Speak to Lead: Unlocking Authentic Impact with Allison Shapira

0:00 This podcast is a proud member of the Teach Better podcast network, Better Today, Better Tomorrow, and the podcast to get you there. You can find out. More at Teachbetter dot com slash podcast. Your audiences relate to authenticity more than they relate to perfection. ACE stands for authenticity, clarity, and energy. How you communicate is how you lead, and that's why it's so important that leaders learn how to be powerful communicators and great public speakers. It's not enough to just be a good speaker. There's a difference between that and a powerful public speaker.

0:41 And his structure for story is very simple, which is why I love it Old normal, something happens new normal. The closer you are to the story, the more powerful the story is because you're teaching the audience about who you are. Do you want to be leader in a constantly changing world? Our emerging leaders look different, come from various backgrounds and from all different age groups. Leadership is changing and it's hard to keep up. But the good news you can be a leader too. You can be an e merging leader. Welcome to the Limitless Leadership Lounge, a try generational conversation for emerging leaders.

1:23 Come spend some time with us to discuss leadership from three angles. The coach Jim Johnson, the professor, doctor Renuma Kareem, the host, John Gering, a monthly guest, and you get in on the conversation on Facebook and Instagram, and be sure to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Speaker. So come on in and make yourself comfortable. Speaking with impact. It sounds great, but not always that easy. And today we're going to talk about public speaking. We're going to talk about leadership from a little bit of a different lens and a really inspiring transformation in trends position as well. With our guests today, I am John Garing. This is the Lentless Leadership Lounge, joined as always by coach Jim Johnson. Coach, you connected with Alison and I'm really inspired by her story and excited to learn more directly from her. So tell us a little bit about Alison and let's dive in. Yeah, We're really excited to have Ellison on our podcast. So I'm going to read a little bio about her.

2:21 Our guest today is an executive advisor, keynote speaker, Harvard lecturer, and former opera singer, which I am going to dig into elisis Hrpara has spent over twenty years helping senior leaders build their confidence to be more effected, especially in the way they communicate. She has worked with prime ministers in their cabinets and fortune for one hundred executives. She teaches communication at the Harvard Kennedy School and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, in the Harvard Business Review. Her first book, Speak with Impact, How to Command the Room and Influence Others, was a Washington Post bestseller, and she's I need to publish her most recent book that will be out when we released this, called AI for the Authentic Leader, How to Communicate more effectively without losing your humanity. Let's welcome Ellison's chapero to the Limitless Leadership Louse. So welcome Allison. Great to have you.

3:18 Thank you so much. It's great to be here. And I've got a lot of questions. But the opera singer, see, my son was very much in a musical theater, so ALTHI he wasn't in an opera, but I am. My curiousity strikes me. And we want to help young emerging leaders and they often change careers and so with that my question is simply opera singer to be a communication expert, tell me the story. It makes sense in hindsight. It did not make sense at the time. But growing up, all I wanted to do was be an opera singer. That was my singular goal and focus, even in middle school and then in high school. And once I started studying in college and started performing, I lost my passion for it and realized it wasn't what I wanted to do with my life.

4:10 But it turns out, as I found out in my first job after college, that being an opera singer actually made me a very good public speaker and an even better coach. And I say that because as a singer, we learn how to use breathing and breath support to calm our nerves and project our voice. That was very helpful as a speaker, And then you'll probably appreciate this as well. When we're not singing. As opera singers were critiquing other singers, and so I developed a very nuanced eye and ear for those subtle shifts we make in our physical and vocal presence that have an impact on our performance. And so I learned that I already knew a lot of techniques that would help people change and improve the way they perform, whether they're giving a speech or singing. And so that's how I made that transition.

