speaking to the what Am I talking to? What is the data behind it? Am I speaking to the how? Am I talking about how this can be utilized and moved?
Speaker 2:And am I speaking to the what if? Am I talking about both the risks that could be faced in the future and the potential that we haven't looked for? So those four things are something that I'm thinking when I go into these conversations. Now, getting back to your question how do I get through the small talk to get to the good stuff? Is I figure out what kind of person I'm thinking I'm talking with and I speak to their cognition style. If they're why I want to speak to their why a little bit, and I don't have to do the small talk, I can just get to the why of importance. If they're what I can get to the what of importance, and that way I can still. I can dive past the small talk but still make a connection with that person individually. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:It does make sense and it's interesting. You mentioned Bernice McCarthy, while I have not met her personally or read her work directly, but when I was training as a coach, this was the framework we were actually taught to lead all our presentations with. When facilitating a room full of different personalities and backgrounds, you always start with a why, because people need to understand the intention of this session, and then you talk about the what and demystify all the jargon. You talk about the how, because that's what people came for, the solutions, and then you talk about what if, or the next steps. So it makes perfect sense to me and I'm very grateful to you for mentioning her name, because now we can credit the source correctly.
Speaker 2:Right, yes, I mean, it's the source of so much work out there too. So thank you, bernice.
Speaker 1:Thank you, bernice, indeed. So you mentioned earlier that it's not just about doing the work well, we also need to learn to talk about it. Now, with social media these days, I've noticed a lot of people do this humble brag thing, and it's sometimes recommended as a good way to get our work out there. But I know a lot of data-driven and introverts and quiet achievers who would cringe at the thought of having the spotlight on them in any way. And yet they're doing great work, but they don't want to talk about it. So what do we do?
Speaker 2:Right. There's two problems to this. I love this question again how do we get our work out there in a way that doesn't make us feel cringy for talking about it? It's important because if I'm not letting other people know what I'm up to, they don't know how to work with me, they don't know what to come to me for my area of expertise, they don't know what problems I can solve for them. So it's critical that I'm able to talk about my work in a bigger audience, and one way to do that is called the humble brag.
Speaker 2:I think the problem for introverts or analytical people especially is that the work never seems completely finished, or there's always that one little data piece that could still be refined. Right, so I'm not ready to present until I get all of this. So the key is giving yourself permission to give. Where you are today, give me an update. What have you completed? What do you know? One easy way to do this is using the framework of this is what we know, this is what we don't know. Just start with that. This is what we know, this is what we don't know. Give yourself permission to not have all the answers or have all the math done before you present your work and I don't know if I answered your question exactly, but it's the importance of using that humble brag, even in a social context, to talk about what it is that I'm doing so that other people know how to connect and engage with me.
Speaker 2:The humble brag formula is a very easy formula. It's I did X on Y project and achieved Z, so I took this action on this project and achieved this outcome. Here's the key where a lot of people mess up, and that is that they put the emphasis on the wrong place. Right, you can say the same sentence many different ways, emphasize a different word and it has a different meaning, right? So we're not saying I did this thing, da, da, da da. We're making sure that we're neutral tone throughout. We're sticking to data only, no opinions. We're talking about real ROI. We're not talking about reflections and judgments. So we're focused on the results, not what we did. We're not talking about reflections and judgments, so we're focused on the results, not what we did. We're talking about the effects.
Speaker 2:I'll give you an example from my world. I helped two capital investors start an investment fund that raised $220 million, which was a hundred million over their goal. I just presented as data. But now you know I work with capital investors. I can help them refine their pitch in a way that's going to help them exceed their goal and like oh okay. Well, if I'm out there raising money, I want to call Salvatore, because he's helped these people, right? And now people know a way to work with me, right? Would you like to throw out one from your world, not to put you on the spot, but I did?
Speaker 1:Introverts don't like being put on the spot, but let's say someone is seeking a promotion. How would they frame their accomplishments in a way that gets the attention of the people who are the decision makers?
Speaker 2:Well, you remember, when I was working on X project with so-and-so and we achieved these results. That's what we did in that case is we did these things.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I like that because you mentioned two things there the giving yourself permission and then sticking to the data. So data-driven people are very good at sticking to the data. They have heaps of evidence at their fingertips, so it's about focusing on that rather than I think the problem is don't give you the 100%. You know everything that I know about this that's accurate, that's been verified. Then I'm leaving something important out. I'm doing you an injustice or a disservice, or I'm not being completely truthful. So there is an element of integrity. I think that's at stake there.
