Choosing You with Lynn Smith @LynnSmithTV

And I think that that's the number one piece of advice I give to those starting out is listen and learn in your early years and actually even in your later years. I'm still listening and learning, but you will become so much more successful if you take the opportunity to soak in everything from those who have already made it. I'm Brian Kramer. I believe that one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is making smaller shifts. It's the small shifts in our lives that can create epic outcomes. Your journey to be more deeply connected into the life you truly deserve starts right now. Welcome to Humanly Possible, a podcast focused on small shifts that can make epic differences in our lives and that work. I am so excited to introduce our guest, Lynn Smith, who's someone I absolutely admire. And I'm honored to have on the show. She's a recovering morning news anchor now media expert. I get to say that out loud. So how does that feel to say that? Welcome Lynn. I love having you here. Brian, I love having a chance to sit down and chat with you in this atmosphere because you are actually a huge inspiration to me, which I'll get into in this podcast. But just to hear that out loud, recovering morning show anchor, I've been waiting a long time to hear it. So to say it feels good would be an understatement. How many steps are involved in recovering as an anchor? You have to recover. Certainly you never catch up on the sleep. There's still a lot of instinctual knee jerk things that come when you know, you see a big storm hitting and you're waiting for the phone call for them to call you in extra early or you see a really tragic event. And you know, it triggers a lot of memories of just sort of every single time there's something terrible in the world. You're immersed in it for weeks, sometimes months. And so I'm really happy to be in a new space where I'm focusing on helping people to make changes in their lives that they can evoke influence. And that makes me feel that my impact is on a much greater scale than it ever was in news. Oh my gosh. That's so I want to dig into that. And we have so much to talk about just about what you just said there. But before we get into that, I want to dive in and ask you because that's what the show is all about, which is what's one thing that felt small at the time, but ended up being a big shift for you. It's so simple. It's being able to be home in the morning with my children. It's it was when my alarm clock changed. So in COVID, my show on the story had to be taken off the air so that our producers could go to CNN to keep the mothership as we call it a float. And I was home for the first time when my babies woke up and forever, other than the weekends, but just consistently. And I saw a pattern over months of what a huge impact that has on my family. And it prompted me to really reevaluate what I want for my life. And as I said, what kind of infract I want to make. And it prompted this dramatic change that I've just recently announced, which is the transition from TV news to national media expert. You know, the it's interesting to me because you've you've done so many things in that span of what you just said. Like you encapsulated it so well and like, Hey, I just did this thing. But what is it 15 years of time and invested time in not just your own skill set, but also stories, stories of other people. And I can only imagine that that has had an impact on you as well and how you see the world. And I'm just curious as a storyteller yourself, how has how have all those stories just kind of impacted you? I think that we grow into our role of a storyteller. You have to be a storyteller that has a lot of experience to be a good one. It's not something that comes to anyone naturally. And it's because of exactly what you're talking about every single person. And I would say, I mean, I've told thousands of stories over the course of 15 years, but every single one gave me more insight and more of a real grasp of what it takes to tell a good story. And so that 15 years, I look back on and say, I could not even begin to dream of what I'm starting here. Unless I've had those 15 years of experience. And that included overnight shifts and working pretty much every holiday and missing mornings and missing a life. And all of that, I look at in a real exciting celebration that, well, I did something that was so hard that now I get to put it to even better use. And I get to help others have a similar impact by telling their own story. And I think that that kind of fulfillment is something that I've never been able to experience in my career. So to be able to say it now after all that time is just really thrilling. That is, that's amazing. And congratulations for finally getting to say that. It's like your own little launch party for yourself and for the world to finally get to actually work with you and get to benefit from all of that, which is really cool. And I'm really also really curious around when you go back in time and you look at all of the things that you've done to get here. I noticed in your bio, you were even clipping articles, I think, for in Los Angeles. For, was it a TV show or for a law and order or something like that? Yeah, so I started as a page at NBC. And for those of you who don't know what pages are, those customer service people that wear the polyester uniform, I still have my little NBC pin. And so when you show up for a tour at the studios in Los Angeles, we greet you and we give you tours all around. And we see you at the tonight show. And gosh, it was just the most thrilling job of anyone's internship possibility, right? Coming out of college and getting to see people at the tonight show, but I started my