5:04 And once I realized how similar opera was or singing was to speaking, then I was able to very quickly redirect those skills, although I did have a lot to learn in terms of content creation and speech writing and persuasion and influence because opera singers don't learn how to write their own material, we learn how to deliver other people's material. Yeah, and I gotta say, when I first heard you transitioned from opera singing to speaking, I thought, boy, probably sing probably made speaking feel easy, right, because some of those ridiculous amount of talent that it takes to be an opera singer. Yet public speaking is still feared more than death according to some studies. How was the comparison between opera singing and speaking. You talked about some of the similarities, but what were some of those differences as well?

5:57 There are a number of differences. I would definitely say performing opera for me was always harder than giving a speech level. I never felt like I was in charge of or had full control of all the tools I needed to succeed. Now do we all have full control of the tools that we use at any time? No, not even in speaking. But I did feel a stronger level of competency and control when I came to speaking than it did to singing. So that was one difference. Another difference, and I talk about this a lot in my keynotes and when I'm advising leaders one on one is that opera is about perfection. We don't relate to the opera singer when she or he makes a mistake, We're like, oh, their voice cracked, or or even if they mispronounced an Italian word, if it was an open e and it was supposed to be a closed e, people in the audience are like, oh, yeah, she obviously doesn't speak Italian, and they ding you in your mind.

7:03 Whereas now I'm a folk singer as well as a speaker, and I find folk music is more about authenticity, and we don't expect the folks singer to be perfect. We expect them to be themselves, to be authentic, and if they make a mistake, it's part of the magic of the performance, and we lean in and want to sing along. And a point I like to make is that public speaking is closer to folk music than it is to opera, So your audiences relate to authenticity more than they relate to perfection. Okay, Gotti. Because we want to help young and emerging leaders, and public speaking is usually part of when you get into leadership than talking to your team or even various groups or trying to sell something. So if you were to zero down to make it, because I know one of the things reading about you is helping people will be more concise. So we were zero down, this new leader his or her has to give us a speech in front of a group. Give me three keys that you would help that person in being more powerful as a presenter.

8:15 I've developed a model of communication that I call the ACE model of leadership communication. And these are three qualities, three competencies I would recommend for any leader, whether they're more junior in their career or more senior. And ACE stands for authenticity, clarity, and energy, and so authenticity for a leader means you're not using the jargon and acronyms that you think you're expected to use. You have the confidence to speak clearly and directly, and that's something that takes practice and courage in order to use because a lot of new leaders feel like they need to use the jargon to show they know what they're talking about.

9:00 So authenticity is about giving yourself permission to use language that resonates with you, and you have to be strategic about it as well that resonates with your target audience. The second component is around clarity, which you've mentioned is critical in the way that we communicate, and in these settings, clarity means being able to look at the big picture of what we're talking about instead of diving into the weeds right away. And many new leaders were promoted to leadership because they've become subject matter experts or because they've developed a depth in one particular area. Then they're moved into leadership and they think their benefit comes from that expertise.

9:46 But what they don't realize is they're two in the weeds in the way they're communicating a message. Whereas the more senior you become and the more senior the people you're speaking to, the less of their time you have, and so it's critical to be able to get to the point and then unpack the details if your audience wants you to. And then the third component of the ACE model is the energy that you project as a leader, and it recognizes the fact that as a leader, when you enter a room and you are now the senior most person in the room, everyone takes their cues from you on how to feel. You determine based on your energy, your mood, whether people feel excited or anxious. And a lot of leaders don't realize how much their energy affects others, and so they're not intentional about the energy they bring, and they can unintentionally derail the productivity of their team by their energy.

10:50 I love that acronym ACE. Also, I think we got to just back up for a quick second, because you help with public speaking. You help leaders lead with confidence, end so much more. But leaders don't all realize that they need to be effective public speakers. This is amazing to me because you hear this every once in a while. I got a PR lady or a PR guy, or my industry, we don't really need to do any public speaking. But tell us why that's so inheccurate. All leaders need to be good public speakers? Is that correct? Yes? And the point that I raise with this is that as you move into leadership and senior leaders, tell me this again and again. Over fifty percent of your day is spent communicating the messages of your organization. It's now no longer about you having a conversation with your team.