Speaker 1:So what you said about giving permission, think there's a mistake there. So what you said about giving permission, that's important because you narrowed it down to what is the information you have right now or what is the progress you've got up to as of today. So as of today means it's limited. It's limited to right now, up to this point, and we are acknowledging that things can change. Tomorrow there'll be more information coming in. The outcome might be a little bit different, but as of today, let's freeze that and just say up till now. So up till now, you can be comfortable giving this picture of where you're up to. That's your progress, but it doesn't mean that it can't be better tomorrow. Do you think that is a helpful way?
Speaker 2:yes, it is, and hearing you say that back it helps me reframe the humblebrag formula, because I still want to put in that what we know and what we don't know, like I might make something up to say you know, while coding the ethereum add-on for the blockchain project that we're working on, what we've know is that we've accomplished this thing and what we're not sure with yet is this thing. So it allows yourself to elevate the work that you have accomplished, while still acknowledging there's work left to do, and maintain your sense of integrity with your own data, as you said, giving ourselves permission to give that what we did get done or what we do know so far.
Speaker 1:Yes, so hopefully that helps somebody out there who's listening to this episode. You know feel more comfortable about doing that humble brag and maybe we need to come up with another alternative description. Maybe the brag part is what gets some of the data-driven people. They don't like the concept of bragging.
Speaker 2:Bragging also feels like pulling attention on ourselves to begin with. Yes, we don't need that.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it goes against probably all the values we've been raised with about not being that. In Australia we call it being the tall poppy. You don't want to stick out too much because somebody might chop you down.
Speaker 2:True, it's true.
Speaker 1:So safety lies in being excellent, but not too excellent.
Speaker 2:I have a lot of quotes going through my mind right now, but I love the tall poppy. I'm going to stick with that.
Speaker 1:So you mentioned also helping data-driven individuals and introverts with high-stakes situations. So when somebody walks into that kind of a conversation, a discussion, they are already in that heightened mental state. They're sort of bracing themselves a little bit. How do you go into that with a more resourceful state so that you feel I can handle this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'd be curious to hear your suggestions on this as well, because for me, getting to that resourceful state, it's different parts. First of all, it's preparing to get there in the first place, knowing that I have full control over my physicality. Am I taking a full breath? Am I using my full body? Am I taking up space? This posturing is a feedback loop for the brain that helps us to feel a sense of resourcefulness, even in situations where we feel a desire to close in and calm and like shut down. If we physically put ourselves out there, it's going to tell the brain hey, we've got this, we've got space, let's keep going. So there's a physicality aspect For me, especially with my analytical I call it hyper analytical mind, I can perseverate about a particular unknown to a detriment of my resourcefulness. So I want to get out ahead of that. And in that high stakes situation, my first question to myself is how do I know I'm safe? How do I know that I'm going to be okay? How do I know that this is going to work out? How do I know that this is going to, you know, work out? And usually it just like it's just. Honestly, it sounds ridiculous, but just reminding myself that no one's going to die here, no one's going to be physically seriously telling myself, no one's going to physically be harmed in this exchange, right? So the worst that's going to happen is there's going to be some whatever. So like just finding some way of ceasing the perseveration or focusing it onto something a little bit more positive, like how do I know I'm going to be okay? How do I know that I'm prepared? How do I know that I know this topic? How do I know that I deserve to be here? Like asking myself these questions to get into that, so physically, mental, the feedback loops.
Speaker 2:But getting into that resourceful state also involves setting a goal or intention, because that's never going to work out well for anybody. Or is the goal to deepen this connection? If my goal is in deepening this connection, not proving that my data is right and your data is wrong, what's going to happen is it's going to change my tonality, it's going to change the way I interact with that person and it's going to enable me to feel more resourceful, because I'm looking for a solution to help us bridge to a solution in a high-stakes situation. Those are some high-level ideas that I have for maintaining a sense of resourcefulness. There's a whole slew that's more contextually based as well.