job on September 10, 2001. So all of the production was shut down obviously after the devastation of 9/11. And we were all just sitting there feeling like we wanted to hope wherever we could. We just, does anyone need us to get you coffee or, you know, and so they put us on the desk of some of the executives as an assistant. And so Bruce Evans, who is still a dear, dear friend of mine and Jeff Engold, they were directors of current programming at NBC. And Bruce oversaw law and order. And so part of his job is to give feedback to the writers and also think about new storylines for law and order. And so I used to go through New York posts and pull really like outrageous crime stories and flip them out and give them to Bruce so that he could sort of see whether or not any of them would make really good law and order episodes. And oh my gosh, when I think back to that time in my career, I mean, when the office was just in its script form, and they were pitching it to NBC, they had all of us assistants read the scripts. And they were really sold on the idea of the office. They just thought it was too right humor when people get it, you know, they had done other British comedy shows and they didn't really stick. And all of us who were assistants were living the life of the office and we were like, no, you guys, this is really funny. Like this is us. You don't get it because you're going out to fancy, suki restaurants. But we're the ones that are like at the coffee machine when it breaks and we've got the annoying secretary next to us that's like doing all of the annoying things that happen. And it just when I look back at that time in my career, gosh, that I could ever have even done that even though I was setting calls and, you know, scheduling lunches, I was in assistant, I was in secretary. I took that as an opportunity to listen and learn from really successful people. Well, man, such great advice and there's so much to be had there. And there's probably so many people along the way that gave you great advice like that. And now you're in this position where you've learned all these little techniques and these little things and, you know, how to show up and probably even a teleprompter didn't even work at some point and you went, well, your show must go on. I'm sure of it. Right. And so what do you how do you show up when when everything crashes? Oh, my gosh, I can tell you how many times that's happened. So the proctor has gone down or actually a light fell behind me and crashed the middle of the live show and you're absolutely right. I mean, they call someone an anchor because they hold down the floor. You can't strip up. That's your job is to be able to just go with it. Something that I always did before I walked in and I talk about this in creating confidence. There are three pillars to confidence and one of them is preparation. I went into every single show. knowing and prepared for every aspect of the story. So if that comter went down, I could pretty much add live around a lot of stuff because I knew the meat of the story. When something was breaking and you don't have any compter, you are talking to video, you're talking for what you're seeing. And this is where that number one piece of advice that I got, another one, when I was leaving a local news station in Philadelphia, the general manager sat me down. And I was leaving for a big job in New York City, and I could only been in Philadelphia for like a year. And it was kind of one of these jumps that everyone was a little bit surprised about, but I was really determined and I worked around look-bock. And he said to me, he goes, "Lin, just never stop being yourself." And I thought that was such odd advice. I was just like, "Why would I ever stop being myself?" And then I spent years in newsrooms where everyone tried to change me. I had news directors that wanted me to wear glasses so I didn't look so young and I was more credible. I had people that wanted me to go to a voice coach so that I didn't sound as squeaky. And I was a little bit more Walter Cronkite-ish. People were trying in every way to push me in different directions, but I always gave truth to myself because there is only one you. And that's what I encourage everyone in my trainings. And when I advise CEOs or entrepreneurs or aspiring journalists, it's being yourself and the rest will follow. And that is so essential to the cornerstone of storytelling because there just is only one you. - Wow. So if I could drop my mic, I would, but it's on a, it's held by this nice piece of machine. So that's too expensive to drop anyway, but I would. - I'll take mine, I'll just throw it across the room. (laughing) - That's such a great thing. And it really doesn't matter what you do in life or in business. That piece of advice is so meaningful to every single person in whatever they take on. And when they do try or it does do that to you to pull yourself back in and be your true authentic self has to be one of the hardest things possible, especially if you're in front of everyone on TV and you're like, no, this is cool. I'm going to be, this is myself. And along those same lines, you're picking yourself. You're like, I'm going to choose myself. This is who I am. How does that translate into leadership and translate into skill sets and translate into other things that you have also created in your life? - Yeah, and I love that you said choosing you. You're often say, you have to choose yourself before you choose anyone or anything else. And that's not a selfish act. That's really just something that is making you and people around you happy. Therefore, you'll have the most impact. So I just love that you use that phrase. One thing that, and people may be sitting here while we're talking and