11:38 You're now responsible for sharing the messages of your organization with your team. And the senior leaders call it cascading the message down. They decide at the top, they cascade the message down, and now you have to communicate that message as if it were yours to your team, and that can become challenging. You probably weren't part of creating the message. You may or may not agree with the message or even understand the message, and now you're responsible for delivering that message with confidence and authenticity. How do you do that? We have techniques for doing that. So the more senior you become, the more of your data is spent communicating these critical messages, which means how you communicate is how you lead. And that's why it's so important that leaders learn how to be powerful communicators and great public speakers. It's not enough to just be a good speaker. There's a difference between that and a powerful public speaker.

12:41 I got to ask you this to help because you've given hundreds of presentations, So give us advice on how you assess your presentation to help people, because sometimes I do a lot of speeches too, and you get all great job. It makes your ego feel good that you don't really learn much from that kind of comment, and it's something I really tried to spend time and how can I make myself eat even better? And I think often as leaders, you do a presentation and because you're the leader, oftentimes they may give you any criticism or give you any suggestions. So help that leader because I know you do yourself, and how do you assess after you do a presentation so you can get better.

13:26 It's such an important point because good leaders ask for feedback, and great leaders ask for feedback in advance before they speak. So it's a common mistake people make is they'll give a speech or presentation and then they'll turn to someone on their team and afterward and say how'd I do, which puts that person in a very uncomfortable position, and they didn't know that person didn't know they were expected to give feedback. So what I teach leaders to do is I give them a list of questions and I give them guidance on first identify someone you trust who will be in the meeting, and then in advance reach out to them and say, I'm going to ask you for feedback after I'll ask you for feedback in the moment in person, because if you ask them to write it down, all of a sudden, you get legal questions in your mind. Can I put this into writing? Is it appropriate? So do it live and it can be virtual or in person, but it should be live and spoken as opposed to written, and then give them guidance on what you're looking for. So if you're working with a coach or an advisor, someone like me and I've talked about the fact that you start every sentence by saying, so, you might tell this person I'm working on reducing my use of sows. I want to make sure that people understand what I'm saying, that I have clear transitions from one point to the next, I have a clear call to action, and I look at people while talking to them as opposed to presenting to the middle of the table.

14:57 So be specific. You can even have a list of competencies you're looking to evaluate, give that to someone and then immediately make time while it's fresh to ask them their feedback and encourage them, in short, to them that it's going to be a safe process for doing so. It's not tied to their performance review. We have to make it safe for people to give us feedback. There we go, Alison, you got me on one of my crunches. It's my crunch as well. I start sentences with, so there we go. Tell me a little bit more because you hinted at it. The difference between a good speaker but not a good public speaker who makes it impact. Tell me a bit about the difference between those.

15:42 The difference is a good speaker is someone who typically is comfortable in front of an audience. They are They probably speak with a smooth flow, with a minimal amount of filler words, and make the audience feel good when they speak. But those are some of the qualities to describe a good speaker. A great public speaker is intentional in advance about how they craft the message. They're very specific in the structure they use and the specific call to action they have at the end. They take time to intentionally craft an opening sentence that captures their audience attention and a conclusion that leaves the audience with a vision of how the future will look if our recommendation is implemented, and then they're able to modulate their voice to keep people's attention. They use techniques that draw people in, whether it's through their eye contact or their gestures. So they're using more tools intentionally to create an experience for their audience that touches the audience and leaves a lasting impact.

17:00 It's the difference, in my opinion, between a good speaker and a great public speaker. Yes, I got to hinted a little bit towards this, and a few years ago my priest at my church asked me to come in to talk to or to observe the deacons doing a short sermon. And I started to tease them because I asked them a question, what was Jesus Christ known for? And they kind of looked at me be fluddled, and I said he was known as a master storyteller. And because often at our church, whether it's a pastor or a deacon, doesn't use stories. And so my question to you is stories, I know are essential, but can you give us some tips on how to be a more powerful storyteller?