Speaker 1:I like what you said about the physiological state and the physicality of it. I noticed also that you have 20 plus years of mindfulness training in yoga and mindful design, so I'm sure that's been very helpful for you. So, to answer your question, what I do? I believe that the work is ongoing. I do that work before I even step into that room with a high stakes conversation, and that is something it's a daily practice of centeredness, of grounding, of checking in with myself, of asking you know, how aligned am I, the version of who I am now, with what it is I'm trying to achieve? How is this helpful? And thinking bigger, like what you said, it's not about one of us being right and trying to prove the other person being wrong. That's a very that's a zero-sum kind of thinking that's not going to be helpful, because you can be right and you can walk out of that room feeling, really, you know, like you've done something amazing, but then you've left the other person feeling deflated, defeated, not impressed with you.
Speaker 1:I would much rather strive for a situation where we come to that deeper understanding, that deeper connection, maybe discover that there is something more that we can do together. There are some other ways to collaborate or there is some more information we need, and this conversation needs to continue. This is not the end. It was just the beginning of that collaboration and because it's data-driven, new data always comes in and then you can look at it differently, you can explore. There's so many things you can do with the raw data right. But it's the personality, it's the integrity, it's the ethics we are bringing to that consideration, the analysis of that data. I think that makes the person unique and interesting and that's the value we're bringing, not just a solution.
Speaker 2:Yeah, trust. It establishes trust. Demonstrating one's emotional intelligence, ability to read the room, ability to respond what's in the room enables trust to build. And for me, executive presence, or what I prefer to call leadership presence, is about building and creating that sense of trust with whomever my listener is at the time, and that comes from what you're talking about. Having that intention of this is an ongoing. This is one step along the way of an ongoing relationship and our unified search for the truth in whatever we're doing.
Speaker 1:Yes, because at the heart I think of the data-driven person and the scientist. We are questing for truth, and the truth is out there.
Speaker 2:It is out there, so it's like an adventure. I remember when I was in my first calculus class in high school and I got to the end of an answer and it was like Christmas and New Year's and my birthday all at one and I'm like why does this bring me so much joy to come to an absolute answer after a full page of notes? But like, ah, it's an answer. It's like I don't know, it floats my boat.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it's floating a lot of boats for the people that are listening right now who identify and resonate exactly with what you're saying. I cannot claim to have had the same experiences in my science and maths classes, and maybe that's why I went into law instead, but you brought up a very interesting point as well about beyond trust. Before that, you said safety, and I think safety is at the heart of it. It's when I don't feel safe that I start getting hypervigilant, I start assuming things of people, I start making certain judgments and overthinking it, and then I lose that connection with a person or with the conversation, with the humanness of this other person I'm actually talking to and I start going into my head yeah, does that make sense?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and I relate to that. I call myself hyper-analytical, hyper-vigilant. Those are my top two. Like I'm constantly hyper, I'm scanning the room for safety and the idea of psychological safety became very popular in organizations about 15 years ago and, as it's still a common topic in culture, when do I feel I can trust, I can be myself, when I can bring my full self, I can make a mistake and still be seen as a credible person. I can be seen as iterative, and that requires trusting oneself right. And self-regulation. Um I I use a lot of different self-regulation techniques to make sure that my hyper vigilance, which serves me well I'm not gonna like shame it, but it's also not over amplifying and causing me to immediately find fault with the other as a as a defense mechanism, like some form of self-regulation whether it's 5-4-3-2-1 or whatever to help me get centered and feel safe, to be myself, is enabling.
Speaker 1:Yes, I think when you feel safe, then going into that kind of high-stakes conversation, you are not bracing yourself as though you're going to be attacked. It's more like you're meeting the other person as an equal, as a peer, and I think the feeling is very different, the energy is very different too yeah, if I could add one more thing, one of the things I like to ask my clients when they are preparing for a high stakes meeting.
Speaker 2:The first question I'll ask them is what's the question you don't want them to ask you and it's sort of like ugh, like let's get it out of the way. Let's get that one out of the way. Let's not pretend like they're not going to ask it or that hopefully you'll deflect them or distract them from asking it. Let's just prepare for an answer to the thing you don't want to talk about. Get that out of the way first and it calms the mind a great deal with the rest of the presentation and the answer might be I don't have an answer for that right now, but I would like to, and we'll get back to it. We'll find out.
