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How to Speak Like a Billion Dollar CEO

13m 13s

How to Speak Like a Billion Dollar CEO

Communication skills have a greater impact on career success and compensation than technical abilities. The speaker shares three essential principles for mastering communication: first, the "one, two, three" rule, which limits ideas to three key points to improve retention and clarity; second, using geometric shapes to visually package complex concepts, making them easier to absorb and remember; and third, applying the Format method—Why, What, How, Now—to structure any message logically. The "Why" establishes relevance, the "What" provides a high-level roadmap, the "How" details implementation steps, and the "Now" offers an immediate action step. These tools, when combined, create a powerful, accessible framework for conveying ideas across any setting. The speaker also recommends using AI to translate complex ideas into this structured format, ensuring clarity and efficiency. These strategies not only enhance personal communication but also enable ideas to spread more widely and be adopted by others, making them essential tools for professional growth and influence.

Transcription

2595 Words, 13597 Characters

English
your communication skills will determine your compensation more than your technical skills ever will. And I had to learn this a hard way because when I first came to the US, I was told that because of my thick Indian accent, I probably would not get employed until I was able to fix that. Now, I didn't have any money at that time as a poor college student to hire a speaking coach or an accent coach. But 20 years later, I was able to hire Tony Robbins, a speaking coach for $50,000 to give me the exact skills on how you can communicate to anyone in the most effortless way. And I think there's three big pieces of this puzzle that you need to know that at the end of this video, if you know, this will dramatically change the trajectory of your career just by knowing these three things. And the first thing is the one, two, three, too many rule. Now, I first realized this when I was on stage doing keynotes, but it applies to both keynote presentations. And it applies to normal one-to-one conversations. Because most people, when you talk to them, they can't keep too many ideas in their head. I always thought that it was about giving insane value. So I'd show up on stage and just sheen gun a bunch of ideas to people and not be sure why their eyes were glazed over. Or if I was talking to a friend, I would just talk about the 17 reasons why I did not like something. But then I realized this truth about one, two, three, too many. I'll give you an example. If you think about taxes, and I had to put three ideas in place, I would say you need to reduce your taxes, you need to defer your taxes, or you need to eliminate your taxes. And then I will give you ideas on how to reduce your taxes, how to defer your taxes, meaning put it out in the future, or how to eliminate them altogether. These three big ideas now allow you to put your consciousness around like, oh, wow, the thing that I'm invested in is two and three. And it allows you to focus on that significantly more than anything else. So the next time you're having a conversation, maybe in a meeting or with a colleague, or if even if you're talking about fantasy football and sports, the way you want to explain an idea is in the one, two, three, too many, they call it the rule of threes, you'll see Simon Sinek do it on stage with the why what how framework you'll see in the titles of books called eat, pray, love, or you'll see it in the ways of identity and manifestation, which is do be have, there's a reason why it's not a four things, it is one, two, three, too many. So next time you're packaging an idea, see if you can put the three ideas together. And that will allow you to be a significantly better communicator. And that way, you can say anything to anyone. The second big idea is to explain things in geometric shapes. What do I mean by that? When I hired Tony Robbins, a speaking coach, I paid him $50,000 for three hours. And this was entirely based on the past experience that I had with Tony. You see, when I first came to the US, I was a janitor. And I was so embarrassed that I had to work and pay my bills. And I no one else would hire me, except the janitor, the midnight shift or the graveyard shift, you know, mopping and scrubbing floors. And I remember my manager telling me that for me to get ahead in life and actually get a decent job and be understood by my friends and have a decent social life would be if I had to get rid of my thick Indian accent at that time. But I had no idea how to do it. And so he suggested that I go to the library and check out some English accent tapes. And of course, I went to the library and asked for some English accent tapes. And the librarian told me that since this was America, she didn't have English accent tapes, I should just talk to a friend. But she had Spanish tapes, she had French tapes, she had German tapes. And I felt stuck. But then she had a better idea. She said, well, what about a book on tape? What about an audio book? And at that time, she handed me a box, which a bunch of CDs of a, you know, an audio book. I had no idea what it was. I popped it into my Sony Discman. And I started listening to it while scrubbing and mopping floors. That audio book ended up being Tony Robbins personal power. And which is why my wife makes fun of me that I yell while I talk in English. I learned how to speak English through listening to Tony Robbins audio books. And that brings me back to why I hired Tony Robbins to speaking coach because I was so what a great communicator that he was. And after watching me for two to three hours do various exercises, Richard Green, Tony Robbins speaking coach, explained to me that I was trying to communicate so many ideas in a short amount of time. And so he explained that each of us spend a lot of time and our experiences. And from a neuroscience perspective, our ideas are bobulated. They're complex. They're connected. There's so many neurons. And if you actually went into your brain and do the connection set of your ideas, it would be a very complex web. So what we had to do is take that complex web of ideas out, package it into a little box, and then put that box in the other person's head, because that allows them to know exactly what that idea is. And it gives them a recall of that idea. Well, I frankly did not know how to do this. And he explained a great strategy to me, which was to use a simple shape, like a circle, where you can divide it into four parts, or a triangle, where you can label the three sides, or a square, where you can label the axes, or a combination of a rectangle or different shapes like that. Because once your brain sees a shape, it's able to take a snapshot of what it is. If you may have read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which is a classic in the investing space by Robert Kiyosaki. And the thing that most people remember from the book is the cash flow quadrant. And it tells you it's got a geometric shape. It has the employee, the business owner on one side, and it tells you exactly what goes on, which is the self-employed or the investor. And it's a clean geometric shape that allows you to take this idea and have it etched in your mind. You don't have to remember the four or five, six different things. And once I started using geometric shapes, it allowed me to communicate significantly better. It made my diagrams on the whiteboard in discussions with my colleagues better. It made me build better slides. That way, when people saw it, they saw the raw nature of it, and they were able to snapshot their ideas. And I also noticed that the people that I was talking to were now reusing my own geometric shapes because they