17:46 Certainly, and storytelling is a particular skill, just like humor is a skill, just like brevity is a skill. So very often we'll tell people just put more stories in your speeches, but we don't tell people how to find a story, had to craft a story, and had to tell a story, all of which are part of the skill set of being an effective storyteller. So I like to help. And there's my soul, John, you heard me start my sentence. Listen. I recommend that when people are looking for a story, they think about the values that they want to convey in any particular moment, in a speech, a presentation, even a difficult conversation. What core value do I want to demonstrate in this moment or is inherent in my message? And then when was a time in my life when I learned that value or saw it in action, or maybe didn't see it in action, And that's where I learned the value. So some people learn the value of honesty by experiencing dishonor So think about that moment and then go back and relive it in order to tease out the three components of that story.

18:59 And I love to wreck men the framework that Donald Davis uses. He's a master storyteller and has written a number of books which I recommend and his structure for story is very simple, which is why I love it. Old normal, something happens, new normal, old normal? Where were you? What was life like? What did the world look like? And then something happens. It was nineteen ninety five, I left the house and everything changed. There's a moment of tension and choice that something happens in that story, and then as a result of what happens, there's a new normal that's created. And ever since that day, I've never forgotten the value of the importance of And we talk about how we've changed, and then once we've shared that story, then we can share what the message is of that story.

19:53 That's why I'm here today to tell you about the importance of and then you share your message and then you have a call to action for the audience. So that's a framework, it's a process, and it's a practice of using storytelling in order to convey a message. And all of that comes back to the intention of being a great speaker. They don't just speak off the cuff about something meaningful that happened to them. They take the time to craft a story, to find what needs to be in this story, what's irrelevant that I don't want to include, and they shape it to make it as powerful as possible.

20:34 Alison, that really resonates with me because my brand Story Trust Media was founded for that exact reason, because I believe that when you tell story, you build trust with your audience. And in my case, whether it's an audiobook or podcast production, that's really important because that's really the ultimate goal of that content is building trust with your audience, as I know it is in speaking too, maybe in a little bit of a different way, but tell us a little bit about how you build more trust with your audiences besides just telling stories. It's so important. You're absolutely right that stories build trust when they're true. When they're true, and one of the challenges that we see when people tell stories is they'll tell stories that aren't their stories. Very often will will mistrust a politician who tells the story of someone he met or she met on the campaign trail, and we think that's not your story. You're just appropriating someone else's story for your own campaign. The closer you are to the story, the more powerful the story is because you're teaching the audience about who you are, not somebody else.

21:43 Who you are, who someone in your family was and how that impacted you. And when you tell a story like that, your audience's brain starts to neurologically respond and release oxytocin, which creates a feeling of trust and connection. So that, as John, is a way of building trust when we use storytelling in that process. Now, other ways in which I believe we build trust with the audience are when we're willing to share messages that are difficult but that we know our audience is thinking about. So very often when we have to deliver a difficult message, I like to start with the I call it the I know what you're thinking principle. Now not actually saying I know what you're thinking, but I'm acknowledging what I believe to be on my audience's mind instead of trying to cover it up or leave it to the Q and A. Because if it's on their mind and you're not addressing it, they're not listening to you. So by boldly acknowledging now, some of you may be thinking this isn't fair. Some of you may be wondering where are we going? And you'll be right to think that. Acknowledging that their concerns are value and then explaining an alternate perspective is a way of building trust. And then a final way that I find or another way of building trust is ensuring that every part of you is communicating the same message. And I believe that's a big part

23:15 of our executive presence. It's not just saying the right words at the right time. It's making sure our facial expressions, our body language, our voice and tone are communicating the same message as our words. Because what I've observed is when there's a disconnect between what you say and how you say it, people believe the how and they mistrust the what. That's why it's so important that everything be in alignment. Well, so I got to do full circle with in l Al since we talk from beginning. But I'd like to know because I know I've I've heard leaders that what I would call our ramblers, they just keep talking and tell. So help those people on being more concise.

