You don't rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your preparation.
Table of Contents
How to Speak Like the 1 Percent Elite
Most founders underestimate how much their communication impacts growth. You can have the best product in the world, but if you can’t articulate the vision, inspire people, and move an audience, you’ll always be stuck playing small.
Speaking like the 1 percent elite isn’t about being louder. It’s about creating impact with intention. Today I’m breaking down the five principles I use to deliver keynotes, lead my team, and show up on the biggest stages in the world.
1. Embrace the Nerves
Nerves are a signal you care. Instead of fighting them, reframe them into energy. Anxiety and excitement are the same emotion. The difference is the meaning you attach to it.
Practical steps to flip nerves into confidence:
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Acknowledge nerves as excitement.
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Shift into gratitude by asking, “How can I be grateful for this opportunity to serve these people?
There's no motion without emotion. The fact that you're nervous means they're going to feel that energy of excitement.
2. Prepare Like a Pro
You don’t “wing” your way to elite communication. Preparation is the separator between amateurs and world-class speakers.
Here’s a simple prep framework:
| Step | What to Do | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|
| Nail the first minute | Script your opening | Sets authority and momentum |
| Define the end | Know your final CTA | Leaves audience with action |
| Map the beats | Visual outline of stories | Keeps flow natural |
| Drill transitions | Practice with friends flashcard-style | Builds confidence under pressure |
Winging it is for the birds, not the speakers.
3. Tell Stories Not Facts
People won’t remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel. That’s why stories beat raw information every single time.
Stories accomplish three things:
They position you as an expert.
They glue learning into memory.
They fill time when needed without losing impact.
Stories sell, facts tell. And using stories is the reason people book you for more speaking, give you opportunities, and buy your product.
4. Make It About Them
The best speakers don’t perform. They serve. Stop worrying about how you look and start obsessing about how your audience feels when they leave.
Ways to make it about them:
Know the room. Study their industry and what matters most.
Make eye contact in every corner of the room.
Ask thought-provoking questions to engage and connect.
Focus on serving the audience, not impressing them.
5. Lead with a Primary Question
Stage presence starts with inner presence. Before I step on stage, I ask myself a grounding question:
“How can I appreciate even more God’s grace and guidance in this moment?”
That mindset strips away pressure and centers me in service. It also reminds me that elite communication is more about intention than tactics.
Stage presence starts with inner presence. Show up with intention, not tension.
Speak Like the Elite and Build Your Legacy
The entrepreneurs who master communication scale faster, attract better people, and create movements that outlive them. Start with these five principles and commit to practicing them daily.
Great founders don’t just build businesses. They build believers. Now it’s your turn.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can you overcome nerves when speaking in public?
You overcome nerves in public speaking by reframing them as excitement and focusing on gratitude for the opportunity to serve the audience. Nervous energy signals that you care, and when directed toward connection, it enhances your stage presence.
Why is preparation essential for elite speakers?
Preparation is essential for elite speakers because confidence comes from knowing your material deeply. Practicing your opening, your close, and mapping out stories ensures you fall to the level of preparation instead of relying on improvisation that can fail under pressure.
How do stories make you a better speaker?
Stories make you a better speaker because they create emotional connection, reinforce lessons, and make your message memorable. Facts inform but stories inspire action, making audiences engage and remember what you shared long after the talk.
What does it mean to make a speech about the audience?
Making a speech about the audience means tailoring your message to their needs, locking eyes to build trust, and asking reflective questions. Shifting focus from impressing people to serving them makes your delivery authentic and impactful.
What is the role of intention in speaking like the 1 percent?
Intention plays a key role in elite speaking because presence on stage starts with inner presence. Centering yourself with a guiding question and focusing on service creates calm, confidence, and resonance that audiences feel immediately.
Related Articles
More Resources
Tools Mentioned
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ChatGPT – Helpful for generating metaphors, analogies, and practice outlines for speeches.
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TED Talks on YouTube – Source for studying world-class speakers and improving delivery.
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Advisors Excel – Event platform where keynote speaking was demonstrated in the video.
Full Transcript
How to Speak Like The 1% Elite – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtNFRU_OQOg
Transcript:
(00:00) Speaking like a CEO isn’t about screaming at the top of your lungs trying to keep people’s attention. It’s about knowing how to keep people engaged. So, I’m going to give you the five principles of top 1% speakers and show you exactly how I apply them in real life to everything from podcast to $100,000 keynotes I give around the world.
