Mastering the Art of Startup Storytelling with Will Greenblatt

Welcome to Who Are These Startups?

podcast shorts featuring founder interviews of Canadian startups.

Hey, it's a startup coach.

I'm down at Collision and I ran into my good friend Will Greenblatt of Out Loud Speaker School.

Hey, buddy.

Why don't you introduce yourself and what you do at Out Loud Speaker School and then we'll talk about Collision.

Awesome.

Yeah, so I'm a former actor.

I call myself a recovering child actor.

Not because anything crazy happened, just I quit.

But me being a child actor growing up meant that I was always performing to get people to like me.

And so slowly through my path of quitting acting and becoming a teacher abroad first in Spain and then in China where I co-founded my first startup, I slowly realized that if I could use my performance skills but be more authentic and honest about who I was, I could make better connections with people and ultimately become a better speaker and communicator.

And then I became a public speaking coach and now I run Out Loud Speaker School.

And we run workshops for startup founders and accelerators and entrepreneurs to help them become better speakers and tell their story with confidence and clarity.

And I'm going to ask you again at the end but if people are interested in that, where do they go?

They can go to my LinkedIn at willgreenblatt or outloudnow.com.

So you're down here at Collision.

I'm sure you watched a few of the pitch competitions and I'm sure you're talking to some of the startups at the startup booths that are around.

One, what have you seen that you really like and then we'll get into what advice do you have for people in a crowded environment like this to get people's attention?

That's such a good question.

I think from what I've liked so far, I just want to give an honorable mention to Ishaan Kohli.

I hope I'm pronouncing his last name properly but he's from Skyacres Technology.

Zafiel Leplantis is co-founder.

I saw Ishaan hitch yesterday and I had seen him at Elevate last time and the steps he's made, how much he's improved.

It was just so great to see a founder working on their pitch as a craft, as a skill.

And he just came across so credible.

The story was clear.

The slides were clean.

The graphics were great.

So just having a really simple pitch, delivering it with again both authenticity but also some power in your voice, some energy and some enthusiasm.

He handled the Q&A really well.

So I think making sure your slides are super clean and simple, your words are super clean and simple, the ideas are clean and simple and your Q&A is really involved and you're showing your authentic self is really, really important.

And in terms of tips for people making the most out of something like this in a loud environment, the first tip is like, realize how fucking exhausting this is.

It's three days, four if you go to the thing on the opening night.

And it's potentially hours on your feet, talking to new people, context switching between different conversations, trying to remember who the fuck you are and what your name is.

So that requires, A, it requires stamina, but B, it requires pacing yourself.

So I think the more you go to events like startup drinks for you that you run and TechTO is another one.

And the more you get out there in practice networking the better, but also like take care of yourself.

Go sit down when you need to.

It's okay to recharge.

You're not a lazy piece of shit as that's what my brain tells me when I go to sit down.

But I'm like, no, I'm allowed to rest and in fact it's better if I do.

So yeah, pacing yourself.

And then when you do talk to someone, really try to find the human being behind this like potential lead or prospect or investor.

Like who are they?

Is there a personal detail you can tap into?

Can you talk about some family members?

Can you just make a joke?

Can you do that?

Once you do that, it kind of peels off this layer of like you want something from me and maybe I'll give it to you.

And you just kind of become two human beings talking and it's so much better to do it that way.

Because then you're just like, oh, what are you looking for again?

Oh, you want to meet an investor?

I'm an investor.

Or like people are just so much more willing to do something for you or with you when you've had that human moment.

So try to just do that and it's better anyways.

And then even if nothing comes from it, you get to walk away being like, oh that person was nice and that was nice.

Yeah, just about an hour ago I connected somebody here with the founder of GROC who was speaking in the press conference over here because they had stuff going on.

And yeah, it's just I didn't want anything.

I'm just like, oh, let's make that happen because I could make that happen.

Yes, also providing value.

One thing I've been doing which I find people respond to really well is I go, who are you looking to meet here?

And they go, oh, and I'm like, yeah, I'll send them your way if I meet anyone like that.

And then they're like, oh, that's awesome.

And now I may meet somebody who fits that criteria.

I mean, not, but even just the offer and then, you know, it's a real intention.

I do want to do it.

It means so much to people.

It's like I'm trying to help you out.

And yeah, I really don't want anything from that.

It takes two seconds for me, but it means a lot to them, you know.

I'm going to throw some random curveballs at you.

But we're here at Collision.

You know, people can listen to us.

It's loud.

There's people walking around on time.