24:04 A reason that people tend to ramble is that they haven't prepared an advance, and a lot of people feel like they'll be more spontaneous and more genuine when they haven't prepared. Yes, and they'll also be more verbose because part of the preparation process is strategically thinking through what do I want to say, what does my audience want or need to hear, and how do I say it in the best possible way, Because the more we speak, the less they're listening to us, and so we do need to be precise in advance about going through that process and then looking at what we've written with a critical I to say is this necessary? Does this reinforce my message? Or is it better left to Q and A afterward? And I'll recommend for those who have been given feedback that they're verbose, I'll recommend and that they practice delivering a presentation in whatever the amount of time is that they've been allotted for the presentation, then practice that same presentation in half the time. And I don't mean rushing through it like an Academy Award speech, cutting out what doesn't need to be there, and then practicing it again and half the time of that, so it's full time halftime and then I guess that's quarter time, isn't it?

25:26 In strame? And so you'll find that you naturally cut away what doesn't belong and arrive at what's critical. And that's a process that builds the muscle of brevity. Yeah yeah, and we noticed too that you're quite concise as well, so you practice what you preach. So we really appreciate that, Alison. For a young leader who just got promoted, what will they learn from your book Speak with Impact. The reason I wrote the book Speak with Impact is that I wanted leaders, especially new leaders, to have a tool, a handbook to help them as they got promoted and moved into leadership. So I wanted a senior leader to say to someone more junior, congratulations, you've been promoted. Here's a book to help you. And the book's goal is to give you a process to write, practice, and deliver a speech or presentation in a way that's confident, authentic, and affective. So one of the reasons most people are afraid of public speaking is that they don't have any practice with it and they don't know how to do it.

26:37 It's like telling someone putting them into a tennis game without ever showing them how to hit a tennis ball, how to hold a racket or move their feet. And so the book shows you how to build these skills so that when you go into the game of leading of speaking, you're prepared you're ready and you show up is your best? Well, I got to dig in even a little deeper because you've made a very powerful point there the fact that they don't know how to prepare. Can you give a couple suggestions and how they would practice to be really ready for when they give their presentation? Sure to start with before they write the presentation. I always recommend people ask themselves three questions. First question, who's your audience? Who are you speaking to? Second question, what's your goal? What do you want people to do as a result of hearing you speak? And the third question is why you which doesn't mean why are you qualified?

27:41 What's your title? It means why do you care about the work you do and the impact you want to have? And there's a sub question which gets at your point about storytelling and when was a moment that made you care? Because when you uncover that motivation, you connect with a sense of purpose that grounds you and gives you confidence from the inside out. And those three questions I always recommend anyone ask, especially new leaders, because you won't have thirty years of experience and a senior level title to give you the formal authority to be speaking, Your right to speak comes from within, it comes from why you care, and so it helps you get around that feeling that you need a more senior title for people to take you seriously. Once you've done that, now you can write the speech and you can write it down or write out, write out, and outline. I then have a process that I use to help people convert it from a script to bullet points, and then practice it in a number of different ways in front of a mirror, to practice your gestures, recording it, to listen to your voice, or I know a common training technique from sports is mental rehearsal.

29:00 I'll do that the night before every presentation, I close my eyes. I sit in a comfortable seat, close my eyes, and I deliver the presentation word for word with my eyes closed, and I imagine it going well. And I'm starting to build muscle memory so that the next day when I go into the room and deliver that presentation, I've already succeeded at it. I'm just repeating the success that I had yesterday. Yeah, I'm going to bookmark a thought because I know you you're interested in AI as well, and you mentioned some of the things that you do, and I'm wondering if some AI tools could help with that. But I'm not going to go there yet because i had one more question on public speaking, so I'm bookmarking that. I'm saying that out loud so that just to make sure I remember. But Allison, we can't have a conversation about public speaking without talking about fear. Because sure, maybe those good speakers, the ones who are really charismatic and know how to flow and feel comfortable in front of an audience, maybe they don't feel it, but so many of us do, and some of those of us who do are actually leaders, and public speaking is not something we look forward to.