saying, well, I don't really have a significant story. Me might not be that compelling or charismatic. And I disagree. I will challenge you on that. I actually created a story archetype where you can go a quiz. You can go on my website and SmithTV and it's all about taking your story archetype and turning it into super power, which you then unleash to evoke in the system. It's discovering what it is about yourself. For me, I'm an overcomer that somebody who has been through really hard times. But I know how to get through them, has learned from them in the end. And I use that storyline in all this different things that I do. I relate to people through my archetype, which is that overcomer. So I just encourage all of you to take that quiz, find out what it is that your archetype is and you'll see how you can actually evoke impact. Yeah, so we will link to that in the show notes for linsmithTV.com for sure. Thank you, I appreciate it. When it comes to how does that turn to result for someone like a CEO or an entrepreneur? So one of the things I walk through is how to differentiate yourself. What's 10% edge that you have? And writing down three things about yourself that is unique, something that no other CEO might be doing. And let me just give you an example of my three because you might be thinking, wait, I don't know if I have three things that differentiate myself. But when I differentiate myself, one, I tell my storytelling in an empathetic and compassionate way. Oftentimes in news, they're authoritative. They want to make sure that people are taking them seriously, so they're presenting it in a ultra-current way. That wasn't my technique. And there are other people that do that. It's just probably more 10% than 90%. Also, I'm somebody who is a first generation American. And I have always looked at hard work as no excuses. Brian, you know this. You've gotten emails from me at four o'clock in the morning. And you know that I will not stop at anything to get something done and really see results when it comes to it. And then the third thing is how I'm connecting with people. Right? So there are a lot of news anchors that's using their platform of television to connect with people. And I've decided to completely change how I'm connecting with others, whether it's through the podcast or whether it's through my website or whether it's through one-on-one consulting. So I've differentiated myself in that way. And I just encourage people to sit down and write it out like it's homework. What is it that's so different about you? What's where you want to start crafting your story? And then once you've crafted it, you put it into a headline form. It should be, why do I care and put that in headline form? Then give people the meat of what is so important about your message and end on the chill factor, which is just that statement that's going to leave you with chills down your spine. It's your mic drop moment, right? Once you have that clear, concise messaging, you are going-- I just actually posted this on LinkedIn. Your impact is only as great as your story. So you will instantly have great impacts if you have a great story. And to craft that story, I gave you that foundational breakdown how to do so. But it only begins with you telling a great story. And you will see a result because your message is clear. You will-- I guarantee you will see. Oh my gosh. I'm going to-- now when we get off, I'm going to-- because my mind is so like, man who wears black shirt, trips, and falls all the time. So I-- I obviously-- I'm getting to see a work on that in Portland. [LAUGHTER] No, embrace is imperfection, obviously. There's so much in what you just said, just to sit down and go through that and build on that storyline using those story archetypes. I mean, that's just your gold right there. Thank you so much for sharing that. When you look at people that are-- they do what everyone has a story to tell. Everybody has an archetype, but there's fear. There's fear in stepping forward to tell it. What is creating that fear and how do they get over that? I talk a lot about my greatest weakness. And I talk about it because it's an important mindset adjustment. People need to make when it comes to fears or weaknesses, or whatever is holding you back, right? My biggest weakness is public speaking, which is a shock to any woman that hears it. I'm supposed to be good at it. And that's what's so dang frustrating. I don't know if I'm allowed to first on your podcast. It's so frustrating. Okay, good. I figured, it is so damn frustrating that I can't get up on stage and just nail it in the way that I know I'm capable of when it comes to the camera. It's a completely different skill set for those. So rather than taking that fear every single time I got onto stage, I decided to harness it as a superpower. So I get on the stage. And sometimes some of the first things I say, the first thing that comes out of my mouth, which usually should be the why should I care? In this case, it's because I'm vulnerable, which each equals connection, as I say. I'm actually really terrible at this. It immediately disengages the audience. But in my mind, it's also given it so much less power. So I'm not looking out in the audience thinking, well, how they know I'm a terrible public speaker. Well, they can see my knees shake. Well, they can hear my voice shake. They know out of the gates that I'm a little bit scared about this. And then I've been really vulnerable. And so I don't have that same kind of fear in me. And the thoughts aren't swimming so deep inside my head. I can tell you personally how that's completely transformed my performance. And I challenge you personally to look at what it is that you would say your weakness is, and see whether or not