If you're at one of these startup booths, you got any advice about getting someone's attention and keeping it for the men?

Yeah.

I mean, you can do like the cheesy thing where you're like, you know, those people that are trying to get you to donate to some cause on the street.

And they go, hey, can I tell you the joke of the day?

That works.

To be honest, I want to hear the joke of the day.

That's better than, hey, do you have a minute to talk about, you know, whatever?

And I'm like, no, fuck off.

You know, but when somebody's like, hey, do you want to hear the joke of the day?

I do.

So I'll stop.

So you can, you can do a gimmick, but I think in general, like making clear eye contact with somebody, smiling at them, introducing them, asking honestly how they're doing, like you care about the answer.

That goes a long way as well.

And you can also ask them a qualifying question.

This really helps.

So are you interested in blah, blah, blah?

Or are you from a company like such and such?

Or are you the kind of person who blah, blah, blah?

Just a quick, like almost like you would in a survey letter.

Are you this kind of person that I'm trying to meet?

And are you the kind of person who might give a shit about this?

And then if they're not, then you go, oh, I can tell you about our pitch or whatever.

But, you know, you know that they're just kind of poking around a tire kicker, so to speak.

Again, you can still have the human connection.

But if they are from your target market, then ideally you know their problems, you know their pain points, and you can speak to those right away and say, well, you probably struggle a lot with this.

A lot of people we talk to in your position do.

And it feels like this, and it sucks.

This part sucks.

And, you know, talking about people's pain and problems in their own language, in their own words, is the best way to get their attention, in my experience.

And if you're on stage here, there's a bunch of different pitching areas.

And, you know, you're pitching about 50 people, but there's thousands of people around, or maybe 100 people.

And there's noise everywhere.

Any advice on one, getting their attention and keeping their attention for three to five minutes?

Yes.

Just be louder, slower, clearer, and more expressive than you think.

I would say slower is a tough one, because, you know, there's time, like you only have three minutes to pitch.

So if you can't be slower, then be louder, be clearer, like, you know, more enunciative, enunciate more.

And be more expressive in your voice and in your face and your body and your hands.

Just those three things will, like, elevate your, what I call the speech settings.

They'll elevate those.

And then all of a sudden people are like, "Oh, what's that?

They sound like they got energy and passion."

And they'll just kind of stop and listen to you.

Rather than being like, "Yeah, this is my company.

We're really excited to..."

You just lose their attention.

And what do you think is the biggest mistake you've seen someone pitching here this week?

Ooh, biggest mistake.

There's a few.

Not looking at the audience in the eyes at all is no good.

You want to make a connection with the audience.

Turning your back on the audience when the investors start asking you the Q&A questions.

Ending with, that's it, is really bad.

You should end with a statement that is both a call to action and kind of reiterates your vision statement or the prize of your company.

So, you know...

Come change the world with us.

Exactly.

And ideally something that also the way you started talking about.

So like if you started talking about this single mom has to drive three hours.

You could end by saying, "Come change the world and make sure single mothers like Brenda doesn't have to drive three hours every day."

Something like that.

That ties in to the first thing you mentioned and the people you're talking about.

Yeah.

So, at Outloud Speaker School, you help people... start-ups pitch, you help people present, find their voice, whether it's sales, whether it's enterprise, whether it's individuals.

Who should come and talk to you?

So, founders who are looking to develop their storytelling and personal branding should come talk to me.

Founders that are fundraising and looking to raise money in a shorter period of time should come talk to me to work on their story and their pitch.

And then start-up accelerator program managers who want to hire me to come in and do that for their company should.

And then any business people who want presentation skills and storytelling skills for their teams and leaders.

I'm partnering with a few things coming up and we'll talk about getting you involved with some of the events happening.

Where do people go find you?

Yeah.

LinkedIn is the best.

At Will Greenblatt.

Outloudnow.com.

And also my newsletter is The Greenblast.

I'm trying to reclaim my name that I got made fun of for growing up for years.

Greenblatt.

So The Greenblast is my newsletter.

You can find that on Beehive.

And yeah, the best place is LinkedIn.

And I'm starting my new YouTube channel, which I should plug.

Your public speaking coach.

It's my YouTube channel.

And I'm going to be making content about me trying to figure out YouTube/entrepreneurship/fatherhood and then giving everything I know about storytelling and public speaking.

I really appreciate you taking the time out of collusion.

It's busy down here to talk to us.

It's way nicer than running around bothering people for networking.

Thanks for having me, Craig.

This has been Who Are These Startups.

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