30:09 So what about those people who don't feel comfortable and actually would rather take on like spiders than public speaking. Because I know those are two of the biggest fears in the world, and I know I'm with you on that one, but there are some people who really can't stand public speaking. Tell us a little bit about overcoming that fear. We're not going to talk about spiders on this podcast because it's not a big fan. They have every right to exist and they play an important function in our ecosystem. I just don't want them on me or near missing agreed, Yeah. But it's so interesting that you say that, because my fear of spiders is completely impractical. Have I been bitten by one? No?

30:49 Are most of them dangerous? No? Are they trying to hurt me? No, They're just doing their thing, playing their part in the ecosystem. And yet I have this miseral, immediate negative response when I see one, and so a lot of people feel a similar visceral negative response to public speaking. The difference is a fear of spiders is not going to hold you back in your career. A fear of public speaking absolutely will hold you back in your career. So there's a utility to learning it. And that's the first step in addressing this fear as recognizing it is holding you back from serving the people you want to serve, from the mission that you strive for in your life, which probably affects other people.

31:39 So I define leadership as bringing people together to achieve a shared objective. Without public speaking, you will have a very big problem trying to wrangle people together and creating a vision that they can see and work towards. So it's recognizing the utility and the necessity of this tool. Secondly, it's actually embracing the fear, so I get nervous before every presentation, every single one. In those instances when I don't get nervous, that's when I make mistakes. I don't practice enough, I get sloppy, I might get arrogant in my speeches. And I've had situations where it's so comfortable that my New York sarcasm came out and I offended people in the audience. So it's we actually want to recognize that fear, that discomfort is natural. We want to reframe the nervousness as excitement because they're both caused by adrenaline.

32:44 It's just a question of how do we judge that feeling. And then once we reframe it, we say, Okay, how do I embrace it and use breathing to harness it and use it to ensure that I'm focused and I don't procres fascinate and I bring my best self to this presentation because the fear is actually ensuring that I can't focus on anything else because I'm too nervous to think about anything else. Okay, let's focus on this, and then through the book you have tools to take advantage of that in order to be your best self. Elison John said, he's going to bookmark your AI. I know you have another book coming out, so I'm not going to steal his question. It was on my agenda, but I will go in another direction. So I know you've mentioned very briefly, and when I first joined the National Speakers Association, I think I've been to remember about fourteen years now. One of the things I kid did on keynotes is do you have to have humor in your keynote? And the response is only if you want to get paid, And so I know that's saying I'm curious, how do you help people? Because I think injecting some humor in your presentation.

33:52 Is vitally important. Give us some ideas on how do you help people? That that's an area that I'm working on myself actually recognizing, especially in times like these, I find it's a chaotic time in the world and what audiences want or yes, they want answers, they want ideas and strategies, and they also want to release from the pressure that they're feeling in any industry and any sector. And so I want to add more humor to my own presentations so that I can help them relax and let off some steam and then focus on the task at hand. So it's something I'm turning to professionals for. I'm not an expert in humor or. I'm not a professional humorist. I am learning humorous techniques that I can bring in and I'm learning at learning how we can add humor into our presentations and especially how we can laugh at ourselves in ways that lets the audience know it's okay for them to laugh at themselves. And I'm what I've always been good at is situational humor to be able to comment.

35:03 It comes from the New York Sarcasm. It's commenting with humor on the reality around us, and that's something that I've been able to cultivate with my clients. I tend to help give them feedback on whether their attempt at humor is effective or not, and to help guide them in what pitfalls to avoid, what types of humor to avoid so that they don't offend their audience or do something that's going to negatively impact their career trajectory. I got to ask you one more questions because I've actually talked to speakers where they actually every like three minutes they want to inject some type of humor I never personally do it. I definitely have humor my presentation, but I don't I'm not to that. What's your thoughts on that.