were taking my idea and putting it in other people's heads, which is really powerful. powerful. So if you want your ideas to spread, especially if you have a good idea and you want it to spread, you want to try and use geometric shapes to package your idea in overall. The third big idea is the structure in which you communicate. Now, this doesn't matter whether it's a keynote presentation or whether you're standing up in front of your colleagues and presenting something in a boardroom or whether you're on Zoom and presenting an idea. This one strategy has completely changed how I communicate completely. The single most important communication lesson that I learned was created by a kindergarten teacher, and it's called Format. It's a strategy that allows you to break down ideas in a very simple way, and it has four parts. The why, the what, the how, and the now. You actually have to figure out exactly how each part works in unison to make it work simply together. And once you figure it out, it completely changes how you think about it. Every piece of communication. Let me give you an example. Let's say I was presenting about financial freedom. The first thing that I need to do is talk about why. Why is this important? Why is this important right now? And why me? That's called a why frame. It allows people to figure out and settle their snow globes because you have no idea whether they're in traffic or whether they are talking to their son or whether they have unfinished text messages or whether they have 400 emails to write or whether they're overwhelmed with their work or whether they're tired from the night before. Their snow globes, their mental states are shook up. You got to get them to refocus and come back to the exact topic that you want to have a conversation with. And to do that, you need to give them the why frame. The why speaks to them as to why they should be interested in the idea right now. Otherwise, they're just going to tune out. So when I talk about financial freedom, I can say, why is this important? The financial freedom is important right now because there are more, the 1% of the world owns 40% of all the stocks. And so everyone else is having to fend for themselves. Why is it important right now? Well, inflation is at a massive clip and the inflation is a silent tax on your purchasing power. And the coffee that costs $2 today is going to be $4 tomorrow. And you're going to have to spend more money for the same coffee. So you have to kind of watch your overall money investing. Why me? Hey, I've been a banker at Goldman Sachs. I've advised the billionaires. I have seen exactly what they do and how they manage their money. And I want to share those lessons with you because if what they do is so simple, we can learn from that overall. So right now I've created a why frame that allows you to say, okay, I'm going to settle my snow globe and actually have this conversation. Instantly when I talk about the why frame, the next thing you ask is like, okay, I understand the why frame. I understand that financial freedom is important. What are you talking about? The what is the 10,000 foot level, which is the strategy. And this is where I would say, here I have something called the wealth ladder. And the wealth ladder allows you to figure out how to actually progress in time and get to financial freedom. The first level of the wealth ladder is the first level of the wealth ladder. is getting your active income to be greater than your monthly expenses. The second level of the wealth ladder is to get the surplus and build a manufacturing around it. The third level of the wealth ladder is to actually make sure the asset allocation is done correctly and you buy your first tiny income generating asset. And the fourth level of the wealth ladder is you build passive income greater than monthly expenses. Let me show you. So what have I done here? I've given them a roadmap. The what frame provides a roadmap. It's a bird's eye view on where you're going. It is a map from a high level that shows you, hey, this is the lay of the land and this is what we're going to talk about. This allows you to reorient yourself, which says, ah, this is where he's going to go next and it gives me context overall. Once you've given somebody the what frame, they really start to yearn for the how frame. The how is the next part where you, this is where you actually can start to talk about the steps of this is what you do, A, B, C, 1, 2, 3. This allows people to realize that now you have the actual implementation mechanism. Most people go straight to the how. And I would recommend that you don't do that, especially in, in meetings overall. And the last part of it is the now. The now is what I call the first domino. What is the first thing that someone needs to do to actually make this come to life or the first thing that you are going to do? This is especially important when you're in meetings or when you're communicating an idea on a Zoom call or when you're talking to a friend where you can talk about why the budget process is important, what you've done so far, how the process is going and the next step that they can expect, which is you sending them a report tomorrow. Now you've actually taken this format process and implemented it in a very simple way as opposed to saying, hey, you're going to get the update tomorrow, right? It's in isolation and it doesn't actually make a lot of sense. When you start to combine these three ideas, which you can put into work right away, which is first the one, two, three, too many rule, which is always talking rules of three. The second is put your ideas in big geometric shapes so that it's easy to take it out of your head and put it in the box in their head. And the third is use the format process. Where use what a kindergarten teacher came up with to teach the children so that it actually impacts you and your clients and your coworkers as well. I will also give you a pro tip. You can actually use AI to make this entire process much easier for you. So if you have a complex idea and you want an easy way to communicate it in your team meeting, instead of putting your idea into AI and asking for it to give you, a script, you put your idea into AI and talk to it in voice mode, make it as complex as you need to, just dump your idea and then ask AI to restructure the idea into format. Why, what, how, and now. And then once you get the overall structure, use that to communicate your idea. AI is a really powerful way of taking the most complex things and putting it in the format that you want. So unless you give it that direction, it's going to come up with its own direction, which may not be the right fit for you. Remember, your communication skills will determine your compensation more than the technical skills ever will. And this is the exact way that you can share anything with anyone.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Communication skills significantly influence compensation more than technical expertise.
  2. The "one, two, three" rule (rule of threes) helps simplify ideas so that people can retain and act on them more effectively.
  3. Packaging complex ideas in geometric shapes (like circles, triangles, or squares) makes them easier to understand and remember.
  4. The Format method—structured as Why, What, How, and Now—provides a clear, logical framework for communicating any idea effectively.
  5. The "Why" frame grabs attention by addressing urgency and relevance, while the "What" gives a roadmap and the "Now" provides an actionable first step.
  6. Using AI to structure complex ideas into the Format model streamlines communication and improves clarity.
  7. These communication strategies are applicable across all settings—from keynote speeches to one-on-one conversations.
  8. Effective communication spreads ideas because others adopt and reuse the clear, visual, and structured formats.