(00:21) These principles help you become a better speaker today, even if you’re just getting started. Starting with principle number one, embrace the nerves. [Music] Today I’m giving a keynote here in Kansas City for Advisors Excel. See, I understand public speaking is one of the scariest things for people. Most people would rather be in the casket than present the eulogy on stage, but it doesn’t mean that you have to let your nerves get the best of you.
(00:49) Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s hear it. Come on. Keep it going. Anxiety and excitement are the same emotion. So what I do is I use that emotion, I go to gratitude. I always flip it and say, “How can I be grateful for this opportunity to serve these people?” See, when you reframe your thinking around the nerves that you’ve got and instead of being like, “Oh my gosh, what if I mess up?” Instead, you say, “Oh, this just means I really care.
(01:15) ” Then it makes it less about you and more about how you show up for the audience. Here’s the big idea. I’m on a mission. I’m trying to rid the world of this problem. I want to help entrepreneurs build businesses they don’t grow to hate. I believe that fear is false evidence appearing real. Are you going to lose everything you’ve ever created up to this point if you mess up? No.
(01:37) Is everybody going to call you out on social media that you’re the worst speaker ever in the history of mankind? No. You want to tell yourself that those feelings are absolutely the reason why you’re going to kick butt on stage. There’s no motion without emotion. So, the fact that you’re nervous means they’re going to feel that energy of excitement and it’s why you’re going to be rated one of the top speakers.
(01:58) Which brings us to principle number two. Know your I would never give a talk on something I’m not an expert in. Sure, if somebody asks me a question, I’ll give them an answer. But I’m not going to do a disservice to all the professionals out there and the real experts by giving a keynote on something I haven’t put 10,000 hours in.
(02:16) It’s why I only talk about buying back my time. I only talk about scaling companies. These are things I have thousands of hours of experience in serving people, doing it myself, and I’ve studied them. You don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your preparation. So, people that try to wing it, of course, you’re going to mess it up.
(02:34) Winging it is for the birds, not the speakers. So, these are some of my ideas. When I give a talk, I need to perfect how I start, where do I want to end up, and how do I end? If you get the first minute figured out and you know how you’re going to transition everything you shared at the very end so that you can leave them with a clear call to action that will help you feel so freaking confident.
(02:54) My promise to every person in this room by the end of this time together I will give you a framework a process a life philosophy that if you apply it will change the game for you. It’ll actually make you feel guilty because you’ll be making more money and it’s not going to be as hard as you thought it would be.
(03:16) And then I do a visual outline where I sit there and I map out exactly the beats of my stories. I don’t have to remember everything cuz I’m telling a story of a life I live. I just need to know what the story is. What’s the metaphor I’m going to use to reinforce that? What is the point of that? And how do I leave them with a call to action that gets them to make a decision to change something in their life so they can get a result? I then use my friends to flashcard me where they’ll be like, “All right, what’s point number one?
(03:41) What’s point number three? What’s point number two’s metaphor?” And then that way I’m practicing visually in my mind using the visual diagram I created to practice. That way I can go up on stage with an hour to fill and absolutely nail the beats. The other thing is you got to study the grades.
(03:58) If you’re giving a TED talk for the first time or you’ve been asked to even give a presentation at your work, go look at other people that are presenting. Go look at the best people. Go on YouTube, sort by most viewed, and just get in the energy of the greats. Which brings us to principle number three. Tell stories, not facts. I know you have a lot you want to share.
(04:16) You want to add a lot of value, but don’t make this mistake. People will not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel. I have to share with you a quick story. As a child, I went through tough, tough challenges. I grew up in a home with an alcoholic mother. I had a father that wasn’t around very much and the second oldest of four and I got diagnosed with ADHD when I was 11, put on medication.
(04:42) My whole life I thought I was broke. What’s cool about stories is they do three things. Number one is they position you as an expert. When you’re sharing your own personal story or you’re reporting on something that you read or you saw, you’re demonstrating the depth of experience you have around that topic which makes you the expert in their mind.
(05:03) The second thing is that it creates the glue of their learning. People may remember the action you told them to do based on the story. They’re going to be like, “Man, I love that cowboy story.” But they’ll know that cowboy story is a point to actually go for the thing they want to get in life because you use the feeling of the story to glue in the activity and the action that you wanted them to take.