35:53 I know certainly people who do that. It's an important part of comedy and stand up and they laughs per minute and it is critical. I find when people force humor at specific intervals, some of the humor is good and some winds up feeling forced. So what I'm doing in my keynotes is I'm going through it and I'm starting to develop an inner rhythm that says, Okay, here's a good part for humor. Let's think about what kind of humor I might add. Let's consult someone I'm working with to help me find that humor, and let's put it in. But I don't want people to force a certain number of laughs per minute, because then I think it's going to be counterproductive and it will start to feel more like a performance than a conversation between them and the audience.

36:45 Yeah, I'll say one thing. I know, Janal a question for you, but that really helped me immensely. Like my assistant coach is extremely humorous, and he would give me just a better way to say things. So I just wanted to add that people are planning because some people are funnier naturally than others, but we all can inject humor and getting some advice from people that are just more naturally funny or or even a comedian that I think is an interesting aspect for sure. All Right, John, I've been hiking a conversation over to you. No, that's okay. You let me have my AI question and we'll get into that. But I one more before that, because we're all educators here, Allison, You and I Bill in higher education to some extent. Right, you're New Yorker at Harvard, So first of all, what's up with that?

37:34 I didn't know that was possible. And second of all, what is the value to you for teaching the next generation? How does that make you feel? And why ultimately do you do it? I have a New York sensive humor because I'm the daughter of New Yorkers. Yeah, but I grew up in Connecticut and then Florida, So the New York humor comes through my family. They're the New Yorkers. I am a New Englander through and through, that's for sure. Also a Bostonian after having been there for fourteen years. So it's not so helpful with sports teams as a Red Sox fan. But I will say my dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, so we don't have any kind of Yankees Red Sox issues in the family. It's being a someone in Boston.

38:22 I've actually really really come to feel at home in Boston. In Cambridge, I even sang the national anthem for the Red Sox at the park, so that made me a lifelong Red Sox fan after that. Was it an opera rendition? It was an operatic version of It's a The star Spangled banner has a very wide range, so you started as in more of a I would say, a pop I we used chest voice, and then I went to head voice, which is the terms that we use as singers than more of a pop voice and then more of an operatic voice as the song progressed.

39:03 Yes, that would have been something to witness so cool. It's on YouTube you can search for Really, I was Alison Greenspan at the time, so you can do a search for Alison Greenspan Fenway Park and you will see it. It was also put in the show just for fine absolutely. But you would ask John about how I feel teaching the Next Generation at Harvard and I teach at the Kennedy School, which is a graduate school of government. So my students age from twenty five to sixty five. It's a very broad range. Summer early in their career, summer in their mid career. Some are looking at what they're going to do post retirement. So the classroom is very rich.

39:48 It's been seventy five percent international students in my classroom historically, and so also very diverse in terms of where students come from. I love it because because the students who come specifically to the Kennedy School have a focus on public leadership. It's not just about making money or optimizing for shareholder value. It's about making a positive impact on the world. So they are inherently purpose driven, which means when they speak, it's easier to help them reframe speaking as not about them being the center of attention, but their message being the center of attention and the people they want to impact as the center of attention. So there's very much a servant leadership mindset that these students have that I love working with. Because they already have the motivation, we simply have to help them tap into it.

40:48 As a source of power and then teach them the tools to harness it effectively. All right, this is completely off topic, but you talking about Harvard, and I'm just very curious. I would normally not is as but like curiosity because I've become fouled a lot with Arthur Brooks. Do you know him at all? And I'm just curious on his work with happiness any thoughts on that. I don't know him personally, but I really admire his work. I think we got to ask this question, obviously because it's part of your next book too, So tell us a little bit about your thoughts on AI how it can be used to the benefit of public speakers. Certainly so. For the past eight years, app developers and tech entrepreneurs have come to me as they've been building apps and websites that help people improve their public speaking skills.