Summary:

Communication skills have a greater impact on career success and compensation than technical abilities. The speaker shares three essential principles for mastering communication: first, the "one, two, three" rule, which limits ideas to three key points to improve retention and clarity; second, using geometric shapes to visually package complex concepts, making them easier to absorb and remember; and third, applying the Format method—Why, What, How, Now—to structure any message logically. The "Why" establishes relevance, the "What" provides a high-level roadmap, the "How" details implementation steps, and the "Now" offers an immediate action step.

These tools, when combined, create a powerful, accessible framework for conveying ideas across any setting. The speaker also recommends using AI to translate complex ideas into this structured format, ensuring clarity and efficiency. These strategies not only enhance personal communication but also enable ideas to spread more widely and be adopted by others, making them essential tools for professional growth and influence.

FAQs

Communication skills directly impact how ideas are received, understood, and valued by employers and clients. Strong communication leads to better influence, collaboration, and opportunities, which ultimately affect salary and career growth.

This rule suggests that people can only retain and focus on three key ideas at a time. By structuring your message around three clear, distinct points, you improve clarity and engagement, making your ideas more memorable and effective.

Geometric shapes like circles, triangles, or squares help simplify complex ideas into visual structures. These shapes allow the audience to instantly grasp and recall your message, making communication more effective and memorable.

The Format method uses four parts—Why, What, How, and Now—to structure ideas clearly. It begins with the importance (Why), outlines the plan (What), explains the steps (How), and ends with the first action (Now), making the message easier to follow and act upon.

In a meeting, start with the 'Why' to establish relevance, then present the 'What' as a roadmap, explain the 'How' with actionable steps, and end with the 'Now' to give a clear next step. This creates a logical, engaging flow that keeps the audience focused and motivated.

Yes, by using AI in voice mode, you can input a complex idea and ask it to restructure it using the Format method (Why, What, How, Now). This simplifies and organizes your message effectively for meetings or presentations.

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