(05:22) And the third is that it fills time as needed. If I’ve got an extra 30 minutes, like it happened to me one time when I was speaking at Tony Robbins stage and all of a sudden they said, “Oh, no, you don’t have six. you have 90 minutes and I had to fill an extra 30 minutes. I just decided to tell longer stories to really let the feelings be felt before I moved on which filled time and I did that for the three stories and points I was teaching which added to that extra 30 minutes and it was great for the audience and for myself cuz I didn’t
(05:47) stress out. And if you don’t have a story to tell use an analogy or a metaphor or a simile and if you don’t know which ones to tell just hit chat GPT literally you can say I need a metaphor for this concept. What do you got? Tell me about it. how would I present in 10 minutes? It’ll give you the talking beat so you can reinforce your point.
(06:06) When you understand stories sell, facts tell, and using stories are going to be the reason that people are going to book you for more speaking, give you more opportunities and buy whatever product you might have or service. That is why you need to go all in on storytelling. Which brings us to principle number four. Make it about them. My whole philosophy is this.
(06:23) Focus on serving the audience, not impressing them. See, the reason why people get stressed out and freak out is because they’re worried about how they’re going to look. If you flip the whole thing and make it about pouring into every person and trying to impart some knowledge to serve them, then you don’t have time to worry about yourself because you’re looking at them to help them.
(06:44) I’m not going to sit up here and do success theater. I am privileged and blessed and I have immense gratitude for Cody and David for having me here, for all of you guys to be here. I don’t take your time lightly whatsoever. Here are a few things I do. One is know your room. Know exactly what every person does in that room or at least the essence of the industry and what they need to learn most based on their specific situation that you can help them with.
(07:07) And through that process, I started to have a vision for the future. And that’s what I’m so excited about the theme of this event is getting ready for the future. The other thing is lock eyes on them one at a time. Look in the top right corner, the bottom right corner, across the room. You look at them, you acknowledge them because I’ll tell you, if they feel like you’re locked in, they’re going to lock in.
(07:32) And the last one is ask them questions to have them ponder so that you can understand if they get it. Think about it for you. I want every person in this room to think to themselves, who are the two people? They’re your ride or dies. They’re your foundation. They’re your rocket. It could be your partner. I want you to think about it for yourself.
(07:47) What are those names? questions makes it less about you feeling like you’re auditioning for them. Are you entertained? Are you entertained? And more of what do you think? So, what I recommend to you when you get on stage, get up there and hold space and look around the room knowing that what you’re about to share is going to transform their life.
(08:07) See, you might think they already know what I know. Why would I say that? Or they’re questioning if that’s even true. Here’s what I’ve learned. Those people are so impressed you’re on stage. So understand just by the fact that you’re up there and you’re communicating and you’re loving on them is a reason why they’re going to fall in love with you.
(08:23) Which brings us to principle number five. Have a primary question. At a high level, the way I think about it, stage presence starts with inner presence. Show up with intention, not tension. So there’s this question I ask myself all the time to help me get centered and make it less about me and more about serving the people.
(08:43) And that question is, how can I appreciate even more God’s grace and guidance in this moment? I believe I’m here to serve these people because of divine intervention and opportunity and I ask to be supported in that moment. And giving it up to somebody else bigger than me to serve the people in that room calms me down and makes it about them.
(09:01) And that’s the only way I ever want to show up. Here’s what I’ve learned. 28 years of entrepreneurship, I’ve learned it comes down to two things. Number one is wake up every day to strive to become your 10.0 self. It’s like taking all the best moments in your whole life, put them into one day, stack it.
(09:20) That’s your 10.0 version. If you’re a person of faith, it’s the person that God created you in his image. And the other half is to share yourself with the world. And if you do those two things, I promise you, you will live daily in a place of massive fulfillment. Thanks for having me, everybody. And showing up with that energy of support, of giving, of abundance, of gratitude is felt by the audience.
(09:44) That giddy feeling that you’ve got something that they really need that they don’t know yet, but once they hear it, they’re going to be like, “Oh my gosh.” That is how you become a world-class speaker. Now, if you want to learn the 13 hacks to be 99.9% more disciplined, click the video and I’ll see you on the other