saying it out loud takes well and more of its color. Oh my gosh. So it's again showing up as yourself, another form of showing up as yourself, but out loud. Out loud, you're showing up as yourself, which is such a good concept and idea. I totally embrace that. And I embrace it as a fellow gay Lord faker from meet the parents. And I will actually just state it right up front and say, I should be in that movie. But that's how this is going to go. And then that just relieves the rest of this presentation because I'm going to trip. That's gonna happen. So yeah, I love that. That you can just show up and say it. I didn't realize like it could actually be that powerful of, you know, it doesn't have to be humor. It can just be, you know, this is me. That's very cool. So when you're looking at the future now for what's gonna happen from this point forward, what's in store for you? - I'm so excited to be sharing some of what I learned over the past 15 years with experts with feeding news academy. So keeping news academy is for anyone who wants to get on television and just isn't sure how. They don't have any connections. They don't want to have to pay to play, so to speak, but they know their expertise would be so valuable on these media platforms. You can reach the masses with your message is sort of how I put it. And that's advertising that you can't buy, right? If you're a lawyer or a doctor or a real estate agent and you know that you will get this insane credibility as seen on a credible news source, it's just money, you know, you can't buy that in advertising. And so it's a four week course that I have launched that helps people discover what their story is. It helps them shape their at-home set. So they look the part as well. It helps them pitch the TV outlets, media outlets with a pitch template of getting people to care and getting decision makers to ask you on their show. And then finally, it's giving you the tools to shine on camera. It's not natural, it's okay. Everybody, myself included, feels terrible when they're staring into a screen trying to talk. It's teaching you how to talk in sound bites that are compelling and that will be memorable for an audience. So you're not just booked once, but you're booked again and again. - Well, first off, that's so needed in the world. So I'm so excited about that being available. And one question I have, I won't take away from the secret sauce of the whole thing 'cause everyone's, I mean, couldn't, we don't have enough time anyway. But what is, you don't need a PR firm to get on TV? Is that possible? So you can just get, if you have the skills and you have the story and you've got all the things that you're teaching, obviously, you've done that. And getting on TV is possible. - I have a bonus module actually in the course. In the question you need to ask before hiring a PR firm, this definitely times when you may feel like you need to hire someone, they might not be able to craft your message and your story and help you shine on camera. They might be needed in certain situations. So I definitely go and spend the course. This though is the foundation. So you don't have to hire someone. This gives you a pitched template. It shows you where the decision maker are. It shows you how to reach them without a PR agency. You can have a nightmare experience or you can have a great experience with the PR firm. And those of you who have tried know that situation trusts me, I get, and I show, listen, of course, all of the disaster pitches I've gotten in the past from PR firms that cost a lot of money. So I want to just give people a template that is so just plug-in play. You put in your expertise, you put in your news peg, you put in the meat that I talked about, giving those pieces of information. And you can use that for any outlet. And I also give you a cheat sheet of the different types of shows that are in different networks and things like that. So it kind of gives you the foundation of getting booked on TV. And then you may find that you want to hire someone and we also address that as well. - Oh wow. All right. So I guess everybody, there's a little bit of everything for everyone, depending upon who you are. And I'm happy to hear that there's so many different ways that you can go. 'Cause when you look at getting on TV, it can be so daunting and approach for, like you said before, a lawyer or a doc, like Ed just anybody. So just being able to have that available is really cool. Well, Lynn, thank you so, so, so much for joining me and for sharing your journey and your success and what, and the next things that are coming as well. Really exciting. - Brian, thank you so much for having me on for a lot of the inspiration that I've gotten from your entire philosophy, your differentiator is not Gaylord Walker. It's your approach, your human approach to business. And it's what I've really been inspired by and working with you. And it's just something that I really admire about you. So thanks for having me. - Thank you. I'm all the clumped. I appreciate that. - Well, thank you again. No more, no more dropping. Well, thanks again and we'll, we'll, we'll see you soon. Cheers. - Cheers. - Thank you so much for joining us this week. If you love this episode, please subscribe. We love having subscribers just like you. Download a few more episodes. And if you feel moved, we would so appreciate a review. I'd love to also hear your key takeaway. What impacted you from this episode? You can tweet me your answer and reach out on Twitter at Brian Kramer. That's Brian with the Y. Kramer with the K. And definitely be sure to join us in our Facebook group. We have just under 3000 humans just like you and me looking to connect even more in perfectly. Until next time. (upbeat music)