41:35 And I noticed that more and more of them, we're using AI to help people improve their clarity, reduce the use of filler words, and other elements of their persuasive skills. I've started to think about, let's look beyond what do I do with my hands and how many filler words am I using? Could AI actually make us more authentic, not less. And there's a lot of focus right now, especially in twenty twenty five, on AI as a tool to increase productivity, to increase efficiency. But I'm looking at AI as a way of tapping into our authenticity like never before. And that's the subject of my new book, which is called AI for the Authentic Leader, How to communicate more effectively without losing your humanity. So it's not about how do I get AI to write my emails so that my recipient can use AI to read the emails.

42:36 It's about how do I use these technical these new technical tools to bring out the best version of myself consistently on demand, even when I'm at my worst. Because a point I make when I talk about authenticity isn't always a good thing. You can be authentically impatient. I'm authentically impatient when people waste my time. And that's the daughter of a New Yorker again, and my father was a New York City cab driver, so I grew up with this kind of impatience. I know that's authentic to me, but that's not me at my best. That doesn't make me a good leader, And especially for new leaders, it's critical for them to become aware of where are they naturally strong and what tendencies of theirs will derail their leadership effectiveness. And there's no way for us to know that intrinsically unless we get feedback. And sometimes that feedback is a negative team or what's it called employee satisfaction survey that you get from your company's three six stags.

43:45 Sometimes it's a difficult conversation with your boss. I believe AI can serve as a mirror and give us feedback that helps us bring out the best of us as opposed to us at our worst, when our emotions take control and we're not being the best we can be. It's a new It's a fresh and much needed perspective, that's for sure. Coach. You have a final question? Yeah, I do have one final question because you mentioned it is something that I've done a lot of studying in the last decade, so I'm curious what's your thoughts? Yeah, how do you define it? In what are you teaching about? Servant leadership? Servant leadership is such an important concept. I've done a lot of reading about the topic over the years. There are great books written on this topic. And if I define leadership as rallying people together to achieve a shared vision.

44:39 I would define servants leadership, which full disclosure, I haven't really defined before. So this is my knee jerk reaction in the moment. How do I define servant leadership. It's rallying people together to achieve a shared goal that is in everyone's best interest, not to just yours. It's about acting in service of others of a greater good, as opposed to rallying people together to achieve your vision, which is good for you but not in the best interest of the people that you lead. That's how I would approach and define servant leadership.

45:20 Well said, and Allison, I think there's a lot to uncover here. We've only scratched the surface. Speak with impact. You got to get it because you're especially if you're a young leader. Maybe you just promoted a young leader, get it for them, or if you are a young leader, get it for yourself. It's not going to disappoint you for sure. Also, that new book that you mentioned, where can we get our hands on that? And then how can we get more of everything that you do? I appreciate that the new book AI for the Authentic Leader is available everywhere books are sold, and you can find it in retailers and online. I would encourage people to connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm very active there and it's a great way to engage in conversation, continue learning from me, and they can find more information about the books on my website at Alisonshapira.

46:12 Dot allisonshapira dot com links down in the show notes. You got to check out the Fenway Park performance too, because that's the first thing I'm going to do as soon as we get off through the recording alisonshapira dot com and. All the links to the books as well. Down in the show notes. Alison, this was fun. We learned a lot, and I think the audience has a lot to take away from your work and more to come because I know you have a lot of other stuff to share with them too. So thank you so much for your time today on the Limitless Leadership Lounge. We really appreciate it. My pleasure. Thanks for everything that you're doing to elevate leaders and leadership. It was a pleasure speaking with you both. Thank you for joining us this week at the Limitless Leadership Lounge. To listen to this episode again and to find previous episodes. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Spreader. You can also get in the conversation find us on Facebook and Instagram, then tell three of your friends to join in as well. Coach Numa and John.

47:06 We'll be back again next week for another trigenerational leadership discussion. We'll talk to you then on the Limitless Leadership Lounge