Speaker 1:I mean, what it is is different, but knowing what that is getting out of the way helps that's like meeting the lion and not pretending the lion's not there, but actually seeing that it's there and all right, what am I going to do about it? So it's that acceptance of reality, acceptance of possibility, as opposed to denying and pretending. And that's back to integrity again. So integrity in that sense brings you a sense of safety because you are prepared that it may happen and you have some responses prepared for it, and so you're not caught off guard and you're not going to be making things up on the spot, because I think data-driven people like introverts don't like winging it. We like to be prepared. So this is part of that preparation, is it?
Speaker 2:so it makes a lot of sense yes, and that's the thing to prepare for there, and I love that you brought that up as well. There's. There is the trust. There's something about being able to establish trust, being able to be present. That's what creates that presence in an exchange like that.
Speaker 1:I have a question for you about the spotlight. How does an introvert step into?
Speaker 2:the spotlight without shrinking Without shrinking. Well, there's many different things I have to say about this, and I'm thinking of different contexts. I'm going to start in general and try to get specific. First of all, we all oftentimes suffer from what's called the spotlight effect, where we assume that other people are paying more attention to us than they actually are. It's a natural physical, neurological condition that we all have. When we do something, we think more people saw us do that than actually saw us. And when we're up speaking, we think more people are paying attention to us than they're actually paying attention. They're thinking about lunch, they're thinking about that last email. They're not paying attention. Like 90% of them are kind of half somewhere else, right? So number one is to remember that when you take the spotlight, you have to still get their attention. It's not just a matter of like now the spotlight is on, you have to engage them with that spotlight.
Speaker 2:Easiest way, as an introvert, to own the spotlight is to reflect it onto somebody else. Reflect it back onto somebody else in the room. Ask them it onto somebody else. Reflect it back onto somebody else in the room. Ask them like the best, the best, like I don't know if you've ever had to give a toast at a wedding. But the best tip for an introvert, if you have to give a toast at a wedding, is to say well, let's toast the bride or let's toast the couple. Whatever what it does is, it immediately takes the spotlight off and back onto them. Here's your chance to breathe Everybody. Look at them. That's great. Okay, now they're coming back to me. Here we go, right. So, like, turn that spotlight and realize that you have control of where that spotlight is going.
Speaker 2:And since I have that control of the spotlight, I don't have to keep it on me. I could focus it on my message. And that's where I go into the not about me rhythm. I have a mantra I do called not about me. I have to say it 10 times before responding to somebody who triggers me in some way or before I misinterpret something it's not about me. Not about me, not about me. Not about me 10 times, right, because it's not about me. They have a whole world that's going on in their world and they're saying something I receive or I reject, whatever, but it's hit me. But how I respond is a reflection on me, not them. So my ability to take the spotlight focus it not on me but on my topic or on them, but on my topic or on them, takes the pressure off of me, allows me to own that spotlight, allows me to be the spotlight guider and not shrink or shrivel or be afraid of the spotlight but to claim it and use it for the power that it actually offers.
Speaker 1:I like that.
Speaker 1:I've got a vision of somebody standing in the spotlight but also owning that space, because I think, with the intention with which you stand in the spotlight, even when it happens in an unplanned way for instance, when you are spontaneously asked to say a few words and that kind of situation can alarm an introverted person because we don't like to wing it but also taking those few moments to say something to yourself that calms you, helps you regulate, helps you center, helps you remember it's not about you, helps you think about it, as maybe it's an opportunity to get some words of wisdom or something encouraging out there to the people that are actually listening.
Speaker 1:That's actually powerful because you are redirecting but you're also not shrinking. You're accepting the challenge and I like that kind of thinking, because this is called the Quiet Warrior podcast and we're about helping quiet achievers elevate into quiet warriors, and a warrior doesn't shrink from the opportunity or from the situation that comes up. They meet it, they meet it with courage, they meet it with compassion, they meet it in a way accepting, without running away from the possible danger that might be there. So they are taking it, they are meeting it, they are recognizing and they are also reframing and seeing. Okay, what can I do with this spotlight while I have it for all of these 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 10 seconds. Let me do some good with it.
Speaker 2:Let me stand up.
Speaker 1:Rise to the occasion instead of let me get out of here as quickly as possible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, nevermind. You mentioned reframing, and that is my go-to. I have developed a whole series of contextual frameworks to use too. Like I have developed a whole series of contextual frameworks to use, there's one impromptu when the spotlight comes to me without any warning and I feel that hiccup, I just reach for that framework and I just follow that framework.
Speaker 2:And because I have already a plan of how I'm going to organize what I'm going to say, I don't have to think about the whole thing of what I'm going to say. I just need to remember the first step and then get to the next step and get to the next step, and so in those moments of like intensity, I can still be like I just got to get one more foot in front of the other. First thing I need to do is this Next thing I need to do is this and then move through. And when I work with people, I work with and coach them on how to use the frameworks. Once they have a framework, I coach them on how to use the delivery techniques and together it creates a presence around what it is that they have to share.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. I think frameworks are what data-driven people need to feel safe. It's something that cushions you and surrounds you and so you don't feel like you're stranded out there in the middle of the stage with a spotlight on you and nothing to hold on to. So these are all things that people can hold on to for that temporary sense of safety, but I think ultimately, the safety has to come from within. So what the frameworks do is they give you something, a structure, which we love, but then it also gives you time, I think, to build up that inner strength, inner conviction, inner trust, knowing that, regardless of what else is happening outside or what is being said to me right now, or what I have to do in the next five minutes, or this high stakes conversation I'm entering into, I will be okay.
Speaker 1:I have built up all these resources over the years. I have access to these cognitive resources as well. I know these things. I have worked on these other things with my colleagues and this is the amount of you know. This is all the wisdom or the knowledge that I'm about to share. What is the best way for me to communicate?
Speaker 2:and share that, so that is helpful to you. That right there is resourcefulness Love it.
Speaker 1:Thank you. What is one final thing you want our listeners to take away from our conversation?
Speaker 2:You know, when I am working with a client, the first principle I always teach is you than me. If I can make a point of speaking to you about what's going on in your world, about your concerns, about your hopes, your wishes, your desires, your situation, before I get to me and my agenda, my point, my answer, I'm better equipped to have a connection and an effective conversation. This is especially important for data-driven leaders, because we don't always recognize the value of taking that extra step to acknowledge, validate, express the empathy, whatever for the listener's contribution or their presence. Before we get to the point, we over-prioritize the answer. I have the answer. You have a question?
Speaker 2:Here's the answer, and I don't have to tell you how I got to the answer. I just have the answer. But our listeners, unless they're like us, analytical, unless they're already in our vibe, they want a little bit of warm up. And if I can speak to you about your thoughts, concerns, about what you just shared, or iterate that I understood what you just told me. Before I get to the answer, I'm able to start making those connections and be seen as somebody who can communicate all the great work that I've been doing to the entire team and lead the organization, you then me.
Speaker 1:You, then me.
Speaker 1:I like that.
Speaker 1:I like that it speaks also to the emotional intelligence you highlighted earlier on as being very essential for communication and for teamwork.
Speaker 1:You highlighted earlier on as being very essential for communication and for teamwork the idea of also putting some context to what we say, not just hitting someone with a bare facts and expecting them to work out how this connects to that, to that, because we are storytellers and we love stories and we resonate and identify best when we receive a story, read a story, hear a story and we can understand this happened and that happened and that happened and this is the outcome and this is the hero and this is the villain and these are the obstacles in between, and so that makes sense for the, for the human that we are speaking with, and I think we need to understand that.
Speaker 1:The data, the facts, are there, but they also need the story, the context, that narrative, and that's where I think you also come in with your expertise as a storyteller, helping data-driven professionals and leaders to craft those authentic narratives to support the facts so they're not just here this is the answer to this specific question you asked but also creating a story that makes sense to the person that's listening, so that they can see how things join up yeah, exactly so so what is the best wayvatore for people to find you and connect with you and work with you?
Speaker 2:You can go to youthenmeplaybookcom Youthenmeplaybookcom. I'll take you to my website and I'm reachable on LinkedIn. Salvatore Manzi as well.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. Thank you so much, Salvatore, for coming on the Quiet Warrior podcast today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, reena, take care.
Speaker 1:Thank you. So that was another episode of the Quiet Warrior podcast with Salvatore Manzi today, and if you've enjoyed this episode, I would appreciate you rating and reviewing the podcast so that it gets in front of more quiet achievers around the world. See you on the next episode. I'm so grateful that you're here today. If you found this content valuable, please share it on your social media channels and subscribe to the show on your favorite listening platform. Together, we can help more introverts thrive To receive more uplifting content like this, connect with me on Instagram at Serena Lo Quiet Warrior Coach. Thank you for sharing your time and your energy with me. See you on the next episode.